Smith Found He Loved Football About 200,000 Times More

For anyone who questions just how much Keith Smith loves football, there is a quantifiable answer: enough to give up $200,000.

Smith, 18, formerly a record-setting quarterback at Newbury Park High, recently finished repaying the Detroit Tigers the $200,000 bonus they gave him last summer to play baseball. Smith decided in March that he wanted to pursue a college football career, so he retired from baseball after one season.

To come up with the money, Smith last weekend sold a truck he purchased new last fall. “It was fun while it lasted,” he said.

And one day it might be fun again. Tiger scout Dennis Lieberthal said the team opened a trust for Smith, and if he returns to baseball he will get the money back.

“We don’t want the money,” Lieberthal said. “We want Keith Smith.”

Feeling lonely: A crowd of more than 10,000 showed up at the University of Hawaii’s Special Events Arena last Saturday when Cal State Northridge played Hawaii in a first-round Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoff match.

“It was pretty crazy,” Northridge Coach John Price said. “As far as I know, we had two CSUN fans there--a friend of mine and her 2-year-old son. That was the only red you could see in the stands.”

“There was about 18 people in that whole building who wanted Northridge to win--our trainers, me, my players and our two fans.”

Daredevil racer: Sprint car driver Tony Elliot won the 30-lap United States Auto Club Western States midget feature at Ventura Raceway in a car that lost the use of its brakes halfway through the race.

Elliot kept going even after noticing the problem, a remarkable choice considering he went through an eight-month layoff--from October, 1993, to May, 1994--after suffering a broken neck in a crash at Hanford, Calif.

Road kill: Traveling is perilous with the Oxnard High baseball team. Oxnard’s past two trips--to Palm Springs and Paso Robles--have included unscheduled stops for mechanical problems.

One of the team vans stalled near Banning on the way home from Palm Springs, causing a three-hour delay in the desert. Returning from Paso Robles, a van conked out, resulting in an hour delay at Pismo Beach.

Honors

The Cal Lutheran baseball team traditionally honors one of its four-year seniors by meeting that player’s wish toward the end of the season.

Mike Curran, a catcher, was this year’s recipient. He played all nine positions last week against Caltech.

At least that added a little interest to the game. Cal Lutheran won, 11-2. The Kingsmen have outscored Caltech, 131-12, in their past six games.

Quotebook

“My claim to fame is that I own a light bulb signed by Steve Garvey.”

--Scott Drootin, co-coach of the Calabasas High baseball team and owner of a light bulb company.

Drootin got the former major league star’s signature on a 100-watt bulb while visiting a supplier’s store in 1985.

His wife’s comment: “I’m glad you don’t sell toilets.”

“His knee is in terrible shape. We call him the compass. No matter which way he faces, his knee always points north.”

--Cal State Northridge football assistant Scott Norton, on the absence of hobbled offensive coordinator Rich Lopez from spring practice.

“At that point, I’m so sick of watching the pitcher get drilled, I just want to come in and end it.”

--Harvard-Westlake High right-hander Spencer Hudnut, who came in from third base to record saves in three consecutive games, including twice in the seventh inning with runners in scoring position.

Stats

Led by Steve Guerrero, the Poly High baseball team has won three in a row, including two over defending champion Sylmar, to take a two-game lead in the East Valley League. Guerrero, a pitcher and third baseman, is seven for 10 with seven runs batted in in that span. . . .

Monroe Coach Kevin Campbell said the Vikings’ home field is to blame for ending a 13-game hitting streak by Wayne Nix, who launched a long fly ball in his last at-bat against Reseda.

“He probably hit it about 360 (feet),” Campbell said. “It would have been on the street at Reseda.” . . .

Grant High outfielder Adam Frank ran his hitting streak to 16 Tuesday by going one for three in an 11-1 loss to Sylmar. Frank is batting .327.

Softball: Kim Rabas, North Hollywood High’s first baseman, has 12 hits--including four doubles and a triple--in 16 at-bats over the past four games, a .750 percentage. She has scored 10 runs and driven in eight during that stretch.

Shortstop Anna Celaya is 12 for 17 (.706) over the past four games, with 11 runs and 11 RBIs.

Fast facts: Moses Backus of Taft High timed 48.6 seconds in the 400 meters last week, marking the third year in a row and the seventh in the last 10 the Toreadors have had a sub-49-second performer in the event. Quincy Watts ran 48.27 in 1986, 46.98 in ’87 and a region-record 46.67 in ’88. Ruben Benitez clocked 47.89 in 1990 and Andre DeSaussure timed 47.11 in ’93 and 47.70 last year.

Things to Do

The Cal Lutheran baseball team opens a three-game series at home against Pomona-Pitzer today at 3 p.m. The Kingsmen (22-10) need a victory to clinch second place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The team that finishes second in the SCIAC is likely to join first-place La Verne in the NCAA Division III West regional. The series concludes with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pomona.

Compiled by Mike Hiserman. Contributing: Darin Esper, Jeff Fletcher, Irene Garcia, Dana Haddad, Vince Kowalick, John Ortega, Tris Wykes.