One Man’s Out Is Entire Game for Another

Shortly after San Jose rejected a bond issue that would have financed a stadium for the San Francisco Giants, owner Bob Lurie gathered his staff for a meeting at Candlestick Park. He told them that it was his last attempt at winning a vote from the electorate, considering that his record is 0-4 in stadium elections.

Former San Francisco catcher Mike Sadek, now the Giants’ assistant director of community affairs, raised his hand.

“If it’s any consolation, I went 0 for 4 a lot,” said Sadek, a .226 career hitter.

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Smaller ball: Professional baseball, football and basketball players have gone on to play professional golf. Now there is a former pro bowler on the senior tour. Jim Stefanich, who was 1968 PBA player of the year, turned 50 in November and turned his sights toward golf.

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Contradiction: Effe Juan, writing in On Track, was caught by surprise when he saw a young lady at the Spanish Grand Prix wearing a trendy “Save the Rain Forest” T-shirt--while carrying a genuine crocodile-skin handbag.

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Trivia time: What is the fewest number of free throws taken by a team in an NBA finals game?

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Any mustard?Sport magazine polled 150 major league players, asking who is the biggest hotdog in the game. The overwhelming winner: Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics.

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Name game: The Good Doctor in Inside Sports wants to know “why they call it figure skating if no one does figures anymore.” And “why they call it soccer when nobody gets socked.”

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Golf’s No. 1: Tom Watson has won five British Opens and the Masters twice, but he unhesitatingly picks the U.S. Open, which he won once, as the best all-around test of golf.

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Crossed up: Cleveland catcher Junior Ortiz had a novel reason for striking out twice and going hitless in three at-bats recently.

“I wore my right contact on my left eye and my left contact on my right eye. When I thought a pitch was down and in, it was really up and away. And when I thought a pitch was up and away, it was really down and in.”

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High praise: Six California golf courses were listed among the 50 Greatest Courses in the World by Golf Magazine. Riviera rated 31st and Los Angeles Country Club’s North course 47th. Other California picks: Cypress Point, No. 2; Pebble Beach, No. 5; Olympic Club (San Francisco), No. 23, and San Francisco CC, No. 34. Pine Valley, in Clementon N.J., was No. 1.

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Trivia answer: Five, by the Lakers against Philadelphia in 1983.

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Not an omen: Kent Rautenberg, a stock car driver at Yuma (Ariz.) Speedway, drives a car sponsored by Ryzek Mortuary.

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Fan support: When the Angels’ Scott Bailes was a rookie with the Cleveland Indians, he was thrilled when he arrived at the ballpark and found his number, 43, draped all over Cleveland Stadium.

“I thought it was great, greeting a rookie like that,” Bailes said. Much later, he learned that Indians’ games were telecast on WUAB-TV--Channel 43.

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Quotebook: Yogi Berra, on Mickey Mantle: “He can hit just as good right-handed as he can left-handed. He’s just naturally amphibious.”