Devil Rays Didn’t Treat Him Much Like a King

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays ended their 15-game losing streak Saturday night.

Now they can take the pins out of Stephen King’s photo.

Seems the Devil Rays decided the prolific author of horror novels was jinxing them: They were only a game under .500 when their streak began April 25 as King, a noted baseball fan, took in a game at Tropicana Field.

“I don’t think I’m a jinx,” King told the Tampa Tribune. “They said Babe Ruth was a jinx to the Red Sox [after being traded to the Yankees.] I never believed that, either. I’m a 55-year-old man with bad eyesight. I’ve got nothing to do with this.”

King, a self-proclaimed Devil Ray fan, points out the team committed an error when the players stuck pins in the photo from the jacket of “Misery.”

“They picked the wrong book,” he said. “They should have picked ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.’ That’s my jinx book. After it came out, I had my [automobile] accident. And [sore-armed Cub reliever] Tom Gordon hasn’t been the same since.”

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Trivia time: What is the major league record for longest losing streak?

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What’s that quacking sound? Ron Wilson, the original coach of the Mighty Ducks, was fired last week as coach of the Washington Capitals after five seasons--a geologic era for an NHL coach.

He lost the Duck job after the team’s first playoff run, largely because of a personality conflict with former team president Tony Tavares. He lost this one a month after owner Ted Leonsis insisted Wilson would be back despite failing to make the playoffs with a roster that included Jaromir Jagr.

All we remember is what happened the year after the last time Wilson was fired: He took the Capitals to the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals.

Maybe the Ducks--looking for a coach and no longer under the helm of Tavares--ought to consider playing the nostalgia card.

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Gordon marriage hits wall: So wrote the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a story on NASCAR star Jeff Gordon’s divorce from his wife of seven years, Brooke, a former Miss Winston.

Florida court papers reveal that Brooke cited only “marital misconduct,” reports Al Levine of the Journal-Constitution.

“That is a broad-brush charge in Florida, covering everything from an affair to his refusal to mow the lawn. No one in racing has revealed anything about the cause of the breakup, but this is an industry that thinks fidelity is part of a stereo system.”

She wants the $10.5-million South Florida mansion--a sprawling, 23,000-square foot estate with property taxes of $180,139 last year--as well as the Porsche, the Mercedes 600 SL and use of the boats and the plane.

Guess Jeff gets to keep the Chevy.

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Trivia answer: The Philadelphia Phillies lost 23 in a row in 1961.

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And finally: Gordon--who according to a tabloid report dallied with a perfume sales clerk--has been seeking solace in the company of fellow NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

“We’ve been able to hang out and ride go-karts together,” Stewart told a television interviewer. “He’s kind of the Jeff of old, the Jeff that we missed. I mean we’ve been hanging out together playing video games. It’s been a lot of fun.”

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Robyn Norwood