Hargrove

NEW YORK - Mike Hargrove tucked the lineup card into his equipment bag at Yankee Stadium yesterday, holding it as a keepsake, since he was fairly certain he had just managed his final game with the Orioles. With a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees, the Orioles closed out their sixth consecutive losing season, and Hargrove kept the clubhouse doors closed for a few extra minutes so he could gather his players and coaches together one last time, to offer them thanks. Hargrove finished his speech, and the team broke into spontaneous applause.

Mike Hargrove had been pestered for days about his intended time of arrival at Camden Yards on Opening Day. It would be his first official game as Orioles manager. The moment couldn't come soon enough. "I'm fired up," he said after Sunday's workout. "Someone asked me when I would get here. I asked what time they opened the doors." Hargrove seemed to enjoy just about every aspect of yesterday's game except the final score. He was gracious through the endless string of interview requests, smiling and shaking hands as he trudged from one television camera to the next.

SEATTLE - Orioles manager Mike Hargrove called closer Jorge Julio into his office after Saturday's game to explain why it was Buddy Groom, and not Julio, who closed out the 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Groom recorded the final five outs after entering in the eighth inning with a two-run lead. To end that inning, right fielder Jay Gibbons made the play of the game when he charged a shallow fly from Bret Boone and bounced a perfect throw to nail Jeff Cirillo at home plate. Julio had loosened up in the bullpen, but Hargrove stayed with the left-handed-throwing Groom against the left-handed-hitting John Olerud (grounder to second)

Orioles pitcher Jason Johnson met briefly with manager Mike Hargrove after Sunday's game at Camden Yards, seeking an explanation for his latest assignment to the bullpen and expressing his displeasure with the move. In return, Johnson apparently was given a reminder of the pecking order within the clubhouse. "The thing is, Jason's the pitcher and I'm the manager," Hargrove said before last night's game against the Texas Rangers. "I understand Jason's disappointment. I really do. But there are certain decisions that have to be made that are my decisions.

Orioles vice president for baseball operations Syd Thrift denied a report yesterday that he criticized manager Mike Hargrove and the coaching staff to an opposing general manager, and Hargrove called the matter "water under the bridge." The issue surfaced Friday night when Orioles broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer alluded to the incident during a 30-minute interview with WBAL Radio's Steve Melewski. "You know and I know how hard the coaching staff works," Palmer told the station.

It took more than 18 months, but Mike Hargrove finally got the four victories he needed to reach the 1,000-win milestone in his managerial career. When the Orioles fired him at the end of the 2003 season, Hargrove was stuck on win No. 996. His fourth as the manager of the Seattle Mariners came Wednesday, a 2-1 win over the Royals. He joked afterward that if all of his wins had been as close as that one, "I'd be dead." Hargrove began his managerial career in 1991 with Cleveland and won 721 games with the Indians before being dismissed in 1999.

DETROIT - Orioles manager Mike Hargrove isn't calling it a demotion, but he met with catcher Geronimo Gil yesterday to explain why Brook Fordyce is getting most of the playing time at catcher of late. Gil started 12 of the team's first 16 games. Fordyce has started six of the past nine games and was in the starting lineup again last night before the Orioles' game against the Detroit Tigers was postponed because of rain. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader today. "We don't have a designated No. 1 catcher right now," Hargrove said.

You don't need to see Ichiro Suzuki more than once to be amazed at how he handles a bat. See him repeatedly, though, and you'll realize his bloops, pings and sinking liners are all purposeful - little chance is involved. "You can watch him in one game, see him do what he does and say, `That lucky sucker,'" said Mike Hargrove, Suzuki's new manager with the Seattle Mariners. "Then if you watch him the way I have, since spring training, it's an everyday occurrence. ... It is not a lucky swing here, a lucky swing there.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Sounding a little tired and a little relieved, Mike Hargrove and Syd Thrift emerged yesterday from the last of three days of meetings at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. This morning, instead of discussing the strengths, weaknesses and physical condition of their 40-man roster and 14 non-roster invitees, the Orioles' new manager and new vice president of baseball operations will welcome pitchers and catchers to a camp supposedly low on suspense but long on discovery. Little time will be devoted to wasted motion.

ARLINGTON, Texas - While Orioles manager Mike Hargrove has done his best to maintain a sense of normalcy within the team's 2-13 tailspin, he has adjusted preparation for each opponent. Rather than conducting a combined session with hitters and pitchers 2 1/2 hours before each series opener, Hargrove has split the team into two groups for more detailed reports. He made the switch before last week's four-game homestand against the Boston Red Sox and continued it earlier this week in Anaheim and Thursday here.