Mathematically, Dodgers Look Second-Rate

The Dodgers have high hopes of winning their division title and moving on through the playoffs this year to the World Series.

How about finishing second in the National League West, eight games behind the San Diego Padres?

That’s the prediction according to a mathematical analysis developed by Bruce Bukiet, associate professor of mathematics at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Bukiet’s mathematical model projects these 1997 division winners:

National League West--San Diego; NL Central--St. Louis; NL East--tie between Florida and Atlanta, with Marlins winning the playoff.

American League West--Seattle; AL Central--Cleveland; AL East--New York.

Trivia time: Who is the only coach to have taken four schools to the men’s NCAA basketball tournament?

Oh, happy day: Hearing that Marquis Grissom and David Justice had been traded by Atlanta to Cleveland--and out of the National League--Philadelphia’s Curt Schilling said, “There’s no happier pitcher in the world than me.”

Grissom has a .450 batting average against Schilling, Justice .360.

Geography quiz: Item in the May issue of Track & Field News: “Ace decathlete Dan O’Brien has left his longtime base of operations in Idaho and moved to Arizona. ‘I like the fact that Phoenix is so centrally located,’ he says.”

Compared to what, Brownsville, Texas?

Ultimatum: Ian Connor of the New York Daily News, commenting on New Jersey Net Coach John Calipari’s calling reporter Dan Garcia a “Mexican idiot”:

“He needs to grow up or get out. He is immature, hypersensitive, far too concerned with peripheral matters.”

Optimist: Kevin Paul Dupont in the Boston Globe: “Phoenix [Coyote] boss Bobby Smith on a recent 7-2 loss to Dallas: ‘Any time you hold Dallas to one touchdown, it’s not all that bad.’ ”

Parade mix-up: Dick Vitale in USA Today: “It’s been a magical ride for Arizona, but this Wildcats parade will belong to Kentucky.”

Gutty little Lakers: Chick Hearn, commenting on the injury-depleted Lakers’ 99-97 victory over the SuperSonics Tuesday night in Seattle:

“[That’s] one of the guttiest performances of a Laker team I’ve ever seen.”

Looking back: On this day in 1988, Amy Alcott shot a one-under-par 71 and won the Dinah Shore golf tournament by two shots over Colleen Walker.

Trivia answer: Eddie Sutton with Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.

And finally: Washington Redskin owner Jack Kent Cooke’s new 78,600-seat stadium in suburban Prince Georges County, Md., will have 15,044 club seats and 280 sky boxes.

The stadium also will feature food boutiques, a microbrewery, a pizza factory and restaurants specializing in Mexican and Italian food. The stadium opening is scheduled sometime in September.