Notes on a Scorecard - June 16, 1994

It is fashionable for sportswriters to say they don’t give a damn, whether there is a baseball strike. . . .

Sorry, but I do. . . .

Summer wouldn’t be the same without the summer game, especially this summer. . . .

No box scores in the morning. No debates in the afternoon about whether Tom Lasorda should have gone to his bullpen. No scoring explosions in the evening. . . .

No Ken Griffey Jr. going for 60 home runs. No Paul O’Neill or Tony Gwynn going for .400. . . .

I’m even starting to like the three-division alignment. . . .

The Dodgers wouldn’t be within shouting distance of the Atlanta Braves if there were still only two divisions in the National League. Instead, they have a nice lead in the West. . . .

There figure to be some exciting races for division championships and wild-card berths in September and October--if there is a September and an October, that is. . . .

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How strange that a superbly conditioned athlete such as Ryne Sandberg retired at 34 and a playboy such as Babe Ruth didn’t retire until he was 40. . . .

Wednesday was the 56th anniversary of Johnny Vander Meer’s second consecutive no-hitter, 6-0, over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Otherwise, that would have been best remembered as the first night game at Ebbets Field. . . .

Jose Rijo is teaching Cincinnati Red rookie Hector Carrasco to throw a slider to go along with his 95-m.p.h. fastball. . . .

Biggest joke in the voting for the All-Star game is that San Francisco Giant catcher Kirt Manwaring has 199,000 more votes than Mike Piazza. . . .

It’s surprising that Delino DeShields, who has missed 22 of the Dodgers’ 65 games, still ranks among the top 10 in stolen bases. . . .

The sophomore jinx hasn’t struck the Colorado Rockies’ fans, who keep coming out to Mile High Stadium to the tune of 55,000 a game. . . .

*

I was introduced to the World Cup in 1970 when I covered some games in Mexico for the old L.A. Herald Examiner. . . .

The atmosphere was electric on opening day when Mexico and the Soviet Union played to a 0-0 tie before more than 100,000 at Azteca Stadium. Who needed scoring? You could hear the honking of horns long into the night. . . .

Pele’s Brazil defeated Italy for the championship, and I only hope the 1994 tournament is half as interesting. . . .

Ram running back Jerome Bettis will be honored as football man of the year at the Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular on July 5 at the Century Plaza. . . .

Arnold Palmer, 64, belongs in the U.S. Open as long as he can swing a golf club. . . .

Avondre Jones, the center who has left the USC basketball program, will have to improve his work habits to become a major player elsewhere. . . .

The best pick in the NBA draft other than Glenn Robinson might be Juwan Howard. . . .

I wonder if new Boston Celtic General Manager M.L. Carr will wave towels from his seat. . . .

“Reading the Fights: Boxing and American Values” is a course being offered at Vassar this semester. A field trip recently was made to former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson’s training camp in Upstate New York. . . .

Riddick Bowe might fight Buster Mathis Jr., instead of Larry Donald, on July 15 at Hollywood Park, and then Donald in August. . . .

The slower, older version of Julio Cesar Chavez is better off fighting brawlers, such as Juan Coggi in September, than engaging in rematches with slick boxers such as Frankie Randall or Pernell Whitaker. . . .

Bertrando, the beaten favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year, is expected to return to racing in the Bel Air Handicap on July 17 at Hollywood Park. He has spent the last several months at stud. . . .

What helps to makes finishes to hockey games so furious is that each team is allowed only one timeout. . . .

Now you know how good the sport can be when there is little or no fighting. . . .

Thumbs up to ESPN announcers Gary Thorne and Bill Clement for letting the wonderful postgame scene at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night speak for itself. . . .

Now let’s see if the NHL, never known for its marketing genius, can capitalize on the excitement the playoffs generated. . . .

The New York Post is a newspaper and the New York post is Ranger goaltender Mike Richter’s best friend.