The worst three-month stretch for 70-30 portfolios consisting of small-cap stocks and high-yield bonds, for instance, was a loss of 20.2 percent, on average, in the summer of 1998.

Even last season, in which he batted .177 for one three-month stretch, Ventura was close to those statistics.

He raised his arms and smiled broadly, mocking himself in what had been a tournament of awful putting and a three-month stretch of subpar play.

We take it for granted today that there have been a hundred manned American space flights, and that an astronaut can remain in orbit almost unnoticed for a three-month stretch.

The Royals went 13-15 in August, completing a three-month stretch in which the team compiled a record of 41-39.

Over the last decade, the worst three-month stretch for such a portfolio would have been a loss of 18.6 percent from July to September 2002, according to Morningstar.

Ventura wanted to prove that his .183 average over a three-month stretch and his spotty defense at third base had been aberrations, and the Mets apparently thought that, too.

Mr. Colvolino said that while individual weeks in the past had been hotter, he had never encountered a three-month stretch, from early May to the present, so consistently stifling.

He has seemed to lose some of his range in the field, and for a three-month stretch last summer, he batted .183.

Domestic equity funds collected more money in the first two months than they had in any previous three-month stretch.