In Final Tally, Maradona’s Team Gets Smacked

Diego Maradona celebrated a goal by Boca Junior teammate Claudio Caniggia last Sunday in Buenos Aires by kissing him on the lips.

Velez Sarsfield goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert said the kiss set a bad example for spectators: “I don’t agree with two men kissing each other on the lips. Football is cause for joy, but let’s not confuse matters.”

The euphoria proved short-lived for Maradona, as his team gave up five goals and he was ejected for arguing with the referee.

Trivia time: What was unusual about Bob Mathias’ victory in the decathlon in the 1948 Olympic Games?

Yo ho ho: Bill Jauss in the Chicago Tribune last Monday: “Frank Castillo walked the plank Sunday . . . backward.

“From the tip of the plank, peering into what he perceived as the shark-infested waters that swallow up pitchers with 1-10 records, Castillo beat the Padres, 8-4, before 33,376 at Wrigley Field.

“So Castillo was able to retreat onto the deck of the Good Ship Cubs.”

Outfield search: Philadelphia Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi said he had to break 5-foot-5 center fielder Ricky “the Flea” Otero of the habit of playing too deep:

“I was really worried about seeing him at Wrigley Field above the grass.”

Now we know: Pete Rose said that Albert Belle reminds him of former Cincinnati teammate Alex Johnson, who also played for the Angels:

“Between the lines [Alex Johnson] was one of the nastiest guys alive. Deep down, the guy was a pussycat.”

Incentive: Russia has promised $50,000 to any of its athletes who win a gold medal in the Summer Olympic Games.

“In the world of athletics, that might not seem like a lot of money,” wrote Joe Posanski of the Cincinnati Post, “but in Russia that is enough to buy four pairs of jeans.”

Another chance? Eric Davis, a former Dodger, now with the Cincinnati Reds, on his boyhood friend, Darryl Strawberry, who is trying to return to the major leagues:

“Darryl didn’t do anything to anybody. He didn’t tear up a clubhouse, or beat up managers. He just messed himself up, and they treated him like he tried to assassinate the president.”

Looking back: On this day in 1947, Cincinnati’s Ewell Blackwell almost duplicated Johnny Vander Meer’s consecutive no-hit record by following his June 18 no-hitter of Boston with 8 1/3 innings against the Brooklyn Dodgers before giving up a hit.

Trivia answer: At 17, he became the youngest gold medal winner in the history of the Olympic Games.

And finally: Tony Kornheiser in the Washington Post on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers naming their stadium after the restaurant Houlihan’s:

“Where once we had Yankee Stadium known proudly as ‘The House that Ruth Built,’ now we have Houlihan’s--The House That the $6.99 Special, Hot Wings and Fried Mozzarella Sticks Built.”