"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" ----4-28-07

So I hear that suspended Tennessee Titans CB/criminal Adam "Pacman" Jones recently bought a full-page newspaper ad--trying to regain the trust of fans and teammates. My immediate reaction was that he'd either use a bad check to pay for the ad or steal the newspaper on the day his words were to be published..........TRIVIA QUESTION: The 1987 California Angels had three hitters who struck out more than 100 times that season. Can you name any of these players? Answer to follow..........I'm sorry, folks, but there's something fundamentally wrong when University of Texas basketball coach Rick Barnes gets a $200,000 RAISE when most professors at that school don't earn that in SALARY..........Can you imagine if LPGA rookie Ji Young Oh ever tied the knot with PGA golfer/CT's own J.J. Henry? Candy lovers would enjoy her strolling the fairways with the married name of Ji Young Oh Henry..........Lazzari's "Lopsided Score of the Week": In a CT boys high school baseball game last week, Cheney Tech destroyed Prince Tech 29-1; the winning squad scored EIGHTEEN runs (NOT a misprint, folks) in the very first inning while the losers made six errors during the course of this shortened fiasco. An optimist trying to comfort Prince Tech fans points out that the winners scored 29 runs, NOT 30. A pessimist (or more accurately a REALIST) counters by saying Prince Tech lost by FOUR touchdowns--and football season doesn't begin for another 4 1/2 months..........This week in sports history, April 30, 1961: Centerfielder Willie Mays of the S.F. Giants slugs a record-tying four home runs and collects 8 RBI's--leading his team to a 14-4 victory over the Braves at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Mays homered in the first, third, sixth, and eighth innings--two of them coming off Braves starter Lew Burdette. The Giants hit a staggering total of EIGHT round-trippers during the game--including two by Jose Pagan and one apiece by Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou..........Answer to trivia question: DEVON WHITE (135), GARY PETTIS (124), and JACK HOWELL (118)..........In my next life, I'd like to return as LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis' personal physician or masseuse--or BOTH..........It's been reported that three possible top-10 picks in this weekend's NFL draft (Calvin Johnson, Gaines Adams, and Amobi Okoye) have admitted smoking pot. Wouldn't it be clever if--after being selected by their respective teams--they were given Bob Marley tee shirts instead of NFL team jerseys?..........From the "How Times Have Changed" Dept.: In 1975, pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the N.Y. Yankees threw a staggering total of 30 complete games. The grand total of CG thrown by pitchers in the ENTIRE AL East in 2006? TWENTY-TWO..........Conversation between yours truly and my good buddy Tony immediately following the Mets' pummeling of Atlanta starter Chuck James last Saturday: Bob: "Tony, James was awful out there--geez, he was pitching more like the old blues singer ETTA James today." Tony: "Yeah, and Braves fans were probably singing 'At Last' as soon as Bobby Cox removed him from the game!"..........Happy birthday wishes go out to former major league shortstop Rick Burleson--who blows out 56 candles on April 29th. A California native, Burleson (nicknamed "Rooster") played 13 big league seasons between 1974 and 1987 for the Red Sox, Angels, and Orioles--hitting .273 lifetime. A four-time All-Star, Burleson's best year came in 1977 while in Boston--a year in which he hit .293 and collected 194 hits. A scrappy, talented fielder, Burleson also won a Gold Glove Award in 1979. Best wishes, "Rooster"..........Finally, condolences go out to the family of former NHL player Gaetan Duchesne--who died recently at the age of 44 while training at a gym in Canada. Duchesne played a total of 14 NHL seasons for Washington, Quebec, Minnesota, San Jose, and Florida--retiring after the '94-'95 season. He appeared in 1,028 games--tallying 179 goals and 254 assists; he later worked as an assistant coach for the Quebec Rafales of the IHL. Rest in peace, Gaetan.