Was there a surge of support for Manny Mota to be recognized by the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals based on his rather quiet reassignment by the Dodgers’ organization as their long-time special hitting coach this season?

The Pasadena-based nonprofit dedicated to “fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history” announced Mota as its top vote-getter to be entered as the 15th class into the Shrine of Eternals on July 21.

Mota, one of the great pinch hitters of all time, topped the list by being named on 37 percent of the ballots. Former San Francisco legend and bar keep Lefty O’Doul was on 35 percent, and softball showman Eddie Feigner was on 33.3 percent.

Just missing election: Bo Jackson and Don Zimmer (both with 32.6 percent) and Dizzy Dean (31 percent). Continue reading →

Highlights of the week ahead in sports, both here and afar:

THIS WEEK’S BEST BET:

NHL PLAYOFFS: WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS:
KINGS vs. ST. LOUIS
Game 4: Today at 7 p.m., Staples Center, FSW:
No one’s ready to kiss off these Kings. Yet. If their best Stanley Cup defense comes from a bunch of defensemen finally scoring goals — or sparked by one of their celebrity followers tongue wrestling with the team’s mascot – so be it. This summer’s playoff path has already started with a much different script from a season ago, but that’s sometimes how sequels go in Hollywood. Close calls will continue to define this opening series, and both teams now it heading into the home-and-home-and-home-and-home stretch. “We knew what we were in for,” said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock after Game 3’s 1-0 Kings win. “This at where it is at, probably accurate where it is right now. It is a hell of a battle and it won’t be any different (tonight). There is not much difference between the two teams. Both goalies are on top of their game.” Home, at least tonight, plays into the Kings’ favor: They’ve won eight in a row at Staples Center, including the last seven regular season games while compiling a 19-4-1 mark at home.  Still, they’ve only rallied from a 0-2 series deficit once in franchise history, beating Detroit in 2001.
The rest of the series:
Game 5: 6 p.m. Wednesday at St. Louis, FSW
Game 6: 7 p.m. Friday at Staples Center, Prime
(Note: Game 7 is Monday, May 13 at St. Louis if necessary)

NHL PLAYOFFS: WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS:
DUCKS vs. DETROIT
Game 4: 5 p.m. Today at Detroit, KDOC:
As long as the Red Wings continue to pull stupid moves on the ice to wake up the sleeping Ducks, there’s a chance this will end mid-week in Anaheim. No word if the Ducks’ Toni Lydman will be in any shape to play tonight after the hit he took from Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader in Game 2.
The rest of the series:
Game 5: 7 p.m. Wednesday at Honda Center, Prime
Game 6: TBA Friday at Detroit, KDOC
Game 7: TBA Sunday at Honda Center, FSW

BEST OF THE REST: Continue reading →

International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Al Bernstein looks out to the crowd during the induction ceremony in Canastota, N.Y., in June, 2010 (AP Photo/Heather Ainsworth)

Amidst the mayhem that’s often counterproductive to the counter punches taken regularly by the sport of boxing, Al Bernstein “can always be counted upon to calmly and coolly assess the situation,” writes Jeremy Schaap in the afterward of the recently released autobiography by the longtime boxing analyst entitled “Al Bernstein: 30 Years, 30 Undeniable Truths About Boxing, Sports and TV” (Diversion Books, $15.95, 176 pages).

“A big man with a big voice, he has never needed to shout – the hallmark of a true pro.”

Funny story, though.

Bernstein, before heading out the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for Saturday’s Showtime pay-per-view telecast of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s title defense against Robert Guerrero, found himself yelling at a dry cleaning owner on Wednesday.

All the tuxedos his wife dropped off to be neatly pressed for the telecast had disappeared. After three trips to the back to look, they finally find the order – it was listed under his wife’s first name.

“I admit, I’m usually easy going, but I was being difficult,” Bernstein said. “I was really annoyed they couldn’t find the order.”

As Bernstein left the place finally with his wardrobe in tow, a woman stopped him on the street to make it known: “They (the owners) are very nice people, and you are a jerk.”

That part didn’t make it into the book, because as far as we know, it’s not an accurate statement.

Boxing often jerks viewers around when it comes to hyping performers under the auspices of building an audience of paying customers. Which is why we tracked down Bernstein to see why in the world we should care about a 36-year-old who just got out of jail for spousal abuse getting into the ring and asking customers for as much as $69.95 to watch at home if they really needed the high-definition feed of this so-called defining moment:

Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, talks to Boxing Channel’s Al Bernstein prior to his 2011 fight against Victor Ortiz. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Hogan Photos)

QUESTION: Seriously, why is Floyd Mayweather Jr. still relevant today, with all the baggage he carries and the way he kept avoiding facing Manny Pacquiao? Continue reading →

As it debuted on today’s “Dan Patrick Show:”

And this one was done with legitimate science behind it in ’09 by “Sport Science” host John Brenkus:

Jason Collins, left, explains himself again to George Stephanopoulos during an interview Monday in L.A. that aired Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” (AP Photo/ABC, Eric McCandless)

What made it into this week’s sports media column: The news cycle on Jason Collins’ sexual orientation announcement seems to have pushed on to other pressing issues. But what did we learn from this revelation that says more about how the media believes it has to operate rather than giving some proper perspective to what actually happened?

What ended up missing from action in today’s column: Continue reading →

Less than a year after it’s formal launch, the high-tech personalized autograph company known as Egraphs has closed operations because of cash flow problems as well as a pending lawsuit, the Sports Business Daily reported today. The website Geekwire.com also reported it recently.

Former Taft High and MLB standout Gabe Kapler and Dodgers manager Don Mattingly’s son, Preston, had been involved in the company in Southern California, as we profiled in a story last August. The company is based in Seattle.

A message posted on the Egraphs.com website from CEO David Auld said the company “ran into some unforeseen obstacles that ultimately prevented us from continuing to operate. It has been a very difficult time for us here at the company, as every one of us was dedicated to building out the future of fan-celebrity interactions. …
“We gave Egraphs everything we had, but the landscape proved a little too treacherous.” Continue reading →

Maybe the only thing more infuriating for Kings’ fans watching their team lose the way they did in overtime Tuesday night was having it only visible on half the TV screen.

Honestly, when has a split screen ever really satisfied a viewer of either of the two games vying for space on one channel?

The compromising position that Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West put itself in confirms only the fact that in trying to please everyone, you rarely please anyone. Continue reading →

Thanks for checking in on the 30 baseball book reviews we banged out this month. Another wish list: The top 10 books we’re looking forward to reading before the year is out (and wish we could have had early enough to give them a look over):

== “Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mays, The Parallel Lives of Baseball’s Golden Age,” by Allen Barra (due in May)

== “Tales from the Los Angeles Dodgers Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Dodgers Stories Ever Told,” by Rick Monday with Ken Gurnick, forward by Tommy Lasorda, updated from 2006 (due in May)

== “Conversations With Coach Wooden: On Baseball, Heroes and Life,” by former UCLA baseball coach Gary Adams, forward by Eric Karros (due in May)

== “The DiMaggios: Three Brothers, Their Passion for Baseball, Their Pursuit of the American Dream” by Tom Clavin (due in May)

== “We Were the All-American Girls: Interviews with Players of the AAGPBL, 1943-1954,” by Jim Sargent (due in May)

== “Burleigh Grimes: Baseball’s Last Legal Spitballer,” by Joe Niese (due in May)

== “Pops: The Willie Stargell Story,” by Pete Peterson (due in May)

== “Errors and Fouls: Inside Baseball’s 99 Most Popular Myths,” by Peter Handrinos (due in May)

== “Major League Anxiety” by Todd Shearon (due in June)

== “Doc: A Memoir,” by Dwight Gooden and Ellis Henican (due in June)

== “Cracking Baseball’s Cold Cases: Filling in the Facts about 17 Mystery Major Leaguers,” by Peter Morris (due in June)

== “Bud Fowler: Baseball’s First Black Professional,” by Jeffrey Michael Laing (due in July)

== “Willard Mullin’s Golden Age Of Baseball Drawings 1934-1972″ (due in August)

== “The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobble heads, Cracker Jacks, Jockstraps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects,” by Steve Rushin (due in October)

== “Just Tell Me I Can’t: How Jamie Moyer Defied the Radar Gun and Defeated Time,” by Larry Platt and Jamie Moyer (due in September)

==  “You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions,” by Frederic J. Frommer (due in September)

This story, originally posted on April 30, was updated on May 3:

To all those guy around town now wearing a replica of Kobe Bryant’s Lower Merion High School basketball uniform — real ones are available.

But not if Kobe has a say in it.

Bryant’s mom, Pamela, decided to make available more than 100 items from his life in a June bidding frenzy to be staged by New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions. But once the Lakers’ star heard about it, he put his lawyers on it.

Goldin Auctions filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday for the right to sell the items after Bryant’s lawyers wrote the firm telling it to cancel a planned auction.

Pamela Bryant reportedly received $450,000 up front from the auction house, which estimated the value of the sale to be about $1.5 million. Pamela Bryant said she intended to use the money for a new home in Nevada. A source told ESPN that Kobe Bryant offered to pay her $250,000 toward a home she wanted. She refused, and got the full $450,000 from the auction house instead.

Kobe Bryant’s lawyer Mark Campbell said in a statement, “Mr. Bryant’s personal property has ended up in the possession of someone who does not lawfully own it. We look forward to resolving this legal matter through the legal system.”

The main draw in the collection is a maroon uniform — jersey and shorts — from Kobe Bryant’s freshman year when he wore No. 24. It is believed to be the only authentic game worn #24 Kobe Bryant LMHS jersey in existence. He switched to No. 33 for the rest of his high school days before going to the NBA.

Among the other stuff:
== Trophies, plaques and awards he won in high school
== Practice jerseys from high school
== An Italian Rieti #44 jersey – the earliest known Bryant game worn jersey ever offered at auction.
== The surfboard “Teen’s Choice” Award from Nickelodeon network
== A 1996 High School McDonald’s All-American ring
== A 1996 High School State Championship ring
== A 1998 and 2000 NBA All-Star ring
== A team issued 2000 Lakers championship ring Bryant had made for his father, Joe Bryant, and a specially designed version for his mom.

So much for them being “special.”

Our apologies to the authors and publishers of these publications, which we hope you’ll consider tracking down and maybe giving us your reviews. As we decompress a bit from the 30 we just read (we know somehow we’ll get around to these as the summer goes on), please consider:

== “21 Illustrated Journal of Outsider Baseball: Forgotten Stars & Hometown Heroes,” by Gary Cieradkowski

== “Inside the Baseball Hall of Fame,” by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with a forward by Brooks Robinson (go behind the scenes to see many of the pieces of history from the vault … kind of like what we did in June, 2010).

== “After Many A Summer: The Passing of the Giants and Dodgers and the Golden Age of New York Baseball” by Robert E. Murphy

== “Swinging ’73, Baseball’s Wildest Season: The Incredible Year Baseball Got the Designated Hitter, Wife-Swapping Pitchers, and Willie Mays Said Goodbye to America,” by Matthew Silverman

== “The Beef” by Harry Lockhart Jr.

== “Philadelphia’s Top 50 Baseball Players” by Rich Westcott

== “The Mouth that Roared: My Six Outspoken Decades in Baseball” by Dallas Green

== “Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball,” by Lawrence Baldassaro

== “America’s Classic Ballparks,” by James Buckley

== “Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life” by Kayta Cengel

== “Mr. Wrigley’s Ball Club: Chicago & The Cubs During the Jazz Age” by Roberts Ehrgott

== “Drama and Pride in the Gateway City: The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals” by John Harry Stahl and Bill Nowlin

== “Bridging Two Dynasties: The 1947 New York Yankees” by Lyle Spatz

== “Core Four: The Heart and Soul of the Yankees Dynasty,” by Phil Pepe