Notes on a Scorecard - Aug. 28, 1995

In the dog days of a season that has been almost too good to believe, are the Angels physically tired, mentally tired or simply coming down to their true level? . . .

Probably a combination of all three. . . .

But if they were going to have a slump, I guess this is the right time. . . .

They should be able to hold at least a portion of their 7 1/2-game lead in the AL West and enter the postseason refreshed. . . .

The Orioles will open a nine-game home stand Tuesday. Don’t expect any rainouts unless a monsoon arrives in Baltimore because Cal Ripken Jr. is on schedule to break Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games-played record the last night of the home stand, Sept. 6. . . .

Best race in the major leagues this season might be the one between Mike Piazza and Tony Gwynn for the National League batting title. . . .

Tim Wallach’s leadership, glove and revitalized bat will be missed by the Dodgers. . . .

The three California teams in the NL West were outscored, 39-10, on Friday. . . .

If the 10-run mercy rule had been in effect, the Dodger- Philadelphia game that night would have been called at the end of four innings as was the Taiwan-Spring, Tex., final in the Little League World Series the next day. . . .

With the Phillies leading, 17-4, in the sixth inning, Vin Scully said on the radio, “If you’re keeping score, which would be a remarkable feat on your part . . . “

The San Diego Padres have tied the 1929 Chicago Cubs’ National League record of nine grand slams in a season. However, those Cubs were slightly more successful than these Padres. Managed by Joe McCarthy, Chicago won the pennant by 10 1/2 games before losing the World Series to the Philadelphia Athletics. . . .

Ted Williams wrote Larry King, the talk show host and columnist, a letter asking him to join in the campaign to get Dom DiMaggio elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. . . .

“Dom would have been elected already if his name weren’t DiMaggio,” wrote Williams, a member of the committee and a teammate of Dom’s with the Boston Red Sox. . . .

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News item: Bill Kernen resigns as Cal State Northridge baseball coach to study play writing at Columbia University. Reaction: I’m surprised that it wasn’t screen writing at USC or UCLA. . . .

Official figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission show that the Mike Tyson-Peter McNeeley fiasco at the MGM Grand on Aug. 19 drew a paid crowd of 16,113 and a gate of $13,965,600. . . .

The gate is more than twice as big as any in Las Vegas history and is believed to be a world boxing record. . . .

Unbeaten super bantamweight Enrique Sanchez is the fighter to watch on tonight’s card at the Forum. . . .

USC football season ticket sales are up slightly from last year, when the Trojans shared the Coliseum with the Raiders. . . .

Off first impressions, Ohio State seems better than Michigan. But Penn State figures to be better than both in the Big Ten. . . .

The San Francisco 49ers win the little ones as well as the big ones. Their victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday was the 20th in their last 24 exhibition games. . . .

Hennessey was an easy winner in the Hopeful on Sunday at Saratoga, but he might not be the best 2-year-old colt in Wayne Lukas’ barn. The highly regarded Dr. Caton is expected to make his racing debut during the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita. . . .

Congratulations to Channel 5 sportscaster Stu Nahan, who became a great-grandfather when granddaughter Dina Mabry delivered 7-pound Madeline Saturday at 7:11 a.m. . . .

Monica Seles’ opening match in the U.S. Open against Ruxandra Dragomir will be telecast today at 4:30 p.m. on the USA Network. Tracy Austin, who knows something about tennis comebacks, will do the commentary. . . .

I admire Tiger Woods for returning to Stanford for his sophomore year after winning his second consecutive U.S. Amateur championship. . . .

That wasn’t Mark McCumber leading the cheering for Greg Norman when Norman won the World Series of Golf on Sunday and became the leading money-earner ever on the PGA Tour. . . .

Norman accused McCumber of cheating on opening day in the tournament--and McCumber was one of the most vocal critics when Norman championed the proposed world tour. . . .

Strange, but there were never any sidebars on the “Perry Mason” television show.