Between The Lines

ONE MAN COMBO
Todd Cason, a righthander for Saint Leo ( Fla.) College, recently started four times in six days. How did he do it? Well, whenever he got tired, he just put his glove on the other hand and pitched lefthanded. Cason is ambidextrous, but he does almost everything lefthanded. This year he pitched lefty about 10% of the time en route to a 12-9 record. He has been clocked at 85 mph throwing righthanded and 82 mph lefthanded. According to the rules, Cason can't leave the field and change gloves in the middle of an inning. Nor can he switch hands in the midst of pitching to a batter. "I don't get confused, but my catcher does," says Cason. "Once he didn't know I had switched until I was into my windup." His dream is "to pitch lefthanded all the time," he says, because "lefthanders get away with a lot more."

WHAT, ME WORRY?
Now that noted sluggers Felix Fermin and Gerald Young have each homered this year, Minnesota's Albert D. Newman has the most consecutive at bats among active players without hitting a home run (1,138). "Fans are cheering for me to hit one when I'm in the on-deck circle," says Newman, "but I don't even hit them in batting practice." Newman hit two home runs the first ten days of his junior season at San Diego State, in 1981. Since then, he has had only two: one in '82 while playing for the Double A Memphis Chicks, and the other in '86 as an Expo. On the same day as the second clout, Bob Horner hit four homers for the Braves. "It kind of overshadowed my blast," says Newman. And "something weird" is bound to happen when he connects again. "I'll get drilled the next time up," he predicts, "because I'm going to do a very slow trot around the bases."

WHAT STREAK?
At week's end, Oriole reliever Gregg Olson had gone 29 straight appearances without allowing a run. By contrast, the Royals' Mark Davis, who was unhittable down the stretch last year, had allowed 13 runs in his last 30 appearances. Olson had a streak of 41 scoreless innings—the longest in the American League since Luis Tiant's 41 in 1968. The last time Olson had given up a run was on July 31. "It's hard to believe with all the runners I've scattered over the bases that I find a way to get out of it," said Olson. "I don't think of it as a streak. Cal Ripken [the Orioles' shortstop, who on Sunday played in his 1,275th consecutive game] has the Streak. This is just a little run."

BY THE NUMBERS

?Through Sunday, Bo Jackson had 17 singles, four doubles and one homer for a total gain of 870 yards so far this season.

?Mariner outfielder Jeffrey Leonard took 34 seconds to circle the bases during one of his two leisurely home run trots against the Angels last Thursday.

?At week's end, the slumping Cal Ripken had fouled out to first base eight times in his last 11 games—once more than he did in all of 1982, his rookie season.

?Against Texas on April 29, Kansas City's Jeff Montgomery struck out the side on nine pitches in the eighth inning. He is only the eighth pitcher in American League history to accomplish that feat and the first to do it in a relief appearance since Jim Bunning in 1959.

? Boston's Wade Boggs struck out three times in three at bats on May 1 against Seattle's Randy Johnson. Only three other pitchers—Edwin Correa, Jack Morris and Phil Niekro—have fanned Boggs three times in a game.