If Dodgers Do Get Relief, It Won’t Be From Dreifort

While wondering if the Women’s World Cup can be considered real if Andres Cantor isn’t there to scream GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAL, I was thinking:

Davey Johnson is about to discover the same thing Bill Russell did about Darren Dreifort. . . .

Although he seems when he’s starting that he would be more effective as a middle reliever, he’s not. The reasons are psychological and physical and stem from an elbow injury requiring “Tommy John surgery” after his rookie season. . . .

We might remember the ‘90s Dodgers more fondly if the Seattle Mariners hadn’t changed their minds on the day before the 1993 amateur draft about taking Dreifort with the No. 1 pick. . . .

The Mariners instead took Alex Rodriguez, who would have been taken by the Dodgers at No. 2. . . .

Eric Karros is co-host for KCET’s pledge drive after Sunday night’s game against the Phillies. I’m assuming he can’t use the nine-letter word he repeated several times in the clubhouse the other night to describe the Dodgers’ play of late. . . .

Before Carlos Perez busts up any more water coolers, he should take encouragement from Hideo Nomo. . . .

After being released by three teams within a year, he looked finished. But he has regained his fastball with the Brewers. The Dodgers’ speed gun caught him in the low to mid-80s last season. He’s now throwing in the low 90s.

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Bill Walton is among those who isn’t sure Phil Jackson is the Laker savior. Walton said on NBC Wednesday night that “unless Shaquille O’Neal listens and learns, the Lakers’ problems aren’t going away.” . . .

For instance, is O’Neal going to learn to shoot free throws? . . .

It’s one thing to coach tight games with a team that has free-throw shooters like Michael Jordan (83.8%), Steve Kerr (85.3%) and Scottie Pippen (69.3%). Even Luc Longley shoots 75% from the line. . . .

It’s another to win close games when Shaq (53.5%) insists on having the ball at the end of games. . . .

If Jackson tries to resolve the problem by benching Shaq late, it will be interesting to see whether he pouts the way he did when Kurt Rambis did it. . . .

No one is trying to rain on the Lakers’ parade. But it would be more meaningful if they won something before they have one. . . .

The triangle is hardly a space-age offense. Jackson learned it from his Chicago assistant, Tex Winter, who learned it while playing at USC in the ‘40s under Sam Barry. . . .

One of Winter’s Trojan teammates, Bill Sharman, used a form of the offense when he coached the Lakers to the 1972 championship. Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich formed a pretty effective triangle. . . .

I admire Larry Johnson for playing hurt, but he looked too much like Grandmama against the Spurs on Wednesday night. . . .

Not even Patrick Ewing’s critics can be serious when they say the Knicks are better without him.

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It was surprising to see Sports Illustrated for Women feature two members of the U.S. soccer team, Joy Fawcett and Carla Overbeck, as mothers. . . .

I mean, you wouldn’t expect to see Sports Illustrated feature a professional male athlete merely because he’s a dad--unless it’s Shawn Kemp. . . .

I would like to have seen the magazine focus on Fawcett’s assist on Tiffeny Milbrett’s game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory over China for the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. . . .

Fawcett, the former UCLA coach from Rancho Santa Margarita, could have taken the shot and been remembered as the hero if she had scored. Instead, she passed to Milbrett, who had a better shot. . . .

Is goalkeeper Briana Scurry going to run naked down Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard if the U.S. women win the World Cup? . . .

Wearing only her credential and gold medal, she delivered on her promise to do that on a street (deserted before dawn) in Athens, Ga., after the U.S. women won the Olympic final in ’96. . . .

It would be a boost for track and field in the United States if Maurice Greene were running the 100 meters in the national championships next week in Eugene, Ore. . . .

But, because of an ill-conceived rule, Greene and other defending champions earned automatic berths to this summer’s world championships in Seville, Spain. As a result, neither he nor Marion Jones is required to run the 100 in Oregon. . . .

Rivals Bob Arum and Don King are making nice during the current promotional tour for the Sept. 18 welterweight title fight in Las Vegas between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. . . .

Faith in the natural order of things, however, is restored when you learn it’s an act. When King complained he was getting short shrift during the tour, Arum responded with something else that can’t be said on KCET before adding, “It’s my show.” . . .

If you like offense, you should give the Arena Football League a chance when the Avengers begin playing next season at the Staples Center. The scores are almost as high as in some baseball games this season.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.