Career Hits

Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken is closing in on a career milestone of 3,000. Career hits 2,993 Hits needed 7

It's even starting to affect the usually reliable ones now, the Orioles' run of horrid pitching that continues to sink their season to embarrassing levels. Jake Arrieta, once considered one of the few young players to make strides this season, now can't keep the ball in the strike zone or pitch deep enough into the game to get a win. Jim Johnson, perhaps the Orioles' best pitcher for the first three months, suddenly can't put up a shutout inning or protect either a lead or a tie. It has become an epidemic, and the Orioles appear powerless to stop it. There is no end in sight to their season-worst losing streak, which reached nine games Friday night with a 6-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians in front of an announced 27,532 atCamden Yards.

Over the past two years, Cesar Izturis has been more than content to remain in the background, providing steady defense at shortstop and offering the occasional offensive contribution. But in the second inning of the Orioles' 4-3 victory Sunday over the Chicago White Sox, Izturis found himself the center of attention. After his bloop single off Mark Buehrle bounced into center field for his 1,000th hit, Izturis was given a standing ovation both by a crowd of an announced 18,283 and his teammates, who stood on the top step of the dugout and applauded the veteran's personal milestone.

WASHINGTON - -Orioles reliever Danys Baez isn't sure whether he has ever scored a run before. Certainly not at the big league level. Certainly not the game-winner. And absolutely, positively, never had he scored the game-winning run in a contest in which he also picked up the victory. Not until Friday night in the Orioles' 4-2, 12-inning victory over the Washington Nationals in the first "Battle of the Beltways" interleague game of 2009. Baez's two-out slapper bounced safely down the third base line and ignited a two-run rally that essentially halted a four-game skid for the Orioles (17-25)

David Walters, the second-team All-Metro shortstop and pitcher for River Hill, will be seeking a landmark career record this season - 100 hits. Hawks coach Rick Lloyd said Walters is 32 hits away, certainly an attainable number for a player of his ability. Walters batted .530 with seven homers, nine doubles, two triples and 26 RBIs last season and is a two-time All-County pick. Only two other River Hill players have reached the 100 mark - Chris Becraft (UMBC) and Arin Gelletly (Penn State)

If it appears the Orioles have slammed the brakes on Rafael Palmeiro's playing time, just to make sure he doesn't trigger the $4.5 million vesting option in his contract for next season, there's an important precedent to remember here. Last year, when veteran pitcher Pat Hentgen was closing in on a $2 million incentive if he reached 150 innings pitched, the Orioles didn't stand in his way. He had 126 1/3 innings entering September, and they kept pitching him until he passed the 160 mark.

At the height of his brief career, Alan B. Bond was a Wall Street phenom, a rich and telegenic guru whose stock picks were eagerly parsed during the great bull market of the 1990s. But now Bond, like the market, has crashed to Earth, and the reverberations are being felt in Maryland. Investigators are probing investments he made on behalf of the state's biggest public-employee pension fund. He is in a New York City jail awaiting sentencing. In June, jurors deliberated for barely an hour before convicting him of swindling millions of dollars from clients.

Around Lewisburg, Pa., where they produce no-nonsense, tough-as-nails football players, they are still talking about a thunderous hit Bucknell senior fullback Jason Marrow put on a Towson linebacker earlier this month in a 51-10 Bison victory. Marrow, a former Calvert Hall standout, pancaked the linebacker en route to the end zone on a quick dive play. No one seemed to care that the touchdown was called back by a holding penalty. Marrow, 6 feet 3, 215 pounds, had shown that he could hand out punishment that would make any coal-mining Pennsylvanian or anybody else proud.

Cal Ripken had more than his share of offensive highlights during his major-league career, enough to establish him as one of the greatest hitters ever to play regularly at shortstop and rank him among baseball's all-time leaders in several statistical categories. In fact, if you just look at his career numbers, it might be easy to imagine that hitting a baseball came as naturally to Ripken as delivering all those thousands of perfect throws from one side of the infield to the other. And you would be mistaken.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken couldn't hold off until he got home. He collected three singles last night at the Metrodome to become the 23rd player in baseball history to amass 3,000 hits, reaching what figures to be the last major milestone of his amazing career. Ripken lined a base hit to center field off Minnesota Twins reliever Hector Carrasco in the seventh inning to cap his first multi-hit game of the season and add another page to the fairy-tale life of Baltimore's home-grown baseball hero.

Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken is closing in on a career milestone of 3,000 hits. Career hits: 2,996 Hits needed: 4 Yesterday: 0-for-4 Season: 5 hits