Some Changes Have Been for Better

Sometimes it takes a look back to realize we live in better times.

Cullen Deck of Carpinteria, a shortstop who signed with the Boston Red Sox after his senior year at Narbonne High in 1952, recalls the Red Sox also were considering signing a catcher from L.A. Jordan, Earl Battey.

Battey, the former Minnesota Twin All-Star catcher who died recently of cancer at 68, was a tremendous all-around athlete. Deck says he was the City basketball player of the year, beating out Willie Naulls, who would become a star at UCLA.

“A Red Sox minor league scout asked me about Battey,” Deck said, “and I said he was terrific. But the scout told me the team was hesitant to sign him because he was black.”

Trivia time: Who holds the record for number of seasons leading the NBA in scoring?

Tedious research: On Dec. 7, Bruce Smith, with his 199th sack, set the official NFL record. But what about the unofficial record? Statistics on sacks weren’t kept until 1982, so what about Deacon Jones, who played in the NFL from 1961 to 1974? Might the record belong to him?

Believe it or not, that was researched. John Turney of “College and Pro Football Weekly” went through all the play-by-play sheets from the 191 games involving Jones. Turney, featured in an “NFL Films Presents” segment in 1995, determined Jones had 173 1/2 sacks.

Blood on the ice: Darryl Wolski, a Winnipeg, Canada, promoter, should get points for honesty if nothing else. He says forget the hockey game, let’s go right to the fight. He’s proposing a pay-per-view hockey-fighting tournament.

“People stand up when there’s a fight,” he told the Winnipeg Sun.

Wolski said he plans to round up 50 to 100 fighters for his “Hockey Gladiators” show, which he hopes to stage next summer in Grand Forks, N.D. The brawls will last one to two minutes and judges will designate winners. The best enforcer will take home $50,000.

“You can be the best street fighter in the world, and you can get destroyed in a hockey fight because you have no balance,” Wolski told the newspaper.

Super-charged: A yet-to-be- named colt, residing at Wintergreen Stallion Stables in Midway, Ky., was struck by lightning as a 2-month-old in April 2002. It was a tough go for a while, but the colt is now fine and preparing to race.

TVG, the horse racing network, is sponsoring a “name that colt contest” through Dec. 22, with the winner to get 5% ownership. Suggested names can be submitted to TVGnetwork.com.

Lightning Fast may be too obvious. Bolt the Colt might have a better shot.

Trivia answer: Michael Jordan, 10. Second is Wilt Chamberlain, seven.

And finally: Golfsmith, which operates five stores in the L.A. area, has come up with a Neiman Marcus gift idea -- a display case with a signature of every Masters champion. The case includes a centerpiece photo of Bobby Jones.

Sounds nice. One problem: The asking price is $50,000.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.