BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : NAMES AND NUMBERS

* AIR’S ADIEU? Michael Jordan will not appear in Monday’s Southern League All-Star game, but the hot rumor is that he will use the schedule break to announce his baseball retirement.

Is he discouraged with his sub-.200 batting average? Is he returning to basketball?

The key, sources say, is that Jordan has simply wearied of the daily autograph barrage--by fans and players alike, before games, after games, during games and that he is signing off.

* FILL-UP: Of his record 6-million-plus votes in All-Star balloting, Seattle Mariner center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. referred to Texaco’s sponsorship and said, “Well, this was the first year you could drive up for gas and vote for the All-Star team at the same time.”

* ADD MARINERS: Amid the unraveling season, Seattle has recalled 18-year-old Alex Rodriguez, the No. 1 selection in last year’s draft, to play shortstop, with Felix Fermin moving to second. The Mariners led the American League in fielding last year but are last this year, their 65 errors through Wednesday having led to 57 unearned runs, only one fewer than they gave up all of last season.

Rodriguez’s recall represented a victory for Manager Lou Piniella, because General Manager Woody Woodward and double-A manager Marc Hill ostensibly opposed it, Hill saying Rodriguez is not ready offensively.

Piniella said he cared only about Rodriguez’s fielding.

“This is the major leagues, and if you want to win you’ve got to make plays,” he said. “I’ve tried everybody they’ve given me in the middle of the infield. What it comes down to is you’ve got to make a trade for somebody to catch the ball or get help from the minors.”

Traded Mariners, second baseman Brett Boone and shortstop Omar Vizquel, are hitting .300-plus with first-place teams: Boone with the Reds and Vizquel with the Indians.

* NO HELP: If the Chicago Cubs’ 34-47 record at midseason wasn’t dismal enough, their seven farm teams were a combined 53 games under .500 at their halfway points. No wonder that General Manager Larry Himes will assign Manager Tom Trebelhorn and his coaches to the minor leagues if there is a work stoppage.

“We want them out there showing our young men how to play this game,” Himes said.

* GOT THE MESSAGE: Thinking that 22-year-old right-hander John Roper had “big leagued it” last year while going 2-5 with the Reds and needed a change of work ethic, Manager Davey Johnson included Roper among the first players cut in spring training. The shock treatment worked. Roper opened the season 7-0 with Indianapolis and is 5-0 with the Reds. The two teams