Baseball

Hereford's baseball team blasted its way into the regular season with an 8-0 start and climbed as high as No. 11 in our poll before slipping to 11-5 and into the others considered list. The fall began when their senior leadoff hitter and center fielder Josh Ketera suffered a hamstring injury and junior starting pitcher Eli Ginsburg developed a sore right elbow. Ketera was batting near .500 at the time and clearing the sky of fly balls, while Ginsburg had a 4-0 record with a 2.65 ERA. When those two went out, Hereford lost five of its next eight games.

The John Carroll Patriots managed just six hits and didn't score any runs Tuesday in their MIAA "A" Conference baseball opener, losing 9-0 to host Calvert Hall. John Carroll starter Nick Flayhart lasted four innings, allowing two earned runs, striking out two hitters and surrendering a pair of walks.

Right-hander Josh Shere (1-0) limited No. 8 Bel Air's baseball team to one run in the third inning and hit a three-run home run in the sixth as host Franklin earned a 9-1 upset against the Bobcats (1-1) on Saturday. Shere went five innings, gave up one run on six hits and walked one. The Harford County team scored its lone run on a single in the third inning. No. 12 Loyola 8, Patapsco 2: Matt Hnatiuk went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple to lead the visiting Dons (4-4)

Check out this banner of Orioles manager Buck Showalter that allegedly will be hung at Camden Yards sometime between now and Opening Day. Well, Baltimore, are you ready?

Yesterday's scores San Francisco 8, Atlanta 5 (San Fran. leads series 1-0) Oakland 9, Minnesota 1 (Series tied 1-1) Anaheim 8, New York 6 (Series tied 1-1) Today's games St. Louis at Arizona, 4:06 p.m., ABC Family San Francisco at Atlanta, 8:17 p.m., chs. 45, 5 On SunSpot:For more baseball playoff coverage, including late results, visit sunspot.net/baseball

The Sun's Scott Dance recently reported on the salvaging of baseball fields at the shuttered Cardinal Gibbons school ("$1.4 million raised for baseball field at site of Cardinal Gibbons School," April 20). He reported money was raised by the Cal Ripken Foundation and other donors. Last week, State Comptroller Peter Franchot asked for the resignation of Towson University President Maravane Loeshke for the school's failure to manage their budget allowing for the insolvency of their sport's teams including baseball.

Bradenton, Florida. -- Andy Van Slyke, baseball's best centerfielder, has just played six innings of the Pittsburgh Pirates' first spring training game, and has run wind sprints along the outfield fence as the game meandered to the ninth inning, and now, in the clubhouse, he has an ice pack lashed to his aching back and another taped to his throbbing knee, and he is doing push-ups, fast. But they do not slow the flow of his State of the Game address.His three degenerative spinal discs have been partly produced by playing on the plastic-covered concrete of Pittsburgh's hideous Three Rivers Stadium, which he considers one of the architectural contributions to the alienation of fans.

WHERE HAVE YOU gone, Joe DiMaggio? Though disturbing, the new "so-what" spin from Barry Bonds in the wake of shocking steroid revelations by Jose Canseco and others is really a big-league red herring. The real baseball problem is not steroids or even gambling, Sammy Sosa cork or hollowed bats - it's a hollow heart. With its spitballs, stolen signs, brush-backs and even mystical curses, baseball was always the unruly child of team sports, much more Huck Finn than Billy Sunday yet still as American as Mark Twain, Damon Runyon and Yogi Berra.

Mr. Baseball is on-call to answer questions from readers on all baseball-related topics. Be it a thought about the Orioles lineup or an inquiry into purchasing a stadium tarpaulin for home use, Mr. Baseball has the answers.Write Mr. Baseball with your questions. His address: Mr. Baseball, c/o Sun Sports Department, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278-0001. Or fax him at (410) 783-2518.If you have a question for Mr. Baseball, call Sundial, The Baltimore Sun's telephone information service, at (410)