Foul Pole

The way things have been going for the Orioles lately, it seemed almost inevitable that the ball would go foul. Melvin Mora's towering drive hung up in the still air on a typical summer night in Baltimore and the Orioles half-expected a freak gust of wind to send it spiraling to the left of the foul pole. However, the ball never hooked, landing on top of the 70-foot-high foul pole before bouncing into the seats. Mora's two-run, sixth-inning homer was the key swing in the Orioles' much-needed 7-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers before an announced 29,111 at steamy Camden Yards.

NEW YORK - It wasn't as crucial as the missed call that defined both the 1996 American League Championship Series and the uneven relationship between the mighty New York Yankees and the Orioles. It certainly wasn't as clear cut. Nevertheless, a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees in Friday's Game 5 of the AL Division Series that ended the Orioles' wild ride of a season included another controversial call in right field at Yankee Stadium (though it is a new building). With two outs in the top of the sixth inning and the Orioles trailing the Yankees and their ace CC Sabathia 1-0, Nate McLouth hit a towering fly ball down the right field line.

When you get right down to it, it's just a big yellow pipe shrouded in steel gridwork, but the foul pole that stands in the left-field corner at Oriole Park has made quite a name for itself over the 41 years that it has been the chief arbiter of home runs and long foul balls in Baltimore. It was one of the heroes of the "Why not?" season of 1989, back when it stood watch at Memorial Stadium and camouflaged that famous game-winning Mike Devereaux home run against the California Angels ... back before it was installed at Oriole Park in 2001 to improve the sight line for left-field bleacher fans and preserve a little Baltimore history at the new ballpark.

He hit the first Orioles home run in Camden Yards history in 1992, but that poke is long forgotten. What Baltimore fondly recalls of Mike Devereaux is his game-winning homer in the summer of 1989 during the Orioles' improbable push for the American League East pennant. By the All-Star break, those Birds seemed a team of destiny, a ragtag bunch that could do no wrong. Devereaux proved that. On July 15, in a game fixed in the minds of Orioles fans, the rookie slammed a walk-off two-run homer that curled around the left-field foul pole at Memorial Stadium and gave the home team an 11-9 comeback victory over the California Angels.

Dear Stadium Doctor: We keep hearing about how the right-field foul pole at Oriole Park at Camden Yards is the same one used at Memorial Stadium. What about the left-field foul pole? It seems to be doing its job just as well.Fred EngelKevin LiebermanFort MeadeDear Fred Engel and Kevin Lieberman:Before I answer this question, which, allow me to say, is among the most fascinating ever received by this columnist, I would like to thank the residents of Fort Meade for proclaiming May 24 "Stadium Doctor Appreciation Day" and to send my regrets for being unable to accept your invitation to speak at this year's Stadium Doctor Pancake Breakfast.

Despite the near-unanimous plaudits for the new ballpark and the excitement of an unexpected pennant race by the Orioles, there is a sour note at Camden Yards. Hundreds of fans are bitter about their seats around the left-field foul pole. Others complain that high-priced seats well down the right-field line and some of the terrace boxes are inferior. Were these design errors, or is the problem a public relations blunder by the Orioles?Stadium Authority and Orioles officials deny the controversial seats are the result of bad design.

For Baltimore, 183 days earlier, it had been farewell to the beloved "field of dreams" up on 33rd Street. Shadows lengthened toward right field on that bittersweet Sunday afternoon in October as the last run, the last hit, the last pitch, the last out, the last loss (7-1 to the Tigers) went quietly into the statistical records that are so much a part of baseball. In a post-game ceremony Orioles old and new, heroes and the barely remembered, clustered near their positions while teary-eyed fans sang "Auld Lang Syne."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- When Manny Alexander returned to the Orioles dugout in the eighth inning yesterday, he received some good-natured ribbing from his teammates."

There appears to be a new wrinkle with each assessment of the baseball stadium under construction at Camden Yards.The latest involves a realignment of Russell Street, which may allay fears of that major artery becoming a target for foul balls. The park is being designed to fit into the neighborhood, but hopefully not as a traffic hazard.As the new facility rises, it has become obvious that the third base side and Russell Street are cozy companions. The height of the structure does not appear to be sufficient to keep all baseballs within the building, but two generally unknown variables should have an effect.

Why a duck? Or in the case of Camden Yards, a pair of ducks? Sunday afternoon and again Tuesday night, two mallards flew into the ballpark and made themselves at home in the outfield. Were they looking for a nesting spot? Scarfing down free food? Auditioning for the next AFLAC commercial? "We understand they were called up from Bowie," cracked Maryland Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chuck Porcari. Showing good range, the ducks waddled from foul pole to foul pole and even ventured behind second base like a center fielder going after a dying quail.

The way things have been going for the Orioles lately, it seemed almost inevitable that the ball would go foul. Melvin Mora's towering drive hung up in the still air on a typical summer night in Baltimore and the Orioles half-expected a freak gust of wind to send it spiraling to the left of the foul pole. However, the ball never hooked, landing on top of the 70-foot-high foul pole before bouncing into the seats. Mora's two-run, sixth-inning homer was the key swing in the Orioles' much-needed 7-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers before an announced 29,111 at steamy Camden Yards.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The second the ball left Mark Ellis' bat, Orioles reliever Lance Cormier knew it was landing somewhere in the left-field seats at McAfee Coliseum. His only hope was that it would hook to the left of the foul pole and go for a long strike, rather than a devastating walk-off home run. With the way this road trip has gone for the Orioles, there shouldn't have been any doubt. Ellis' 10th-inning drive clanked off the foul pole, and the Oakland Athletics poured out of the dugout to celebrate a 6-5 victory and a three-game sweep over the Orioles, who are finding more excruciating ways to lose games.

"Baseball changes through the years. It gets milder." - Babe Ruth Call him the Sultan of Swat. Or the Colossus of Clout. Or the Wali of Wallop. But Babe Ruth was hardly a Prince of Prognostication. Baseball has changed in the 71 years since Ruth last circled the bases, but "milder" is the last word any student of the game would use to describe the transformation. Barry Bonds is on the verge of tying Ruth for the No. 2 position on the all-time home run list. But that's just numbers. In fact, what Bonds has managed to do with a 32-ounce stick of maple would blow the Babe out of the batter's box. Let's suspend belief for a second and forget that B*nds likely has had chemical assistance in thrashing his way through the record books.

The days of the Devo home run are going, going, gone. An addition this season to the foul poles at Camden Yards is designed to take the controversy - and guesswork - out of fence-clearing shots into the corners. At the direction of Major League Baseball, several ballparks, including the Orioles', have added visual aids so that umpires can better track the flight of the ball. In the case of Camden Yards, it's a 12-inch-wide steel and Kevlar mesh fin on the outside edge of both yellow foul poles.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- If spring training were to start today, I could guarantee you this much: The Orioles would not hit a single home run. Yes, you read that right. I don't care if they have Miggy or Manny or the ghost of Babe Ruth - not one ball would clear the outfield walls of Fort Lauderdale Stadium. Now before you cancel your spring training vacation plans, I should probably explain just a bit. Technically, there are no outfield walls at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. They were blown away 2 1/2 months ago by the battering winds of Hurricane Wilma.

THE ORIOLES apparently have turned to Far Eastern culture to get through this rough patch in their breakout season. Outfielder Larry Bigbie revealed Monday that he has settled on a little green Buddha for his good-luck charm this year, and he came off the disabled list to hit his first home run of the season Monday. Pitcher Sidney Ponson has a much larger Asian statue (though I think it might be a sumo wrestler) sitting next to his locker. I won't say anything about the resemblance. I'm just happy to see the club getting in touch with its spiritual side, and not just because the talk-show types keep demanding that manager Lee Mazzilli ascend to a higher level of consciousness in the dugout.

No matter how hard you try, you can't keep some people, like the guy who scaled the left-field foul pole at Oriole Park on Monday night, from making idiots of themselves. But does the public have the right to see idiocy in action and does television have an obligation to show moronic behavior in progress?That's the dilemma that hit Home Team Sports supervising producer Chris Glass stark in the face in the eighth inning, as the man slowly but surely made his way up the pole.Glass, who also was directing Monday, said he had no choice but to show the climb, though he hated doing it."

On breezy nights in Section 70 at the new baseball park, it's considered fashionable to wear a sweater and a neck brace. The sweater is for a slight chill. The neck brace is for turning your head at right angles over nine innings.Section 70 is the last group of seats in left field just before you get to the foul pole. You'll know when you get there, because orthopedic surgeons are flying lazy circles directly overhead.The Orioles call these lower box seats. We used to call them general admission.

You can look for Paul Bernstorf, St. Paul's baseball coach and athletic director, to make at least one improvement to the Crusaders' relatively new park in Brooklandville next year. Bernstorf figures to extend his foul poles as high as possible to minimize doubt about whether a shot down the line is fair or foul. The current yellow, left-field pole might have cost the No. 7 Crusaders in a 2-1 loss to No. 4 Mount St. Joseph (14-1, 7-1 MIAA A Conference) yesterday. Steve Johnson hit a very high, two-out, two-run shot down the line in the sixth that the Crusaders (13-7, 6-2 MIAA A Conference)

NEW YORK - Rather than continue to be manipulated by a supposed curse, the kind that can torment a franchise for 85 years and be used to explain away every failure, the Boston Red Sox appear determined to pound it into submission. They took a few more swings last night, raising some welts and the expectations of their loyal following. Unwilling to yield to an unfavorable pitching matchup, a weakened lineup and constant reminders of their postseason glitches, the Red Sox hit three home runs off Mike Mussina and seized early control of the American League Championship Series with a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium.