Notes on a Scorecard - May 23, 1995

The Dodgers have 10 victories this season. The Angels’ Lee Smith has 10 saves. . . .

Maybe Tom Lasorda should juggle his pitching rotation to give Ismael Valdes and Hideo Nomo more starts and Pedro Astacio and Tom Candiotti fewer. . . .

In 41 at-bats, Mike Piazza has 22 hits, four home runs and 13 runs batted in. He has scored 12 runs. In 53 at-bats, replacements Carlos Hernandez and Tom Prince have four hits, no home runs and no RBIs. They haven’t scored a run. . . .

Someone famous was missing from the broadcasting booth during the Dodger-Cub series over the weekend--Harry Caray. . . .

Caray is doing all Cub home games this season, but only a few road games. . . .

Tim Wallach can help the Dodgers not only with his bat, but with his glove. On his second day back on the job Sunday, the veteran third baseman made a backhanded stop and an accurate throw, robbing a Cub of a hit. . . .

Among the surprising divisional leaders is Boston, which is winning without Roger Clemens and Jose Canseco. . . .

Sparky Anderson played 152 games for the 1959 Philadelphia Phillies, the most of any player whose major league career lasted only one year. . . .

Anderson was known as George, not Sparky, when he played second base and Lasorda pitched for the last Los Angeles Angel team in the Pacific Coast League in 1957. . . .

Seven of the 14 National League teams have better records on the road than at home. . . .

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Is it mere coincidence that veteran NBA referee Jake O’Donnell hasn’t worked a game since ejecting Clyde Drexler early in the second quarter of Game 1 of the Houston-Phoenix series? . . .

The NBA refuses to comment on officiating assignments. . . .

There is talk again in Chicago about a Scottie Pippen-Shawn Kemp trade with Seattle. . . .

Hakeem Olajuwon was voted most valuable player last season, but rarely gets the credit he deserves. . . .

Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Dennis Rodman, Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller have been getting far more media attention than Olajuwon, but defending NBA champion and Western Conference finals participant Houston would be nothing without him. . . .

The Indiana Pacers would not be where they are--in the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive year--without Larry Brown. . . .

Two years ago, the Pacers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs after going 41-41 during the regular season. Their coach was Bob Hill, who has guided San Antonio into the Western Conference finals. . . .

Laker guard Nick Van Exel averaged 46.4 minutes of playing time during the playoffs, which included a couple of overtime games against San Antonio. . . .

Overconfidence apparently won’t be a problem this time for the Detroit Red Wings during their series against the San Jose Sharks. . . .

UCLA shotputter John Godina’s put of 71 feet 4 3/4 inches in the Pacific 10 Conference meet would have been good enough to win the 1992 Olympic Games competition. . . .

Kip Keino’s sons, Martin and Bob, both of Arizona, finished 1-2 in the Pac-10 1,500 meters. . . .

UCLA’s Jonathan Ogden is a football player-shotputter in the tradition of Michael Carter, the Southern Methodist and San Francisco 49er star. . . .

Ogden, an All-American tackle candidate, will be one of 18 returning Bruin starters next season, the most of any Pac-10 team. . . .

There are so few major track meets in the United States these days that I was surprised to turn on the TV set Sunday and see the tape of the New York Games. Featured were outstanding performances by Carl Lewis, 33, in the 200 meters and Roger Kingdom, 32, in the 110-meter hurdles. . . .

As long as Evander Holyfield insists on fighting, he should spend a buck or two on an expert cut man. . . .

Holyfield and Ray Mercer put on quite a show Saturday in Atlantic City. The truth is that virtually all of Holyfield’s fights are wars. . . .

If Pat Day had ridden as aggressively in the Kentucky Derby as in the Preakness, Timber Country might be seeking the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes. . . .

Bobby Frankel was, well, frank after his favored Top Shape finished third in Saturday’s Honeymoon Handicap at Hollywood Park. “I analyzed the race wrong and gave the jockey bad instructions,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. . . .

Straight To Bed, who has won five of seven races this year, is better known around Bob Baffert’s barn as Straight To The Window.