If You Can’t Beat Him, Have Him Join You

Numbers don’t lie. In fact, they provide a reasonable explanation as to why the New York Yankees seem to be so interested in trading for Randy Johnson.

According to a statistical analysis by STATS Inc., the Bronx Bombers might want the Big Unit for what might not seem to be the most obvious reason.

It’s not so much what he might do for them in the postseason, it’s what he might do against them.

In five playoff appearances against the Yankees -- four starts and a four-out relief effort to win Game 7 of the 2001 World Series -- Johnson is 5-0 with a 1.65 earned-run average in 27 1/3 innings, striking out 35 and holding them to a .152 batting average.

More Big Unit: On the other hand, as STATS Inc. pointed out, Johnson has not won at Yankee Stadium in 13 years, since July 23, 1991.

Since then, the left-hander has gone 0-4 with a 3.86 ERA, though he has never pitched there in the playoffs.

Trivia time: Which players were involved when Johnson was traded from the Montreal Expos to the Seattle Mariners on May 25, 1989?

Looking back: On this date in 1962, South Africa’s Gary Player became the first golfer from outside the United States to win the PGA Championship.

Fumble! The Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, in announcing its African-Americans for Bush National Steering Committee on Monday in Detroit, proclaimed NFL Hall of Fame receiver and USC alum Lynn Swann as a participant. One problem: the news release misspelled the Super Bowl X most valuable player’s last name, leaving off an “n.”

Streakin’: Dennis Rodman got the goat of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals by running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, though PETA reportedly has come up with a way for him to redeem himself.

PETA has invited Rodman to join in next year’s Running of the Nudes, which, the Chicago Tribune reported, is promoted as a “kinder, more festive alternative to the bull run.

“This year more than 300 -- many wearing nothing but ‘bull horns’ and red scarves and holding signs reading ‘Stop the Bloody Bullfights’ -- ran naked through Pamplona’s streets.

“In its letter to Rodman, PETA assures him, ‘You would win raves, streaking through the streets of Pamplona in your Nikes!’ ”

Just as long as it doesn’t happen in Newport Beach.

Paging El Pescadito: With center Vlade Divac’s return to the Lakers, Los Angeles now has two world-class floppers in its professional sports ranks. Carlos Ruiz, the Galaxy’s high-scoring, and often-flopping, forward, has company in his theatrical wake.

Trivia answer: The Expos received Mark Langston and a player to be named, who turned out to be Mike Campbell. The Mariners got Johnson, Brian Holman and Gene Harris.

And finally: “So the Vlade Flop is coming back to L.A.,” said Channel 9 sportscaster Alan Massengale. “This is very appropriate considering most folks expect the rest of the team, without Shaq, to flop as well.”