By E. Graydon Carter

There was yet another inning of sand-lot summetry, Plains, Ga.-style last week, when Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, 68, dropped in on former President Jimmy Carter, 56, and his wife Rosalynn, 54. There to greet his arrival was a crowd of some 1,500, many of them children in yarmulkes, shouting "Shalom!" Begin and Carter seemed outwardly cordial, despite past frustrations over their differences. Said Joel Arnon, Israeli consul general in Atlanta: "They are two strong personalities who both believe they have a direct line to God."

Clean-cut, clean living and oh so dimply, they were dubbed "the Ken and Barbie dolls of baseball." Los Angeles Dodgers First Baseman Steve Garvey, 32, and his wife Cyndy, 31, the bubbly co-host of the AM Los Angeles morning TV program, flaunted their successful, two-career connubiality. But cuteness took it on the chin last year when Inside Sports ran a profile of the Garveys entitled "Trouble in Paradise" that indicated that all was not bliss in their relationship. Steve and Cyndy have now confirmed that they have separated after nearly ten years of marriage and will seek a divorce. What will become of our adorable duo? Cyndy has left her television job, while Steve is heading for the playoffs and contemplating a future run for political office.

Calvin, Brooke, Andy and Halston were there. So too were some inveterate partygoers who travel under both their names: Christopher Reeve and Jack Nicholson, for example. But in the crush of the reopening of Manhattan's Studio 54, at least as many other notable nighttime nabobs were left out in the rain. Conspicuous by their presence inside, were former Owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. All told, 10,000 invitations went out for a club that legally accommodates only 1,800. "It was so crowded," said Designer Klein after his twirl on the dance floor with Brooke, "that absolutely nothing could come between her and her Calvin."

Not since Big Bill Tilden turned the trick 56 years ago has a tennis player taken three straight U.S. Open titles. But this month at Flushing Meadow, John McEnroe, 22, demolished Bjorn Borg, 25, in four sets--4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3--to do just that. Looking tired and drawn after the match, and having received threats against his life, Borg announced that he was going to take a respite from tennis. "I'm going to try and do other things to keep my mind off the game. I hope that when I come back to the circuit, I will feel really refreshed." A touch of Borg's off-court charm had rubbed off on the bumptious Big Mac. At a White House reception for U.S. Davis Cup and Wightman Cup teams, McEnroe seemed to bewitch First Lady Nancy Reagan, 60, with his new-found gentility. He was unable, however, to coax President Reagan, 70--who prefers his mornings on horseback--onto the court. "I used to play when I was younger," said the President, "but I don't any more because I can't get the horse on the court." --By E.Graydon Carter

On the Record

Jane Pauley, 30, Today Show cohost, reflecting on the lack of rivalry between herself and her husband, Cartoonist Garry Trudeau: "Five million people watch me every morning. I believe only 4,999,999 people read Doonesbury."

Mark Hatfield, 59, Republican Senator from Oregon, predicting the course of interest rates for the rest of the year: "We'll see them down three to four points. But I should add that I predicted Thomas Dewey's election in 1948."

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