Odds Improve the Farther You Are From Target

Mark McGwire’s mystique seems to grow daily, as Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post discovered while watching him take batting practice in St. Louis:

“ ‘When we played in Chicago, a guy drove all the way up from Florida just to see McGwire take BP,’ Cardinal coach Rene Lachemann said of one report of fan interest.

“ ‘Then he never even came to Wrigley Field. He stayed [outside the stadium] beyond left field, trying to catch balls.’

“The best place to catch a baseball hit by McGwire is definitely not within the confines of the playing field or, sometimes even the entire ballpark. Other players dial ‘1’ for long distance. McGwire has to ask for an international operator.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for rebounds in a game during the NBA finals?

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Home for blimps: Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune, discovering Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks:

“The BOB is more like the ROBERT. There is nothing short or small about it. It is long. It is wide. It is tall. In Italy, it would be the ROBERTO. . . .

“You can drive down the street and, if you didn’t know what it was, you’d never guess it was a ballpark. From the air, it looks like a hangar that might have housed the Hindenburg.”

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Best of the best: NBA television analyst Isiah Thomas, in an interview with Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Sun-Times:

“Can you imagine how difficult it is for Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and myself to concede and say that [Michael Jordan] is the best?

“That’s how good he is. The people in Chicago know it and they love it, but not like we do. They have no idea what they really have.”

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How much do you want it? Running back Natrone Means, back with the San Diego Chargers, said he hoped to wear jersey No. 20 again. He asked safety Michael Dumas what he’d like in return for that number.

Always willing to oblige a teammate, Dumas said he’d be happy to hand over the jersey . . . for $20,000.

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Let’s hope not: Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune: “Jack Nicholson is so angry with the Lakers’ getting swept by Utah that he’s making ‘Mars Attacks II.’ ”

Why not? Detroit Red Wing forward Slava Kozlov, on top defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom perhaps leaving next season so his kids can be educated in his native Sweden:

“I hope Nick doesn’t leave. For $4 million [a year], he could buy a Swedish school and bring it over here.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1984, James Worthy of the Lakers made 11 of 12 field-goal attempts in a 124-121 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals.

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Trivia answer: Bill Russell of the Celtics, 40, in 1960 against St. Louis, and in 1962 against the Lakers in overtime.

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And finally: Bob Verdi of the Chicago Tribune: “Thanks to a certain airline that specializes in losing luggage, I’ve had golf clubs spend more time in Florida than Mike Piazza did.”