Stock Car Driver’s Triumph Comes Before the Race

When John Kinder of Santa Ana was selected to drive in NASCAR’s invitation-only Suzuka Thunder Special stock car exhibition race in Japan against Winston Cup regulars Nov. 23, it had special meaning for the 22-year-old.

Kinder, last year’s Winston West rookie of the year, is of Japanese-American descent and the Suzuka race will be the first time he has been to Japan. His 82-year-old grandmother, Toshi Mori, will accompany him and serve as his interpreter.

*

Trivia time: The Detroit Tigers have retired the numbers of Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Al Kaline and Hal Newhouser. Why isn’t Ty Cobb, greatest of all the Tigers, so honored?

*

Scaled down: The ice hockey arena in Nagano, Japan, site of next year’s Winter Olympics, was dubbed the “Big Hat” when it was designed to seat 12,000 spectators. However, when officials decided to reduce the seating to less than half that number, the Japanese started calling it “Small Hat.”

*

Thanks, Jerry: After Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf insisted that the response to the team’s trade of three pitchers last month to the San Francisco Giants was 80% positive, Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle commented: “Those faxes are coming from appreciative Giants fans.”

*

Aging process: In El Paso, Elmer Trawle, 82, plays golf three times a week.

“A few years ago, I was content to shoot my age,” he said. “Now I’m happy to shoot my body temperature.”

*

Shoot ‘em up: The National Shooting Sports Foundation is looking for new and interesting shooting games--and will pay up to $60,000 for someone who comes up with the best idea before Jan. 1. Maybe Barry Switzer has some ideas.

*

Weight loss: When new Kansas City Royal Manager Tony Muser banned golf for players on the road, it cut down on luggage. During one trip before the ban, there were 22 sets of clubs on the plane.

*

More on Muser: Is the Royal manager worried about reaction to other new rules such as no jeans on buses and airplanes, no caps worn backward during batting practice and no players on the disabled list traveling with the team? Apparently not.

“I made a statement to the players that my door is open, but I’ve been a player and know they don’t come through it.”

*

Perish the thought: According to the San Jose Mercury News, San Diego’s Tony Gwynn could go hitless in his next 1,000 at-bats and still have a career average over .300.

*

Trivia answer: When Cobb played, he did not wear a number.

*

And finally: Syndicated columnist Norman Chad suggests that Major League Baseball realign its leagues by the quality of restaurants.

“You take your best restaurant cities--San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, maybe an expansion team in New Orleans--and you put them in, say, the Gourmet Division. And you take your lesser restaurant areas--Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, St. Louis--and you put them in, say, the Jack-in-the-Box or Houlihan’s Division.”