NL

Braves: Atlanta has 204 homers, three away from the franchise record set in 1966, the team's first year in Atlanta.Marlins: Edgar Renteria stole third in the fourth for his 41st stolen base. Renteria, who ranks fourth in the NL in steals, has been thrown out an NL-high 20 times.Pub Date: 9/15/98

BravesWhere they're coming from: Atlanta managed to give a 96-66, first-place finish a disappointing spin by becoming the first team to lose a World Series after taking the first two games on the road.Where they're going: Into Turner Field, which has a maximum of 45 feet between the dugouts and base lines, compared with 100 feet at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium; that means Greg Maddux and Co. will get fewer foul-outs and the corner infielders will be better able to hear Jane Fonda's snoring during those 14-3 thrillers with the Mets in June.

How the leagues fared after the first phase of interleague play:Record .. .. .. .. ..AL, 48-36Total runs .. .. .. .AL, 435-363Avg. runs .. .. .. ..AL, 5.2-4.3Homers .. .. .. .. ..AL, 88-78Shutouts .. .. .. ...NL, 4-2Complete .. .. .. ...NL, 7-6gamesPub Date: 6/20/97

How the leagues are faring in interleague games:Record .. .. .. .. ..AL, 48-36Total runs .. .. .. .AL, 435-363Avg. runs .. .. .. ..AL, 5.2-4.3Homers .. .. .. .. ..AL, 88-78Shutouts .. .. .. ...NL, 4-2Complete .. .. .. ...NL, 7-6gamesPub Date: 6/19/97

Circle your calendarEarly-season dates to remember:April 1: Opening Day. The Pirates aren't mathematically eliminated - yet.April 4: Braves open chop shop at Turner Field.April 15: President Clinton speaks during ceremony at Shea Stadium on 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the major-league color line.April 19: Cardinals play the Padres in Hawaii. As the song says, "I don't care if I never get back."June 12: Rockies travel to Seattle to launch interleague play and a home run or three.

Astros: Jeff Bagwell has started every game this season.Braves: Atlanta has nine shutouts this season. The Braves are 19-5 against the Expos since June 14, 1995.Cardinals: St. Louis has hit a team-record 70 home runs at Busch Stadium this season and needs one to tie the overall team mark of 143 in 1955.Dodgers: Hideo Nomo finished his second major-league regular season with a 3.19 ERA and 234 strikeouts in 33 starts. In his NL Rookie of the Year campaign, he had a 13-6 record in 28 starts, with a 2.54 ERA and an NL-leading 236 strikeouts.

ATLANTA -- Diamonds sparkle on their two gold National League championship rings. On the 1991 ring an "A" in diamonds is set into a red ruby stone. On the 1992 ring diamonds create a miniature baseball. Nine members of the Braves possess those two rings, but they seldom wear either one."They're pretty; they fit," shortstop Jeff Blauser was saying. "But they're the second-place ring."As the Braves and the Indians opened the World Series last night after last year's empty October, those nine Braves don't want a third NL ring as a consolation prize.

RICHIE ASHBURNCareer: Known for speed, smart base running and peskiness at the plate. Hit .308 from 1948-62 with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets. Had 2,574 career hits and won the NL batting title in 1955 (.338) and 1958 (.350). Led league in walks four times, hits three times and triples twice. Had .397 career on-base percentage. Stole 234 bases, and led NL with 32 as a rookie. Five-time All-Star. Holds major-league record for outfielders with four seasons of 500 putouts.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jeff Conine was the only National League All-Star who didn't play in 1994, and when Felipe Alou picked Conine for the team again this year, the Montreal manager promised Conine: You will play.Conine did play, and thanked Alou in his own special way, hitting a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning last night to give the NL a 3-2 victory over the American League last night, at The Ballpark in Arlington. Conine was named the MVP.The NL had three hits, and all were bases-empty homers, the others by Houston's Craig Biggio and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Mike Piazza.

The first-place Colorado Rockies are turning conventional baseball wisdom squarely on its ear, reasserting themselves at the top of the National League West standings this week on the strength of an explosive lineup while the pitching-rich Los Angeles Dodgers were being thrown for a series of tough losses.The Rockies rocked and rolled to a 6-1 week, though their pitching staff allowed 45 runs, or 6.4 per game. They did it by scoring 60 runs (8.6 per game) and making the quality of their pitching largely irrelevant.

You'll probably hear some derivative of the word at least 50 times during the 2008 National League Championship Series: contrast. It's Philadelphia and its blue-collar fatalism pitted against Los Angeles and its impassioned and impersonal glitz. It's baseball's most revered manager, Joe Torre, against its most maligned, Charlie Manuel. It's a bunch of big-name bombers versus a lineup with less power than the Federal Reserve Board. It's a team no one expected versus one always expected to choke.

Phil Garner is plenty aware of the recent dominance. The American League has won 10 of the past 14 World Series. The AL is 8-0-1 in the past nine All-Star games. This season, it dominated interleague play with a 154-98 record (.611 winning percentage). "The American League has sure whipped up on the National League," said Garner, the manager of the defending NL champion Houston Astros who leads the NL team into Tuesday's 77th All-Star Game in Pittsburgh. "We're hoping to stop all this talk about [how]

Now that baseball has returned to the nation's capital, sports fans around here have a choice: American League or National League? It's sort of like going to your neighborhood bar for a regular draft versus traveling 50 miles south for a glass of light beer. The products are virtually the same, except the National League is a watered-down version of the national pastime. Surely, the so-called purists and traditionalists are foaming at their pretentious mouths after that statement. But it is true.

League Championship Series (Best of seven; *-if necessary) American League Boston vs. New York Schedule above right National League Florida vs. Chicago (Florida leads series 1-0) Yesterday-Florida 9, Chicago 8, 11 innings Today-Florida (Penny 14-10) at Chicago (Prior 18-6), 8:18 p.m. (Chs. 45, 5) Friday-Chicago (Wood 14-11) at Florida (Redman 14-9), 8:18 p.m. (Chs. 45, 5) Saturday-Chicago (Clement 14-12) at Florida (Willis 14-6), 8 p.m. (Chs. 45, 5) *Sunday-Chicago at Florida, 4:35 p.m. (Chs.

Championship series (Best of seven) American League Oct. 8-Game 1, 8:20 p.m. Oct. 9-Game 2, 8:20 p.m. Oct. 11-Game 3, 4:20 p.m. Oct. 12-Game 4, 7:50 p.m. *Oct. 13-Game 5, 8:20 p.m. *Oct. 15-Game 6, 4:20 p.m. *Oct. 16-Game 7, 8:20 p.m. National League Next Tuesday-Game 1, 8:20 p.m. Oct. 8-Game 2, 8:20 p.m. Oct. 10-Game 3, 8:20 p.m. Oct. 11-Game 4, 7:50 p.m. *Oct. 12-Game 5, 4:20 p.m. *Oct. 14-Game 6, 8:20 p.m. *Oct. 15-Game 7, 8:20 p.m. World Series (Best of seven) Oct. 18-Game 1, NL at AL, 8:05 p.m. Oct. 19-Game 2, NL at AL, 8:05 p.m. Oct. 21-Game 3, AL at NL, 8:25 p.m. Oct. 22-Game 4, AL at NL, 8:25 p.m. *Oct.

Who's hot Kip Wells of the Pirates has a 1.63 ERA and is 3-1 over his past four starts. He was 0-3 in his previous four. Who's not The Rockies' 17-33 record since the All-Star break is the NL's worst and second only to the Tigers' 12-41 mark. Line of the day Aaron Boone, Yankees 3B AB R H RBI HR 3 2 3 4 1 He said it "I was always the stick boy on his hockey team and the bat boy on his baseball team, trying to catch up to him, trying to be the same thing." Mike Glavine, Mets first baseman, now on a team with brother Tom On deck Russ Ortiz of the Braves tries to become the NL's first 20-game winner today, facing the Marlins.

East Division ..............................W....L....Pct. ...GB....L10....Strk....Home.....Away.....Inter. Montreal..............5.....3.... .625....--.......5-3.....W-2......1-2... ........4-1.........0-0 Philadelphia.......5......4.... .556...1/2....5-4.....W-2.......4-2..... .....1-2..........0-0 New York............4.......4..... .500...1.....4-4......W-1......1-2...... .....3-2..........0-0 Atlanta.................4........5... .444...11/2..4-5.....L-2.......3-3...........1-2.

Quote: "Does the guy ever swing and miss?" Florida manager John Boles on Colorado's Todd Helton, who hit .457 with three homers and 12 RBIs in nine games this year against the Marlins. It's a fact: Cincinnati's string of consecutive games with at least one run reached 157, third longest ever. The 1979 Brewers went 160 games and the 1993 Phillies went 158 games. The only team to complete a season without a shutout was the 1932 Yankees in a 156-game season. Who's hot: With a crowd of 40,930, the Giants - who have the best record in the NL at 93-63 - finished their first season at Pac Bell with sellouts in all 81 home games, drawing a franchise-record 3,315,330.

Quote: "I think we're all ready to go home. I know I'm much more exhausted, in terms of playing, this year than I was last year. I'm very tired." - Reds' Chris Stynes, who took over as regular third baseman after Aaron Boone's season-ending injury July 5 It's a fact: The Cardinals became the first National League team to go over 3 million with a crowd of 47,461 yesterday. Who's hot: The Astros' Julio Lugo has a 14-game hitting streak. Who's not: The Cubs have allowed 221 home runs this year, tying the club record they set last year.

Quote: "I should just freeze when a ball is hit like that. Just learning on the job, I guess, that's the way I look at it." - Colorado rookie Juan Pierre after costing his team a run when he was forced out after straying off first base on a fly ball to center. It's a fact: Pitcher Garrett Stephenson leads the Cardinals with 10 sacrifices. Who's hot: The Rockies' Todd Helton doubled in his first three at-bats, giving him 40 for the season. His 4-for-4 day raised his NL-leading average to .384.