BASEBALL MISCELLANY : NAMES AND NUMBERS

* Brian McRae, son of former Kansas City star Hal McRae, became the first rookie in recent memory to collect base hits in his first major league at-bats from both sides of the plate.

Batting left-handed in his Royal debut Tuesday against Chicago rookie Alex Fernandez, he tripled. In his first right-handed at-bat Wednesday against Greg Hibbard of the White Sox, he singled.

* Mark Davis became the third high-paid Kansas City pitcher to attempt, and fail, to hide a serious injury. Davis’ left elbow was given a Magnetic Resonance Imaging examination last week after he admitted it has been bothering him throughout a disappointing season and Friday he was put on the disabled list. Last year’s National League Cy Young Award winner is 1-7 with a 6.38 earned-run average.

Previously, Bret Saberhagen had elbow surgery, and Mark Gubicza had surgery on a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder. Both players initially denied their injuries because, some believe, they wanted to justify recently awarded big contracts.

* On Aug. 2 against Milwaukee, the White Sox started first-round draft choices from 1990, ’89 and ’88. This year’s top pick, pitcher Alex Fernandez, was on the mound. Last year’s No. 1, Frank Thomas, played first base. And 1988’s first pick, Robin Ventura, played third base.

None of the Dodgers’ top draft choices from the last three years has advanced above Class A, and at one point this season, all three suffered from sore arms. They are Ron Walden, Kiki Jones and Bill Bene.

* When rookie Alex Cole recently stole five bases for Cleveland, it was the biggest display of Indian speed since Willie Kamm stole four bases in 1931. Cole stole two bases in his next game, tying an American League record for two games set by Eddie Collins and equaled by Rickey Henderson and Amos Otis.

* Chris Sabo’s 22 home runs are the most by a Cincinnati third baseman since Tony Perez hit 25 in 1971.

* Dennis Eckersley is not the only star in the Oakland bullpen. In their first 100 appearances, five A’s relievers had a 2.19 ERA with 47 saves. Of 127 inherited baserunners, only 29 scored.

* Is it any wonder the A’s would not trade setup reliever Todd Burns to the Dodgers for Kirk Gibson? Burns, Gene Nelson, Rick Honeycutt and rookie Joe Klink complete a bullpen that has helped the A’s win 66 of 81 games in which they score three runs or more.