Batting Cage

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.

Los Angeles right-hander Orel Hershiser threw batting practice yesterday for the first time since reporting to camp and experienced no pain.Hershiser, on the mend from reconstructive shoulder surgery, threw 52 pitches to Mike Scioscia, Gary Carter and Alfredo Griffin in a 10-minute session."

VENICE, Fla. -- Jack Voigt pulled a blue piece of scrap carpet out of his trunk."Got a new backdrop today," he said.Voigt walked to the batting cage at Wellfield Park, where he played Babe Ruth and high school baseball.Two minor-leaguers, Todd Brown and Jim Felch, were already working out."Gas today, Jack," Brown said as he fed balls into the pitching machine. "Going about 92 [mph].""We'll have to take that down a little bit then," Voigt replied.It's not that Voigt was trying to avoid the heat.

ATLANTA -- There are two important things to know about Terry Pendleton.One is that the Atlanta Braves third baseman is always talking to someone. Pitchers, infielders, outfielders, coaches and managers alike are constantly getting the benefit of Pendleton's wise counsel.The other important thing to know about Pendleton, as he prepares to lead the Braves into their second straight World Series tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays, is that he truly is a leader.And most of the time, those two important things are interrelated.

Early yesterday afternoon, they stood in the lower box seats, looking up, surveying this latest addition to the new ballpark.The welcoming party included all the stadium planning luminaries: from the Maryland Stadium Authority, chairman Herbert J. Belgrad and executive director Bruce Hoffman; representing the Orioles, president Larry Lucchino and vice president Janet Marie Smith.The group had come together not to name the stadium or sign a ballpark lease. Yesterday's business was to inspect the new foul-ball net.The net finally was lifted to its guide wires yesterday, apparently ending a year of negotiation between the Orioles and the stadium authority concerning how high the net would be above the heads of fans sitting in the stadium's choicest box seats.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Manny Alexander stood next to the batting cage, watching Armando Benitez warm up."Oooooh, Benito," Alexander moaned in a singsong voice, bracing for what was to come.Ten minutes of hell.Batting practice with Armando."You're sitting there watching BP," advance scout Deacon Jones said, "and all of a sudden, you hear, 'pow!' "The players, coaches and reporters gathered around the cage heard it over and over again yesterday.First the whoosh.Then the pow.This was supposed to be batting practice, but Benitez's fastballs kept detonating in catcher Matt Nokes' glove.

COVESVILLE, Va. -- On a recent drizzly Saturday, players smacked baseballs in batting cages and spectators sat under colorful awnings, watching children play game after game of baseball on fields worthy of the pros. Here, in the jagged foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains southwest of Charlottesville, a 45-year-old multimillionaire novelist has built his field of dreams: a $3.8 million, seven diamond ballpark for kids. John Grisham, author of such best sellers as "The Firm" and "The Client," completed Cove Creek Park to accolades in 1996 and the park keeps growing.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Miguel Tejada arrived at Orioles camp yesterday, donned his orange and black uniform for the first time and made a bold proclamation: "This team is not a losing team anymore." With Tejada, it seems, few things are done without passion. Not even reporting to spring training. Coming off six consecutive losing seasons, the Orioles will hold their first full-squad workout today, and Tejada wanted to get a jump on the proceedings after signing a six-year, $72 million contract in December.

PHILADELPHIA -- Len Dykstra finally got his wish yesterday. He was allowed to swing a bat for the first time since he totaled his Mercedes on May 6.Philadelphia Phillies team physician Phillip Marone flashed the green light after examining the latest X-rays of Dykstra's broken collarbone. As Marone put it, "There is further healing going on, progressive healing."With Marone's blessing, Dykstra quickly headed for Veterans Stadium's indoor batting cage. He later said he took "30, 40 swings;" hitting coach Denis Menke put the number at "20, 25."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Until recently, Brian Roberts' comeback played out almost entirely outside the public eye, away from the curious gaze of many of his teammates and the critical glare of reporters, looking for proof that the Orioles second baseman is ready to play in a baseball game again. At first, he took batting practice on a back field at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, where no fans are allowed and where planes taking off nearby drown out any sounds associated with baseball. He has followed hitting coach Terry Crowley, both of them ducking into the batting cage adjacent to the main field, a thick netting obscuring the diminutive All-Star swinging at soft-toss pitches inside.