He Tried to Introduce Some Levity to the Club
The RBI organization -- RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Innercities -- held its annual awards dinner Monday night at Universal Studios.
Among the honorees were Adrian Beltre, Rod Dedeaux and Chicago White Sox executive Dennis Gilbert.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. June 18, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday June 18, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 53 words Type of Material: Correction
RBI baseball program -- In Wednesday’s Sports section, a Morning Briefing item said Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith was an alumnus of the RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Innercities) program. Smith, a graduate of Locke High, played in a recreation baseball program in the 1970s; the RBI program was started in 1989.
Gilbert was given the Chet Brewer Award, named after the late Negro Leagues pitcher. Larry King, the emcee, introduced Milton Bradley, who in turn introduced Frank McCourt, who in turn introduced Gilbert.
“This is the first time I’ve ever introduced somebody to introduce somebody to introduce somebody,” King said.
Trivia time: Shortstop Ozzie Smith, an alumnus of Locke High and L.A.’s RBI program, played for the San Diego Padres from 1978 through ’81. He is one of five Hall of Famers who played for the Padres. Can you name the four others?
Multi-talented: You’ve heard about baseball players who “have all the tools.” Gilbert, who played in the minor leagues in the late 1960s and early ‘70s in such places as Visalia, Calif., and Waterloo, Iowa, told the audience at Monday’s dinner that he was “a three-tools player.”
“I could hit, run and talk,” the former baseball agent said.
Crunching numbers: “Extreme Dodgeball,” a new game show on GSN, formerly called the Game Show Network, made its debut Tuesday night. The cast includes comedian Bil Dwyer as the play-by-play announcer and ESPN “Dream Job” finalist Zach Selwyn as the commentator.
Teams are made up of people from the same walk of life. For example, one team consists of jockeys, and another team consists of accountants.
Says Selwyn, “It’s a game of mobility and agility, but most of all strategy. I think the GPAs had the strategizing down best. They probably printed it out on spreadsheets before each match.”
Simply smashing: The TV show is not to be confused with the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller.
Stiller, a recent guest on Bob Costas’ HBO show, was asked about the political correctness of dodgeball and about criticism by some sports organizations of dodgeball’s being played in schools.
“It’s a sport of violence, humiliation and degradation,” Stiller said. “Which is great comedy.”
Father time: Volleyball’s Karch Kiraly seems to be defying time. At 43, he is the oldest and winningest player, on the beach or indoors, with three Olympic gold medals and two recent titles on the AVP Tour.
Maybe that’s why Swatch, the official timekeeper of the Olympics, invited him to the Swatch store on Hollywood Boulevard for an autograph session as the Olympic torch relay passes by today at noon.
Trivia answer: Dave Winfield, Rollie Fingers, Gaylord Perry, and Willie McCovey.
And finally: From ABC’s Tom Tolbert, regarding Shaquille O’Neal’s size 22 shoes: “In L.A., you can rent them out for $1,500 a month.”
Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.
