Batting Cage

The parents of a 4-year-old girl have filed suit against an Ellicott City man who owned a batting cage where the child was injured when she was struck in the face with a baseball bat.Claudia and Richard Holman of Abingdon claim that the previous owner of A&C Grand Slam Inc. in Woodlawn was negligent in permitting baseball bats to be swung outside of the batting cages.The couple's daughter, Kathleen Holman, received "serious, painful and permanent injuries" when she was hit by a bat swung by a teen-age boy on March 8, 1991, the suit says.

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.

When David Segui has a bad game, he doesn't take it home with him, he takes it to his office.In this case, that office can be found in the privacy of the Orioles' batting cage under the stands at Camden Yards.And there, Segui will hit, and hit, and hit some more, until he is satisfied he has solved his problem.It is the price Segui, 25, happily pays for his role with the Orioles. He is, after all, a role player -- part-time first baseman, part-time outfielder and full-time worker.It is not unusual, Segui says, for him to be working on his swing in the batting cage as late as 1 o'clock in the morning.

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.

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."

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]

It wasn't the ball that seemed so frightening as it came flying toward the plate. The prospect of swinging at the ball and missing it was what scared me.I don't know how fast the ball was propelled, only that it wasn't as fast as I would like it to be in the retelling. I can say this: I didn't swing and miss. I watched. I watched the ball all the way until it slammed into the back of the batting cage. This is what as known as not being able to pull the trigger. What I'm trying to say is, if it had been me firing at Archduke Ferdinand, no World War I.I waited for the next ball.