Ask Him Who Was Best, He’ll Say, ‘Hey!’

Humility is not one of Willie Mays’ strong suits.

In a taped interview to be shown on Bob Costas’ HBO show Tuesday, Costas asks Mays: “Have you ever seen anybody as a contemporary? Have you ever seen anybody who [made you say]: ‘That guy is as good or better than me?’ ”

Says Mays: “I can’t. You name one and I’ll tell you no. Just name one. Anybody.”

Costas: “Barry Bonds?”

Mays: “No. Barry couldn’t throw with me. He might not have been able to run with me. Let’s give him hitting, since he hit 73 [in 2001]. Don’t think I can hit 73 home runs. I give him that. But what else?”

Trivia time: How many times did Mays hit 50 or more homers in a season?

A side event: Track and field bragging rights aren’t all that will be at stake in today’s USC-UCLA meet at Drake Stadium. With a win, USC can wrap up the Lexus Gauntlet championship.

The Gauntlet goes to the winner of an all-sports competition between USC and UCLA over the school year. USC, with a lead of 57.5 points to 32.5, has already clinched a tie.

Seeing a positive: In an interview that will air on FSN’s “CMI: The Chris Myers Interview” Sunday at 10:30 p.m., New York Yankee Manager Joe Torre has a different take on the steroid issue.

“The best part for me that comes out of all these home runs, which now are being blamed on steroids,” he says, “is the fact that now all of a sudden we respect Roger Maris for hitting 61.

“For the longest time he was like a second-class citizen because he broke Babe Ruth’s record.”

Who’s the real operator? Orthopedic surgeon Larry Dorr, an Iowa graduate, says he and John R. Hubbard, former USC president, made an unusual bet before USC played Iowa in the 2003 Orange Bowl.

If USC won, Hubbard wouldn’t have to pay the $2,800 deductible for a knee replacement done by Dorr. And the Trojans obliged, winning, 38-17.

That’s not average: Pat Venditte Jr., a sophomore middle reliever at Creighton, is the only active switch pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. In one game this week, he retired all six batters he faced -- three with his right arm, three with his left, with a strikeout on each side.

“I have average stuff from both sides, and I really think it takes me to pitch with both arms even to be a little bit effective here,” Venditte said. “I need every inch I can take.”

Looking back: On this day in 1986, Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox struck out 20 in a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Trivia answer: Twice. Mays hit 52 in 1965 and 51 in 1955. His next-best total was 49 in 1962.

And finally: Tiger Woods recently made a bungee jump of nearly 150 yards, while in New Zealand for caddie Steve Williams’ wedding. Reader Sanford Aaronson of Santa Monica quips that, right before the jump, Woods could have said to Williams: “Steve, are you really sure you have the proper yardage on this one?”

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