Drafting for Need Can Be Dangerous

Looking back, it seems like a slam dunk. The Lakers had the No. 2 pick in the 1960 draft and Jerry West of West Virginia was available.

But the Lakers nearly blew their shot at the Hall of Famer, according to Arlee Pollard, widow of Jim Pollard, who was finishing an interim term as Laker coach at the time.

“Everybody said Jerry West was the guy the Lakers should pick,” recalled Arlee last week at Staples Center where her late husband was among the Minneapolis Lakers honored with a banner. “But Jim kept saying the Lakers didn’t need a guard. They needed a center.

“Darrall Imhoff was the guy they were interested in, so they went out to look at him. But Imhoff didn’t quite have it. And that’s how you got Jerry West.”

Add Imhoff: He was drafted by the New York Knicks and wound up as one of the hapless defenders against Wilt Chamberlain on the night in 1962 when Chamberlain scored 100 points.

The 6-foot-10, 220-pound Imhoff often found himself trying to stop the 7-1, 275-pound Chamberlain.

Imhoff even mentioned Chamberlain in his farewell speech.

“It was a privilege,” Imhoff said, “to have spent 12 years in his armpits.”

Trivia time: Imhoff became a Laker, but he was traded in 1968, along with Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers, for whom?

Say what? Cleveland Indian Manager Charlie Manuel’s body of work makes him the top contender among active big league figures for Yogi Berra’s crown as king of the unintentional one-liners.

Steve Rosenbloom lists the following Manuelisms in the Chicago Tribune:

* “I’m going to let the chips fall where they lay.”

* “When Russell [Branyan] is striking out, he’s missing the ball a lot.”

* “If I’m going to use Wil [Cordero], I have to start using him.”

Yogi couldn’t have said any of it better.

Human launching pad: Milwaukee Brewer pitcher Ben Sheets was roughed up for 10 runs and 13 hits in only 21/3 innings of his final spring-training appearance.

Asked by a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer what pitches the opposition had hit, Sheets said, “First [pitch] breaking balls, [first pitch] changeups, full-count changeups, fastballs in, fastball away, fastballs behind ‘em. Balls I didn’t even throw were getting hit.”

At least that cut down on the catcher’s workload. He didn’t have to worry about signals.

Trivia answer: Chamberlain.

And finally: Christopher Cain, golf pro at Penn State, will try to get into the “Guinness Book of Records” today by playing 500 holes in 12 hours. The record is 476 holes in 12 hours, set by Brennan Robertson of Sarasota, Fla., two years ago.

The 27-year-old Cain hopes to finish 10 holes every 15 minutes on the 6,022-yard Penn State White Course.

If he’s successful, Cain, who expects to raise $50,000 for charity through pledges, will cover about 95 miles in playing nearly 28 rounds.

He’ll use a cart modified to travel about 20 mph. He plans to eat and drink in the cart and take bathroom breaks about every 100 holes.

So when this man asks to play through, be assured, he won’t take no for an answer.