Batters Have Hideous Time Finding Ball

What makes the Dodgers’ Hideo Nomo so difficult to hit? Pittsburgh Pirate right fielder Al Martin explained to Post-Gazette columnist Bob Smizik:

“It’s his windup and his motion. He puts the ball behind his back and basically that’s the last time you see it until it’s halfway to the plate. Usually, you pick up the pitcher’s release point. With him, he doesn’t have one.”

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Add Nomo: Which is tougher, pitching in the United States or Japan? In 10 games as a Dodger starter, Nomo’s earned-run average is 2.62. In five seasons in Japan, it was 3.15.

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Trivia time: Where did Boston Red Sox Manager Kevin Kennedy attend high school and college?

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Stirring the straw: San Francisco comedy writer Bob Lacey, as quoted by the Chronicle’s Tom FitzGerald, on the Yankees’ signing of Darryl Strawberry:

“Do you think they’ll change Yankee Stadium’s nickname to ‘The Halfway House That Ruth Built?’ ”

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FYI: Since the start of the NHL’s seven-game format in 1939, only 10 of the 56 Stanley Cup final series have gone seven games.

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The way it was: After Minnesota Fats lost a rare exhibition pool match to a young player, he said, “Well, kid, you beat Minnesota Fats. Only problem is, if you walk into a pool hall and say, ‘I beat Minnesota Fats,’ ain’t nobody gonna believe you.”

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From the Yogi file: Yogi Berra revealed his first recorded Yogi-ism in a TV interview with Ann Liguori for the Golf Channel:

“It was in 1947 in St. Louis. I was with Bobby Brown and [the city] gave me a car. I asked Bobby to write a speech for me. He said, just tell them, ‘Thanks for making this night possible.’ So I went out and said, ‘Thanks for making this night necessary.’ ”

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But can he putt? Perhaps hoping for some divine favors, Philippines President Fidel Ramos has named a golf tournament after the Pope: the JP II Classic.

Pope John Paul II has never played a round of golf, but Ramos said the Pope once boarded the papal helicopter from the tournament course, which is located inside the presidential compound in Manila.

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No Joke(r): Batman was hired to coach women’s tennis at Villanova--Bob Batman, that is.

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Hockey groupie: Race driver John Andretti is a rabid hockey fan and makes it clear that he is pulling for the Detroit Red Wings in their Stanley Cup final with New Jersey. On the rear of his Ford Winston Cup car are the words, “Go Wings,” with an octopus logo.

His prediction, made to Angelique S. Chengelis of the Detroit News, was not so hot, however. He tabbed the Red Wings in four straight.

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Another toy: Mike Tyson’s passion for expensive cars is well known.

Bernie Schachner, the sales manager of a Brooklyn dealership, got a phone call from Tyson at closing time last Saturday. The former heavyweight champion wanted a Mercedes model 600 SL sports car, ready to drive that night.

Tyson got it, the manager said, for a $123,000 personal check.

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Trivia answer: Taft High in Woodland Hills and Cal State Northridge.

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Quotebook: Senior golfer J.C. Snead, on his fellow players: “Some of these guys wouldn’t pour water on you if you were on fire.”