THE WRITING ON (AND OFF) THE WALL DON'T LAUGH, HE'S GOT NAME.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

Nope, the Angels weren't clowning around when they took Crescenta Valley High of La Crescenta's Trevor Bell with the 37th pick overall in last week's amateur baseball draft. But while there may have been a circus atmosphere going on in Bell's Shadow Hills home after the 18-year-old received the phone call of his selection, it may have been equaled in, of all places, Chicago.

That's where Bell's grandfather, Bob Bell, made a name for himself playing the role of Bozo the Clown for 24 years on WGN television.

Trevor was born two years after Bob retired in 1984 but says he remembers laughing and bouncing on Grandpa's knee as he did his Bozo voices.

``I never really realized the effect my grandpa had on kids in Chicago until I started doing reports on him for school and learned that there would be a six-year wait for tickets to the show,'' Trevor told the Chicago Tribune. ``He was just my grandpa, but he was also Bozo, and we don't ever forget that. We can sit around the house for hours telling stories about him.''

Carol Bell, Trevor's grandmother, said Bob, who died at age 75 in 1997 after a long illness, played baseball himself in high school in Flint, Mich. But she says the genes for the sport may have come from Bob's father, George M. Bell, who played minor-league ball in the early 1900s.

``The Bell family has always been very athletic and had a terrific sense of humor,'' Carol Bell told the Tribune. ``And Trevor has both.'' ...

-- Bidding begins today on Mastronet.com for a Kelly-green tournament-worn sports coat by the immortal Minnesota Fats.

Let the buyer beware. The famed pool player born Rudolph Wanderone - who stole his nickname from Jackie Gleason's character in ``The Hustler'' then claimed the movie was made about him; who never won a major pool tournament; who always lost to Willie Mosconi in those televised matches; and probably weighed close to 300 pounds - would pretty much need a nice-sized tent to cover himself.

Yet this jacket to be auctioned is a size 40-42 regular, with a letter of authenticity from his widow, Teresa Wanderone Parsons ...

-- How much longer are we supposed to look at those murals on the Hotel Figueroa with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kurt Rambis and James Worthy looking back at us through those rose-colored goggles? ...

-- Rambis would be a much better Plan B than Brian Shaw if Punxsutawney Phil decides to stay underground. ...

-- In a street brawl, Mc-What's-His-Name doesn't last 30 seconds with Mike Tyson ...

-- Bruce Springsteen's new song, ``The Hitter,'' could be the best tribute to boxing since Bob Dylan's ``Hurricane'' ...

-- The Stadium Club at U.S. Cellular Field on the south side of Chicago is one of the tip-top places that www.theknot.com suggests as a swanky wedding reception site. Which is pretty convenient since the home of the Chicago White Sox has been offering blissful couples the chance to stage their weddings there on the field, on the warning track or on the center-field fan deck, with stadium organist Nancy Faust playing.

What's more, ChiSox team owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who is certified by the state of Illinois, will perform the ceremony if the bride's parents want to cover his $500 fee.

And they promise not to tackle the first-base coach.