Writer Lands Combination to Don King

Don King, a vulnerable target, has been taking a bashing in the newspapers. The hardest blows might have come from New York Daily News columnist Michael Katz.

“King is consumed by greed, the need to have it all,” Katz wrote. “What he did to Mike Tyson’s money, even if it was with the approval of Kid Lollipop, the biggest sucker in heavyweight history, does not surprise anyone.

“What sets King even lower than the sewers where (boxing) usually swims is his racial tone. Criticize him, as I have done, and become a ‘racist.’ Go against his wishes, as International Boxing Federation President Bob Lee has, and become an ‘Uncle Tom.’

“It is the way he equates Tyson’s rape conviction with the Rodney King beating and subsequent acquittal of Los Angeles policemen. Desiree Washington, the rape victim, was not black, according to King. ‘She’s black on the outside but white on the inside,’ he says.”

Add King: Katz claims King is not a racist. “He is an equal opportunity exploiter,” Katz wrote. “Race is one of his weapons. He’ll use it to convince black fighters ‘we’ve got to stick together,’ even if it means their money will then stick to him. In white company, he plays other games.

“Many years ago, the late Jimmy Cannon wrote of Joe Louis: ‘He’s a credit to his race--the human race.’ Don King is a discredit to his race. Our race.”

Statuesque Tommy: The townspeople of Schenectady, N.Y., have decided to build a statue of Tom Lasorda, who pitched there in 1948, once striking out 25 batters in a 15-inning game.

Bob Costas, who had Lasorda on his nationally syndicated radio show, wondered which Lasorda the statue would resemble. “Will it be the old, fat Tommy or the new, thin Tommy?” Costas asked.

Said Don Drysdale, also a guest on the show: “I don’t think the pigeons will care one way or the other.”

Trivia time: What was Lasorda’s pitching record with the Dodgers?

Baby boomers: Devon White and Kelly Gruber each hit a two-run homer for the Toronto Blue Jays in a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners last week.

Both called the shots, saying they would hit home runs that night for their daughters.

White hit his for Davellya, who was celebrating her first birthday that day.

Gruber hit his for Cassie, who was born three days earlier.

“I definitely wanted to do something for Cassie,” Gruber said. “I was actually trying to mouth the words, ‘This one’s for you, Cassie.’ I’m sure (wife) Lynn was watching.”

White, who was 0 for 11 before hitting his seventh-inning homer, said it was his second called shot. “I called one for my son back in Chicago in 1987,” he said.

Add called shots: In Al Stump’s second Ty Cobb book, a biography due out late this year, Cobb pooh-poohs Babe Ruth’s called shot in the 1932 World Series. “A phony story,” Cobb says.

But Cobb says he called a shot--in fact, five of them. Before a Detroit-St. Louis series on May 5-6, 1924, Cobb told two writers, “Watch me today, gents. I’m tired of reading about how I get my runs with singles, steals and bunts. So I am going to give you some home runs. That’s a promise.”

Cobb hit three homers in one game and two in the next. Five home runs in two consecutive days is still the American League record.

Trivia answer: In two seasons with the Dodgers, 1954 and ‘55, Lasorda appeared in eight games, four each year. His combined record was 0-0. In 1956, he was 0-4 for Kansas City.

Quotebook: From Larry Holmes: “Don King doesn’t care if it’s black or white. All he cares about is green.”