There Was No Pulling Wool Over Their Eyes

Of those who have contributed so much to golf, perhaps none deserve as much credit as sheep, who created the game’s first bunkers by burrowing into Scotland’s fairways as a means of escaping the wind.

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that a benefit of this phenomenon was the beginning of the sweater-and-sock industry. According to the columnist, it went like this: “You’ve got shelter,” angry Scots said to the sheep, “You won’t be a-needin’ this wool then.”

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Trivia time: On this day in 1920, Babe Ruth broke his season record of 29 home runs with his 30th. How many would he go on to hit?

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Relieved: Reigning British Open champion Todd Hamilton said that winning the Claret Jug is not nearly as stressful as caring for it. He stashed it in the closet whenever he left home, and worried about it constantly.

“I was always afraid that if I was on the road and my wife and kids were traveling, that somebody would break in and I’d be known as the guy who lost the jug. I didn’t need that,” he told reporters.

His worries are over: Hamilton was four over par after two rounds and missed the cut.

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Jilted: Paola Boivin of the Arizona Republic appears to have been through this recital before. “Just like that you want back in the relationship,” she wrote, in reference to the NHL situation. “Woo us. Court us. Show us how much you care ... “

It’s enough to drive hockey players back into lockout mode.

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Hopeless romantic: Syndicated columnist Norman Chad considers the Internet poker craze a threat to society. “You withdraw into your home,” he wrote. “You play whenever you want. You interact only with your mouse, mouse pad and keyboard. You eventually emerge from your isolation -- sometimes richer, sometimes poorer -- with the interpersonal skills of a lampshade.”

Chad expounded the joys of card-room poker: “At least with a card room, you get up and get out, you deal with other folks, you develop relationships: I fully expect to meet a future ex-wife of mine at a card table.”

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Old school: On this day, Shoeless Joe Jackson, the Chicago White Sox hitter who was banned from the Hall of Fame because of the Black Sox scandal, was born in South Carolina. The birth year is disputed, but his grave marker reportedly lists 1888. Jackson was once quoted as saying, “I ain’t afraid to tell the world that it didn’t take school stuff to help a fella play ball.”

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Giant milestone: With Thursday’s win against the Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants boosted their all-time record to 10,000-8,522. In their 123rd season, they became the first franchise in North America to post 10,000 victories.

Said former Giant slugger Will Clark to the San Jose Mercury News, “To get that milestone on the Dodgers’ home turf should be a feather in the cap to a lot of Giants fans.”

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Trivia answer: Ruth ended the season with 54 homers.

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And finally: Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel, on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jason Bay being blanked in the All-Star Home Run Derby: “If nothing else, Bay should win a year off from all steroid testing.”