Curtis Goodwin

The pitcher covering first base had interrupted his path and Curtis Goodwin was upset. Very upset. So he stepped into the pitcher's face and aired him out.As Goodwin made his way off the field, the opposing crowd in Portland, Maine, got to its feet and booed. He was not impressed. So he exhorted the booers to do better, pumping his arms to let them know they needed to pump up the volume."Come on, if you are going to boo me, at least boo me louder so I can hear you," Goodwin said. "That's what I told them.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Curtis Goodwin was going to dunk. Dunk over Michael Jordan. Dunk over everyone.He raced down the lane after a missed shot.He leaped into the air.He . . ."Missed it," the 5-foot-11 Goodwin lamented. "Off the rim."What happened next is in dispute.According to Goodwin's friend, Damon Buford, Jordan snapped: "You're too out of control, kid. Go sit on the sidelines."Buford wasn't there, mind you."But I heard," Buford said, laughing. "I heard it that night."It was just another Sunday in the Arizona Fall League, just another pickup game with that light-hitting outfielder who drove all the fancy cars.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Every spring, it's the same refrain: Boy, the Orioles' lineup looks great. This team will hit, that's for sure.Then the season starts.And, inevitably, the offense fails to deliver.Overrating your club is a rite of spring -- not just in Baltimore, but every major-league city.Why should this spring be different?Well, the Orioles added an offensive-oriented manager, a hitting coach whose teams won two batting titles and, last but not least, two .300 hitters.L Their attack could be as potent as Boston's and Cleveland's.

VIERA, Fla. -- Jimmy Haynes? Tall kid from Georgia. Never says a word. "A green pea" when the Orioles drafted him in 1991, according to scouting director Gary Nickels.Jimmy Haynes? Mention the name, and Larry Pitts starts to chuckle. Pitts is the baseball coach at Haynes' alma mater, Troup County (Ga.) High School. He first met Haynes in sixth grade, and remembers him as, well, a flake."He's a little bit off the wall," Pitts said. "He's got a weird sense of humor. He'd be cutting up a lot on the bus and in the dugout when he wasn't pitching."

The Orioles had a new look when they returned to Camden Yards last night. They had a new leadoff hitter and a couple of new players in the clubhouse and even a new twist, a modest winning streak.That, and their three Texas transplants -- Kevin Brown, Kevin Bass and Rafael Palmeiro -- carried them to their third straight victory, a 2-1 triumph over the Oakland Athletics that hoisted the Orioles out of the American League East cellar.Brown gave up five hits over eight innings to score his fifth victory of the year, but the decision was very much in doubt until the Orioles eighth.

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- No one thinks of Brady Anderson as the Orioles' signature player. That distinction belongs to Cal Ripken, for the rest of this century, and probably forever.Still, this will be Anderson's ninth season in Baltimore. Frank Robinson didn't play for the Orioles as long. Neither did Mike Cuellar nor Don Buford, Bobby Grich nor Don Baylor.In fact, only 23 other major-leaguers have been with their current teams since the day the Orioles acquired Anderson from Boston for Mike Boddicker July 30, 1988.

Their bullpen still is a weak link, their playoff hopes are slim and none, and the Boston Red Sox have a virtual lock on first place.But the Orioles' five-run eighth inning last night finally gave the 40,585 fans at Camden Yards something to cheer about other than Cal Ripken's 2,135th consecutive game, a 10-7 victory that sent the Red Sox into their first four-game losing streak of the season.The victory also kept the Orioles -- who are one loss or Boston win away from elimination -- alive in the AL East race.

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Curtis Goodwin and Damon Buford are both center fielders, both convinced that they can be productive major-leaguers -- and both going for the same job.They both gave manager Phil Regan something to mull over yesterday in the Orioles' 6-5 exhibition loss to Philadelphia. Buford homered in his only at-bat, and Goodwin singled, walked, stole a couple of bases, and made an interesting prediction.Asked how many stolen bases he could achieve if he makes this team, Goodwin said he probably would get "80 to 100."

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Rookie center fielder Curtis Goodwin tripled on the first pitch thrown to him in the Orioles' first exhibition of spring, and as he rounded second, third base coach Steve Boros was already formulating a little speech in his mind.Starters: Orioles' Mike Mussina vs. Blue Jays' Pat Hentgen

Two Orioles farm clubs, the Double-A Bowie Baysox and Single-A Frederick Keys, played to a 1-1 tie in a six-inning exhibition game at Memorial Stadium yesterday.A double by Feliciano Mercedes and single by Curtis Goodwin gave the Keys a 1-0 lead in the third, but the Baysox tied it an inning later on a run-scoring double by infielder Edgar Alfonzo.Seven pitchers worked in the game, which was a tuneup for the teams' openers tonight. The workout was closed to fans because of stadium construction and cleanup work.