At Least One Guy Thinks That He’s One of a Kind

Linebacker Kevin Greene, who has played for the Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and now the San Francisco 49ers, said:

“If you know anything about me, I play with my heart. It’s not money to me. It’s about playing for something you believe in and playing for a team that treats you fair. I don’t know if there are a lot of guys like me left.”

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette responded by writing: “I hope not. Greene was respected for what he could do for the Steelers on the field, but was regarded as the biggest phony in the locker room.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the USC and UCLA records for longest field goal in a game?

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Perspective: Here are eight hitters who never had a hitting streak as long as Boston Red Sox rookie Nomar Garciaparra’s 30-game streak:

Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Ted Williams.

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How about a forfeit: Central Michigan has the unique--and unenviable-- distinction of playing two national champions this season.

The Chippewas were routed by I-A Florida, 82-6, on Saturday and play Marshall, last year’s 1-AA champion, on Nov. 1.

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Sit-down golfer: A mail-order catalog is offering a $17.95 Toilet Golf Set, which includes a strip of artificial turf, a plastic putter and two plastic balls so “You can now sink putts . . . while you are taking care of other business.”

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Status quo: USC is the only school with a losing record in the Associated Press top 25 college football poll. The Trojans (0-1) were 23rd last week, and retained the position this week.

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Logical explanation: Last season, the Minnesota Twins traded Dave Hollins to Seattle for first baseman David Arias. They called up Arias this month only to discover he now is known as David Ortiz. “Maybe he got married or something,” Manager Tom Kelly said.

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Good intentions: The flags at Yankee Stadium flew at half-staff last week. The team’s press notes explained the gesture was in memory of “Diana, Princess of Whales.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1962, Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators set a single-game record when he struck out 21 batters in a 16-inning, 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

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Trivia answer: USC’s Don Shafer, 60 yards against Notre Dame in 1986, and UCLA’s Frank Corral, 55 yards against Oregon in 1976.

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And finally: Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer, reporting on another Ralph Kiner Klassic:

“One of our New York spies was watching a Mets game in Baltimore when the camera homed in on the crowd behind the right-field bleachers, inspiring our man Ralph to report:

“ ‘They sell 5,000 standing room seats every day.’ Which would make them, literally, the seats you never sit in.”