Dominican Republic

When Andy MacPhail became the Orioles' president of baseball operations in June 2007, he inherited an excess of deficiencies, perhaps none more glaring than the organization's woeful record in international development, perhaps the worst in baseball. In the past two-plus years under MacPhail, the Orioles have established an international scouting department, moved into a new Dominican Republic facility and signed their first Japanese professional player, Koji Uehara. And they have significantly upgraded their financial investment.

When Andy MacPhail became the Orioles' president of baseball operations in June 2007, he inherited an excess of deficiencies, perhaps none more glaring than the organization's woeful record in international development, perhaps the worst in baseball. In the past two-plus years under MacPhail, the Orioles have established an international scouting department, moved into a new Dominican Republic facility and signed their first Japanese professional player, Koji Uehara. And they have significantly upgraded their financial investment.

After a strong opening weekend that surpassed last year's numbers by 20 percent, Maryland's two-week deer hunting season for firearms leveled off and ended 33 deer below the 2008 total. Hunters killed 43,664 white-tailed deer and 1,140 sika deer. The total in the two western-most counties was 4,809 deer, just eight fewer than last year. Hunters in the rest of the state killed 39,995 deer, a slight decrease from last year's total of 40,020. Junior deer hunters supervised by a licensed, unarmed adult, bagged 1,961 deer statewide, a 28 percent increase over last year's total.

DONALD WARNER HENDERSON, 79 Dancing-drama director Donald Warner Henderson, credited with keeping a globally recognized, slavery-era dancing drama alive, died Sunday. He was 79. Warner died in the Dominican Republic after fighting liver cancer, said Xiomara Perez of the Ministry of Culture. Warner was director of a dancing drama known as "Cocolo," a once-pejorative term that described migrant workers of British sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic.

J eff Brauner of Baltimore likes the name Hortense but hasn't heard of a Hurricane Hortense in a while. He wonders what became of the name. Alas, it was retired after flooding from a Hurricane Hortense in 1996 caused 39 deaths and $217 million in damage in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico saw 24 inches of rain; 20 inches fell in the Dominican Republic. Hortense was replaced by the name Hanna.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - No further proof is necessary that major league baseball is a global sport after yesterday's exhibition game between the Orioles and the Dominican Republic team that will compete in the World Baseball Classic. Japanese right-hander Koji Uehara pitched an impressive three innings for the Orioles, validating their new commitment to international scouting, and a raucous group of fans wearing the colors of the Dominican team had Fort Lauderdale Stadium rocking to a Latin beat for the 2009 debut of legendary pitcher Pedro Martinez.

Jim Bowden's final move as Washington Nationals general manager was his own resignation. Bowden stepped down yesterday morning after four seasons, leaving under the cloud of a federal investigation into the skimming of signing bonuses given to Latin American prospects. He has maintained his innocence in the matter but said, "I've become a distraction." Seated at a table with Nationals president Stan Kasten before reporters and team officials in Viera, Fla., Bowden read from a statement, sometimes deviating from the script as he struggled to contain his emotions.

Alex Rodriguez has been told by the New York Yankees to keep his cousin away from ballparks. The message was given to the star third baseman yesterday, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press. The message applied to spring training and the regular season, the person said. Speaking at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., general manager Brian Cashman said only that the matter of Rodriguez being picked up from his spring training opener Wednesday by his cousin "has been handled."

Back on the field, Alex Rodriguez was able to put aside the steroid scandal. At least for a little while. Booed and taunted by opposing fans in the New York Yankees' spring training opener, Rodriguez homered and drew two walks yesterday in a 6-1 exhibition victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla., that was anything but routine. Rodriguez then got into a sport utility vehicle that, according to the New York Post's Web site, was driven by Yuri Sucart - the person identified as the cousin who provided Rodriguez with performance-enhancing drugs.

Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis and Los Angeles Angels starter Ervin Santana received the steepest raises among the 111 players in salary arbitration, a group that overall earned a record increase of 172 percent, according to a study by the Associated Press. The rise broke the previous mark of 169 percent set in 1999 and was up sharply from last year's 120 percent hike, partly because the arbitration group started out with a lower average. The 111 players in this year's filing class rose to an average of $3.07 million from $1.13 million.