Chemical reaction was hit or miss for Ted Williams

Love Potion No. 9, it appears, wasn't named for Ted Williams.

As Claudia Williams, daughter of the late Red Sox Hall of Famer, described her parents' combustible relationship in the HBO documentary "Ted Williams: There Goes the Greatest Hitter That Ever Lived":

"It was like two chemicals hitting each other in the chemistry lab. I mean, it either was an explosion or a wonderful creation."

Bettor or Worse Dept.

Ex-NBA star Antoine Walker stands accused of an unpaid betting tab — totaling $822,500 — at a trio of Vegas casinos.

Or as it's known in basketball circles, tossing up a costly three.

Cast your vote

Garnering 94,316 votes, the Indiana Fever's Tamika Catchings:

a) was the leading vote-getter for the WNBA All-Star Game;

b) finished just 5.3 million behind the Cardinals' Albert Pujols;

c) is claiming she won Al Franken's U.S. Senate seat.

She pines for them

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, it turns out, is a big fan of the New York Yankees.

Especially the ones who sit on the bench.

Baseball quiz

The words "So you're telling me there's a chance? ... Yeah!" — in response to be being given one-in-a-million odds — were uttered by:

a) Lloyd Christmas, to unrequited love interest Mary Swanson in "Dumb and Dumber."

b) Pete Rose, after commissioner Bud Selig let slip he hasn't slammed the door on Rose's lifetime ban.

Tastes like oysters

Hamas has accused Israeli operatives of releasing aphrodisiac chewing gum into the Gaza Strip to boost sex drive and "corrupt the young," Agence France-Presse reported.

The ruse was so complete, investigators say, the wrappers pictured Travis Henry and Shawn Kemp as the Doublemint Twins.

Writers' bloc

• Mark Medina of the L.A. Times, after Spurs forward Richard Jefferson bailed on his bride-to-be just two hours before the nuptials: "Jefferson treated his wedding plans as a game-time decision."

• CBS's David Letterman, on the Sotomayor confirmation hearings: "Her confidence is growing day to day. In fact, today, she showed up wearing the yellow jersey."

• Headline at SportsPickle.com: "Camper who failed to call out a screen on LeBron James missing for a week."

• Drew Curtis of Fark.com, on the new 848-mile, 171-yard Nullarbor Links golf course in Australia: "Mock me all you want, I'm taking a cart."

Some French kiss

An International Tennis Federation tribunal overturned Richard Gasquet's two-year doping ban, ruling the Frenchman inadvertently ingested a trace of cocaine when he kissed a woman in a nightclub.

So what's next — Samson blaming Delilah for flunking his steroid test?

Sideline Chatter appears Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com