Joe Orsulak

There's little disputing that the 1993 Orioles are a talented team. But so are the 1993 ex-Orioles, especially on the mound:Starters: Dennis Martinez (Expos), Mike Morgan (Cubs), Curt Schilling (Phillies), Pete Harnisch (Astros), Jose Mesa (Indians)Relievers: Storm Davis (Athletics), John Habyan (Yankees), Jose Bautista (Cubs), Mike Boddicker (Royals)Catcher: Mickey Tettleton (Tigers)First base: Eddie Murray (Mets)Second base: Bill Ripken (Rangers)Shortstop: Juan Bell (Phillies)Third base: Rene Gonzales (Angels)

Top-ranked Loyola won a second straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title at yesterday's championship meet - but No. 4 Calvert Hall made the Dons work for it. Loyola put two runners in the top 10 and finished with 66 points in the race at Oregon Ridge Park. The Cardinals had three in the top 10 but ended up with 67 points as the Dons captured their third championship in four years. Loyola also clinched a fourth straight regular-season title. The Dons went 8-0 this season and have 32 consecutive wins.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Orioles have decided not to offer salary arbitration to free agent Joe Orsulak, effectively ending his five-year career in Baltimore.Orsulak and agent Ron Shapiro confirmed that there had not been any serious contract negotiations with the club and expressed disappointment that the veteran outfielder would not be a part of the team next season."It pretty much seems like that's it," said Shapiro, who is attending the baseball winter meetings at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville.

Taking the field alongside RipkenThese players have started games in the field with Cal Ripken since the streak began May 30, 1982. Players are listed in order of their appearance:Right fielders (54)Dan FordJim DwyerGary RoenickeJohn LowensteinKen SingletonBenny AyalaMike YoungTito LandrumJohn ShelbyLarry SheetsLee LacyJuan BeniquezJim TraberNelson SimmonsKen GerhartJoe OrsulakFred LynnJeff StoneKeith HughesButch DavisCarl NicholsSteve FinleyMike DevereauxStan JeffersonBrady AndersonBrad KomminskMickey TettletonDave GallagherJeff McKnightDwight EvansDavid SeguiChito MartinezLuis MercedesMark McLemoreSherman ObandoJeffrey HammondsDwight SmithJack VoigtChris SaboLonnie SmithKevin BassAndy Van SlykeBobby BonillaJarvis BrownMark SmithTony TarascoLuis PoloniaEric DavisPete IncavigliaJerome WaltonJeff RebouletDavid DellucciGeronimo BerroaJoe CarterCenter fielders (23)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The first time New York Mets manager Dallas Green said it, people were taken somewhat aback. When asked in January who might play first base for the Mets and who might bat leadoff, one of the first answers to both questions was Joe Orsulak.Joe Orsulak?Orsulak used to lead off, back in Pittsburgh in the mid-'80s, when he started his major-league career before going to Baltimore for five seasons. And he has played first base -- exactly four times, that is.But in his first season with the Mets, Orsulak served mainly as a platoon outfielder, a starter against right-handed pitchers.

Lack of commitmentAs a loyal Orioles fan and season-ticket holder, I am deeply disturbed by the ownership and by management's lack of commitment toward improving the team.The fans are pouring a tremendous amount of money into Camden Yards, and we expect and demand that the ownership reinvest this money to build a championship team.The Orioles came away from the winter baseball meetings with absolutely nothing.They should quit being such tightwads and free some of the profits to acquire a decent No. 4 hitter and outfielder.

He ain't heavy . . .Had Eli Jacobs waited until the end of the season, he would have found that there were no teams in either league that would have traded for a mediocre, slow and awkward player as Cal Ripken Jr.By waiting, Jacobs would have gotten rid of all three Ripkens and saved himself a barrel of money. He also would have found that tradition doesn't win ballgames.Bob WeisWhite MarshHe's my brotherI think the Orioles did the right thing. It was time to get rid of all that dead weight (Joe Orsulak, Bob Milacki, Sam Horn, Randy Milligan, Bill Ripken, Mike Flanagan, Rick Dempsey, Storm Davis and Cal Ripken Sr.)

Complaining to management, engaging in idle boasting or revealing his innermost feelings has never been Joe Orsulak's way. In the end, a grown man swinging a bat, running down fly balls and knowing when to try for the extra base becomes all so elementary. Fun and games.Something far more important now draws the total attention of Joe Orsulak but, again, he's not asking others to empathize or sympathize. He always knew his wife, from the first time he saw her, when she was senorita Adrianna Venditti, of Valencia, Venezuela, was something special in looks and quality of character.

Get better announcersWhy don't the networks issue a survey and find out just what the viewers want? Regarding television and radio, they hire some of the bottom-of-the-barrel announcers, such as Jon Miller, John Lowenstein, Mel Proctor, Ray KnighThe only way to enjoy a game when some of these fellows are on is to turn off the sound.Homer JahnigenEllicott CityFirst pitch to the worthyThe traditional ceremony of throwing out the first ball at games by some big deal dignitary is an absolutely meaningless ritual.

Top-ranked Loyola won a second straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title at yesterday's championship meet - but No. 4 Calvert Hall made the Dons work for it. Loyola put two runners in the top 10 and finished with 66 points in the race at Oregon Ridge Park. The Cardinals had three in the top 10 but ended up with 67 points as the Dons captured their third championship in four years. Loyola also clinched a fourth straight regular-season title. The Dons went 8-0 this season and have 32 consecutive wins.

Catchers Rick Dempsey, Joe Nolan and John Stefero were omitted from yesterday's story listing starters who had played with Cal Ripken during his consecutive-games streak.The Sun regrets the error.IN THE FIELD WITH CALThese players have started games in the field with Cal Ripken since the streak began May 30, 1982. Players are listed in order of their appearance.RIGHT FIELDERS (43)Dan FordJim DwyerGary RoenickeJohn LowensteinKen SingletonBenny AyalaMike YoungTito LandrumJohn ShelbyLarry SheetsLee LacyJuan BeniquezJim TraberNelson SimmonsKen GerhartJoe OrsulakFred LynnJeff StoneKeith HughesButch DavisCarl NicholsSteve FinleyMike DeverauxStan JeffersonBrady AndersonBrad KomminskMickey TettletonDave GallagherJeff McKnightDwight EvansDavid SeguiChito MartinezLuis MercedesMark McLemoreSherman ObandoJeffrey HammondsDwight SmithJack VoigtChris SaboLonnie SmithKevin BassAndy Van SlykeBobby BonillaCENTER FIELDERS (20)

His wife has an inoperable brain tumor. His younger son twice has undergone open-heart surgery. But every day is a good day, Joe Orsulak says.Every day is one more day that his wife can share with their two sons, one more day that she can smile, one more day that she can enjoy life."

Complaining to management, engaging in idle boasting or revealing his innermost feelings has never been Joe Orsulak's way. In the end, a grown man swinging a bat, running down fly balls and knowing when to try for the extra base becomes all so elementary. Fun and games.Something far more important now draws the total attention of Joe Orsulak but, again, he's not asking others to empathize or sympathize. He always knew his wife, from the first time he saw her, when she was senorita Adrianna Venditti, of Valencia, Venezuela, was something special in looks and quality of character.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The first time New York Mets manager Dallas Green said it, people were taken somewhat aback. When asked in January who might play first base for the Mets and who might bat leadoff, one of the first answers to both questions was Joe Orsulak.Joe Orsulak?Orsulak used to lead off, back in Pittsburgh in the mid-'80s, when he started his major-league career before going to Baltimore for five seasons. And he has played first base -- exactly four times, that is.But in his first season with the Mets, Orsulak served mainly as a platoon outfielder, a starter against right-handed pitchers.

Think maybe now the Orioles will invite Mark McLemore to spring training as a member of their 40-man roster?They didn't last season, encouraging McLemore to pursue other offers, then reluctantly re-signing him to a minor-league contract.And they didn't this season, risking the loss of McLemore as a free agent, then giving him the same type of non-roster deal.Before club officials start congratulating themselves for McLemore, they should be grateful he wanted to stay. Otherwise, they easily could have lost the player who has been their first-half MVP.McLemore, 28, patterns himself after Detroit's Tony Phillips, another switch-hitter who took years to develop.

CHICAGO -- In the aftermath of Monday night's two-hour team meeting, the Orioles continued to sort through the questions that have dogged them since Opening Day.The club entered last night's game farther out of first place -- 7 1/2 games -- than it was at any point during the 1992 season, though it appears to be a deeper, more talented team than it was a year ago."I can't put my finger on it," first baseman Glenn Davis said. "There are a variety of things that have happened. We just haven't been playing good baseball and there isn't one thing you can put your finger on. It encompasses the whole game."

Sam, my man:We meet at last.You, the lefthanded slugger.Me, the warehouse in rightfield.It's destiny, isn't it? I'm 94, you're 28, but baseball spans the generations. This is "The Natural" come to life.Goodbye, Robert Redford.Hello, Sam Horn.Man, I love lefthanded hitters with bang-bang names. Babe Ruth. Remember him? Used to play down here. Old man ran a bar in centerfield. Kid was trouble, but he could hit.Times change. The B&O Railroad is gone. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is here. The name is about the dumbest thing I've heard.

Joe Orsulak had gotten pretty comfortable in Baltimore. During his five-year career with the Orioles, he had become a fan favorite and an important component of a developing team, but now he'll have to adjust to a very different set of surroundings.Orsulak, who became a free agent at the end of the 1992 season, signed a one-year contract with the New York Mets yesterday and will be returning to the division from which he came in a 1987 trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.The Orioles showed little interest in keeping him after a season in which he batted .289 with four home runs and 39 RBI. He made $1.3 million in 1992, but accepted a pay cut to join the Mets as a fourth outfielder.

CHICAGO -- In the aftermath of Monday night's two-hour team meeting, the Orioles continued to sort through the questions that have dogged them since Opening Day.The club entered last night's game farther out of first place -- 7 1/2 games -- than it was at any point during the 1992 season, though it appears to be a deeper, more talented team than it was a year ago."I can't put my finger on it," first baseman Glenn Davis said. "There is a variety of things that have happened. We just haven't been playing good baseball and there isn't one thing you can put your finger on. It encompasses the whole game."

There's little disputing that the 1993 Orioles are a talented team. But so are the 1993 ex-Orioles, especially on the mound:Starters: Dennis Martinez (Expos), Mike Morgan (Cubs), Curt Schilling (Phillies), Pete Harnisch (Astros), Jose Mesa (Indians)Relievers: Storm Davis (Athletics), John Habyan (Yankees), Jose Bautista (Cubs), Mike Boddicker (Royals)Catcher: Mickey Tettleton (Tigers)First base: Eddie Murray (Mets)Second base: Bill Ripken (Rangers)Shortstop: Juan Bell (Phillies)Third base: Rene Gonzales (Angels)