Thirty runs worth a quality spin

Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak and his 16-year-old son had a “Field of Dreams�-type week -- one that demonstrated how baseball brings fathers and sons together.

Last Saturday at Dodger Stadium, they watched the Dodgers lose, 7-4, to the Colorado Rockies in a 14-inning game that lasted more than five hours. A cross-country flight later, the father-son tandem arrived in Baltimore in time to witness the 30-run outburst by the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night at Camden Yards.

“As I start to count the days when college, employment, dating, family and friends will inevitably diminish our time together, each game becomes more special, and each moment more ingrained on my consciousness,� Sajak wrote in his blog at PatSajak.com. “That’s why the last week has been so extraordinary for him and for me.�

Trivia time

The 30 runs by the Rangers were the most scored by one baseball team in the modern era. The record for combined runs by both teams was set 85 years ago today. What is it?

Front-runners

It seems the Boston Red Sox are ahead of the New York Yankees in more places than the American League East standings.

USA Today reported that Boston leads the majors in road attendance, giving credence to the nickname “Red Sox Nation.� The Red Sox are averaging 39,136 in road attendance -- about 1,300 more than the Yankees.

It’s no wonder, as the Boston Globe reported, that the Red Sox Nation is electing a president.

“We have received more than a thousand nominations for president,� said Charles Steinberg, the Red Sox executive vice president of public affairs.

Young and restless

Golfer Michelle Wie revealed this week that she will be living in the dorms on campus when she begins her freshman year at Stanford next month.

Asked why she chose the dorms instead of living off campus, Wie said she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I think that I would be missing out on college life if I didn’t stay in the freshman dorm,� she said. “I think that’s where all the drama happens.�

As if she hasn’t had enough of that this year.

X-ed out

If Teresa Earnhardt won’t give up No. 8, she surely wouldn’t give you the shirt off her back, so that’s where wickedstepmom.net comes in.

The Chicago Tribune uncovered the website, which sells clothing that references the chief executive of DEI Enterprises and how she’s not allowing Dale Earnhardt Jr. to use the No. 8 when he drives for Richard Childress Racing next season.

The apparel shows No. 8 with a red X through it or covered with a red circle and slash.

Penitentiary State

Mike Lopresti of USA Today figured it was time to get acquainted with college football teams, seeing as how the season starts next week, so he scanned the Associated Press wire.

Turns out the police blotter made for a better place to get the news first. Lopresti found that players at Alabama, West Virginia, Michigan, Penn State, Hawaii, Notre Dame, Kansas and Iowa had made headlines for run-ins with the law. And that was Monday and Tuesday.

“Not hard to understand why the NFL has so many problems, is it?� Lopresti wrote.

Trivia answer

49. The Chicago Cubs defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 26-23, on Aug. 25, 1922.

And finally

John Lane, 23, a college student from New York, told WorldGolf.com that he was a Tiger Woods fan until Woods decided to skip this week’s tournament at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y.

“We love Tiger -- until today,� said Lane, who’d come to Westchester with a half-dozen buddies. “[He] doesn’t show up. He’s off my list. I’m not buying his [video] game anymore.�

[email protected]