Mr. October Is a Little Blue Over Dodgers

How would Reggie Jackson deal with the Mike Piazza situation?

If you listen to Jackson, he very nearly had a chance to take on the task of pleasing the disgruntled Dodger catcher. Jackson said the other day that he and some of his wealthy friends bid $300 million to buy the Dodgers.

Instead, Rupert Murdoch won out and Reggie remains blue over the lost opportunity.

“I thought we had an opportunity to buy the Dodgers, with the people I was involved with,” Jackson told Newsday. “Supposedly, we were finalists. I definitely thought we had a shot at it. I don’t think we were treated fairly. We were one of the last three high bidders, I believe. They told us we needed to be near $300 million. We were there. The quote from our people is we would go north of that.”

Jackson would have been the key figure in the baseball operations department. He told Newsday that he has a theory about why he has never been courted for such a role, saying: “I don’t think people believe I can be part of a corporate structure, part of a pecking order.”

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Trivia time: What goal-scoring distinction is shared by Wayne Gretzky, Pat LaFontaine, Pierre Larouche, Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne?

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Heard off the pitch: That quirky goalie Thomas Ravelli hasn’t changed much now that he has moved from Sweden to the Tampa Bay Mutiny of MLS.

There was this recent exchange with a Swedish reporter from Radio Sporten.

Reporter: “So, is it hard to find your way around in Tampa?”

Ravelli: “Naw, as long as you don’t get too lost.”

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Designing Men: The Red Wings secured another free agent for the playoff drive--clothing designer Robert Stanzler.

The Red Wings’ Olympia Merchandising is marketing Stanzler-designed clothing and other items carrying a logo and the slogan “Made in Hockeytown.”

The logo, with the slogan surrounding the silhouette of a stick-bearing hockey player, is an adaptation of the “Made in Detroit” design that Stanzler and artist Gary Arnett created in 1991--and now appears on merchandise sold in 16 countries.

No word if a silhouette of an octopus is on the drawing board.

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Have ring, will travel: Florida Marlin General Manager David Dombrowski can add another line on his resume: Jewelry distributor.

Dombrowski and assistant GM Frank Wren recently hit the road, traveling to deliver World Series rings to former Marlins caught in the team’s salary purge.

“I’m sure a lot of people wish we were all together on Sunday,” he said of when the rings were distributed. “But it’s time to turn the page. Everybody was so happy about the rings, it helps overcome a lot of things.”

Well, except maybe for a 1-11 start.

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Trivia answer: All five players had 50-goal seasons for two different teams.

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And finally: Chelsea’s Gianluca Vialli on his nerve-racking debut as player-manager against Arsenal: “I hope that now after the first match is out of the way and we have won, it will be a little bit easier in the future, or else I am going to have a heart attack.

“I hope in the future I will be a bit more relaxed.”