BASEBALL MISCELLANY : NAMES AND NUMBERS

Dismal: The Dodgers finished 27 games above .500 during the miracle season of 1988, but they have a 278-286 record for the last 3 1/2 seasons, an indication that 1988 was strictly an aberration.

Mr. Clutch: Of the 43 runs that Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. had driven in through Friday, 20 had tied games or put the Orioles ahead.

Record-Setting: The Orioles are spending their 56th day in first place, a major league record for a team that finished last the year before. The 1977 Chicago White Sox, coming off a last-place finish in 1976, held the record, spending 55 days in first before finishing third.

Warpath?: The Cleveland Indians have scored one run or fewer in 21 games, losing 18.

Hit Parade: The Montreal Expos’ Kevin Gross can tie Don Drysdale’s record of sharing or leading the National League in hit batters for four consecutive seasons if he does it again this year. He has nailed four batters in 109 1/3 innings, but may have trouble surpassing Chicago Cub reliever Mitch Williams, who is known as the Wild Thing. Williams leads the National League with five hit batters--in only 39 2/3 innings.

Gross II: The Montreal right-hander has been two different pitchers this year. In his seven wins, he has allowed only seven earned runs in 58 innings for a 1.40 earned-run average. In his seven losses, he has allowed 40 earned runs in 37 innings for a 9.73 ERA.

All-Stars: Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker says he needs the rest and will probably reject a reserve selection, leaving Alan Trammell as the Tigers’ probable All-Star representative. Whitaker had 16 home runs through Friday. Trammell had 19 runs batted in and drove in more than one run in a game Tuesday night for the first time since Sept. 17.

Friendly Confines?: The Chicago Cubs’ seven-game losing streak, which they ended Friday night, included an 0-6 home stand during which the Cubs scored only seven runs as Ryne Sandberg went hitless in 20 at-bats and Andre Dawson was two for 21. “We came in seven feet tall and came out a midget,” Manager Don Zimmer said of the home stand that left the Cubs with an 18-21 record at Wrigley Field.