The Days of Their Lives

In chronological order, you had Dave Winfield being shopped around by the owner of the New York Yankees, who objected to a book the outfielder wrote; Larry Brown being linked to every coaching vacancy in America while going through a divorce; Wade Boggs getting hit with a palimony suit by a former girlfriend; and Mike Tyson being accused of wife-beating while feuding with his manager.

Brown coached Kansas to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball title. Winfield got off to the best start of his career. Boggs went on a tear and took over the American League batting lead. Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in the first round.

The message is clear. When in doubt, bet the guy with the distractions.

Add Tyson: Archie Moore, who picked Spinks, now rates Tyson the greatest ever. “He’s a killer,” Moore told USA Today. “No one I’ve ever seen could match this man. Tyson has speed that is uncanny--speed of hands that’s faster than Ali and as hard as Joe Louis.”

Said Sugar Ray Leonard, who also picked Spinks: “The only one who can beat Tyson is Apollo Creed.”

Add Fight: From the Washington Post: “Asked what his relationship is with Robin Givens, Don King responded, ‘It’s, what do you call it, Plutonic (sic).’ ”

For the Record: Former Occidental College miler Nick Carter, who ran the 1,500 meters in the 1928 Olympics, points out that John Kuck, not Herman Brix, won the shotput that year. Brix was second.

Carter, who retired in 1970 as the track coach at UC Santa Barbara, officiated at the 1984 Olympics. He still works as an official after putting in a full week as a real estate agent at Associated Brokers in Santa Barbara.

He’s 85.

Trivia Time: Who won the shotput in the 1984 Olympics? (Answer below.)

Tom Lasorda is on a roll. While keeping the Dodgers aloft in the National League West, he has been making history in the commercial world.

In making a Rolaids commercial, in which he argues with an umpire, he set a record that can’t be broken. It required one take.

Chicago Bears’ Coach Mike Ditka, calling quarterback Jim Harbaugh’s arrest at a Rush Street bar brawl a case of mistaken identity, told the Chicago Tribune: “Jim was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course, at 4:30 in the morning, you’re always at the wrong place.”

From Martina Navratilova, who has disposed of Natalia Zvereva and Larissa Savchenko at Wimbledon: “I’m on a mission against all Russians from now on. That’s my idea of glasnost. “

80 Years Ago Today: On June 30, 1908, Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox pitched his third no-hit, no-run game to beat the New York Highlanders. At 41 years 3 months, he was the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

Three years ago today, Pedro Guerrero hit his 15th home run of the month in his last at-bat in June. It was a two-run shot off Bruce Sutter of the Atlanta Braves as the Dodgers went on to a 4-3 victory. The others to hit 15 in the month of June are Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees in 1930, Bob Johnson of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1934 and Roger Maris of the Yankees in 1961.

Trivia Answer: Alessandro Andrei of Italy.

Quotebook

Comedian Jackie Mason, claiming Michael Spinks trained wrong for Mike Tyson: “Instead of practicing boxing, he should have taken voice lessons, so he could have yelled for help.”