Oh Well, Milwaukee Is Still Supporting Beer and Bowling

The man who runs baseball has problems in his own back yard.

Bud Selig, de facto commissioner, has watched his Milwaukee Brewers play well early in the season. But he has been among the few to watch.

Low crowd counts at County Stadium--the Brewers drew 149,261 in their first 12 home games since the players’ strike was settled, an average of 12,438--come as Selig, the Brewers’ president, is trying to persuade politicians that a new stadium is needed.

There are rumors the Brewers could move to Charlotte, N.C., if a new Milwaukee facility isn’t built.

And regarding attendance, consider the Padres.

It keeps getting bleaker in San Diego. The Padres drew a season-low 6,743 at Jack Murphy Stadium last Tuesday. The previous low was 6,758--the day before.

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Trivia time: What do Gregg Jefferies, Bret Saberhagen, Lenny Dykstra and Darryl Strawberry have in common?

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Obsession: None of Evander Holyfield’s friends seems to know why the ex-heavyweight champion still wants to box, but his ex-manager, Shelly Finkel, has a theory.

“He’s obsessed with equaling Muhammad Ali’s feat of winning the heavyweight title three times,” said Finkel, fired by Holyfield after he urged the boxer to retire.

It can’t be for money. Holyfield, tight with a dollar, earned more than $100 million in the last decade.

Finkel: “He takes greater risks than most heavyweights because he’s not a big puncher. He wins on guts and heart. Most of his fights go the distance. Why does he need to fight, except for ego?”

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Get me Dr. K: When it became apparent last week that Roger Penske, the most successful Indy 500 car owner ever, would be hard-pressed to qualify for this year’s race, the following announcement was heard on the Gasoline Alley PA system:

“Dr. Kevorkian, please report to the Penske garage.”

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Check your back: Moments after coaches Chris Ford of the Boston Celtics and Brian Sutter of the Boston Bruins were fired almost simultaneously last week, Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy turned to his general manager, Dan Duquette, and asked:

“Am I OK?”

Duquette responded, “Yeah, for now.”

Right, for now. Surprisingly, the Red Sox are in first place-- without injured Roger Clemens and Jose Canseco.

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Serious mistake: Derrell Robertson, a 1980s defensive end at Mississippi State, died after an auto accident last year.

But word of his death never reached the Ottawa Rough Riders, who picked him in the fourth round of the Canadian Football League’s recent dispersal draft of players from the defunct Las Vegas Posse.

Although he had been dead for months, his name was never removed from the draft list.

“I don’t know how it happened,” Ottawa Coach Jim Gilstrap told the Ottawa Sun.

“The league didn’t know until we told them. And we didn’t know until a week ago, when we couldn’t find him.”

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Trivia answer: All were California high school baseball players of the year.

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Quotebook: Catcher Joe Garagiola on how it felt to play in his only World Series, in 1946: “I guess the biggest thrill was when Ted Williams came to bat. I didn’t know whether to call a pitch or ask for his autograph.”