Promotional Gift Comes With Rapping

Snoop Doggy Dogg sparked a run on Springfield, Mass., Indian jerseys after he was shown wearing the sweater of the American Hockey League team in his video for the song, “Gin and Juice.”

Team officials aren’t sure when or where the hot-selling rapper bought the jersey, or if he is a hockey fan. In the video, he is also shown wearing a Pittsburgh Penguin sweater.

“We didn’t know it was going to be in the video,” said Carol Appleton, director of group sales for the Indians. “We saw it one night and the next day the phone was ringing off the hook.”

They can expect more calls.

Members of Pearl Jam also liked the logo and, after a recent concert stop, left Springfield with several Indian T-shirts.

Trivia time: Whose record did Babe Ruth break when he hit 60 home runs in 1927?

Clause of no concern: Peter Gammons in the Boston Globe: “The winner of the Idiotic Clause Award goes to (Milwaukee) Brewer DH Brian Harper, who gets $50,000 for (winning) a Gold Glove. For Brewer General Manager Sal Bando, giving in to that clause must have been like agreeing to not eat seal blubber for Lent.”

Splendid retort: Walt Hriniak, batting coach of the Chicago White Sox, said of criticism that Frank Thomas takes too many walks for a power hitter: “They used to say the same thing about Ted Williams.”

Attention, Jerry West: Reported the Sporting News: “Rick Pitino is at it again. Every year, he tells us how happy he is at Kentucky. And every year his name surfaces in NBA coaching rumors. Last year, it was the Clippers. This year, it’s the Lakers, Celtics and Hornets.

“This, even though he promised his son that they would stay put in Lexington until his son’s high school graduation in 1996, he gets a $1-million bonus if he is still at Kentucky in 2000, he signed blue-chipper Antoine Walker and he has most of his team returning.

“Pitino sure likes being courted, doesn’t he?”

No-brainer: Said Ray Miller, pitching coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who advises his pitchers to not waste time: “When a pitcher works fast, he has less time to think, which is a good thing.”

Say what?Said Jim Courier, asked by a reporter in Nice why he is so popular in France: “Parce que je parle comme une vache espagnole.”

Translation: “Because I speak French like a Spanish cow.”

Trivia answer: His own. Ruth hit 59 home runs in 1921.

Quotebook: John Daly, after playing all four rounds at the Masters with Ian Woosnam: “Woosy and I are talking about marriage. He says it’s the longest relationship he’s ever had.”