What was going on when I was born?

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1985 The Economy A $973.7 billion budget will be sent to Congress today by President Reagan. It proposes to sustain a buildup of the military while shrinking the domestic budget. (Page A1.)

Yes, they got shots. But no, the Rangers didn't win. As implored by their coach, Craig Patrick, the Rangers tonight opened up their offense, outshooting their opponent for the first time in 12 games. But the Canucks made the most of their shots, collecting goals from Patrik Sundstrom and Peter McNab and two from Tony Tanti on their way to a 4-1 victory over the Rangers at Pacific Coliseum.

Mark O'Meara sank three consecutive putts late in the final round, saving par at the 17th from a plugged lie in wet sand to preserve a one-stroke lead and win the 44th Bing Crosby National Pro-Am tournament today. Yet he could not reach for the $90,000 first prize immediately after he holed out on Pebble Beach's 18th for 1-over-par 73 and a 5-under-par total of 283. O'Meara still had to stand aside, hold his breath and watch as Curtis Strange putted from 12 feet with a chance to tie. But Strange's birdie putt slid by the high side, so he had to settle for a second-place tie with Kikuo Arai of Japan and Larry Rinker at 284.

President Daniel Ortega Saavedra said today that the Reagan Administration was turning its back on a political settlement in Nicaragua and was considering ''a military solution'' to overthrow his leftist Government. He said signs of what he called a toughening line in Washington were the expansion of United States-Honduran military maneuvers just across the border and the Administration's halting of talks with Nicaragua in Mexico. He also noted the American withdrawal from a case before the International Court of Justice at The Hague, which was hearing a Nicaraguan complaint of aggression. ''All of these point to the fact that the Administration has not decided in favor of a political solution and has not discarded a military solution,'' Mr. Ortega said in an interview. He said the Sandinista Government was ''still obliged to think that the danger of an invasion is present'' and that his nation would keep up its guard.

President Reagan will send a $973.7 billion budget to Congress on Monday that proposes to sustain a buildup of the military while shrinking the domestic budget, mostly by curtailing programs that benefit the middle class. In its effort to reduce nonmilitary spending, the budget for the fiscal year 1986 is the most ambitious Mr. Reagan has proposed. More than 25 programs would be eliminated, many of which the Administration calls subsidies for businesses or for middle- or upper-income families. The President, in his Budget Message to Congress, pointedly positions himself as an adversary of ''all the special interests'' that clamor for a share of ''the public Treasury.'' More importantly, Mr. Reagan's list of $38.8 billion in nonmilitary spending cuts is a clear definition of the politically unpalatable choices Congress will have to make to reduce future deficits.

As President Reagan sets out his budget and political agenda, Republican leaders are, for the fifth time in three decades, talking hopefully of a political realignment that would clearly make theirs the nation's majority party. Once under Dwight D. Eisenhower, twice under Richard M. Nixon, and in 1980 after Mr. Reagan's victory, Republican leaders dreamed of such a realignment, only to see their dreams dashed by economic recessions and the Watergate affair. Now, riding the Reagan landslide and armed with opinion surveys showing Republicans nearly equal in numbers to Democrats for the first time in half a century, party leaders see the next two years as a time to break the historic pattern of heavy mid-term defeats and to cement long-term support among younger voters. ''We're on the threshold of a golden era in Republican politics,'' Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, the party's general chairman, asserted in an interview. ''We've got Ronald Reagan and the economy, plus a solid Sun Belt base while the traditional coalitions in the Northeast are crumbling.''

Following are highlights of the budget for fiscal year 1986 that President Reagan is to send to Congress Monday: Outlays. Projected to rise $14.6 billion in 1986, to $973.7 billion. Revenues.

''I beg you, with pain in my heart, and at the same time with firmness and hope, that you reflect on the roads you have taken. In the name of God, change roads!'' - Pope John Paul II, urging nonviolence in Peru's political struggle. (A1:3.)

EVANSVILLE, Ind. Hitting a baseball stirs Don Mattingly. Position your feet just so, position your hands, your shoulders, your hips, your head. Remember, feet, hands, shoulders, hips, head, and here comes the ball. You solve the problem, but it remains, for a ballplayer the ephemeral daydream of wintertime. If you let it go, you will lose the idea, you will lose something, and you will remember that you don't really know how to hit a baseball and you never did. ''Here's how I hit a baseball,'' said Don Mattingly. ''I lean far back. Try to imagine all my weight on one foot. And my back shoulder, my left shoulder, I want to keep it up but I don't want to think about it so I let it float so my swing will be nice and easy. And then when I see the ball I let it come to me. I don't want to break out of the position I've set up too soon. When I see it good and it's just in front of my right shoulder, I spring myself, but the swing has to be level and most of the time I'm thinking, just hit the ball up the middle. Usually, that's the whole idea.

Analysts are being pleasantly surprised by the economic recovery that began in Britain in 1982, gathered steam last year in Germany and now is taking hold in virtually every country from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. ''The recovery in Europe has been stronger than expected,'' said David Kingston, chief economist for PA Management Consultants and a specialist in business strategy for the London-based firm. The main reason, according to Mr. Kingston and many of his peers, is the strength of the dollar, which has spurred European exports to the United States. But modest increases in domestic consumer demand and more industrial investment than some analysts predicted are also factors. ''There's been a sharp increase in manufacturing investment,'' Mr. Kingston said. ''In some areas, such as advanced engineering materials like plastics, it is moving quite rapidly.''

Pope John Paul II issued a dramatic plea today to guerrilla fighters in this rugged Andean mountain province to lay down their arms and ''seek the roads of dialogue and not those of violence.'' Speaking in the heart of an area where guerrillas of the Shining Path movement have waged a war that has taken some 4,000 lives, the Pope declared, ''I beg you, with pain in my heart, and at the same time with firmness and hope, that you reflect on the roads you have taken.'' ''In the name of God, change roads!'' he shouted in his address to an airport crowd of about 15,000. ''You still have time. The many tears of innocent victims await your responses.''

Earnings statements for the fourth quarter and all of last year show mixed results among the nation's 15- largest banking companies. Analysts expect this trend to continue, they said, because deregulation is rapidly changing the financial environment. Some of the largest banking concerns, particularly J.P. Morgan & Company, announced spectacular results, while others such as the Continental Illinois Corporation and the Crocker National Corporation reported huge losses. And there was even broad diversity in the statements from banking companies with earnings that fell somewhere between these two extremes. Some reported strong results mainly because of profitable bond-trading activity, while others did well because of a brisk consumer-lending business.