Hall Of Fame

One of the perks of covering the Orioles is that we have easy access to Jim Palmer, a Hall of Fame pitcher who, unlike some other great players, has no problem speaking his mind. I talked to Palmer on Wednesday after he deplaned in Southern California - he will be presented with the Professional Baseball Scouts' Foundation's lifetime achievement award on Saturday in Los Angeles - about the Baseball Writers' of America Association failing to induct anyone into this year's Hall of Fame class, including Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

The LXM Pro Challenge had its final stop on the 2012 tour Saturday night in Del Mar, Calif., and Team STX defeated Team Sole, 15-12, in their series' seventh game, a contest that featured nine lead changes and eight ties. Team STX had already clinched the series victory with a 22-20 win in Henderson, Nev., on Dec. 1. After his record-setting seven-goal performance in Nevada, Sam Bradman (Salisbury) started right where he left off and beat former Sea Gulls teammate Johnny Rodriguez to give Team STX the early 1-0 lead.

We live in a world of sports that is broadcast in full color and high definition. We try to view it through a prism of moral and ethical absolutes. And still, when faced with the great issues of our time, everything ends up being cast in shades of gray. If you doubt that, you might want to take a look at the ballot that will determine who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013. It is, more than any before it, a snapshot of baseball's steroid era, for the first time adding Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa to a list of candidates that already included Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and a handful of other players who fell under suspicion during one of the darkest periods in the history of the sport.

With the first pick of Wednesday's Major League Lacrosse supplemental draft, the Rochester Rattlers selected former Baltimore Bayhawk Mark Millon, who will come out of retirement to return to the league after a five-season absence. A member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and widely considered one of the greatest players in lacrosse history, Millon will turn 42 in May. He was the league's Offensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003, as well as the Most Valuable Player in 2005, and won the league championship with the Bayhawks in 2002.

Three former Aberdeen Eagles played a significant role in the success of the 1975 men's socer team at Pfeiffer University that recently was voted into the Misenheimer, N.C., school's hall of fame. Robert Hinch and Roger Gompers both played on the attack and Alfred Kaye played defense. All three were four-year starters for Pfeiffer from 1975 through 1978. In the history of the Pfeiffer men's soccer program, the 1975 team ranks at the top of some rankings. They rank first for goals scored in a season-90; goals scored in a game-15; and tied for most wins in a season-13.

The Baseball Writers' Association of America released its Hall of Fame ballot today, and now the next six weeks will be filled with debate on whether some of the biggest names -- and most controversial characters -- will get into Cooperstown's hallowed halls. Players on the ballot for the first time include a few stars that were embroiled in the sport's steroid controversy: namely Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and former Orioles outfielder Sammy Sosa. Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling also are first-timers, joining popular holdovers such as Jeff Bagwell, Jack Morris and Tim Raines on the ballot.

Since the news broke that baseball union pioneer Marvin Miller passed away this week, there has been a growing media chorus advocating his induction in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It certainly is long overdue. Miller changed baseball for the better and made a sport full of enemies during the 1960s and '70s. He redistributed the wealth of a generation of stingy baseball owners, who were not forward-thinking enough to see the the avalanche of money that would bury everyone in the game after the reserve clause was overturned.

Two classics have been elected to the National Toy Hall of Fame, just in time for your post-Thanksgiving shopping. And while you might be able to find dominoes tiles tomorrow, you'd be hard-pressed to find action figures from "Star Wars" anywhere but on eBay, selling right next to a box of endangered Twinkies. They were selected from among 12 finalists, and they beat out, among others, the game of Clue, the Magic 8 Ball, the pogo stick, sidewalk chalk and Twister. Since the Hall of Fame, located in Rochester, N.Y., began collecting toys in 1998, 51 have been inducted, including Play-Doh and Slinky and, in a tip of the hat to the power of a child's imagination, a stick and a cardboard box. (I am nominating measuring cups and water next year.)

Five Carroll County residents, and three others, were recently inducted into the Green Terror Sports Hall of Fame at McDaniel College. The new inductees were formally announced at McDaniel's homecoming game on Nov. 3 against Susquehanna. The Sports Hall of Fame awards are presented to graduates and former athletes who performed as undergraduate athletes and who have contributed to society since leaving the college. Recipients for 2012 are: • John "Jack" Baile, of Westminster, received a bachelor's degree in 1962 and master's in 1973 from then-Western Maryland College.

Lee MacPhail, a Hall of Fame baseball executive who served as Orioles general manager from 1959 to 1965, died Thursday evening at his home in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 95. Mr. MacPhail, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998, represented the middle of a four-generation baseball dynasty. His father, Larry, was also a Hall of Fame executive. His son, Andy, became the Orioles' top baseball executive from 2007 to 2011 after serving in similar roles for the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs.