Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 10, 1995

What makes Peter O’Malley different from most baseball owners is that he rewards his manager with new contracts instead of votes of confidence. . . .

Next year will be Tom Lasorda’s 24th consecutive in a Dodger uniform. That includes four seasons as a coach under Walt Alston. . . .

Stay tuned for an I-71 World Series. . . .

The Seattle Mariners are the new darlings of baseball and the Atlanta Braves’ roster is packed with postseason veterans, but the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds are the two best teams. . . .

The league championship series matchups are attractive. Bombs away in the American League and pitching duels in the National. It’s a pity that we won’t get to see it all because of the absurd Baseball Network format. . . .

How fortunate, though, that the Mariners and New York Yankees were the only teams still playing on Sunday night. . . .

Otherwise, we might have been deprived of seeing every pitch of one of the most exciting games ever played. . . .

The Mariners’ 6-5 victory in 11 innings took 4 hours 19 minutes. But, in this case, the longer the better. . . .

The slow pace of baseball actually enhances the drama, the intensity of a tight, important game building every moment between pitches. . . .

And who said the designated-hitter rule took all the strategy out of the American League? . . .

New York Manager Buck Showalter, who stuck with starter David Cone and reliever Jack McDowell too long, gave John Wetteland and Steve Howe huge votes of no confidence. . . . What grit the Mariners showed coming back so often and winning four games last week, one over the Angels, to get at the Yankees, while facing elimination. . . .

With his batting style, size, and mammoth forearms, Edgar Martinez reminds me of Steve Garvey. . . .

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In case you haven’t noticed the logjam at the top of the NFC West, those surprising San Francisco 49ers are tied with the St. Louis Rams and Atlanta Falcons at 4-1. . . .

I’m starting to have second thoughts about my prediction that the New England Patriots would reach the Super Bowl. . . .

And the way the Browns have been playing lately, they should be delighted that the Indians are stealing the headlines from them in Cleveland. . . .

All things considered, I doubt that Dan Marino was celebrating his new NFL pass completion record Sunday night. . . .

Tampa Bay fans are slow at warming up to the first-place Buccaneers. Only 41,732, by far the smallest crowd in the NFL Sunday, saw them beat Cincinnati, 19-16. . . .

It’s an oddity that both UCLA and Arizona had the weekend off before their game at the Rose Bowl this Saturday. . . .

USC’s Kyle Wachholtz executes the play-action fake as well as any college quarterback I’ve ever seen. . . .

The starting times of the Trojans’ last three games of the season against Stanford, Oregon State and UCLA still haven’t been announced because of the uncertainty of the TV schedule. . . .

This is only the second time since 1973 that Northwestern (4-1) has won as many as four games in a season. The Wildcats were 4-7 in 1986. . . .

Don’t call them the gutty little Wildcats. Their offensive line averages 288 pounds. . . .

The New York Times computer rankings, always good for a laugh, have Iowa sixth, Florida State seventh, Notre Dame 11th, and USC 13th. . . .

No wonder Lennox Lewis wants a rematch with Frank Bruno. It would mean a huge payday for Lewis, another victory over Bruno, and the regaining of the World Boxing Council belt. . . .

Fox or TNT, both of which are planning to get into boxing in a big way, couldn’t hire a better consultant than former CBS matchmaker Mort Sharnik. He helped to develop Aaron Pryor, Alexis Arguello, Boom Boom Mancini and Hector Camacho. . . .

Thumbs up to Oak Tree management for giving fans at Santa Anita 30 races, including 21 simulcasts from across the country, in slightly more than four hours Saturday. . . .

Bobby Bonilla of the Baltimore Orioles picked up a postseason check Saturday when Ventiquattrofogli won the $133,100 Col. F.W. Koester Handicap. Bonilla owns one-fourth of the horse. . . .

Wayne Lukas ought to stick with Laffit Pincay aboard Typically Irish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Oct. 28 at Belmont Park. Pincay, 48, gave her a terrific winning ride in the Oak Leaf Stakes. . . .

Thunder Gulch, who has been retired after suffering a cracked leg in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, should be remembered as an over-achiever who accomplished more than his more highly regarded stablemate, Timber Country. . . .

It’s too bad that they couldn’t have postponed the vote on a new baseball stadium in Seattle until Monday.