BASEBALL MISCELLANY : NAMES AND NUMBERS:

Cobra Strikes Back: Dave Parker, the Oakland Athletics’ designated hitter, batted only .194 in April but has rebounded to hit .333 in May--18 for 54--and promises revenge against any pitcher who had showed him up in April, including the Angels’ Bert Blyleven. “Blyleven was one of the guys who really showed me up,� Parker said. “It was as if he said, ‘I know you’re swinging bad so take this.’ He threw me back-to-back off-speed pitches. The last was a knuckleball that I swung through and you could see he got enjoyment out of it. I got a very special (home run) trot saved up for him. One of my very best trots.�

Babe’s Ghosts: A key reason for the fall-off in major league home run production has been the demise of the New York Yankees and their traditional array of left-handed hitters to take advantage of Yankee Stadium’s “short porch� in right field. The Yankees have only two homers by left-handed hitters and none at Yankee Stadium. Don Mattingly, the club’s premier left-handed hitter, had not hit a homer this year through Saturday, and Ken Phelps, who came in as the major leagues’ active leader with a ratio of one homer every 7.46 times at bat, had only one in 75 at-bats.

Superiority: Of the shift in power from the American League East to West, Cleveland Indian Manager Doc Edwards said: “The main difference is the pitching. When you think about the top pitchers in the East, you think about Roger Clemens. When you think about the West, several guys come to mind.�

No Pride: With an 18-19 record, the Indians led the East Thursday, and operators at Municipal Stadium were greeting callers by saying “Home of the first-place Indians.� This was the latest any division has had a sub-.500 leader, a record the East extends on a daily basis now.

Last Words: Shortstop Andres Thomas of the Atlanta Braves went into Wrigley Field this week saying of the Chicago Cubs: “Take away the second baseman (Ryne Sandburg) and the catcher (Damon Berryhill) and there’s nobody over there who can play for us.� The Cubs outscored the Braves in a three-game sweep, 12-3.

Margo: Boston third baseman Wade Boggs can continue to insist that the Margo Adams fallout hasn’t been a distraction, but he left Anaheim Thursday night batting .291, 65 points below his career average, had only five hits in his last 34 at-bats and had struck out 16 times, compared to 34 all of last year.