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A Splendid Splinter Keeping Company With This Slugger

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For the last six weeks, baseball legend Ted Williams and his 8-year-old Dalmatian, Slugger, have been spending their time battling for one another’s health in Florida.

“Since I’ve become somewhat disabled, Slugger has been more protective,” said Williams, who uses a cane to get around since suffering a stroke in February.

Williams, 76, has been tending to Slugger, who has been undergoing treatments for cancer.

“All I can say is I hope I die before he does,” Williams said.

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Trivia time: Which golfer has the most victories on the PGA Tour this decade?

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Turnabout: In 19 games with the Colorado Rockies last season, Gerald Young drove in one run. In his first game against them Saturday night, he drove in three for St. Louis.

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Quick fix: Dikembe Mutombo’s full name is Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo, which is why he signs his autographs: “DM No. 55.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1970, Bill Singer of the Dodgers pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies for a 5-0 victory before 12,454 at Dodger Stadium.

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Dangerous game: First base coach Wayne (Twig) Terwilliger of the Minnesota Twins, 69, has been in professional baseball for 45 years and once was rated best first-base coach in the American League by USA Today.

Arthur Hirsch of the Baltimore Sun asked Terwilliger what was the worst thing that can happen to a first base coach.

“To me, it would be to get hit in the (rear) with a hard foul ball,” Terwilliger said. “Because they’ll say, ‘He’s getting too . . . old (to get out of the way).’ ”

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That’s different: “This (Indy car) team is pretty amazing,” Paul Tracy said of the Penske trio of Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi and himself. “There are no jealousies or stuff like that. Everybody helps everybody else. And we’re all proud when the other guys win.”

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Even after Unser’s victory from the pole cost Tracy a possible $1 million bonus at Cleveland?

“Well, I’m going to send Al a bill,” Tracy added.

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Bury Barry? Will McDonough of the Boston Globe said new Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer is in almost a no-win situation:

“If the Cowboys grab their third straight Super Bowl, critics will say he had the team, the staff and the winning tradition in place. If the Cowboys don’t win it all, they will say he is the reason.”

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Throneberry tales: Exploits of the hapless 1962 Mets, and especially the late Marv Throneberry, never fade away. George Vecsey, New York Times columnist, recently recalled one of his favorites:

“There was the day that Marv hit a two-out triple with the bases loaded but was called out for missing first. Even though nearly everyone in the Mets’ dugout saw Marv miss the base, Casey Stengel, the manager, started arguing with the first base umpire anyway.

“During the exchange, another umpire walked over and said, ‘Casey, I hate to tell you this, but he also missed second.’ ”

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Trivia answer: Nick Price, with 11.

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Quotebook: Former Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones, on off-road racing in Baja: “It’s like being in an airplane crash that lasts all day.”

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