Sports 101

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The achievements of Ken Griffey Jr. and Roger Clemens, among others, were undoubtedly overshadowed by the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa show this season. Here's a look back at some of the 1998 season's other highlights. File under: a season to remember.

* Roger Clemens clinched his second-straight pitching Triple Crown for the Toronto Blue Jays, finishing with 20 wins, 271 strikeouts, and a 2.65 ERA. The last winner of back-to-back Triple Crowns was Sandy Koufax, who did it in the 1965 and '66 seasons. Clemens also won his fifth American League strikeout title. He is expected to win his fifth Cy Young Award.

* On May 6, Chicago Cubs rookie pitcher Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters to tie a major-league record for a nine-inning game.

* Ken Griffey Jr. won his third American League home-run title, leading with 56 for the second straight season.

* On Sept. 20, Cal Ripken decided to sit out a game, ending his consecutive-game streak at 2,632.

* With home run No. 40, Mo Vaughn of the Boston Red Sox became just the third Red Sox to have two or more 40-home-run seasons, joining Carl Yastrzemski and Jimmie Foxx.

* With 114 wins, the New York Yankees (114-48) set an American League record and finished with the second-most wins ever, trailing only the 1906 Cubs, who went 116-36.

* And finally, after beating the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Monday, the Chicago Cubs clinched the National League wild card. It's the first time since 1989 that the Cubs have made it to the playoffs.

* Send comments to: parneyl@csps.com