Silver and Gold Help Chi Chi Keep His Head

Chi Chi Rodriguez will be grand marshal of the Rose Bowl parade, and if he plays golf with Tournament of Roses officials during the holidays, he’ll have a quarter, a buffalo nickel and a gold piece in his pocket.

“I’m very superstitious,” he said. “I think everyone is a little superstitious, they just don’t want to admit it.”

Rodriguez marks his ball for birdie putts with a quarter, but if the quarter isn’t working, he switches to the gold piece. The buffalo nickel is for pars and eagles. Whichever coin he uses, he always marks it heads.

Trivia time: Who was the first New York City Marathon winner?

One man’s opinion: Attention Jeff Bagwell, Matt Williams and Moises Alou.

Said agent Dennis Gilbert, who is livid that Barry Bonds finished fourth in the National League MVP balloting: “The MVP vote was a popularity contest, not anything based on performance. For Barry Bonds to finish fourth is completely inappropriate. The writers should be completely embarrassed. It’s a travesty.”

Move over, Michael: Cricket fans in many Indian cities sobbed and beat their chests in grief at news that the world’s highest Test wicket taker, Kapil Dev, had retired. “This can’t be true, Indian cricket without Kapil?” asked Suraj Bhatnagar of New Delhi. In Calcutta, residents paraded through the streets carrying Dev’s photograph festooned with marigold garlands and shouted, “We Love You, Kapil.”

Tough sports: Jimmy Hudson, who attended Pima College in Arizona on a rodeo scholarship and later turned to racing stock cars, compared the two: “Rodeo is a little harder than racing a car. There’s no seat belt and no helmet.”

Trouble sleeping?The Amateur Athletic Foundation’s SportsLetter has a suggestion for insomniacs--an article in Journal of Sports Sciences titled: “The influence of electrostimulation on mechanical and morphological characteristics of the triceps surae.”

Always thinking: When Ian Baker-Finch stripped to his underwear to wade into a lake to hit a shot during a PGA Tour event, his playing partner, Nick Price, said, “If I was his manager I’d be on the phone to Jockey or Fruit of the Loom.”

Add Baker-Finch: According to Golf Digest, when Baker-Finch reached the next hole, a group of female spectators encouraged him to hit another ball in the water.

Trivia answer: Gary Muhrcke, a New York firefighter, in 1970.

Mr. Everything: It’s no surprise Jerry Rice holds Mississippi Valley State records for touchdowns, points scored, receiving yardage and passes caught--but the 49er wide receiver also holds the school record for the longest touchdown on a running play, 86 yards.

Quotebook: Sportscaster Al Trautwig, during a Little League World Series game on ABC-TV: “This is the kind of event you’d miss if you couldn’t get here.”