Team Has Few Holes, but Watch for Defects

Relenting in its effort to bar Cuba from playing in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, the U.S. government issued a license to the island’s national team on the condition that no proceeds from the March tournament reach the hands of Fidel Castro’s Communist regime.

Apparently, that’s OK with El Comandante, who recently told Reuters: “Cuba will play well, even though they have stolen many of our good players.”

Castro was, no doubt, referring to the million-dollar contracts that have lured players such as Jose Contreras, Orlando Hernandez and Livan Hernandez to the U.S.

Cuba’s roster is not expected to include any defectors, but will all members of its current national team return home?

“Most experts,” wrote Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, “expect Cuba to finish third in the tournament (behind the U.S. and Dominican Republic) but lead the event in defections.”

Trivia time: What players, along with Wayne Gretzky, were involved in the trade between the Kings and Edmonton Oilers on Aug. 9, 1988?

The sixth man: Hollywood’s sports movies often ignore facts in favor of plot, and the newest Disney feel-good movie, “Glory Road,” is no exception.

“ ‘Glory Road’ ” is a sensational idea, long overdue, and I will see it,” wrote Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle. “But if the story is so good, so important, so historical, why mess with it? Why change the scoring of the championship game, and why have Don Haskins winning the title in his first year at Texas Western instead of his fifth?

“If Hollywood made the story of Jesus, they’d give him a wisecracking sidekick named Lefty.”

A million reasons: One of the contenders in today’s $1-million Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita is McCann’s Mojave, owned by Alix Nikki Hunt and Santa Anita’s director of publicity, Mike Willman.

“The nature of my job is to bring attention to others,” Willman said, “but what a thrill it would be to make a brief exception.”

Campaign contribution: The gubernatorial campaign of former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania received a boost when his old team beat the Denver Broncos last weekend to earn a trip to the Super Bowl.

“Swann was so excited,” comedian Jerry Perisho noted, “he accidentally kissed a football and spiked a baby.”

Looking back: On this day in 1984, Gretzky’s NHL-record consecutive-game scoring streak of 51 was ended by the Kings and goaltender Markus Mattsson in a 4-2 victory at Edmonton.

A season earlier, the Kings ended Gretzky’s previous NHL-record streak at 30 games.

Trivia answer: Gretzky was traded with Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to the Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $15 million, and three first-round draft picks who eventually played only four games combined for the Oilers.

And finally: David Letterman, on the sexual harassment allegation made against New York Knick President Isiah Thomas by a former team executive: “On the bright side, it’s nice to see somebody on the Knicks who’s got some moves.”