BASEBALL MISCELLANY

NAMES AND NUMBERS

* Iron Men: All you need to know about durability and fortitude in the era of big salaries and guaranteed contracts is this: Joe Carter of the San Diego Padres, having played in 215 straight games through Thursday, or the equivalent of a modest 1 1/2 years, has the second-longest streak among active players, exceeded only by the 1,283 game streak of Baltimore Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. Two other streaks ended last week: Eddie Murray’s because of a hamstring strain at 389, and Ruben Sierra’s because of a sprained ankle at 325.

* Bowled Over: Oriole catcher Mickey Tettleton had 13 home runs by the end of May last year and went on to career highs of 26 homers and 65 runs batted in, crediting it all to the Fruit Loops he had for breakfast each morning. The cupboard must now be bare because Tettleton didn’t hit his first homer until Thursday night in Chicago and has struck out 40 times in 95 at bats, while collecting just 19 hits.

* Bash Brothers: The Oakland A’s Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire had a combined 24 home runs through Thursday, which put them ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox, who had 23; the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox, who had 18; the Orioles, 17, and the Kansas City Royals, 14. Said A’s batting coach Merv Rettenmund: “Mark’s going to get his 35-plus, but there’s no telling how many Jose will hit. I haven’t seen Cecil Fielder yet, but he better stay hot if he’s going to beat Jose in home runs.”

* Gopheritis: One of the keys to Bert Blyleven’s 17 victories in 1989 was that he allowed only 14 home runs in 241 innings. But Blyleven, who allowed a major league record 50 home runs in 1986, is suffering from that familiar malady again, having allowed six in 44 innings. If he again pitches 241 innings, his pace projects to 33 homers. Also at that rate, if he pitches the 271 2/3 innings he did in 1986, he will allow 37 homers.

* Comeback Story: Dan Petry, re-signed by the Detroit Tigers following his release by the Angels, has regained his winning touch under pitching coach Billy Muffett. Petry is 4-1 going into today’s assignment against the Chicago White Sox. He already has more victories than in either of his two seasons with the Angels, 3-9 and 3-2. As a measure of his effectiveness, he has struck out 27 in 38 2/3 innings after striking out only 21 in 51 Angel innings last year.

* Mariners’ Course: After a 4-10 start, the Seattle Mariners regained .500 Thursday by completing a three-game sweep in the Toronto SkyDome. Most of the attention has been on Ken Griffey Jr., and the Seattle offense, prompting this from pitcher Randy Johnson: “I don’t think people around the league are giving our pitching staff enough credit. Everybody talks about potential as if we can’t win now, and we can. This sweep proved it.”

* To err is . . .: Well, the Angels and Dodgers have definitely proved they are human. The Angels, with 16 players committing errors through Thursday, have 34 in 35 games, the Dodgers 34 in 34. The projected totals of 157 for the Angels and 162 for the Dodgers are surprising, considering the Angels made only 96 errors last year and the Dodgers 118.