Two decades ago, Dodgers took part in a marathon

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the early-morning finish to the longest game in National League history, a Dodgers loss to the Houston Astros that lasted 7 hours 14 minutes. . . .

The Saturday night marathon carried over into early Sunday, ending in the 22nd inning at the Astrodome with Fernando Valenzuela playing first base, Eddie Murray playing third base and third baseman Jeff Hamilton pitching for the Dodgers. . . .

Orel Hershiser, who’d lasted seven innings in a start only three days earlier, pitched seven innings in relief. . . .

And on television, bless his heart, Vin Scully called all 22 innings after flying in from St. Louis, where earlier in the day he fulfilled his “Game of the Week” assignment for NBC. . . .

The Times reporter on the scene, yours truly, swore off covering baseball after the trip, which included a 13-inning game the next day and a doubleheader at Atlanta the day after that. . . .

Two and a half months later, the Dodgers played another 22-inning game, this time winning at Montreal, 1-0. . . .

Thanks mostly to Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics, the Lakers have lost more often than they’ve won in the NBA Finals. . . .

So, too, have the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals. . . .

Both can get to .500 this month. . . .

The last time the Lakers played Game 1 of the NBA Finals at home, in 2004, they lost to the Detroit Pistons, the opening stumble on the way to a stunning five-game defeat that marked the end of the Shaquille O’Neal era in Los Angeles. . . .

Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher were there, Fisher as a backup to one-and-done Lakers point guard Gary Payton. . . .

The average resale price for tickets to this year’s Finals games at Staples Center, according to StubHub, is $686, about $200 less than a year ago, when Kevin Garnett and the Celtics were involved and the economy had not yet tanked. . . .

Somebody’s trying to sell a pair of courtside seats to Game 2 for $59,000 each, but the highest price paid last year was $8,800. . . .

How did Larry Brown let Shannon Brown slip away? . . .

James Loney is a terror with the bases loaded, the Dodgers’ first baseman having driven in more runs in that situation than any other player in the last 1 1/2 seasons. . . .

With five-man rotations here to stay and pitch counts ever more vigilantly monitored, former USC left-hander Randy Johnson might be the last of baseball’s 300-game winners. . . .

As the Sporting News noted this week, no active pitcher younger than 34 is even halfway to the milestone. . . .

Tim Floyd’s beleaguered USC basketball program seems to be disintegrating right in front of our eyes, shrinking from a possible Final Four contender next season to a probable Pacific 10 Conference also-ran in a matter of months. . . .

Lil’ Romeo might even get onto the court next season. . . .

Noting Isiah Thomas and the vanquished Pistons walked off the floor without a glance toward Michael Jordan and the upstart Chicago Bulls after the 1991 Eastern Conference finals, reader Gardner Stern of Brentwood e-mails to suggest, “Maybe LeBron saw the tape.” . . .

A Sporting News ranking of the top 25 players in college football includes four from the Pacific 10 Conference: USC safety Taylor Mays at No. 5; California running back Jahvid Best at No. 7; Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli at No. 9; and USC-shredding Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers at No. 23. . . .

Look-alikes: Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Daniel Schlereth and ESPN pro football analyst Mark Schlereth, the rookie reliever’s father and winner of three Super Bowl rings as an offensive guard with the Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos. . . .

You knew that point-producing machine Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins wouldn’t go quietly, but they’re going to need more from Sidney Crosby to unseat the Red Wings. . . .

The 24th Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular, Sunday’s fundraising benefit at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, hopes to get a boost from ex-Laker John Salley, who has pledged his winnings from his appearance on the NBC reality series, “I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!” . . .

Reader Howard A. Fischer, panning Tyrese Gibson’s lyric-altering rendition of the national anthem before the Lakers’ last home game: “Where’s Rick Monday when you need him?”

--

jerome.crowe@latimes.com