Between The Lines

HE'S STILL LOOKING FOR SOME POWER

At the New York Mets' home opener, George Bush (Yale '48) threw out the first ball and then sat down next to National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti (Yale '60) to watch Ron Darling (Yale '82) shut out Montreal 3-0. Bush made a pretty good lefthanded toss. As a junior first baseman in 1947, he hit .239 for the Elis, who lost in the final of the NCAA championship to California. The next year Bush was captain, hit .264, and Yale lost the championship to Southern Cal. Yale's ace pitcher that year, Frank Quinn, signed with the Red Sox for a $50,000 bonus, so scouts like Whitey Piurek, who then worked for the Brooklyn Dodgers and is now with the Seattle Mariners, saw Bush play. Piurek's assessment of Bush: "By professional standards, he wasn't a prospect. He could run, but he lacked real power."

Bush is trying to make up for that now.

HOMEGROWN ALL THE WAY
When Jody Reed replaced Spike Owen at shortstop last week, the Boston Red Sox became the only major league team to field a starting lineup and pitching rotation composed entirely of players developed in its farm system. Every other American League club has at least two everyday players who came from other organizations. The Cincinnati Reds developed all but one of their everyday players (Chris Sabo is filling in at third for the injured Buddy Bell). The exception? Catcher Bo Diaz, who was originally signed by the Red Sox.

FAMILY OF THE WEEK
Greg Maddux became the first Chicago Cub since Milt Pappas in 1971 to pitch complete-game victories in his first two starts of the season. He went 17⅔ innings before allowing a run. Maddux's brother, Mike, a reliever with the Philadelphia Phillies, had 16 K's in 12 scoreless innings before yielding his first run in his fifth appearance Sunday.

BALK TALK (CONT.)
Until this year, the Minnesota Twins' Jeff Reardon and the Kansas City Royals' Dan Quisenberry had pitched a total of 1,640 innings in the majors, and neither had ever committed a balk. Each was called for one in the first nine days of the season.

MISCELLANEOUS

•Not only do many Boston fans want John McNamara fired as Red Sox manager, but the club is taking the shirt off his back as well. On May 19 it will retire uniform number 1 in honor of Hall of Fame second baseman Bobby Doerr, so McNamara was told he must switch from number 1 to 2, which he wore when he managed California.

•The Los Angeles Dodgers, who in recent seasons have been inept on defense, made errors in only four of their first 10 games.

•Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode take note: On April 13, Spartanburg and Clearwater, which are Phillies farm clubs, had winning pitchers named Dick Tracy and Matt Rambo.