These Fans Already Are in Way Too Deep

Japan’s Hanshin Tigers -- who have a 16-game lead in the Central League -- are closing in on their first pennant in 18 years and authorities have ordered the baseball team to keep its notoriously unruly fans in check.

Anticipating raucous celebrations, Osaka city officials have sent a letter to the team, specifically asking it to stop fans from leaping from bridges into the Dotombori River, a rite practiced by locals whenever a city team wins a championship.

The river is about 13 feet deep and if revelers don’t break a leg hitting the bottom, they’ll probably get sick a few days later. A recent city water survey found the river carried levels of fecal coliform bacteria about 74 times the acceptable maximum for usable water.

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Trivia time: Earlier this year, while a sophomore at the University of Houston, Cincinnati Reds’ rookie reliever Ryan Wagner broke the NCAA Division I record for strikeouts per nine innings (16.8). What current major leaguer has the record for all NCAA divisions?

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Too hot: Notre Dame football Coach Tyrone Willingham was asked to recount his most vivid memory of playing Washington State during his years at Stanford.

The 19th-ranked Irish play host to the Cougars today.

“We were up there one time in the snow near the end of the season, and our trainer’s rain suit caught fire, so that one jumps out at me,” he said.

“I think it was one of those blow heaters ... and I think he stood a little too close a little too long, and it ignited.”

Questioner: “Was damage done?”

Willingham: “Yes, and being a trainer, he was prepared to take care of himself.”

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One memento: Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden has a predilection for saving odd keepsakes from stadiums around the league.

He has the Gatorade cup he was drinking from when his Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles in last season’s NFC title game and a tuft of grass from San Diego, where his team won the Super Bowl.

“You should see where I live,” Gruden told the St. Petersburg Times. “It’s like ‘Sanford and Son.’

“My wife doesn’t understand the importance of these items. When it’s time for me to go, I know my wife’s dumping all that stuff in the coffin with me.”

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Here kitty: Jacksonville Jaguar owners Wayne and Delores Weaver gave $3 million to the Jacksonville Zoo, helping to launch a $30-million campaign to build the country’s largest attraction for jaguars ... the four-footed kind.

The park, called Range of the Jaguar, is scheduled to open in March.

“Over the last several years, Delores and I have come to love jaguars and they are an important part of our lives,” Weaver said.

The Weavers presented the check to a pair of 23-month-old jaguars.

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Trivia answer: Houston Astro closer Billy Wagner, no relation to Ryan, struck out 19.1 hitters per nine innings for Division III Ferrum (Va.) College in 1992.

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And finally: A response from Hall of Fame golfer Patty Berg, 85, to a man who told her he had gotten a new driver for his wife: “Great trade.”