A Couple of Old Friends Get Together to Swap Stories

Dodger announcer Vin Scully has done some of his best work as a lip reader during manager Tom Lasorda’s tirades. Thursday night, though, his skills might have deserted him.

In the first inning of the Dodger-Giant telecast, after Hubie Brooks had singled, Scully commented on a picture of Brooks and Giant first baseman Gary Carter.

Said Scully: “A couple of old teammates over at first, Gary Carter and Hubie Brooks, with the Mets and Montreal, talkin’ about o-o-o-o-old times.”

Then again, they could have been talking about having been traded for one another in a five-player deal between the Mets and Montreal in 1984. Brooks and Carter never were teammates.

Trivia time: Which major league pitcher holds the record for giving up the fewest hits a game in one season?

Wunderkind watch: In case you missed it, pitcher Todd Van Poppel lost his 0.00 earned-run average as a professional Wednesday night.

The former Texas high school phenom, who signed recently with the Oakland Athletics for $1.2 million, surrendered a run as his Southern Oregon team defeated Eugene, 13-2.

Van Poppel’s cumulative record: 13 innings, one run, six hits, 17 strikeouts and six walks.

Madman across the pitch: Elton John, pop singer and sports aficionado who has been the chairman of Watford, a second division English soccer team, for 14 years, has been trying for three years to sell his shares.

He appears to have found a buyer at last--car dealer Jack Petchey, a director of rival West Ham. If the deal goes through, Petchey will give up his involvement with West Ham and take over as Watford’s chairman, and John will become Watford’s life president.

Teutonic Spartan: Get out your 1988 Cologne Red Barons press guide and mark some updates next to Dirk Reesing’s player profile:

Rated West Germany’s best inside linebacker in 1988. . . . Received offers to try out with six American teams. . . . Arrived in U.S. too late to qualify for the free-agent draft. . . . In 1990 Ram and Raider minicamps, he ran 40 yards in 4.6 seconds. . . . Now 24, will enroll at San Jose State this fall and try to showcase his talents. . . . Spartan defensive coordinator Donnie Rea said he’d never heard of Reesing, but that he would be allowed to try out as a walk-on.

Add Reesing: His teammates had mixed emotions about his American adventure. Said Ruediger Plaester of the Red Barons: “We see him go with a laughing and a crying eye. We are proud that Dirk became what he is today here in our club. It’s a good recommendation for us.”

On with the show: From Chuck Melvin of AP: When Cleveland rookie Alex Cole returned to his locker after stealing five bases in the Indians’ 4-1 win over Kansas City, his teammates had taped “Willie Mays Hayes” over his nameplate, and five sliding gloves were attached to it.

The name is from the 1989 movie “Major League,” about a motley crew of Cleveland Indians who win a division title with the help of speedster Hayes.

“Yeah, I saw the movie,” Cole said. “I can identify with him.”

Trivia answer: Nolan Ryan averaged 5.26 in 1972, his first year with the Angels.

Quotebook: Orlando Sentinel columnist Brian Schmitz, on Charles Barkley’s plans to deduct $4,500 in fines from his income tax: “I can see Charles putting Bill Laimbeer in a headlock and saying, ‘Hey, it’s a business expense!’ ”