MVP May Be A-Rod’s Lasting Impression

Although he plays for a team headed for its third consecutive last-place finish, Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers is a leading candidate for most valuable player in the American League.

“I don’t know if it’s greater to kick it in when you’re in a playoff stretch or kick it in when your team is in last place at this point of the season,” Texas Manager Jerry Narron said. “He’s the best player in the game.”

Trivia time: Who holds the modern-day NASCAR record for finishing consecutive Winston Cup races?

The closers: Gary Sheffield of the Atlanta Braves, in USA Today Baseball Weekly, rates Byung-Hyun Kim, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Matt Morris and teammate John Smoltz as the five pitchers he’d least like to hit against with a game on the line.

Sheffield said of Smoltz, “Thank God he’s on my side now.”

Another Keyshawn? When New York Jet rookie receiver Kory Bailey arrived in camp, his car had a vanity license plate that read: “THRW2ME.”

High flier: Sammy Sosa was so upset when two team charter flights had in-flight problems that the Chicago Cub slugger began chartering his own private jets, taking some teammates with him.

“There are two strikes already,” he said. “Three strikes, you’re out. If I’m going to die, I want to die my way.”

Easy winnings: Thieves used Jacqueline Boanson’s stolen debit card to place bets on two horse races in England. When the horses won, Ladbrokes bookmakers paid the winnings--291 pounds, the equivalent of $444--directly into her account.

“I’m the happiest victim of theft ever,” the Cheltenham woman testified in court after the thieves were apprehended.

How big is big? Tom FitzGerald asks in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Isn’t using the term ‘big toe’ to describe Shaquille O’Neal’s upcoming foot surgery redundant?”

Italian intellectual: After car owner-driver Adrian Fernandez was injured in a CART race in Vancouver, he selected Max Papis as a substitute driver for the next race.

“I am pleased to join the team,” the affable Italian driver said, “but I am not an albatross waiting for someone to get hurt.”

Which leads to the question: When was the last time an athlete used the word “albatross?”

Bottom rung: Kent State games averaged only 6,595 spectators last season, the lowest attendance among the 114 schools playing major college football. The school, with 33,000 students, needs to average more than 15,000 for the Mid-American Conference to retain its Division I-A standing.

When Athletic Director Laing Kennedy was asked what was needed to boost attendance, he said, “That’s easy--a good team.”

Trivia answer: Jeff Gordon, with 54 after finishing 19th in Sunday’s Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway, breaking the late Dale Earnhardt’s record.

And finally: The oldest player in this week’s U.S. Amateur golf tournament in Detroit is Bob Clark, 55, of Murrieta. He earned his spot by being the low amateur in the U.S. Senior tournament.

You may remember Clark as the winner of the 1969 NCAA championship while playing for Cal State L.A.