Only One Thing Made Torre Stop at Seven

Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer commenting on New York Yankee Manager Joe Torre, who picked seven of his players for the American League all-star team:

“The question is: Why did [he] stop at seven? The answer: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio up and died on him. Actually, the reason he picked seven Yankees, or eight or nine for that matter, is simpler: For the same reason a dog licks himself.

“Because he can.

“The rules of All-Star game baseball stipulate that the managers in the previous World Series also manage their leagues in the next All-Star game. They also have a big say in naming of the reserves and pitching staff.”

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Trivia time: Who had the largest winning margin on the PGA Tour in 2000?

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Still upset: Bobby Thomson’s dramatic home run for the New York Giants in the 1951 playoff game against the Brooklyn Dodgers will be shown in an HBO documentary Wednesday evening.

Ralph Branca, who surrendered the homer, blames Manager Charlie Dressen’s mishandling of pitchers for blowing the Dodgers’ huge lead that season.

“He ran the pitching staff into the ground,” Branca says. “He knew absolutely nothing about pitching. What he knew about pitching you could put in the head of a pin in the boldest print in the world and still have room for the Constitution.”

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Pooch problem: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “The news that Viagra has been banned from greyhound racing in Ireland is a little disturbing. Reportedly, it can make dogs run faster by speeding up their heart rates, so there’s a possibility of abuse.

“But what about the innocent hound who seeks his doctor’s help for sexual dysfunction?”

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Popular classes: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Coming to a college or U near you: New majors for athletes. Modern Dance (touchdown tango, home-run trot); Arts & Crafts (bat corking, decorative rim hanging).”

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More Ostler: “Baseball needs more stats. How about mph--miles per homer? Average the distance of a guy’s homer, divide by 5,280 (feet in a mile). If his average homer is 390 feet, his mph is .073. A good power gauge.”

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Harsh words: Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald, taking up the cause for Florida Marlin outfielder Cliff Floyd, who was snubbed by Met Manager Bobby Valentine by not being selected as a reserve for the National League all-star team:

“You think it’s a coincidence you can’t spell ‘Valentine’ without the letters in ‘evil?’ When Marilyn Manson sings about Bobby Valentine, you can play it backward and clearly hear, ‘The New York Mets are managed by the Antichrist.’ ”

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Schemer: Golf World reports that Harvey Pitt, 51, claims to have played all 144 courses on Long Island in New York and explained the strategy he uses to get on the island’s private courses:

“I register as a caddie on Saturday, play the course on Monday and resign.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1942, the American League all-stars defeated Mickey Cochrane’s Armed Service all-stars, 5-0, in a game to raise money for the war effort.

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Trivia answer: Tiger Woods, 15 strokes in the U.S. Open.

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And finally: Bruce Lietzke, who soon will make his debut on the Senior PGA Tour, is renowned for his aversion to practice. Yet, he won $6.5 million on the regular tour, competing in no more than 20 tournaments a year since 1989.

In a Golf World article, he told John Strege, “Players hit one bad eight-iron and go to the range and hit four buckets. But you can’t make great swings all the time.

“I shrug off a bad shot. It’s just golf.”