Scorecard

Unify the DH Rule

The baseball owners' vote to begin inter-league play in 1997 was good for the game because it was good for the fans. New rivalries will develop, and stadium-goers will get to watch stars they had previously seen only on television, if at all. "It's a kick baseball needs," says Brewers manager Phil Garner. But before Garner or the owners get too heady, there's one thing they should do—make the designated hitter rule universal.

The idea that American League pitchers hit in games played in National League parks while National League teams use a DH in American League parks—the existing World Series regulation—is absurd. And it's unfair that the scheduling of five three-game interleague series, which is the proposal for teams in the East and Central divisions, requires some American League clubs to play nine games without a DH while others in their division play only six.

There are some American League owners willing to dump the DH, but any proposal to that effect would meet great resistance from the players' union because several highly paid designated hitters could lose their jobs. And with all the strife of recent years, another union-ownership conflict is the last thing baseball needs. The easiest solution is for the National League to adopt the DH. As Orioles general manager Pat Gillick points out, "The only two places in the world where the DH isn't used are Japan and the National League."

There is obvious validity to the traditionalist argument that baseball is purer when the pitcher bats, but in today's climate tradition isn't enough. Baseball lost its remaining purity when wild cards were introduced to the playoffs last year. Now interleague play's time has come, and so has the designated hitter's.

The Antihero on Ice
The Old-Timers' Game played last Friday during the NHL's All-Star weekend was dubbed a "Heroes of Hockey" contest, and participants such as Gordie Howe and Phil Esposito certainly fit the bill. A less likely "hero" was Dave Schultz, the former Philadelphia Flyer who made his living causing bloody terror on the ice. That Broad Street Bully totaled 2,294 penalty minutes—compared with only 79 goals—in a nine-year, four-team career, and thus would have been better suited for a game called, say, "Neroes of the NHL."

The Benevolent Hustler

Minnesota Fats had a word for the hustlers and sharks, the true characters who gave the game of pool a kind of grimy elegance—legendaries, Fats called them. And no one was more of a legendary than one Rudolph Wanderone Jr., whom most knew as Fats or the Fat Man. Wanderone died last week of congestive heart failure in Nashville, where he had lived off and on for much of his life.

Fats was not the Babe Ruth of his sport, for he was never even close to being its most skilled practitioner. But he was certainly the sport's most identifiable character. A native of New York City, he was known as New York Fats in 1961 when Jackie Gleason portrayed a character named Minnesota Fats in The Hustler, and, presto, Wanderone adopted the name. Gleason's character was not actually based on Wanderone, but Fats was fond of saying it was, and that's what stuck in the minds of most. In the end, that's what most people thought, and Fats never corrected the impression.

Wanderone, who stood 5'8" and weighed as much as 300 pounds, certainly did not possess the corpulent class with which Gleason glided through the movie role. In truth, he was rather a slob and specialized in eating contests. On one occasion, just after he had stroked the winning shot in a high-stakes game at an old hall, Fats fell through the floorboards and hit the floor below. He walked up the stairs and collected his winnings.