Laker Fans Would’ve Been Lost in Crowd

Somebody wanted to know if the turnout of 40,000 for the Laker celebration Wednesday was the biggest ever for a team in Los Angeles. Not quite.

In 1931, the day before Thanksgiving, there was a bigger turnout to welcome home the USC football team after it ended Notre Dame’s 26-game unbeaten streak with a 16-14 victory at South Bend, Ind., the previous Saturday.

The team, coached by Howard Jones and featuring All-American backs Gus Shaver, Orv Mohler and Erny Pinckert, overcame a 14-0 deficit in the fourth quarter and won on a field goal by All-American guard Johnny Baker with a minute left.

The Trojans arrived at Union Station at 8 a.m. Wednesday and were taken immediately to City Hall for a ceremony. From there, they were taken on a ticker-tape parade starting on Spring Street. The motorcade turned on Eighth Street, to Broadway, up Broadway to Fifth, over to Hill and then home to the university.

Said Bob Ray of The Times: “No conquering army of ancient Rome ever received a more tumultuous welcome than that accorded Troy’s triumphant warriors.”

The crowd was 300,000.

Kinerism-of-the-Week: Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who keeps track of Ralph Kiner’s misadventures at the mike, said the New York Mets’ announcer had this to say about oft-released San Diego reliever Keith Comstock: “He’s been released by four different countries: The United States, Mexico, Japan and Valenzuela.”

Truth-stranger-than-fiction Dept.: Kevin Costner, in the movie, “Bull Durham,” is only 20 home runs shy of the cinematic minor league career record of 247.

That’s considerably short of the actual record. According to USA Today, Mexican League star Hector Espino, who retired in 1984 at 45, hit 484 homers. Buzz Arlett and Nick Cullop, a couple of Pacific Coast League sluggers, hit 432 and 420, respectively.

From San Diego pitcher Eric Show: “You can pitch a gem and lose, but you can’t lose when you win . . . Wait, don’t quote me on that. I sound like Yogi Berra.”

Trivia Time: What active manager has managed teams in all four major league divisions? (Answer below.)

Pam Shriver said she would bet on Chris Evert at 20-1 at Wimbledon, except that she’s out of money.

“I put it all on myself and John McEnroe to win the singles titles,” she said. “It was a double bet of 66-1.

“McEnroe blew that. I guess he heard about it and felt the pressure.”

Add Shriver: While she was playing Stephanie Rehe in the first set Saturday, Martina Navratilova walked past on her way to a match with Karin Schimper.

After disposing of Schimper, Navratilova walked past again on the way to the dressing room. Shriver and Rehe were in the second set.

Trivia Answer: Don Zimmer. He has managed the Boston Red Sox, the Texas Rangers and the San Diego Padres and currently manages the Chicago Cubs.

Quotebook

Dennis Rodman of the Detroit Pistons, asked if he would kiss Magic Johnson on the cheek before a game as Isiah Thomas did: “I think we should get engaged first.”