Clyburn

DETROIT -- Orioles general manager Roland Hemond called Brad Pennington on Thursday and told him to pack his bags, a trade was in the works and could be completed within 24 hours.Pennington begged Hemond to tell him where he was headed, but Hemond wouldn't say. "Just wait," Hemond said. "You'll be happy."The GM wasn't kidding. Pennington was ecstatic yesterday when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Single-A minor-leaguers Danny Clyburn, an outfielder, and Tony Nieto, a pitcher. The Reds were the team that Pennington followed growing up in Salem, Ind.The week before, when the Reds were among the first teams to ask about Pennington, he had said he wanted to go to Cincinnati: "If that happens, that would be sweet."

NORMAN PARSON went to jail for stealing two candy bars from a CVS pharmacy in Baltimore. He stood before a judge again the other day -- tall and bony in a yellow jail jumpsuit, looking older than his 51 years and certainly older than the other defendants around him. His eyes and ears seemed to be failing him, because Norman Parson could not quite see the hand of opportunity nor hear the voice of mercy. "Do you have a drug problem, sir?" the judge, Ben C. Clyburn of the District Court of Baltimore, asked from 20 feet away.

INSIDE THE mayor's favorite courtroom, the one inside the Central Booking and Intake Center, it's the mission of Judge Ben C. Clyburn to drive the docket in fifth gear. Before Clyburn are 17 defendants, four of them in yellow CBIC jumpsuits and all of them charged with the kind of minor crimes -- drug possession, shoplifting, prostitution -- that flow into the District Courts of Baltimore week after week, year after year. These defendants were arrested only last month; they've already made deals with the state.

House whip calls on Big Three CEOs to resign COLUMBIA, S.C. : The chief executives of the nation's Big Three automakers should give up their jobs, not just their lavish executive pay packages, as a condition of $25 billion in proposed federal help to keep the companies operating, U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn said yesterday. "If I had my way, all three of those guys would be in the unemployment line, and I think that ought to be one of the conditions for us doing this," Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, told reporters at a news conference.

BaseballDevil Rays: Named Bill Russell third base coach. Sent OF Danny Clyburn (former Orioles farmhand) and P Dave Eiland outright to Triple-A Durham.Diamondbacks: Sent P Erik Sabel and OF Rob Ryan outright to Triple-A Tucson.Dodgers: Announced entire coaching staff would return for 2000 season. Sent P Ricky Stone, P Luke Prokopec and IF Adam Riggs outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. Agreed to terms with IF Craig Counsell on one-year contract and sent him outright to Albuquerque. Announced that IF Tripp Cromer has opted for free agency.

BOWIE -- More sluggers. More fans. And perhaps more victories on the field.That is the preseason forecast for the Double-A Bowie Baysox, who enter their second full season at Prince George's Stadium already established as a minor-league success story.The Orioles' affiliate fell just short of drawing 500,000 customers to their showplace in 1995, shattering the Eastern League record.First-year general manager John Danos said sales for this season "have been fast and furious. We hope to top that attendance total, although this year we have a lot of April and May games, which leaves us a little more vulnerable to weather."

Def. Player of YearJohn Norsworthy, Arundel, Sr., linebacker: On a team that took pride in delivering punishing hits, Norsworthy (5-10, 180) was the "hit man" and ring leader with an average of 13 tackles a game for the 10-1 county and region champion Wildcats. The three-year starter, who is the lone first-defense repeater and near-unanimous coaches choice as the best defensive player, also led his team in sacks (11). If a count was kept on hammer hits, Norsworthy wins hands down and a host of county ball carriers will attest to that.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Under a large tent in the Confederate civilian camp, a woman in a period red plaid dress and feathered hat speaks to her audience about the ghosts of Gettysburg.Barbara Lane, the speaker, thinks the spirits are not far from here. Indeed, she suggests, present-day Civil War re-enactors may have fought in blue or gray in a past life.Stranger still, she says her hypnotic "regression" sessions can help take them there, back to the 1860s, to summon spirits and memories of who and what they once were.

Former Orioles outfielder Danny Clyburn was shot and killed early this morning in his home town of Lancaster, S.C., according to a report in the Rock Hill (S.C.) Herald. According to police reports, Clyburn, who played sparingly for the Orioles in 1997 and 1998, was seen by witnesses arguing with a man shortly before he was shot. He was found dead in the front yard of a home at 2 a.m. Derrick Lamont Mcilwain, 36, has been arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. appointed two new city District Court judges yesterday and one new Charles County District Court judge. He also reappointed Ben C. Clyburn as chief judge of the District Court of Maryland. The new city judges are Joan Bossman Gordon and James L. Mann Jr, both Baltimore residents who have long histories of legal work. Gordon is an administrative law judge for the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings in Hunt Valley and previously worked as a public defender for Baltimore County.