Zito, Pals Have Own K-Rations for Troops

Barry Zito of the Oakland Athletics made an impressive pitch in April. After deciding last winter to donate $100 each time he recorded a strikeout to war-wounded troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families, he recruited 22 other players for his “Strikeouts for Troops” program.

Boston’s Curt Schilling, Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia and Atlanta’s Tim Hudson joined Zito in donating $100 a strikeout and other pitchers donated various amounts. As a group, they totaled 1,438 strikeouts.

Hitters participated by making donations for each hit, home run and/or RBI, and sponsors such as the Fox Sports Radio network, also contributed. In all, close to $100,000 was raised, according to Kathy Jacobson, Zito’s publicist.

Oakland outfielder Nick Swisher, a Zito recruit, said, “To strike out against guys like Schilling, Sabathia or Hudson and know it was helping an injured soldier made it a little easier.”

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Trivia time: What future basketball Hall of Famer was in the Brooklyn Dodger dugout as a member of the team when Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants hit his pennant-clinching home run against the Dodgers on Oct. 3, 1951?

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Mailman delivers: Karl Malone took a crew and 18 vehicles from his Arkansas logging company to Pascagoula, Miss., and spent two weeks clearing 114 lots of debris left by Hurricane Katrina, USA Today reported.

Malone said that a landowner who had just lost everything couldn’t afford to pay $15,000 to $20,000 to have a lot cleared.

“When we told them we were doing this for free, they looked at us like we were crazy or something,” he said.

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These Sox have runs: Even though they ended up with the same record as the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees were declared the American League East champions because they’d beaten the Red Sox, 10 games to nine, during the season.

ESPN announcer Jon Miller suggested on a conference call that maybe total runs scored in the series should have been the deciding factor. Had that been the case, the title would have gone to the Red Sox, who, with a benefit of two 17-1 victories, outscored the Yankees, 119-80.

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Ready to ride: Julie Krone, the retired Hall of Fame jockey who is married to the Daily Racing Form’s Jay Hovdey, gave birth to Lorelei Judith Krone in a San Diego-area hospital last week.

“The baby was immediately assigned high weight of 8 pounds 9 ounces,” wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times.

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Looking back: On this day in 1991, Fresno State, which plays USC on Nov. 19, tied an NCAA record for most points in a quarter with 49 in the second quarter of a 94-17 victory over New Mexico. Derek Mahoney tied an NCAA record with 13 extra points.

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Trivia answer: Bill Sharman.

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And finally: Sharman, who is recovering from shoulder replacement surgery and an emergency angioplasty, says his new shoulder includes titanium.

“I’m hoping the titanium will help my golf game,” he said.

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