Good Thing They Didn’t Trash the Infield After Losing, 16-3

It was on this day in 1973 that the Dodger infield of first baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, third baseman Ron Cey and shortstop Bill Russell played together for the first time in a 16-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The quartet set a major league record for longevity by playing 8 1/2 years in the same infield.

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Trivia time: Tiger Woods was named Southern California athlete of the year by the Amateur Athletic Foundation. What other golfers have received the award?

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Hunch bet: Ernie Els, the defending U.S. Open champion, and Lee Janzen, the 1993 winner, finished second in tournaments the week before their victories.

Corey Pavin finished second last Sunday at the Kemper Open. This year’s Open starts Thursday.

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Must be the Angels: The game between Oakland and the Boston Red Sox last Friday night lasted 2 hours 25 minutes, Boston’s shortest of the season.

The night before, the game between the Red Sox and Angels took 4 hours 9 minutes, the longest nine-inning game in the majors this season.

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Set ‘em up, Joe: Beer, liquor and wine can now be used to lure the New Jersey Devils to Nashville, Tenn.

The Metro Council went along with efforts to attract the NHL team from New Jersey when it voted, 26-10, to exempt a new arena from an ordinance that bans beer sales within 100 feet of a church. The arena is being built 85 feet from the First Baptist Church.

City officials said the exemption was needed to compete for a pro sports team.

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Clueless: Angel announcer Ken Brett, commenting on Saturday’s College World Series championship game: “I’m surprised they wouldn’t give USC a day off [after playing on Friday] to make it a more even contest.”

Ever heard of TV, Ken?

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Members only: The Catalina Island golf course has one rule that has never been violated. Near the seventh tee stands a sign that reads: “Absolutely No Snowmobiling.”

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A wide spread: Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,051st consecutive game Monday night.

Only five other players in the majors currently have streaks of more than 100 games--Frank Thomas, Travis Fryman, Raul Mondesi, Barry Bonds and Dante Bichette. And none of those streaks is more than 150.

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Bad vibes: Chris Donnels, picked up by Boston from Houston last weekend, was given jersey No. 6. The last Red Sox player to wear that number was Bill Buckner.

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Final results: The public address announcer at Pocono International Raceway had only one sentence for fans who waited most of Saturday to see the ARCA stock car race.

“Mother Nature won the only race here today,” he said in announcing that the program had been fogged out.

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Trivia answer: Jerry Barber in 1961, Olin Dutra in 1934 and George Von Elm in 1926.

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Quotebook: Minnesota Twin Kirby Puckett, whose team has the worst record in the majors: “There are lots of peaks and valleys in this game. We’re in a valley--Death Valley.”