BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : He Sticks to Fax, Gains Key Edge

Steve Wilson, who struck out the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Barry Bonds in the eighth inning to help preserve the Dodgers’ victory Saturday, might not have even been in the game if not for the persistence of Jay Lucas, the Dodgers’ publicity director.

Lucas discovered that Bonds had one hit in 11 career at-bats against Wilson. “(Dodger scout) Phil Regan walked up to me after the win and said, ‘You get the assist,” Lucas said. “At first I didn’t know what he was talking about.”

When Wilson was traded by the Chicago Cubs on Friday, Lucas had difficulty obtaining Wilson’s career statistics from the Cubs. So Lucas phoned the Elias Sports Bureau on Saturday morning and asked for the statistics to be faxed to him. While walking across the lobby of the team’s hotel with the information, Lucas encountered Regan.

“We were talking, and I was just scanning down the stats, and I see what Bonds had done against Wilson,” Lucas said. “I told Phil, ‘Look at this!’ But I didn’t think anything of it.” Regan relayed the information to pitching coach Ron Perranoski.