Reggie Thinks He May Be Going for a Dozen

In his 19 seasons in the big leagues, Reggie Jackson has played for 11 division champions. He played for five at Oakland, four at New York and two with the Angels. Now, he’s back in Oakland, and he’s looking for No. 12.

“Yes, the A’s can win this year,” Jackson told Dave Anderson of the New York Times. “We match up well in our division. I know California’s got good pitching, but when I was there last year, the team we feared was Oakland. And this year, the A’s have a better manager in Tony LaRussa, and Jose Canseco is for real.”

Canseco was a late arrival because of a holdout, but Jackson said: “He’s 22; he’ll be all right. When I was that age, I didn’t go to camp until March 20. I was always holding out with Charlie Finley.

“Don’t worry about Canseco,” Jackson said. “He’s going to hit 500 homers before he’s through.”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: If Rickey Henderson of the New York Yankees steals 84 bases this season, he will be No. 3 on the all-time list. Lou Brock leads with 938, followed by Ty Cobb at 892. With 84 more, Henderson would have 744. Last year, he stole 87 bases. He’s 28 years old.

Said Steve Jacobson of Newsday, promoting Phil Rizzuto for the Hall of Fame: “No team wins without a good shortstop.”

Could be, but how many people could name the shortstops in last year’s World Series?

They were Rafael Santana of the New York Mets and Spike Owen of the Boston Red Sox.

Santana, incidentally, is being asked to take a $15,000 cut by the Mets after batting .218 last season. That was the lowest average among all the regular major league shortstops.

Trivia Time: How many members of the 1979-80 Boston Celtics, who had the best regular-season record in the NBA, are playing on this year’s team? (Answer below.)

Dwight Gooden threw to a batter for the first time since the World Series this week, and Tom Verducci of Newsday said: “By every indication--and by his own admission--Gooden’s fastball is back.

“Greg Olson, a non-roster catcher, stepped into the batting cage first. It wasn’t until his seventh swing that Olson hit the ball out of the cage.

“I haven’t seen his ball jump like that, ever,” Olson said. “It just exploded. It would come right down the middle, then explode like a slider. It’s unfair.”

On-second-thought Dept.: “Notice how patient North Carolina is,” said ESPN analyst Lefty Driesell as the Tar Heels worked the ball around for a shot.

With that, North Carolina lost the ball out of bounds.

“Too patient,” said Lefty.

Is Wilt Chamberlain really a candidate for the 1988 U.S. Olympic volleyball team?

USC volleyball star Adam Johnson told the Daily Trojan: “Not taking anything away from his athletic ability, but he’s not that quick in the middle. He might be a right-side blocker. He doesn’t seem to be real quick on the court. When I play against him on the beach, he doesn’t even move. He might try out for the team, but whether he’s going to be on it or not, well . . . “

Trivia Time: One, Larry Bird. Other members of the team were Cedric Maxwell, Dave Cowens, Tiny Archibald, Rick Robey, Chris Ford, M.L. Carr, Gerald Henderson, Jeff Judkins, Eric Fernsten, Don Chaney and Pete Maravich.

Quotebook

James (Bonecrusher) Smith, on the legend of Mike Tyson: “When I was a kid, I believed in Santa Claus until I found out who Santa Claus was. Saturday night, we’re going to find out who Mike Tyson really is.”