Another Washington Coverup Is All Wet
The New York Mets have protested their 5-3 rain-shortened loss to the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.
The team’s complaint? Before the game was called in the eighth inning after a second rain delay, it took the grounds crew at RFK Stadium 31 minutes to cover the infield with the tarp.
“I thought that they were understaffed and undermanned,” Met Manager Willie Randolph said.
What did the Mets expect? Rarely does anything get done in a timely fashion in Washington.
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Trivia time: If Dodger shortstop Cesar Izturis plays tonight against the Nationals, he will tie Alfredo Griffin for fourth place on the all-time L.A. Dodger list for games played at shortstop at 534. Who are the Dodgers’ all-time leaders in games played at shortstop?
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News flash: Jim Armstrong of AOL Sports noted that Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees, made a startling revelation recently. Cashman claimed the Yankees weren’t as young as they used to be, prompting Armstrong to write: “The Yankees are old, and sure enough, Elvis is dead.”
Added Armstrong: “And while we’re on the subject, the Rocky Mountains are tall, the Middle East is sandy, and Ohio State is in Ohio.”
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A changed attitude: Bob Costas, on Dennis Miller’s CNBC show, was talking about the humbling of Maurice Clarett when he recalled that a linebacker once drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals called attention to himself by wearing a quarter in his ear.
According to Costas, tight end Jackie Smith said, “Here’s what this boy is going to find out about life in the NFL: He’s going to come around the corner and some nasty dude is going to turn that quarter into two dimes and a nickel.”
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Anything is possible: After stints at North Carolina Wilmington and Richmond, Jerry Wainwright was overwhelmed last week when he was named basketball coach at DePaul.
“I read somewhere it said the world has gone crazy when the world’s best rapper is white, the world’s best golfer is black and the world’s tallest basketball player in the NBA is Chinese,” he said. “Now you can add that I’m the coach at DePaul to that.”
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Looking back: On this day in 1952, CBS became the first network to televise the Kentucky Derby, with Hill Gail, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, winning by two lengths over Sub Fleet. It was Arcaro’s fifth Derby victory.
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Trivia answer: Bill Russell at 1,747, followed by Maury Wills at 1,497 and Jose Offerman at 571.
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And finally: Randy Moss, in explaining his aloofness, said, “Some people call it shy. Some people call it incognito.” Too bad Moss didn’t end up with the St. Louis Rams. He could hang out with third-round draft choice Richie Incognito, and maybe no one would notice them.
Actually, they would make quite a pair. Incognito, a center, was dismissed from Nebraska before the 2004 season for repeated violations of team policies and, after transferring to Oregon, was suspended before ever playing a game.
Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.