World Series

Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui have been the greatest Japanese baseball players of their generation, excelling in the American major leagues just as they did at home. One is a ferociously disciplined singles and doubles hitter, treating at-bats almost like a martial art, acquiring an image as an aloof, machine-like athlete as he chased hitting records on both sides of the Pacific.

Man bites dog. Tree hits car. Referee ejected from basketball game? Michelle Campbell, a high school basketball official in Kansas, was "dumbfounded" to learn she would not be allowed to ply her trade in a game last week because she was a woman. The Kansas City Star reported that an official for St. Mary's Academy, a private school north of Topeka, said he could not allow a woman to be put in a position of authority over boys as it was contrary to the beliefs of the school. Father Vicente A.

They had quite a run together, the kindly old manager and his kid boss -- that's boss with a small "b." Joe Torre and Brian Cashman ran the New York Yankees together for a decade, smiling in World Series championship parades, shrugging off bellicose challenges issued in statements under the name of Boss George Steinbrenner. Cashman was 31 when Steinbrenner tapped him as the Yankees' general manager in 1998.

Chan Ho Park returns to the Freeway Series this weekend, but he won't have Tim Belcher to kick around. The rivalry between the Angels and Dodgers is relatively tame. But, after a decade of interleague play, one play sticks out: Park's kicking Belcher during an on-field fracas in 1999. "I get asked about it all the time," Belcher said Thursday. "They still show it on all the crazy shows where they replay athletes who snap." Park had put down a sacrifice bunt.

LAST MAY, Jerry Yang was just a 39-year-old social worker from Temecula with six kids, a hefty mortgage and a wife who worked at night to make ends meet. Poker was a recently acquired, TV-inspired hobby he indulged in at the nearby Pechanga Casino. But as this year's 55-event, six-week World Series of Poker season kicks off Friday, Yang is a millionaire who is gunning to defend his title as 2007 winner of the $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em, a.k.a. the Main Event.

Willie Randolph's late-night dismissal was hardly the first suspiciously timed or otherwise unusual firing in professional sports. Here are a few others: The wrath of George * George Steinbrenner's secretary: Steinbrenner reportedly fired a secretary after the secretary brought him the wrong sandwich for lunch. * Yogi Berra: Went 87-75 in 1984, started 6-10 the following season and was fired by Steinbrenner. This prompted a 14-year feud between Berra and Steinbrenner.

The World Series starts Oct. 22 at Angel Stadium. Or else. The Angels usually speak softly, without carrying a big stick. They got the big stick Tuesday, and they're not shy about telling you why. "We're in it to win a world championship," General Manager Tony Reagins said. Talk isn't cheap, not this time.

SEATTLE -- It's a long shot, but Maicer Izturis, who underwent what was said to be season-ending surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb on Aug. 19, has not given up hope of playing again this season. The shortstop, five weeks removed from surgery, has been throwing, running the bases and doing agility drills, and he expects to begin swinging a bat and catching next week. Doctors told Izturis he would need eight to 12 weeks to recover.

The distance is only 30.92 miles. The waiting has been forever. How long have we wondered? How long have we hoped? For the 48 seasons that the Dodgers and Angels shared Southern California, all we've wanted is one chance to watch them compete for a championship in something other than our imaginations. From 1000 Elysian Park Ave. in Los Angeles to 2000 Gene Autry Way in Anaheim, it is a simple drive. But from the National League to the American League, the chasm has seemed endless.

BOSTON -- Tampa Bay's 13-4 manhandling of the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night left Fenway Park's famed Green Monster begging for mercy and executives at the Fox Network gnashing their teeth. A Dodgers-Red Sox World Series would be a ratings bonanza for Fox, which would be so amped up about a Manny Ramirez-returns-to-Boston angle it would probably try to rig the Dodgers left fielder with a Manny-cam. A Tampa Bay-Philadelphia World Series?