The First Clue Was Divulged in First Game

With each passing day, it becomes more apparent that this is the year of the pepped-up baseball, but according to Ross Atkins of the Christian Science Monitor, fans should have known it from opening day.

“St. Louis’ Ray Lankford, the season’s first batter, hit a home run against Cincinnati April 3,” Atkins noted. “The next day, in Wrigley Field’s opener, Chicago Cub center fielder Karl Rhodes set a major league opening-game record with three homers in his first three at-bats.

“By the end of the week, 186 homers were belted in 79 games, 58 more than were hit during 80 games in the first week of the ’93 season.”

Trivia time: Where was the first golf course in Los Angeles located?

One man’s view: Charles Bremner, writing in the Times of London, says of cycling’s three-week Tour de France: “(It) may be the only event that lasts longer than an English Test cricket match, but as far as the spectator is concerned, it takes about 45 seconds, the time for a gang of hunched, sweating men in Lycra shorts to whiz past in a blur of corporate logos. Bend down to uncork your bottle of Brouilly and you have missed them.”

One-man band: Tony Gwynn started the season with more hits (2,039) than all the other players on the San Diego Padres roster combined (1,793).

The perfectionist: When Nick Faldo was a teen-ager, he put nail varnish on his thumbs to make sure they were in the right position on the club shaft when he was putting and practiced his stroke on shiny linoleum.

Mutual admiration: Bulgaria soccer star Yordan Letchkov lives in Hamburg with his wife, Svetlana, his childhood sweetheart from Sliven. Above their bed is a photograph of Madonna.

“I am a fan of her music,” he said. “She is a full-blooded singer and I am a full-blooded soccer player.”

Frustration: Hubie Brooks played 1,645 games in 14 seasons before being released last week by the Kansas City Royals, but he shares one unfortunate distinction with Hall of Famer Ernie Banks. Neither ever appeared in a postseason game.

Wait a while: Don’t hold your breath if you’re hoping to catch an early glimpse of super NFL rookies Dan Wilkinson or Marshall Faulk. Or Trent Dilfer, the player Sam Wyche hopes will lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of their misery.

Chances are you won’t get a peek at them until the regular season, because the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Buccaneers won’t appear on a nationally televised exhibition.

Priorities: When Michael Knisley of the Sporting News asked Alonzo Mourning if he worked for Nike or the Charlotte Hornets, Mourning replied, “I work for Nike.”

Trivia answer: Pico and Alvarado.

Quotebook: President Bill Clinton: “Of all the perks that come along with being the President of the United States, the best one was being able to play 18 holes with Arnold Palmer.”