New York Hit Hard by Inflation; Teams Get Less for Money

There is no joy in New York, where the Yankees have been down for years and the Mets, despite gargantuan financial investment, are joining them.

The Mets’ opening-day roster, averaging $1.7 million in salary per player, was the highest paid in baseball. At their present pace, they would finish 73-89. Since the Major League Players Assn. began keeping records in 1978, only one other team--the 1986 Atlanta Braves--has compiled a losing record with the game’s highest payroll.

Asks the New York Times’ Robert Lipsyte: “Should tickets be discounted because most of the interesting players--(Bobby) Bonilla . . . Bret Saberhagen, Dave Magadan and Howard Johnson--are on the disabled list?

“If this Mets team, as is, had played for the United States in the Olympics, would we have won a medal?”

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Keep smiling: Remember when Bonilla, the New York native returning for a $29-million contract, vowed never to let the pressure affect his happy demeanor?

Bonilla is batting .260 with 12 home runs, 54 runs batted in and few laughs.

“Bonilla’s relationship with the fans has been difficult,” writes Jennifer Frey of the New York Times, “his relationship with the press strained at best.”

Bonilla told Frey: “It’s definitely different playing in New York. I’ve learned a lot about the city. I’ve learned a lot about myself. Not everyone can play here, but I know I can. After going through and experiencing what I’ve gone through this year, I know in my heart I can.”

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Trivia time: Miami has won or shared the No. 1 ranking in college football for the last three seasons. What school did it four years in a row?

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An education: Winning isn’t everything, U.S. baseball Coach Ron Fraser learned recently.

His team didn’t win a medal in the Olympics, finishing fourth behind Cuba, Taiwan and Japan.

“I got more of a feeling just how important it was to just compete,” Fraser said. “In that (Olympic) village, I saw athletes from all over the world. They’re very proud to say, ‘I was ninth in the world.’ You know how we are. If you’re not No. 1 in the world, forget it.”

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Good riddance: The Minnesota Vikings, hoping to begin a tradition under Coach Dennis Green, are employing a no-holds-barred marketing strategy aimed at stressing a break with their disappointing recent past.

In one TV ad, a club receptionist is overheard referring to departed players, telling a caller: “Mr. (Herschel) Walker is pursuing other interests.”

Then she says of another unnamed player: “We booted his butt, too.”

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Good riddance II: When pole vaulter Sergei Bubka shocked the world by no-heighting at Barcelona, not everyone wept for him.

Bubka, here for last winter’s Sunkist Invitational, criticized promoter Al Franken for not providing a tartan runway. A makeshift rubber runway was nailed onto the plywood boards, and Bubka cleared 19 feet 8 1/4 inches, still the highest vault on U.S. soil.

“Had he done that, he’d have won the Olympics comfortably,” Franken says. “My opinion is, the hell with Sergei Bubka.”

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Bombs away: John Daly’s golf game is off, but his mouth still works.

During last week’s PGA Championship, Daly told CBS’ Jim Nantz about his drinking problem: “Me and Jack Daniels, we had a few wars, and he won and I got out at 23.” He also criticized Brent Musburger, calling him “one of the worst announcers I’ve seen in golf.”

Nantz said he feared CBS wouldn’t allow criticism of an announcer to be broadcast, but CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian ran the interview in its entirety.

Footnote: Musburger no longer works for CBS, but ABC.

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Trivia answer: No school has ever been No. 1 four consecutive years. The best previous run of championships was Notre Dame’s four in seven years: 1943-46-47-49.

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Quotebook: Boston Celtic forward Rick Fox on Larry Bird’s retirement: “I knew it was raining in Boston for three days for some reason.”