When Baseball Becomes Oddball

The Baseball Reliquary founded by Terry Cannon of Monrovia won’t make every fan burst into a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” His collection boasts such treasures as:

* The “partially smoked cigar left by Babe Ruth on April 27, 1924, at Rose Hicks’ brothel on Broad Street in Philadelphia.”

* An athletic supporter that Eddie Gaedel wore on the day in 1951 that he became the only midget ever to bat in a major league game.

* A fragment of skin from the inner left thigh of Abner Doubleday (1819-1893), the man sometimes credited with inventing baseball.

“Someone said that we are to the Baseball Hall of Fame what the Doo Dah Parade is to the Rose Parade,” Cannon admitted.

Several of his objects, including the stogie and the athletic supporter, will be at the Luckman Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State L.A. through Feb. 23.

Gallery director Julie Joyce said of the tongue-in-cheek exhibit: “I think it speaks of our weird need to collect and categorize. I’m not even sure that all of the items are real.”

I have my doubts about the Babe Ruth incident. I mean, the idea of the Babe smoking. Really.

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NUMBERS GAME: Paul Cockerill of Toluca Lake noticed some fine print on the card of a scratch game held by Alaska Airlines (see accompanying). Canadian residents had to answer the math question: “8 x 4 - 15 = ?” The reason is that Canadian law requires that contests involving prizes be games of “skill” rather than games of “chance.”

I’m sure I could solve the problem if I could only find my calculator.

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GREAT CAMPAIGN MOMENTS: The discussion here about the many appearances of Angels Flight in novels and movies jogged ex-newsman Roy Ringer’s memory of another distinction that the trolley can claim.

When Democratic political prankster Dick Tuck ran for the state Senate in 1966, Ringer recalled, “the only notable feature of the race (he lost overwhelmingly) was the shortest political whistle-stop tour in history--a couple of minutes up Angels Flight and a couple of minutes back down.” (see photo).

Tuck, whose platform included a promise to paint the L.A. River blue, did not utter the typical cliches in his concession speech.

Said Tuck: “The people have spoken--the bastards.”

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BACKING DOWN THE TRACKS A BIT: Tuck also made a memorable railway appearance during the 1962 gubernatorial race. At the San Luis Obispo station, he donned a conductor’s uniform and ordered the train to move out in the middle of a speech by shocked Republican candidate Richard Nixon, who was standing on the observation car platform.

miscelLAny:

Variations of the last meal served on the Titanic are being offered by three downtown L.A. restaurants, McCormick & Schmick’s ($39.95), Checkers (about $45) and Bernard’s ($99.95 per couple). That includes the port. Or is it the starboard? I can never remember.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by carrier pigeon at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.