He Might Have to Apologize for Winning This

Baltimore Oriole owner Peter Angelos has been given a 1997 “Rodman Award” by Esquire magazine.

Named for outrageous Chicago Bull forward Dennis Rodman, it has been given out for four years for “dominance in the field of sports obnoxiousness and annoyance.”

Angelos was identified by the magazine as the “windbag owner of the Baltimore Orioles.”

It took him to task for publicly suggesting last year that umpire John Hirschbeck should apologize to Roberto Alomar, the Oriole second baseman who spat at Hirschbeck for comments the umpire made before the spitting incident.

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Trivia time: Who is the last American-born woman to win the Wimbledon singles title?

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Sissy sport now: Ultimate fighting, the violent martial arts competition in which opponents can box and kick, is getting new rules aimed at improving safety for a sport banned in at least a half dozen states.

A competitor is now prohibited from kicking a downed opponent, striking pressure points, yanking fingers and toes, pulling hair and hitting in the groin.

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Money mess: In the last horse race of the last day at the Saratoga (N.Y.) meeting on Sept. 1, 1934, the stewards made a unique decision that resulted in total confusion.

Because of rough riding by some of the jockeys, the stewards disqualified the first three finishers. The original 4-5-6 finishers were moved up to 1-2-3.

The betting was with bookmakers and there were no mutuel tickets. The arguments raged for weeks on who should get paid off and who shouldn’t.

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Unusual birdie: One of the spectators at the recent U.S. Open golf tournament was Casey, a 3-year-old, two-foot tall macaw perched on the the shoulders of Chris Beall.

The macaw, a large parrot, lives an average of 65 to 70 years. You might see it at the Open in 2059.

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Stay away: Ozzie Guillen of the Chicago White Sox, a teammate of Michael Jordan’s during spring training in 1994, on how the team can continue to draw large crowds after the increase in attendance during interleague games:

“They should bring Dennis Rodman for one game or let Phil Jackson coach one game. But don’t bring Michael. He can’t play baseball.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1967, Jim Ryun lowered his mile world record to 3 minutes 51.1 seconds in the National AAU meet in Bakersfield. The record lasted eight years.

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Trivia answer: Chris Evert Lloyd in 1981.

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And finally: British oddsmakers have cut the odds of a streaker appearing during this year’s Wimbledon singles final to even money, after losing the bet last year.

“We offered 6-1 against there being a streaker last year and got our fingers seriously burned,” said a spokesman for William Hill, one of the biggest U.K. oddsmakers.

The female streaker made her entrance on Wimbledon’s Centre Court during the presentation ceremony before the men’s final.