Hank Aaron

On any other night, Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada wouldn't have interrupted his son's shower to make him watch television. It's usually better to let a 5-year-old get clean before bed, since it tends to be a chore. But Tejada had just seen Barry Bonds hit his record-setting 756th career home run, and he didn't want little Miguel to miss the replay. It's never too early in life, or late at night, to give a child a history lesson. Bonds passed Hank Aaron on the all-time list Tuesday night after Tejada returned home from Camden Yards.

The Orioles will defy convention today when newly minted Hall of Famer Eddie Murray throws the ceremonial first pitch to Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. before the 2003 season opener against the Cleveland Indians at Camden Yards. It is not a common practice to extend that honor to a member of the opposing team, but the Indians' hitting coach obviously is a special case. Murray also graces the cover of the Orioles' 2003 media guide, so it's almost as if he never left. "It's great the treatment I've gotten from them," Murray said.

Bob Woytych had hoped his curve ball would carry him to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Instead, it was a 12-year-old's love of the game and a chance encounter with Babe Ruth 66 years ago that helped get him there.The Hall of Fame Museum will announce today that it will place one of Mr. Woytych's prize possessions -- a baseball signed by Ruth, Roger Maris and Hank Aaron -- on display in Cooperstown, N.Y. Museum officials say it is the only ball signed by all three legendary home run hitters."I didn't make it one way, but I'll make it another," said Mr. Woytych, 77, a former pitching ace in semi-pro leagues around Baltimore and Annapolis.

It has been said that the Cleveland Indians lead the major leagues in everything except quotes.That is little more than a cute exaggeration. Even though Eddie Murray, Albert Belle and a few others don't qualify as chatterboxes, the Indians are far from shrinking violets in the conversation department.But there's no questioning the fact that the Indians have made their strongest statements on the field, not in the media. And three of those making the strongest points are ex-Orioles in the midst of remarkable accomplishments.

CHICAGO -- The scientific journal Nature recently reported that a team of American and Israeli researchers had successfully identified a biological link among cohanim, establishing that members of the traditional Jewish priesthood may well be descended from a single common ancestor. According to Dr. Karl Skorecki of the Technion Institute in Haifa, ''The simplest, most straightforward explanation is that these men have the Y chromosome of Aaron,'' brother of Moses.I could have saved them all the trouble.

Astros manager Phil Garner has his own magic number, and Houston moved toward it yesterday. Wandy Rodriguez pitched a career-high 7 1/3 innings, and Lance Berkman put Houston ahead to stay with a two-run, first-inning double in a 6-1 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers that extended the Astros' winning streak to five. Houston, which had just six hits, increased its lead over the Philadelphia Phillies to 1 1/2 games in the National League wild-card race. The Florida Marlins remained 2 1/2 games back of the Astros (81-68)

For the eclectic masses that make up America, defining the legacy of San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds is a challenge. Is he cheating pariah, baseball royalty, the quintessential spoiled athlete or a combination of all of the above? To most of the men who play the game at the highest level, however, Bonds is a co-worker and peer. Consequently, to most major leaguers, Bonds is an absolute marvel. "In my mind, he is the best player of the modern era," Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder and former Oriole Eric Byrnes said.

MONTREAL - The St. Louis Cardinals are reluctantly proving one of baseball's most time-worn axioms: You can never have enough good pitching. The Cardinals have enough good pitching on the disabled list to populate a starting rotation, which explains why the club's strong start has given way to a 2-9 slump that has dropped them behind the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central. "We don't want to be the poster child for that axiom," said manager Tony La Russa.

"Singles stink." That's how Matt Stairs describes his approach to hitting, albeit in slightly more colorful language. Major League Baseball should just dismiss any pretense, and adopt Stairs' philosophy as its new marketing slogan. Singles stink. Homers are good. And with 5-foot-11, 175-pound shortstops making like Hank Aaron -- no offense, Mike Bordick -- there's no end in sight. We held off until June of last season before unleashing our annual rant against offensive excess, but with the new Bud balls stitched tighter than Madonna bustiers, we can wait no longer.

IN CASE YOU missed it -- and chances of that are pretty good -- I promised to produce answers today to the Winter Day Quiz, presented in this space Monday as a public service to snowbound readers of The Sun. Some of you might have found the quiz through Sunspot.net. (A member of the Royal Navy did but e-mailed disappointment that the questions were not "global" enough.) But I have a feeling most of you missed the whole thing, home delivery of the paper being so daunting the day after the storm of the century.