Notes on a Scorecard - June 13, 1995

Mickey Mantle’s walk Sunday was more important than any of his 536 home runs. . . . How would you like to have been a baseball fan in New York during the 1950s and had the opportunity to watch center fielders Mantle of the Yankees, Willie Mays of the Giants and Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers? . . .

Take 1955, for example. . . .

Mantle hit .306 with 37 homers and 99 runs batted in; Mays .319 with 51 homers and 127 RBIs and Snider .309 with 42 homers and 136 RBIs. . . .

What a day Sunday was for hitters. . . .

Montreal’s Rondell White got six hits and hit for the cycle, Oakland’s Mark McGwire hit three consecutive homers, Cleveland’s Albert Belle doubled three times, Belle and St. Louis’ Bernard Gilkey, San Francisco’s Mike Benjamin and the New York Yankees’ Jim Leyritz each had four hits, and the Dodgers exploded for one run. . . .

Fenway Park fans, some of the best in baseball, gave McGwire a standing ovation after his third homer against the Boston Red Sox. . . .

The Dodgers have played 43 games but none at home against a National League West rival. . . .

Zoilo Versalles, who died last week at 55, was the shortstop who became the first Latin American to be voted most valuable player in the majors when he led the Minnesota Twins to the 1965 American League pennant. . . .

After the 1967 season, he was traded with Mudcat Grant to the Dodgers for Johnny Roseboro, Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller. . . .

However, Versalles lasted only one season in L.A., batting .196 in 1968. . . .

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Shaquille O’Neal hasn’t been assertive enough in the NBA finals. . . .

That 7-footer wearing the sweatsuit, carrying the clipboard and meeting with Orlando Magic coaches during timeouts is assistant coach-substitute center Tree Rollins. . . .

Look-alikes, courtesy of Kevin Costner: Houston forward Robert Horry and actor Will Smith. . . . North Carolina will miss Jerry Stackhouse, but freshman-to-be Vince Carter, a small forward from Daytona Beach, Fla., is supposed to be something special. . . .

Movie director John Singleton has been named honorary chairman of the All Sport L.A. Watts Summer Games. More than 12,000 students from throughout the state will compete in 18 events June 17-18, 24-25. . . .

Within 48 1/2 hours starting at 7 on Friday night, 37 races will be run at Hollywood Park. That includes 14-race cards Saturday and Sunday. Hardly leaves time for any football stadium news conferences. . . .

Philadelphia Phillies’ Manager Jim Fregosi owns a mare that is in foal to Holy Bull, 1994 horse of the year. . . .

In September at Las Vegas, Gabriel Ruelas will return to the ring for the first time since the Jimmy Garcia tragedy. . . .

Lineup for the pay-per-view TV card July 15 at the Forum: Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez vs. Saman Sorjaturong, Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Maui Diaz, Mark Johnson vs. Josue Camacho, Lonnie Bradley vs. Dario Galindez. . . .

Galindez, a middleweight from Argentina, is the son of the late light-heavyweight champion Victor Galindez. . . .

The new USC football radio network has added station KKTR in Fresno, which used to carry Notre Dame games. Locally, KMPC will air the Trojan broadcasts by play-by-play announcer Larry Kahn and analyst Mike Lamb and 90-minute pre- and post-game shows. . . .

Running back Ricky Watters, who will be making the transition from the natural grass of Candlestick Park in San Francisco to the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, says he’s going to pitch a tent and sleep on the rug for a couple of nights “to get friendly with it.” . . .

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Detroit’s double-overtime victory over Chicago that gave the Red Wings the Western Conference title reminded me how exciting playoff hockey can be. . . .

It was a shame that so few TV viewers got to see it. ESPN2, which is made available by a limited number of cable systems, showed the entire game, but ESPN was busy with Sunday night baseball and televised only about the last half of the third period. . . .

Blackhawk goaltender Ed Belfour was magnificent in defeat, but then spoiled the whole thing by leaving for the dressing room and not participating in the traditional handshake ceremony. . . .

The announcers said they couldn’t blame Belfour, but I could. . . .

Those handshakes between rival players that end every playoff series are the best display of sportsmanship in professional sports.