Baseball

A HALL PREVIEW
The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted two greats—pitcher Jim Palmer and second baseman Joe Morgan—on Aug. 6 in Cooperstown, N.Y. They will be joined eventually by a number of active players who can now be seen at ballparks across America. Here are 15 who will someday merit serious consideration for the Hall, with one man's scorecard on their chances for enshrinement. (In order to avoid statistical projections for younger players, only those who have been playing at least 12 seasons have been considered.)

ALREADY IN

•Nolan Ryan, Rangers. A first-ballot inductee. No supporting statistics are necessary, but here's one more from Craig R. Wright of Stats, Inc.: Ryan has had the major leagues' lowest hits-per-inning ratio in 10 different seasons. No one else has had the best ratio in more than five.

•George Brett, Royals. His totals in runs, hits, home runs, RBIs and batting average are equaled or surpassed by only seven players, all of whom are in the Hall: Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, Al Simmons and Ted Williams.

•Carlton Fisk, White Sox. He's two home runs short of passing Johnny Bench (327) for the most homers ever by a catcher. Fisk, 42, has played more games at catcher than anyone except Bob Boone.

•Rickey Henderson, Athletics. The greatest leadoff man ever. By year's end he will be the alltime leader in stolen bases, and he's still only 31 years old. His speed, power and on-base average have made him the American League's most destructive offensive player for 12 years.

•Ozzie Smith, Cardinals. The greatest defensive shortstop in history. O.K., so he's only a lifetime .259 hitter, but he was a vital offensive player (451 career steals, as of Sunday) for the Cards as they won three pennants (1982, '85, '87).

ON THE DOORSTEP

•Robin Yount, Brewers. An MVP at two crucial defensive positions: shortstop and centerfield. He has 2,698 career hits. Age 34, body of 24; 3,000 hits seems a sure thing and will make him a certain inductee.

•Gary Carter, Giants. His offensive numbers—.266 average, 312 homers and 1,165 RBIs—almost rival Fisk's. He has caught more games than anyone else in National League history.