To Draw More, Simply Visit the Deep Well

Offhand, which would you say were the two worst baseball cities in the National League in 1990?

If you rate the teams according to attendance by market size, as the Pittsburgh Press did recently, the answer is New York and Los Angeles.

The Dodgers, who outdrew every other National League team in gross attendance with 2,925,853, ranked 11th in attendance by market size, with 21,248 per 100,000. And the Mets, second in gross attendance with 2,617,300, occupied the deep cellar with 14,444 per 100,000.

Add attendance: The newspaper’s chart showed the Pirates third, with 80,950 per 100,000, behind Cincinnati, with 126,954, and St. Louis, with 101,042.

Baseball fever? Greater Pittsburgh hasn’t necessarily caught it. The Pirates drew only 45,611 for Game 3 of the National League playoffs Monday and 50,461 for Game 4 Tuesday. Capacity for baseball at Three Rivers Stadium is 58,729.

Last add attendance: Pirate General Manager Larry Doughty did his part before Monday’s game. Walking outside the stadium, he saw a young man waiting by one of the gates.

Doughty asked him what he was waiting for. The man said he was hoping to get in but couldn’t afford a ticket. Doughty handed him a ticket for a third-base box seat.

Trivia time: What was the only major league game in which every player on one team finished with the same batting average he had when the game began?

Bad news, so-so news: For Fresno State, what good could possibly come from its 73-18 mauling at the hands of Northern Illinois Saturday?

Maybe the Bulldogs can take solace in a statistic. By surrendering only 73 yards passing, they moved from 11th place to a tie for ninth in the NCAA Division I-A pass defense ratings.

Of course, the Northern Illinois offense attempted only six passes, completed four and spent most of its time running the ball for 733 yards.

Throw in the towel: Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser, on the harassment of Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson in the New England Patriots’ locker room: “Keep Olson out and you discriminate. You break the law.

“And the commissioners of all the major sports won’t let that happen--because they’re all lawyers. They know women will take them to court and beat the pants off them.”

Now it can be told: The Chicago Cubs defeated Philadelphia, 4-3, last Wednesday, the final day of the season, to tie the Phillies for fourth place in the National League East.

Afterward, the credit went to the Cubs’ manager . . . Andre Dawson.

Manager Don Zimmer said he let his right fielder make all the decisions.

Dawson, sitting at the manager’s desk in the clubhouse, said: “I was kidding around before the game, saying I was going to manage. Zim said, ‘Go ahead and manage.’ ”

Add Dawson: Said Zimmer: “All I told him was I wanted (Greg) Maddux to win his 15th.”

Before Dawson pulled him after eight innings, Maddux (15-15) gave up seven hits and had a season-high nine strikeouts.

Said Maddux: “I didn’t mind coming out after the eighth inning. I was tired and struggled the final three innings. It would have been silly to stay in.”

As any fourth-place manager could tell you.

Trivia answer: Bob Feller’s opening-day no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in 1940.

Quotebook: Joe Sroba, agent for San Francisco outfielder Kevin Mitchell, after Mitchell signed a four-year, $15-million contract extension: “This deal indicates that major league baseball is healthy, Kevin Mitchell is wealthy and the Giants are wise.”