FAMILY FIRST, RIVALRY SECOND FOR ALOMARS.

Byline: George Vecsey The New York Times

Somewhere within a yard or two of Roberto Alomar, there was probably an official major league pronouncement forbidding fraternization between players of opposing teams.

Nevertheless, there was Roberto Alomar of the Baltimore Orioles about to enter the Cleveland Indians' clubhouse for the literal purpose of fraternization, when he ran into John Hart, general manager of the Indians.

``Congratulations, Roberto,'' Hart said, extending his hand. ``How are you feeling? You're still injured, aren't you?''

A sly smile came over Roberto's face. Hart was trying to extract a bit of information as the price for entering his clubhouse, but Roberto didn't go for it.

``I'm fine,'' he said. ``No problems.''

Then he was off to fraternize with the enemy, his brother, Sandy, the catcher for the Indians. The Indians had clinched their series against the Yankees on Monday night, and meet the Orioles tonight in the league championship series.

Roberto, age 29, has already been to two World Series, with Toronto's champions in 1992 and 1993. Sandy, age 31, has been to one Series, losing to the Braves in 1995.

The Alomars have met before in the postseason, in the opening round last year, when Roberto and the Orioles won three of four games, as Roberto batted .294 and Sandy batted only .125.

``Last year he won and we lost,'' Sandy Alomar said Tuesday. ``This year I hope it's reversed.''

This has been Sandy Alomar's year. He hit a home run to win the All-Star Game in Cleveland, becoming the first player to be named most valuable player of that game in his own ballpark. He and Roberto both played in that game after their mother did not tell them of the death of her mother, because she did not want to incite their strong family loyalties and cause them to attend the funeral.

Sandy Alomar continued to hit all season long, batting .324, hitting 21 homers, driving in 83 runs and establishing himself as one of baseball's best catchers. In the last week, he helped eliminate the Yankees, smacking two homers, including a game-tying blast off Mariano Rivera in the fourth game.

``That home run changed the entire series,'' said Omar Vizquel, another of the very good people in the Indians' clubhouse. ``The pressure was on them; you could see them saying, `We have to win,' and when he hit that home run I could feel their entire dugout go quiet.''

Roberto had just celebrated the Orioles' victory when his brother stunned the Yankees.

``As a brother, you have to feel really happy for him,'' Roberto said. ``It's not a surprise to me. This is the first year he's been healthy all year. He's 6-foot-5. Not many people realize how big he his, how good he moves. Sandy has a lot of ability.''

This was all spoken in the quiet, intense way of Roberto Alomar, who has always been a gentleman except for the one ugly moment last year when he spat at an umpire. The notoriety has made him even more guarded, but Roberto still talks politely when asked for the millionth time about the baseball Alomars.

``Sure, we eat dinner, like brothers,'' Roberto said. ``We really don't talk much about baseball. Mostly, how our families are doing.''

This week the Alomar family is doing just fine.

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Photo

Photo: Sunday's Game 4 home run against the Yankees continued the breakout season for Cleveland's Sandy Alomar Jr. His brother, Roberto, is the first to recognize Sandy's 1997 success.

Associated Press