Cub Pitcher Wood Already in Fast Crowd

Skip Bayless, writing in the Chicago Tribune on the record-tying 20-strikeout performance by Cub pitcher Kerry Wood last Wednesday against the Houston Astros:

“Wood looms 6 feet 5 inches by 225 pounds, with the stout power-pitcher legs of fellow Texans Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.

“It’s as if the baseball gods took the best of Ryan and Clemens, put them in a little bigger package and gave young Wood (only 20) something young Ryan and Clemens didn’t always have--scary control.”

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More on Woods: From Times columnist Mike Downey: “New ad slogan the Chicago Cubs should use: ‘We Lost Harry, But We Found Kerry.’ ”

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Trivia time: Sandy Koufax and Ramon Martinez share the Dodger record for strikeouts in a game with 18. Koufax did it twice. Which teams did he do it against?

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What? No hot dogs? The Wall Street Journal reports that the average baseball customer spends $7.46 on food, but the average luxury box holder spends $30.

In Cleveland, for instance, among the standard fare is couscous with apricots. Seven chardonnays and five cabernets are offered, as well as items such as roasted corn, crab dip and pot stickers.

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Our kind of guy: Karl Malone, who weighs 265 pounds and has a 33-inch waist, said he has eaten more than his share of cheeseburgers.

“And I like to have a few hot dogs and beers now and then,” he added. “I don’t go for that health food.”

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Don’t touch me: Colorado pitcher Darryl Kile, who was hit in the right knee by Mark Lewis’ grounder and had to leave the game in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s 6-1 win over Philadelphia:

“I don’t like people getting hits off my body. I was hoping he’d trip on his way down to first.”

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ZZZZZ: From the Good Doctor in Inside Sports magazine:

Question: How were CBS’ final ratings for the Winter Olympics in Nagano?

Answer: We won’t know until CBS airs the last few events, in a month or two.

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Hunch bet: Mom’s Day will be running in the fourth race today at Hollywood Park.

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Blah, blah: From the Gallery column in the San Diego Union-Tribune:

“Much has been made of the 10-run mercy rule in high school baseball. Gallery proposes a 10-inch mercy rule for all journalists. If you can’t make the point in 10 inches, try another profession. Become a politician.”

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Trivia answer: San Francisco, on Aug. 31, 1959, at the Coliseum, and the Cubs, on April 24, 1962, in Chicago.

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And finally: It has been reported that Spike Lee sent Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers four black roses before the start of the NBA playoff series with the New York Knicks.

Lee told the Indianapolis Star, “I didn’t send Reggie anything. I don’t know who did, but it wasn’t me.”

The hand-printed card read, “Congratulations on being sweep (sic) in the second round. One rose for each loss.”

Lee’s name was printed at the bottom.