In His Eyes, the Choice Was Letter Perfect

The final item in Friday’s Morning Briefing was about Dan Patrick and his ESPN radio partner Rob Dibble talking about great television pairings, prompted by the death of former Jackie Gleason sidekick Art Carney.

“Patrick mentioned such people as Andy Taylor [Andy Griffith] and Barney Fife [Don Knotts],” the item read. “Dibble mentioned Pat Sajak and Vanna White.”

An ensuing e-mail read:

” ... and your problem with that?

“Best, Pat Sajak.”

Trivia time: Who won a National League MVP award but was never named to an All-Star team in his 17 years in the majors?

Identity crisis: Petros Papadakis says one thing his producers at Fox Sports Net are planning for UCLA-USC week is to have him interview a cardboard cutout of Karl Dorrell, if they can find one.

Said Papadakis on KMPC: “I don’t know if I’ll be able to tell the difference between the cardboard Karl Dorrell and the real Karl Dorrell.”

Food connoisseur: TNT’s Charles Barkley, getting in a plug for a sponsor, said, “Wendy’s has the best salad bar.”

Said partner Ernie Johnson, “How would you know?”

A key mistake: Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times cited a story in the Sydney Daily Times, which reported that an unidentified man stood to win $250,000 for placing 20 correct trifecta bets on last week’s Melbourne Cup Handicap in Australia, but instead won $2.6 million because a clerk hit one too many keys.

The man phoned in his bet, but instead of entering it 20 times, the clerk entered it 203 times, providing the bettor with a pleasant surprise.

Mouthfuls: Trainer Bobby Frankel is preparing a 3-year-old French import, Jipapibaquigrafo, for his Hollywood Park debut. Track announcer Vic Stauffer, meanwhile, is preparing for his biggest challenge since 1993, when he called a Hialeah race involving a horse named Altmagraenguida.

After two vain attempts, Stauffer surrendered during the stretch run. “Here comes No. 4,” he said.

Better than tenure: When baseball teams travel by bus from their hotel to the ballpark, the veterans usually get two seats each.

Once, when Rickey Henderson was playing for the San Diego Padres in the mid-1990s, he got on the bus and saw only single seats.

General Manager Kevin Towers told Henderson, “Tell one of the young players to move because you’ve got tenure.”

According to an anonymous witness, Henderson, who often talked in the third person, said, “No, Rickey got 15 year.”

Trivia answer: Kirk Gibson, who was the NL’s MVP in 1988 with the Dodgers.

And finally: This classic quote, which has been making the rounds on the Internet, comes from former University of Houston receiver Torrin Polk, talking about his coach, John Jenkins: “He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings.”

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