Notes on a Scorecard - April 14, 1993

Dodger Stadium--warm, bright, festive and the scene of the kind of 3-hour 24-minute ballgame even some sportswriters could appreciate--was a great place for Los Angeles to forget about its problems Tuesday afternoon. . . .

I am sure the Dodgers will settle for another seven-run, 14-hit, no-error performance against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight. . . .

The crowd was announced as 53,529, the largest ever for a Dodger Stadium opener, but that is deceiving because the National League is including no-shows in the attendance count for the first time. . . .

Daily report for those who have been locked out of Dodger batting practice: Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis and Tim Wallach hit the ball well, but Eric Karros got in the best licks. . . .

Rarely, if ever, has a Dodger been booed during the opening-day introductions the way Strawberry was, but his double in the fourth inning drew the friendly version of “Dar-ryl! Dar-ryl!” . . .

Brett Butler, 35, can still bunt and Ozzie Smith, 38, can still turn a double play. . . .

The throwing arm of catcher Mike Scioscia’s successor, Mike Piazza, is among the biggest improvements in the Dodger defense. . . .

One thing the Angels don’t have to worry about this season is the fat-cat syndrome. . . .

The unproven youngsters will hustle and Manager Buck Rodgers will get the most possible out of them, but whether they have enough talent to be competitive over the long season remains questionable. . . .

Much the same could be said about Jim Leyland and the three-time National League East champion Pittsburgh Pirates, who have seven rookies. . . .

The Atlanta Braves’ hitting woes might tempt them to call up first baseman Ryan Klesko from their Richmond, Va., farm club before long. . . .

Always a power in basketball, the Atlantic Coast Conference has half the teams ranked in the top six by Baseball America--No. 2 Florida State, No. 4 North Carolina State and No. 6 Georgia Tech. . . .

The Lakers should try to draft Duke point guard Bobby Hurley and turn Doug Christie into a small forward. . . .

When the long list of Phoenix Suns who weren’t suiting up for the game against the Clippers on Monday night at the Sports Arena was read, the fans booed. After all, they had paid good money to see Cedric Ceballos. . . .

If the NBA had an unsung-hero award, New York Knick forward Charles Oakley would be a candidate. . . .

Thirty-one years ago tonight, Elgin Baylor scored 61 points and led the Lakers to a 126-121 victory over the Boston Celtics in the fifth game of the NBA championship series at Boston Garden. It took Michael Jordan two overtimes to break Baylor’s playoff record with 63 points against the Celtics in 1986. . . .

That’s right, the fifth game of the 1962 NBA finals was played on April 14. . . .

If Dennis Rodman ever practiced, he would be able to improve his puny rebounding average of 18.6. . . .

There would appear to be something out of whack about Bob Huggins of Cincinnati, Jim Harrick of UCLA and Rod Baker of UC Irvine being named assistants, and Reggie Minton of the Air Force head coach of the U.S. World University Games team. Minton’s record at the Academy is 94-164. . . .

Oscar De La Hoya will box Troy Dorsey, former International Boxing Federation featherweight champion, on the George Foreman-Tommy Morrison undercard June 7 in Las Vegas. . . .

Jockey Kent Desormeaux, explaining why he would rather ride on grass than dirt: “The grass races usually are more prestigious and the horses better. You don’t get beat up by the dirt. It’s not a gruesome trip. You’re not sandblasted for a mile.” . . .

St. Louis is the front-runner for an NFL expansion franchise, with Charlotte given a slight edge over Baltimore for the other one. . . .

The difference between the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints is at quarterback, and the signing of Wade Wilson by the Saints doesn’t figure to close the gap. . . .

I wonder how the 665 Heberts listed in the New Orleans phone book feel about the Saints not re-signing Bobby Hebert. . . .

Strangest sight on ice Monday night was the Montreal Canadiens pulling their goaltender in overtime against the Washington Capitals. The Canadiens trailed second-place Quebec by two points in the Adams Division and figured the Nordiques were a cinch to beat Ottawa in their last game. Alas, the Capitals scored into the empty net. . . .

Make it 53 consecutive seasons without a Stanley Cup for the New York Rangers, who have been eliminated from the Patrick Division playoff race. . . .

The NBA ought to hire Richard Steele as a referee.