What was going on when I was born?

White Plains has surely set the commercial-development pace for the rest of Westchester County, but some observers think the city's stark new office buildings have brought a coldness to its central business district. In an effort to break that pattern, the designer of the first building of a two-building office complex has given it such features as a Gothic- styled roofline, a ground-level colonade and facade setbacks that create balconies.

The Yankees were pleased that Mike Pagliarulo returned to their lineup yesterday, but the Cleveland Indians were not happy at all with the absence of Julio Franco from theirs. Pagliarulo, who had not played since April 11 because of an ailing right side and a series of left-handed starting pitchers, rapped the first pitch to him in the game for a three- run double that powered the Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the Indians. There were no pitches to Franco, because he was not at Yankee Stadium. The Indians were not pleased about that, because Franco was leading the American League in batting average, .516, and on-base percentage, .564, and was fourth in slugging percentage, .742.

DUST TRACKS ON A ROAD An Autobiography. By Zora Neale Hurston. Edited and introduced by Robert Hemenway. 348 pp. Urbana: University of Illinois. Cloth, $22.95. Paper, $8.95. MOSES Man of the Mountain. By Zora Neale Hurston. Introduced by Blyden Jackson. 351 pp. Urbana: University of Illinois. Paper, $6.95.

DESPITE a period of economic expansion for Suffolk County, a tax protest by the Long Island Lighting Company and looming reductions in Federal revenues have brought a mood of austerity to county government. Faced with Lilco's continued withholding of $81 million in taxes owed on the Shoreham nuclear power plant, and a possible loss of up to $25 million in Federal funds next year, County Executive Peter F. Cohalan has called upon county department heads to make contingency plans for budget reductions of up to 20 percent for 1986. Mr. Cohalan and the department heads say that reductions of that size, if they are enacted next fall, might mean layoffs among the county's 11,400 employees and service reductions more befitting the economically troubled days of the mid-1970's, when the financial crisis over the Southwest Sewer District project threatened to bankrupt the county. The alternative to the current situation, according to Deputy County Executive Howard C. DeMartini, is increasing county taxes to tide Suffolk over during a tight period that most officials think will be temporary. But the expectation is that the 18 members of the County Legislature, most of whom are expected to run for re-election in November, will join in the call for austerity rather than seek higher taxes.

A sprawling 33-year-old complex in Flushing, Queens, that had grown seedy in recent years is being revived and will be converted to cooperative ownership. The complex, the former Campus Hall Apartments, is next to Queens College between Main Street and Kissena Boulevard.

The Army's officers, in a remarkably candid self-evaluation, have expressed severe criticism of themselves, the Army and its senior leaders. In a confidential Army survey of its officer corps, taken last fall and analyzed over the winter, half the officers who answered a long questionnaire agreed that ''the bold, original, creative officer cannot survive in today's Army.'' A report compiled from the survey said an even larger portion of the officers, 68 percent, agreed that ''the officer corps is focused on personal gain rather than selflessness'' - a virtue that military leaders cite as essential to good leadership. 'Not Enough Like Warriors' In addition, nearly half the generals, who were questioned in a separate survey but whose answers were incorporated into the report, concluded that ''senior Army leaders behave too much like corporate executives and not enough like warriors.''

Faced with the prospect of runaway corporate development that could transform this tranquil university town into the center of a new megalopolis, officials here are waging a fierce legal battle to slow the boom. The construction lies mainly in the Princeton Corridor, a 26-mile stretch along Route 1 from New Brunswick to Trenton. Companies and developers were attracted initially to a 1,600-acre ''corporate campus'' set aside 10 years ago by Princeton University. But now they are also peppering the landscape of nearby towns with large new office buildings and research laboratories. Except for Manhattan, more office space is planned here than anywhere else between Boston and Washington.

LAST September, when the going rate for a conventional mortgage was hovering at just over 14 percent, American Mortgage Banking, a mortgage banker in Carle Place, L.I., took a gamble. Believing that the rate would stay above 14 percent and continue edging higher, the company paid a fee of more than $150,000 to line up a mortgage commitment from an institutional investor. The investor agreed to finance $10 million for home mortgages that American would originate at a rate of 13 3/4 percent - a competitive rate that would become a bargain rate for borrowers if the market continued to rise. The company's profits would come from mortgage-origination fees paid by borrowers. But instead, interest rates tumbled to 13 1/2 percent by early October and to 12 1/2 percent by January. American got stuck with an overpriced 13 3/4 percent mortgage that nobody wanted.

In 1979, the barrier against multifamily housing in the Town of New Castle in Westchester County fell after a six-year legal struggle that resulted in a revision of the town's exclusive zoning laws. But for five more years, no development occurred on the 56-acre parcel that had been in contention during the zoning controversy.

IN the waning days of spring training in uf1090 1982, during pregame batting practice in the Atlanta camp, Rick Mahler swung at the last pitch Phil Niekro was scheduled to throw and lashed a line drive back at the mound. The ball struck Niekro in the right side, injuring his ribs and sending him onto the disabled list for the first time in his 18-year major league career. ''That may be the reason they had the 13- game winning streak, considering my record in April,'' Niekro recalled one day last week. ''Not only that, but Mahler took my spot and pitched two shutouts in a row.'' Niekro, who in the previous five seasons had compiled a 1-13 record in 19 starts before April 25, may indeed have been the key - or at least one of the keys - to the streak that catapulted the Braves into the record book. Only the year before, the Oakland A's had dashed off 11 consecutive victories at the start of the season, shattering the record of 10 straight that had stood since the Brooklyn Dodgers established it in 1955.

LAST month, the Town of Southampton joined most of the other towns on Long Island that have sought help from the state in obtaining insurance against lawsuits over damage caused by pollution. The Town Board passed a resolution requesting that New York State provide this type of insurance or that the insurance company that covers the town's other insurance needs be required to offer a pollution policy. The insurance, known as an environmental impairment policy, works this way: If, for example, it should be determined that a town's landfill caused ground-water contamination, affected residents could choose to sue the town. Though an insurance company would normally put a cap on the amount of money it is willing to pay, an effective impairment policy would cover a substantial portion, if not all, of a town's liability. Without this coverage, a town would have to pay damages out of its own treasury. At present there is no law limiting the amount of damages that can be awarded to a successful plaintiff.

The Mets did not want to grumble about the bad call or the stiff wind. Those things were out of their hands. But they could not dismiss them, either. A team that had benefited from breaks, as well as effective pitching and defense, through the season's first nine games got none of them today.