Now That’S Big

Alexander Global Promotions of Bellevue, Wash., which has produced bobble-head dolls of San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds, Minnesota Twin Kirby Puckett and others, had $6.5 million in sales last year.

The dolls have oversized heads but otherwise look just like the actual players, right down to Bonds’ signature earring and Puckett’s stubble.

How could Bonds’ head be any bigger than it is?

Ya gotta believe

When the Boston Red Sox sent Izzy Alcantara down to Triple-A Pawtucket, the effervescent outfielder left autographed baseball cards for his teammates.

On some, he signed his name, “Alcantara, MVP.”

At Pawtucket, he responded with home runs in successive games. Maybe he knows something.

First Firestone tires, now this

Sprinter Marion Jones was testing a new shoe for Nike when it fell apart during a race. Woody Woodburn of the Torrance (Calif.) Daily Breeze, says, “She should have been happy she wasn’t testing new Nike racing shorts.”

Wimpy mascots need not apply

Now it’s known what to call the eight teams that will be playing “smash-mouth” football when the XFL launches in February.

The team names that survived focus-group testing: The New York/New Jersey Hitmen, the Los Angeles Xtreme, the Orlando Rage, the Memphis (Tenn.) Maniax, the San Jose (Calif.) Demons, the Las Vegas Outlaws, the Chicago Enforcers and the Birmingham (Ala.) Thunderbolts.

The team “identities” - and the uniform designs, which won’t be unveiled until October - were developed by former NFL Properties executive Bruce Burke, whose Oneworld Communications is based in Connecticut, home of World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, which spawned the XFL and took NBC in as co-owner and co-operator.

This act will really drag

Cross-dressing drag queens will be part of the show at the Sydney Olympics despite the controversy the move has sparked. Ceremonies director Ric Birch called critics of the plan “right-wing reactionaries.”

Including the men who wear outlandish dresses, wigs and makeup in the closing ceremony is justified and a “part of one tiny section” of the event, a tribute to acclaimed Australian films that include the 1994 hit “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” Birch said.

The last word …

“They’ve really let it run down. I’d like to use my cigar to torch the place.”

- Cincinnati Reds manager Jack McKeon, on why he won’t miss Milwaukee’s County Stadium, which is scheduled for demolition after this season.