Maybe He Can Throw Out the First Chair

Talk about an odd couple. Jim Tracy and Bob Knight have become such good friends that they spent Valentine’s Day together. The Dodger manager and Robin Ventura were in Lubbock for Texas Tech’s 80-79 double-overtime victory over second-ranked Kansas on Monday.

Tracy said Knight rolled out the red carpet for them and had them sitting right behind the Red Raider bench. He and Ventura, who retired after last season, invited Knight to spring training at Vero Beach.

Don’t know whether Knight knows much about curveballs, but maybe he can give the Dodgers some tips on how to throw a tantrum.

Trivia time: Hall of Famer Frank Robinson will be the first manager of the Washington Nationals. What Hall of Famer was the last manager of the Washington Senators?

More baseball tips: Former L.A. sportscaster Steve Somers of New York’s WFAN was curious about the Mets’ naming Darryl Strawberry an outfield instructor. Phil Mushnick of the New York Post said Somers wondered whether Strawberry was going to instruct outfielders on how to miss the cutoff man.

Another odd couple: Mike Downey in the Chicago Tribune: “Sir Charles is going to wed Camilla Parker Bowles? How cool is that? I didn’t even know that she and Charles Barkley were a couple.”

Hunch play: Jeanie Buss may want to take note that co-owners Gary Dimkich of Arcadia and Carl Grether of Somas have a horse named Zen Diva running in the seventh race at Bay Meadows on Friday.

And the loser is ... : Jay Leno, on the difference between the Super Bowl and the Grammy Awards: “The Eagles have won at the Grammys.”

‘Roid rage: “I had a miserable weekend,” David Letterman said. “I was ratted out by Jose Canseco.”

Of Canseco’s “60 Minutes” appearance, Letterman said, “He goes nuts and injects steroids right in Andy Rooney’s eyebrows.”

Bus-ted: Nine high school athletes in Colleyville, Texas, have admitted they used illegal steroids, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “Suspicions were reportedly aroused when the team bus ran out of gas and the players carried it to the nearest filling station.”

Looking back: On this day in 1998, the U.S. women’s hockey team won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Trivia answer: Ted Williams managed the Senators from 1969 to ‘71, then for one more season after the team moved to Texas and became the Rangers.

And finally: Transsexual golfer Mianne Bagger, born a male, has been invited to play in the Women’s British Open, prompting John Mabry of the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star to write: “In a related story, Open officials are now undecided about whether to play this year’s tournament at St. Anne’s or St. Andrews.”

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