Craig Stadler Could Never Meet Such Expectations

LPGA player Helen Alfredsson on women as athletes in the May issue of Golf Digest Extra for Women:

“I think we need to get the message out to women that it’s OK to be an athlete. You can do other things too, but it’s a tough balancing act out there.

“It’s hard trying to be pretty, trying to be feminine, trying to be skinny, trying to have your hair done nice, having long nails and then hitting the ball 300 yards. I mean, put that equation together. It does not work.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Los Angeles Dodger record for most runs batted in in a game?

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Perspective: Greg Norman’s collapse in the final round of the Masters has spurred thousands of faxes and letters in support of the veteran player.

One fax read: “Glance up at the stars, Greg. There are millions of them. You are one of six billion people on this one of ours. Does it really matter if you took a few extra strokes to get a small, white ball into a hole?”

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Front-door ceremony: Toronto Blue Jay catcher Charlie O’Brien finally received the World Series ring he won last year as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

“The UPS guy made me a very nice presentation,” O’Brien said. “What more could you ask for?”

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Weaker league: Nick Canepa in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “I would never put an asterisk after the Bulls’ 70-plus-win season--they’re too good--but, face it, they’ve played a lot of teams that couldn’t beat Kentucky.”

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Polluted sport: Al Oerter, four-time Olympic gold-medal winner in the discus, when asked by Mark McDonald of the Dallas Morning News about the continuing use of drugs in track and field:

“I’ve been discouraged. I left [competitive track] in 1968, after my last gold medal. Then, when I came back to the sport at my very first competition in the [1976] Pepsi meet at UCLA, it was bizarre the amount of chemicals taken--on the field.”

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Ill wind: San Francisco Giant pitcher Allen Watson, who gave up five homers in a recent wind-blown loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field: “I hate this place. They should burn it down. I’d hate to be a Cubs pitcher. It’s a joke here.”

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FYI: From the SportsLetter of the Amateur Athletic Foundation: “Reno’s National Bowling Stadium was named “Person of the Year” by Bowler’s Journal International.

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Looking back: On this day in 1969, Jerry West scored 53 points as the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics, 120-118, in the opening game of their NBA championship series at the Forum. Boston won in seven games.

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Trivia answer: Ron Cey, with eight against the San Diego Padres on July 31, 1974.

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And finally: Atlanta Brave pitcher John Smoltz, who lost a no-hitter on a Tony Gwynn fly ball that was scored a base hit even though it popped out of left fielder Ryan Klesko’s glove: “I know if it was a San Diego pitcher out there, it was an error.”

Phil Collier, a San Diego-Union sportswriter, and the official scorer of that game, responded to Smoltz’s complaint: “Baloney.”