Sir Charles hit on ‘Price Is Right’

Charles Barkley does a lot of charity events, and the basketball Hall of Famer helped kids in Sacramento, Calif., this week by appearing on the game show “The Price Is Right.”

Sir Charles was part of the show’s “Celebrity Charity Week,” and when he was finished, the Mustard Seed School, which teaches homeless children, was nearly $68,000 richer.

As contestants racked up winnings, Barkley won the value of the prizes for his designated charity. At first, contestants won $11,000. Then it grew to $32,398. Barkley told emcee Drew Carey that he needed a little more. The next contestant won and pushed the total to $41,996.

By the time the show signed off, Barkley had won $67,633 for the school, which has 35 children enrolled and was chosen by Barkley because a member of his public relations staff’s mother works at Mustard Seed.

Imagine if Barkley had been able to win the Showcase Showdown. Mustard Seed would have been rolling in dough.

■ BASEBALL CONFLICT — The World Baseball Classic begins play next weekend, and as the participating countries prepare for the March 2-19 event, teams are trying to get in a few exhibition games.

Cuba was supposed to face the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization in Taiwan on Wednesday. But the game was canceled after a dispute over which brand of baseballs to use.

The agreement was each team would use the ball of its choice when it took the field. But in a curious twist, the Cubans demanded the Dinos use a ball manufactured in the U.S. The Koreans told the Cubans where they could stick their ball, and the game was called off.

“The ball had thick and wide seams, and it posed injury risks for our pitchers,” a Korean official told the Yonhap News Agency. “Then Cuba suggested we play with a Taiwanese ball. That ball also had big seams, and we said we didn’t want to play with it. Finally, the Cubans brought out some mysterious ball, and again we told them we couldn’t play it.”

Maybe the Koreans were afraid of blisters. But there’s a chance Cuba and South Korea will face each other in the second round in Tokyo. Hopefully, the WBC will have an ample supply of normal baseballs to make both sides happy. We don’t need World War III to break out over a wide-seamed baseball.

■ BACK TO BASEBALL? — Michael Jordan turned 50 on Sunday (Thanks to ESPN, how can we forget?), and he has hinted he still could compete as an athlete.

So the Joliet (Ill.) Slammers, an independent baseball team, are willing to take him up on it. They’ve offered Jordan a contract for the upcoming season at the princely sum of $1,600 a month plus $20 daily per diem. He’d also have use of a catered suite for 23 persons (cute using his uniform number).

Jordan, you might recall, pursued a professional baseball career in the 1990s that didn’t quite match his basketball accomplishments.

But these kinds of zany stunts are not uncommon with independent baseball teams. And the fact the Joliet Slammers got 15 minutes of Internet fame probably made it worth it from their perspective.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL