Notes on a Scorecard - April 28, 1993

Cancel that missing-persons report on Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato. . . .

The Kings will win most shootouts when these guys are on their game, and that is what happened Tuesday night in Calgary. . . .

Unfortunately, the Flames will have the road-ice advantage Thursday at the Forum. . . .

I could have sworn that was a rerun New York superstation WWOR showed Tuesday--an Orel Hershiser performance from 1988. . . .

The only difference was that Hershiser didn’t have Darryl Strawberry in right field in ’88 to ruin his shutout bid in the ninth inning. . . .

As Hershiser showed the Mets, he can beat you with his arm, bat and wits. . . .

Dwight Gooden didn’t do a bad ’88 imitation, either. . . .

New York commentator Tim McCarver on Strawberry: “I’ve never seen him swing like this. Something’s not right.” . . .

Since Strawberry changed uniforms, the Dodgers are 163-181 and the Mets 157-184. . . .

The scary thing about Eric Davis’ latest slump is that there is nothing wrong with him physically. . . .

The Dodgers’ 7-13 start equals their worst since 1929, when they were 6-14 and finished sixth in the eight-team National League. The last time they started 7-13 was in 1967, when they finished eighth in a 10-team league. . .

Thumbs up to management for admitting its mistake about locking the public out of Dodger batting practice. . . .

The American League East-leading Detroit Tigers had a spring exhibition record of 8-22. In 1984, the Tigers went 11-17 in the spring, then began the season 16-1 and eventually won the World Series. . . .

Greeting from the switchboard operator at Tiger Stadium: “Detroit Tigers. It’s a whole new ballgame.” . . .

Babe Ruth presented the bat with which he hit his first home run of the 1924 season to the old L.A. Evening Herald newspaper, which awarded it to the player with the highest batting average in the City High School League that year. Recently, the same bat was sold for $60,500 at auction in Beverly Hills. . . .

There are few more exciting things in baseball than watching umpire John McSherry try to get out of the way of a ball. . . .

The visor on Philadelphia Phillie outfielder Jim Eisenreich’s batting helmet looks like the smallest since Brooks Robinson’s. . . .

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Will Jerome Bettis become known as the Battering Ram? . . .

The Rams’ fifth-round pick, UCLA wide receiver Sean LaChapelle, says his previous pro experience includes pumping gas, scooping ice cream and digging ditches. . . .

USC safety Mike Salmon intercepted passes thrown by the No. 1 pick, Drew Bledsoe of Washington State, and the No. 2 pick, Rick Mirer of Notre Dame, last season. . . .

Olympic Games 400-meter champion Quincy Watts and 400-meter hurdle champion Kevin Young will make their seasonal debuts in their specialties Saturday during the UCLA-Brigham Young-Cal Poly San Luis Obispo meet at Drake Stadium. . . .

News item: Organizers of the 1996 Atlanta Games plan to build a 15,000-seat Olympic swimming venue and then convert it into a basketball arena for Georgia Tech. Reaction: The same thing should have been done for USC in 1984. . . .

Tatu might go first in the draft--the Continental Indoor Soccer League’s professional player draft that will be conducted today at the San Diego Sports Arena. . . .

The Los Angeles Salsa will make its debut in the American Professional Soccer League Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Toronto Blizzard at Cal State Fullerton. . . .

The best fight May 22 at RFK Stadium in Washington should be between unbeaten Roy Jones and hard-punching Bernard Hopkins for the International Boxing Federation middleweight title vacated by James Toney. In the main event, Riddick Bowe will oppose Jesse Ferguson. . . .

Hector Lopez, a former Glendale Hoover High student who won a silver medal for Mexico in the 1984 Olympics, lost his bid for the WBC lightweight title on an unanimous decision to Miguel Angel Gonzalez Monday night in Aguascalientes, Mexico. . . .

Perhaps nothing in boxing is less satisfying than a bout ended early by a butt, such as the Genaro Hernandez-Raul Perez title fight that lasted 28 seconds Monday at the Forum. . . .

The Clippers had one more sellout at the 15,925-seat Sports Arena than the Lakers at the 17,505-seat Forum during the regular season, eight to seven. . . .

Seattle SuperSonic assistant coach Tim Grgurich, who was Jerry Tarkanian’s top aide at Nevada Las Vegas, would make a terrific head coach in the NBA. . . .

Magic Johnson to George Foreman after presenting him the lifetime achievement award at the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. Sports Star Award dinner and auction: “When I grow up, I want to be like you.”