Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 2, 1990

Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. The National League championship series opens Thursday. The American League championship series opens Saturday. The National League gets Saturday and Sunday off. The American League rests on Monday. Heaven help baseball if it dared to interfere with CBS’ college and pro football schedule. . . .

If the Dodgers sign Darryl Strawberry, they’ll win the National League pennant next season. If the Giants sign Strawberry, they’ll win the pennant. . . .

With all of Kal Daniels’ injuries and history of knee operations, it’s amazing he was leading the Dodgers in home runs and runs batted in when a partially collapsed lung ended his season in San Francisco Friday night. . . .

Willie McGee’s combined NL and AL batting average going into Monday night’s Oakland-Angel game was .324. . . .

If McGee and teammate Rickey Henderson sweep the batting titles, they’ll be the first from the same city to do so since the Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams and the Braves’ Ernie Lombardi in 1942. . . .

Dave Stewart won’t win the Cy Young Award, but he is good enough to be the starting pitcher for the A’s in the first game of the playoffs. . . .

How hard is it to hit 50 home runs? The club record of one of baseball’s most successful franchises, the Dodgers, is 43 by Duke Snider in 1956. . . .

Pittsburgh’s Doug Drabek has more complete games than the Blue Jays’ staff. . . .

A star at the new Comiskey Park could be first baseman Frank Thomas, who played football at Auburn with Bo Jackson. . . .

Security at the old Comiskey was terrific over the weekend. The park wasn’t dismantled by the fans, leaving memorabilia for either the club or salvage company to dispense. . . .

San Diego should keep Tony Gwynn and get rid of Jack Clark. . . .

Look-alikes: Denis Potvin and Jeff Bridges. . . .

Marcus Allen is such an outstanding blocker that he should be moved to fullback again when Bo Jackson returns to pursue his hobby. . . .

One of the Raiders’ greatest draft picks was Greg Townsend in the fourth round in 1983. . . .

Credit Raider assistant coach Mike White with improving Jay Schroeder’s mechanics. . . .

Mark Rypien’s injury that gave Stan Humphries the quarterback job could be a blessing for the Washington Redskins. . . .

New York Giant Coach Bill Parcells argued with defensive coordinator Bill Belichick on the sideline late in Sunday’s game against Dallas. Parcells wanted to take Lawrence Taylor out of the game, but Belichick said Taylor wanted to stay in. Taylor got his way. . . .

Bill Nicholas, retired general manager of the Coliseum, will be honored Saturday night before the USC-Washington State game. . . .

USC sophomore tailback Mazio Royster, who rushed for 70 yards against Ohio State, was named after a member of James Brown’s band. . . .

Who would have thought Rice and Oregon State would hold Houston and Nebraska to a total of 55 points Saturday? . . .

Name Game: Bakersfield College defensive back Bobby Gridiron. . . .

Michael Jordan is only the 10th-highest paid player in the NBA and will drop once rookies Derrick Coleman and Gary Payton sign. . . .

Give the edge to the Houston Rockets in the trade that brought them Kenny Smith and Roy Marble from the Atlanta Hawks for John Lucas and Tim McCormick. . . .

Cliff Levingston, the free-agent forward who will not be re-signed by Atlanta, has been offered $2.4 million for three years by the Chicago Bulls and $1 million for one year by a team in Greece. . . .

Injuries haven’t been very kind to the Breeders’ Cup. First, Easy Goer. Then Sunday Silence. Now, Housebuster. . . .

Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney, has Evander Holyfield bench pressing 300 pounds. . . .

In an unprecedented move, the California State Athletic Commission has licensed Dan Goossen as both a manager and promoter. . . .

Lou Duva would like to have Pernell Whitaker defend his lightweight title against International Boxing Federation junior lightweight champion Tony Lopez, but promoter Don Chargin says he’s working on a Lopez-Brian Mitchell unification match for February in Sacramento. . . .

Track promoter Al Franken wants to know why Miami Dolphin tackle Brian Sochia was suspended five weeks by the NFL after testing positive for steroids--and sprinter Ben Johnson was banned for two years. . . .

Pity the folks who sat in the front row at the Raider-Bear game behind 7-0 Benoit Benjamin and 6-9 Magic Johnson, who were standing on the sideline. . . .

New England Patriot owner Victor Kiam passes the blame a lot better than his team passes the ball.