Dear Mr. Baseball:Please furnish information on Sammy...

Dear Mr. Baseball:

Please furnish information on Sammy Snider, the bullpen catcher for the Orioles. Obviously, he must have a relative or a friend in the organization to have kept this job, as he is seemingly an unknown!

Owen Connolly

Baltimore

Dear Owen Connolly:

Thanks for your letter and your intriguing theory about the career of Sammy Snider. After receiving your note, Mr. Baseball embarked on a thorough check of Sam's family tree to determine whether he is related to Orioles owner Peter Angelos. The answer is no, though both are said to have excellent singing voices.

Actually, Sammy has been with the Orioles much longer than Angelos. After a successful baseball career at St. Leo College in Florida, he joined the team as part-time batting practice pitcher in 1980. Sammy was particularly helpful because he is a lefty, and the Orioles were in short supply of lefty BP pitchers.

Since 1987, Sammy has been with the team full time as bullpen catcher, a job in which he is responsible for warming up pitchers before and during games. Many teams employ coaches such as Sam, hoping to avoid injuries to their backup catcher.

By the way, Sammy comes from Chambersburg, Pa., and is not to be toyed with. In the off-season, he is a deputy sheriff.

Dear Mr. Baseball:

A recent trivia contest at Camden Yards asked fans whether they could name the 29 different players who have played second base for the Orioles since Cal Ripken started his consecutive-games streak. The answer was not offered. Can you name them?

Tim Armstrong

Cockeysville

Dear Tim Armstrong:

A conversation with Jenny Scott of the Orioles' public relations -- staff quickly produced the answer to your question. Space doesn't permit your columnist to run all the names, but, in order of appearance, here are a few:

Rich Dauer, Bob Bonner, Lenn Sakata, John Lowenstein, Todd Cruz, Vic Rodriguez, John Shelby, Alan Wiggins, Kelly Paris and Juan Bonilla.

Send Mr. Baseball your address, and you will receive the unabridged list, plus, if you order this week, the amazing "cap snaffler."