Sandberg Can’t Stay Away From the Bag

Mark Calcavecchia’s caddie is the biggest celebrity in the Western Open this weekend.

The bag carrier is none other than Ryne Sandberg.

The All-Star second baseman, who stunned the baseball world by retiring from the Chicago Cubs two weeks ago, is doing a neighborly thing. He and Calcavecchia both live in the Phoenix area.

Sandberg, 34, is a six-handicap golfer who said he has always wanted to caddie in a pro tournament.

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Relative worth: Calcavecchia ranks 76th on the money list this year with $142,768. His caddie made $8.6 million last year and, even after forfeiting much of this year’s salary, about $2 million this year.

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Trivia time: When Martina Navratilova won the first of her nine Wimbledon singles championships in 1978, whom did she beat in the final?

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Is it contagious? How bad is the injury karma around the Philadelphia Phillies, who have had 11 players on the disabled list? So bad that team physician Phillip Marone worries about a spillover effect.

“It’s so bad this year that even (pitcher) Shawn Boskie’s wife breaks her shoulder roller-blading and Vinnie Vukovich (son of coach John Vukovich) breaks his hand playing baseball,” Marone said.

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Mighty feat: Twenty-eight times a player has hit two home runs in one inning in the major leagues, but no Dodger has ever done it. Rick Reichardt of the Angels did it in the eighth inning on April 30, 1966.

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But what about Big D? Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show”: “The Houston Rockets, the NBA champions of the world! Do you realize this breaks a losing streak of Texas teams that goes all the way back to the Alamo?”

Hmmm, what about the Cowboys?

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Strong talk: Atlanta pitcher Steve Avery doesn’t like playing in Denver’s Mile High Stadium, and he doesn’t care who knows it. He wrote a story for the Rocky Mountain News in which he said:

“When we come back to Denver to play again, I’m hoping it’s not my turn to pitch. I’ll develop acute bronchitis or something that is undetectable. It’s an intimidating place to pitch.

“You throw thousands of pitches a year and they all do the same thing except when you go to Denver. The breaking ball doesn’t have the same bite, and the changeup doesn’t have the same drop.”

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Wolverine watch: Vartan Kupelian in the Detroit News: “The United States soccer team has a better record in the Rose Bowl than Michigan’s football team.”

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Tough times: If baseball players go out on strike, Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says Barry Bonds will have to make do on $4.2 million.

“Maybe the International Red Cross should be advised,” Collier wrote.

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Trivia answer: Chris Evert, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

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Quotebook: Jim Pierce, estranged father of tennis star Mary Pierce: “I will never rest until Daddy’s little girl comes home to Daddy. She is sleek and powerful and she is the best. Well, I built the Ferrari, and now I want the keys back.”