Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 149

Only CM CM Rodriguez above could find a common ground between hot-tempered oiler Tommy Bolt and Mother Terete Slocumb Scout Used Hidden-Player Trick With his trade this past week to the Red Sox relief pitcher HeathclifT Slocumb filled greatest void and instantly became a key figure in a potential American League East race His profile is as about as high as it can get And that represents quite a rise for a man who knows how to play low key Slocumb was essentially whisked into organized baseball anonymously 12 years ago by an alert Mets scout in Queens Mike Becker discovered Slocumb on a high school field put him on the amateur team he managed and carefully kept Slocumb on the bench whenever another scout was at a game had a couple close calls with that Becker said the other night recalling the year he combed the crowds at his Long Island Mets games in the LI Baseball Conference scouting for scouts day' we were plqying the Long Island Tigers at Post We were blowing away the Tigers and all the scouts left So I put him in in the last inning and he struck the last guy out But a college coach Bob Hirsch- field from New York Tech was there He came up to me and tried to find out who that was I had to sqy know just some kid who came Becker said ever knew who this kid he noting that he and his supervisor Danny Monzon signed him for $5000 on July 17 1984 without costing the Mets a draft pick It was quite a coup considering that Becker just happened to notice Slocumb at John Bowne High in Queens after Bowne coach Steve Samsky invited him out to look at another player looked out there and said the heck is and Steve said Heath Slocumb a basketball player tried out for every team in the He even have a said Becker who has scouted for several teams since then most recently the Padres started using him as a pitcher and believe me he did not know a thing about what he was doing out there but he had a great Alas arm never earned him a spot on the 40-man roster He was taken by the Cubs in the 1986 minor-league draft wound up with the Phillies and made the All-Star Game last season Good fortune have arrived at a better time His wife died of cancer last summer leaving him with two daughters Monzon the Bronx native who played parts of two seasons with the Twins died last week in a head-on collision during a scouting mission to the Dominican Republic for the Red Sox Before long Boston will know a lot about Becker's and one-time unknown prospect Such as the fact his name really HeathclifT PR guy from the Cubs put that on him" Becker said really just I saw the birth certificate" And the potential Hey Mr (low) post man Lucky thing for the Suns they trade Charles Barkley Who else would take delivery on important parcels? such a big man for the Suns that the Phoenix chapter of UPS delivered a package addressed to the Comparison Is Like a Bolt Out of the Blue You'd have to look awfully hard to find anything In common between Mother Teresa and irascible golfer Tommy Bolt unless you're Chi Chi Rodriguez The ebullient Senior Tour golfer has met the former befriended the latter and found a big heart in each It's just more proof that as he starts his first full yew in the 60-and-over division Rodriguez still has one of sports' unique perspectives After 35 years on tour without having won a major championship Rodriguez has no regrets Almost none anyway haven't built Mother Teresa that leper colony I always wanted to build for her I'd like to be a billionaire so I could do it" the golfer said the other day in a conference call promoting next month's Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf which spawned the Senior Tour During an airport meeting with Mother Teresa in the 1980s Rodriguez didn't perform the sword dance he does when he sinks a putt Nor did he deliver the material he uses on the driving range f'l'm as old as my tongue and older than my teeth Be true to your teeth or they'll be false to She did most of the talking "It was the greatest 25 minutes of my life" he said was all about love and compassion and understanding The first thing she said to me was You're rich why don't you share with the Wed I had a check in my hand and I gave her the check I think she was kind of embarrassed or I guess she was praying" He called her an angel Which is what nobody ever called Bolt Fellow veteran goffers tell a story about Bolt asking advice from his caddy about which club to use The caddy said "A 4-wood or a 7-iron" Soft confused asked about the big disparity and the caddy answered "Cuz those are the only two you have left" Bolt is a myth People think he's a mean guy but he's one of the sweetest people I've ever met In my life" Rodriguez said recalling Bolt's generosity to a poor skinny pro from Puerto Rico in the early 1960s Rodriguez has grown successful and widely popular since then He doesn't want to stop regularly riding a stationary bike and pumping iron in hopes of a big 96 know" he said have anything against team directly to his house And it just any package It contained eight Super Bowl tickets sent by the Arizona Cardinals It turns out the parcel had been addressed to a post office box but was sent UPS which delivers to houses The latter organization apparently punched in Phoenix Suns on its computer and came up with street address Barkley naturally assumed the seats four in luxury boxes four in the grandstand were meant for him He must have thought who deserves them more? So his wife got the luxury tickets and Suns ballboys got the other seats But when the Suns reported they received the expected tickets the NFL voided them and issued new ones much to the surprise of guests when they showed up Mrs Barkley and friends were allowed to stay and so were the invitees But the ballbcys to use a phrase from their trade got bounced Bythe Numbers 7: Most consecutive WOrtd Series won by either league 1947-53) Well short of the NFC's 12 straight Super Bowls Bowl who weigh less than Magic (that ir eludes everyone but the linemen and insid linebackers At that Johnson would have size advantage over Cowboys defensiv end Charles Haley 250) NHL All-Stars In Magic's weight class 1: Baseball All-Star who could pc box out Magic Cedi Fielder (c listed at 270 by the Tigers) 175: Ted Williams' home run total had cabre and sad to seem funny to us PLUS: Clever job by WALK radio Wednesday morning combining the oldie with play-by-play and reaction sound bites from Magic Johnson's return MINUS: One more whack at a dead horse: It's just not right that Kirk Muller gets rewarded with a trade to his hometown Maple Leah after pouting about his trade to the Islanders and insulting Long Island He still hasn't lost the reputation despite having twice demanded trades from teams he didn't feel like playing for May he never sip from the Cup again PLUS: Shelton Jones of Amityvile and St John's won the CBA slam-dunk contest 3 MINUS: Wisconsin woman who was the latest of Dr Jack Kevorkian left a 1: Players out of 24 selected for next week's NBA All-Star Game who outweigh the bulked-up 255-pound Magic Johnson (Shaquille O'Neal 301 Alonzo Mourning 261 and Karl Malone 256) Forget about worrying about Johnson sweating or bleeding on them The pivotal medical concern for NBA opponents ought to be: going to happen to me If I try to step in and take a charging foul from this 57: Players named to tonight's NFL Pro not missed three full seasons and parts of two others for military service (a very conservative calculation based on his output in the years before and after his stints in World War II and the Korean conflict) He finished with 521 tongue-in-cheek reference to the NFC Championship Game in her recent suicide note She said she would have myself an extension" had the Packers made the Super Bowl and blamed the officials for costing them the game It's too ma.