Calf

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Mike Fetters is in good health, but still hurt by the rumors.There were whispers last season that Fetters had an arm injury, that he was damaged goods and not worthy of a serious look in the free-agent market this winter. The Orioles didn't buy it.That's why Fetters is in camp as a nonroster player who believes he has something to prove to all of baseball.His first appearance yesterday didn't go exactly as he wanted, though it could have been worse. Two batters into his only inning, Fetters was putting out fires, escaping a second-and-third, no-out jam with only one run allowed.

Havre de Grace.--Anyone who's spent much time with livestock knows that emergencies occur more frequently on Sundays. This is a law of nature. So it was with some misgivings last Sunday morning that I went out to check the cows.I had a feeling that something was going to happen. This is calving season, the weather has been even harder on cows than on people, and the farm has had pretty good luck the past couple of years. Trouble was overdue.Actually, we've had some cow trouble already this season.

Havre de Grace. -- Sometime before dawn Wednesday, the red and white 2-year-old heifer I knew as 223 made a decision that would prove fatal.She had been carrying the big calf within her for more than nine months, and when the time came to deliver it she chose to lie down on a hillside next to a board fence. It was the wrong place. Somehow she managed to slide halfway under the bottom board and became wedged, unable to get up. By the time I found her and freed her, her calf was dead and she was in tough shape herself.

Havre de Grace. -- It must be cozy up there in the country when it snows a lot, say the city friends a little enviously. You probably just sit in front of the fire and read, without a care in the world. No sidewalks to shovel, and you park your car wherever you want.Well, sort of. Until last weekend, we'd almost forgotten what it was like, it had been so long since we were really and truly snowed in. So herewith a few hasty notes from the wintry rural paradise.Friday, Mar. 12, was sunny and smelled like spring.

To train for athletic competition, you have to exercise hard enough to make your muscles burn and hurt. But pain can also be a sign that you've injured yourself. In order to tell the difference, you must listen carefully to your body.All training for competition -- to become stronger and faster and improve endurance -- involves (1) stressing your muscles, (2) allowing enough time for them to recover and then (3) stressing them again. When you exercise vigorously, your muscles become damaged; they will feel sore anywhere from eight to 24 hours afterward.

The joy of two seemingly successful dolphin births last month at Baltimore's National Aquarium has given way to a sense of helplessness and worry over the survival chances of the youngest calf.Although the second calf, born eight days ago, is nursing from and swimming side by side with its mother, the aquarium's husbandry director said yesterday that it seems to be losing weight."Hailey, the mother, is doing well and she's being in many ways a good mother, allowing the calf to nurse," said Chris Andrews, the husbandry director and a specialist in aquatic diseases.

The joy of two seemingly successful dolphin births last month at Baltimore's National Aquarium has given way to a sense of helplessness and worry over the survival chances of the youngest calf.Although the second calf, born eight days ago, is nursing from and swimming side by side with its mother, the aquarium's husbandry director said yesterday that it seems to be losing weight."Hailey, the mother, is doing well and she's being in many ways a good mother, allowing the calf to nurse," said Chris Andrews, the husbandry director and a specialist in aquatic diseases.

Officials at the National Aquarium in Baltimore are breathing easier, now that a bottlenose dolphin calf born there last month seems to be getting stronger.The calf, born March 26, appears to be gaining weight again after returning to a more normal nursing pattern, senior mammalogist Nedra Hecker said yesterday.Last week, officials were concerned because the calf was losing weight and didn't appear to be getting the nourishment it needed."It was scary," Mrs. Hecker said."We're still concerned about the calf.

With a flip in the water and a thrust of her tail, a pregnant Atlantic bottlenose dolphin delivered the second calf of the species to be born in the National Aquarium's 120,000-gallon maternity pool.The dramatic delivery at 6:30 a.m. yesterday by the 13-year-old Hailey ended several months of nervous waiting by her mammalogist keepers, who believed the pregnancy was proving difficult. They found late last year that Hailey was having liver problems, and feared that the mother would not be able to survive the birth.

Excitement has turned to worry at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, where one of two pregnant dolphins has apparently developed complications that may threaten her unborn calf.The dolphin, named Hailey, is a "first-time mother, and she seems to be having an uncomfortable pregnancy," says marine mammal curator Doug Messinger. "It's got us very worried."On the bright side, the aquarium's second pregnant dolphin, Shiloh, seems to be doing fine as her early March due date draws closer. That animal has had a calf before.

A female dolphin calf that was born Sunday at the National Aquarium in Baltimore appears to be in "robust health," but her survival for the critical first year will depend on her mother, aquarium officials said yesterday. Chesapeake, a 16-year-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, gave birth at 7:13 a.m. to a 30-pound, 2- to 3-foot-long calf - her third since 1992. The mother will not appear in any shows for at least another year, a spokeswoman said. The birth comes about two weeks after the loss of a dolphin male calf, which was stillborn July 14. Aquarium officials are awaiting the results of a necropsy at the Johns Hopkins University's comparative pathology lab. "Since we put so much time and care into these animals, we're very excited with this calf's arrival," aquarium spokeswoman Jen Bloomer said.

One of the two pregnant dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore gave birth to a stillborn calf early last week, aquarium officials reported yesterday. Shiloh, a 29-year-old Atlantic bottlenose, was in labor for 40 minutes in the early-morning hours of July 14. About 3 a.m., she gave birth to a stillborn calf weighing almost 32 pounds. "It's always very hard to report things like this. When it's a baby, it breaks our heart," said Sue Hunter, director of marine mammal training. "Nobody wants to see it end this way."

We should all have something to be thankful for at dinnertime today. But a newborn bottlenose dolphin at the National Aquarium in Baltimore has more than most. The arrival of the male calf, born at the aquarium Sept. 9, has stimulated three unrelated females in his pool to produce milk. One of the three had never been pregnant. Evidently charmed by the playful new arrival, two of the grown females have taken over the nursing chores from his biological mother, and he has nearly doubled his 36-pound birthweight.

The New York Mets have been baseball's best team. They practically wrapped up the National League East before Memorial Day and they seemingly score 15 runs a game. A month ago, they were penciled in to the World Series. Well, get the erasers out. Because Pedro Martinez has a new daddy: his calves. Dominant pitching wins titles. And, when on his game, Martinez projects dominance. He's 6-2 in the postseason with a 3.40 ERA, and that includes hiccups against his old daddy, the New York Yankees.

Blast starting goalie Sagu pulled a calf muscle yesterday and is questionable for tomorrow night's Game 1 of the Major Indoor Soccer League championship series with the St. Louis Steamers. Sagu said he hurt himself while loosening up for practice. He stopped to get it looked at, and backup goalie Sanaldo spent the entire workout in goal. Sagu left practice on crutches and went to a doctor, who confirmed the muscle pull and put the goalie on anti-inflammatory medication. "I [heard] my calf pop a little bit in practice," Sagu said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- For the first time this spring, Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo acknowledged that it is becoming more and more possible that right-handed reliever Todd Williams will not be ready for the start of the season. Williams, who was perhaps the Orioles' top reliever last season aside from closer B.J. Ryan, hasn't pitched at all this spring after departing the Orioles' second workout with soreness in his throwing shoulder. His shoulder significantly improved, and he was expected to throw batting practice earlier this week, but he was shut down because of a sore right calf muscle.

So what can you say about a country whose national sport involves a bunch of tough guys on horseback, kicking, whipping and screaming as they fight over a decapitated calf carcass? You can probably safely say that this is not the most genteel neighborhood in the world. And that has certainly been proved true by generations of would-be conquerors who have found their way to this country. The game is buzkashi. The country is Afghanistan. In a recent match in the Afghan capital of Kabul, the sport's free-for-all roots were on clear display.

Marine specialists at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University veterinary pathologists are looking into the death this week of the aquarium's youngest dolphin. According to aquarium officials, Bridgit -- a 4-month-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin -- was the target of aggressive sexual behavior by two older male dolphins while other dolphins performed nearby in a late-morning show Wednesday. Toward the end of the 11 a.m. presentation, the young dolphin showed signs of fatigue after the encounter with the two males, according to Sue Hunter, the aquarium's manager of animal programs.

Hobbled by aching knees and an inflamed right calf, America's First Runner has been all but sidelined from his favorite exercise and says his woes serve up a good lesson to all sports-minded baby boomers. "Listen to your body. I tried to run through the pain and it didn't work," President Bush said in remarks relayed to the Los Angeles Times by White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. The president first complained to a reporter about his knees during a private party in Washington in late April, blaming it on age. Bush will be 57 on July 6. At the Times' request, Bush on Thursday supplied new details of his injuries, during a trip to Fridley, Minn.

Editor's note: The king of birds finds his true identity after learning the way of the chicken. A farmer went out one day to search for a lost calf. He called out all the time, hoping that the calf might hear, but also because he felt so alone. He climbed up a gully in case the calf had huddled there to escape the storm. And that was where he stopped. For there, on a ledge of rock, close enough to touch, he saw the most unusual sight -- an eagle chick, very young, hatched from its egg a day or two before.