Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 13, 1996

Tom Lasorda left Monday for Vero Beach, Fla., to begin his 20th spring training session as Dodger manager. . . .

He could have flown there without an airplane. . . .

“I’m very excited,” Lasorda, 68, said. . . .

“We’ll be better than last year,” he said. “We won the division with a bunch of youngsters who had never been in the playoffs. That experience will do them a lot of good.” . . .

Pitchers and catchers report to Dodgertown on Wednesday and the rest of the squad next Monday. . . .

“We’re set at all positions except left field and the fifth starting spot,” Lasorda said. . . .

The candidates to replace the departed Roberto Kelly in left are Todd Hollandsworth, Billy Ashley, Roger Cedeno and Karim Garcia. . . .

Those who will compete to join Ramon Martinez, Hideo Nomo, Ismael Valdes and Tom Candiotti in the starting rotation are Chan Ho Park, Pedro Astacio, Darren Dreifort, Gary Rath, and Rick Gorecki. . . .

“I’m hoping that Park is ready,” Lasorda said. “He has excellent stuff. It’s a question of experience.” . . .

Another reason for optimism is the new shortstop. . . .

“Greg Gagne is a sure-handed fielder who makes all the plays and doesn’t commit many errors,” Lasorda said. “That’s what we needed.” . . .

Lasorda will join his predecessor, Walter Alston, and Connie Mack and John McGraw among those who have managed the same major league team for at least 20 years. . . .

“That’s probably more difficult than getting 3,000 hits,” said Lasorda, who has seen a few managers come and go since 1977.

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When Brent Barry won the NBA slum-dunk contest last weekend, he showed the nation that he is potentially one of the most exciting players in the league. . . .

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch ought to keep him in the starting lineup the rest of the season, no matter what happens. . . .

Barry makes rookie mistakes and is learning how to play defense, but he is the hope of the franchise. . . .

Besides, what is there to lose? The Clippers’ chances of reaching the playoffs are slim and none. . . .

George Yardley was greeted by more than 200 fans and the Newport Harbor High drum corps on Sunday when he arrived at John Wayne Airport in Orange County after news conferences in New York and San Antonio that honored him and other new members of the Basketball Hall of Fame. . . .

Among those who campaigned for Yardley’s long-overdue induction were John Wooden, Pete Newell and Bill Sharman. . . .

Ray Allen of Connecticut isn’t quite as heavily publicized as Marcus Camby of Massachusetts, Tim Duncan of Wake Forest or Allen Iverson of Georgetown, but may be the NCAA player of the year. . . .

This is looming as the first year since 1990 that no Pacific 10 Conference team finishes the regular season ranked in the top 10. . . .

However, the 65-foot shot by Arizona’s Miles Simon that beat Cincinnati at the buzzer on Sunday gave the conference a lift and increased interest in the Wildcats’ game against UCLA on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. . . .

For the record: The USC football recruit from Notre Dame High is Troy Garner. . . .

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Belated 83rd birthday greetings to Joe Ponce, who managed and trained Bobby Chacon. . . .

Steve Elkington, who won the PGA championship last August at Riviera Country Club, will return to the Pacific Palisades course for the Nissan Open Feb. 22-25. . . .

Defending NCAA volleyball champion UCLA will play four-time national champion Pepperdine on Wednesday night in the Kilgour Cup at Pauley Pavilion. . . .

Hall of Famer Kirk Kilgour, 48, suffered a spinal cord injury in 1976 that left him a paraplegic. . . .

On the Bruin volleyball roster are Dan Farmer, son of former UCLA wide receiver George Farmer, and Eric Vallely, son of former basketball guard John Vallely. . . .

Notre Dame Athletic Director Mike Wadsworth, who once was Canada’s ambassador to Ireland, will speak to the Fighting Irish alumni club on Feb. 24 at the Beverly Garland Hotel in North Hollywood. The public, including USC fans, is invited. . . .

Hall of Fame jockey Sandy Hawley, 46, is ready to begin galloping horses at Santa Anita this week and expects to resume riding in three weeks. He suffered multiple injuries last August in a starting-gate accident at Woodbine in Canada. . . .

I’ll be rooting for front-row starter Ernie Irvan, whose comeback story should be one of the best in sports this year, in the Daytona 500 on Sunday.