Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots ...

Add Pumpsie: Each of the bigleague teams had an integrator, from Jackie Robinson in ’47 to Green in ’59. Of those 17 men (including the Boston Braves), only two are still alive — Nino Escalera (Reds, ’54) and Ozzie Virgil (Tigers, ’58, first Dominican in the majors).

Best news of the Warriors’ offseason might be Ron Adams’ decision to stay on the staff rather than jump to the Lakers. I hear Adams is busy designing a boxandone defense — a fourman zone, and Draymond Green frantically chasing the ball.

Something to look forward to next NBA season: Kevin Durant clashing with his coach, however subtly. After leaving OKC he ripped Billy Donovan, via a Twitter burner account. With the Warriors, Durant had several subtle clashes with Steve Kerr. Donovan and Kerr are not exactly ogre drillsergeant types. Good luck, Kenny Atkinson.

With all the speculation over the chemistry of the NBA’s new instant superteams, it occurs that we don’t know diddly about chemistry. Like, what if you had an AllEccentric team featuring Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook? Well, there once was such a team, and it was pretty good.

Is the baseball juiced? I asked A’s manager Bob Melvin, who throws batting practice to his team. “It used to be you could push the leather around a little bit, you can’t right now,” Melvin said, adding, “Maybe the seams are a tad lower.” He said he is struck by the sudden frequency of opposing hitters, especially light hitters, launching long drives in Oakland. “That’s kind of an eyeopener for me.”

Now that the Mavericks bigsurf contest has equal prize money for women, it’s officially the coolest sports event in the world.

Let me be the first to express concern over Warriors draftee Eric Paschall’s rebounding. He’s 6foot8 and 255 pounds, yet last season at Villanova he averaged 36 minutes per game and 6.1 rebounds. One rebound every six minutes won’t cut it in the NBA. An acceptable number for the rook will be one rebound every four minutes.

It seemed like a good idea: Phil Mickelson prepped for the British Open with a sixday water/coffee fast, dropping 15 pounds. Then shot 7674. Hey Lefty, mix in a Twinkie.