BASEBALL MISCELLANY : POWER SURGE

Andre Dawson, George Bell and Wade Boggs are among 28 players who have already surpassed or tied their career high in home runs this season.

The list, compiled through Saturday, includes players with at least 300 at-bats in a season and have played more than one season.

Home runs are up more than 20% over last season’s record rate, with sluggers and formerly light hitters taking part.

Boggs and Howard Johnson are among those showing big increases. Boggs, whose previous career high was eight, has hit 19 home runs this year for the Boston Red Sox. Johnson, whose 27 homers for the New York Mets have prompted accusations that his bat is corked, had never hit more than 12.

The Toronto Blue Jays’ Bell has 35 homers. His prior best was 31. The Chicago Cubs’ Andre Dawson has hit 34, two more than his previous high.

Jack Clark of the St. Louis Cardinals has 29 homers, two more than ever before.

Then there are players such as the Mets’ Rafael Santana, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Luis Aguayo and the Chicago Cubs’ Manny Trillo, who are not known for having home run power, but are hitting them more frequently this season.

Santana has five home runs; he had never hit more than one in a season. Aguayo’s nine homers are three more than before. Trillo, whose first full season was 1975, has eight home runs for the Chicago Cubs, one more than his previous best.

Dion James of the Atlanta Braves has shown the most dramatic increase. James had one home run in 456 at-bats entering this season. He has hit eight homers this season.