Erickson

MINNEAPOLIS -- Welcome to September baseball in the land that franchise relocation forgot. In a setting where fans throw their voices to hear the echo, Scott Erickson gave the Orioles another strong showing against his former club in a 5-0 win before 9,263 at the Metrodome. As long as the game "survives" in the Great White North, the Orioles will always have somewhere to get well.Only 45-68 against the rest of the American League, the Orioles improved to 6-1 against their small-market competition.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- On a night when catcher Charles Johnson joined Cal Ripken in a chase of history, the Orioles continued to exhibit a strong close to a season that has featured Scott Erickson as its engine.Given a bases-loaded double by shortstop Mike Bordick and a bases-empty home run by Albert Belle, the Orioles outlasted the Anaheim Angels, 4-2, before an Edison Field crowd of 28,865 to push their season-high winning streak to nine games.Johnson and Ripken combined for seven of the Orioles' 12 hits, bringing both to the brink of significant achievements.

ATLANTA -- Before there was Albert Belle there almost was Brian Jordan. The Orioles last night came face-to-face with the Atlanta Braves' right fielder for the first time since he spurned their four-year, $30 million offer as a free agent last November.Jordan, a longtime Atlanta resident, insisted he gave the Orioles serious consideration before signing with the Braves. So what did the decision come down to? Climate? Remaining in the National League? Keeping a Country Club of the South golf membership?

A mystery starting pitcher. Jeff Conine homering twice and playing third base for the first time in his career. Harold Baines tripling for the first time since before the Clinton re-election campaign. Relief pitcher Ricky Bones scoring the winning run after the Orioles rallied from a four-run deficit.But out of the Orioles' 9-5, 10-inning win over the Chicago White Sox last night at Camden Yards, perhaps nothing was more significant than their putting one win behind another. For the first time in 38 games, the Orioles own a winning streak.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Their third baseman was in Baltimore, their left fielder was at third base and the bench still wasn't at full capacity. They hadn't won in five days. And don't even mention the wild card.The Orioles were in desperate need of some good news last night, a diversion from the nasty intrusion of reality.They expected to find it in a logical place -- the right arm of Scott Erickson. But they no longer can depend on anything.Given an early lead, Erickson handed it back in the second inning and lost for the first time in two months, 7-1, to the Oakland Athletics before 10,178 at Network Associates Coliseum.

PHILADELPHIA -- He might be painful to watch. He might drive his manager crazy. But Juan Guzman is starting to look like the Juan Guzman of 1998, which is to say, a pitcher who would be desirable to a contender in a trade.Don't look now, but Guzman's 4-7 record and 4.31 earned-run average compare favorably with his 6-12 mark and 4.41 ERA when the Orioles acquired him for Triple A right-hander Nerio Rodriguez last July 31.Guzman was his usual self last night, throwing 125 pitches in six innings, pitching with men in scoring position five times, issuing seven walks.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Heavy rain forced a premature end to yesterday's second intrasquad game, but not before Scott Erickson and Doug Johns each had gotten in two innings. With different results.Though he didn't throw poorly, Erickson allowed three runs to a B team composed mostly of players from the minor-league camp. Two runs came in the first inning, when a strikeout pitch skipped past young catcher Chip Alley, whose throw hit 6-foot-6 Frank Figueroa as he raced up the line."It felt like I was facing hitters for the first time since September," Erickson said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Orioles and Cleveland Indians are involved in fast-paced discussions that could result in a trade of starting pitcher Scott Erickson or designated hitter Harold Baines by 1 p.m. EDT today, according to sources familiar with talks, which began after the Indians filed a waiver claim on both players earlier this week.Declining to comment on the waiver issue -- considered confidential by Major League Baseball -- Orioles general manager Frank Wren downplayed the possibility of a deal.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- When at his best, Scott Erickson can single-handedly move a game. He's on the field before his catcher and off before his first baseman. So despite taking Tuesday night's 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Angels, Erickson's most telling number might have been 2: 01 -- time of game.Paired against Angels right-hander Omar Olivares, Erickson dealt an efficient hand in the opener of the Orioles' nine-game road trip. However, he was punished by three long home runs while his offensive support evaporated after Brady Anderson and Mike Bordick led off the game with a single and double.

NEW YORK -- Another assignment for Scott Erickson last night brought another start for Orioles catcher Lenny Webster, the second time in two opportunities that manager Ray Miller has paired them in a game.The acquisition of four-time Gold Glove catcher Charles Johnson led to speculation that Webster wouldn't catch Erickson exclusively, as he has done since their days in Minnesota. But Erickson has stated a preference for keeping Webster behind the plate when he pitches, and Miller now appears less inclined to disrupt the arrangement.

Man dies in Abingdon when pickup hits tree 3 A man was killed in Abingdon early Friday when his pickup truck hit a tree, according to state police. The crash was reported at 1:47 a.m. on southbound Emmorton Road just before Porter Drive, according to police. The man was not immediately identified, pending notification of relatives. - Liz F. Kay Bankruptcy filing unlikely to harm communties' ratings 4 Fitch Ratings said this week that Catonsville-based Erickson Retirement Communities' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing should have "no effect" on the bond ratings of the Baltimore-area communities it developed, Charlestown and Oak Crest.

Requests for a series of changes in Howard County zoning laws that would allow a retirement community to be built on a 188-acre portion of historic Doughoregan Manor were submitted to county officials yesterday. If approved, the changes would allow dense development of the eastern edge of the nearly 300-year-old estate, which is owned and inhabited by descendants of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The property is in a prime home-building area between Route 108 and Frederick Road in western Ellicott City, but is virtually invisible to most residents.

Minnesotans are a humorous people, and we are attempting to elect a comedian to the U.S. Senate, which is delicate work, as you might guess. You shouldn't sweep a comedian into office on a wave of public adulation any more than you should let him win the heroine in the first reel and fly off to Paris and suddenly start ordering meals in fluent French. You need him to move a piano up a long flight of stairs, and that's what Al Franken is doing now. He is leading the race by 50 votes or so out of 2.9 million cast.

Edgerley, state economic development chief, resigns The state's economic development secretary, David Edgerley, resigned last night, saying he wants to pursue a career in the private sector or education. Edgerley's resignation comes after Gov. Martin O'Malley sought to reorganize his agency, the Department of Business and Economic Development, a process that emphasized efforts for the biotechnology industry and international trade and consolidated some functions. O'Malley issued a statement thanking Edgerley for his service and for his help in launching an initiative to expand the biotechnology industry in the state.

The idea of extending public water and sewer service into western Howard County to allow construction of up to 2,000 senior housing units on farmland would normally spark a political battle royal. But not, apparently, when the location is historic Doughoregan Manor. Erickson Retirement Communities wants to use up to 188 acres of the historic 892-acre Carroll family estate, and there is no sign of criticism. Doughoregan is between Route 108 on the south and Frederick Road on the north, just northwest of Columbia.

Baltimore's top two elected leaders, usually all chummy in public, duked it out the other day over: (A) How to cure the city's violence, poverty and the other pressing ills. (B) How to get out the vote in November. (C) Whether or not somebody got the memo. The answer is C. There was plan on the table to ban city workers from using cell phones and other gadgets while driving on city business, as The Sun's Annie Linskey reported. Mayor Sheila Dixon was in favor, City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake opposed.

Judge seeks housing help As foreclosure cases continue to mount unabated, Maryland nonprofit groups, elected officials and the courts are joining forces to urge attorneys to help residents in danger of losing their homes. Robert M. Bell, chief judge of Maryland's Court of Appeals, sent letters last week to every licensed attorney in Maryland - more than 33,000 in all - asking them to volunteer their time or donate money to help. Erickson plans off-campus care Erickson Retirement Communities, a Catonsville-based developer of retirement communities, plans to open its first free-standing medical practice for senior citizens next month and will consider expanding with similar off-site offices in Maryland and elsewhere.

In a bid to improve treatment and reduce errors, Erickson Retirement Communities and three Baltimore-area hospital systems said yesterday that they plan to create a pioneering health information exchange that would give emergency room physicians quick access to patients' medication histories. As part of a governor's initiative, the Maryland Health Care Commission requested in January proposals to create such an exchange. The commission selected the joint venture of Erickson, which runs retirement communities locally in Catonsville and Parkville, and Johns Hopkins Medicine, MedStar Health and the University of Maryland Medical System and will provide $250,000 in startup funding through the Health Services Cost Review Commission.

Orlando, Fla. -- The exact origins are difficult to trace. Maybe it started to catch on at the University of Wyoming in the late 1980s, where former coach Dennis Erickson left his playbook, a hodgepodge of X's and O's in a one-back spread offense scribbled inside. It probably was conceived before that, though, an idea Erickson borrowed from the late Jack Elway, who tried to develop "the perfect offense" while an assistant at Washington State in the early 1970s. One thing is certain. Purdue coach Joe Tiller was part of the evolution - and the success - of the spread offense, a scheme in which four- or five-wide receiver sets are used.

Maryland: Economy Cambridge workers to discuss jobs Workers at a closing fish-processing plant in Cambridge will meet today with state officials and company management to discuss job options after the Icelandic USA plant closes next year. The company says it will shutter the Cambridge plant, which batters frozen fish, to consolidate jobs at its Newport News, Va., plant. More than 400 workers in Cambridge won't be offered jobs in Virginia. Icelandic USA said major layoffs will begin in March.