Joe Torre can change uniforms, but not his record against Mike Scioscia
More often than not, whether it’s in Southern California or the Bronx, teams that are managed by Joe Torre fall short against teams managed by Mike Scioscia. …
Torre’s Dodgers and New York Yankees teams have won less than 45% of their games against Scioscia’s Angels. …
Against everyone else, they’ve won about 60%. …
Vin Scully, on the abrupt ending to Wednesday night’s game: “ Russell Martin has just gotten thrown out of the game, but there’s no game for him to be thrown out of.” …
Replays showed he might have been safe, but Martin knows he should not have ventured into no-man’s land. …
The Dodgers and Yankees, opening a weekend series Friday at Dodger Stadium, met seven times in the World Series from 1941 to 1955 — and Pee Wee Reese appeared in all 44 games. …
From 1977 to 1981, when the teams squared off in three more World Series, the Dodgers’ infield of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey started all 18 games, though Cey needed a doctor’s clearance to play in the 1981 finale after he was beaned by Goose Gossage in Game 5. …
Noting that, other than the Olympics, Game 7 of the NBA Finals was the most-watched event during television’s summer season since the first “Survivor” finale in 2000, colleague David Shear suggests, “The game was an episode of ‘Survivor.’ ” …
Gone from the World Cup before the round of 16 are the host country, the dysfunctional French and, most surprisingly, defending champion and four-time winner Italy. …
Not gone is Ghana, which squares off against Landon Donovan and Team USA on Saturday. …
“If we win the World Cup,” comedian and former William & Mary futbol player Jon Stewart says, “the whole rest of the world has to then refer to the sport as soccer.” …
The Americans, 50-1 shots to win the Cup before play started, are down to 33-1, according to bodog.com. …
Newly anointed Washington Wizards point guard John Wall, clumsily addressing expectations in an interview with the Washington Post: “You don’t want to be a draft pick that should have did something but never did nothing.” …
It’s said that winning is its own reward, but General Manager Dean Lombardi and Coach Terry Murray of the Kings would tell you that contract extensions are a welcome bonus. …
Free tickets to the NHL draft, Friday and Saturday at Staples Center, are still available at lakings.com/nhldraft. …
When it was noted during Monday’s ESPN telecast from Omaha that UCLA catcher Steve Rodriguez was from Lomita, announcer Mike Patrick said he’d never heard of Lomita and sidekick Orel Hershiser said he thought it was near Pasadena. …
Actually, it’s nestled between Torrance and San Pedro, was home to Jim Thorpe at the time of his death in 1953 and, before that, was the boyhood home of Bill Sharman. …
Boise State, eyeing a national championship, opens its season Sept. 6 against Virginia Tech at Landover, Md., which is where Matt Leinart and USC kicked off their BCS title-winning season in 2004 — also against Virginia Tech. …
With stadium operators in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Chicago and Detroit preparing or mulling bids for a Big Ten Conference championship game, it makes one wonder: Where would the Pac-10 hold a championship game? …
The Clippers, then based in San Diego, tried to draft Manute Bol in 1983, but the pick was nullified because of technicalities, among them faulty documentation showing that the 7-foot-6 Dinka tribesman from Sudan was too young. …
“The NBA used his passport to say that he was only 19 years old,” former Clippers coach Jim Lynam told Sports Illustrated. “His passport also said he was 5 feet 2. Manute said he was sitting down when he was measured.” …
Though he suffered his first loss Wednesday, Stephen Strasburg threw a remarkable 75 of his 95 pitches for strikes. …
Among the UCLA legends expected to celebrate John Wooden’s life during Saturday’s memorial at Pauley Pavilion is 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson, a starting forward on the 1958-59 Bruins basketball team. …
In “The Wisdom of Wooden,” his soon-to-be published final book, Wooden wrote, “Love is the greatest word in the English dictionary. What joy it brings. We should all say it more with those we love. Please don’t be shy about it.” …
Bob Knight, we’re guessing, never wrote anything like that.
jerome.crowe@latimes.com
Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
