They call this town "The Telephone City" because it served as the birthplace of Alexander Graham Bell.

The 74,300 residents also point with pride to the fact that Wayne Gretzky, hockey superstar nonpareil, is one of their own.

Well, for much of the past two weeks, each time Bell's invention rang in the home of Gretzky's family, the receiver was picked up by former Northeast High and Temple University pitcher Andy Meltzer, 21, or former Archbishop Ryan High and Spring Garden College pitcher Mike Parisi, 23, both of whom are in Canada playing semipro baseball for a team run by Gretzky's father. Parisi's parents, Joe and Josephine, in town to visit their son, also made up part of the phone-answering brigade.

Meltzer and the Parisis found themselves house-sitting in the Gretzky family's comfortable yet hardly palatial home when Gretzky's parents, Walter and Phyllis, went to Edmonton for the elaborate wedding of Wayne and actress Janet Jones, and then to their summer cottage an hour's drive from Brantford.

Said Mike: "They (the Gretzkys) ordered them (his parents) to check out of the hotel and come here. "

The foursome slept in the Gretzkys' beds. Sat on their sofas. Ate their food. Watched their big-screen TV. Fed their cat. Tooled around town, and beyond, in two of their cars (among the 16 Wayne has been presented in his career). Admired the huge collection of trophies, plaques, sticks, pucks and jerseys - mostly Wayne's. And answered the confounded telephone.

Over and over.

"Since they're not here, things are quiet," Mike Parisi said last Wednesday, after the phone had rung for the second time in five minutes. ''When they're here, all that phone does - all day long - is ring. Non- stop. "

And the callers never cease to amaze.

"Before the wedding," Parisi said, "some lady wanted to know when the city was going to put up the balloons and streamers to celebrate Wayne's marriage.

"I said, 'I don't know, lady. I imagine they'll put some congratulations signs up. As far as balloons . . . I don't have any word on that. ' "

Another caller, Parisi said, took exception to Gretzky's soliciting donations for his annual celebrity charity tennis tournament.

"The guy wanted his money back," Parisi said. "He said, 'With all the money Gretzky's spending on his wedding, he doesn't need mine. '

"I told him that Wayne Gretzky's (personal) money has nothing to do with the tournament money. I told him it all goes to the blind. He said, 'I don't care. I want my money back. ' I told him to call back later in the week and talk to the Gretzkys.

"He said, 'Who am I talking to now? ' Then I just explained . . . like I've been doing with everybody."

*

The explanation everybody gets is that Mike Parisi and Andy Meltzer are summering in Canada because they were asked to. Because they are pitching for the Brantford Red Sox, a franchise in the 10-team, 70-year-old Inter-County Major Baseball League. And because Walter Gretzky, Wayne's father, is president of the Brantford Red Sox.

The league, divided into two divisions, encompasses southern Ontario. It is highly organized; the quality of play is surprisingly good, even though Canadian high schools do not offer baseball (forget the notion that hockey is all these people know), and the media provides consistent coverage.

Each team's roster may include up to three non-Canadians. Parisi, a righthander, and Meltzer, a lefthander, are in the league because they were recommended by Phillies scout Joe Reilly to Larry Christenson, the former Phillies pitcher. Christenson, it turns out, is a good friend of Wayne Gretzky.

Jim McKinstry, 21, a pitcher-outfielder from Jules Mastbaum Tech ('85), had been Brantford's third import, and he, too, spent time in the Gretzky household. But McKinstry returned to Philadelphia 2 1/2 weeks ago with his wife, Kim, after she suffered a death in her family.

Aside from continuing to chase their dream of turning pro, and playing baseball in a league in which the likes of Ferguson Jenkins, Jesse Orosco, Geoff Zahn, Chris Speier and Denny McLain have performed, Parisi and Meltzer are becoming quite chummy with the Gretzkys.

Imagine . . . Two young guys from Philly, immersing themselves in the family of an athlete who might, might, be the greatest performer in the history of team sports.

"I'm not just saying this because I'm here now," said Meltzer, who is 5-2 with a 3.81 earned run average and 54 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings, "but Wayne Gretzky has always been my favorite professional athlete.

"I had heard so much about him being a gentleman, how he could communicate with people, how he would go out of his way to sign autographs. Then I get up here and find out from people that he's everything I heard, and more. He's the classiest pro athlete I've ever found out about. And his family. Wow, what nice people. "

So far, Parisi and Meltzer have gotten to spend only five minutes with Wayne Gretzky, little more than enough time to snap pictures and shake hands.

But they have talked, sometimes at length, with his parents and brothers (Keith, Brent and Glenn) and sister (Kim). And they have seen how expertly, how unaffectedly, the family handles celebrity status.

"Nothing is too much for them," said Parisi, who is 1-1 with a save, a 2.64 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings. "One day, we were down here (finished basement, where most of Wayne's awards are kept) and these people came down with (Walter and Phyllis Gretzky). They looked at everything, took pictures, then left.

"I asked Walter - that's what he said we should call him - if the people were friends. He said he didn't know them, that they had just come to the door and asked if they could see Wayne's awards. "

"That happens all the time," Meltzer added. "It's unbelievable what these people put up with. People, strangers, are continually in and out of here. "

To look around the Gretzkys' L-shaped basement is to know that your jaw is hanging open.

On one wall of the main room is a 10-by-4-foot bulletin board. Every inch of it is covered with emblems representing the various youth teams the Gretzky boys have played on. On the other walls are plaques, framed score sheets of momentous occasions and a painting by famed sports artist LeRoy Neiman. In a closet are 15 jerseys.

In the other room, one wall - maybe 20 feet by 8 feet - has been transformed into a trophy case, minus a glass front. Two-hundred trophies, minimum, are displayed therein, along with 50 medals, and another 50 to 75 trophies are perched nearby on the floor. There are bowls, statues, miniature Stanley Cups and, of course, good ol' garden-variety trophies.

There also are hockey sticks, one of which Gretzky used last fall, when Canada edged the Soviet Union, 6-5, in Game 2 of the Canada Cup final. In all, the house contains at least 200 sticks, and many of them have been autographed for future distribution to fans.

"Our first night in here," Meltzer said, "we were looking all around and I happened to pick up this stick. Wayne had written these details on it: Sept. 13, 1987; Canada 6, Soviets 5; 5 assists; stick used to assist Mario Lemieux on winning goal.

"I'm saying, 'I can't believe I'm holding this stick. ' So then we go into the other room and a commercial comes on. They're advertising a Canada Cup VCR tape and they show a clip of Wayne's assist to Lemieux.

"I start hollering, 'Hey, I was just holding that stick! ' I run back in, pick it up and start yelling at the TV. 'I got the stick from that game right here! In my hands! It's right here, buddy! What are you going to do about it? ' It was wild."

*

Before heading to Canada, where their hope was to throw well, draw further attention from pro scouts (both had generated interest in Philadelphia), then embark on a minor league career, Meltzer and Parisi had been pitching for Loma in the semipro Pen-Del League.

Meltzer, who must attend Temple for two more semesters to earn his degree, had not yet started a summer job. But before Parisi could leave, he needed to obtain a three-month leave of absence from his full-time job with a construction company.

With Brantford, the young men are being paid $125 a week (Canadian funds; about $147 in U.S. money). When they are not with the Gretzkys, they live - just about expense-free - in a house paid for by Red Sox officials.

"The only bill we have to cover," Parisi said, "is the telephone. "

Now, all is going well off the field for Meltzer and Parisi. Such was not the case at the start.

"For about the first two weeks, they had us staying in the YMCA," Meltzer said. "It was the worst experience of my life . . . All you felt was depressed. "

Not wanting to sound like ingrates, but nonetheless fast becoming fed up, the guys mentioned to team officials that they had to vacate the "Y."

"Walter asked why we hadn't mentioned something earlier," Parisi said. ''He said, 'If we had known you didn't like it, we would have taken you out right away. '

"From the 'Y,' we went to (Red Sox secretary-treasurer) John Mowat's house for about two weeks while they looked for a house to rent for us. Since they got the house - Jim and his wife were with us, too, until they went home - we've either been there or here (the Gretzkys'). It's been perfect. "

Meanwhile, as Meltzer and Parisi pitch well and enjoy themselves, Jim McKinstry is back in Philly, looking for work (he was laid off from his job as a forklift operator at a business forms company), trying to make mortgage payments on a newly purchased house and still adjusting to married life.

Jim and Kim were wedded May 28. Less than two weeks later, they were in Brantford, sleeping in the garage of a member of the Red Sox board who had offered to take them in.

"It was a garage that the guy had converted into an office," said McKinstry, who never got untracked with the Red Sox (0-2 record, 11.40 ERA, .238 average with 3 RBI). "We couldn't go from there straight into the house. If we wanted to use the bathroom (overnight), we had to go out the garage then use a key to get into the front door.

"After a few days, we went straight to the Gretzkys. Walter wasn't too happy with how we'd had to live.

"The Gretzkys were fabulous. They treated us like we were their own kids. They'd let us drive their cars. Every night, they cooked whatever we wanted. Sometimes they'd order pizza at 2 in the morning and stay up all night, just talking with us. Wayne and Janet were there one night for that. They were such down-to-earth people. All of them. "

Among Jim McKinstry's souvenirs of his Canada stay are snapshots, of course, and a baseball cleat autographed by Wayne Gretzky.

"We take it to the bar around the corner, show the people," McKinstry said. "They're impressed."

*

For semipro baseball, the conditions can't be much better than this.

The games are played in lighted, well-manicured ballparks, complete with clubhouses, fences (though the distances tend to be short), concrete seating areas, concession stands, press boxes and a public-address system. Three umpires are a staple, crowds routinely range from 200 to 300 and occasionally top 1,000. The team is bound for the postseason playoffs.

Brantford promotes the club well. The team enters a float in the city's annual Canada Day parade (July 1), and this year, Meltzer and McKinstry were on it.

"We were waving, throwing candy to people," Meltzer said. "People were calling out our names. You could tell there was some recognition. "

According to Terry Clark, the team's general manager, the Red Sox have not consistently dabbled in imports.

"We used to get kids from Pepperdine University," Clark said. "Then we got away from it for a while. A couple years ago, we had kids from Buffalo, but there were some (behavior) problems. These Philadelphia kids are great. We couldn't be happier with them. They're gentlemen and they're playing hard for us. It was a shame what happened with (McKinstry). I'm sure it was rough for him, getting married, then coming up here almost immediately.

"The way we all feel, this Philadelphia association is something we'd like to keep going. "

"I would recommend this experience, definitely," Meltzer said.

"If I couldn't come back myself," Parisi said, "I'd tell someone else, 'Go do it. You'll have a good time. ' "

There might even be some long-range fringe benefits.

"Walter said we can go see Edmonton when they come to the Spectrum next year," Meltzer said. "He said just call him and he'll make sure Wayne leaves us tickets. He said maybe we'll be able to go downstairs afterward and meet the players.

"I can see myself now. I'll be there, 'Hey, Wayne, remember us? We're the guys who played for your father's baseball team last summer . . . ' "