Between The Lines

IT BEATS BURNING TWIGS
Oakland second baseman Glenn Hubbard had played through Aug. 7 without hitting a single home run. Then he borrowed rightfielder Jose Canseco's bat and pitcher Dave Stewart's pants and hit homers in three consecutive games. "It's the pants that did it," quipped Stewart, after he learned that Hubbard had hit only one of the dingers with Canseco's bat.

HIGH STEAKS
Expos pitcher Pascual Perez recently bet his brother Me-lido of the White Sox a cow that he would win 15 games this season. As of Sunday, Pasqual still had six to go.

THE 90% SOLUTION
The Tigers replaced leadoff hitter Gary Pettis, who had a minuscule .295 on-base percentage, with Lou Whitaker, who hasn't attempted a steal all season. That's all right. In the 21-game stretch before their series with the Red Sox last week, the Tigers' ERA was lower (2.14) than their batting average (.224).

THE FEAR OF GOD
On July 27, George Culver, manager of the Triple A Maine Phillies, told talented but erratic righthander Marvin Freeman, who had a 3-5 record with a 5.61 ERA, that he would be released in 30 days if he didn't get his act together. Freeman responded by pitching a seven-inning no-hitter and a six-inning two-hitter in his next two starts. Then he was called up to the Phillies and threw another seven scoreless innings before being replaced by Steve Bedrosian.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Former Canadian national treasure Wayne Gretzky was introduced to his new wife, Janet Jones, by ex-Phillie pitcher Larry Christenson.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

?Sometimes butterfingered Oriole second baseman Billy Ripken: "Errors are a part of the game, but Abner Double-day was a jerk for inventing them."

?Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, on his not-so-speedy catcher, Mike Scoscia: "If he raced his pregnant wife, he'd finish third."

COULD IT BE THAT EASY?
When San Diego reliever Dave Leiper singled in the fifth run in the 16th inning of a 5-4 victory over the Braves, not only was it the first hit of his seven-year pro career, it was also his first at bat.

THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE
Oakland catcher Terry Steinbach, who was the All-Star Game MVP despite his controversial selection to the team by the fans, is hitting .325 and has thrown out 7 of 11 attempted base stealers since the game.