She Was Hoping to Be Interviewed by Andy Rooney

Ila Borders, the first woman pitcher to win a game in men’s professional baseball, might have had good reason not to talk to CBS’ Mike Wallace for a “60 Minutes” interview. In her last three starts with Duluth of the Northern League, she has given up 22 runs in eight innings and her earned-run average, once 4.88, has soared to 8.92.

“She wouldn’t talk to me,” Wallace said. “I saw her in the locker room and I didn’t say anything to her. She looked at me like I was a hair in her soup.”

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Trivia time: Where did USC play its first football game?

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Word game: When the Chicago Cubs signed 40-year-old third baseman Gary Gaetti after failing to obtain Randy Johnson from Seattle, it prompted this item from Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune:

“The Cubs blew it on the Big Unit, but they’re quick to nail down an old unit.”

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Long wait: David Cone has 18 victories and seems certain to make it to 20. If he does, the New York Yankee pitcher will set a major league record for the longest span between 20-game seasons. His last one was in 1988 as a member of the New York Mets.

Jim Kaat, currently a Yankee announcer, holds the record of eight years between 20 wins.

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Check in January: Who’s No. 1? Why, it’s Florida State, according to Sport magazine’s preseason top 10. The Seminoles are followed by Ohio State, Kansas State, Michigan, Florida, Nebraska, Louisiana State, Arizona State, UCLA and West Virginia. USC is ranked No. 26.

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Fair exchange: Blake Stein, the Oakland Athletic pitcher who was part of the trade that sent Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals, is cheering for McGwire to break Roger Maris’ home run record.

“I hope the guy hits 70,” said Stein. “I know I will always be linked with Mac because of the trade. And I wouldn’t mind being known as the guy who was traded for the man who hit the most home runs in a season.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1939, the first major league baseball game was televised from Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field between the Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds.

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Off the hook: Nate Newton can smile again.

After three years being ranked by Muscle & Fitness magazine as the player with the worst physique in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboy lineman was supplanted as No. 1 by Gilbert Brown, a 6-foot-2, 350-pound defensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers.

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Welcome to L.A.: The Dodgers’ Gary Sheffield sent a limo to pick up former Florida Marlin teammates for a visit to his opulent pad in Bel-Air when the Marlins were in town.

“I’ve never seen a guy with that much cake still be that generous with it,” said Marlin left fielder Cliff Floyd.

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Trivia answer: On a vacant lot bordered by Grand, Hope, Eighth and Ninth streets in downtown Los Angeles, on Nov. 14, 1888. They beat the Alliance Athletic Club, 16-0.

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And finally: Mike Piazza must wonder what it takes to be accepted in the Big Apple.

In a recent doubleheader in New York, the former Dodger catcher was booed when he struck out in the first game, then cheered until he took a curtain call after hitting a home run--then booed again when he grounded out.