Wait Until They Throw the High, Hard One

Monday’s decision by major league baseball players to postpone setting a strike date is no reason to canonize them, says Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News.

“My word,” Lincicome wrote, “you would think [they] had decided to give blood, fund orphanages, fight wildfires, something brave and noble. They are, by unanimous decision, going to keep playing baseball. At least until the end of the week.

“Seen in this selfless and rousing act is hope that stupidity will not kill the summer and the New York Yankees’ chances of winning another World Series.

“This is like applauding a glutton for agreeing to clean his plate.”

Trivia time: Who is the only USC football player in the last 20 seasons to have rushed for more than 1,200 yards?

*

Keeping it real: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, calling Coach Eric Musselman of the Golden State Warriors the best new hire in the NBA:

“If for no other reason, he’s no retread and has shown a flair. But, please, no more stories about how hard he works. My masseuse works hard too, but she’s not going to help the Warriors.”

*

Overlooked: A recent Sports Illustrated article listing the 10 biggest upsets in college football history left out one of the biggest. In 1931, USC overcame a 14-0 fourth-quarter deficit and defeated Notre Dame, 16-14, on a late field goal by Johnny Baker at South Bend, Ind.

The Irish, unbeaten in 26 games, had been heavily favored and when the Trojans returned to Los Angeles they were greeted by a crowd estimated at 300,000 for a ticker-tape parade downtown.

*

Color him gone: Tim Kawakami in the San Jose Mercury News, on Sammy Sosa’s saying he might leave the Chicago Cubs after next season if they don’t put together a winner: “That’s officially called the hell-freezes-over opt-out clause.”

*

Insider information? Mike Bianchi in the Orlando Sentinel: “I’m not saying which baseball team will be contracted, but let me put it this way: Martha Stewart has just unloaded all of her Devil Rays’ stock.”

*

Looking back: On this date in 1987, 18-year-old Steffi Graf defeated Chris Evert, 6-3, 6-4, to win the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles in Manhattan Beach, taking over the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for the first time. She became the first player other than Evert or Martina Navratilova to hold down the top position since Tracy Austin in 1980.

*

Trivia answer: Ricky Ervins, who ran for 1,395 yards in 1989.

And finally: Joe Carter, hero of the 1993 World Series for the Blue Jays, is now a color commentator for the Cubs on WGN and, judging by what happened Monday, probably should confine his comments to baseball.

During a game between the Cubs and Houston Astros at Wrigley Field, former Chicago Bear quarterback Jim McMahon sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch. Afterward, he was interviewed by Carter, who might have been trying to stir up an old Super Bowl controversy.

“Do you stay in touch with Pete Rozelle?” Carter asked.

“That would be hard to do, considering he’s been dead for several years,” McMahon said of the former commissioner, who died in 1996.