How Could He Not Know ‘Old Dodger Blue Eyes’?

Peter Ciccarelli, who works in promotions in the San Jose area, was a player agent in 1979 when he was visiting Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda in his office in Dodger Stadium.

As it happened, so was Frank Sinatra.

Ciccarelli told the San Francisco Chronicle that when Jerry Reuss walked by, Lasorda stopped the pitcher, whom the Dodgers had just acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, to introduce him to Sinatra.

“Jerry, I want to introduce you to Frank Sinatra,” Lasorda said.

Reuss, known for his dry wit, extended his hand to Sinatra and said: “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch the name.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for most blocked shots in an NBA playoff game?

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Bottoms up: More from David Letterman on David Wells’ perfect game: “After the game Wells was pretty excited, as you can understand. He celebrated by retiring 27 Heinekens in a row.”

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Wah, wah, wah! When asked to identify three crybabies in the NBA, Charles Barkley identified Penny Hardaway, and had this message for him:

“You have too much talent to be hurt all the time. You’re making outrageous financial demands. You have to prove it on the court.”

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Cancel it! From Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Sun-Times: “The trade magazine Brandweek reports sports superagent David Falk’s firm may start a cable TV network to feature many of its clients, though not Michael Jordan.

“Four or five shows reportedly are in development now, including one for the Washington Wizards’ Juwan Howard called ‘Where Juwan Go Today.’ ”

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Another zone: Art Spander in the Oakland Tribune on Latrell Sprewell suing the NBA: “And we used to think ‘Twilight Zone’ had some unbelievable plots.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1975, Artis Gilmore scored 28 points and grabbed 31 rebounds to lead the Kentucky Colonels to a 110-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers and the American Basketball Assn. championship.

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Bad timing: Golf World magazine reports that Christian Owen, 27, made two holes in one recently at the University of Iowa’s golf course in Iowa City.

The aces came in a practice round for a tournament later in the day. Had he made them during the tournament he would have won a $21,000 sports utility vehicle for acing the eighth hole and $1,700 in cash for acing No. 13.

“I’m the luckiest, unluckiest guy in the world, basically,” Owen said.

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Waiting it out: Sam Smith in Inside Sports: “[Shaquille O’Neal] will get his championship, but in a few years, after Jordan and [Karl] Malone have left and Seattle’s core group has gotten a few years older.”

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Trivia time: A Sacramento high-tech company plans to transmit what they call the first live audio-and-video broadcast of a sporting event over the Internet this weekend. Computer Aided Technologies intends to air the Memorial Day triple-A baseball game between the Fresno Grizzlies and the Albuquerque Dukes at 2 p.m. Monday. The Web site addresses are www.fresnogrizzlies.com and www.amintercast.com.

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Trivia answer: Mark Eaton of Utah against Houston in 1985, and Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston against the Lakers in 1990, each with 10. Greg Ostertag of the Jazz blocked nine against the Lakers on May 12 last year in an overtime game.

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And finally: Greg Cote in the Miami Herald: “Cliff Floyd, one of the Marlins’ wise old veterans at 25, sits methodically taping a bat handle at his locker. He happens to sit near the busiest place in all of sports: Florida’s clubhouse exit.

“Outside, fans arrive like Noah’s animals. Two by two. Inside, Floyd looks around him, slowly and shakes his head, slowly.

“ ‘The neighborhood done changed,’ he says.”