Notes on a Scorecard - May 21, 1991

Thumbs up to the Angels for signing Fernando Valenzuela, who could regain his effectiveness in the American League against batters who have never faced him. . . .

The worst thing the Lakers could do is approach Game 2 tonight believing that their mission of a split at Portland already has been accomplished. . . .

A split wouldn’t mean all that much if the Trail Blazers came south and won at least one game at the Forum, where they took two of three in the regular season. . . .

The No. 9 pick in a thin draft may not be terribly attractive in trade talks for a veteran point guard, but the Clippers also can dangle another first-round selection this year and any of four the next two years. . . .

Stacey Augmon, the Nevada Las Vegas forward who toiled in the shadow of Larry Johnson and then was upgraded to “the next Dennis Rodman” before a disappointing performance in the NCAA tournament, has gone from underrated to overrated to underrated. . . .

Pity the Denver Nuggets, who had the worst record in the NBA and will have to draft behind three other teams. . . .

Washington Bullet General Manager John Nash believes the lottery should be opened to all 27 NBA teams and that mediocrity shouldn’t be rewarded. . . .

A center who could be a lottery pick is Stanley Roberts, who was Shaquille O’Neal’s twin tower at Louisiana State and spent last season playing in Europe. . . .

Disney announces plans for another theme park and, all of the sudden, Wally World returns to Anaheim. . . .

Most lopsided major baseball trade this year could turn out to be the one that sent Ivan Calderon to Montreal and Tim Raines to the Chicago White Sox. So far, it has all been in favor of the Expos. . . .

Hardly a day goes by when the sports news programs don’t show an outfielder leaping above a wall to catch a ball that otherwise would have been a home run. . . .

The 13 letters in Oakland rookie pitcher Kirk Dressendorfer’s last name tie a major league record. . . .

Outfielder Mitch Webster has played for four teams in the past four years--Montreal, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. . . .

San Francisco hopes it has an answer to Ramon Martinez in Salomon Torres, a young pitcher from the Dominican Republic who is 4-1 with a 1.05 earned-run average at Clinton of the Midwest League. . . .

Rookies called up recently who could make impacts are outfielder Pedro Munoz of Minnesota and first baseman Reggie Jefferson of Cincinnati. . . .

Todd Zeile’s transition from catcher to third base is one of the smoothest since that of his St. Louis Cardinal manager, Joe Torre. . . .

One of the craziest plays of the year was Texas’ Gary Pettis being picked off first base by Detroit during an intentional walk. . . .

Jack Morris’ return to the Tiger Stadium mound against Minnesota Sunday drew only 17,148 on the same day the Pistons were playing the Bulls on TV. . . .

Remember when Steve Sax, the New York Yankees’ new third baseman, couldn’t throw the ball from second base to first for the Dodgers? . . .

Pete Rose, the Cincinnati sportscaster, needs help on hockey highlights. . . .

The Sports Illustrated jinx may be overrated. Michael Johnson, the magazine’s current cover subject, ran the fastest 200 meters in the world this year on Sunday. . . .

Sacramento promoter Don Chargin is trying to put together a Macho Camacho-Loreto Garza fight for Garza’s World Boxing Assn. junior welterweight title. . . .

The Cornell basketball team, coached by Jan van Breda Kolff, ought to schedule Hofstra, coached by Jan’s father Butch. . . .

Pat Falloon, a forward who could go in the NHL draft right behind Eric Lindros, played his junior hockey for the Spokane Chiefs, who are owned by baseball’s Brett brothers. . . .

The Pittsburgh Penguins obtained the draft rights to Kevin Stevens, who has developed into an outstanding winger, from the Kings in 1983 for the dreaded Anders Hankasson. . . .

Minnesota has a chance to join the 1938 Chicago Black Hawks and 1949 Toronto Maple Leafs as the only Stanley Cup champions with losing records during the regular season. Of course, Chicago and Toronto won their Cups when there were only six teams in the league. . . .

Best of the young heavyweight prospects is Michael Moorer, who has moved up from the light-heavyweight division without a hitch. . . .

Hollywood Park president R.D. Hubbard was flabbergasted when he asked Cindy Shoemaker on the telephone about her husband’s progress and she said, “Wait a minute, I’ll let Bill tell you himself.”