G. Rollie White Downs Is Proof All’s Not Bigger, Better in Texas

Andrew Beyer of the Washington Post, on the opening of pari-mutuel horse racing in Texas last weekend:

“It wasn’t at a grand facility in Houston or Dallas. The first thoroughbred racing was conducted in the town of Brady (Pop. 5,976), best known as the home of the world championship barbecue goat cook-off. Brady is so rural that signs at the local motel advise patrons, ‘Do Not Clean Birds in the Room.’

“The track in Brady is G. Rollie White Downs, and its first day of racing drew a crowd of about 4,000 who wagered a meager $188,975. The crowd figure was an estimate because G. Rollie White Downs has no turnstiles to count the patrons. Nor does it have a clubhouse or a press box. Nor do the tents serving as the makeshift clubhouse and press box have any electricity, although this was viewed as a blessing by some patrons.

“ ‘The tents were ankle-deep in water,’ said Randy Moss of the Arkansas Democrat, ‘so if we’d had electricity, we’d probably be dead.’ ”

Question of attitude: Steve Buckley of the Hartford Courant reports that the Oakland Athletics will not go into the World Series as flat as they were last season against the Dodgers. He quotes Jose Canseco: “The experience of having been there last year means so much. . . . I think I tried to do too much last year. I’d come up with nobody on base and try to hit a three-run homer. That won’t happen this time. I’m just going to have fun.”

Add Buckley: A reporter asked A’s shortstop Mike Gallego about the status of his wrist. “I cracked my wrist three years ago, and now I have somebody asking how it is,” he said.

Trivia time: What was the only American League staff without a 100-strikeout pitcher this season?

No mistake about it: Richard Justice of the Washington Post quotes Chicago Cub reliever Les Lancaster on pitching to San Francisco Giants’ first baseman Will Clark: “Oh, he can be pitched to. It’s just a matter of getting the ball there. If you don’t put it in the right spot, he makes you pay. That’s what separates good and great hitters. A good hitter will occasionally miss a mistake bad. Will Clark didn’t miss any pitches (during the National League playoffs.)”

Add Justice: Clark on hitting: “I start thinking about that day’s pitcher the morning of the game. It might be earlier. I’ll look in my book or maybe look at a videotape if there’s something I want to check on. I’ll usually get three or four other opinions. You need to go up there with some idea about what the pitcher wants to do with you.”

Trivia answer: The New York Yankees. Andy Hawkins had 98 going into his last start but had no strikeouts in seven innings.

Quotebook: The Giants’ Kevin Mitchell, on Clark: “Will Clark is not human. Someone made him.”