Foursome Could Be Fearsome at U.S. Open

SAN DIEGO — Bits and pieces . . .

Too bad they don’t play foursomes in the U.S. Open, because I have a good one for later this decade.

How about San Diego’s Phil Mickelson, San Diego’s Harry Rudolph, San Diego’s Manny Zerman and San Diego’s Chris Riley?

Sorry, Messrs. Stadler and Simpson, but youth is being served for brunch today.

Mickelson, Rudolph and Zerman only finished first, second and third recently in the NCAA Tournament. That’s not bad since the three have been skirmishing since their boyhood and schoolboy days hereabouts.

Riley, the kid of this group, won the San Diego City Amateur last Sunday and came right back to win the Southern California Golf Assn. Invitational the next day. Mickelson, who has already won on the PGA Tour as an amateur, will be in the Open field Thursday at Pebble Beach. Absolutely no one will be surprised if he is a contender.

And isn’t it also about time that the U.S. Open joins the list of mega-events San Diego has successfully hosted?

The biggest statistical news to come out of a Padre game this week was that Tony Gwynn struck out.

It was Wednesday.

It had not happened in 137 at-bats.

As of the Padres’ departure for Atlanta Thursday, Gwynn had five home runs and five strikeouts. It seemed inconceivable to me that a hitter could finish a season with fewer strikeouts than home runs. Think about it.

However, Joe DiMaggio did it seven times.

Are there any statistical freaks out there who know if anyone has done it since?

Bruce Hurst’s jaw almost hit the floor of the Padre clubhouse when he overheard Fred McGriff trying to describe what pitch he had hit for a home run that afternoon.

McGriff thought Butch Henry might have thrown this pitch and then thought it might have been that pitch and finally shrugged his shoulders as if in disinterest.

“He’s out there busting his fanny trying to fool you,” Hurst gasped in mock dismay, “and you don’t even care. That’s weak.”

No, McGriff is strong. He could probably hit a medicine ball 400 feet.

With San Diego State trying to shave another $100,000 off its athletic budget, why doesn’t it look at its bureaucracy rather than the $30,000 coaches and so-called minor sports?

Four associate athletic directors are sitting near the top of the athletic pyramid with salaries in the $70,000-to-$80,000 neighborhood.

So far, all of the axes have fallen on the defenseless little guys.

When will local boxer Paul Vaden, hyped by his entourage as a brilliant young talent, fight a scheduled 10-rounder against an opponent who has even a reasonable chance?

He is 11-0, as in unbeaten, untied and untested.

If he were a football team, for example, he would be 11-0 with no place to go. Bowls would turn him down based on weakness of schedule.

Ring us up when he is scheduled for 10 against a ranked opponent. Otherwise, please don’t bother.

Doesn’t it seem judgmentally curious that the Padres would let Greg Harris, who already had a bad back, pitch the five innings he needed to get the victory in that 10-0 game at St. Louis on May 31?

He was placed on the disabled list a week later without having thrown another pitch in a game.

It won’t help San Diego State’s football team that its opening opponent, USC, was upset in last year’s season opener by Memphis State .

It shouldn’t be too difficult for Larry Smith to get the Trojans’ attention.

Dan Walters, the Padres’ rookie catcher, sure looks funny wearing No. 58.

Maybe he walked into the stadium and they looked at him and decided he was a linebacker. After all, he stands 6-feet-4 and weighs 225 pounds.

Suggestion: Give him No. 08 to go with Benito Santiago’s No. 09.

And backup Dann Bilardello should be No. 07 . . . or maybe No. 007.

It’s about time the Padres try to protect leads with the guys who are going best rather than the guy who is being paid the most.

On that subject, Randy Myers, the beleaguered stopper who has been sent to committee, has maintained calm in the midst of critical media questioning and cascades of boos from the stands.

For all of his reputation as a loose cannon, he has consistently insisted that team success is much more important than individual trials and tribulations.

That approach will do well for him in the long run, which is what baseball seasons are all about.