Biggest batting gainers and losers for 2002: Lenny Harris and Alex Cora registered the highest improvements in hitting average while Joe McEwing suffered the steepest drop.

THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS FELL on hardship during the 2002 campaign by losing 106 games to tie Tampa Bay and Detroit for most defeats in the major leagues. But utility player Lenny Harris maintained his focus for the struggling Brewers. He set a franchise record with 22 pinch-hits and finished the season with a .305 batting average--an 83-point increase over his disappointing .222 showing for the New York Mets in 2001.

With his 83-point climb on the batting scales, the well-traveled veteran staked claim to the biggest batting gain in the majors among players who appeared in a minimum of 100 games each of the last two seasons.

Harris recovered from a sluggish .225 reading at the All-Star break by hitting a solid .349 in the second half of the year despite being hampered with a nagging injury (strained left quadricep) sustained on September 3.

Alex Cora was a surprise entry on the biggest gainer list when the Dodger shortstop, who had a career .220 average entering the 2002 campaign, raised his BA from .217 in 2001 to .291 (a 74 point increase) last season.

Aubrey Huff of the Devil Rays and Edgardo Alfonzo of the Mets showed 65-point gains by logging .313 and .303 averages, respectively.

American League batting champ Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox was a 43-point gainer by jumping from .306 to .349 to become the 11th player in Boston Red Sox history to win an American League hitting title. He also put up solid power numbers with 33 home runs and 107 RBI.

National League batting champ Barry Bonds managed a 42-point rise by posting a career-best .370 mark for the pennant-winning San Francisco Giants. The left-handed hitting slugger walloped 46 homers, pushing his lifetime total to 613, and set major league single-season records for most walks (198) and highest on-base percentage (.582).