News item: The same Giants fan, Larry Ellison, scoops up Barry Bonds’ 660th and 661st home run balls in McCovey Cove.
Comment: About the only way the week could have gone better for Ellison is if he’d been added to the U.S. Olympic kayaking team.
• • •
Dusty Baker on infamous Cubs fan Steve Bartman in the April issue of Esquire: “Personally, I’d like to win it [all] and put him at the head of the parade — exonerate him for life. That’s not what lost it for us. Maybe it was just Jack [McKeon]’s turn, you know?”
• • •
Baker in the same magazine on steroids in baseball: “It’s gonna take someone getting seriously sick. Football didn’t do much ’bout steroids until Lyle Alzado died. That’s the way of the world. Until your house burns down, don’t worry about getting smoke detectors.”
• • •
Re: The Royals’ All-Lefty starting rotation (Brian Anderson, Darrell May, Jeremy Affeldt and Jimmy Gobble):
It’s unusual, to be sure, but has everybody forgotten that in the 1997 playoffs, the Mariners threw nothing but southpaws at the Orioles — first Randy Johnson, then Jamie Moyer, then Jeff Fassero, then the Big Unit again? Granted, Seattle lost the series in four games, but those were their three main starters that season, combining for 53 of the club’s 90 victories. Johnson went 20-4, Moyer 17-5 and Fassero 16-9.
• • •
Hank Aaron might still be No.1 in career homers, but he just dropped to No.2 on baseball’s all-time alphabetical list — behind David Aardsma, a rookie pitcher for the Giants.
• • •
That’s kinda like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being No.2 on basketball’s list after Alaa Abdelnaby.
• • •
Interestingly, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, the former running back for the Dolphins and Browns, is only fifth on football’s list — after, among others, Vince Abbott (kicker, Chargers, 1987, 1988).
• • •
With three prime-time games — one Monday, two Sunday — the Redskins have to be the most overexposed 5-11 team in NFL history.
• • •
Speaking of which, their opener against Tampa Bay would be a lot more entertaining if Warren Sapp were still around to flap his gums. (Or at least the buildup would be.)
• • •
The Patriots are sitting with two first-round picks and two second-round selections in this week’s draft. Which got me wondering: How often has a club been in such a position — and what players did it come away with? The last dozen times a team has had two No.1s and two No.2s:
Raiders, 2002 — CB Phillip Buchanon (17), LB Napoleon Harris (23), OT Langston Walker (53), TE Doug Jolley (55).
49ers, 2000 — LB Julian Peterson (16), CB Ahmed Plummer (24), DE John Engelberger (35), CB Jason Webster (48).
Patriots, 1998 — RB Robert Edwards (18th pick), FS Tebucky Jones (22), WR Tony Simmons (52), TE Rod Rutledge (54).
Rams, 1996 — RB Lawrence Phillips (6), WR Eddie Kennison (18), QB Tony Banks (42), TE Ernie Conwell (59).
Jaguars, 1995 — OT Tony Boselli (2), RB James Stewart (19), OT Brian DeMarco (40), LB Bryan Schwartz (64).
Vikings, 1995 — DE Derrick Alexander (11), OT Korey Stringer (24), FS Orlando Thomas (42), CB Corey Fuller (55).
Vikings, 1994 — CB DeWayne Washington (18), OT Todd Steussie (19), RB David Palmer (40), DE Fernando Smith (55).
49ers, 1994 — DT Bryant Young (7), FB William Floyd (28), LB Kevin Mitchell (53), CB Tyronne Drakeford (62).
Cowboys, 1992 — CB Kevin Smith (17), LB Robert Jones (24), WR Jimmy Smith (36), SS Darren Woodson (37).
Bears, 1989 — CB Donnell Woolford (11), DE Trace Armstrong (12), LB John Roper (36), G Dave Zawatson (54).
Rams, 1989 — DE Bill Hawkins (21), RB Cleveland Gary (26), LB Frank Stams (45), DT Brian Smith (48), CB Darryl Henley (53). (The Rams had three No.2s.)
Rams, 1988 — RB Gaston Green (14), WR Aaron Cox (20), DB Anthony Newman (35), WR Flipper Anderson (46), LB Fred Strickland (47). (The Rams once again had three No.2s.)
• • •
Three other things you probably didn’t know about the NFL draft:
1. The 1964 draft yielded the most Hall of Famers: nine. OT Bob Brown (first round, Eagles), WR Charley Taylor (first, Redskins), DE Carl Eller (first, Vikings), WR Paul Warfield (first, Browns), CB Mel Renfro (second, Cowboys), S Paul Krause (second, Redskins), LB Dave Wilcox (third, 49ers), RB Leroy Kelly (eighth, Browns) and QB Roger Staubach (10th, Cowboys, as a future selection).
2. That’s right, the Redskins drafted two Hall of Famers in 1964. Only one team has ever drafted more in one year: the Steelers, who drafted four in ’74 (WR Lynn Swann, LB Jack Lambert, WR John Stallworth and C Mike Webster).
3. Only two drafts before 1984 failed to produce at least one Hall of Famer: 1943 (when most college players were off at war) and 1959. Why was ’59 such a bad year? Beats me. It bears noting, though, that the top pick, Iowa QB Randy Duncan, spurned the Packers’ offer and signed with the CFL. Other notable players selected in ’59: S Richie Petitbon (second, Bears), OT Ron Luciano (third, Lions), OT Monte Clark (fourth, 49ers), QB Joe Kapp (Redskins, 18th), OT Bronko Nagurski Jr. (10th, 49ers), B Rafer Johnson (28th, Rams), RB Tim Brown (27th, Packers), WR Alex Hawkins (second, Packers).
(Thanks to the folks at the Pro Football Hall of Fame for supplying much of this information.)
• • •
Trivia question: The Eagles drafted Hall of Famers in consecutive rounds in 1957, getting WR Tommy McDonald in the third and who in the fourth? (Answer below.)
• • •
What do NFL coaches talk to college prospects about during their much-publicized visits before the draft? Virginia Tech defensive lineman Nathaniel Adibi offers a clue on TechSideline.com.
When Adibi paid the Tennessee Titans a call recently, defensive coordinator Jimmy Schwartz told him “that if I wound up going there, to make sure I was in shape when I came in and make sure I’m ready to play a lot of games,” he says. “… He was telling me that when Jevon Kearse came in, he played 26 [actually 25] games his rookie year. Preseason, the regular season, then they went to the Super Bowl, then the Pro Bowl. He said to be prepared to play a [heck] of a lot of games. I’d never thought about it that way. It’s like playing two college seasons.”
• • •
This doesn’t have anything to do with sports — or maybe it does — but nine days after 57-year-old actress Carrie Snodgress died awaiting a new liver, 73-year-old Pat Summerall got his transplant.
• • •
Quote of the Week: “It is very hard to catch an antelope. They are very fast.” — 2002 Boston Marathon winner Rodgers Rop, on the unique training methods of Kenyan runners (as told to the Boston Globe).
• • •
Just wondering: How many of you would have known who Rodgers Rop was if I hadn’t identified him?
• • •
Yes, that was Capitals play-by-play man Joe Beninati doing Game 5 of the Bruins-Canadiens series on ESPN (with Minnesota Wild goalie Dwayne Roloson as his sidekick). Nice to see Joe B. getting a little national exposure, what with the Caps taking the postseason off.
• • •
Things You Never Thought You’d See: Boxing promoter Don King stumping for George W. Bush on “Cold Pizza.”
• • •
Some people will do anything to avoid a tax audit.
• • •
The NIT’s antitrust suit against the NCAA basketball tournament will be heard by Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum. Name sound familiar? It should. She’s the same judge who handled the Martha Stewart case.
• • •
Answer to trivia question: Sonny Jurgensen.
• • •
Horse racing writer Rick Snider of The Washington Times passes along this note (courtesy of the Associated Press):
“War Emblem, who experienced difficulties breeding mares at the Yoshida family’s Shadai Stallion Station in Japan in 2003 during his first season at stud, has covered nearly 50 mares at the farm this year. The resourceful Shadai team employs a switcheroo tactic in which the Eclipse Award winner is teased with mares he likes, then those mares are substituted for ones for whom he had previously shown a dislike. … War Emblem’s problems last breeding season resulted in the son of Our Emblem being the object of an insurance claim. Three of the four insurance companies that insured him agreed to pay about 1.6billion yen [approximately $13.3[ThSp]million].”
• • •
The ol’ switcheroo. Gets ’em every time.
• • •
And finally …
No one should be surprised that Mark Cuban is interested in hiring Kwame Jackson, the loser in the final episode of “The Apprentice.” Cuban did, after all, take Juwan Howard off the Wizards’ hands.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.