Could the Baby Feel It When Daddy Kicked?

San Francisco 49er punter Shayne Edge had no excuses after averaging 17.5 yards a kick against Seattle, but special teams coach George Stewart had some for him.

“Any time you fly cross-country, it’s going to bother you,” Stewart said, pointing out that Edge had flown to Florida earlier in the week to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

“He was up three days straight, then he had to punt into the wind two straight times. There’s the pressure of being a first-time father and the pressure of fatigue.”

But what does Steve Mariucci think?

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Trivia time: Why is Florida Marlin closer Antonio Alfonseca known as “Pulpo,” which is Spanish for octopus?

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Different times: From Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas Morning News:

“Every night before they lie on their silken sheets in their air-conditioned rooms, baseballers should give thanks they are not wearing heavy flannel uniforms and playing all afternoon games, as their lesser-paid forefathers did.”

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Matchups: In two starts against Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinal right-hander Jose Jimenez is 2-0, with a 0.00 earned-run average and the Diamondbacks batting .038.

In his other starts, Jimenez is 3-12, 6.69 with his opponents batting .293.

That’s why the rookie was recently sent back to the minors.

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We want a Homer! Second baseman Homer Bush of the Toronto Blue Jays is now tied with Homer Smoot and Homer Summa for most homers in a season by a Homer--four. Smoot played in 1903 and 1905, Summa in 1926 and ’27.

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Tough taskmaster: Chris Palmer of the Cleveland Browns, a rookie head coach in the NFL, credits having worked with Bill Parcells at New England for his advancement.

“Parcells made me tough as a coach,” Palmer told John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. “He prepared me for this job better than anyone. Every day when you came to work, Bill tested you in one way or another.”

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Go Pete Racer? When Pete Sampras was playing in an ATP tournament at Indianapolis, he visited former CART driver Stefan Johansson’s Karting Center and took a few laps on the serpentine course with champ car drivers Mark Blundell and Helio Castro-Neves.

“This guy is good,” Castro-Neves said of the tennis champion. “He’s very competitive. If you got him out there a few times, he’d be unbelievable.”

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Gimme five: For folks who play poker off box scores, Milwaukee’s Cal Eldred had a winning hand last week with 5-5-5-5-5-5, as in innings pitched-hits-runs-earned runs-walks-strikeouts.

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Trivia answer: Because he has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

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And finally: Toronto Blue Jay Manager Jim Fregosi, on Texas Ranger catcher Ivan Rodriguez:

“Pudge might be the best catcher I have ever seen. He plays in the heat all the time, never wants a day off and he’s strong as an ox. He could retire right now and he would still get in the Hall of Fame.”