INSTANT ANALYST

For years Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis, teenage buddies from Los Angeles, pursued baseball careers in the Mets' and Reds' organizations, respectively, while dreaming of one day going back home to play the outfield together for the Dodgers. They got their wish when L.A. signed Strawberry (left) as a free agent after the 1990 season and then traded for Davis (below) after the '91 season.

But this reunion has been a disaster. Injuries to both players have limited their combined starts to only 114 last year and just 52 this season, through Sunday. (In the six years before they got together, they averaged 254 starts per season between them.) And even when they have been in the lineup, their performances have been dreadful. Here are the combined statistics of Strawberry and Davis as Dodger teammates the past two seasons, compared with an average slice of their previous combined stats for a similar number of at bats.

Baseball's alltime records were examined to find players whose stat lines, either for one year or for a career, were similar to the line produced by Strawberry and Davis as teammates. The search turned up Tim Wallach's dismal 1991 season with the Expos (he has since been traded to the Dodgers) and the career of that famous beer spokesman Bob Uecker.

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PHOTO

HEINZ KLUETMEIER (STRAWBERRY)

	Avg.	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI
As teammates	.226	615	139	20	1	15	77
Previously	.265	615	163	28	4	39	115
Straberry -Davis	.226	615	139	20	1	15	77
Wallach, 1991	.225	577	130	22	1	13	73
Uecker, career	.200	731	146	22	0	14	74