Notes on a Scorecard - July 11, 1990

If this is July 11, it must be football season. . . .

Thirty-five rookies and free agents will begin practice this afternoon at the Rams’ complex in Anaheim, and their coach, John Robinson, already is showing midseason enthusiasm. . . .

Robinson has seen the Indianapolis 500, vacationed in the Oregon resort town of Black Butte and now is ready to start the important business of trying to reach the Super Bowl for the first time. . . .

Most notable among those blocking the Rams’ path to Tampa, Fla., Jan. 27 are the two-time defending champion San Francisco 49ers. . . .

“Their team was ascending at the end of last season and, primarily because of injuries, we were staggering,” Robinson said. “But San Francisco isn’t the issue for us. We have to improve and reach a championship level. San Francisco might not even be in the NFC championship game. It might be somebody else.” . . .

Robinson is counting heavily on the 23 players 25 years old or younger who figure to be on his roster. . . .

“What has to happen to some of them is what happened to Willie Anderson last year,” the coach said. “Anderson was an obscure rookie who became one of the best players in the league. We’ve got a lot of players capable of that type of improvement.” . . .

One of them might be Cleveland Gary, the second-year running back from Miami (Fla.) who will get a lot more playing time now that Greg Bell has been shipped across the county line to the Raiders. . . .

Robinson, on the Ram schedule, which includes only one NFC West game in the first 11 weeks and five in the last six weeks: “It’s a poor schedule. I don’t know how they came up with it. If you phone to complain, they give you the number of the computer. In our division, the team that is the most healthy the last part of the year will have a big edge.” . . .

On playing an exhibition game out of the country for the third time in the last four years, against Kansas City in Berlin Aug. 11: “You’re tired when you come home, but you have a great time there and even some great practice. We’re going to get to work three days against the Chiefs.” . . .

On opening rookie camp nearly three weeks before some teams: “If you spread camp over a longer period of time, you can go at a slower pace and teach them more. They’ll work out only once a day. When the vets come to camp in two weeks, we won’t have a beat-up group of people.” . . .

On his first Indy 500: “It was fabulous. It’s such a spectacle. . . . the immensity of the event. We had access to the garages and pits. Parnelli Jones took us around the track in a car and told us what it was like to face certain situations in the race.” . . .

On what it takes to win a Super Bowl championship: “Team effort. The more you look at all sports, the more you’re aware of it.” . . .

That beef with Fred Claire didn’t exactly raise Kirk Gibson’s trade value. . . .

Tom Lasorda would love to see Darryl Strawberry in Dodger blue next season, but the New York Mets think they can sign him to a Jose Canseco-like contract before he becomes eligible to test the free-agent waters. . . .

Something was missing from my life Tuesday--box scores. . . .

News item: Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent says he will study evidence in the George Steinbrenner case at his summer home on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Reaction: Shouldn’t a baseball commissioner have a winter, instead of summer, home? . . .

How could Mississippi State not have won the College World Series when it had Will Clark, Bobby Thigpen, Rafael Palmeiro and Jeff Brantley on the same team? . . .

If he keeps this up, Ryne Sandberg should be the National League MVP even if the Chicago Cubs finish last in the NL East. Without him, they’d be in the International League. . . .

Look-alikes: Roger Craig and Lyndon Johnson. . . .

What, no out-of-the-ring escapades by Mike Tyson lately? . . .

The way LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal is performing in the Olympic Festival, Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning may no longer be the best big man in college basketball. . . .

UCLA guard Darrick Martin is part of the U.S. junior national basketball team that leaves today to play in a tournament in Uruguay. . . .

There are 36 current or former Bruins participating in the Olympic Festival, including 10 volleyball and seven soccer players. . . .

I couldn’t imagine Stan Musial and Ted Williams or Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays carrying on in public like Jose Canseco and Will Clark are. . . .

Best-looking uniforms in the All-Star game: St. Louis Cardinals’ whites. Worst-looking: Toronto Blue Jays’ grays. . . .

USC alumnus Harley Tinkham must have rolled over after memorial services were held for him Monday in Westwood. Only South Bend., Ind., would have been worse.