Apology Wasn’t Meant to Embarrass

Phil Pote, a longtime major league scout who formerly coached high school baseball in L.A.’s inner city, has written a screenplay about a young pitching prospect.

Pote is always pitching his screenplay, usually to people he meets through his friend Dennis Gilbert, the former baseball agent and current Chicago White Sox executive. Gilbert, who also has a Beverly Hills life insurance business, knows some of the biggest names in the film industry.

“I’m sorry if I ever embarrass you,” Pote recently told Gilbert.

Said Gilbert: “That’s OK, Phil. You never embarrass me when you embarrass me.”

Trivia time: The Dodgers will be handing out 50,000 Sandy Koufax statues at tonight’s game against San Diego. In the final four seasons of Koufax’s 12-year major league career that began June 24, 1955, how many times did he win 25 or more games?

The short of it: Baltimore left fielder David Newhan just missed catching Andruw Jones’ walk-off home run in the ninth inning of the Atlanta Braves’ 5-4 victory Saturday.

The 5-foot-10 Newhan is the son of Ross Newhan, the diminutive Hall of Fame baseball columnist for The Times who is semiretired.

Said the younger Newhan, in explaining to reporters how he missed Jones’ shot by only about two inches, said, “Man, heredity is a [stinker].”

Reaching new heights: It has been confirmed after a recent test run that the Olympic flame will be carried to the summit of Mt. Everest as part of the torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

A team of 60 to 80 climbers will take the torch up the southern side of the 29,035-foot mountain.

Grunt and groan: Defending champion Maria Sharapova needed only one match at Wimbledon this year to surpass her personal grunting record, the Sun of London reported, crediting her with a 101.2-decibel grunt.

Added Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “In fact, say those in the know, Sharapova is probably just a few voice lessons away from becoming the first player in tennis history who can grunt her own weight.”

Impossible to believe: In the movie “Bewitched,” when Nicole Kidman’s character finally confesses that she is a witch, Will Ferrell’s character, initially not believing her, responds, “Guess what? I’m a Clipper fan. I even bought courtside seats.”

Looking back: On this date last year, Jason Windsor pitched a five-hitter, Kurt Suzuki’s run-scoring single capped a three-run seven inning and Cal State Fullerton won the College World Series with a 3-2 victory over Texas.

Trivia answer: Three times. He was 25-5 in 1963, 26-8 in ‘65, and 27-9 in ’66. And he wasn’t too shabby in 1964, going 19-5.

And finally: Of Koufax’s 1963 record, Yogi Berra, then in his final season with the New York Yankees, said, “I can see how he won 25 games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.”

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