Big Daddy

Sid FernandezBorn in Hawaii and still resides there in the off-season. Is of Portuguese descent. . . . Wears No. 50, as in 50th state. . . . On the quiet side but does flash a sense of humor at times. Showed that side in spring training when he signed some autographs "Don Ho." . . . Enjoys scuba diving and used to be a surfer. Gave up the latter hobby after a close call with a wave. . . . Had nickname "El Sid" during years with Mets.Rafael PalmeiroGrew up near Miami Stadium and watched Orioles spring training workouts.

NEW ORLEANS -- Bobby Moore, a French Quarter voodoo priest who reads tarot cards on Dumaine Street, is tired. The spirits have really taken it out of him lately.He says he's going to Jamaica to get some rest. His body will stay in New Orleans, he says with a smile, but his spirit is heading south.But before he goes, he agrees to read the cards regarding a matter of civic importance: the controversial plan, approved by the state Legislature, to build a giant gambling casino near the Quarter.

LA TANIA, France -- The U.S. hockey team did not bang a single body yesterday. Instead, while the players and coaching staff waited for the Unified Team to torment Finland at the Olympic ice rink, the Americans took a unified walk through the snow-capped Alps.They inhaled the breeze and were one with the mountain. The touchy-feely guide was coach Dave Peterson, Big Daddy himself."That's been what Clark Donatelli has called me for a while," Peterson said. "Behind my back the players probably call me something a lot worse.

Degenerate characters congregate for a domineering patriarch's 65th birthday in Tennessee Williams' searing tale of greed, deception and loneliness, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."The Harbour Theatre, in association with the Catonsville East Recreation Council, is staging a gripping production of the play at its new location in the Catonsville Skills Center on Bloomsbury Avenue through Sunday.Considered by many as Williams' best play, the work paints a grim picture of the South the playwright knew so well.

Just about the healthiest looking patient in all of St. Joseph's Hospital is in Room 407. Certainly the strongest. Art Donovan may look like an animated bowl of jello when it comes to muscle definition, but he has the strength to knock down a building.Donovan, the first Baltimore Colt to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame, whimsical star of stage, screen, radio and television, had a spell of dizziness that caused his wife, Dorothy, to summon an ambulance. St. Joseph's Hospital will never be the same.

Back in 1989, when John Cougar Mellencamp released "Big Daddy," he announced that he wouldn't tour behind the album or engage in the usual range of rock industry promotions. In fact, he called "Big Daddy" his farewell to rock and roll; once that album ran its course, Mellencamp claimed, he would forsake making music and spend his time painting.Promises, promises.As it turns out, the only thing he really gave up was his "Cougar" nickname, as his new album, "Whenever We Wanted" (Mercury 314 510 151)

IT WAS our first TV war, and it held the global village in thrall, despite the fact the censors let us see little of it except personable generals in starched fatigues and gun-camera shots of smart-bomb bulls-eyes.In the U.S., it was the most riveting living-room drama since the assassination of President Kennedy. Not surprisingly, given the immediacy and intensity of the medium, it produced wide mood swings and climaxed in a tidal wave of elation.In keeping with TV's instantaneous timetable, it provided us overnight heroes, ranging from the shrewd but compassionate field commander, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, to the salty Pentagon briefer, Lt. Gen. Tom Kelly.