Duly noted

Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005 | 9:27 a.m.

CARDS SHARK

Just a little over a year ago, Brad Thompson's biggest concern was figuring out how to pitch to the middle of the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx batting order. On Tuesday, he found himself staring down the San Diego Padres lineup, which, come to think, is about the same thing.

The Cimarron-Memorial product was summoned for mop-up duty against the Padres in Game One of the National League Divisional Series, allowing a run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning in the St. Louis Cardinals' 8-5 victory. Thompson, 23, parlayed a string of 57 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings at Double-A Tennessee in 2004 into a regular role in the St. Louis bullpen.

ROCKY XII

A member of the UNLV athletic department who crashed one of Mike Sanford's closed practices recently told me he saw USC transfer Rocky Hinds complete 12 consecutive passes for the Rebels' scout team offense. That was the good news. The bad news, he said, is that Hinds completed those passes against the Rebels' first-team defense.

THE PLANE TRUTH

There is a reason the competitors at this weekend's Grand Sumo Championship at Mandalay Bay arrived on separate flights from Japan -- and it had nothing to do with the overhead compartments not being large enough to accommodate the overnight bags of 40 plus-sized athletes. Officials said that by sending the Sumos packing in two groups of 20, it would ensure the sport would continue in the event of an air disaster.

MOVIN' ON UP?

A lack of victories notwithstanding, 51s manager Jerry Royster apparently did such a nice job of preparing Dodgers prospects for the big leagues that he might be headed back that way himself.

According to published reports, Royster and Dodgers director of player development (and former Astros and Angels skipper) Terry Collins are on the short list to be interviewed for the managerial vacancy in Los Angeles. Other possible candidates to replace Jim Tracy include Angels pitching coach Bud Black and A's third-base coach Ron Washington.