Town Was Big Enough for Both of Them Then

Some of the Angels might not even know it, but tonight’s game is a homecoming of sorts. The then-Los Angeles Angels shared Dodger Stadium -- Angel announcers always referred to it as “Chavez Ravine” -- with the Dodgers for four seasons (1962-65) and were involved in a number of stadium firsts:

* Bo Belinsky pitched the first no-hitter in the park on May 5, 1962, beating Baltimore, 2-0.

* The Orioles’ Brooks Robinson hit the first grand slam the next day off Ken McBride.

* The Angels beat Kansas City, 6-4, in 12 innings in the first extra-inning game on April 19, 1962.

* And the Angels and White Sox also go into history for doing absolutely nothing on April 14, 1963 ... the first game rained out at Dodger Stadium.

Trivia time: Which teams were involved in the first exhibition game at Dodger Stadium?

Trivia time II: Which teams were involved in the first interleague game (not counting World Series) at Dodger Stadium?

Cups o’ gold: It costs more for a beer at Dodger Stadium, $7, than at any other major league baseball park, according to Team Marketing Reports’ 2003 Baseball Fan Cost Index.

A Dodger cup holds 20 ounces, however, so the most expensive brew, per ounce, is sold at Fenway Park, where 12 ounces cost $5.25.

Clearly, Red Sox fans have to dig the deepest to enjoy a day at the yard. Boston ranks first on the list for cost of an average ticket, $42.34; soda, $3.50 for 14 ounces, and parking, $20.

Stinking fans: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle has had it with French tennis fans “who abandon every shred of tennis sportsmanship to jeer and ridicule Serena Williams, a great champion

“Paris turns out to be Philadelphia without Right Guard.”

Bear of a slump: By the age of 27, Jack Nicklaus had won seven majors. Tiger Woods, 27, has won eight. Nicklaus didn’t win another major for three years, so Woods would seem to have an opportunity to close in on Nicklaus’ record of 18 major victories.

The depth of competition in different eras is surely a factor when comparing golf’s greatest, but during his three-year famine, Nicklaus had three seconds -- among them a U.S. Open playoff loss to Lee Trevino -- as well as a fifth, a sixth and an eighth.

Woods’ most recent finishes include a second in last year’s PGA, but also a 28th at the British Open, a 15th at the Masters and a 20th last week at Olympia Fields.

Score ... please! The NCAA softball championship game got a Nielsen rating of 1.6 and Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals got a 1.4 the next day.

And they say soccer will never catch on in this country because there isn’t enough offense.

Trivia answers: The Dodgers and Angels played in the first exhibition game, April 6, 1963, and in the first interleague game, June 17, 1997.

And finally: Author Dan Jenkins told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that Olympia Fields was the worst U.S. Open course he’d seen: “Ought to be dedicated to the care and feeding of billy goats.”