These Divas Swing Some Serious Attitude

The feats and antics of Barry Bonds inspired Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle to create a new category for baseball’s record books: Dinger Divas. “My list is the all-time career homer Top 10 rearranged to reflect sheer theatrical voltage,” he writes.

Mark McGwire is only No. 8.

“He’s the guy here you’d pick for a next-door neighbor. ‘Hey, Mac, we’re going on vacation, would you mind feeding our poodle and bringing in our mail?”’

Even Bonds is only No. 4.

“Once Bonds told me he couldn’t talk because he was late for the opera. I didn’t ask him if he was the Phantom ....I bumped him ahead of Mays because I don’t think Willie ever blew off a team photo shoot, let alone back-to-back. That’s clout

“Suggestion: Bonds could demand a bowl of M&M;’s in the clubhouse every day, with the green ones removed.”

Mickey Mantle is No. 3.

At No. 2, Reggie Jackson. “Most theatrical spitter, most grandiose whiffer.”

And at No. 1, Ostler’s supreme Dinger Diva ...

Babe Ruth.

“The complete package. A 10-tool diva, and some of the tools can’t be discussed in public. Drama king at bat, in the clubhouse and after hours. He didn’t chase life, life chased him, like an eager puppy.”

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Trivia time: How many players in have finished a season with a slugging percentage of .800 or better, as Bonds is likely to?

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Strange state: With Oregon and Oregon State ranked among college football’s top 10, Chuck Culpepper of The Oregonian in Portland wonders: Can spoiled fans be far behind?

“It’s usually hard to pinpoint when spoiled-rottenness has seeped in and taken over, but allow me one example: A batch of long-suffering Virginia Tech fans, including my father, whom I cherish, sat at lunch last November, whereupon two of them, including my father, whom I cherish, bemoaned their team’s play-calling and suggested it might need a new offensive coordinator.

“You hear these things, you think you’re either in some sort of bizarre parallel universe or maybe in Alabama, or Ohio, or Nebraska, or Tennessee, or close to downtown Los Angeles--where shrugs can greet rankings and the victory chorus often goes, ‘Yeah, let’s see you do it again.”’

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Say uncle: Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan’s colleague Dan Shaughnessy has a family interest in the U.S. Open.

Writes Ryan: “It seems to me that U.S. Open 12th-seed Meghann Shaughnessy has made enough money this year ($453,676) to take Uncle Dan to dinner some night this week.”

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How high the moon: The runner who was “stripped” of a bronze medal at the Canada Games for dropping his shorts after finishing third in the 3000-meter steeplechase has his medal after all.

Daniel Blouin, who finished third, received the medal Tuesday from fourth-place finisher Reid Coolsaet at an unofficial ceremony in Canada. Blouin called it “an honorable gesture by Reid Coolsaet.” Official records will show Coolsaet as the third-place finisher because Blouin was disqualified under sportsmanship rules.

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Trivia answer: Only Ruth. He slugged .847 in 1920 and .846 in 1921.

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And finally: Phillie pitcher David Coggin on changing shirts every inning, as quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle: “It’s bad luck to be superstitious.”