This Deal Is a Guaranteed Big Hit With Angel Fans

So Tony Tavares isn’t happy about what he’s hearing at the ballpark--cheers for the Dodgers during one Angel home stand and for Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. the next.

The solution sits only a short drive from the Big A. It’s the empty house in Huntington Beach where Mark McGwire lives during the off-season.

McGwire should be living in it during the season while playing for the Angels. Tavares, the team’s president, could make it happen.

Imagine the excitement of the American League West race in the season’s second half if it depended on whether McGwire was hitting more home runs for the Angels than Griffey for the Mariners.

Imagine the excitement of the race to see whether McGwire or Griffey reached Roger Maris’ home run record first.

Angel fans would cheer so loudly, Tavares would have to cover his Mickey Mouse ears.

The Oakland A’s, of course, would have to be consulted if there is a trade to be made before the July 31 deadline for non-waiver transactions.

There are too many Angels in the outfield. Perhaps the A’s would take one, Garret Anderson for instance, and one of the Angels’ promising young left-handed pitchers in the minor leagues.

If the A’s don’t trade McGwire, they are virtually certain to lose him--with nothing more than a first-round draft choice as compensation--when he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

“He’s not going to be back,” his agent, Robert Cohen, told the Contra Costa Times this week.

McGwire, whose young son lives in Costa Mesa, said signing with a Southern California team is a “high priority.” The Angels wouldn’t have to part with any proven players if they wait to sign him as a free agent.

But why wait?

The Angels are in a pennant race now. They should trade for McGwire, sign him to a long-term deal and give the Angels and their fans someone to rival Griffey.

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It was because of Runyonesque characters like Al Braverman, who died last week at 78, that boxing used to be more amusing, if no less corrupt. . . .

As the trainer for Chuck Wepner in a 1975 title fight against Muhammad Ali, Braverman touted a salve that would prevent “the Bayonne Bleeder” from bleeding. . . .

Asked if Ali’s corner might complain Wepner was using a foreign substance, Braverman said, “It ain’t a foreign substance. It’s made right here in the United States.” . . .

That fight, won by Ali in 15 rounds, was Sylvester Stallone’s inspiration for “Rocky.” . . .

When meeting today to decide Mike Tyson’s fate, the Nevada Athletic Commission should study the New York Boxing Commission’s ruling in the ‘40s on Bummy Davis. . . .

Davis, who--like Tyson--came from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, was the dirtier fighter in the dirtiest fight ever, a welterweight affair against Fritzie Zivic in Madison Square Garden. . . .

His eyes red from Zivic’s thumbs and laces, Davis snapped, belting Zivic below the belt 30 times and kicking the referee. Davis was banned for life but later reinstated upon proving he could behave himself. . . .

The dirtiest fight of the modern era was in 1992 at Spago. . . .

Angered because of the affair between her husband/partner, Alexandr Zhulin, and rival ice dancer Oksana Gritschuk, Maia Usova reportedly grabbed Gritschuk’s head by the hair and beat it against the top of the bar. . . .

The current Tour of World Figure Skating Champions playing the Pond on Friday night, the Long Beach Arena on Saturday and the Sports Arena on Sunday has been relatively calm. . . .

Long Beach is the place to be Saturday. Four games are scheduled on the first day of the FILA Summer Pro League, including the opener between the Clippers with Lorenzen Wright and Brent Barry and NBA West with Damon Stoudamire and Roy Jones Jr. . . ..

Yes, that Roy Jones Jr. . . ..

Pro football camps are opening in other cities. We have Ray Guy’s Kicking Academy, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the University of Redlands. . . .

UCLA and USC put on the pads about a month from now. . . .

Trojan recruit Rod Perry, a wide receiver from Mater Dei High, was the MVP in the National High School All-American Bowl last weekend in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., catching two touchdown passes. . . .

Today is O.J. Simpson’s 50th birthday.

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While wondering if a downtown arena could do for Los Angeles what Jacobs Field did for Cleveland, I was thinking: That Randy Johnson-Larry Walker showdown was worth the wait, you know how intimidating Johnson is when hitters were relieved to see Roger Clemens replace him, McGwire is the strong man Disney really needs, not Hercules.