Notes on a Scorecard - May 9, 1991

Elden Campbell made rookie mistakes Wednesday night at the Forum at a time when a rookie should not have been playing, and it cost the Lakers the game.

The two nights in Queens could have been a lot better for Darryl Strawberry--or a lot worse. . . .

Positives: He doubled his home run total, raised his batting average, stole a base and wasn’t hit in the head by a strawberry. . . .

Negatives: He left the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the ninth inning one night, struck out three times the next night, and had to be nice to the New York tabloids. . . .

Vin Scully, noting that there are no bleachers in right field at Shea Stadium, said: “Strawberry is blessed by geography.” . . .

Among the reasons for three-hour baseball games are pitchers who get rattled by the increasing number of potential base stealers and keep throwing the ball to first base. . . .

Cedric Tallis, who died at 76 Tuesday, was the Angels’ first business manager and later became vice president of operations. . . .

Don’t let it out, but Bo Schembechler seems to be doing some good things for the improved Detroit Tigers. . . .

Angel pitcher Jim Abbott was an outstanding hitter in high school, but admits that the curveball gave him trouble. . . .

Montreal Expo outfielder Marquis Grissom is becoming a marquee player. . . .

Now that their young pitchers, particularly Steve Avery, have come around, the Atlanta Braves no longer are a laughing matter. . . .

Reader Michael Kassett complains about replays of home runs that show only the batter swinging and fail to include the pitch and the flight of the ball. . . .

Injuries had a lot to do with it, but Game 1 of the Detroit Piston-Boston Celtic series was not exactly pro basketball at its finest. . . .

That new scoreboard at the Forum is overdue. . . .

George Foreman, who is talking about fighting in July, will be Johnny Carson’s guest on “The Tonight Show” tonight. . . .

The biggest secret in boxing is Michael Nunn’s middleweight title defense against James Toney Friday at a Davenport, Iowa, ballpark. . . .

Rich Marotta will do the blow-by-blow announcing and Ferdie Pachecho the commentary on the Virgil Hill-Thomas Hearns pay-per-view telecast June 3. I hope Marotta isn’t getting paid by the word. . . .

Harry Kabakoff, the colorful manager whose best fighter was former bantamweight contender Jesus Pimentel, is living on a farm near Oklahoma City and promoting matches for 46-year-old light heavyweight Tony Anthony. . . .

Remember when the national Golden Gloves championships, which are being held this week in Des Moines, Iowa, were a big deal at Chicago Stadium? . . .

No official counts ever are given, but there could be 400,000 fans at Indianapolis for the 500. More than 250,000 reserved seats were put on sale. . . .

Wayne Lukas says Farma Way’s disappointing performance in the Oaklawn Handicap was meaningless because of the muddy track. If the conditions are better, we’ll find out more about the Santa Anita Handicap winner when he faces Unbridled, Summer Squall and Jolie’s Halo, among others, in the Pimlico Special Saturday. . . .

Patrick Valenzuela is still shopping for a mount in the John Henry Handicap at Hollywood Park Sunday, his first day back on the job after a suspension. . . .

Thumbs up to trainer Scotty Schulhofer for realizing Fly So Free can’t go a distance and not subjecting him to the Preakness and/or the Belmont. . . .

If you can throw a pass or kick a football, apply for a job in the WLAF next season. . . . Home ice probably will be the deciding factor in the Boston-Pittsburgh series. The Bruins are superior on a smaller surface, the Penguins on a larger surface. If the series goes the distance, Game 7 will be played in Boston Garden. . . .

Don’t hold your breath waiting for Edmonton to trade the rights to Wayne Gretzky’s former Oiler linemate, Jari Kurri, to the Kings. . . .

Marques Johnson, Freeman Williams and Nigel Miguel have been cast as playground basketball players in Ron Shelton’s “White Men Can’t Jump.” . . .

After Clifford Rozier transfers, he will show why North Carolina Coach Dean Smith should have played him more in his freshman season. . . .

How could Kentucky have made the silly mistake of entertaining Rozier outside a 30-mile radius of its campus? . . .

Receiving his degree today at USC will be Mark Carrier, who returned after his rookie year with the Chicago Bears to finish his studies in communications. . . .

The International Boxing Federation 122-pound champion is Welcome N’Cita.

Dar-ryl, Dar-ryl, Dar-ryl.