NAMES AND NUMBERS

* FIELDER’S FEELINGS: While Cecil Fielder continues his bid to become the first player to lead the major leagues in runs batted in for four consecutive seasons, his home run totals continue a strange decline--from 51 to 44 to 35 to the current 29. In a year in which home runs are up significantly, Fielder went 20 games without a homer early in the season, then went 16 between 28 and 29.

“I’m not worried about the taters,” the Detroit Tiger first baseman said in Anaheim recently. “There’s nothing wrong with 35, 40, and I can still get there. I can swing for the hills (and hit home runs) any time I want, but swinging just for solos does nothing for my RBIs and batting average. You have to pick your spots.”

* THE THOMAS THEORY: Chicago White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas has his own home run approach. Of his 35, he has hit 12 in the first inning.

“The pitcher wants to establish himself right away, so he throws strikes,” Thomas said. “You can pretty much expect a good one to hit.”

* YANKEES’ CHOICE: They won’t say it publicly, but if the New York Yankees win the title in the American League East, they are hoping the White Sox win in the West.

The Yankees, who have three more games against the White Sox beginning Tuesday, are 7-2 against Chicago. They have scored 60 runs in the nine games, hit 11 home runs and are batting .313, more than 30 points higher than their overall average. They have even split two decisions with Jack McDowell.

* WHAT NEXT? When you think it can’t get any worse for the New York Mets, they put Bobby Bonilla at third base as the regular replacement for injured Howard Johnson. In his first game in that role, Bonilla made three errors in a 4-1 loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday.

Despite Bonilla’s eight errors in 37 games at the position this year, Manager Dallas Green said: “Overall I think he grades out all right there.”

Green might not have been such an easy grader if he had been managing the Pittsburgh Pirates when third baseman Bonilla committed 32 errors in 1988 and 36 in ’89.

* THE ACE? Former Dodger Mike Morgan won 17 games as the Chicago Cubs’ No. 2 starter behind Greg Maddux last year, but with Maddux gone and no one to pick up the leadership, Morgan is 8-12 as the would-be No. 1.

* BELLE RINGER: Albert Belle’s impressive maturation as a person and player continues. The Cleveland Indians’ designated hitter-left fielder even has 12 assists, proving anything is possible. His favorite field is Fenway Park. The left-field wall is a security blanket.

“You don’t have to go back on the ball,” Belle said. “You just turn around and pick it up.”