Perry Will Add Plenty of Bite to Contest

William “Refrigerator” Perry, former Chicago Bear lineman, will participate in the annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest at New York’s Coney Island.

He’s one of 20 contestants who qualified for a spot by eating 12 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. Perry, who played 10 seasons in the NFL and now runs a construction business with his father-in-law in South Carolina, weighs 400 pounds, up from his 330-pound playing weight.

That may not be an advantage in his bid to become a two-sport star, however. Two-time defending champion Takeru Kobayashi weighs 130 pounds. Kobayashi set a world record last year by eating 50 1/2 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes.

Burp.

Trivia time: Who was the last player to win a batting title without hitting a home run that season?

Only just begun: Angie Martin is one of 30 brides who are paying $3,000 to celebrate their weddings in a new banquet hall overlooking Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

The hall -- part of a $295-million expansion project that will add restaurants, stores and a video game center to the 46-year-old stadium -- opens in September.

“People think I’m crazy, but I’ve always loved the Packers,” Martin said.

Expensive seats: Linebacker Brian Urlacher’s new deal with the Chicago Bears includes a free luxury suite at refurbished Soldier Field for the length of the nine-year contract.

That little perk is an added value of about $1.4 million.

Who’s No. 1? Lennox Lewis says he will always be bigger news in his native England than David Beckham, no matter how much fuss the world’s most popular soccer player stirs up.

“I am always going to be 10 times more famous than David Beckham,” Lewis told the London tabloid the Sun. “I have achieved that by doing more than turning up at the odd MTV show here and there....

“In the long run, no one will ever be defined as a sports champion or a true legend on hype alone. There has to be substance.”

Bad teams, man: The Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres are playing some sorry baseball, with the Tigers’ winning percentage below .250 and the Padres hovering around .320.

Only 20 teams since 1900 have finished at .300 or below, only two in the last 50 years.

Last season was the first in the history of the game that four teams lost 100 or more games -- Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and Detroit, 106 each, and Kansas City, 100.

Raring to go: After the Giants released Ruben Rivera, he said he was “always ready when they gave me a chance.”

Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “He hit .180, so by ‘ready,’ I’m guessing Ruben means fully dressed.”

Trivia answer: Rod Carew in 1972.

And finally: Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News, bemoaning the dearth of big names highlighting this year’s All-Star game: “Once we lamented, ‘Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?’ We now wonder not where Adam Dunn is, but who he is.”

-- John Weyler