Notes on a Scorecard - May 24, 1995

Let there be a second Los Angeles NFL franchise in the stadium to be built at Hollywood Park, but not the Browns. . . .

They belong in Cleveland. . . .

Average attendance has been more than 70,000 at the Mistake by the Lake, Municipal Stadium, in each of the last seven seasons. . . .

A move to L.A. by the Browns would be a far greater blow to Cleveland than was a similar move by the Rams in 1946. The Rams were replaced the same season by the Browns, who spent four years in the All-America Conference before joining the NFL. . . .

The Rams officially will cease operations in Anaheim on June 15. . . .

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This will be remembered as the year when the Montreal Canadiens failed to qualify for the NHL playoffs, the Duke Blue Devils for the NCAA basketball tournament and Team Penske for the Indianapolis 500. . . .

David Robinson was the proper choice for the NBA’s most valuable player because he led San Antonio to the best regular-season record, but I still think the balloting should be conducted after the playoffs. . . .

The Dodgers’ trade for Roberto Kelly doesn’t figure to backfire like the one with Montreal that sent Pedro Martinez north for Delino DeShields. . . .

Disney isn’t the first partner Angel owner Gene Autry has had. . . .

Bob Reynolds, Leonard Firestone and the Signal Company have been prominent in the ownership at various times since its inception in 1961. . . .

Walt Disney was a member of the Angels’ advisory board from 1961 until his death in 1966. . . .

Funny how people get excited every time a complete game is pitched. Thirty seasons ago, Sandy Koufax pitched 27 complete games. . . .

Kirk Gibson is doing a lot of damage for someone who was supposed to be washed up years ago. . . .

It’s apparent that Matt Williams, who has picked up where he left off, would have broken Hack Wilson’s National League home-run record of 56 last year if not for the strike. . . .

Few major league media guides, printed when the strike was on, have players’ pictures on the cover. . . .

Jimmie Reese Night has been reset for Aug. 3 at Anaheim Stadium. The former Angel coach and world’s greatest fungo hitter, who died July 13 at 92, will be inducted into the Angel Hall of Fame in a ceremony before the game against Seattle. . . .

The NCAA saved money when it put the USC, Long Beach State and Pepperdine baseball teams in the West Regional at Fresno State and, at the same time, created an extremely tough field. . . .

Top-ranked Cal State Fullerton, the Big West Conference champion that will open its bid for a third NCAA title against Northeast Louisiana in the South Regional on Thursday at Baton Rouge, La., has a player-of-the-year candidate in versatile Mark Kotsay. . . .

Kotsay is a center fielder who is hitting .422 with 18 home runs and 75 runs batted in in 58 games and a relief pitcher who has an ERA of 0.38 in 23 2/3 innings. . . .

The only Titan on the disabled list is Coach Augie Garrido, who suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon while hitting fungoes before a game in May. . . .

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The Penta Boxing Alliance, one of the sport’s many sanctioning bodies, has requested Tuf-War USA to design a fully-padded headgear for use in title bouts. . . .

Penta President Thomas Hoggan believes headgear would not only help to prevent brain injuries, but also lessen the number of cuts. . . .

Among those attending a memorial service in Las Vegas for Jimmy Garcia on Monday was Genaro Hernandez, who won a 12-round decision in Garcia’s next-to-last bout. . . .

Bob Arum says pirating of pay-per-view boxing events is so widespread in the East that he might switch to closed-circuit telecasts that would be shown in arenas, theaters and sports bars. . . .

Thomas Hearns, 36, will fight for only the fifth time in the last three years when he faces cruiserweight Brian LaSpada on the Riddick Bowe-Jorge Luis Gonzalez card June 17 at the MGM Grand. . . .

I almost thought I was watching a Broad Street Bullies rerun Monday night, when 10 penalties were called during the first period of the Philadelphia Flyer-New York Ranger game. The difference was that none was for fighting. . . .

Billy Crystal’s portrayal of an NBA referee in “Forget Paris” is terrific except for one unrealistic bit. He calls traveling.