Johnny Oates

Ray Miller had three different stints as the Orioles' pitching coach spread over 11 seasons and one as manager that lasted two years. But his legacy in helping develop a host of talented pitchers — five different 20-game winners and a pair of Cy Young Award winners — made Miller an obvious candidate for the team's Hall of Fame. Five years after he last wore an Orioles uniform, that legacy was celebrated Saturday night during a pre-game ceremony at Camden Yards in which Miller was honored along with late Orioles manager Johnny Oates and Len Johnston, who held several positions in the team's minor league system for more than 30 years.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Just before Wednesday's workout began at the Ed Smith Stadium Complex, Orioles manager Buck Showalter called for 10-year-old Johnny Oates II and his younger brother Jackson to hop the fence and join the team on the field. The siblings quickly sprinted to Showalter, who introduced them to the players circling around, most of them starters. That's when Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts spoke up. “Let's show them what we have in common,” Roberts said with a smile before both he and Johnny lifted their shirts to reveal large vertical scars along the middle of their chests.

Johnny Oates became the leading candidate to manage the Texas Rangers when Phil Regan dropped out of the running to become the Orioles' manager yesterday.Regan was given a two-year contract by the Orioles plus a club option for the third season to replace Oates, who was fired at the end of the season.Regan had been scheduled for an interview with the Rangers yesterday but canceled his flight when he received the Orioles' offer.Oates remains the only candidate to have interviewed with the Rangers since Kevin Kennedy was fired Wednesday, and general manager Doug Melvin said Oates was a strong candidate, saying: "We had a good interview."

Former Orioles pitcher Rick Sutcliffe had every intention of heading home for the 1992 season, and why not? His roots - and his family - were in the Kansas City area, where he grew up within a short drive of Royals Stadium. He had already accomplished quite a lot during the first 13 years of his major league career, and he figured the time was right to spend the rest of that career sleeping in his own bed after home games. Maybe it's true that life is what happens while you're making other plans, because Sutcliffe's lifeplan changed with one phone call from an old friend and a brief visit to an unfinished stadium in a place he had never heard of called Camden Yards.

It didn't come as a shock.It never does.When a team struggles to a 13-24 record the manager is either already gone or afraid to answer the phone.Still, when Frank Robinson was "reassigned" to the front office and replaced by Johnny Oates yesterday, there was at least an element of surprise. The Orioles had just completed an informal workout at Memorial Stadium, when trainer Richie Bancells informed Robinson that general manager Roland Hemond wanted to see him.An off day. The team returning home from yet another losing road trip.

Former Orioles manager Johnny Oates wanted everyone to know it would be all right. From the day doctors diagnosed an incurable form of brain cancer in 2001 until yesterday, when he died at age 58 at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, he used his illness as a platform to deliver a positive message about faith and grace. "Just what he has gone through the last three years and the way he has gone about it tells you everything about him," said close friend and former Orioles coach Jerry Narron.

MATOACA, Va. - In the days after he resigned as manager of the Texas Rangers last May, Johnny Oates would sun himself on the scenic waterfront of his rural Virginia home and wonder about his future. His managerial credentials were solid, so there surely would be other chances to guide a major-league team to the World Series, and the rare opportunity to be home in the summer with his wife, near his grown kids and his two young grandsons, quickly took the sting out of an unhappy ending in Texas.

May 23, 1991: Johnny Oates replaced Frank Robinson as Orioles manager.

Gore has no chance against Bradley, unless they talk issues. Should the 2000 election turn on Democrats advocating the right to sue your HMO against GOP opposition, pity those poor Republicans. When Pinochet goes to trial in Spain for what he did in Chile, you wouldn't want to be a Franco-era Spanish official on a skiing holiday in Chile. Johnny Oates for Manager of the Year!

The Ripken countdown 56: Total games remaining 27: Home games remaining Highlight: Ripken played for six managers during his streak: Earl Weaver, Joe Alto belli, Cal Ripken Sr., Frank Robinson, Johnny Oates and Phil Regan. SCHEDULE Tue...........Wed.............Thu....... ......Fri............Sat...............Sun................Mon. 31.................1..................2. ...............3................4....................5......................6 Tam............Tam...........

May 23, 1991: Johnny Oates replaced Frank Robinson as Orioles manager.

Ray Miller had three different stints as the Orioles' pitching coach spread over 11 seasons and one as manager that lasted two years. But his legacy in helping develop a host of talented pitchers — five different 20-game winners and a pair of Cy Young Award winners — made Miller an obvious candidate for the team's Hall of Fame. Five years after he last wore an Orioles uniform, that legacy was celebrated Saturday night during a pre-game ceremony at Camden Yards in which Miller was honored along with late Orioles manager Johnny Oates and Len Johnston, who held several positions in the team's minor league system for more than 30 years.

The phone call was returned far quicker than Buck Showalter expected, and he wasn't kept in suspense for very long upon answering it. "I called and I said, 'Is this No.26 speaking?,'" Gloria Oates said. "That's when he knew we were all on board. It's so touching. Johnny was a man who valued friendships so very much. He kept all his friendships intact. They had that mentor relationship and friendship, and they kept it even when they were competitors. It meant so much to both of them.

A"PRIVILEGE." That's what Jets quarterback Chad Pennington said the media enjoy when covering pro athletes. But that's old news, overtaken by events since then. The sports world, the one Pennington is grasping to understand beyond his own place in it, lost Johnny Oates and Reggie White in the past week. If Pennington really understood how much of a privilege it was to be around those two men during their too-short stays on Earth, he'd never use the word in that context again, no matter what point he was trying to make or gaffe he was trying to play off. Not to speak for everybody covering sports in America these days, but it's safe to say Pennington's crack a week and a half ago - that it's a privilege, not a right, to be around the best athletes in the world - gave a number of us in this business pause to reflect.

Former Orioles manager Johnny Oates wanted everyone to know it would be all right. From the day doctors diagnosed an incurable form of brain cancer in 2001 until yesterday, when he died at age 58 at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, he used his illness as a platform to deliver a positive message about faith and grace. "Just what he has gone through the last three years and the way he has gone about it tells you everything about him," said close friend and former Orioles coach Jerry Narron.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Removed from his position as Orioles manager eight years ago, Johnny Oates will be given the ball on Opening Day. Oates has accepted an invitation from majority owner Peter Angelos to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the April 1 game against the New York Yankees. The idea was presented to Angelos last month as part of the team's 10-year celebration of its move to Camden Yards. "We've been looking at this since the beginning of spring training," said club spokesman Bill Stetka, who confirmed Oates' involvement in the pre-game agenda.

Some said he could not have done a better job.Others said he wilted under the pressure of managing a championship-caliber team.Everyone agreed, this season was a difficult one for fired Orioles manager Johnny Oates.Former Orioles pitcher Pete Harnisch, who said he enjoyed playing for Oates at Triple-A Rochester, said he could not believe when he saw footage on ESPN this season of Oates lashing out at the media."That's not the Johnny Oates I knew," said Harnisch, who now pitches for the Houston Astros.

MATOACA, Va. - In the days after he resigned as manager of the Texas Rangers last May, Johnny Oates would sun himself on the scenic waterfront of his rural Virginia home and wonder about his future. His managerial credentials were solid, so there surely would be other chances to guide a major-league team to the World Series, and the rare opportunity to be home in the summer with his wife, near his grown kids and his two young grandsons, quickly took the sting out of an unhappy ending in Texas.