This Was More Like a Battle of Two Cubs

It sometimes takes a Tiger to beat a Tiger.

Gregg Zaun, backup Detroit Tiger catcher, revealed to the Associated Press that he once beat Tiger Woods in a golf tournament.

“I was a 10-handicap at 10 [years old],” Zaun said. “And I won the 10-and-under division at a pro-am tournament at Candlewood Country Club in Southern California. I beat Tiger Woods by five strokes--but he was only 6 at the time.”

Zaun gave up competitive golf at 13 to focus on baseball. His uncle is former Dodger catcher Rick Dempsey, now a Dodger coach.

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Trivia time: Which NBA team holds the record for fewest points in a game since the introduction of the 24-second shot clock in the 1954-55 season?

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His hang-up: Golden State Warrior forward Jason Caffey was considerably upset upon hearing rumors that he would be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks before last week’s deadline. It didn’t happen, but Caffey made no new friends in Milwaukee.

“I don’t like Milwaukee.” he said. “I don’t want to come to Milwaukee. I can’t stand Milwaukee. If I was traded I would consider not reporting.”

Do you suppose it’s the bratwurst?

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Growing up: St. Louis Cardinal relief pitcher Scott Radinsky, coming back from elbow surgery, realizes his second career as a guitarist in his alternative rock

band, Pulley, may be drawing to an end. He’s 31.

“You can jump around and scream at 15-year-old girls only so long,” Radinsky said.

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His softer side: Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post: “John Rocker, in an attempt to show what a nice guy he really is, is buying 100 tickets to a game for underprivileged rednecks in the Atlanta area.”

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Say what? Oakland pitching coach Rick Peterson, on Tim Hudson’s spring training: “He looks much better than he did last year in big league camp and he wasn’t even in big league camp last year.”

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A no-brainer: Jay Leno, on “The Making of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue,” a special on TNT: “This is for people who find the complicated plots of ‘Baywatch’ too hard to follow.”

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FYI: Walter Payton, the NFL’s all-time rushing leader who died of cancer in November, will grace Wheaties boxes again in a special-edition package.

Payton has been on the cereal’s boxes seven other times since 1986. The only athlete to have appeared more is Michael Jordan.

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Looking back: On this day in 1973, Robyn Smith became the first female jockey to win a major stakes race, riding North Sea to victory in the Paumonok Handicap at Aqueduct Park in New York.

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Trivia answer: Chicago, 49, against Miami on April 10, 1999.

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And finally: Asked if the other Phoenix Suns will get free samples of the new Jason Kidd Burger at outlets in the Phoenix area, Kidd said:

“They get enough freebies with me passing them the ball. They can at least buy some burgers and support me.”