A final lap for the King...Graf's grandeur grows...the Motor City becomes K-town

Dealt
To the New York Rangers for three forwards, Edmonton Oiler center Mark Messier, who in 1989-90 was named the NHL's most outstanding player. The 6'1", 210-pound Messier was a cornerstone of all five Oiler Stanley Cup championship teams and in 1984 won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Cup playoffs. Often considered the prototypical forward for the '90s because of his physical style of play, Messier has scored more than 100 points in five different seasons while amassing more than 100 penalty minutes six times.

Notched
Her 500th victory as a professional tennis player, Steffi Graf, who defeated Petra Langrova 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of a WTA tournament in Germany. Graf reached the 500-victory plateau at a younger age—22 years, three months—than any player ever, beating Chris Evert by six months. However, Jennifer Capriati, who is 15 years, five months old, has 44 more wins than Graf had at the same age.

Slugged
Repeatedly by boxer Vinny Pazienza, the previously undefeated Gilbert Dele of France, who lost his WBA junior middleweight title on a 12th-round technical knockout, in Providence, R.I. Dele should have figured it wasn't going to be his night when the Civic Center crowd was asked to stand for the French national anthem, only to hear the German anthem, Deutschland uber Alles, piped over the building's public address system.

Whiffed
By Red Sox pitcher John Morton, in the third inning of Boston's 10-5 loss on Oct. 3, Tiger rightfielder Rob Deer, thereby making Detroit the most struck-out team in American League history. The Tigers' 1,149 K's broke the record set in 1986 by the Seattle Mariners. This year 10 pitchers have struck out 10 or more Tigers in a game.

Announced
By NASCAR's alltime winningest driver, Richard Petty, that he will retire from stock car racing after the 1992 season, which he has already dubbed the Richard Petty Fan Appreciation Tour. Petty, whose total of 200 career wins is nearly twice that of the next closest driver, last visited Victory Lane in July 1984, where he was greeted by a campaigning President Reagan. Among the millions who have become fans of King Richard during his 33-year reign is Cleveland Cavalier center Brad Daugherty, who has a clause included in his contract that allows him to wear number 43, the number on Petty's cars.

Died
One of baseball's most abrasive and aggressive figures, Leo Durocher, 86; of natural causes; in Palm Springs, Calif. Durocher, who had a 17-year career as a light-hitting shortstop, managed four teams between 1939 and 1973, including the pennant-winning '41 Brooklyn Dodgers and '51 New York Giants, and the world champion '54 Giants. Among the game's best tacticians, he always looked for an edge—both on and off the held. Whenever Durocher boarded an airplane with his team, he sat beside the exit door. "It isn't much to have going for you," he would say, "but I want it going for me."

PHOTO

TOM HANSON/CP

Messier is muscle in Manhattan.