It Can’t Be Said of Dodgers, but Lasorda Is Never at a Loss

The Dodgers are playing the Giants in Candlestick Park and columnist Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle advised Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda of the rowdy fans in the new left-field bleachers.

“A baseball game should be fun, exciting, a recreation,” Lasorda said. “Let’s have fun, holler, not be abusive and profane.”

Wrote Ostler: “Especially not to Lasorda. Trading profanities with Tommy is like engaging in a dart duel with a porcupine.”

Trivia time: Who holds the Laker playoff record for most free throws without a miss in one game?

Better grip: Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times writes that Notre Dame’s Rick Mirer, the Seahawks’ new No. 1 quarterback, has it all over at least one fumble-prone predecessor.

“He’s a Dave Krieg upgrade,” Kelley wrote. “Krieg with a gun. Krieg without the soap dish.”

Babe’s priorities: Mark Koenig, the last survivor of the 1927 New York Yankees, who died recently at the age of 88, commenting on Babe Ruth:

“He was a big, overgrown kid, that’s all he was. I don’t think he ever read any books. He didn’t know the difference between Robin Hood and Cock Robin. He was just interested in girls, drinking and eating.”

There’s a difference? A few days before being head-butted in the mouth by the Knicks’ John Starks (who was fined $5,000), Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller, a former UCLA standout, described the chatter he and Starks were exchanging during the playoff series:

“It’s all in fun. We’re not talking about each other’s mommas. This is classy trash talk.”

Bottle blaster: From “The Golf Hall of Shame” book: Ireland’s Harry Bradshaw was in contention in the second round of the 1949 British Open when his tee shot went into the rough and bounced into a broken beer bottle.

Bradshaw chose to play the shot from the bottle. He closed his eyes to protect them from flying glass and swung his club with all his might. The bottle splintered into shards that flew in all directions.

But the ball moved only 25 yards.

Trivia answer: Gail Goodrich with 17 against Chicago in 1971. He shares the NBA record with Reggie Miller and Chicago’s Bob Love.

Quotebook: Pittsburgh Pirate coach Rich Donnelly on erratic knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield: “You feel great about him being out there until he throws the ball.”