Ex-Yankee Duren runs Charity golf outing

Through those thick glasses that were his trademark when he was a flame-throwing Yankees pitcher, Ryne Duren always could tell that he came up just short as a golfer. He used to shoot in the 70s, but his roommate was Ralph Terry, who would become a golf pro.

"And I got so I thought I could hit it pretty good," Duren said, "but I played with [Mickey] Mantle and he was hitting it 100 yards past me."

Then he let out the deep, long laugh that comes easily now. Duren is delighted to be alive rather than embittered that alcoholism prevented him from being the Nolan Ryan of the 1950s. These days, he just wants to help. On Monday that meant headlining former big leaguers in the Ryne Duren Celebrity Golf Classic at Hempstead Golf & Country Club.

It underscored the links between golf and baseball and charity, a combination as effective as Tinker to Evers to Chance. The Duren annual golf outing provides much of the budget for Winning Beyond Winning, a foundation run by Tom Sabellico, an attorney who lives in Farmingdale.

Sabellico, co-author of Duren's book, "I Can See Clearly Now," said Winning Beyond Winning promotes life skills for the overwhelming majority of young people who won't become pro athletes. One of the main tenets is staying free of drug and alcohol dependency, which is where Duren comes in. He tells about his hard road to sobriety.

"The thing is, most of us are survivors of one kind or another," said Duren, a three-time All-Star. "Mantle and I carpooled and our battle cry was, 'Let's get this [game] over so we can go and have some beers.' "

Golf has become a good way to spread the word. The game always has been a natural partner for baseball. Major-league alumni at Hempstead Monday had their own golf stories. Jim "Mudcat" Grant told of playing the celebrity tour and winning twice out there. Bud Harrelson said Willie Mays is an excellent golfer, with a great short game, which you might not expect from a slugger. Former C.W. Post and Kansas City Royals star Richie Scheinblum spoke of his son Monte, who took up golf after he hurt his arm throwing a curveball, held his own on the junior circuit against Phil Mickelson, then turned pro.

But most people who paid to play in the Ryne Duren outing Monday wanted to hear baseball stories. So Duren explained how he started uncorking warm-up pitches to the backstop. He said that Ted Williams would stand right outside the batter's box to gauge the pitcher's stuff. One day, Jimmy Piersall tried the same thing. "So I threw behind him," Duren said. "Well, you know Piersall. He yelled, 'What's wrong with you?' I yelled back, 'What's wrong with you? You've got yourself confused with a hitter.' "

Big laugh from Duren. Then, he talked about the time the Tigers' Paul Foytack beaned him in retaliation for having buzzed Al Kaline. "I've still got the indentation from it right here," Duren said, pointing to the side of his face. "But [Bobby] Richardson ran for me and Gil McDougald hit the first pitch into the upper deck, and I'm the winning pitcher in the ambulance." He laughed harder at that one.

Duren, 81, didn't play in the outing, having just come off heart surgery. But he did get out on the course and putt with all the groups. He was entertaining, talking about the time Joe DiMaggio was a spring training instructor. Duren wangled an invitation to dinner with DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.

"They couldn't have been nicer. She was really the girl next door," he said. "Of course, whenever I tell women about it, all they say is, 'What was she wearing?' " Then he laughed some more, happy to be doing some good on the course.