Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 22, 1991

Home, sweet, home. First the hankies, now the tomahawk chops. . . . You have to like the Braves’ chances the next three days at Atlanta, but the Twins will settle for a repeat of the 1987 World Series, when they won four at Minneapolis and the Cardinals won three at St. Louis. . . .

How ludicrous that the biggest event in baseball is played under two sets of rules, using the designated hitter in the American League city but not in the National League city. . . .

Kids’ Night matchup: Steve Avery, 21, vs. Scott Erickson, 23. . . .

Avery has caused more excitement than any young left-handed pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela. . . .

As Rich Garcia showed Sunday after Kent Hrbek’s take-down of Ron Gant at first base, the negative to bringing an umpire into the TV booth is that he is hesitant to criticize the decision of a colleague. . . .

If you prefer Vin Scully and Johnny Bench to Jack Buck and Tim McCarver, turn down the volume on your TV set and tune your radio to KNX (1070). . . . Remember when the baseball hierarchy was fearful that free agency would create dynasties? . . .

A hot trade possibility has Eric Davis, Randy Myers and Joe Oliver going from Cincinnati to San Diego for Benito Santiago, Bip Roberts and a pitcher. . . .

Among the sure things in sports is that Bill Russell, who was named by the Dodgers to manage Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League next season, eventually will succeed Tom Lasorda. . . .

The Pittsburgh Pirates may not have seen the last of Bonilla, after all. Bobby’s younger brother, Javier, is an outfielder in the Pirates’ minor league chain. . . .

A recent “Sportstats” in The Times showed that former Yankee pitcher Tommy Byrne walked an average of 8.21 batters per nine innings in 1949. But John Byrne writes to say that his dad allowed only 5.74 hits per nine innings that same season and limited hitters to a .183 batting average. . . .

The Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres are sending minor leaguers to play this winter in Australia, where it will be summer. . . .

Never again will the Lakers take Joventut Badalona lightly. . . .

Chris McCarron’s keen sense of pace was apparent again last week when he rode Twilight Agenda to victory in the $500,000 Meadowlands Cup. . . .

Wayne Lukas can’t be happy about those NBC promos for the Breeders’ Cup Classic that ignore Twilight Agenda and Farma Way. In Excess, Festin, Unbridled and Strike The Gold are the only horses mentioned. . . .

Breeders’ Cup day Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs won’t be quite the same without at least one entrant trained by Charlie Whittingham. . . .

Tommy Morrison ran out of gas after three rounds against Ray Mercer, not an uncommon occurrence for heavyweight contenders these days. . . .

Along with golf, the triathlon should be added to the Olympic Games. . . .

The Minnesota North Stars’ new black and green road uniforms are ugly. . . . Considering that the San Jose Sharks were able to sell out the Forum last week, the Kings figure to draw capacity crowds of 16,005 for every home game this season. . . .

If you want to watch one of the four local major football teams in person this week, you will have to travel. Saturday, USC plays Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind., and UCLA plays Arizona State at Tempe. Sunday, the Rams are at Atlanta. Monday, the Raiders are at Kansas City. . . .

Notre Dame running back Jerome Bettis is a smaller version of Ironhead Heyward. . . .

Few college coaches are doing as good a job this season as Bruce Snyder of California. . . .

Final score from Saturday: State of Florida 135, Cal State Long Beach, Middle Tennessee, Northern Illinois 20. . . .

Conservative rushing games may be in vogue in the NFL, but Keith Henderson of the San Francisco 49ers was the only back who rushed for at least 100 yards Sunday. . . .

Washington Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs on son Coy, a linebacker at Stanford: “He’s not going to become a coach. He’s too smart for that.” . . .

Washington’s NFL and NHL teams are 14-1 this season. . . .

The Indianapolis Colts are averaging seven points a game. . . .

Maybe the Phoenix Cardinals, who drew only 24,124 for their game against Atlanta, should move to St. Louis. . . .

The Raiders have attracted the two biggest crowds in the NFL this season, something that won’t happen in 1994 when the Coliseum renovation reduces the capacity for pro games. . . .

Amp Lee of Florida State is among the nation’s most electrifying runners.