Notes on a Scorecard - July 3, 1990

The day after client Jose Canseco signed a $23.5-million contract with the Oakland Athletics, agent Dennis Gilbert got 20 phone calls from stockbrokers. . . .

Carl Erskine to Peter O’Malley’s sister, Terry, at the Dodgers’ old-timers luncheon: “Peter paid for a hotel room, meals, plane tickets, game tickets and chauffeur service to get me here. That’s more than your dad (Walter) paid me to play for him.” . . .

At his current pace, Mark Langston will make $375,000 per victory this season. . . .

I haven’t heard one good explanation for the rash of no-hitters. . . .

Ken Griffey Jr. is no cinch to break the family record for highest batting average in a season. His father batted .336 for Cincinnati in 1976. . . .

What were the chances that Chicago White Sox pitchers Barry Jones and Eric King would be 1-2 in the American League in winning percentage the first week of July? . . .

Suddenly, the criticism of Cal Ripken Jr., who is hot with both bat and glove, for insisting on playing every day has stopped. . . .

Tommy John, who completed 162 games in his major league career, believes specialization is hurting baseball. “Now they’re turning pitchers into set-up men in the low minors,” he says. “They’re turning starters into five-inning pitchers. It used to be that you could count on guys like Koufax, Gibson, Marichal and Drysdale to go nine innings. There was no stopping them. Now if a guy goes seven innings, it’s a big deal.” . . .

One reason the Yankees are so lousy is that they gave up so many draft choices when they signed big-name free agents. . . .

The Raiders should acquire Bobby Hebert. Another year of Steve Beuerlein-Jay Schroeder at quarterback won’t get them anywhere. . . .

With Andre Ware and Barry Sanders in the same backfield, the Detroit Lions might become as crowd-pleasing as the Cameroon Lions. . . .

Oh well, at least Jennifer Capriati won three more matches at Wimbledon this year than Andre Agassi did. . . .

Henri Leconte is the Pam Shriver of men’s tennis. Always gets upset. . . .

Give the edge to Montreal in the important NHL trade that sent Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. Savard is a great scorer--or was until he had a personality conflict with Blackhawk Coach Mike Keenan. . . .

The Kings would be better off waiting a year to sign free agent Jari Kurri, without compensation, rather than giving Edmonton two first-round draft choices this year. . . .

Bob Arum reportedly was an easy winner in the purse bidding for the Michael Nunn-Donald Curry middleweight title fight--$851,000 to $475,000 for Dan Duva’s Main Events and $200,000 for Steve Wynn’s Mirage Hotel. . . .

Until Lee Trevino won the U.S. Senior Open, I thought they only bowled in Paramus, N.J. . . .

When Trevino and Jack Nicklaus are dueling for anything the same day Wayne Levi and Mark Calcavecchia are dueling for the Greater Hartford Open championship, I’m going to watch the seniors. . . .

After all we’ve been hearing about the World Cup, ESPN commercials tell us that the Tour de France “is considered the world’s premiere sports event.” . . .

Most baseball announcers would be lousy at soccer. Not enough statistics. . . .

Chris Evert is a rarity--a TV commentator who doesn’t talk enough. . . .

TNT deserves a D-minus for its NBA draft coverage. Believe it or not, Rick Barry could hardly get a word in edgewise. The less interesting Doug Collins hogged the microphone. And host Bob Neal should learn something about basketball. . . .

The Chris Jackson debate continues. Some NBA scouts think Denver drafted unwisely with the third pick because the little guy from LSU can’t guard anybody. Others say to heck with that, he will shoot the lights out every night. . . .

The Jim Murray Handicap, a $75,000, 1 1/4-mile event on the grass, will honor the Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist Friday night, July 13, at Hollywood Park. . . .

Winner of the first race last Friday in Inglewood was Late Divorce, whose mother is named Marion Early. . . .

Who is the fastest jockey on two feet? Twenty-five of Hollywood Park’s best will compete in a special 100-yard dash on the turf course Saturday on Jockeys Across America Day, which benefits the Donald MacBeth Memorial Fund. Among the participants will be Christine Davenport and Vicky Frontiere. . . .

If you’re in the neighborhood, try to catch the second annual ISMAC-Japan baseball card show July 29 in Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan. Wonder what a vintage Sadaharu Oh is worth? And how about a Cecil Fielder from last year?