After Last Season, Critics Did a Number on Him

One of the penalties of becoming very good at something is that people expect you to always maintain that standard.

Fred McGriff, one of the best of the Atlanta Braves for five years before being traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, had only 81 runs batted in and 19 home runs last year--an off season by his standards.

“No one wanted to believe it was an off year for me last season,” he told Pete Williams of USA Today. “The numbers I put up last season weren’t the numbers I had in the past, but a lot of people would take them.

“You spoil people and then they expect it all the time.”

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Trivia time: Who was the pitcher when Sammy Sosa hit his first major league home run on June 21, 1989, when he played for the Texas Rangers?

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Fattening: Tennis fans at Wimbledon, who sat through rain delay after rain delay this year, had at least one thing to do while they waited--load up on the traditional strawberries and cream, at a bargain price.

The tab dropped 10 pence (16 cents) to 1.75 pounds ($2.80) for one portion.

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Good thinking: Tim Connolly, the fifth overall pick by the New York Islanders and the first non-European taken in the NHL draft, apparently has his priorities straight.

“It’s a great honor being the highest U.S. player drafted,” he said. “I don’t feel pressure. Pressure is when you don’t have a job and have six kids to feed.”

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One missing: The Dodger infield of Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Ron Cey and Davey Lopes played a record nine years together. All but Lopes are portrayed on the Dodger outfield wall.

“A lot of people ask me why, and all I can say is I don’t know,” said Lopes, now a San Diego Padre coach. “But the people who decided that probably don’t know how to play the infield.”

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Short-handed: Comedy writer Earl Hochman, in recognizing the Padres’ recent winning streak, says that “even more amazing is they did it without the services of Garth Brooks.”

Food for thought: Tim Hogarth of Chatsworth had a 4-up lead over Gary Vanier after 18 holes in the final round of the California Amateur at Pebble Beach, only to have Vanier, 48, rally to tie the match and force Hogarth into overtime before winning.

“It certainly looked like a different guy after lunch,” Hogarth said. “I’d like to know what he was eating.”

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Not cable ready: Per-Mathias Hogmo, Norway’s Women’s World Cup coach, was upset because his San Jose hotel didn’t have ESPN2 so he couldn’t see U.S.-Korea there.

“I watched around the corner at a sports bar,” he told Dwight Chapin of the San Francisco Examiner.

Some might think Hogmo lucky to have found a sports bar that would switch from the Giants to women’s soccer.

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Trivia answer: Roger Clemens, then with the Boston Red Sox.

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And finally: In bios of American race car drivers, the words “married” or “single” are used to describe their marital status. In France, for the 24 Hours of LeMans, the bios read “married” or “celibate.”

Who are they trying to kid?