Jim Murray, April 10, 1961

April 10, 1961: Jim Murray takes his daughter Pam and his two sons to boxing at the Olympic.

Jim Murray, April 9, 1961

April 9, 1961: Walt Alston is the first one in his family tree going back about to the time of the discovery of fire to escape being a farmer -- a full-time farmer, that is. It sometimes seems to make him uneasy just frittering his life his life away managing a baseball team, Jim Murray says.

Jim Murray, April 7, 1961

April 7, 1961 --  Trouble for Giants Manager Alvin Dark: Phoenix police found Harvey Kuenn, who weighs 200 pounds, Jim Davenport and Bob Schmidt, one of the few men in baseball who could arm-wrestle Frank Howard even up, being attacked by a 140-pound college student at an hour of the morning no self-respecting student should be roaming the streets. Moreover, the college student kept hitting the players on the fists with his eyeglasses.

Jim Murray, April 6, 1961

April 6, 1961: James Gilliam Jr. is with the Dodgers but not of them. He starts every season in the dugout. He sleeps every night with his bag packed at his feet and rumors of a trade swirling around in his dreams. Then the season starts and some phenom begins to leak at the seams. The manager sets  a hysterical search and there sits Jim Gilliam -- waiting.

Jim Murray, April 5, 1961

April 5, 1961: Four years ago, Doug Ford restored the prestige of the Masters after a disastrous attempt to thin the field eliminated some of the greats of golf. Now Ford is returning to Augusta -- and he needs a great deal of luck, Jim Murray says. [Golfers will know that 1961 marks Gary Player's first win at the Masters.]  And we have another drawing by Alex Perez!

Jim Murray, April 4, 1961

April 4, 1961: Jockey Johnny Longden must choose between two troublesome horses for the Kentucky Derby – Flutterby or Four-and-Twenty, Jim Murray says.  [He finished seventh on Four-and-Twenty, by the way—lrh.]

Jim Murray, April 3, 1961

April 3, 1961: Jim Murray has a wonderful feature on featherweight champ Davey Moore. Don’t miss it!

Jim Murray, April 2, 1961

April 2, 1961: Golfer Porky Oliver  is dying of liver cancer, as gallantly as the way he lived. There’s an Easter lesson there, Jim Murray says.

Jim Murray, March 31, 1961

March 31, 1961: Lakers coach Fred Schaus has a few things to say about ref Jim Duffy after a 114-113 loss to the St. Louis Hawks and doesn't care if it gets in print -- even if there's a fine.

Jim Murray, March 30, 1961

March 30, 1961: Jim Murray takes a look at the names for horses in harness racing and  thoroughbred racing, and throws in auto racing for good measure.    Thoroughbred racing, I am glad to say, is a lot more careful about the name of its plugs. The Jockey Club sits in judgment on this and you have to come up with a name that has no more than 15 letters, no more than 3 words, does not duplicate the name of a famous horse of the past (a plater's name is not retired to the glue factory with him, however) and does not offend good taste.

Jim Murray, March 29, 1961

March 29, 1961: Jim Murray on Otto Graham: Crazy Otto is still bucking a trend. Where Bob Waterfield, Norm Van Brocklin and other of his contemporaries in the NFL have chosen glamour jobs in the pro game, Crazy Otto has picked the head coaching job and athletic directorship at the Coast Guard Academy, a football power about on a par with the Harvard Frosh, which is to say they could give Glendale High a good game.

Jim Murray, March 27, 1961

March 27, 1961: Philip Toll Hill Jr., the Santa Monican who won the Sebring sports car endurance race over the weekend for the third time, is a bachelor and a wiry, nervous, cold intellectual type who reads 10-pound books and plays the kind of music on his stereo set that even Stravinsky never heard of, Jim Murray says.