If He Can’t Afford It, We’re All in Trouble

Brave owner Ted Turner bought a hot dog at a food stand during Wednesday night’s World Series game in Atlanta, carefully paying for it with three $1 bills.

Then, as he headed to the condiment table for some mustard, he said to no one in particular, “Three dollars for a hot dog. Can you believe it?”

A fan passing by who recognized Turner called back, “Then do something about it.”

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Trivia time: What is the record for the largest crowd to see a World Series game?

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Noisy controversy: The City Council of Akron, Ohio, wants the owner of the Akron Blast to change the name of the minor league baseball team.

Some say it is insensitive in the hometown of astronaut Judy Resnik, who died in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Moreover, the team’s mascot is named Kaboom.

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Morning glory: Minnesota Timberwolf General Manager Kevin McHale on the team’s 7-1 exhibition record last year, followed by a 26-56 regular season:

“What does 7-1 tell you? It’s a marathon, and there are not a lot of eyes on the first 45 steps of the Boston Marathon.”

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Hockey gourmand: Hartford Whaler defenseman Glen Featherstone, who had bone chunks, shavings and other debris removed from his elbow:

“I still have the stuff they took out. I could make elbow stew. Just add garlic and one large pizza.”

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Cheap Schott: Peter Gammons in the Boston Globe: “Marge [Schott] is such an embarrassment that she ordered the [Cincinnati Red] PR department to send letters to all media outlets demanding they return the player photos the club sent out in the spring. Honest.”

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Double talk: Ralph Nader, who played golf at Princeton, had this view of the game in the November issue of Golf Digest:

“Too dull. It’s a visual-neurological sport. It’s so ridiculous. On the other hand, it’s an oasis of ennui in an otherwise frantic and high-velocity society.”

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Respect: New England Patriot Coach Bill Parcells on the toughness of Indianapolis Colt quarterback Jim Harbaugh:

“There are QBs who stand in there and then there are QBs who really stand in there. You see a hit on him and you think there is no way he’ll get up, and there’s Harbaugh getting up, even if he’s limping back to the huddle.”

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Trivia answer: The Dodgers and Chicago White Sox drew 92,706 on Oct. 6, 1959, at the Coliseum.

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And finally: Jack Haley, who was known as Dennis Rodman’s baby-sitter when he was with the Chicago Bulls, is now with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“Dennis is a self-marketer. It’s all show,” he said. “He sits around brainstorming about ways to shock people. He gets away with it because he backs it up on the court. He’s such a good player, he can wear a dress.”