What was going on when I was born?

The Sports People column on Tuesday incorrectly described B. J. Surhoff's status with the United States Olympic baseball team. Unlike the six other players listed with him, he has not been dropped. He has returned to the University of North Carolina to complete his summer- school requirements and is due to rejoin the team Saturday.

IT used to be simple economic common sense that making major renovations in a rental apartment was a waste of time and money. Savvy homeowners felt that it only made sense to custom-design a space if you owned the apartment. Today, however, some apartment dwellers in New York are reconsidering that rule. As the cost of a co-op or condominium has risen, more people are feeling reluctant to tie up large sums in the purchase price of an apartment. Renters in luxury buildings who have found shortcomings in their apartments or those who have chosen to change the design of old-fashioned spaces have been willing to invest considerable sums of money to get the design they feel will work best for them. Two apartments, one in a recently completed luxury tower where a major redesign was carried out, the other a less expensive project in an older rent-stabilized building, are examples of different facets of this trend.

When Scientific American magazine ran an advertisement profiling one of its readers six years ago, the headline was remarkably prescient: ''The Citi is banking on John Reed for the future.'' The ad copy itself said that Mr. Reed was convinced that banks ''must assimilate new marketing skills and technology, but he is keenly aware of resistance within the traditional banking community'' - a resistance he suggested reflected ''the genetic makeup of bankers.'' Yesterday's announcement that John Shepard Reed, 45 years old, would succeed Walter B. Wriston as chairman and chief executive of Citicorp on Sept. 1 was evidence that the board of directors of the world's largest banking organization - parent of Citibank - bought his arguments. For more than anything, the trait that typifies John Reed is that he is cut from a different cloth than the stereotypical banking executive. For one thing, he is steeped in technology rather than finance. For another, he is, above all, a manager, one who stresses productivity and efficiency and would be as much at home running a steel mill as he is in the business of moving money.

When Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany reached London for the recent economic summit meeting, the question he was asked most often had little to do with East-West ties, the world debt situation or the future of American interest rates. What puzzled his colleagues, the conservative Christian Democrat told reporters on his return last week, was why the Germans, millions of whom have been unable to find work, are locked in a six-week strike for the right to work less. The bitter dispute over labor's demand to cut the workweek from 40 hours, to 35, has become Germany's most protracted strike since 1957. About 444,000 workers have been turned out in the big printing and metalworking industries, including such powerful sectors as automobile and machine manufacturing.

THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1984 The Economy The gross national product is growing at a 5.7 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department estimated. That is considerably faster than expected, though down from the torrid pace of the first quarter. Its growth was revised upward to 9.7 percent. The Administration was cheered by the report, but financial markets worried that the Federal Reserve might act soon to slow the economy by raising interest rates. (Page A1.) The O.E.C.D. forecast considerably slower growth in the United States next year, citing its budget deficit and high interest rates. (D7.)

''Just think, I can't move my fingers, but here I am getting ready to shake the hands of the President of the United States.'' - Hector Del Valle of Dover, N.J., paralyzed after an auto accident in which he was drunk at the wheel. (B2:3.)

The stock market, down sharply for most of the day in a wide-ranging selloff, turned on a dime yesterday on rumors that the International Business Machines Corporation is planning a new stock buyback program. Buoyed by the rumor, which I.B.M. later denied, the Dow Jones industrial average recovered from a nearly 7-point deficit at 3 P.M. to close with a gain of 15.80 points, to 1,131.63. At 10:30 A.M., the average had been off almost 12 points, its low for the day. The turnaround raised the Dow's gain over the last three sessions to 45 points.

Because of a production error, some copies of page A10 yesterday omitted the first part of an article about an Administration proposal to halt aid to family planning groups. Readers wishing copies of the corrected page may write to Production Quality Control, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036.

The United States banking system is radically different today from what it was a decade ago, and much of that change can be attributed to one man: Walter B. Wriston. Often to the chagrin of his competitors, his regulators and the nation's legislators, Mr. Wriston - as chairman and the chief executive officer of Citicorp and its subsidiary, Citibank - has redefined and broadened the role of the banking industry. Now, however, his Citicorp career is coming to an end as his 65th birthday approaches and, with it, his retirement at end of August. Indeed, with the naming of the 45- year-old John S. Reed as his successor on Tuesday, Mr. Wriston became a lame duck. But it is widely agreed that the tone he has set for the banking industry will persist.

The Senate tonight turned aside a strong bid by Democrats to withdraw nearly one- third of American troops in Western Europe by 1990 if members of the Atlantic alliance fail to bolster their military contributions. By a vote of 55 to 41, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Senator Sam Nunn, Democrat of Georgia, to the $230 billion defense authorization bill for the fiscal year 1985, which begins Oct. 1. Mr. Nunn, the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said the amendment was intended to fortify NATO defenses. After killing Mr. Nunn's amendment, the Senate voted 94 to 3 to accept a compromise measure offered by Senator William Cohen, Republican of Maine, urging the alliance members to increase their contributions. It contained no reference to withdrawal of American troops.

Capping a week of bitter debate, the House of Representatives today approved by a five-vote margin a comprehensive immigration bill designed to stem the flow of illegal aliens into this country. The final vote was 216 to 211. The landmark bill, which represents the most significant change in the law regarding aliens in more than three decades, would prohibit the employment of illegal aliens and offer legal status to illegal aliens who can show that they have have been living in the United States since January 1982. The measure now is to go to conference with the Senate, which has passed a similar bill twice before by margins of more than 4 to 1. President Reagan, who last week said at a news conference that the nation had lost ''control of its borders,'' has been a strong advocate of stemming the flow of illegal aliens.

The nation's economy is growing considerably faster than expected while inflation is continuing to abate, the Commerce Department said today. It announced a ''flash'' estimate for growth of the gross national product, during the quarter ending June 30, at an annual rate of 5.7 percent. At the same time, it said, inflation in the second quarter is declining, to a rate of 3.5 percent, from 4.9 percent in the first quarter. Even optimists in the Administration had expected the economy to slow much more by now, with a slight increase in prices. Today's report cheered the Reagan Administration, but in the financial markets it fanned fears that the Federal Reserve would soon try to slow the economic growth by raising interest rates again.