Yogi Berra

In the economic box score, Baltimore's 1993 All-Star Game put up some MVP numbers.For hotels, bars and caterers, it was a home run. For Inner Harbor restaurants, a double that stayed in the ballpark only because of the hot, sticky air. Downtown retailers at least got on base with a single.And for Baltimore's image, it was a grand slam off the warehouse."I think we showcased the city like it's never been showcased before," said Gil Stotler, Baltimore's assistant convention director, still reveling in the glowing compliments and flattering coverage that CBS television bestowed on the city.

"You could look it up."No one ever confused my mother with Yogi Berra -- except when it came to the use of reference books.Try as we might to squeeze homework answers out of her, my brothers and I always wound up trudging over to the bookcase to look it up.It could be a dangerous business. Open the encyclopedia to find out about the Louisiana Purchase, and the next thing you know, you're discovering how Louis XVI lost his head. Such browsing could cost valuable TV time. There was nothing worse than knowing my younger brother had finished his homework in time to watch "Lost in Space" while I still had math and science problems to slog through.

LET'S BE honest right from the start. Before popping in the preview tape of HBO's Mantle (debut tonight at 9), I had my guard up, prepared to shrug off the documentary as just a piece of New York-centric sports mythmaking. However, Mantle is yet another terrific program from HBO. The tale of Mickey Mantle may be a familiar one to most baseball fans - and this show doesn't provide any revelations - but the story of the Yankees great is rendered gracefully and honestly. If the documentary's recounting of Mantle's baseball career occasionally lapses into dewy-eyed hero worship, it more than compensates with its story of his often sad life off the field and after his playing days.

Most memorable All-Star Games have a common element: momentous home runs. Starting with the first, fittingly hit by Babe Ruth at the inaugural midseason game between the two leagues in 1933, there has been a steady diet of homers in the intervening 60 years.There was the game-winning shot by Ted Williams in the 1941 All-Star Game, with two out and two on and the American League down one in the ninth. There was Johnny Callison's three-run home run to cap a four-run National League rally in the ninth inning of the 1964 game.

When Ronald Reagan, in discussing fundamental values at the Republican convention, erroneously attributed to Abraham Lincoln several positive principles, he joined a long line. Abraham Lincoln -- not Yogi Berra -- is the most misquoted American.Historians have been trying for over 40 years to set the record straight on the ''Ten Cannots,'' which run as follows:* ''You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.''* ''You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.''* ''You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

Clubs listed in predicted order of finishYankeesThat was then: New York lost four of its first five games, then saved Joe Torre's job by becoming the first team this century to play .700 ball the first four months of a season. Its 125 overall wins were a record.This is now: The $88 million Yankees have a great chance to become only the sixth team to win three World Series in four years. They haven't lost any key players and get a Rocket boost from two-time defending Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, who hasn't lost since May.Upside: Forget complacency; Clemens wants his first ring as much as ex-Yankees prospect John Elway wanted his first NFL title.

Washington. -- On July 27, 1948, President Harry S Truman issued his historic Executive Order 9981 to desegregate the armed forces -- not by some specified date but "as rapidly as possible.""It was a milestone in American history, similar to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball the previous year," Clark M. Clifford wrote in his 1991 memoir, "Counsel to the President."By persuading Truman to leave out a deadline, Mr. Clifford had placated Defense Secretary James Forrestal and a potential disaster in the services was averted.

To the dismay of prosecutors, a man considered to be one of the worst drug lords in Baltimore history was freed yesterday of what had been a 22-year sentence for a gun crime and vowed as he walked away from the city's federal courthouse to dedicate his life to serving God. Melvin "Little Melvin" Williams, 61, served nearly four years on a handgun possession conviction before his attorney successfully argued that Williams did not meet the technical requirements...

Cereal manufacturers used to put all sorts of strange and wonderful (if you were a child) things in their boxes to entice people to buy their products -- baking-powder submarines, fanciful space creatures that rode on a spoon and rings.Kellogg's is doing it again with something that may have collectors of all ages shaking their Corn Flakes boxes for hidden treasure.For the first time since 1983, Kellogg's is putting out a baseball set. This year's is one of the smallest by the cereal maker, and it marks the only appearance this season of Sportflics.

Red Sox: Jose Offerman drew his 10th walk in 17 plate appearances. Twins: Reliever Hector Carrasco pitched 4 1/3 innings of hitless ball. Yankees: There was a moment of silence before the game for former New York reliever Graeme Lloyd's wife, Cindy, who died last week. Yogi Berra threw out the first pitch.