Dispatchers

WASHINGTON - It's a given that contending teams are built around reliable stars. Roger Clemens, Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, Pedro Martinez, you pretty much expect them to be outstanding, and they've each done their part in the five-team scramble for this year's National League wild card. But Morgan Ensberg, Brett Myers, Todd Jones and John Patterson? Nobody thought they'd be key players in this year's playoff race. Turns out they are, each showing that breakout seasons help make winners.

WASHINGTON - The buzz started three days ago - Washington fans saying they couldn't wait to see him pitch, out-of-town writers asking Florida manager Jack McKeon to dredge up comparisons from the days of baseball past. More than the effervescent smile, the funky delivery or all those wins at such a young age, the buzz sets Dontrelle Willis apart. More than anyone in the airtight National League East, where all five teams are playoff contenders, Dontrelle Willis is an event. "He provides a lot of energy for everybody, the fans, too," McKeon said before Willis' 20th victory last night, a 12-1 Marlins win over the Nationals in a matchup of wild-card contenders.

WASHINGTON -- Who's pitching tomorrow? A simple enough question, you'd think, but the mirthless expression on the face of Washington Nationals manager Frank Robinson says otherwise. Every few days, when the fourth or fifth spot in Robinson's rotation comes up, reporters ask. "I don't know," comes the response. And he's not lying. Robinson hardly could have suspected Monday morning that the next night, in the midst of a playoff race, he'd start a kid straight from Double-A Harrisburg (where Darrell Rasner, 24, had a losing record)

WASHINGTON - The soft face that opens readily into a big smile. The bearhugs thrown around unsuspecting buddies. Florida Marlin Miguel Cabrera looks and acts like a happy-go-lucky 22-year-old - until he grabs a bat. Then, he's about as menacing as they come. He showed it yesterday, drilling a two-run homer over the center-field fence for his team's only scoring in a loss at division rival Washington. "He's a lot smarter than 22," said Nationals starter John Patterson before yesterday's game, the first of four between teams fighting for a wild-card spot.

Four teams separated by three games. All in the same division. All chasing the same wild-card spot. On the downside for the Washington Nationals, entering last night's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, they sat at the bottom of the National League East, the only division in baseball with all its teams in the playoff hunt. The Atlanta Braves entered last night's play with a four-game lead in the East. On the upside, they're home to play 10 games against three of the teams above them.

At the crest of the Swiss Alps lies the most famous alpine trinity: The Jungfrau, the Monch and the Eiger. Broad Peak also has three summits and the folktales surrounding them might be the same. The Jungfrau is a maiden, pure of heart. She is protected by the Monch (a monk) against the evil intentions of the Eiger (an ogre). To the horror of the ogre, the monk is just too good at its job. The same holds true on Broad Peak, where many a suitor comes calling and too many are rejected. We set off nearly a week ago intent on reaching the true summit of Broad Peak.

We are enjoying the rest days at Base Camp. It snowed heavily on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Today, it has been wonderful, with brilliant sunshine and only the odd cloud dropping the odd flake of snow. The winds are whipping past the summits of Broad Peak, hopefully scouring away the fresh snow above 7,000 meters. We have been examining the various weather forecasts and it looks like next week will be a productive one. Tao and I will head back to Broad Peak's Camp 2 just after midnight on Sunday.

Continental Airlines Inc. fleet-service workers, who account for about 18 percent of the carrier's employees, will vote by July 28 on whether to join the Transport Workers Union. The TWU said it collected cards calling for a vote from 81 percent of the Continental workers at the airline's airport hub in Newark, N.J., and from 70 percent in Houston. The union already represents 150 flight dispatchers and flight-simulator technicians at the airline.

HOUSTON - Continental Airlines Inc.'s pilots, dispatchers and mechanics have voted to accept pay and benefit cuts, contributing to the company's efforts to reduce annual costs by $500 million. Continental's Air Line Pilots Association, representing about 4,200 employees, said in an e-mail yesterday that its members had voted 58 percent in favor of $213 million in concessions. The new contract will reduce the crews' wages by 8.9 percent starting April 1, followed by 2 percent increases in 2007 and 2008, a union spokesman said.

Paul L. Jeffries, a retired Baltimore police dispatcher, died of congestive heart failure Friday at North Arundel Hospital. The Severna Park resident was 79. Mr. Jeffries was born and raised in the 19th-century Severna Park bungalow that had been built by his grandfather, the Rev. Louis Jeffries, founder and pastor of nearby Silas First Baptist Church. Mr. Jeffries was a 1943 graduate of Bates High School in Annapolis, and worked as a carpenter, Diamond Cab Co. driver and manager for Kelly Springfield Tire Co. in Baltimore.