BASEBALL'S `BIG MAC' FATTENS UP EVEN MORE.

Byline: Jerome Holtzman Chicago Tribune 

If you want to become a baseball expert and increase your diamond knowledge, impress friends, colleagues, neighbors and whomever else, there is a guaranteed route to success: the 10th edition of the Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia ($59.95), which rolled off the presses two months ago.

The new baby checked in at hefty eight pounds and broke the 3,000-page barrier, 169 more pages than its immediate predecessor in 1993. It has everything you want to know, and more, about the grand old game. In the trade, it is known as ``the Big Mac.''

Included are the complete records of the more than 14,000 players who have batted, pitched or fielded in a major-league game. I have known one player, Mark Gilbert, an obscure White Sox outfielder in 1985, who said he endured in the minor leagues because of his ambition to be listed, and there he is on page 1061: 7 games, 22 at-bats, 6 hits, 1 double, 5 strikeouts, 3 RBIs, a .273 average.

The players are divided into two sections, hitters and pitchers. They are presented alphabetically - from Henry Aaron, the all-time home run champion, to outfielder Dutch Zwilling, who may have been the only player to appear with all three Chicago major-league clubs: 1910 with the Sox, 1914-15 with the Whales of the ill-fated Federal League and 1916 with the Cubs.

Also included are year-by-year won-lost records of all the managers, trades and acquisitions since 1900, an updated general history, World Series, MVP and Cy Young data, the leaders in every statistical category and - and this is new - team rosters since 1876, when the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs) won the first National League pennant behind Albert Goodwill Spalding, who was the winning pitcher in 47 of the club's 52 victories.

``Our customers can be broken down into two areas,'' said editor Ken Samelson. ``Serious baseball fans and people who buy it as a gift. Most of the sales are at Christmas time.''

According to Samelson, dating back to its initial appearance in 1969 more than 500,000 copies have been sold, which I assume would make it the all-time sports best seller. The first edition, which sold for $25 and came in a slipcase, is a collector's item.

The Macmillan has been a principal source for hundreds of baseball books. No historian. amateur or professional, can do without it. When new information is discovered, corrections are entered accordingly. For example, in the 10th edition, Roger Maris is credited with 141 RBI in 1961, one fewer than previously recorded, the result of research by Park Ridge's Ron Rakowski of the Society of American Baseball Research, also known as SABR, an international organization of baseball buffs that has had remarkable growth and now includes more than 7,000 members.

The SABR people, lately, have been the keeper of the flame. They traffic in minutiae. The trivia experts are their children. They also have been overzealous in their findings. some of which are suspect. Cap Anson, the original Mr. Cub, has been among their victims. The SABR members, after exhuming ancient and differing box scores, took away 41 Anson hits, strangely all singles, leaving him with a precise total of 3,000.

Another personal quibble is in regard to pitching saves by relievers. The save rule didn't become official until 1969, but Addie Joss, for example, is credited with five career saves: one in 1906, two each in the following two seasons. How can that be? SABR supposedly resurrected the play-by-play and blessed pitchers of that era, and beyond, with saves. Identical research has been applied to runs batted in, which were not recognized until 1920.

But these are trifles and don't detract from the major work that is absolutely awesome, considering there are probably more than 1 billion entries. Dave Zeman of Addison, also of SABR, reports the 10th edition lists 130 Smiths, 83 Johnsons, 69 Browns and 25 Martinezes, an indication of the emergence of the Latin players. The first Martinez, Rogelio, a right-handed pitcher with the Washington Senators, didn't appear until 1950. He was 0-1, with a 27.00 earned-run average.