She Should Put Money Where Her Foot Is

The Cincinnati Reds might be the most disappointing team in baseball, but that is more than can be said for their owner. . . .

Marge Schott should do the city and the sport a favor and sell the franchise before her big mouth forces her to. . . .

I appreciate Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann’s loyalty, but disagree with his widely held belief that no player, such as Lee Smith, should lose his role permanently because of an injury. . . .

Pure and simple, Troy Percival, at 26, is a much more effective closer than Smith, at 38. . . .

So much for those who believed that Pedro Martinez, a splendid middle reliever for the Dodgers before his trade to Montreal for Delino DeShields, wasn’t big or strong enough to be a starter. . . .

Hideo Nomo (5-2) was 0-1 after the same number of Dodger games last season. . . .

You know the Pittsburgh Pirates do not have a stellar pitching staff when it includes Joe Boever, who was released by the Detroit Tigers. . . .

The American League East is the most overrated division and the AL West the most underrated. . . .

The champion of the NL Central should finish the season at least three games over .500. . . .

The question in St. Louis is whether a bad back, old age or a combination have rendered Wayne Gretzky virtually useless so far during the Blues’ series against the Detroit Red Wings. . . .

Remember when goaltender Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens won three consecutive overtime games over the Kings in the 1993 Stanley Cup finals? On Monday, Roy and the Colorado Avalanche lost in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks for the second time in three games of their playoff series. . . .

ESPN hockey commentator Bill Clement is one of the best in sports. The former Philadelphia Flyer forward is knowledgeable and pertinent. . . .

Much of the starting grid for the Indianapolis 500 will be a veritable “who’s that?” of auto racing. . . .

The final four in the Butterbean look-alike contest, who will appear on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” Friday on NBC, weigh in at 431 pounds, 350, 260, and 260. For his last fight, Butterbean, a.k.a. Eric Esch, scaled 322. . . .

Randy Shields, the North Hollywood native perhaps best remembered for losing a close decision to then-welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas in 1979, will be honored at the Golden State Boxers’ Assn. annual dinner next Wednesday at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Hollywood. Other honorees are referee-judge Dick Young, trainer Cannonball Green and ex-fighter Fabela Chavez. . . .

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Sweating out the results of a photo finish Saturday at Churchill Downs was nothing new for Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert, a couple of old quarter-horse trainers. . . .

It was a bumpy weekend for jockey Kent Desormeaux. . . .

After getting bruised in a spill Friday night at Hollywood Park, he took a redeye flight to Louisville, finished ninth aboard Diligence in the Kentucky Derby, and then returned to Inglewood, where his mount, Tanja, finished last in the Railbird Stakes on Sunday. . . .

Rod Dedeaux, who coached USC to 11 NCAA baseball titles, will be bestowed with the “Fourth Class Order of Merit--Cordon of the Rising Sun” by the Japanese government during a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday. . . .

Southern California’s dominance of men’s intercollegiate volleyball is reflected in the final coaches’ poll that has national champion UCLA first, UC Santa Barbara third, Long Beach State fourth and Cal State Northridge fifth. . . .

Now that point guard Jacque Vaughn wisely has decided to return for his senior season, Kansas will have the same starting five that went 29-5 last season and reached the West Regional finals. That means the Jayhawks will be ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll. . . .

Washington forward Mark Sanford, a sophomore last season, has declared himself eligible for the draft a couple of years too early. . . .

Thumbs up to the NCAA basketball rules committee for voting to put more emphasis on traveling and palming violations. . . .

The NBA ought to follow suit, except I don’t think traveling and palming violations are in its rule book. . . .

Never count out the Houston Rockets. . . .

On this date in 1970, the New York Knicks defeated the Lakers, 113-99, at Madison Square Garden in the seventh game of the NBA finals. . . .

Where have all the years gone? Willie Mays turned 65 on Monday and Johnny Unitas 63 on Tuesday.