Rangers No Longer Stink, but Park Does

The Ballpark In Arlington, the Texas Rangers’ $189-million stadium that opened last April, stinks.

And the stench seems to be most intense near the best seats in the house.

“It’s so bad, it makes you want to check yourself every now and then,” said a fan, Tom Malaise.

Ranger officials found the problem. Seems the residue of thousands of hot dogs, mustard, relish, onions, mayonnaise, beer, etc., gets washed into storm drains and rots in Texas heat.

For the time being, the Rangers have taped over the floor drains in each section. Later, a fan system will be installed to blow gases out of the drains.

Trivia time: Who was Louis Sockalexis?

Thinning: Remember Lincoln Kennedy, the All-American offensive lineman at Washington two seasons back?

Kennedy, 6-feet-6 and 280 pounds at Washington, showed up weighing 415 pounds at the Atlanta Falcons’ mini-camp in June. The Falcons sent him for a 45-day stay at the Duke University weight loss center.

Update: With a new diet and a new appreciation for proper nutrition, he has slimmed down to 358 pounds. The Falcons say he’ll “probably” start at offensive tackle.

Come again?: A TV commentator called the Brickyard 400 race “the most significant auto racing event in this century.”

Hmmm. Guess that eliminates the Indy 500.

Hail to the Duke: Duke Kahanamoku, inducted posthumously into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach on Thursday, was enjoying a picnic with a group of Hollywood actors near the entrance to Newport Harbor on June 14, 1925.

After a day of surfing, the group fell asleep on the beach, but were awakened by the cries of a friend, Mary Grigsby, above the cliffs. A pleasure boat had capsized offshore.

Kahanamoku, known as the father of surfing, paddled a board toward the wreck. He saved eight of 12 survivors. Seventeen others died.

Milestone: Twenty-five years ago this week, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Willie Stargell hit a Dodger Stadium home run that cleared the right field pavilion. He did it again in 1973. Stargell is still the only player to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium.

Trivia answer: The man for whom the Cleveland Indians are named. Sockalexis, the first Native American to play major league baseball, played for Cleveland in 1897-99. When he died in 1913, the team was re-nicknamed the Indians, in tribute to Sockalexis.

For the record: Reader Rich Coberly correctly points out that Jim Thorpe drove in the winning 10th inning run with a single in the 1917 double no-hit game between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.

A Morning Briefing item in Friday’s editions said he’d broken up the no-hitter, which was actually done by Larry Kopf.

Quotebook: Former Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps: “My father was an undertaker. There are advantages. For instance, while I dated my wife, I sent her flowers every day.”