BASEBALL ‘94: GOING, GOING . . . GONE : A Lost Season

A look at what fans missed when baseball’s 125th season was abruptly ended by the players’ strike:

* Tony Gwynn, batting .394 when the strike began Aug. 12, might have become baseball’s first .400 hitter since Ted Williams in 1941.

* Frank Thomas or Albert Belle might have been the first triple crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

* The long-suffering Cleveland Indians were in contention to make their first postseason appearance in 40 years.

* Ken Griffey Jr., Matt Williams and others were making a run at Roger Maris’ mark of 61 home runs set in 1961.

* Greg Maddux, with a 1.56 earned-run average, was trying to become the first pitcher to win three consecutive Cy Young Awards. Even so, postseason awards will be handed out, starting in mid-October.

* Cal Ripken Jr.’s chase of Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games played. Ripken played in his 2,000th game in a row earlier this season.

* Don Mattingly, who has never played in the postseason, was close this year with the AL East-leading New York Yankees.

* Andre Dawson, Kent Hrbek and other former stars won’t play again. They announced earlier this year that this was their final season, no matter what. Dave Stewart, Jack Morris and Goose Gossage also might be gone.

* The Texas Rangers trying to win their first division title. Texas was leading the AL West by one game over Oakland.

* Pennant races in possibly all six divisions, along with two wild-card chases. A total of 16 teams were within 6 1/2 games of first place when the strike started.