Soviet Baseball Team Plays a Familiar Brand of Game

Don’t be surprised if the Soviet Union’s newly formed national baseball team, in the United States for a 21-day, seven-game tour, looks more, well, capitalist than communist.

The players, who lost to Navy, 21-1, in their opener Tuesday, are wearing hats supplied by Sports Specialties, batting helmets by American Baseball Cap, uniforms by Russell Athletic and shoes from Mitre. Louisville Slugger is providing the gloves and the bats; and Wilson is throwing in 1,000 baseballs.

The most astonishing sight, however, may be the Soviet players’ red jackets, emblazoned with the letters “CCCP” on the back--and a Taco Bell patch on the arm.

The fast-food company is the tour’s chief sponsor, but have the Soviets heard its ad?

You know the one: “Make a run for the border . . . “

Trivia: Claudell Washington hit a home run in his first at-bat for the Angels. Last year, one of Washington’s home runs was even more memorable. Why?

A grave matter: The New York State Athletic Commission, which oversees boxing in the state, has its office just down the hall from the state Division of Cemeteries.

“It’s a standing joke around here,” said Randy Gordon, the commission’s new chairman, “that this is where some local promoters are digging up their opponents.”

That Masters touch: One of the most imaginative lead paragraphs among the reams of copy to spring from the Masters came from the Baltimore Sun’s John Eisenberg, who wrote:

“AUGUSTA, Ga.--The clues were there all along. This was a Masters as Dickens would have written it, with a touch of Agatha Christie, too. A dark sky. Mist turning to hard rain, then returning to mist. Feet splashing through puddles across sodden grass. Umbrellas covering faces. Whispers and shouts and moans. A delicious whodunit--or, in this case, a who-win-it --with enough suspects to stump Miss Marple. In sum, it was a perfect day for an Englishman.”

Understatement: Bob Chandler, the color commentator on the Padres’ cable network, was working a San Diego-San Francisco game recently and had this to say after the Giants scored seven runs in three innings:

“Well, that kinda takes the running game away, doesn’t it?”

Going to the wall: It was the fifth inning of what was still a scoreless game. The Montreal Expos had a runner on second with two out when catcher Nelson Santovenia sent a high drive to deep right field.

New York Mets right fielder Darryl Strawberry turned and sprinted toward the wall. Reaching the warning track, he looked up, raised his glove and made a one-handed catch before slamming into the wall.

Credit Met coach Bill Robinson for Strawberry’s new defensive prowess.

“I got him to use a bigger glove,” Robinson said. “I was tired of seeing balls bounce off the heel.”

Oh, well: It might come as small comfort to Scott Hoch, whose miss of a two-foot putt cost him the Masters, but the man who beat him, Nick Faldo of England, was once known, albeit unkindly, as Nick Foldo.

Since then, obviously, Faldo has unfolded. With luck, Hoch will, too.

Just asking: From Peter May of the Hartford Courant:

“Who would have thought there would be free elections in Poland before the Clippers had a winning season?”

Trivia answer: On April 20, Washington belted the 10,000th home run hit by the New York Yankees, the first major league team to achieve that mark.

Quotebook: Said Shug McGaughey, trainer of Kentucky Derby favorite Easy Goer: “I just wish the Derby were two weeks away instead of four. That way, I wouldn’t have so much time to mess him up.”