BASEBALL; WITH BASES LOADED, TABLER IS THE BEST

When the bases are loaded, the man you want pitching is probably Dwight Gooden, the strikeout master of the big leagues, who is shooting for his 13th straight victory this afternoon in Shea Stadium. And when the bases are loaded, the man you want hitting is indisputably Pat Tabler of the Cleveland Indians.

Pat Tabler is a 27-year-old infielder from Cincinnati who plays first base these days and who is hitting .272 this season, a few points off his career batting average. But, when the bases are loaded, Pat Tabler becomes the most consistent and dangerous hitter in the business.

He has gone to bat six times this season with the bases loaded: He has delivered six hits, including one home run, and he has knocked in 15 runs.

He has gone to bat 34 times with the bases loaded in his two and a half years with the Indians: He has delivered 22 hits, including two home runs, and has knocked in an astounding 54 runs. That's right, with the bases loaded, he hits .647.

Tabler has always been a good clutch hitter, but this is ridiculous. His only explanation for such magic is this: ''It seems when I go up, I get good pitches to hit, and I'm able to drive the ball.''

There's got to be a better explanation than that. But nobody has one. And Tabler is more concerned these days with explaining the Indians' last-place standing to their public.

''With the kind of season we're having,'' he said the other day, ''what are we going to tell people next winter?''

They could always tell them about all those times Pat Tabler went to bat with the bases loaded.

The destruction of the Chicago Cubs' pitching rotation is now complete, less than a year after the Cubs won the Eastern title in the National League.

Four of the five starting pitchers who opened the season last April went on the disabled list this summer. The fifth was Scott Sanderson, who had a bad back and tender elbow, but who kept pitching anyway. Then, on Tuesday, he strained ligaments in his knee, and now he's among the disabled, too.

''It's a fact of life,'' says Jim Frey, the manager of the Cubs, who may be the Job of the big leagues. ''I've never seen all the starters on a team get disabled. We've lost more than 25 starts already, and more to come. Suppose we'd won 15 of those 25?'' The deluge came May 17. Steve Trout, 5-1 at the time with a 2.03 earned run average, was pitching in Atlanta when his left elbow began hurting. He missed 22 days, returned for eight starts, then went on the disabled list again July 23.

On May 19, just two days after Trout fell, the Cubs had a record of 20-13 and stood second, only half a game behind the Mets. They were still in Atlanta, and Rick Sutcliffe was pitching. You know, Rick Sutcliffe: 16-1 last year after the Cubs acquired him in June. This year, 5-3 with four complete games and a 2.11 earned run average.

He was running to first base, trying to foil a double play, when he tore the hamstring muscle in his left leg. Two down.

Sutcliffe, still hurting, came off the disabled list June 7 and beat Pittsburgh, 1-0. Then he pitched four more solid games, although he lost two of them by 2-0. Then, on July 8, he strained the leg again, and went back on the disabled list again.

He came back two weeks later, but not for long. On July 28 in Los Angeles, he pitched two-thirds of an inning, hobbled away and went back on the disabled list for the third time.

By then, the only surviving starters were Dennis Eckersley and Sanderson, plus a spot starter, Dick Ruthven. But they didn't survive long, either.

Back on June 16, Eckersley began complaining of a ''tired arm.'' He was 7-3 at the time with a 2.57 earned run average. He pitched five days later, then missed 12 days. He pitched once after that, and missed 15 days. He pitched twice more, then missed 10 days. He beat the Mets on Aug. 2, and that was it.

Next: Ruthven. By then, it was a screaming emergency, and he was now a regular starter. But, last Friday night in Shea Stadium, in the first inning, Keith Hernandez slammed a line drive back to the mound at Ruthven. Broken big toe. On Sunday, he and Eckersley went on the disabled list.

Three days later, Sanderson's knee. And now, all five starters are gone. Their roles are being filled more or less by Ray Fontenot, picked up from the Yankees last winter as a spot starter; Lary Sorensen, a long-relief man, and Derek Botelho, a 29-year-old rookie who came up from Iowa two weeks ago and promptly lost twice to the Mets in a hail of home runs.

''I've never seen this happen before,'' said Frey, properly stunned. Neither has anyone else. How do you say ''congratulations'' to the one who got away?

It was a mission of diplomacy, and the Mets entrusted it to Arthur Richman, special assistant to the general manager. He flew to Chicago on Monday, and stood on the field in Comiskey Park as the White Sox honored Tom Seaver for his 300th victory. It was a bit ticklish; the Mets twice had let Seaver get away, and now here he was.

Richman came bearing gifts (a sterling silver serving set) and sentimental words:

''All of us back in the Big Apple rejoice with you at this, your finest hour. None of us will ever forget that, of your 300 victories, 198 were registered as a member of the New York Mets.''

Later, mission accomplished, Richman remembered: ''I was there in spring training in 1967 when he arrived. He was a nice kid coming up from Jacksonville.''