BASEBALL MISCELLANY : NAMES AND NUMBERS

Pitching: So you want to know how thin major league pitching is? Well, Roger Clemens won 20 games by himself last year. Now, the projected rotation of the Chicago White Sox (which includes Jerry Reuss) totaled 23 wins last year and the projected rotations of the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves totaled 25, 26 and 28 wins. That’s respectively, not respectfully.

Roger Clemens: He won his 20 games and a second straight Cy Young Award without spring training. How many will he win this year? Thirty may be a possibility if he maintains his spring form. Clemens struck out 36 in 30 innings and allowed only 20 hits and 7 earned runs.

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles’ 10-man pitching staff will have 7 new faces from a year ago, but the bid to recapture past glory may remain elusive. The rotation of Mike Boddicker, Mike Morgan, Mark Thurmond, Jose Mesa and Scott McGregor was 25-40 with a 4.78 earned-run average last year and the five relief pitchers combined for only 17 saves, 13 by Tom Niedenfuer.

Rick Schu: Recently acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies, Schu will open the season as the Orioles’ 31st third baseman since Brooks Robinson retired and the 25th since Doug DeCinces was traded to the Angels.

Shane Rawley: Rawley, who will pitch the Philadelphia opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday night, had a 1-5 record in spring training and allowed 11 hits and 10 runs in 2 innings of his last start against the Houston Astros Thursday. Said Houston relief pitcher Larry Andersen: “He was throwing helicopters up there.”

Rolando Roomes: Roomes 26, has won a utility berth with the Chicago Cubs after eight minor league seasons, the last five with the Cub organization, a longer tenure than any player in the Cub system. The remarkable statistic about Roomes’ odyssey--and patience--is that he has played only one season above Class A. In 744 minor league games, he collected 663 hits and struck out 920 times.

Texas Rangers: Once the Rangers got their 1988 schedule and found they would be opening against the Cleveland Indians, there was no doubt as to who would pitch the opener. Charlie Hough has won 12 straight decisions against the Indians. Hough, who was called for nine balks March 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays, was called for only two balks and yielded just two earned runs in his last 20 spring innings. Hough and Manager Bobby Valentine say that the tightening of the balk rule, forcing a complete stop with runners on base, works to Hough’s advantage since he uses the stop time to get a better grip on his knuckleball.

Umpires: You will know that umpires are calling the balk rule tightly when Dan Quisenberry of the Kansas City Royals is cited. Quisenberry has pitched 894 innings since he was last called for a balk, the longest streak among active pitchers.

Jeff Reardon: His 31 saves represented the pivotal factor in the Minnesota Twins’ triumph in the American League West last year, but there are a number of statistics that the Twins will be hoping Reardon reverses in 1988. Opposing hitters had a .353 batting average against him with runners in scoring position; he faced 14 batters with the bases loaded and gave up 7 hits, including 3 home runs; he gave up 10 home runs in the ninth inning; right-handed hitters batted only .158 against him but left-handers hit .301, the biggest disparity in baseball; opposing base stealers were 8 for 8 when he was on the mound.

Ruppert Jones: The former Angel hit .361 during the spring but failed to win a utility berth with the Milwaukee Brewers because of a sore left shoulder that forced Jones to pull himself from his last exhibition start Wednesday.

Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers will be hard pressed to match their 13-game winning streak at the start of last season. They play their first 10 games at Baltimore, New York and Boston. “If we come out of that trip alive, we’ll have a step on everybody,” Manager Tom Trebelhorn said.