A MISCELLANY OF BASEBALL BY THE NUMBERS, CULLED FROM 'THE 1988 ELIAS BASEBALL ANALYST'

THROUGH AUG 63.21

BALKS AND STRIKES

Lou Gehrig left his mark on baseball—and his name on a dread disease

In a train station, Ted Williams made a young fan's day

Jackie Mitchell fanned Ruth and Gehrig in her pro debut

PRO BASKETBALL—The NBA playoffs were a month away, yet only two Western Conference berths remained open. Houston and Utah clinched spots last week, leaving San Antonio, Sacramento, Seattle and...

JOHN DAVISWESTON, CONN.Davis, a freshman swimmer at North Carolina, led the Tar Heels to the ACC title by setting one conference—a 1:37.3 in the 200-yard free—and four school records. He also...

Baseball's remaining grand old parks should be saved

In May 1941, America began a portentous mood swing. Charles Lindbergh, the country's aviator hero and a vociferous opponent of U.S. involvement in the European war, fell from favor with President...

A RUNNING CONTROVERSY

•Jack Ramsay, Indiana Pacers coach, upon being asked "Can I help you?" by a female clerk as he checked into his hotel: "Can you rebound?"

Finally there are four: Arizona, Kansas, Duke and Oklahoma head for the big show

EAST

Too bad that the members of the International Drag Bike Association, who were assembled in Birmingham last weekend, had to spend Saturday afternoon out on the track. The bikers might have...

In the intrastate Wheatfest that was the Midwest Regional final on Sunday, Kansas had just defeated Kansas State 71-58, and winning coach Larry Brown plunked himself down next to his star player,...

During any Arizona game, you can fasten your eyes on the Gumbies, the Wildcats' hyperkinetic bench warmers, and keep a play-by-play from what you see. Coach Lute Olson's scrubs have choreography...

Duke should breeze by Kansas and then gain sweet revenge against Arizona to win it all

Mark McCumber won The Players Championship in his own backyard

At the world figure skating championships, the curtain came down on some golden careers

When free-lance writer David Noonan Showed up at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., to do research on Lou Gehrig for a book on neurological medicine, he had no idea of the treasure...

Not since Mays and Mantle has there been a pair like Will Clark and Mark McGwire

It was such a pleasant day in April 1960 in Fort Wayne, Ind., that 80-year-old Dale McMillen decided to take a couple of hours off from running one of the nation's largest soybean processing...

The '84 U.S. Olympic team had a heap of talent. Just look where its alumni are in '88

Leaping, diving, stretching, throwing, they make the classic plays that take sure hits—and one's breath—away. Joe McNally photographed six of the game's slickest fielders

All you've wanted to know about baseball but were afraid to ask

Late-inning stoppers, like Minnesota's Jeff Reardon and Boston's Lee Smith, loom larger than ever in the strategy of the game

Relief pitching began way back in the dim mists of baseball's past, sometime between 1845, when Alexander Cartwright created the game as we know it, and 1869, when the Cincinnati Red Stockings...

NEW DODGERSPennant fever in Vero Beach (The Boys of Spring, March 7)? Well, I don't know. Here's how the Dodgers' off-season deals look to me. They gave up a strong starting pitcher in Bob Welch...

The last time Don Baylor played for the Oakland athletics, in 1976, the team did early workouts at Indian School Park in Scottsdale, Ariz. Imagine his surprise this spring when he showed up at the...

Oakland is the West's best in SI's position-by-position rankings

Something is about to happen that will shake the very foundation of the American League. It has nothing to do with female umps or balk rules or George Bell being asked to return his MVP...

Boston's depth will be the difference

Will Jeffrey Leonard go flap up or flap down this year? Will Joaquin Andujar get another chance to throw a tantrum in October? How will Kirk Gibson respond to his first hotfoot? Will the Reds lash...

The Astros could slay the big guys

Barring a rash of major injuries like pulled jaw muscles, you can pretty much count on meeting the Mets in the National League Championship Series. The possibility exists, of course, that someone...

Some good teams aren't good enough