This Certainly Wasn’t What Doctor Ordered

Tom Lasorda didn’t take Vin Scully’s advice. . . .

Despite the pleadings of the announcer, Lasorda watched all 4 hours 20 minutes of the Dodgers’ roller coaster, 16-15 loss to the Rockies on the TV set in his room at Centinela Hospital Medical Center on Sunday.

“I’m worn out,” Lasorda said. “This might set me back weeks. My stomach is churning and it isn’t because of my ulcer.” . . .

Actually, the Dodger manager is feeling well enough after his heart attack that he is expected to be released from the hospital today and might return to the dugout as early as Thursday. . . .

The July 4 game is against Colorado, but there is no way that the fireworks that night will match those at Denver over the weekend. . . .

In four games, the teams reached double figures in runs six times. . . .

“I feel so bad for the team,” Lasorda said after the Rockies took the series by scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth after Raul Mondesi had given the Dodgers the lead with a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the inning. “The plane ride to San Diego is going to be awfully long.” . . .

Lasorda learned firsthand about high-scoring games in the Mile High City almost four decades before the Rockies joined the National League. . . .

“I pitched for the Denver Bears in 1956,” he recalled. “The first game I saw, we got behind early by eight or nine runs. Our manager, Ralph Houk, said, ‘That’s nothing here,’ and told me not to hang my head. Sure enough, we came back to win the game.” . . .

On Thursday before the opener of the Dodger-Colorado series, Mike Piazza called Lasorda. . . .

“Don’t hit one for the Gipper, hit two for the skipper,” Lasorda told him. . . .

Piazza hit four in the series. . . .

Sure, the games were fun to watch, but they were farcical and more examples of why any slugging records set at Coors Field should have asterisks by them. . . .

Best entry in talk show host Jim Rome’s glossary is “Williamsport,” the Pennsylvania home of the Little League World Series and code for Denver. . . .

The Dodgers’ team batting average for Saturday’s game was .444. . . .

However, I don’t think the altitude had much to do with the Rockies stealing 10 bases Sunday, including a record-tying six by Eric Young, or the Dodgers committing four errors. . . .

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The surprising Texas Rangers arrive at Anaheim Stadium tonight with the biggest lead in the major leagues. . . .

The New York Yankees have the second biggest lead, but don’t call them the Bronx Bombers. In the American League, only Minnesota and Kansas City have hit fewer home runs than the Yankees. . . .

As radio and TV announcers can attest, too many umpires are calling balls and strikes slowly and casually. . . .

The Fox baseball commercials are more imaginative than the Fox baseball telecasts. . . .

As the average age of the players selected decreases, the NBA draft is beginning to resemble the educated guessing games that the baseball and hockey drafts are. . . .

Sleeper of the second round might be Mark Hendrickson, the senior (!) forward from Washington State taken by the Philadelphia 76ers. . . .

So you were surprised that Wayne Gretzky and Mike Keenan didn’t wind up as best friends? . . .

Last year, Urgent Request won the Santa Anita Handicap and crossed the finish line last in the Hollywood Gold Cup. This year, Mr Purple won the Santa Anita Handicap and crossed the finish line last in the Hollywood Gold Cup. . . .

Tim Henman, the young Englishman who has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, will play in the Infiniti Open July 29-Aug. 4 at UCLA. . . .

Jeremy Williams’ third-round loss to Henry Akinwande really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Williams’ jaw is not exactly made of concrete and Akinwande is a much bigger heavyweight who has decent skills. . . .

Promoters Bob Arum and Don King might not be feuding, but their publicists, Bill Caplan and Mike Marley, are. In fact, Caplan, 315, vs. Marley, 250, would be a more entertaining heavyweight bout than most. . .

Only in golf would a player, Greg Norman, inform officials that he was doing something, using an improperly labeled ball, that might be against the rules. . . .

I mean, has a pitcher ever told an umpire that he was throwing a spitball? . . .

Scully during the Dodgers’ 13-10 victory Saturday night: “This game doesn’t need a scorekeeper, it needs a certified public accountant.”