Like Piazza, Nomo, Dodger Thoughts Turn to Flushing

When Walter O’Malley opened Dodger Stadium in 1962, there were no drinking fountains in the building. Civic outrage, inspired by Sid Ziff, Los Angeles Mirror sports editor, forced the Dodgers to install fountains.

Now the new owners, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Group, may have outdone O’Malley. A few minutes after a recent game, Diane Esper says she found the water turned off--no toilets flushing, no wash basin, nothing to drink.

Irony of ironies: The game in question was Cap Night. The caps all carried the familiar logo of the Department of Water and Power.

Perhaps the DWP should have donated a little water, instead of Dodger caps.

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Trivia time: Who was the last Dodger to hit an inside-the-park home run?

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Does Coach know? John Elway, quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, will be among nearly 100 riders in the inaugural Twister’s Iron Horse Tour, a 1,500-mile motorcycle ride from Vancouver to Los Angeles. Proceeds from next month’s event will benefit the Head First Foundation, which educates children about the importance of helmet safety and the prevention of head injuries.

Plans are to ride approximately 250 miles each day. With helmets, of course.

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Fitting name: Dennis Rodman, who will be playing a soldier of fortune in “S.O.F.: Special Ops Force,” a TV action series, has said he expects to be “a black Arnold Schwarzenegger.” To which Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Sun-Times recommended a new nickname for the Bulls forward: “The Worminator.”

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Expensive taste: A helmet and uniform worn by the late Ayrton Senna in the 1986 French Grand Prix recently brought $62,500 at an auction in Monte Carlo for Formula One memorabilia.

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Iron Jack: When Jack Nicklaus tees it up in the U.S. Open next week at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, it will be his 42nd Open appearance. He has made the cut 34 times, including 21 in a row from 1964 to 1984, and has taken 11,011 strokes.

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Early warning: Two massive accidents marred the start of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Perhaps one reason was revealed by pole-sitter David Coulthard before the race.

“If you can be leading the first lap, provided you don’t have any problems,” Coulthard told Montreal reporters, “it’s very difficult for someone to get by you.”

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Good guy award: Not all baseball people consider sportswriters a thorn in their side.

Just ask Tampa Tribune sportswriter Joe Henderson. When his son was sick, Tampa Bay Manager Larry Rothschild had a get-well card signed for the youngster by his entire team.

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The other side: When it was announced that France’s World Cup team would train in Finland instead of the homeland, defender Marcel Desailly explained why it pleased the players.

“We’ll be able to walk the streets in peace. Our friends won’t call us all the time and,” he said, pointedly remarking to the throng of journalists around him, “you won’t be there.”

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Laker lore: Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News thinks the U.S. Postal Service should sign up the Lakers for its next ad campaign. As in:

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor Shaq, nor Kobe can stop The Mailman from delivering.”

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Trivia answer: Mitch Webster on June 21, 1994.

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And finally: Margo Dydek, a 7-foot-2, 223-pound center from Poland who will play for the Utah Starzz, speaks five languages, which means she can say five different ways, “I am the first player to dunk in the WNBA.”