Cheap Seats

Say it ain’t so, Anna

Anna Kournikova is gone from Wimbledon, much to the heartsick dismay of the British press.

British newspapers - and not just the tabloids - plastered her photo on their pages Tuesday, a day after the 17-year-old Russian withdrew with a thumb injury.

“Notice to all Men: Wimbledon is over,” said The Mirror.

“Sexy Anna out of Wimbledon,” said The Sun, which treated her injury as a news story.

“British blokes were brokenhearted yesterday as tennis smasher Anna Kournikova pulled out of Wimbledon,” The Sun said.

“And that means no more sexy smiles and skimpy outfits … to keep legions of lads glued to their tellies.”

The Daily Telegraph, Britain’s most conservative broadsheet, carried the story of her withdrawal on the front page - bumping inside a BBC interview with au pair Louise Woodward, convicted of manslaughter in the death of an American baby.

Hit parade

While American League President Gene Budig takes a highly publicized stance against beanballs, Montreal second baseman F.P. Santangelo and Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall are content to stand in the batter’s box and take their lumps. They’re waging a highly spirited, extremely painful competition in the category of hit-by-pitch.

Kendall leads the major leagues with 18 HBPs this year. Santangelo, who ranks second with 12, is so confident he can bridge the gap that he made a wager with Kendall when Montreal played Pittsburgh in late May.

“I told him, ‘We have to get something going, dude,”’ Santangelo said. “So we have a side bet going. We’re going for a case of beer.”

A case of ice would be more appropriate. Kendall, who suffers numerous bruises and dings from foul tips and home-plate collisions, set a record for National League catchers when he was hit by a pitch 31 times in 1997. He’s stayed healthy enough this year to bat .344, third in the league.

“I’m the type of player who’ll do anything he can to try and help the team win,” Kendall said. “I don’t practice this. It’s not like I go home in the off-season and stand in the batting cage and try to get hit. This stuff hurts.”

A little history

Only a few players in baseball history were adept enough at getting drilled to make the hit-by-pitch an offensive weapon. Ron Hunt, a two-time All-Star second baseman with the New York Mets in the mid-1960s, holds the major-league record with 50 in a season and the National League mark with 243 for his career.

“Some people give their bodies to science,” Hunt once said. “I give mine to baseball.”

Colorado Rockies manager Don Baylor holds the modern-day record with 267 hits-by-pitch.

Baylor recalls two pitches that left a lasting impression - a Matt Young fastball off his shin and a Nolan Ryan heater off the left wrist.

“That’s the only time I had the trainer come out with that freeze-on stuff,” Baylor said. “I got about halfway down the line and said, ‘The hell with this.”’

The last word …

“I’m on two Advil a day right now.”

- St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil on whether he was interested in troubled defensive lineman Alonzo Spellman, who was recently cut by the Chicago Bears.