Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 25, 1993

T.J. Rubley showed he could do the job out of the bullpen Sunday. . . .

Now it’s time for Chuck Knox to give him the starting assignment. . . .

There is nothing to lose. . . .

The Rams have been going nowhere with Jim Everett for too long. . . .

They made it to the end zone twice in the last five minutes against the Detroit Lions with Rubley. . . .

During his NFL debut, Theron Joseph Rubley from the University of Tulsa brought not only the Anaheim Stadium fans to life, but, more important, his teammates, too. . . .

Call him the Energizer. . . .

He had shown his scrambling ability during some exhibition appearances the last two years. The surprise Sunday was that he threw the ball so hard and accurately, completing 12 of 17 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns after Everett had gone two for nine for 12 yards. . . . Nerves? The kid looked as if he had been doing this all his life. . . .

“I’ve been playing quarterback since I was 5 years old,” he said in the interview room, where he displayed the same poise that he had on the field. . . .

But Sunday at Candlestick Park, when the Rams play the 49ers, Knox ought to provide him with a new experience--an NFL start. . . .

*

The first half of the Notre Dame-USC game Saturday was a slaughter, the second half more like a scrimmage. . . .

During the Gerry Faust years, the Irish were big and slow. During the Lou Holtz years, they are big and fast. . . .

Leave it to UCLA to make a great escape in the state of Oregon. . . .

Saturday, Oregon State’s Brooke Knight missed a 32-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter and the Bruins won, 20-17. . . .

Last November, Oregon’s Tommy Thompson missed a 19-yard attempt in the fourth quarter and the Bruins won, 9-6, on Louis Perez’s 40-yard field goal with no time remaining. . . .

Julio Cesar Chavez has signed a three-fight deal with the new MGM Grand in Las Vegas. First bout probably will be a junior-lightweight title defense against Frankie Randall on Jan. 28. . . .

They really didn’t have a choice, but the Maple Leafs would have gotten a lot more attention in Toronto if they had set an NHL record for consecutive victories at the start of a season any other night beside Saturday. . . .

*

There is so much wrong with baseball these days--minor leaguers masquerading as major leaguers, millionaires who don’t run out ground balls, three-hour games where nothing happens--but there was so much right about the World Series. . . .

One-third of the games had to rank among the most entertaining ever. . . .

Give me 15-14 or 8-6, decided on the last at-bat, any time over 2-1 . . . .

The Fightin’ Phillies might have been the sentimental favorites, but it was difficult to pull against two of the classiest people in sports, Paul Molitor and Joe Carter. . . .

It was Molitor, you realize, who scored the winning run Saturday. . . .

For a while, it seemed as though the Philadelphia pitching staff was using “rope-a-dope” tactics, waiting for Toronto to get bat-weary. . . .

There might have been a Game 7 if Jim Fregosi had let Roger Mason finish Game 6. . . .

And Cito Gaston would have been second-guessed from Vancouver to Halifax for the use of his bullpen if the Blue Jays had lost. . . .

I guess the designated hitter doesn’t take strategy completely out of the game. . . .

It would have been nice, though, if all six games had been played under the same rules. . . .

Why did CBS insist on showing close-up after close-up of the Phillies spitting and chewing tobacco? It was disgusting and not particularly newsworthy. . . .

Best observation on TV came from former silent screen star Steve Carlton during Game 4: “I don’t know why they can’t throw strikes.”. . . .

Molitor--who had the numbers, but maybe not the fame--clinched election into the Hall of Fame. . . .

Bet you can’t guess who led the Series in runs batted in. Tony Fernandez with nine. . . .

Mitch Williams shook off Darren Daulton’s sign before throwing the final pitch to Carter. . . .

Lenny Dykstra has become the Pete Rose of the ‘90s--with power. . . .

Now that the Blue Jays have fired hitting coach Larry Hisle, can Atlanta Brave pitching coach Leo Mazzone’s job be safe? . . .

Hall of Fame baseball writer Bob Hunter, who died last week at 80, was wonderful to young writers who sought advice, including this one many years ago.