Another sportsy case for karate-chopping detective Max Roper, with a ridiculous number of killings speedily following up the electrocution-in-the-pool murder of Hondo Kenyon of the L.A. Dodgers, screwball king, playboy, and practical-joking ""top flake of the leagues."" Among the victims and/or suspects: showgirls, jealous chanteuses, carnivorous plants, a mortician (Hondo's body is stolen at one point), ex-wives, and agents. The real motive: not jealousy or revenge, of course, but a dope-ring thing. Max's tough-guy narration is reasonably lively, but it would take more than a fastball delivery to turn this runaround-the-bases into something you'd want to curl up with during the seventh-inning stretch.