Opening-Day Scouting Report: Starter Has Good Glove, No Arm

Rafael Palmeiro’s old first baseman’s mitt was collecting dust in his locker until President Bush asked to use it while throwing out the first ball in Monday’s season opener at Arlington Stadium between the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers.

Bush later autographed the glove and Palmeiro plans to put it in his game room. “I never expected it back,” Palmeiro said.

Bush, who played first base and was captain of the 1948 Yale team that played for the NCAA championship, tried to throw a curve on the opening pitch and it bounced in the dirt.

“He was worried before he went out there that he was going to bounce it,” Palmeiro said. “And that’s just what he did.”

Let them eat caviar: Financially strapped, a team of Soviet female rugby players touring in Britain have made ends meet by selling caviar and bottles of vodka to buy food.

The 26 players had no money when they arrived in Wales for the Women’s Rugby World Cup because the Soviet Women’s Rugby Union provided only air fare.

Trivia time: What position did Jim Plunkett play in his first game at the Coliseum?

Dumb question: When a TV sportscaster asked outfielder Deion Sanders of the Braves what it meant to open the season in Atlanta rather than Richmond, Va., home of the Braves’ minor league affiliate, Sanders had a quick reply:

“What do you think, man? Would you rather drive a Yugo or a ‘Benz?”

Honored guests: Unable to find lodging in Indianapolis because all the hotel rooms were booked for the Final Four, the Golden State Warriors were forced to stay in Greencastle, Ind., 50 miles west of Indianapolis, for a recent game against the Indiana Pacers.

But Greencastle rolled out the red carpet, as 50 residents turned out to greet the Warriors. The local newspaper said it was the biggest event in town since John Dillinger robbed the bank.

Bo knows journalism? Bo Jackson has a new hobby--writing.

In a bylined story on the op-ed page of the New York Times, Jackson revealed that he missed baseball.

“I’ve always had dreams of things I could do in baseball, things no one has ever done, dreams about home runs and stolen bases I’ve kept to myself,” Jackson wrote. “And now that I’ve had a scare, now that I’ve been slowed down--temporarily--I want more than ever to make those dreams come true.

“I wish I could jump in the batting cage and yell at the guys and laugh at them,” he said. “I wish I could shag fly balls and tease the fans and pretend I’m going to throw the ball to them. I wish I could stand up to a 95-m.p.h. fastball and swing as hard as I can and connect and hit the ball all the way to East Hell. I wish I could even swing and miss and break a bat over my knee.”

Back to normal: The Iraqi soccer season restarted in Baghdad, after being interrupted for three months by the Gulf War.

Two games played Monday were expected to be the first in a widespread return to the Iraqi sporting calendar.

Trivia answer: Plunkett started at defensive end for the North team in the 1966 Shrine high school all-star game at the Coliseum.

Quotebook: Senior tour golfer Lee Trevino: “I’ve never had a coach in my life. When I find one who can beat me, then I’ll listen.”