Morning briefing

Hamilton knew his server well

Baseball is still buzzing about Josh Hamilton’s record 28 homers in the first round of the home run derby this week, pitches served up to the Rangers slugger by 71-year-old Clay Council of Cary, N.C.

By whom?

Council is a volunteer coach who has thrown batting practice to local youngsters for decades, including Hamilton when he and his brother were growing up.

So Hamilton had Council flown in for the derby, although his name was misspelled on his jersey as “Counsil,” Newsday reported.

“He never expected anything back from anybody,” said Hamilton, who is drawing raves for a standout season after overcoming drug and alcohol addiction. “Probably never really got a lot of ‘thank-yous’ for doing it, either.”

Hamilton said he called Council recently and, when Council said he planned to throw batting practice to the kids as usual on derby day, Hamilton replied: “What do you think about throwing in Yankee Stadium?”

Wonderboy

After his home-run spree, Hamilton woke up Tuesday in his Manhattan hotel, turned on the TV and found himself watching the end of the movie “The Natural,” about the fictional slugger Roy Hobbs played by Robert Redford.

Just then, a visitor arrived to give Hamilton a random drug test, one of 10 the outfielder takes each month.

“Right when [Hobbs] was about to hit the home run, the [testing] guy came in,” the Associated Press reported Hamilton as saying.

“I said, ‘Hold on. I’ve got to watch this.’ ”

Trivia time

Hobbs hits his climactic homer off a young left-hander who had just entered the game. The film has the southpaw hailing from what state?

Touch ‘em all

Speaking of home runs, fans still dig the long ball.

ESPN’s telecast of the home run derby was the most-viewed program on an ad-supported cable channel so far this year, SportsBusiness Daily reported.

The contest, won by Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, earned a 6.4 coverage area rating and 9.2 million viewers, beating the 8.4 million viewers who watched the Jan. 31 Democratic presidential debate on CNN.

The derby’s rating also was up 25.5% from a 5.1 last year, and marked the highest-rated home run derby since 1999, when it earned a 7.5 rating.

An immodest proposal

Irrepressible drag racer John Force recently discussed soaring fuel prices with Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post:

“You know what my wake-up call was about the price of gas?” said Force, a 14-time NHRA champion. “We were driving down the interstate to Lake Tahoe to have a few days off. I open up a newspaper and it says the brothels in Nevada were giving gas-discount coupons to truckers.

“So I said to my wife, ‘I know how we can save some money. Drop me off.’ Now, was that nutty? Maybe the idea was a little extreme. But you get the point.”

Higher calling

As the world waits to see whether soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Manchester United for more money elsewhere, another soccer player has made his choice.

Chase Hilgenbrinck, a 26-year-old defender, resigned from Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution to become a Catholic priest.

“I felt called to something greater,” Hilgenbrinck told the Associated Press.

Hilgenbrinck plans to attend Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., for the six years of study that would lead to his ordination.

“I wouldn’t leave the game for just any other job,” he said.

Trivia answer

Nebraska.

And finally

The Grand Prairie, Texas, minor league baseball team planned an “A-Rod & Madonna Night,” with fans wearing an Alex Rodriguez jersey or dressed like Madonna admitted for $1, the Dallas Morning News reported. Couples claiming to “share an agent” also were eligible for $1 seats.

Bill Veeck would have been proud.

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james.peltz@latimes.com