Cheap Seats

Frankie doesn’t do Anaheim

An example of the difference between the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels? Check the celebrity guests. At Dodger Stadium, you might find Frank Sinatra schmoozing with Tommy Lasorda. Last month at Anaheim Stadium, the only celebrity sighting was in the press box, where actor David L. Lander sat. If the name is not familiar, you might remember him as Squiggy on “Laverne and Shirley.”

Lenny couldn’t make it - he was helping Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor prepare for the NBA draft.

Throw the books at ‘em

With plenty of spare time on his hands, Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson recently gave Illinois Wesleyan’s Clockwatch Review a boost, promoting the literary journal in an advertisement that ran in the June issue of Harper’s Magazine.

James Plath, Clockwatch’s editor and an English professor at Wesleyan, asked the wellread Jackson to pose for the ad, figuring a famous sports figure might reach a new audience.

“We really haven’t had a spokesperson outside of literature who said this was important,” Plath said. “I think having someone like Jackson support literary magazines helps say that literary magazines are literature with a capital ‘L.’ ” Jackson, an English major, gives books to players and provides them with reading lists for road trips.

But not to Scottie Pippen because he refused to read the final 1.8 pages.

Hey, free cable!

Remember those heroic fans in Detroit, the ones who ran out onto the field on opening day in protest of the players’ strike? They’ll be lucky to watch the next few games on TV - from their jail cells.

Anyone who ran on the field got a 10-day jail sentence and one man received a 20-day term for drunken and obscene behavior in the stands. Judge Robert R. Perry said the sentences were well less than the misdemeanor maximum of 90 days and a $500 fine. Perry reasoned fans could have hurt themselves, police officers or ballplayers.

The judge should’ve sentenced violators to a Tigers homestand or two.

Bring the radio, Mildred

Many season ticket-holders left Joe Louis Arena grumbling despite Detroit’s thrilling overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game of the Western Conference finals last week.

That’s because they missed much of the game waiting in line trying to get in. “Where else can you pay $75 for tickets and not get to watch the game? It’s unbelievable,” said Skip Thorn, 48, of Warren, Mich.

Thorn said he waited more than 90 minutes until he got near the front of the line about 8:30 p.m. The tickets had been paid for but weren’t mailed because the Wings feared they might not arrive in time.

The last word …

“The Babe’s id appears to have been relatively unimpeded in its quest for satisfaction. Through sex and food, Ruth nurtured the unresolved aspects of his infantile self with abandon.”

- Lehigh psychology professor Adam Cox, speaking at recent conference honoring the centennial of Babe Ruth’s birthday

, DataTimes