Lazzari’s Baseball Roundup 3

Great quote by WDRC-FM’s Mike Stevens last week following the Red Sox 14-5 loss to Tampa Bay–a game where Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up EIGHT earned runs in just over four innings: “Dice-K was serving up more meat than the Golden Arches.”……….TRIVIA QUESTION: The 1987 Baltimore Orioles–who finished sixth in the AL East under Cal Ripken, Sr.–were led in home runs by a player who hit less than 100 round-trippers during his entire career. Can you name this former outfielder? Answer to follow……….Yes, suffice it to say that yours truly likes baseball just as much as the next guy. But when it comes down to either watching the aforementioned Dice-K start a game for the Red Sox or Christie Brinkley doing an infomercial, the woman in Spandex wins out EVERY time………. ITEM: University of Miami baseball player Frankie Ratcliff is arrested for trying to sell marijuana to undercover detectives; officers later searched his apartment and found three more bags of pot and 19 vials of steroids. My first thought was that this guy is probably more familiar with various drugs than 3/4 of the students enrolled in the PRE-MED program at Miami……….Answer to trivia question: LARRY SHEETS–who led Baltimore in home runs that year with 31 while also hitting an impressive .316……….Happy birthday wishes go out to former major league catcher Cesar Devarez–who blows out 41 candles on September 22nd. Few may remember this native of the Dominican Republic–who played just two years in the “bigs” with the Orioles back in 1995 and ’96. Devarez appeared in just 16 major league games; he came to bat a total of 22 times in his short-lived career and accumulated just TWO hits–thus compiling a lifetime batting average of .091. However, he CAN brag to anyone who will listen that one of his two career hits was a TRIPLE; hey–not bad for a catcher, huh? Best wishes, Cesar.

Bob Lazzari is an award-winning sports columnist for both Connecticut’s Valley Times and NY Sports Day , where his “Sports Roundup” column is featured weekly. He is a member of the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance and host of “ Monday Night Sports Talk ,” a cable television show on CTV/Channel 14 in Connecticut.