O’Malley Still Gets Last Words

With the end of an era, the O’Malley family-owned Dodgers, it seems appropriate that Morning Briefing wipes away a tear, tips a cap and unearths some of the best of the late Walter O’Malley on the business of baseball.

O’Malley: “Baseball isn’t a business, it’s more like a disease.”

O’Malley, on the media: “Anyone who thinks he can run baseball without a daily paper, can’t run baseball.”

Maybe he was thinking about Rupert Murdoch, who has plenty of daily newspapers.

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A word from the Cowboy: Another sampling of the wit of Gene Autry, who once said about his relationship with Walter O’Malley:

“There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for Walter O’Malley. There’s nothing in the world he wouldn’t do for me. That’s the way it is. We go through life doing nothing for each other.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Dodger record for grand slams in a season?

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Weighty thoughts: Andre Agassi was asked if there was something he learned from his U.S. Open loss to Patrick Rafter.

“Yeah, I learned I needed to lose 15 pounds,” he said, laughing.

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Rebounding: Goaltender Jamie McLennan of the St. Louis Blues did not falter when the burden shifted to him after starter Grant Fuhr went down because of a knee injury.

After all, McLennan has shouldered heavier loads in the past. Less than two years ago, doctors thought he might die when he was hospitalized with bacterial meningitis.

“The disease attacks your muscles,” McLennan told the Dallas Morning News. “I couldn’t even move. I didn’t have any strength. When I tried to stand up, I’d fall down. It was the most pain I ever experienced. I don’t even know how to describe it.”

He recovered and went on to sign a contract with the Blues. At one point, he was unbeaten in 12 games this season, going 10-0-2. But his illness has made him appreciate the subtleties of life now.

“It all kind of hit home for me,” he said. “I just don’t take the little things for granted anymore.”

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No spending Spree: The Atlanta Hawks were vehement in their denial that they were interested in signing Latrell Sprewell, contrary to a recent media report.

“I don’t have a problem giving a guy a second chance,” Atlanta General Manager Pete Babcock said. “But Sprewell is not going to get a second chance with us.”

For Babcock, it is a simple matter of drawing the line somewhere.

“The attitude of whatever it takes to win is wrong,” he said. “We’ve got to change that in the NBA.”

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Trivia answer: Kal Daniels, with three in 1990.

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And finally: Antonio Lopez Nieto, Spain’s leading soccer referee, calling for stiff jail sentences for those who attack or throw things at officials: “Until one of us is murdered, it does not seem that people are going to be concerned about the seriousness of the situation. Referees and linesmen in the lower divisions are playing with their lives each Sunday.”