A roundup of the week Oct. 15-21

BASEBALL—PITTSBURGH defeated Baltimore 4-1 in the seventh game to win the World Series. Willie Stargell of the Pirates was named Series MVP (page 61).

PRO BASKETBALL—It took just four games for New Jersey Coach Kevin Loughery—last year's leader in technicals and disqualifications—to get the boot. The ejection came with two seconds left in the Nets' third straight loss; on an infrequently called inbounds pass violation. As if that were not enough, the 111-106 defeat was to New Jersey's local rivals, the Knickerbockers. Rookie-laden New York showed poise early in the week, defeating Houston 126-121 as Bill Cartwright held last season's MVP, Moses Malone, to 17 points. But on Saturday the Knicks lost to the 76ers and Julius Erving, who was averaging 29.2 points a game for the 6-0 Sixers. The big shootouts involved—who else?—San Antonio and Cleveland, which has a league-leading average of 135 points a game. Although George Gervin got 47 points, Campy Russell scored 33 to lead the Cays over the Spurs 141-134. San Antonio avenged the loss 129-127 two nights later at home. In between, the Cavs waived goodby to Walt Frazier, the former Knick all-star who in two years with Cleveland had played in just 66 games. The Celtics were 4-0 before running into Indiana and a 131-128 overtime loss. The Bullets beat Atlanta 100-97 for their first win of the season, and then Kevin Porter had 20 assists in a 117-106 defeat of Detroit. The struggling Pistons managed one win, 129-115 over New York, but Denver lost all four of its games, including a 125—97 drubbing by Milwaukee, which won its fourth straight. Utah was on a four-game streak, too—losing. Kansas City beat Denver, but lost to Golden State. The Warriors (3-0) are in second place behind Portland (page 73) in the Pacific. Some of the magic was missing from the Laker offense in Seattle; Earvin Johnson will be out for 10 days with a sprained knee. Without him, the Lakers lost 112-110. San Diego got 132 points in four games from the league's leading scorer, Lloyd Free, but lost twice. After 670 consecutive pro games—420 in the ABA and 250 in the NBA—Artis Gilmore was forced to the sidelines with a torn knee cartilage. Even without their center, the Bulls beat Phoenix 116-104.

BOWLING—LARRY LAUB defeated Earl Anthony 235-216 to win the $95,000 Kessler Open in Battle Creek, Mich.

BOXING—JOHN TATE won a unanimous 15-round decision over Gerrie Coetzee to assume the WBA heavyweight title vacated by Muhammad Ali in Pretoria, South Africa (page 67).

The U.S. team won the World Cup amateur tournament in New York with seven gold medals and a total of 49 points. The Soviet Union finished second with three golds and 33 points.

BRIDGE—The U.S. defeated Italy by five international match points, the narrowest margin of victory ever, to win the world team championship in Rio de Janeiro.

PRO FOOTBALL—It was a riotous week for the Jets—both during and after the games. On Monday they beat Minnesota 14-7 by forcing seven Viking turnovers and, for the fourth time in five games, holding their opponents to fewer than 70 yards rushing. Drunken and disorderly fans at Shea Stadium celebrated the victory by throwing bottles and, despite the win, calling for the removal of Quarterback Richard Todd in favor of the people's choice, Matt Robinson. On Sunday Todd shut up his critics with TD throws of 21, 22 and seven yards, while New York intercepted five Ken Stabler passes in a 28-19 upset of Oakland. Tampa Bay Fullback Rickey Bell rushed for a club-record 167 yards and Doug Williams completed two touchdown passes and plunged one yard for a third as the Bucs routed Green Bay, 21-3. Jim Zorn completed 18 of 23 for 252 yards and three scores to lead Seattle to a 34-14 upset of Houston. Cleveland got four touchdown passes from Brian Sipe and edged Cincinnati 28-27 on a blocked extra point. New England overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Miami 28-13 and take sole possession of first place in the AFC East. Cardinal Rookie Roy Green had a league-record 108-yard touchdown kickoff return, but it wasn't enough to prevent St. Louis from losing to Dallas 22-13. With 1:42 remaining, Linebacker Harry Carson picked up a Kansas City fumble and returned it 22 yards for the touchdown that gave the Giants a 21-17 win over the Chiefs. After eight straight losses going back to last season, San Francisco won, 20-15 over Atlanta. In Baltimore's 14-13 triumph against Buffalo, Quarterback Bert Jones, who was making his first start since being injured in the season opener, ran one yard for the first TD and passed four yards for the second. Quarterback Tommy Kramer's four touchdown passes lifted Minnesota to a 30-27 win over Chicago. Walter Payton figured in all three of the Bears' TDs, scoring on a two-yard run, a two-yard pass reception and throwing a 54-yard halfback pass. New Orleans beat Detroit 17-7 as Garo Yepremian extended his NFL record to 20 consecutive field goals. For the first time in a regular season game, San Diego beat Los Angeles, 40-16, with Dan Fouts throwing for more than 300 yards for the third straight week, and Washington defeated Philadelphia 17-7 (page 30).

GOLF—CURTIS STRANGE won the $200,000 Pensacola Open with a tournament-record 17-under-par 271. After shooting a course-record 62 in the third day, he eagled the 15th hole of the final round as he scored a one-stroke victory over Bill Kratzer.

HOCKEY—Each of the four holdover teams from the WHA came up with its first NHL win. Hartford beat Los Angeles 6-3. Winnipeg downed the Rockies 4-2 and continued to try to lure Bobby Hull out of retirement. The Nordiques lost 6-3 to Edmonton and then rallied to beat the Rockies 5-2. Montreal, which had lost earlier in the week to Chicago, met the Rangers in a rematch of last spring's Stanley Cup finalists. Although the play was different—one might say entertaining—the result was not. New York again lost, 5-4, as Goalie Denis Herron stopped 23 Ranger shots and Guy La-fleur scored twice and assisted once for Les Canadiens. The Islanders broke into the win column by defeating Atlanta and then routing the Whalers 6-1 on a hat trick by Billy Harris. In Boston, the Kings' Bert Wilson was assessed a major penalty for high sticking, and the Bruins' Jean Ratelle, Ray Bourque and Bobby Schmautz took advantage of Wilson's indiscretion to score the power-play goals that beat the Kings 5-4. Despite three losses last week, Los Angeles has the NHL's two highest scorers, Charlie Simmer and Marcel Dionne, each with 14 points. When Pittsburgh acquired Pat Hughes from Montreal for Herron, irate Penguin fans asked Pat Who? Who scored his first goal for Pittsburgh to help beat the Kings 5-4.

HORSE RACING—GOLDEN ACT ($4.60), ridden by Sandy Hawley, won the $200,000 Canadian International Championship at Woodbine, covering the soft mile and five-eighths turf course in 2:48[3/5] and finishing a neck in front of Trillion.

Spectacular Bid ($2.20), Bill Shoemaker up, won the $361,000 Meadowlands Cup in New Jersey in a track-record 2:01[1/5] for the mile and a quarter. The $234,500 winner's share increased the 3-year-old's 1979 earnings to $1,279,183, a single-season record.

MARATHON—BILL RODGERS won the New York City Marathon for the fourth consecutive year, with a time of 2:11:42. GRETE WAITZ was the first woman finisher, in 2:27:33, breaking her own world record by 4:57 (page 22).

MOTOR SPORTS—Averaging 123.203 mph in his Chaparral, AL UNSER won the 26th annual Bobby Ball 150 Indy Car race at the Phoenix International Raceway, finishing 5.76 seconds ahead of his brother Bobby in a Penske PC 7. Rick Mears' third place in another Penske gave him the CART national points title.

TENNIS—Top-seeded VITAS GERULAITIS defeated Guillermo Vilas 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 to win the $192,500 Australian indoor championship in Sydney.

MILEPOSTS—NAMED: As president and chief executive of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, JOHN R. COOPER, 45, a former USAC vice-president, to replace Joseph Cloutier, whose tenure was marked by an acrimonious jurisdictional dispute between USAC and CART.

NAMED: As manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, BOBBY MATTICK, 63, the club's director of player development since 1977 and, before that, a scout for 30 years. He replaces Roy Hartsfield, who was fired at the end of this season.