Major league baseball teams will use all means necessary to locate quality arms. This axiom was proven, again, when the Pirates signed Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel to professional contracts.

Both are 20 years old. Both hail from India. Both are javelin throwers.

Neither had ever picked up a baseball until earlier this year, when they competed in an Indian reality show called “Million Dollar Arm.”

Here was the premise: A California sports management company decided to prove it could locate hard throwers in that country of 1 billion citizens unfamiliar with baseball. The goal: Find athletes capable of throwing strikes at 85 miles per hour or faster.

More than 30,000 contestants signed up and Singh and Patel prevailed. Although neither threw hard enough to earn the $1 million, Singh made $100,000 and Patel made $2,500, plus his trip to the United States.

Both young men worked with pitching coach Tom House, preparing to try out for major league clubs. Their Nov. 6 showcase drew scouts from 30 teams.

The Associated Press reports that the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Patel hit 90 mph on the radar gun during his tryout, and the 6-2, 195-pound Singh topped out at 84 mph. Each has thrown harder during workout sessions that weren’t attended by scouts.

The Pirates saw enough to sign both.

“The Pirates are committed to creatively adding talent to our organization,” general manager Neal Huntington said Monday. “By adding these two young men, the Pirates are pleased to not only add two prospects to our system but also hope to open a pathway to an untapped market. We are intrigued by Patel’s arm strength and Singh’s frame and potential.”

House believes they have a chance. “Think of them as two Dominican kids,” he told the scouts. “They’re very raw. But I think this has a huge upside.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Richie Incognito prepares for his inevitable career in professional wrestling:

• Would the Giants really prefer Edgar Renteria over Omar Vizquel at shortstop?
• Jim Haslett has to win just two more games to stay on as head coach? Could Chip Rosenbloom put the bar any lower for his hapless team?
• What kind of leash would Jason Isringhausen get if he returned to the Cards’ closer role? Would he have to compete with Chris Perez for the job?
• Do the Cards really want to go down this road again?

THE RAMS COULD LEARN FROM THIS MAN

When Our Town’s NFL goes through the motions through one lopsided loss after another, fans rightfully question the players’ character.

And when you compare their “effort” to inspirational stories like this one . . . well, then you really get fired up.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Is it just me, or is the NFL a little fine-happy this season? Hardly a day goes by, it seems, that somebody doesn’t get hit in the wallet. Come to think of it, it might make for decent programming on the NFL Network. Bring in all the players cited for violations every week and have them spin a big wheel to determine how much money they have to pay.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The legendary Annika Sorenstam missed the cut in that event, her last before retiring. What a way to go. It would be like Michael Jordan ending with an air ball, or Dan Marino going out with a 62-7 playoff loss.”

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “A lot of humor near the end of the Patriots’ win over the Dolphins when New England OT Matt Light began pulling the long hair of Miami LB Channing Crowder. Hair-pulling in the NFL. Got to love it.”

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: “I realized this during the Bears-Colts game in Week 1, when Kyle Orton waltzed into Indy and ruined the grand opening of Lucas Oil Stadium, the latest state-of-the-art football venue that seems much more interested in looking cool and making money over, you know, actually helping its home team win games. The place was so dead for four quarters that you could almost hear John Madden salivating over his postgame meal of fried turkey legs, blooming onions and Lipitor parmigiana. You could have laid a baby down at midfield, and it wouldn’t have woken up.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoTribune.com: “How many times did offensive guru Charlie Weis start inside the Syracuse 25 and how many points did the Irish score? Answer: three and six, which tells you how incapable the supposed Patriots genius is without cheating.”

MEGAPHONE

“I think it’s pretty obvious. Fire the coach. Andy Reid is not going to bring a championship to Philadelphia.”

NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp.