Notes on a Scorecard - July 8, 1993

Cal Ripken Jr. should be given a day off Tuesday in Baltimore. . . .

Juan Gonzalez, Albert Belle, Ozzie Guillen and Mickey Tettleton should have been elected to the starting American League All-Star team and Andres Galarraga, Robby Thompson, Matt Williams and Tony Gwynn to the National League team. . . .

But if you think it is time to return the ballot to the players, consider how many of them claim they never read a sports section and know little about their opponents’ batting averages or power totals. . . .

Besides, the fans who are coming to the ballparks in record numbers deserve the right to vote. . . .

A few days before Roy Campanella’s death, an advertisement for a show at the Anaheim Convention Center said his autograph would be available for $150 on July 3. That was three times the amount being asked for those of Sandy Koufax or Muhammad Ali. . . .

Rick Monday, who is insightful and has a sense of humor, was a good choice to succeed the late Don Drysdale on the Dodger broadcasting team. . . .

At his current pace, Chili Davis could finish No. 2 among Angel single-season RBI producers, behind Don Baylor, who led the American League with 139 in 1979. . . .

Dwight Gooden’s exploits with the bat Tuesday brought to mind Drysdale’s hitting. He hit 29 home runs, including seven each in the 1958 and 1965 seasons, and often was called upon to pinch-hit. . . .

All-Star voting notwithstanding, there may be as many potential Hall of Famers playing the game now as there have been at any other time. Among them are George Brett, Nolan Ryan, Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, Eddie Murray, Dennis Eckersley, Lee Smith, Ryne Sandberg, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken Jr., Barry Larkin, Dave Winfield, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. And that’s not to mention younger players such as Ken Griffey Jr., Roberto Alomar and Juan Gonzalez. . . .

The Philadelphia Phillies are proof that you don’t necessarily need a good shortstop to succeed, having started five players at the position. . . .

It took Sparky Anderson 1,649 defeats before he got to 2,040 victories, compared to 1,613 for Walter Alston. . . . The Janet Evans Invitational swim meet today through Sunday at USC will feature Evans, Nicole Haislett and Martin Zubero. . . .

“I still call it the L.A. Invitational because it embarrasses me to call it the Janet Evans Invitational,” said Evans, who is women’s volunteer assistant coach at USC and training there under Coach Mark Schubert. . . .

However, there will be nothing embarrassing about Evans’ times. In workouts at the grand old age of 21, she is recording some of her best splits since the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. . . .

Add nicknames: The Frankfort, Ind., High School Hot Dogs. . . .

If you have ever been caught in a traffic jam outside the New England Patriots’ stadium in Foxboro, Mass.--even when the crowd was far less than capacity--you know why there is a campaign to get a facility built in Boston. . . .

Look-alikes: Barry Bonds and Russell White. . . .

New USC assistant basketball coach Adrian Walters was head coach at Gallaudet University, the school for hearing impaired students in Washington, D.C. . . .

Karch Kiraly, Kent Steffes, Holly McPeak, Angela Rock, Nicolette Sheridan, Kim Wyans and Marty McSorley are among those who will appear in the Honda Del Sol Pro Celebrity Volleyball Challenge, a benefit for the American Oceans Campaign, Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Santa Monica beach. . . .

Consider yourself knowledgeable about horse racing if you still remember who won this year’s Kentucky Derby. . . .

I liked boxing better when there were eight divisions and eight champions instead of 17 divisions and 49 champions. . . .

Women’s college basketball got boosts when first Pat Summitt of Tennessee and then Vivian Stringer of Iowa signed five-year coaching contracts worth more than $100,000 a season. . . .

Now that the Clippers have lost Ken Norman, they are nearly as thin at small forward as they are at coach.