Columnist Ron Kantowski: New batting cages offer glimpse of big league action

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at ron@ lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

If the staff at the recently opened All-American Sport Park had to do it over again, they'd probably include Busch Stadium as part of their Field of Dreams batting cage backdrop. And then the pitching machines would spit out three balls wide of the strike zone for every hitable one.

That way each of us could pretend to be Mark McGwire.

Other than the odd night where a mouse knocks something over in one of my cupboards, I haven't picked up a baseball bat in about 15 years. But the temptation to take a few rips Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas' newest sports attraction was too much to resist.

Alas, I didn't smack one ball over the Green Monster of the ersatz Fenway Park; nor could I reach the ivy at Wrigley Field or the short right-field porch at Tiger Stadium. Didn't come close, in fact.

Instead of McGwire, I felt more like Bud Harrelson.

But anybody who cottons to the belief that if you've seen one batting cage you've seen them all, hasn't seen the one at the All-American Sport Park. Taking B.P. against the realistic-looking major league stadium backdrops is a unique experience worth checking out.

So is the rest of the park. Other attractions include three sanctioned NASCAR go-kart tracks with cars featuring Winston Cup paint schemes, an in-line skating arena, rock-climbing venue and putting course, the requisite video arcade and a big-screen television wider than a barn door.

The All-American Sport Park is situated at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sunset Road. Call 798-7777 for information.

Around the horn

Other than when he's going to fight, who he's going to fight, where he's going to fight, who's going to train him, who's going to promote him and how he plans to settle his differences with Don King, John Horne and the remnants of Team Tyson, the Internal Revenue Service and those two old guys he punched out after a Maryland fender bender, it's good to see that Mike Tyson's life is back in perfect order. ...

At least one veteran Las Vegas boxing observer found it ironic that Muhammad Ali would appear before the Nevada State Athletic Commission on behalf of Mike Tyson. Back in 1981 during the sad twilight of a brilliant career, Ali was stripped of his Nevada boxing license (for his own safety) following his dismal performance against Larry Holmes. So Ali had no recourse but to fight Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas. ...

In Thailand, prizefighters habitually take the name of their sponsors, which explains colorful monikers such as Chatchai Dutch Boy-Gym (the WBC flyweight champion), Daorung Petroleum and my personal favorite, Chokchai 3-K Battery. If NASCAR did the same thing, Dick Trickle might be known as Heilig-Meyers Furniture -- which in his case, might be an improvement. ...

In conjunction with Gray Line Tours, Las Vegas Motor Speedway now is offering a tour of its splendid auto racing facility. That's the good news. The bad news is that it costs $35 per person. A similar tour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway costs a buck. The LVMS fee includes lunch, but at most tracks, $20 will get you into the infield on race day. Steve Wynn can call 384-1234 for LVMS tour information. ...

Word of advice to the LVMS operator who picked up the phone the other day: When somebody asks for Richie Clyne, you don't ask "Who's that?" The LVMS chairman is the guy who signs your paycheck. ...

Don't believe the news report that suggested crowds were up at this year's Las Vegas Invitational PGA golf tournament. According to most on-site observers, the galleries were perceptibly down, given Tiger Woods' decision to bypass this year's tourney. ...

The UNLV football broadcast team may find this hard to believe, but not every one of the Rebels' 14 listeners tune in the game from start to finish. Please, please, please give the score at regular intervals. ...

Just when you were about to give the Rebels some credit for hanging tough in Saturday's 10-7 defeat at Southern Methodist, it dawns on you that it was only 10 years ago that SMU received the so-called football death penalty. ...

The guy who caught the winning touchdown for the Mustangs Saturday, Jacoby Rhinehart, sounds like a one-man law firm. A defensive back by trade, Rhinehart played on both sides of the ball against UNLV. ...

According to the latest Scripps-Howard power rankings, UNLV would be a one-point underdog to Division I-AA New Hampshire if the teams were to meet on a neutral field. ...

If Ohio State goes undefeated, remains atop the polls from start to finish and does not play in the national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl due to this new Bowl Championship Series point system, we'll move a giant step closer to a national playoff. ...

Give Nevada-Reno quarterback David Neill credit -- but not a credit card -- for engineering the Wolf Pack's 58-23 victory over Idaho Saturday. In his first action since being suspended for using a stolen telephone credit card, Neill passed for 480 yards, despite not entering the game until the second quarter. ...

A caller suggested that Terry Bowden might make a suitable replacement for nice guy Jeff Horton at the end of UNLV's football season. But it's hard to endorse a guy who walks out on his players in mid-season. Besides, Auburn has had more than its share of off-the-field problems, and T. Bowden is said to possess a gigantic ego. ...

Goofy rule: In football, when a player on the kicking team touches a punt, the ball is placed down at the point of contact -- unless the ball carries into the end zone, in which case it comes out to the 20. ...

Also according to football rules, there's no such thing as a lateral, only forward and backward passes. Announcers please take note. ...

Steelers coach Bill Cowher reminds me of G.I. Joe. ...

With the advent of Title IX, a total of 323 men's athletic programs have been dropped at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels during the past five years, including 51 golf, 37 indoor track, 36 wrestling and 35 tennis programs. ...

Closing words: Reggie Jackson, on a mammoth home run he struck in Boston: "We needed an insurance run, so I hit it to the Prudential Building."

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