Little House on the Ginza? Not With Dodgers Playing

Just whose national pastime is this, anyway? . . .

The Dodgers’ opening game at Houston on Monday was televised in Japan, but not in Los Angeles. . . .

Channel 5 thought the 11:30 a.m. local starting time would be a ratings buster. . . .

In Tokyo, the game was shown live at 4:30 a.m. . . .

And Hideo Nomo didn’t even pitch. . . .

Of course, Nomo’s first start Wednesday at the Astrodome also will be televised in Japan. But not in L.A. . . .

I passed up reruns of “Little House on the Prairie,” “Northern Exposure” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” and the noon news on Channel 5 to listen to Vin Scully and Rick Monday call the game. . . .

Scully and Monday were in midseason form and so were the Dodgers. . . .

Tom Lasorda could hardly have asked for a more encouraging opening day. . . .

Left field and the setup relief role are among the team’s few question marks, but Todd Hollandsworth got a three-run double and Darren Hall struck out half of the six batters he faced. . . .

Hall, 31, may be a late bloomer. He was in his ninth season in the minor leagues in 1994 when the Toronto Blue Jays called him up. . . .

The only negative was the sprained ankle suffered by Delino DeShields. Are injuries going to plague the second baseman still another season? . . .

John McSherry, the umpire who died Monday in Cincinnati, never took himself too seriously and was one of the best in his profession. . . .

On April 5, 1953, first baseman Herb Gorman of the Hollywood Stars died after suffering a heart attack on the field during a Pacific Coast League game against the Padres at Lane Field in San Diego. . . .

Can it possibly be 30 years since the Angels played their first game at Anaheim Stadium, a 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox and Tommy John? . . .

The way Seattle fans rocked the Kingdome Sunday night during the Mariners’ 3-2, 12-inning victory over the Chicago White Sox, you would have thought there had been an earthquake. . . .

That two-run homer by Frank Thomas in the first inning didn’t exactly shake up Randy Johnson, who struck out 14 and gave up two hits in the next 6 2/3 innings. . . .

The New York Mets did something the Jets and Giants only wish they could do, rally from a 6-0 deficit to win. . . .

Biggest opening-day upset was the San Francisco Giants getting four runs and nine hits off Greg Maddux in 5 2/3 innings at Atlanta. . . .

Considering the weather, it was fitting that Northwestern football Coach Gary Barnett threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field. . . .

NCAA basketball champion Kentucky lacked a knockout punch in East Rutherford, N.J., but showed its class by withstanding two tough challenges. . . .

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Julio Cesar Chavez usually trains at a camp 5,000 feet above sea level in Mexico. However, when he heard that Oscar De La Hoya is training at more than 7,000 feet in Big Bear for their bout at Caesars Palace on June 7, he decided to train at 8,000 feet. . . .

“Chavez had a little swelling on the knuckle of the middle finger on his left hand, but he’s back in the gym today,” publicist Debbie Caplan said Monday. . . .

Soon to make his racing debut at Santa Anita is a 3-year-old son of Seeking The Gold who has shown exceptional speed in training. His name is Nomo. . . .

Gary Stevens will try to stretch his Santa Anita Derby winning streak to four when he rides probable favorite Honour And Glory on Saturday. . . .

Cigar became the all-time North American thoroughbred earnings leader at $7,669,015 when he won the $2.4-million first prize in the Dubai Cup, but Mejiro McQueen, who ran in Japan where the purse structure is enormous, won $9,660,000. . . .

Brothers Jim McLaughlin of USC and Rick McLaughlin of Loyola Marymount will coach against each other Friday night at Pauley Pavilion in the second game of the UCLA/Big Dog Volleyball Classic at 7. Second-ranked UCLA plays fourth-ranked Cal State Northridge at 4:30 p.m. The championship game is at 7 p.m. Saturday. . . .

The question about Jeff Hostetler, the quarterback who re-signed with the Oakland Raiders for four years, is how well he will be able to stand up to the beatings he inevitably will take. . . .

The St. Louis Blues are 5-7-3 with Wayne Gretzky and 26-24-11 without him. . . .

Roger Owens, the celebrated Dodger Stadium peanut vendor, will address students at the Westside Alternative Magnet School in Marina Del Rey on Wednesday. His topic: “How to Make a Career Out of Peanuts.”