Hargrove

Orioles right-hander Jason Johnson remained available to pitch in relief last night, as he had done Tuesday when he threw a scoreless eighth inning with his team ahead 2-0. But despite his impressive showing and the apparent need for a calming influence in the bullpen, he's slated to start Saturday for the first time since May 13. Manager Mike Hargrove had Johnson warming again last night in the seventh inning, but he is adamant about Johnson remaining a...

Imagine for a minute that the Orioles didn't hire Mike Hargrove in late 1999 to oversee the painful organizational rebuilding effort that left the club in the midst of an unprecedented sixth consecutive losing season. Imagine that someone else was hired for the thankless task of dismantling a veteran team and reconstituting it from an underproducing minor league system. Imagine that the organization was about to fire that manager and replace him with someone who would inherit a team that finally has some promising young players and could be ready to make a major splash in the free-agent market at the end of the season.

As the Orioles limp into the All-Star break in the same, sad shape as a year ago, former manager Ray Miller, the anointed scapegoat for the debacle of 1999, surely is feeling vindicated. The 2000 season has been a carbon copy of '99 in many ways, with a weak bullpen, a lack of speed and general mediocrity consigning the Orioles to the depths of the American League East. Replacing Miller with Mike Hargrove hasn't seemed to help much, at least not with the won-lost record. But when you dig below the record, you find evidence that, strangely enough, the disappointing first half of 2000 actually has confirmed that Hargrove is a major upgrade over his fired predecessor.

Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove is watching the future of his team take shape brick by brick. Before every home game, he drives by the new stadium that is rising downtown and reminds himself of the better days that lie ahead.He can see things coming together on the field, too. His youthful team may be well down in the standings and its sub-.500 record might be disappointing under normal circumstances, but there has been nothing normal about 1993 -- not in the aftermath of the boating accident that killed relief pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews and seriously injured pitcher Bob Ojeda.

Emotion swept the stands. It was a memorable moment, yet sensitive. Time for sadness, of remembering the past and relating in a deeply personal way to a man walking to the pitcher's mound. Bobby Ojeda was back in a physical sense. But he would never be free of the torment, the painful recollections of a spring training evening when a fishing boat hit a pier with whiplash devastation.Two teammates died. Bobby Ojeda lived and fought the good fight. He thinks and prays often for Steve Olin and Tim Crews.

Florence V. Hargrove, an amiable City Hall maintenance worker who was a friend to mayors and City Council members for more than a decade, died of a heart attack April 30 at her Northwest Baltimore home. She was 66. "She was an awesome lady and one of those people in City Hall who always greeted you with a warm, broad smile each morning. She was like a member of the family, and we're all going to miss her," Mayor Martin O'Malley said yesterday. She was born and raised Florence V. Boyd in Chase City, Va., and moved to Baltimore in 1957.

Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove responded emphatically yesterday to remarks made by Orioles first base coach John Stearns about a play made by Indians right fielder Manny Ramirez on Tuesday.Stearns said after Game 1 that he did not think Ramirez knew Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles was tagging up at third base when Ramirez caught Roberto Alomar's shallow fly ball to right field in the sixth inning of a tie game, but did not throw home to challenge the slow-running catcher."I think John Stearns would do well probably to pay attention to his own club," Hargrove told ESPN before yesterday's game.

WE, AS A culture, elevate entertainers and athletes to positions of high visibility. By virtue of this visibility, and the insatiable public desire to know every facet of their lives, they become part of our lives. Many have earned their celebrity by accomplishments in the arts or in the athletic arena. No one would deny that Michael Jordan, by virtue of his talent and class, has earned all of the adulation heaped upon him. When you fly higher than all those around you, but your feet remain firmly planted on the ground, you have earned the title "role model."

It was a seemingly trivial exchange, a routine conversation between a manager and his leadoff man. But it was an exchange that showed how far Mike Hargrove has come, and how he already is making a difference with the Orioles. Hargrove drew criticism last season in Cleveland for failing to communicate with players. Brady Anderson drew criticism in Baltimore for failing to execute a sacrifice bunt in Texas under former manager Ray Miller. Well, there was Hargrove before yesterday's game, thanking Anderson for two pivotal sacrifice bunts that the player delivered in Saturday's 2-1 victory over Detroit in 10 innings.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken was scratched from yesterday's exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals because of neck stiffness. Ripken said he felt "a little strain" in his left trapezius muscle while taking a swing in the batting cage shortly before the first pitch. He notified manager Mike Hargrove, who quickly decided to replace Ripken with Ryan Minor rather than risk aggravating the condition. "It's not me. I let Grover [Hargrove] know and Grover made a decision," Ripken said.