Batting Cage

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-- --The seven-letter word keeps resurfacing in the life and baseball times of Aubrey Huff. Without. Huff, the Orioles' new middle-of-the-lineup slugger, graduated from a Texas high school without being drafted and without getting any serious looks from Division I colleges. In his first seven seasons in the majors, Huff hit 141 homers without fanfare because he played primarily in the obscurity of Tampa Bay, a place without baseball tradition, without a consistent fan base.

Working for recovery through self-relianceWhen Marguerite Nichols and Paula Rangel aren't in class learning psychology or public speaking, they're busy keeping people off alcohol and drugs. Together they run a self-help group in Baltimore called Rational Recovery (RR)."Sometimes people come to the meeting with a lot of anger, or a great sense of worthlessness," Ms. Rangel says. "What we try to do is give them the tools they need to deal with those emotions. They learn how to reason with the inner voice that's telling them to have a drink."

Sherman ObandoWhat he would be doing if there were no strike: Obando, who turned 25 last month, would be preparing for his second season with the Orioles after tearing up Triple-A pitching at Rochester last season (.330, 20 home runs, 69 RBIs). The Rule V draftee is one of the leading candidates to be the team's starting right fielder. Obando may platoon at that position with Jeffrey Hammonds or at the designated hitter's spot with Harold Baines.Where he is instead: Obando permanently moved from Maryland to a new home in Orlando, Fla.How he's filling his time: Obando is working his way back into shape after suffering a season-ending hairline fracture of his right shin last August and undergoing off-season knee surgery.

The Prince of the Air was the King of Swing for a day.Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan had a couple of air balls. He had six fouls, no slams and only a few drives.But the drives were hits of more than 300 feet as Jordan earned $3,600 with his bat and a $5,000 bonus -- all of which goes to charity -- for winning the Celebrity Home Run Challenge yesterday at Camden Yards.Jordan was no Babe Ruth, but he was no Casey at his last at-bat, either."Wins. He always wins at everything," joked New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing, who along with Jordan, actors Jim Belushi, Tom Selleck and Bill Murray, Olympic sprint star Florence Griffith Joyner and former NFL wide receiver and NBC broadcaster Ahmad Rashad made up the celebrity field.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Michael Jordan's first outdoor baseball exhibition met with decidedly mixed reviews here yesterday at the spring home of the Chicago White Sox.The good news for the former NBA great was that he made contact on each of the 97 swings he took during three turns in the batting cage. The bad news was that Jordan not only didn't hit any balls over the fence, but he also was unable to reach the warning track.Against comparable pitching, Jordan's performance was not unlike the one he put on in a celebrity home run-hitting contest during All-Star festivities at Oriole Park last summer.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- He steps into the batting cage at noon beneath a sunny sky, and the outline of what lies ahead for Eric Davis begins to form."

SEATTLE -- After taking ground balls for 20 minutes and then proceeding to the batting cage to work on his swing, injured Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada walked through the visiting clubhouse at Safeco Field and said to nobody in particular, "I've never felt so happy in my life." A night after taking his first swings since going on the disabled list June 22 with a fracture in his left wrist, Tejada did more extensive work and pronounced himself pain-free and a little more than a week away from his return to the lineup.

That Peter Angelos doesn't know a humpback liner from a delayed steal is no reflection on his lack of baseball knowledge. In this connection, it can be a prerequisite for making him the best franchise owner the Baltimore Orioles ever had. But, in truth, he doesn't have much to beat.Baltimore has, indeed, had its share of stiffs. It's amazing, in some ways, that the franchise is still standing.One previous owner, or rather the advertising whiz kids he employed, wanted to alter the dimensions of the field by enlarging the distance between first and third base.

Outside, the seats were empty, with Opening Day still three months away. A snow blanket, getting thicker by the moment, covered the field at Memorial Stadium.But, under the right-field stands, Baltimore Orioles coach Elrod Hendricks was directing the first of thrice-weekly workouts that serve as a tuneup for spring training.Until the middle of February, the Orioles who live in the area will throw from indoor mounds and hit against a pitching machine in indoor cages."I was hoping for a good day so they [pitchers]

With less than a month to go before the opening ceremony, lots of folks are tweaking their performances and putting on their Games faces. Like, for example, Leilani Okuda. She's working out in the batting cage. Checking her form in a full-length mirror. Practicing martial arts and Zen meditation. And hoping to stay anonymous once she reaches Athens. Okuda, a Honolulu native, is one of 12 softball umpires - six men and six women - who will officiate the 32 games from Aug. 14-23. "If you do the job right, no one remembers your name," she says.