Hargrove

IN HIS NEARLY 20 YEARS AS A "Young Lion," Roy Hargrove has grown and flown in jazz, tinting the genre with bright, interesting musical shadings. No matter what the trumpeter dives into it -- pop, hard bop, hip-hop, blues, R&B, Cuban jazz, jazz standards -- the native Texan charges the material with soul. It's that essential, transcendental feeling that invigorates and electrifies music, giving it life. This spring, Hargrove releases two albums simultaneously on the venerable Verve label: Distractions is credited to the RH Factor, the artist's loose, funk-oriented outfit, and Nothing Serious is by the Roy Hargrove Quintet, the musician's straight-ahead jazz group.

On October 6, 2005, MARY VIVIAN HARGROVE, devoted wife of Walter Hargrove. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Wednesday after 8:30 A.M. The family will receive friends on Thursday at the Trinity Baptist Church, 1600 Druid Hill Avenue at 10:30 A.M. follow by funeral service at 11 A.M. See www.marchfh.com

On September 15, 2005 JUANITA; devoted wife of Leroy. She is also survived by five daughters, 14 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the Carlton C. Douglass Funeral Service P.A., 1701 Mc Culloh St., on Wednesday 1 to 9 P.M. Family will receive friends Thursday at the Mt. Hattin Baptist Church, 2409 Aisquith Street, 10 to 10:30 A.M. with services immediately following. Interment King Memorial Park.

SEATTLE - Sam Perlozzo's answer to the question has always been the same, even as the Orioles fell further and further out of the playoff picture in the past month. Whenever a reporter asked if the Orioles' interim manager was considering sitting some veterans in favor of younger players in the final month of the season, Perlozzo responded with a refrain of the team's main focus. "The most important thing is that the team continues to try to win," Perlozzo said. It's what you'd expect to hear from a manager who isn't sure if he'll be back next season, although Perlozzo said that his job status is the furthest thing from his mind when he writes out the lineup before each game.

"I and everyone with the Orioles wish Johnny the best. He leaves with our gratitude, goodwill and respect." Johnny Oates In: May 23, 1991 (under owner Eli Jacobs) Out: Sept. 26, 1994 Won-lost: 291-270 Winning percentage: .519 "The Orioles will continue to hold Phil in high personal and professional esteem." Phil Regan In: Oct. 16, 1994 Out: Oct. 20, 1995 Won-lost: 71-73 Winning percentage: . 493 "This chapter is over, I wish him well." Davey Johnson In: Oct. 30, 1995 Out: Nov. 5, 1997 Won-lost: 186-138 Winning percentage: .574 "Ray Miller is a gentleman and a fine baseball man. ... My best wishes go out to him in his future endeavors."

LONG AGO I learned to investigate a neighborhood through its back alleys. Walk past garages, clotheslines and garbage drums, and learn little secrets, or at least think you do. I hit major pay dirt one morning this week as I walked down Hargrove Alley, the passage that parallels St. Paul and Calvert streets. Scattered across the pavement was a bonanza of 1960s record albums. The platters had been broken as if someone who had issues with Mantovani had deliberately taken chunks out of the vinyl.

No matter what becomes of the Orioles' 2005 draft class, and first-rounder Brandon Snyder, new scouting director Joe Jordan can take comfort: Nothing will ever touch the disappointment and bad karma the Orioles felt in 2001's early first round. That pain was indelible even before they reached to make Chris Smith, a left-hander from NAIA Cumberland (Tenn.) University, the seventh overall pick. Smith, regarded by many as an outfield prospect, couldn't shake shoulder injuries and pitched just 24 times in the minors before being released last week.

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.

Mike Hargrove worked his way through a pack of reporters to an empty spot in the visiting dugout, surveying the scene last night at Camden Yards from a different vantage point. The large number of microphones and tape recorders in his face didn't distort his view. "It's obviously a beautiful ballpark," Hargrove said. "It's a different view, but it's good to be back." Hargrove, the manager of the Seattle Mariners, was back at Camden Yards for the first time since the 2003 season. That was the last of his four seasons as the Orioles' manager, as he was fired after his team couldn't finish any higher than fourth place.

At some point today, with his players dressed and waiting to take the field for batting practice, Mike Hargrove might lean back in his chair in the visiting manager's office at Camden Yards, his fingers clutching the Orioles' lineup card. Maybe he'll scan the names, imagine the possibilities. If he doesn't tear the card into small pieces, it's only because he has tremendous restraint. Shouldn't he be allowed to scream, even for a few seconds, knowing he never had it so good? Miguel Tejada will start at shortstop, Melvin Mora at third base.