Notes on a Scorecard - May 8, 1990

It’s time to start figuring out the magic numbers of the Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds and wonder if baseball season in Southern California will end before basketball season. . . .

The good news about Juan Samuel: He can steal bases. The bad news: He can’t get on base. . . .

Remember when Wally Joyner, not Will Clark, was going to be the next Stan Musial? . . .

Jim Abbott is pitching like a 22-year-old. . . .

The Dodgers, after all the shuffling of personnel the past three years, need to be introduced to each other. . . .

This is a team devoid of spark, the kind Steve Sax used to provide when Tom Lasorda called him the catalyst of the Dodger offense. . . .

By flocking to the ballpark this season, the fans again have told owners and players that lockouts and strikes are OK. . . .

General Manager Lee Thomas, the old Mad Dog of the Los Angeles Angels, is lifting the Philadelphia Phillies back to respectability. . . .

Detroit Tiger President Bo Schembechler is finding the American League to be a lot like the Rose Bowl. . . .

Appeal plays are nonsensical. I mean, why can’t an umpire call a runner out for missing a base without it first being brought to his attention? And why can’t the first or third base umpire rule on his own that a batter has swung at a pitch? . . .

At 67, Minnie Minoso will be trying to end a one-for-10 slump later this season when the Chicago White Sox give him a chance to play in his sixth decade in the majors. He retired in 1964, but went one for eight in 1976 and was hitless in two at-bats in 1980. . . .

I can do without tradition when it means not putting the names on the back of the New York Yankee and Boston Red Sox uniforms. . . .

If you don’t think baseball needs inter-league play, consider that most natural rivals--Dodgers-Angels, Athletics-Giants, White Sox-Cubs, Yankees-Mets, Cardinals-Royals, Blue Jays-Expos--are in different leagues. . . .

To err, err, err, err is human: Third basemen Edgar Martinez of Seattle and Mike Blowers of the Yankees each have committed four errors in a game this season. . . .

A key to Phoenix’s chances against the Lakers is Eddie Johnson. When the Suns were swept in the Western Conference finals last season, the sometimes super-sub shot only 32% from the field. . . .

Phoenix Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons is a rarity in the NBA--a retread who is actually quite good at his job. . . .

Tom Chambers made one more free throw than the Jazz did Sunday in Utah. . . .

The Detroit-New York series is being billed as Motown against Mo-town, as in Maurice (Mo) Cheeks. . . .

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson came into the NBA the same year, but Bird, 33, is two years eight months older. . . .

One-third of the 27 NBA teams sold out every regular-season home game. . . .

The Chicago Bulls had the best road attendance in the league, proving that Bill Cartwright is quite an attraction. . . .

Edmonton complained bitterly about the officiating in Game 2 of its series with Chicago. And guess who the referee was? None other than Denis Morel of King-Calgary series Game 6 fame. . . .

If Morel had allowed an apparent Calgary goal in the first overtime, Terry Crisp might still be the Flames’ coach. . . .

Wouldn’t a Stanley Cup final between two of the old guard, Chicago and Boston, be kinda nice? . . .

Sergei Makarov, the 31-year-old winger from the Soviet Union, shouldn’t be eligible for the NHL rookie of the year award. . . .

In practice the other day for the Jack In The Box Invitational May 20 at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, Randy Barnes put the shot 77 feet. That’s more than a foot farther than the world record. . . .

The next great 110-meter hurdler could be big Tony Dees, who represents George Steinbrenner’s Florida Clippers and ran a wind-aided 13.09 at Modesto Saturday. Dees was fast enough to beat Eugene Swift and Rod Jett. . . .

Two days after Unbridled finished a close third in the Blue Grass Stakes, trainer Carl Nafzger asked Jennie Rees of the Louisville Courier-Journal, “Tell me, what do you do with the blanket of roses?” . . .

The skilled, but aging Azumah Nelson reportedly is looking good in gym workouts for his May 19 bout against Pernell Whitaker at Caesars Palace. If so, this could be a brawl in the Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor mold. . . .

Indoor soccer has something outdoor soccer lacks: goals. . . .

George Allen called off what would have been his first Cal State Long Beach spring practice intrasquad game because of a lack of defensive linemen. Funny, but George never had that problem with the Rams or Redskins.