If This Works, Carl Lewis Will Play Center Field

The Czech Republic’s Jan Zelezny, the world-record holder in the javelin, isn’t a baseball buff but he would like to test his throwing skill against the Dodgers’ Hideo Nomo.

“I assume that I could use my javelin-throwing technique well in this game,” Zelezny told IAAF Magazine. “I don’t believe the wonderful Nomo can throw a ball harder than me.

“Maybe we can get the chance to meet at the Olympic Games and train together. Then we will see if he becomes a javelin thrower, or I become a baseball player.”

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Add Zelezny: Surprisingly, he’ll get his opportunity to tryout for a major league team. The Atlanta Braves will test his ability as a prospective pitcher on Aug. 5, the day after the Olympic Games end.

Zelezny’s agent, Juraj Groch, acknowledged that the tryout has the markings of a publicity stunt. But Groch said it would be “more than just that.”

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Trivia time: What is the highest uniform number retired by the Dodgers?

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Image issue: Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News writes “When I’m King of the World, Magic Johnson will stay retired.

“The man deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not Tonya Harding, Marge Schott, Bud Selig and other long-running annoyances.”

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She has a shot: Pete Rose told the Denver Post that he had been on Sports Illustrated’s cover 19 times to just one for Cincinnati Reds’ owner Marge Schott, “but if she keeps opening her mouth, she might catch me.”

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Long gone: In the June issue of Sport magazine, it was predicted that the Lakers would reach the NBA finals, before losing to the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago is there, of course. The Lakers were eliminated in the first round.

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Business boost: Rick Pitino’s decision to stay at Kentucky rather than become coach of the New Jersey Nets delighted Dave Snow for good reason.

Snow runs a chain of hardware stores in Kentucky, and in his firm’s newest TV commercial, Pitino declares: “Leave Kentucky? No way! There’s no H&S; Hardware stores in New York, Boston or L.A.”

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How about inflation?: Ken Griffey Jr. on the Nike commercials that feature a “Griffey for President” theme:

“I really don’t like this campaign. The problem is when people take it seriously. One reporter demanded to know my stance on abortion. Come on.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1959, Al Geiberger shot a PGA record score of 59 in the second round of the Memphis Classic.

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Trivia answer: 53, Don Drysdale.

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And finally: Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that only five players since World War II have been shorter than the Phillies’ Ricky Otero, who stands 5 feet 5.

Included are Bill Veeck’s midget, 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel, and the infamous Yo Yo Davalillo, the 5-foot-3 shortstop for the 1953 Washington Senators.