Boog

Suddenly, on March 13, 2003, CATHERINE "CASS"; loving wife of the late John H. Boog; beloved daughter of the late Leo and A. Louise Novak; dear sister of Helen, Charles J. Sr., David L., and Leo Novak Jr.; dear aunt of Terry Whalen, Charles J. Jr., Anthony and Michael L. Novak. The family will receive friends in the LEMMON FUNERAL HOME OF DULANEY VALLEY, INC., 10 West Padonia Road (at York Road), Timonium-Cockeysville, on Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Memorial Service will be held in the funeral home, on Monday, March 17 at 11 A.M. Interment Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

Forty-six years later, the photograph still gives people goose bumps. There's Dave McNally, Baltimore's "other" No. 19, the triumphant pitcher whose grin is as wide as his native Montana. And Andy Etchebarren, the catcher who's poised to embrace him, mask still on and mitt in hand. And there, on the left, is a jubilant Brooks Robinson, or at least a chunk of him: the Orioles' third baseman is airborne and looks as if he parachuted into Memorial Stadium. Why? The Birds had just swept the 1966 World Series in four straight games.

THERE ARE A PECK of peppers in Boog Powell's back yard. There are more than 30 pots of pepper plants, each serviced by an automatic drip watering system.In Boog's refrigerator there are jars and jars of pepper sauces. The jars have handwritten labels that give a brief description and the vintage of the contents. "Chocolate Thunder 9/19/91" reads one label. "Trinidad Coffee, '98," reads another. "Cayenne 8/26/98" reads a third. Some guys have a wine cellar, Boog has a pepper-sauce cellar.A visitor to Boog's kitchen is likely to leave with not one, not two, but half a dozen jars and bottles of his pepper products.

He's a legendary Baltimore Oriole, has starred in Miller Lite beer commercials, and in recent years, has become a barbecue king. Yet to fans in Baltimore and beyond, John Wesley Powell Sr., is simply "Boog" — friendly and down-to-earth, despite all his fame. The Florida native grew up playing baseball in his hometown of Lakeland, Fla.; he was 12 when his local team earned a spot in the Little League World Series. Beginning in the early 1960s, the 6-foot-5 first baseman would go on to play 14 seasons with the Orioles.

All was in readiness for the grand celebration. Famil members and friends had been alerted to keep the date open on their social calendars. A formal invitation would be forthcoming. John "Boog" Powell had promised to make us rich. It wasn't something born of a dream since there were countless witnesses throughout Maryland to what he was saying.The only requirement was an investment in the Maryland Lottery, an intriguing game with an imaginative new twist called El Gordo. Powell made it sound automatic.

The haze of smoke, rising behind the right-centerfield fence at Camden Yards, is visible from one end of the Eutaw Street promenade to the other. The smell of barbecue, sweet and savory, is as enticing to the senses as the sounds emanating from inside the brand-new ballpark.Together, the smoke and the smell draw several hundred customers each game -- day or night, rain or shine, Blue Jays or Royals -- to stand in line at a place called Boog's Corner.Boog Powell, television commercial legend and good-old boy, former Oriole and All-Star and current mesquite magician, has been standing at the same spot for nearly 90 minutes.

Rafael Palmeiro hit a home run in Saturday's game at Oriole Park and caused all kinds of mayhem. The ball went into the right field flag court, and the crowd went nuts trying to get it. Dave Walcher, who was there, says a woman sitting on the flag court pavement, eating one of Boog's great beefy sandwiches, got smashed. So did her sandwich. But get this: One of Boog's employees replaced the sandwich. For nothing. Which is nice. But what I want to know is: Does Boog know about this?Happily unmarriedAbout a year ago, her daughter's friend stared at PeggyMassey and said: "I'm having a vision.

When it comes to sports, none celebrates its past as voluminously as baseball does, although golf gives it a pretty good run.What this tells us is, there's either not enough going on in the present or what went on in the pluperfect was indeed fulfilling and well worth remembering.Which somehow brings us to the subject of today's essay.Think how sentimental, not to mention how crowded, it could get around here on summer weekends if the old fifth-anniversary rule was adhered to. Remember, the O's made World Series appearances in 1966, 1969-70-71, 1979 and 1983 while taking division titles in 1973-74.

In yesterday's editions, the number of sandwiches that Boog Powell's barbecue stand at Oriole Park sold per game was reported incorrectly. The correct number is 2,000.+ The Sun regrets the errors.Fact: Turns out Boog sold almost 1,000 sandwiches a game at the ballpark.Opinion: The Phillies should lower ticket prices based solely on the fact that they protected Juan Bell.Fact: The closest a home run came to hitting the warehouse was Mickey Tettleton's on April 20, missing by 26 feet.Opinion: Despite their injuries and losses, the Redskins will make the playoffs if they can stay ahead of the Giants.

Chris Boog, a football hero for North Carroll last fall, took his heroics to the mat last night.Boog, a junior and star running back and punter, clinched the No. 3 Panthers' emotional 31-24 wrestling victory over No. 5 Francis Scott Key before a standing-room-only crowd at North Carroll.Boog was getting pushed around the mat by Key's Dale Bloom in a crucial 189-pound bout when he suddenly turned on Bloom for a pin at 3:34 of the bout.The pin gave North Carroll six points and a 31-18 lead, wrapping up the victory with just the heavyweight bout left.

If you run into Walt Wagner, don't be surprised if he tells you right away, that his son — HIS SON!! — is one of two guys Major League Baseball is paying — PAYING!! — to hole up and watch every last inning of every last ball game. His boy, born in Baltimore and raised on the Orioles, beat out 10,000 people for the chance to "eat, sleep and live baseball" for the entire season — albeit behind glass in a Manhattan storefront. "I still get the shakes when I talk about it," gushes Wagner, a retired city cop. "That's my son. " Ryan Wagner, who's 25, is spending the next seven months with fellow winner Mike O'Hara, lazing on a sofa, sipping Budweisers and fixing his attention on what will turn out to be 2,430 games — a head-spinning number of pitches, countless fly balls, who knows how many stolen bases.

Monday was opening day at Camden Yards for Delaware North Companies Sportservice, the Orioles' new concessionaire. Buoyed by the home team's winning ways, fans who otherwise might have balked at a $7.50 Natty Boh draft or carped about the sluggish concession lines seemed willing to give the new food team a friendly welcome. The big hits of the day had hometown appeal. Lines were steady at the new Polock Johnny's stands, corrugated-metal shacks lining the outer loop of the upper and lower concourse.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I pulled up Deadspin.com and saw that the sports website's main image was a fan climbing the left-field foul pole at Camden Yards. Now that's something you don't see every day. Apparently, two Orioles fans emailed Deadspin claiming they somehow got locked inside Camden Yards during a rain-out and romped around the beautiful ballpark as if it was their personal playground. They climbed the foul pole, slid across the infield tarp like it was a Slip 'n Slide, made grilled cheese sandwiches at Boog's and drank themselves silly with stolen Bud Light.

Baltimore is getting its first beer week, and I say it's about time. This city has had beer bubbling in its veins for years. Tomorrow evening, Boog Powell, the former Oriole slugger who has become this town's friendly father figure, will crack open a cask in a ceremony aboard the USS Constellation, and 10 days of sudsy activities, everything from the massive Oktoberfest party at the Timonium Fairgrounds to neighborhood pub crawls, will follow. This town deserves it. Its neighborhoods, its culture, its sense of itself have been strongly influenced by beer.

Geppi's Entertainment Museum was packed with guests of all ages at the VIP Cool Kids Campaign party. In fact, "cool" was also a good word to describe the evening in general. First, there had been that cool ice skating show at the 1st Mariner Arena, "Kimmie's Angels On Ice," put together by Maryland's own Olympic skater, Kimmie Meissner, to benefit the organization that helps children with cancer and their families. "This was the first skate show my daughter has ever been to, and she loved it," said guest Lyn Boone.

When TV's popular naturalist and "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was fatally stung Monday by a stingray as he swam in the ocean of Queensland, Australia, it left many wondering just how common and dangerous these strangely beautiful creatures really are The Sun sought out Alan Henningsen, a research specialist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. With rays gliding around the big boog beside him, we asked questions that millions around the world have been asking all week. Find out what we learned on Page 6D

Donna Lyons and Floyd "Boog" Atwell Jr. are living proof that misery loves company. The couple met at an unhappy point in their lives and built a friendship that was initially based on their sad circumstances. Eventually, though, Donna and Boog discovered that the company of the right person can chase misery far away. It was summer 1999. Donna was heartbroken over the end of a serious relationship. She and her ex-boyfriend had parted badly, and Donna was uncomfortable frequenting the places they had once gone together.

It's 3 o'clock at the North Carroll football practice field, and coach Randy Clark calls his winless team together for a brief meeting.The Panthers, small in size numbers, gather around their coach, who is counting the healthy bodies on a Thursday afternoon.In a little more than 24 hours, Clark would send his team into another mismatch of talent and size, against the Frederick Cadets.It was the end of the eighth week of the season, and few really expected this to be different from the first seven weeks.

As soon as anything green shoots out of the soil, I get a craving for fresh asparagus. There are several seasonal reasons behind my annual attraction to asparagus, or "spare grass," as it is called by some residents of Maryland's Eastern Shore. One is that at this time of year, I am thrilled when any sign of life emerges from the cold, dead ground. It is too early for Maryland asparagus beds to rouse from their winter slumber. They won't start pushing spears skyward until May or June.

Jesse Orosco looks like he could pick up a baseball and start pitching again, so little has changed about his appearance since he retired, but he was content yesterday to relive the memories from his time with the Orioles. And they weren't in short supply. "I played five years here," said Orosco, who took part in pre-game ceremonies honoring fans' choices of their 50 all-time favorite Orioles, "and I loved every minute of it." Thirty of the players were available for the festivities, including Brooks Robinson, Mike Cuellar, Cal Ripken and Brady Anderson.