While the Others Were Busy, He’s Got Time on His Hands

Former President Ronald Reagan has accepted an invitation to speak at the Goodwill Games opening ceremonies July 21.

“The qualities of good sportsmanship which events such as these develop will be a force for good in the world,” Reagan said.

He showed he’s a good sport himself. Games organizers say they tried unsuccessfully to get President George Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to speak at the ceremonies. Seattle Mayor Norm Rice invited Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, who also declined.

Now, only the most hardened cynic would suggest that Reagan was fifth on the list. Or (perish the thought) that he headed up the “B” list.

Hello . . . Nancy?

Trivia time: If Lenny Dykstra wins the 1990 National League batting title, he’ll be the first member of the Philadelphia Phillies to do it since 1958. Who was that player?

Behind closed doors: The Athletics Congress has picked its site for the 1992 U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

The site-selection committee needed only one ballot to make its choice among Durham, N.C.; Eugene, Ore.; Knoxville, Tenn.; New Orleans; Sacramento, and Seattle.

However, the winner won’t be announced until November.

Only parliamentarian Richard Hollender knows the result. Not even the committee members know. Asked about this, committee chairwoman Patricia Rico said: “They shouldn’t. It was a secret ballot.”

But seriously, folks: Cub fan Bill Murray was master of ceremonies for Monday’s All-Star Game home run contest at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Introducing Darryl Strawberry, the actor-comedian said: “He’s back, he’s straight, he’s clean, he’s sober: Darryl (Wild) Strawberry!”

Strawberry had no reaction, but a New York Met spokesman, Jay Horwitz, said it was in poor taste, given Strawberry’s recent treatment at an alcohol rehabilitation center.

Introducing Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics, Murray said: “He’s armed, he’s dangerous, he’s from Miami. And he has five toes on each of his feet.”

There was no protest from the San Francisco Giants’ Will Clark, whom Canseco has jokingly called a “three-toed sloth.”

Coulda, woulda . . . Dickie Sisson, 36, of Lubbock, Tex., is coach of the South team in the roller hockey competition at the Olympic Festival. He was so good at the sport, he said, that in the late 1960s, the Chicago Blackhawks offered to pay him to learn ice hockey after seeing him on film.

Why did he turn down the offer? Said Sisson: “What does a 15-year old kid know?”

A devil of a time: From Nick Peters of the Sacramento Bee, writing about Giant center fielder Brett Butler’s erratic first half: “After bringing the devil into a discussion of the Giants’ problems in mid-May, Butler went into a monthlong slump before raising his level of play.”

Trivia answer: Richie Ashburn, .350.

Quotebook: Nancy Lopez, after firing her husband, Ray Knight, as her tournament caddie: “He’s still caddying for me. He carries the bag from the trunk of the car to the golf course.”