Steinbrenner Must Be Green With Envy

Is Tiger Woods the best active pro golfer who has never won a major? . . .

George Steinbrenner must be envious of the Mets, what with their changing managers and all. . . .

That will teach Dallas Green about telling the truth about his pitching staff. . . .

Seattle didn’t have much of a chance to pass Texas for the American League West title, but the loss of Randy Johnson for the rest of the season lessens the Mariners’ realistic wild-card hopes. . . .

San Francisco Giant announcer Hank Greenwald, who will retire at the end of the season, has been one of the best in the business the last 16 years. . . .

Kirk Gibson’s autobiography, “Bottom of the Ninth,” is due out next February. . . .

Olympic light-middleweight gold medalist David Reid won’t start his professional career until November because of surgery to correct a weak muscle that causes his left eyelid to droop. . . .

Reid is expected to earn $50,000 for his first bout, which probably will be shown on HBO. . . .

The 90-day suspension handed Vinny Pazienza, who fights about once a year, is laughable. . . .

A Riddick Bowe-Andrew Golota rematch is in the works for November at Atlantic City. . . .

One of the Southland’s best prospects, welterweight Raul Franco of Long Beach, will make his pro debut tonight at the Irvine Marriott in a four-round preliminary bout. . . .

Look-a-likes: Golfer Patty Sheehan and actress Ann B. Davis. . . .

Proceeds from the King-Colorado Avalanche exhibition game Sept. 28 at the Forum will go to the Travis Roy Foundation Paralysis Project of America and the Kings’ Care Foundation. . . .

Roy, who suffered injuries in his first college hockey game that paralyzed him, will resume classes at Boston University next week. . . .

The Detroit Red Wings, who traded Dino Ciccarelli to Tampa Bay for a draft choice, still haven’t done as much housecleaning as had been expected after their playoff disappointment. . . .

A retrospective of baseball photographer George Brace will open Saturday at Gallery A7 at the Bergamot Station Arts Complex in Santa Monica. The exhibit concentrates on Brace’s work from 1930-60 and runs through Oct. 20. . .

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Jennifer Capriati, 20, appears to be washed up. . . .

One of the reasons most players don’t enjoy the U.S. Open is that it is the only major tennis tournament that has night matches. . . .

The companies and individuals who buy New York Knicks’ courtside seats at Madison Square Garden for $1,000 a game must be the same ones who pay $17,000 for courtside boxes for the two weeks of the Open at Flushing Meadow. . . .

Average NFL ticket price this season is $35.74, up from $33.52. . . .

One of the more interesting matchups on opening day is the battle of the Bays, Green Bay at Tampa Bay. . . .

California basketball coach Todd Bozeman was a resignation or firing waiting to happen. . . .

It’s nice to see Charlie Parker, who was replaced as USC coach during last season, land on his feet as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks. . . .

Among those attending Pete Newell’s big-man camp at Honolulu were the Clippers’ Lamond Murray, Charlotte’s George Zidek, UCLA’s Jelani McCoy and Long Beach State’s Ike Nwankwo. . . .

At 6 feet 7, Murray was the shortest player in camp. . . .

Eric Chenowith, the 7-1 center from Villa Park, has given Kansas an oral commitment. . . .

Marc Iavaroni, former Virginia and NBA player, is a sports psychologist at North Carolina State. . . .

UCLA’s Charles O’Bannon and Toby Bailey are among the top 30 candidates named for the John Wooden All-American team and player-of-the-year award. . . .

USC, which next plays at Illinois on Sept. 7, has opened seasons with two losses in a row only four times in history. The last was in 1960, when John McKay dropped the first three games of his rookie year as head coach. . . .

UCLA senior Abdul McCullough, who played outside linebacker last season, is making the transition back to strong safety in fine style. . . .

Former Bruin quarterback Ryan Fien will start for Idaho at Wyoming on Saturday. . . .

It’s tough to decide which deserves to be billed as the crummy college game of the week, Nevada Las Vegas at Tennessee or Alabama Birmingham at Auburn. . . .

I like Martinez in tonight’s Dodger-Expo game at Montreal.