Watching ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Would Be Safer

One of the things Colorado outfielder Larry Walker does in his spare time is go on civilian “ride-alongs” with police, during which he wears a bulletproof vest.

“I put it on in case something crazy happens,” he said. “You don’t have to wear one, but I do.”

Asked if he felt the Rockies should be concerned, Walker said, “No, absolutely not. We’re no different than any other member of the public who wants to do this. We sign waivers that allow us to go on these rides.

“Just being out there, being in the car and riding around, it gets me pumped up. You don’t need shooting, you don’t need chasing. Being in that car, with access to the siren and lights and speed and everything--just thinking about that is enough. You don’t need action.”

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Trivia time: What pitcher appeared in the most games in one season?

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Maybe it’s the truth: A typo in the North Carolina tour booklet: “Famous midsouth resorts include Pinehurst and Southern Pines, where it is said that there are more golf curses per square mile than anywhere else in the world.”

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Going to bat: In his new book “Crack of the Bat: The Louisville Slugger Story,” Bob Hill documents the history of a company that went from making butter churns to producing 7 million bats a year.

The company started as J.F. Hillerich & Son in 1884 and is known today as Hillerich & Bradsby. Going through archives, Hill came across several accounts of how the Hillerich family got involved with bats.

One version has Hillerich’s son, Bud, slipping away from his dad’s woodworking business to watch a Louisville team play. Star left fielder but then-slumping Pete Browning broke a bat, and after the game, Hillerich invited Browning to the shop to create a new one for him. A new bat was constructed out of white ash, and the next day, Browning got three hits. He told his teammates about his new bat, and a business was born.

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Olympic sport: World weightlifting record holder Cheryl Haworth, on interest in her sport:

“I guess the biggest crowd I ever lifted in front of in this country was about 100 people. If you take away my family there were probably about 50 other people there.”

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Trivia answer: Mike Marshall of the Dodgers, 106 in 1974.

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And finally: Terry Bradshaw says the best way to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is to win Super Bowls.

“The only reason I got in is because of my rings,” he told Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “You can’t look at my statistics and say, ‘Those are Hall of Fame statistics.’ It’s always been about the rings. The Pittsburgh fans, we won four, and what was the first cry out of their mouths? ‘Win one for the thumb.’

“I’ll take the rings, and the [great quarterbacks such as Dan Marino and John Elway] can have the yardage and the touchdowns.”