After All, Baseball Has a Religious Meaning for Some

How much is a baseball signed by Pope John Paul II worth? Bidding will start at $10,000 at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlanta on July 21 for the ball signed by the pope during a visit to Candlestick Park in 1987--when it still was Candlestick Park.

The record for a ball signed by a non-sports celebrity is $35,000 for one with John F. Kennedy’s autograph. One signed by Cuba’s Fidel Castro went for $5,000.

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Trivia time: Curling, often called “chess on ice,” is considered a Canadian sport, but where did it originate?

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Dinner time: University of Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus, when asked about reports that he was being sought by the University of Minnesota for the Gophers’ coaching opening, thought about his ample girth, and said, “Too many bugs. If I take my shirt off up there, the mosquitoes are going to say, ‘Buffet!’ ”

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Health factor: One hour of golf while riding in a cart burns 109 calories. If you walk and pull your clubs, it’s 294 calories. Carrying your clubs burns 339 calories.

According to the National Golf Foundation, two-thirds of all rounds are played using carts.

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Half-truths: At a recent Special Olympics clinic in Raleigh, N.C., Duke basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he taught Arnold Schwarzenegger everything he knows about weightlifting.

Schwarzenegger countered that Krzyzewski posed for the “before” picture and Schwarzenegger the “after.”

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AARP candidate: If Toronto’s Tony Fernandez, who is hitting .385, wins the American League batting title, at 37 he will be the oldest major league player to do so for the first time. Al Oliver was 35 when he won his first in 1982.

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X-Games next: Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis has a hobby, snowboarding.

“It’s a bit dangerous, especially when you try some jumps off cliff faces,” he says. “But that’s life.”

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Happy warrior: Although he is only 28, Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Greg Hansell is playing for his 10th team in 11 professional seasons. But he says moving around doesn’t bother him.

“I’d rather stay in this fantasy world of baseball for as long as I can before I have to go out into the real world and get a job,” he said. “Any level of baseball is better than any job I could find in the outside world.”

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Decisions, decisions: The folks in Edmonton, Canada, first had to decide if Wayne Gretzky’s name should be on the city airport or on a street next to the hockey arena where he gained fame with the Oilers.

They decided the street would be better. Now another decision:

Should Capilano Drive be renamed Wayne Gretzky Way or Wayne Gretzky Drive?

The ballots aren’t in yet.

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Trivia answer: Scotland, in the early 1700s.

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And finally: What does 11-year-old Tom Flanagan have to look forward to after making a hole in one on his first swing on a regulation golf course?

Playing with his brand-new $14 junior graphite driver, Flanagan aced the par-three, 108-yard first hole at Belle Terre Golf Course in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where the Canadian youngster’s family was vacationing.