In spite of David Strathairn's prolific, ever-growing body of work, this tall, dark, lean, often brooding actor may always find himself identified with his friend and college-mate John Sayles, who has repeatedly given him the opportunity to create compelling characters "from a different flight of stairs." He has turned in arguably his finest performances in supporting roles for Sayles, most notably the morally flawed baseball pitcher Eddie Cicotte in "Eight Men Out" (1988) and Asteroid, the off-kilter street wretch from "City of Hope" (1991). Not to be outdone, however, actor-director George