WORLD SERIES / CINCINNATI REDS vs. OAKLAND ATHLETICS : Billy Hatcher Won’t Give A’s an Out : Reds: Cincinnati center fielder sets a World Series record with hits in seven consecutive at-bats.

In a seven-year career with the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, Billy Hatcher has batted .263 and seldom found his name in headlines.

And one of the few times he did, it proved to be an embarrassment. Hatcher was cited for using a corked bat while with the Astros in 1987.

He tried to say he had picked up a bat that relief pitcher Dave Smith used for batting practice, but the National League didn’t buy it and he drew a 10-game suspension.

Hatcher won’t talk about the incident now, but the Oakland Athletics might be excused for thinking Hatcher has been using a corked bat in the first two games of the World Series.

Exploding base hits and extra-base hits seemingly at will, Hatcher has seven consecutive hits to eclipse the World Series record of six, set by Leon (Goose) Goslin in 1924 and matched by Thurman Munson in 1976.

In Game 1, the 30-year-old center fielder scored three runs and drove in one as he walked in the first inning, doubled in the third, doubled in the fifth and singled in the sixth.

In the Reds’ 5-4, 10-inning victory Wednesday night, Hatcher scored two runs and drove in one as he doubled to right in the first inning, doubled to center in the third, tied the record with a bunt single in the fifth, broke it with a triple to right-center field that led to the run that wiped out a 4-3 Oakland lead in the eighth, then drew an intentional walk in the ninth.

Thus, his streak will be alive when the World Series resumes Friday in Oakland.

“Right now,” A’s Manager Tony La Russa said of Hatcher, “the off-day is the best thing we have going. I don’t think we’ve been pitching him that badly; he’s just hitting pitches in and out of the strike zone.”

Hatcher insisted that he wasn’t thinking about the streak and knew nothing about the record until he reached the clubhouse after the game.

“Maybe if we get two more wins it will mean more to me, but right now my attitude is that they can keep the record, I’ll take the (championship) ring.

“Right now everything is just happening for me. I’m getting the good part of the bat on the ball, and the key thing is that Barry Larkin is getting on base ahead of me, creating a lot of situations in which I can do different things.”

Larkin, the leadoff hitter, doubled and singled twice Wednesday night, and reached base on a walk in Game 1.

“I work on situations in batting practice,” Hatcher said. “My job is easy when the guy ahead of me is getting on base that much. It opens up a lot of holes.”

Said Larkin: “Billy has been making things happen all year. He’s the epitome of a player who puts pressure on the other team. A double here, a double there. A hit and run here, a hit and run there.”

Said Red Manager Lou Piniella: “He’s definitely been a catalyst for us, and he has the type talent that can come to the forefront in the postseason. I mean, he plays defense well, runs the bases aggressively and is a contact-type hitter with speed. He’s the type player who can take control of the game, and he did in the first two games.”

All of those skills are the reason the Reds sent minor leaguers Mike Roesler and Jeff Richardson to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Hatcher before the season started. The Reds wanted to improve their speed, and Hatcher, who had asked for the trade because he knew there would be no room for him in the Pittsburgh outfield, responded with 30 stolen bases, 29 infield hits and a .276 average in 139 games.

His hitting .333 in April and .313 in May were pivotal factors in the start that carried the Reds to a wire-to-wire victory in the National League West.

His performance in that stretch enabled the Reds to compensate for the knee injury to Eric Davis and later move Davis from center to left field.

Hatcher said Wednesday night that Davis’ home run and RBI single in Game 1 has also been a factor in his record.

“I’m going to get on base and try to cause havoc, but when Eric starts swinging the bat, that means the guys in front of him get better pitchers to hit because they don’t want to pitch to him with men on base.”

Davis was hitless Wednesday night, but the Reds keep picking each other up, with Hatcher doing the most picking.

“There is no way to even dream of something like this,” he said, acknowledging that there is nothing in his career log to indicate he would set an illustrious Series record.

Only cynics--and maybe the A’s--would call it a corking performance.

A PERFECT SERIES A look at each of the nine plate appearances by the Cincinnati Reds’ Billy Hatcher, who set a record for consecutive hits (seven) in the World Series. Hatcher, who is seven for seven with four doubles, five runs scored and two RBIs, broke the previous Series record of six set by Leon (Goose) Goslin of the Washington Senators in 1924 and tied by Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees in 1976.

GAME 1

Plate Inn. Hit or What App. Walk Followed 1 1st Walk Scored on Davis’ homer 2 3rd Double Drove in Larkin, scored on O’Neill’s grounder 3 5th Double Scored on Davis’ single 4 6th Single Left on base

GAME 2

Plate Inn. Hit or What App. Walk Followed 5 1st Double Drove in Larkin, scored on Davis’ grounder 6 3rd Double Left on base 7 5th Single Picked off first 8 8th Triple Scored on Sabo’s single 9 9th Walk Left on base