Hulett

The funeral for the 6-year-old son of Baltimore Orioles infielder Tim Hulett will be held Tuesday in Springfield, Ill.Sam Hulett died Thursday of injuries suffered when he was struck by a car Wednesday afternoon.The youngster's heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas were preserved for possible donation and two of those organs already have been used for transplant.The viewing and funeral service are scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at the Calvary Temple in Springfield.Plans for a memorial service in Baltimore have not yet been completed.

Frank (Bub) There will be a memorial service held on Friday, August 29 at 12 noon at the Maine Veterans Cemetery.

It hardly came as a surprise when the Orioles fit two of their veteran pieces back into the puzzle yesterday with the signing of Harold Baines and Tim Hulett.Both had declared for free agency, but also had expressed a desire to return, and it was evident from the outset they remained in the club's plans -- Baines as the primary designated hitter and Hulett in a reserve infield role.When Mike Pagliarulo, a left-handed-hitting third baseman, announced Wednesday that he would play in Japan next season, the signing of the two became even more important.

A cell phone rings and the mind begins playing home movies. Just like that. No warning, no time to gather emotions. One minute, former Orioles infielder Tim Hulett is stepping outside the door of his Shreveport, La., home to have dinner with his family. Then he finds out that his oldest son, Tug, has been drafted by the Texas Rangers. In a flash, a father and his four boys are in the back yard playing Wiffle ball, the years melting away. Such a warm illusion. "I knew he wanted to be drafted.

CHICAGO -- Tim Hulett is not a complainer, a personality trait that comes in handy for the role he plays with the Orioles."Everybody would like to play more," said Hulett, whose 12th-inning single drove in the winning run in the Orioles' 3-2 victory over the White Sox Monday night. "But I understand what he [manager Johnny Oates] is trying to do and where I fit in."I pretty much understand my role," said the soft-spoken infielder. Mostly that role requires Hulett to sit and wait . . . and wait . . . and wait.

CHICAGO -- No team hotel for the Huletts in Chicago -- too confining. Linda and the three boys stay with Tim at the "Holidome," a hotel in Rolling Meadows, Ill. There's an indoor pool, an indoor basketball court, shuffleboard, tennis, the works.Tim's parents, Harold and Judy, also made the three-hour trip from Springfield, Ill., this weekend, but they couldn't stay for yesterday's game. Usually, that would be no big deal, for Tim plays once in a lunar equinox. But this time . . .Let's just hope Harold and Judy found a TV at their grandson's graduation.

Utilitymen Tim Hulett and Mark McLemore continued to make the most of their opportunities yesterday, answering John Oates' latest call with a big assist in the Orioles' 8-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Camden Yards.Hulett, who started at third base for Leo Gomez, nearly hit for the cycle, getting a single, double and triple in four plate appearances.He also scored an insurance run in the eighth inning, coming in on a squeeze bunt base hit by McLemore."I wished I had got another at-bat," said Hulett, when told of his near-cyclical performance.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Tim Hulett knows his place. He knows that he would not be playing third base regularly if Leo Gomez were healthy or someone else were available. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't still view himself as a viable everyday player."I think you always do," Hulett said yesterday. "I think if you settle for being a utility player, you're admitting that you're not good enough to be an everyday player. Nobody wants to do that."That doesn't mean that there isn't a certain nobility in being the consummate utility player, but Hulett never has given up on the possibility of playing a bigger role in the Orioles lineup.

The Orioles announced during last night's rain delay that infielder Tim Hulett has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Tuesday.To fill Hulett's roster spot, the club purchased the contract of reserve infielder Tommy Shields, a Fairfax, Va., native, from the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.Hulett will return to his hometown, Springfield, Ill., for the funeral of his 6-year-old son, Sam, who died Thursday of injuries suffered when he was hit by a car Wednesday.Club officials said Hulett would rejoin the team Aug. 3, when the Orioles return to Baltimore to play the Detroit Tigers, though he could not return to the active roster until two days later.

BOSTON -- Manager Johnny Oates played a hunch yesterday, and it played very large in the Orioles' 8-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.He was looking for someone to get on base against Red Sox left-hander Frank Viola and he looked to utility player Tim Hulett, who moved into the second spot as designated hitter in the lineup and contributed three hits to the club's first big offensive performance of the season.Why Hulett?"We were struggling at the top of the order, and I just wanted to get somebody else up there," Oates said.

It's a fact Tug Hulett, whose father, Tim, played for the Orioles, was drafted by the Rangers in the 14th round last week. Milestone Mark Rogers, drafted fifth overall by the Brewers, is the first Maine native picked in the first round. The number 270: Players drafted last week from California. The state with the next-highest total: Florida with 172.

I Do, I Do, a nostalgic two-person musical being put on by the Musical Artists Theatre Company this weekend, is well-suited to Chesapeake Arts Center's intimate 110-seat Studio Theatre. The final performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, and for 3 p.m. Sunday. On the evening I attended, the theater seemed full -- even though about half the seats were occupied -- by an audience of apparent regulars. A few people in the first row were engaging in subdued repartee with the principals.

Shortly before the Chesapeake Arts Center opened in Brooklyn Park in late 2000, a group of Baltimore professionals formed Musical Artists Theatre to develop original musicals, showcase contemporary American works and mount innovative productions of classics at this new facility. Having produced its original Christmas Carol at Chesapeake Arts Center's Main Theatre in December and an original show Rags to Riches set to the music of Scott Joplin at the center's Studio Theatre in May, Musical Artists Theatre now opens its third show: Dreamland.

In Musical Artists Theater's current production of Rags to Riches, we are transported to New York City as it may have existed 100 years ago. This NYC vision is the creation of playwright, lyricist and director Michael Hulett, assisted by his wife, Ruth Hulett, who serves as music director, costume designer and voice coach. For the production, which opened last weekend at the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts' Studio Theater, Hulett reworked a play that he originally completed more than 20 years ago. Having been requested to write original songs for an old-fashioned melodrama, this award-winning playwright chose to write words for Scott Joplin's singable, syncopated melodies.

A NEW MUSICAL featuring the music of Scott Joplin will premiere at 8 p.m. Friday at the Chesapeake Center for Creative Arts in Brooklyn Park. Rags to Riches, described as a "madcap musical melodrama," was written by Baltimore playwright Michael Hulett. It is a production of the Musical Artists Theater, and it is based on the 1890s play From Rags to Riches by Charles A. Taylor. Hulett's works are well-known in theater circles. His play Alexander and his adaptation of The Wind in the Willows have won national playwriting competitions.

WITH the Christmas season near, the television networks will begin bombarding us with holiday programs that, after being seen 10 times, begin to lose their appeal. Perhaps a new and different production of an old favorite will cure our rerun blahs. The Musical Artists Theater will present a new musical production of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol weekends Dec. 7-16 in Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts, 194 Hammonds Lane. Lyricist Michael Hulett said the production adheres to the original story - with all dialogue coming straight from Dickens' pen. The sets and costumes strive to create a vivid picture of Victorian England in the 1840s.

The Orioles want to re-sign third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, and they've got a chance to do it quickly. The minute Peter Angelos recovers from laryngitis, he should call general manager Roland Hemond and scream, "Bring back Pags!"The status of a 33-year-old third baseman might not seem like a pressing concern in mid-October, but it's first on the Orioles' off-season checklist, and represents a window of opportunity for the new regime.Pagliarulo can become a free agent if the Orioles decline to offer him salary arbitration in the five days after the World Series.

The Orioles were in Minnesota on the one-year anniversary of the accident."You all right?" manager Johnny Oates asked Tim Hulett."I'm OK," Hulett replied, forcing a smile.It was the answer Oates wanted, the answer he expected, but it wasn't the truth.Hulett wasn't OK.Not on July 22, one year after his 6-year-old son, Sam, was struck by an automobile. And not on July 23, the anniversary of Sam's death."Usually, when I get to the park, it's a lot easier to get away from it," Hulett said last week.

A day after Lee Sanford Hulett died doing what he loved doing most -- jumping out of airplanes strapped into a parachute -- friends and relatives reminisced about his love of risk.Mr. Hulett, 70, of Columbia's Kings Contrivance village, died Sunday after his parachute failed to open in the skies over Hanover, Pa., on his fourth jump of the day.A World War II paratrooper who made more than 1,400 jumps in his life, he returned to Europe last year to jump on the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Parachute jumping was his love, his reason for living, friends and relatives said.

A day after Lee Sanford Hulett died doing what he loved doing most -- jumping out of airplanes strapped into a parachute -- friends and relatives reminisced about his love of risk.Mr. Hulett, 70, of Columbia's Kings Contrivance village, died Sunday after his parachute failed to open in the skies over Hanover, Pa., on his fourth jump of the day.A World War II paratrooper who made more than 1,400 jumps, he returned to Europe last year to jump on the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Parachute jumping was his love, his addiction, his reason for living, friends and relatives said.