But Can He Hit the Broad Side of a Barn?

The University of Oregon isn’t the only Pacific 10 Conference school spending thousands of dollars on billboards in New York and Los Angeles to promote its football program.

Washington State also has gotten into the act, though the Cougars are spending considerably less than the Ducks.

Oregon, after all, paid $250,000 for a billboard of receiver Keenan Howry in Times Square in one of its promotions. The Ducks spent another $40,000 for a billboard of three receivers in downtown L.A.

Washington State’s answer? A giant photo of quarterback Jason Gesser has been placed on the side of a grain elevator in Dusty, Wash., population 10. The 25 x 15-foot banner reads: “Gess Who 4 Heisman? Jason Gesser.”

Cost: $2,500.

Trivia time: Who is the only male golfer to have won both the U.S. Public Links and U.S. Amateur championships?

Cheap: When the St. Louis Browns played their final game in 1953 before becoming the Baltimore Orioles, a 2-1 loss in 12 innings to the Chicago White Sox, the home team ran out of fresh baseballs and the last out was recorded with a recycled ball with a gash in it.

Leaping Larry: Outfielder Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies, after reaching above the right-field fence to take an apparent home run away from Florida’s Andy Fox, said, “I’m from Canada, and we’re known for basketball. My vertical skills got me six feet off the ground.”

Self analysis: After seeing his batting average drop into the .230s, Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas offered this observation:

“All I need is a hundred hits over the next three weeks and I’ll be fine.”

You can look it up: When the Texas Rangers’ Travis Hafner homered last week, he became the fifth native of North Dakota to hit a home run in a major league game.

Another win: When it was goalie Dominik Hasek’s turn to take temporary custody of the Stanley Cup, he used it to raise money for flood victims in his native Czech Republic.

Along with fellow Detroit Red Wing players Jiri Fischer, Jiri Slegr and Ladislav Kohn, Hasek paraded the Stanley Cup at a number of fund-raisers.

“The Stanley Cup will be leaving proudly,” said Hasek, who is retiring after winning the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie six times. “It has contributed to a good deed.”

Looking back: On this date in 1974, the Angels’ Nolan Ryan struck out 19 Tigers in a 1-0, 11-inning loss to Detroit. It was the third time that season that Ryan struck out 19 batters in a game.

Trivia answer: Billy Mayfair, 1986 Public Links and 1987 Amateur. He turned pro in ’88.

And finally: From Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “In every golf club tournament there is a closest-to-hole competition. For pitchers who face Barry Bonds there should be a furthest-from-strike-zone competition. Winner gets a plucked chicken.

“Bonds gets walked more often than a dog with a digestive problem. Take last weekend’s three-game action. Bonds comes to bat 14 times, is walked seven times. Sammy Sosa comes to bat 13 times, is walked once.”