Cheap Seats

Talk about meaningless statistics

The New York Yankees set a major league record Wednesday against Minnesota by taking a lead for the 41st consecutive game.

New York, which broke the previous record of 40 set by the 1932 Yankees, has led for at least part of every game since June 28, a 2-1 loss at the New York Mets.

Five bucks says the NBA record is longer.

Terrell Buckley need not apply

Deion Sanders, not Michael Jordan, should be considered the finest athlete in the world, according to Ron Wolf, general manager of the Green Bay Packers.

“He’s a Pro Bowl football player who can bat .300 in baseball,” Wolf said. “He’s so good that we don’t appreciate him.”

Mike Lupica, in ESPN the Magazine, gives the nod to Bo Jackson.

“Compared to Bo, Deion is Bo Peep,” writes Lupica. “In 1989, (Bo) hit 32 homers, drove in 105 runs and rushed for 950 yards, almost without taking a breath or breaking a sweat.”

Longing for the good ol’ days

Athletes seeking an extra edge are turning to diet supplements and the controversial leader is Creatine.

Phil Garner, manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, has seen attitudes on nutrition change drastically since he played baseball in the 1970s and ‘80s:

“When I got into baseball,” he said, “if you didn’t drink a six-pack and puke before a day game, you weren’t a man.”

Longing for the good ol’ days II

The Cleveland Indians believe their pitching aces, Bartolo Colon and Jaret Wright, have “dead arms.” Pitchers apparently get this condition when they tire out for a couple of weeks during a long season.

Kerry Wood had it. Mike Mussina came down with it once. Just don’t talk to Indians Hall of Famer Bob Feller about it.

“Dead arm?” Feller asked Wednesday night while watching Colon pitch against Texas. “I think it’s dead brain cells.”

It’s never too late to bash advertisers

The increased use of sponsor names in major sporting events caused Bill Flick, columnist for the Bloomington, Ill., Daily Pantagraph, to think of other changes. His comments:

“We have Mobil Oil underwriting New Year’s Day football, Budweiser beer footing the bill for speedboat races and Virginia Slims cigarettes sponsoring tennis tournaments. Wouldn’t it make sense if Tide sponsored the World Surfing Championships? Shouldn’t Bluebonnet margarine host the Bluebonnet Bowl? How about the Sugar Bowl, proudly brought to you by Kellogg’s cereals?

“The Rose Bowl … officially will be known as ‘The Rose Bowl, as presented by AT&T.’ What a shame. ‘The Rose Bowl, as presented by Your FTD Florist’ would have seemed so much more logical.”

One bad investment deserves another?

When Cubs teammates asked Sammy Sosa why he was buying Powerball tickets after having signed a $42 million contract last year, he grinned and said, “I was going to win the Powerball and buy the Cubs.”

The last word …

“Babe Ruth would be a good addition to the team right now. According to the local media, a 103-year-old slugger would fit in perfectly on an old team like ours.”

- Kevin Malone, Baltimore Oriole assistant GM