Notes on a Scorecard - May 19, 1992

New faces of 1992: The Dodgers’ Tom Lasorda and the Raiders’ Art Shell are the only two major league managers or coaches in the Southland who will not be in their first full seasons with their teams this year. . . .

Randy Pfund was hired by the Lakers Monday, Larry Brown by the Clippers Feb. 5, Chuck Knox by the Rams Jan. 8 and Buck Rodgers by the Angels Aug. 26, 1991. The Kings are coach-less. . . .

Pfund, who prepared for his new position the best way, by assisting Pat Riley and Mike Dunleavy and establishing a working relationship with the players, was the logical choice. . . .

Better the eager and knowledgeable Pfund than some jaded retread or a college coach unfamiliar with the NBA. . . .

However, the most important move the franchise made this month was extending the contract of General Manager Jerry West. The future doesn’t appear bright, but leave it to West to think of something. . . .

Brown, General Manager Elgin Baylor and Executive Vice President Harley Frankel are meeting this week to develop a master plan for the Clippers. They could keep their two first-round draft choices, Nos. 16 and 25, or package one or two of them in a trade. The Clippers also have two first-round picks next year. . . .

Finesse will be the name of the game in the Bull-Cavalier series. . . .

The Bulls lost more games in their series against the New York Knicks than during the entire playoffs last year. . . .

The Knicks might attempt to sign free agent Harvey Grant, the Washington Bullet forward who would improve their perimeter shooting. . . .

Dale Brown envisioned the Twin Towers, Shaquille O’Neal and Stanley Roberts, bringing the NCAA title to Louisiana State in 1992, not the NBA title to Orlando in 2002. . . .

Now that the Dodgers finally have some good minor league hitting prospects, they also have a good instructor in Reggie Smith. . . .

Dodger first base coach Joe Ferguson says Billy Ashley of San Antonio can hit a ball farther than Jose Canseco. . . .

Five of the six pitchers scheduled to start in the Dodger-Chicago Cub series have losing records. . . .

Manager Phil Garner has helped to turn the Milwaukee Brewers into a running, National League style team. . . .

Wally Joyner’s batting average is nearly 100 points higher than that of his team, the Kansas City Royals. . . .

Cal Ripken Jr. recently extended his consecutive games played streak to more than 1,600. The active player in second place, Mark Grace, just passed the 200-game mark. . . .

An emerging murderers’ row is Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn, Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff of the San Diego Padres. . . .

Raise your son to be a left-hander and then have someone teach him how to throw a knuckleball. . . .

Remember when a contusion was known as a bruise and an inflammation of the finger as a blister? . . .

National League President Bill White’s main contribution during his lame-duck season is his continued effort to move the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to the West and the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds to the East. . . .

Major league teams still on the market are the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners. . . .

The Cincinnati Bengals would not have traded down if they could have drafted Sean Gilbert, who went to the Rams, with what would have been the No. 4 choice. . . .

The Arizona Rattlers, coached by Danny White, will play the Cincinnati Rockers, whose quarterback is Art Schlichter, Thursday in an exhibition game at San Diego, when Arena Football is played in Southern California for the first time since 1988. . . .

Betsy King’s 11-stroke victory in the LPGA Championship was one of the greatest achievements on any golf tour this decade. . . .

The Assn. of Tennis Professionals’ top 10 looks strange without Ivan Lendl. . . .

Monday night soccer is coming to television in England, but Howard Cosell has not been asked to come out of retirement. . . .

Among those making the most progress in UCLA spring football practice was sophomore linebacker Jamir Miller, who is expected to start Sept. 12 against Cal State Fullerton at the Rose Bowl. . . .

Ram linebacker Terry Crews has volunteered for the cleanup and food distribution campaign at Bethel AME Church at 79th and Western Wednesday and is asking his teammates to join him. . . .

Coach-of-the-year and player-of-the-year awards should be voted upon after the playoffs. After all, the second season is more important than the first. . . .

The America’s Cup was too slow, but the Indy 500 is too fast.