BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : WORLD SERIES

What began as a Wrigley Field tradition--fans throwing home run balls hit by opponents back onto the field--has become something of a cliche in baseball stadiums all over the country.

Atlanta designated hitter Ryan Klesko wished that trend would have continued in Cleveland, though. He homered into the left-field bleachers in Game 3 and the right-field bleachers in Game 4, but the balls never came back.

“I would have liked to have had one to give to my mom,” Klesko said.

Klesko’s mother, Lorene, is in Cleveland for the World Series, providing an inspiration to her son. She was packing aerospace parts at a Santa Ana company in December, 1991, when she accidentally inhaled a combination of chemicals that burned her entire respiratory system

Once a robust woman who used to catch Ryan’s 80-m.p.h. fastballs in the back yard, Lorene, 54, spent most of 1992 in bed and much of 1993 battling health problems. She hasn’t fully recovered and has to take a series of medications, but that didn’t prevent her from traveling to the World Series.

“It’s really important to have her here,” Klesko said. “She has a bad breathing problem, but other than that, she’s doing a lot better.”