Hamper

Joseph P. Hamper Jr., the last surviving member of the group of Orioles staff and investors who returned big-league baseball to Baltimore in 1954, died July 13 of a heart attack at the Blakehurst retirement community in Towson. He was 84. Mr. Hamper, the son of an auto parts manager and a Baltimore public school teacher, was born in Baltimore and raised on Belle Avenue. After graduating in 1942 from Forest Park High School, Mr. Hamper attended the University of Maryland before being drafted into the Army.

A nuclear scan helped doctors diagnose Animal Kingdom with the start of a stress fracture in his hind end. The injury won't require surgery, and the Kentucky Derby winner could return to full training after 30 days of rest and 60 days of light work. But his connections also raised the possibility of retirement so that the colt could be put out to stud. "Team Valor's interest is to run the horse for another year," Team Valor International CEO Barry Irwin said in a statement.

Obviously, it was of no great significance to the on-field performance of the Baltimore Orioles when their head groundskeeper and chief financial officer announced their retirements recently. But, make no mistake about it, people such as Pat Santarone and Joe Hamper were an important part of what has made the Orioles an envied organization in baseball through the years.As groundskeeper, Santarone was more visible than Hamper, whose work as comptroller kept him behind the scenes. And, they were about as opposite in personality as their job descriptions -- Santarone more intense, outspoken and outgoing, and Hamper laid-back.

There have been questions surrounding Ray Lewis' lackluster play the past two weeks. Some critics have suggested that Lewis has become too old, but one opposing coach who did not want to be named has a different take. The coach has studied game film of Lewis from the past two games. "It's obvious that the toe injury hasn't healed completely and he can't push off," said the coach. "The toe is not ready. If you look back over Ray Lewis' career, one of his biggest assets was being able to get off blocks and run. Now, he can't get off blocks because he can't push off. He doesn't have the same juice in his legs.

The proverbial "losing the battle, but winning the war" became apparent to the South Carroll wrestling team. The No. 6 Cavaliers placed 12 wrestlers in the top four in 12 of 13 weight classes to win the team portion of the Meade Invitational last night. But the victory was slightly diluted by Arundel 145-pound senior Mike Money's 7-3 upset win against reigning state champ Bryan Hamper. "It's bittersweet," South Carroll coach Pete Olson said of the team title. "My state champ goes down, and we win the tournament."

South Carroll wrestling coach Pete Olson readily admits that he's not much of a screamer when one of his Cavaliers is on the mat. And when Kellen Weber, Dan Patterson, Josh Wampler and Bryan Hamper are positioned in the circle, the longtime coach becomes practically silent. "There's not a lot to say to them because they know what they need to do," said Olson, who has been coaching in Carroll County since 1979. What the four wrestlers have done -- in addition to winning titles at last Saturday's county tournament -- is compile strong records on their way to earning high seeds in the Class 3A/4A North Regional tournament at Dundalk High today.

Two-time regional champions Dan Patterson and Bryan Hamper lead fourth-ranked South Carroll into today's state wrestling tournament at Western Maryland College. The Cavaliers are tied with No. 3 River Hill for the second-most number of qualifiers -- eight -- at the Class 4A-3A tournament. Only West regional champ North Hagerstown and East regional champ Old Mill -- with nine each -- bring more wrestlers. South Carroll, which lost the North regional crown to the Hawks from Howard County by three points last weekend, is powered by two workhorses in Patterson and Hamper.

A powerful storm system is likely to pummel military forces in and around Iraq with blinding sand and choking dust beginning Monday night, meteorologists predicted yesterday. The storm, from the same weather system that blanketed Moscow with heavy snow yesterday, will probably be nearly twice as strong as the one that grounded helicopters and limited troop movements in Kuwait Wednesday, private and government meteorologists said. Winds are expected to exceed 50 mph in gusts in southern Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, said meteorologists at Accuweather.

Bryan Hamper avenged an earlier loss to Kenwood's Jason Laubach in the 140-pound final and earned his second straight state wrestling title, 9-4. That victory helped South Carroll (82 points) finish second to Paint Branch (98.5) last night at the Class 4A-3A state tournament at Western Maryland College. The Cavaliers' runner-up position was solidified by several high finishes: Kellen Weber (125) and Dan Patterson (135) were third; and Travis Mohlhenrich (152) was fourth. Hamper (32-6)

On February 16, 2007, DONALD "Duke" HOFFMAN, beloved husband of Joyce Hoffman, father of six loving children, grandfather of eight; brother of Vera Walters, Joan Hamper and deceased Joseph Hoffman. A private service will be held in Florida where he resided.

The letter from Edith M.Cord about the Wilde Lake Village Center requires a response. Kimco has owned the property for over a decade during which it became increasingly obvious the Giant store would leave. The reasons for its departure are many and not because Wilde Lake residents weren't loyal customers until the end. Proactive entrepreneurship would have had Kimco working with residents, the village board and the WLBusiness Trust, a limited liability corporation, to minimize the effects of the loss of a grocer.

Howard County school board chair Janet Siddiqui told the county delegation Tuesday night that a proposed bill to change the makeup of the board would jeopardize the search for a superintendent and hamper the progress of the state's only school system to make academic yearly progress this year. Siddiqui testified during the public hearing on behalf of a school board that could see its current makeup of seven at-large, elected members changed by a bill sponsored by Del. Frank Turner.

A new report says the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort is handicapped by the failure so far of the federal government and bay watershed states to agree on common goals for reviving the troubled estuary. The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog agency, said in a report released Thursday that a new bay restoration strategy drawn up last year by the Obama administration has not been adopted by Maryland and the bay watershed states. The year-old federal plan lays out four broad goals, 12 specific goals and 116 actions to be taken by 2025 to restore the bay. It's similar — but different in some key areas — to one adopted in 2000 by federal and state officials.

It used to be that property rights in this country meant something but apparently not to the Hilltop/Maple Community Association ("Residents lament new construction," Catonsville Times, July 27). They worked tirelessly to deny elderly Mrs. Baker the right to sell her land, at a fair market price, to whomever she wanted. When Mrs. Baker could no longer negotiate the stairs to use the bathroom and bedroom at her Maple Avenue property, she found a buyer so that she could finance her assisted living needs.

Gov. Martin O'Malley drew the ire of some in Annapolis this week when he suggested members of the General Assembly had "choked" on two of his initiatives. But at least the governor has company: Lawmakers seemed to have an especially sensitive gag reflex this year when it came to much of their agenda. Governors and legislative leaders always find something to crow about after a 90-day session, but for the first year of a four-year gubernatorial term, the pickings are relatively slim.

Like many college basketball stars whose professional careers don't immediately click in the NBA, Kenny Hasbrouck fell off the radar after he graduated from Siena last year. A rib injury in minicamp with the Miami Heat last summer and a broken foot suffered while playing a pickup game with some of his former teammates last fall left the former Cardinal Gibbons standout waiting for another chance. It almost came in March, when the Heat signed Hasbrouck to a couple of 10-day contracts off the roster of an NBA Development League team.

Francis Scott Key's unbeaten Matt Yinger (Class 1A-2A) and four regional champions from North Carroll and South Carroll (Class 3A-4A) head the Carroll County contingent in the annual state wrestling championships tomorrow and Saturday at Western Maryland College.Yinger (24-0 record/135 pounds), the top seed, will open against Nick Grandstaff (17-13) of Charles County's Lackey, a fourth-place finisher in the South regional.The South Carroll titleholders are Mike Muller (145/28-3) and Jason Hamper (160/30-1)

Archbishop Curley convincingly won the third Golden Bear Invitational at Hammond last night, 216-167.Heading into the finals the No. 1-ranked Friars held a 37-point lead over runner-up Hammond, and the only team battle left was for second place. The host No. 3-ranked Golden Bears hung on to nip third-place South Carroll by four points.It was Curley's fourth straight tournament victory in this season of historic firsts for the Friars."We've never wrestled at this level before," said Curley coach Alan Gebhart.

Joseph P. Hamper Jr., the last surviving member of the group of Orioles staff and investors who returned big-league baseball to Baltimore in 1954, died July 13 of a heart attack at the Blakehurst retirement community in Towson. He was 84. Mr. Hamper, the son of an auto parts manager and a Baltimore public school teacher, was born in Baltimore and raised on Belle Avenue. After graduating in 1942 from Forest Park High School, Mr. Hamper attended the University of Maryland before being drafted into the Army.

Clinton B. McCracken wants to go home to Canada. His attorney wants him to as well. So does his father. And so does the United States government. But the 33-year-old former drug researcher-turned-drug user who made headlines when his fiancee died after a drug-shooting session is stuck in a federal holding pen in York, Pa. What McCracken wants is to donate a kidney to his ailing father in Alberta. He may already be too late, and because he's been held in detention longer than 72 hours, he could be ineligible as a donor (due to risk of disease)