Las Vegan Mike Maddux sinks two holes-in-one before NLCS game

As pitching coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, it can be assumed Mike Maddux of Las Vegas is not a big fan of crooked numbers on the baseball diamond.

Apparently the same is true on the golf course.

Before the Cardinals played the Washington Nationals in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, Maddux and St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak played golf with admirals at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia.

Maddux made a hole-in-one on the third hole of the White Course.

Then he made another one on the fourth hole of the Blue Course.

One round. Two holes-in-one.

The odds of somebody doing that are one in 67 million — or just a little better than the Detroit Tigers’ chances of winning a playoff berth. It has been done three times in PGA Tour history — by amateur Bill Whedon in 1955, Yusaku Miyazato in 2006 (at the Reno-Tahoe Open) and Brian Harman in 2015.

“I’m saying, all right, we got a real good shot tonight,” Maddux said before Monday’s game at Nationals Park.

Alas, it was the Nats who came up aces and again on Tuesday, eliminating the Cardinals in a four-game sweep.

Maddux said the holes-in-one — he made the first with a hybrid club and the second with an 8-iron — were the fifth and sixth of his career. The rare feat elicited the following reaction from brother, fellow golf enthusiast and UNLV pitching coach Greg Maddux:

“Good things happen to good people,” the Hall of Famer pitcher said through spokesman Jeff Seals of the UNLV sports information department. “Saw somewhere the odds are one in 67 million. Happy for his rare achievement and look forward to playing with him next month at Pebble Beach.”

In other words, Greg Maddux probably will be expecting big brother to lay serious odds on the picturesque par 3s near Carmel Bay.

Banging more drums

Todd Rundgren used a sports analogy this past week about his indifference to being nominated again for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“The Hall of Fame doesn’t make any sense to me because musicians don’t have to retire. Athletes retire, and that’s when they go into the Hall of Fame — because they’re not playing anymore,” said the diverse singer, songwriter and record producer, whose 1982 anti-work anthem “Bang the Drum All Day” is played over loudspeakers at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field after Packers’ touchdowns.

The Raiders might get to hear it again Sunday.

Rundgren is the father of Rex Rundgren, a slick-fielding infielder who hit .185 in 40 games for the 2008 Las Vegas 51s. Perhaps that is where he acquired his Hall of Fame perspective.

“I learned everything I know about baseball after he was drafted,” the musical Rundgren said about the baseball-playing one during a trip to Cashman Field.

Around the horn

— Matt Williams has been named manager of the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization, where the UNLV Hall of Famer and former MLB All-Star will have to overcome a language barrier in addition to Korean sluggers’ penchant for flipping their bats high into the air virtually every time they hit a home run.

— A GoFundMe account to help offset the medical expenses of former UNLV basketball great Robert Smith has raised $47,000 of its $100,000 goal.

Smith, 64, was a star of the 1977 Rebels’ Final Four team nicknamed “The Hardway Eight” coached by Jerry Tarkanian and is a member of the UNLV Sports Hall of Fame. He suffered a severe stroke Oct. 1.

Those wishing to contribute can at gofundme.com/f/1rwwzrtc00.

During a roundtable chat at the G2E convention Thursday in Las Vegas, retired race car driver Danica Patrick offered a frank assessment about the current state of NASCAR that suggested she’s not contemplating a Daytona 500 comeback anytime soon.

“It’s a giant game of cheating,” said the most successful female driver in NASCAR and IndyCar history. “Everybody’s cheating on some level.”twitterembed

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The Las Vegas Locally Twitter account, on Scott Sabourin of the Ottawa Senators finishing second in fisticuffs to noted water conservationist Ryan Reaves of the Golden Knights on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena:

“Poor guy tried to water his lawn four times this week.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.