Scorecard

RECORD	MAGIC NUMBER	15% MARK	TIMES
TD Passes	48 (Dan Marino, 1984)	41	1
Rushing Yards	2,105 (Eric Dickerson, 1984)	1,790	3
NBA Scoring Avg.	50.4 (Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62)	42.8	1
Hitting Streak	56 (Joe DiMaggio,l94l)	48	0

Major League Baseball
The Best of the Rest

Take away an incomparable home run race, a scintillating Cy Young scramble and the matter of the New York Yankees going after the alltime win mark, and the 1998 season would still be an outstanding one. Here are our picks for the top 10 stories that have been overlooked in the media flood flowing around Messrs. McGwire, Sosa, Martinez, Clemens et al.

10) The righthanded Steve Carlton Remember when Silent Steve won 27 games for the execrable 1972 Philadelphia Phillies? Well, this year's Phils aren't as bad and Curt Schilling isn't as good, but the flame-throwing ace has major league bests in strikeouts (268) and complete games (13).

9) The other Bash Brother Jose Canseco, McGwire's former bash-mate on the Oakland A's, has played more than 111 games for the first time in seven years and is having a mini-renaissance with Toronto (41 homers, 96 RBIs and 28 stolen bases through Monday).

8) Southern California baseball—and not the Dodgers Quick! What was the third-best team in baseball, with a 91-52 record through last weekend? The San Diego Padres. And that was with Tony Gwynn hitting only .325. And you gotta love a team (the 79-64 Anaheim Angels) whose three, four and five hitters (Darin Erstad, Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds) were hitting .303, .302 and .303, respectively.

7) Albert Belle: berserk...in a good way On a second-half tear, the Chicago White Sox' master of mean had 44 home runs, 131 RBIs and a .322 average, which is to say that he is almost earning his $10 million salary.

6) Two catchers among the top 10 National League hitters The number 2 position hasn't had two of its practitioners this high in either league since Ted Simmons and Manny Sanguillen in 1975. The Pittsburgh Pirates' Jason Kendall (.326 at week's end) was sixth best in the league, and the New York Mets' Mike Piazza (.323) was ninth.

5) Rockin' in the Rockies With hitters such as Larry Walker (majors-leading .354 average), Vinny Castilla (.331,42 homers, 128 RBIs) and Dante Bichette (.341,117 RBIs) in the Colorado lineup, there's rarely a dull moment at Coors Field.

4) 400+400 = Barry Bonds The first man to achieve those standards in dingers and stolen bases has his San Francisco Giants in the thick of the wild-card race.

3) Surgery? What surgery? John Smoltz has battled back from an off-season elbow operation to a 14-3 record, good for the best winning percentage in the National League (.824).