A SIDEWAYS GLANCE : FOR JUNKER, TWO GRAND SLAMS IS VERY DEJA VU.

Byline: - Tom Hoffarth

On the night Fernando Tatis made major-league baseball history at Dodger Stadium, Lance Junker had gone out to dinner with his wife. By the time he returned to his home in Valencia and turned on the TV to watch what was left of the Dodgers-Cardinals game, it had already happened.

``I remember that Vin Scully was talking about two grand slams in one inning,'' Junker admitted to Mike Martinez of the San Jose Mercury News. ``It didn't dawn on me that it was by one person.''

Junker would know about that. Sixteen years earlier, on June 30, 1983 while playing for the Single-A Redwood Pioneers of the California League, he did the same thing.

``I can remember it like it was yesterday,'' said the former Loyola Marymount University star, drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 1980.

Research has shown that two grand slams in one inning was accomplished twice previously - in 1947 by Ken Myers of the Las Vegas Wranglers in the Sunset League and in 1952 by Armando Flores of the Laredo Apaches in the Gulf Coast League.

(And an ironic note: Myers was the pro scout who signed Junker for the Giants).

As for Junker, 39, his pro career ended when he was released from the Angels in 1984 a few weeks into spring training. He's now a vice president of sales for Aero Engineering, a defense contractor and manufacturer of military spare parts.

But a newspaper clipping of Junker's two-grand-slam inning is in a collage, framed in the hallway of his home.

Imagine if his leg was still in it: A cast worn by Michael Jordan in 1985 following his only major injury while with the Chicago Bulls was auctioned last week for close to $9,000 - the minimum opening bid was $2,000 - according to William Mastro, whose Mastro Fine Sports Auctions had the item among 1,500 lots for bid via phone and the Internet.

Also, Jordan's 1991 expired Illinois driver's license went for nearly $14,000. Minimum bid was $1,000.

The Elway factor: Last week, Las Vegas bookmakers had the Denver Broncos as 7-2 favorites to win it all in '99. This week, Minnesota is the 7-2 favorite; Denver is 5-1.