BASEBALL MISCELLANY

A managerial change hasn’t slowed the Seattle Mariners’ strikeout pace. The Mariners fanned 48 times in their first six games under Dick Williams, who had said, “I’ll give them two good swings if they give me one.”

Williams meant that his hitters could swing twice from the heels but would then have to choke up and think about hitting to the opposite field.

With 317 strikeouts in 35 games, the Seattle pace projects to 1,467, which would break the major league record of 1,203, set by the New York Mets in 1968.

How pervasive is the strikeout epidemic?

Only four of Seattle’s 14 non-pitchers have more hits than strikeouts.

They are Spike Owen with 24 hits and 11 strikeouts, Alvin Davis, 34 and 17; Steve Yeager, 10 and 9, and Domingo Ramos, 6 and 3. The others:

Player Hits SO Barry Bonnell 6 8 Phil Bradley 32 40 Ivan Calderon 27 28 Al Cowens 10 12 Dave Henderson 16 33 Bob Kearney 7 11 Ken Phelps 6 11 Jim Presley 30 44 Danny Tartabull 27 44 Gorman Thomas 22 42