Fans can once again chant ‘Beat L.A.’

Fans at Angel Stadium this weekend will have the rare opportunity to chant “Beat L.A.” without actually revealing which team they’re supporting. . . .

Mike Scioscia sounds like his old mentor, Tom Lasorda, when he compares pinch-hitters to pasta sauces. . . .

Of course, he was in San Francisco, a restaurant mecca. . . .

“Maybe in honor of Torii Hunter,” reader Werner Haas of West Hollywood e-mails to suggest, “major league baseball might establish the Joshua award -- you know, the biblical guy where the walls came tumbling down.” . . .

No sentence would have been too harsh for Mel Hall, who deserves every minute he’ll spend in prison. . . .

Len Bias died 23 years ago today. . . .

The 1979 film “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” had nothing to do with Derek Fisher, but it did feature NBA players such as Norm Nixon, Mychal Thompson and Julius Erving. . . .

In the film, which stars Erving as Moses Guthrie, the Pittsburgh Pisces win the championship over a team from Los Angeles. . . .

Casey Blake wears a playoff beard throughout the season. . . .

Kobe Bryant is 30 years old, three years younger than Michael Jordan when Jordan won his fourth NBA title. . . .

Magic Johnson was 28 when he won the last of his five. . . .

Dan Topping and Del Webb won 10 championships as co-owners of the New York Yankees from 1945 to 1964, a record that Jerry Buss could match as soon as next June. . . .

That might be reason enough for the longtime Lakers owner to re-sign Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. . . .

Tiger Woods, tied for 12th after Thursday’s rain-suspended opening round of the U.S. Open, finished tied for 12th in 2001 and tied for 20th in 2003 the only other times he played the event as defending champion. . . .

Reggie Theus, a front-runner to replace Tim Floyd as USC’s basketball coach, played the role of Coach Bill Fuller in the 1990s Saturday morning NBC sitcom “Hang Time.” . . .

Theus didn’t hang long, appearing in five episodes. . . .

Ex-Gonzaga forward Austin Daye, projected as a first-round pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft, is the son of former UCLA forward Darren Daye, a third-round pick in 1983. . . .

Jon Voight was nominated for an Academy Award after portraying a character named Joe Buck in the Oscar-winning film “Midnight Cowboy,” which was released in 1969, the same year Joe Buck the Emmy-winning Fox broadcaster was born. . . .

Thanks to USA Today’s Michael Hiestand for digging up that one. . . .

Attention, Jerry West: Sandy Koufax is scheduled to play in the Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am on Wednesday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. . . .

Maybe next year, West can convince the reclusive ex-Dodger to play in the pro-am at the Northern Trust Open. . . .

All three quarterbacks taken in the first round of the NFL draft -- Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions, Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets and Josh Freeman of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- are expected to contend for starting positions this season. . . .

Mary Lou Retton, Edwin Moses and dozens of other veterans of the 1984 Olympics are scheduled to gather for a gala 25th-anniversary celebration of the Los Angeles Games on July 18 at the Coliseum -- and the public is invited. . . .

Information: (213) 482-6352 or The84Games.com. . . .

Johnny Ruettiger, a freshman outfielder who helped Arizona State reach the College World Series, is a nephew of Rudy Ruettiger, a former football walk-on at Notre Dame and subject of the 1993 film “Rudy.” . . .

Corked bats weren’t enough of an edge for Sammy Sosa? . . .

After Pascal Dupuis of the Pittsburgh Penguins showed up at this week’s victory parade with fresh ink on his back to commemorate the team’s Stanley Cup championship, blogger Stan Wyshynski noted, “Unlike Dupuis in the majority of the playoffs, a new tattoo shouldn’t be scratched.” . . .

Reader Rudy Silva of Brea doubts this record will ever be topped: In a 1999 game at Dodger Stadium, Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals hit two grand slams in one inning. . . .

Chan Ho Park, victimized by both, undoubtedly remembers. . . .

Bill Laimbeer, David Greenwood and USC’s John Lambert and Bill Boyd were among the high school and college basketball stars who portrayed Sleestak lizard men in the 1970s TV series “Land of the Lost,” recently remade into a film starring Will Ferrell. . . .

Notes Boyd: “They wanted tall guys with no talent.”

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com