The Way Blue Jays See It, Texas’ Desire Tops the Angels’ Experience

The people who are picking the Angels to win the American League West keep promising that the Texas Rangers will go into a tailspin and find their level. The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t so sure.

“I think they’re for real,” Toronto outfielder Jesse Barfield told Dan Langendorf of the Dallas Times Herald after the Blue Jays played the Rangers in a weekend series. “They’re a really scrappy club right now. They remind me of us last year.

“As far as desire, I haven’t seen a bunch of guys play like the Rangers in a long time. I’ll tell you one thing, California has got the experience, but Texas has the desire. And I think the desire outweighs experience.”

Said reliever Bill Caudill: “The thing is, they’ve got momentum on their side, and you’re tough to beat when you’ve got the momentum. The way they took it to Baltimore and the way they took it to us, you’ve got to wonder. We’re not bad ballclubs.”

Said infielder Garth Iorg: “I think they’ve got a great chance. They’ve got a better team than California in every way. They play with a lot of enthusiasm. It’s a good, solid team.”

Trivia Time: What golfer passed the $1-million mark in earnings at the earliest age? (Answer below.)

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: Last Friday night, when New York Yankee Manager Lou Piniella came out to relieve Tommy John in the eighth inning with George Brett coming to bat for Kansas City, John decided to have some fun.

“You know,” he told Piniella, “the last time a manager took me out with George Brett at the plate was in the 1980 playoffs. I don’t want to jinx you or anything, but . . . “

Piniella had to laugh, recalling Brett’s three-run shot into the upper deck off Rich Gossage, which capped Kansas City’s three-game sweep of the Yankees.

This time, Dave Righetti got Brett on strikes, and the Yankees went on to win, 2-0.

Said Philadelphia Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan after moving Andre Waters ahead of veteran starter Ray Ellis at safety: “We want all our hitters to be in the game at the same time. Waters is my kind of player. He drives them upside down and then laughs at them.”

Said Boris Becker when asked what John McEnroe was saying to him during their match last Saturday: “Not nice words. And some slang words I didn’t understand.”

Dept. of Irony: After George Foster accused the New York Mets of promoting white players over black players, Marty Noble of Newsday wrote: “Foster was unaware that the cover story in the current issue of the Mets’ newspaper, ‘Inside Pitch,’ is about George Foster.’ ”

Add Foster: There are rumors he will be signed by the Chicago White Sox, and he said: “If I get signed to an American League team and we meet the Mets in the World Series, look out.”

Said Seattle Manager Dick Williams when asked about his relations with players: “It’s not a popular job. Chuck Tanner is one of the nicest guys in the world. With my temperament and all that, I’d better win. Chuck has lost the last three years. He’s in last place now, but he’s a nice fella.”

Note: Atlanta made it out of the cellar Monday night.

Trivia Answer: Nancy Lopez, at the age of 26 years 2 months 27 days. Among male golfers, Hal Sutton was the youngest at 26 years 11 months 21 days.

Quotebook

Darrell Griffith, refusing to reveal the worth of his new contract with the Utah Jazz but admitting that it is substantial: “It has a lot of doughnuts at the end.”