An AL Skeptic Is Won Over by the Total Game

Even before the first ball was thrown out in the World Series between the Twins and Braves, the National League won a convert in Boston Globe columnist Michael Madden.

A frequent visitor to Fenway Park, Madden had a preference for the style of baseball played in the American League. But after covering the National League championship series between the Braves and Pirates, he has become, as the headline in the Globe called him, un-American.

“Dogs and wolves may be from the same genes way back when, but they are not the same beast,” he wrote. “Same with American and National League baseball.

“I had to adjust. In time, everybody was running. What you might not have seen in all the words and graphics was . . . yes, 16 bases were stolen . . . but also 16 runners were thrown out on the bases. And that 16 doesn’t count another five or six runners who were thrown out on the bases but were called safe by a sad umpiring crew.

“ ‘Methinks,’ I thought, ‘these teams are running so stupidly because they can’t hit.’ There, I am an American Leaguer. I am using an American League argument. I do like runs, more than I like runners. I do like hitting.

“Still, I have to confess, the baseball in the National League is the complete package: strategy, running, defense, pitching and, occasionally, hitting. I am a turncoat.”

Tongue depressor: Would Magic Johnson stop smiling? Would Larry Bird stop rubbing the soles of his sneakers before shooting free throws? Would Charles Barkley stop spitting?

Probably not. But Michael Jordan wants to stop sticking out his tongue. He’s wearing a mouthpiece to correct the habit.

“But if it alters my breathing, I’m going to stop using it,” he promises.

Trivia time: Why are basketball players called cagers?

Getting the point: Like most NBA teams, the New York Knicks put their rookies through an initiation period. But they may be picking on the wrong guy in Greg Anthony from UNLV.

Veterans players have required Anthony to carry the video equipment to practices and onto the team bus. He also carries the basketball rack into practices. And before games, he has to wait in line behind the veterans to have his ankles taped.

“I’m not too thrilled about it, but I have to pay my dues,” he says. “I’m going to take it for a while, but let me tell you something: It’s a little different when they treat a point guard this way. If those other guys want the ball, they may have to ease up a little bit on me.”

Trivia answer: According to NCAA historian Jim Van Valkenburg, rules in college basketball until 1914 gave possession of the ball to the first team to touch the ball after it went out of bounds. Players from both teams would stampede in pursuit of the ball, trampling spectators. Violence attracted the violent, and so to protect the players from each other and from rowdy fans, chicken wire was installed around many courts.

B.C. hero: Once a star at B.C. (Boston College), quarterback Doug Flutie finally seems to have found a place in professional football with the B.C. (British Columbia) Lions of the Canadian Football League.

“Up here, it’s great, though some things are different,” he told the Boston Globe, specifically mentioning the palate for pizza.

“It took me the longest time to find the right pepperoni. They’ve got this thing for ham and pineapple pizza--Hawaiian pizza--and they can’t believe it if you say you don’t like it.”

Quotebook: Orlando General Manager Pat Williams on the Magic’s 320-pound rookie, Stanley Roberts: “His idea of a balanced meal is a Big Mac in each hand.”