Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 5, 1995

The Cincinnati Reds, the best fielding team in the National League, made all the plays Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. . . .

The Dodgers, the worst fielding team in the National League, made some of the plays. . . .

Advantage to Cincinnati, two games to zero. . . .

Forget all the missed scoring opportunities. The Dodgers would have won, 4-2, if Chad Fonville had made a good throw to first base in the fourth inning and Mike Piazza had made a good throw to second in the eighth. . . .

Ismael Valdes, the 22-year-old sophomore who pitched a terrific seven innings on a night when he wasn’t feeling so great, deserved better than a no-decision. . . .

All the air appeared to go out of the Dodgers at the end of the seventh when Delino DeShields popped up to leave the bases loaded, Raul Mondesi got thrown out by umpire Bob Davidson and Valdes was replaced by reliever Antonio Osuna. . . .

At 37, Cleveland Indian pitcher Orel Hershiser remains every bit the bulldog. . . .

The great series that Atlanta Brave third baseman Chipper Jones is having against Colorado won’t affect the rookie-of- the-year balloting that also involved Hideo Nomo. Postseason games don’t count. . . .

It seemed as though the Baseball Network’s updates on the other games were more frequent and informative than on Tuesday. . . .

You realized just how tough Coors Field is on pitchers when Greg Maddux had a 3.86 earned-run average in Game 1 of the Atlanta-Colorado series. . . .

Look-a-likes: Dodger pitching coach Dave Wallace and LAPD Det. Tom Lange. . . .

The fast starts by the Raiders and Rams and all the interest in the NFL here this year must have been responsible for the disappointing crowds at Dodger Stadium. . . .

*

Predictions for the NHL season that begins Friday night:

Western Conference Pacific Division--1. Colorado, 2. Vancouver, 3. Calgary, 4. Kings, 5. San Jose, 6. Mighty Ducks, 7. Edmonton. . . .

Central Division--1. Detroit, 2. St. Louis, 3. Chicago, 4. Toronto, 5. Dallas, 6. Winnipeg. . . .

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division--1. Philadelphia, 2. New York Rangers, 3. Washington, 4. New Jersey, 5. Florida, 6. New York Islanders, 7. Tampa Bay. . . .

Northeast Division--1. Pittsburgh, 2. Boston, 3. Montreal, 4. Buffalo, 5. Hartford, 6. Ottawa. . . .

Stanley Cup finals-- Philadelphia over Detroit in seven games. . . .

The Raiders have scored the most points of any NFL team this season and allowed the fewest among those who have played five games. . . .

Most underrated coach in pro football is Marv Levy. . . .

Murderers’ Row: Indianapolis’ next three games are against teams with a combined record of 12-2--Miami, San Francisco and Oakland. . . .

Dallas is the only one team in the once-formidable NFC East that has a winning record. . . .

UCLA was probably the only major college football team in the nation that started true freshmen--Cade McNown and Cheyane Caldwell--at quarterback and fullback last week. . . .

If Penn State loses to Ohio State on Saturday, it will mark the first time the Nittany Lions have been defeated twice in a row at home since 1992. You must have thought it was longer ago, but, during a 7-5 season, they were beaten by Miami and Boston College in consecutive weeks at Beaver Stadium. . . .

At California Saturday, USC will be seeking a second consecutive shutout for the first time since 1971 when the Trojans blanked Rice and Illinois before going on a three-game losing streak. . . .

In Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, the Chicago Bulls have three of the best defensive players in the NBA. . . .

The Washington Bullets loom as the most improved team in the league. . . .

Then-World Boxing Council champion Lennox Lewis was supposed to get $8.6 million and then-World Boxing Organization champion Tommy Morrison $8.1 million for a heavyweight title match 18 months ago. . . .

The bout was canceled when Morrison got knocked out by Michael Bentt. Later, Lewis was knocked out by Oliver McCall. When they meet Saturday in a nontitle bout at Atlantic City, Lewis and Morrison each will receive about $6 million less than their original guarantees. . . .

How could No. 10 Berwick, Pa., possibly be rated over No. 11 Spartanburg, S.C., in the national high school football rankings?