Langston

At my request, Sam Wilson Jr., 72, searches his mind, looking for that one special instant in time, that defining moment in the 40-year history of Baltimore's Arena Players."

Atlanta Braves outfielder David Justice could recover from his back problem and return in two weeks, the team announced last night.Justice had a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test that found a "stress reaction" in the lower back, orthopedist Dr. Joe Chandler said.* PHILLIES: Infielder Dale Sveum has a torn right rotator cuff, but probably will not need surgery, the team's physician said.The Phillies placed Sveum on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday, retroactive to April 8.* ANGELS: Left-hander Mark Langston will rejoin the team in Texas today after staying behind to have his injured left leg checked.

The arrival of former Oriole Rene Gonzales was a big plus for the California Angels yesterday, but it couldn't offset the departure of lefthander Mark Langston in the Angels' 13-9 victory over Milwaukee before 22,823 at Anaheim Stadium.Gonzo, as he was affectionately known in Baltimore, got off a plane from Triple-A Edmonton just in time to hit a three-run home run, one of seven extra-base hits in the Angels' 14-hit attack yesterday. But even Lance Parrish's 1,000th RBI, coming on another three-run homer, couldn't brighten the spirits of the Angels when Langston limped off the mound with a strained left hip after pitching five innings.

A group of Highland Beach residents wants state help in purchasing the resort home of Frederick Douglass, a prominent abolitionist and statesman, and converting it to a cultural center.Raymond L. Langston, co-chairman of the Highland Beach Historical Commission, came to the county's General Assembly delegation Friday seeking $300,000 -- about half the projected purchase price.The commission would have to raise the remainder through private donations and other grants.The county's House of Delegate's contingent also heard a request for $1.2 million to convert the old, all-black Wiley H. Bates High School into a multiservice community center and rental apartments for seniors.

BOSTON -- Wally Joyner lined a two-run double in a four-run fifth inning and Mark Langston earned his ninth victory as the California Angels avoided a four-game sweep by beating the Boston Red Sox, 4-2, last night.Langston, now 9-2 after going 10-17 last season, held the Red Sox hitless for for four innings, gave up two runs in the fifth and left after allowing six hits in seven innings. Mark Eichhorn took over to start the eighth but was replaced after Wade Boggs' two-out single by Bryan Harvey, who got the last four outs for his 16th save as the Angels ended a season-high four-game losing streak.

I see by the Chatterbox that teen-age rights are in jeopardy. This will not come as news to anyone who has ever been a teen-ager, although when I wrote for the Chatterbox back in the Mesozoic era, we didn't dare suggest in print that teen-agers had any rights.The Chatterbox is published by students of George Washington High School, which used to be a brick building in a grove of oaks and sweetgums on Holbrook Avenue in Danville, Virginia. Today a school of the same name is on Broad Street, overlooking Dan River and a bridge and cloverleaf and shopping centers that didn't exist back then.

MESA, Ariz. -- If the eyes are the windows of the soul, Mark Langston's soul is carefully hidden behind blue shutters.Through the worst days of his often dreadful first California Angels season, the days he was chewed up and spit out after 2 2/3 innings or, worse still, the days he pitched brilliantly but received little offensive support, never once did those blue eyes flash in anger in front of television cameras or reporters.Never once, as he flailed toward a 10-17 record and an earned-run average of 4.40, was he seen kicking a bench or a water cooler.

Everyone knows Dave Johnson pitched a marvelous game for the Orioles the day they were eliminated from the AL East race last September. But what would have happened if Mark Langston had faced Toronto instead?Don't laugh. The Orioles actually tried to acquire Langston at the last possible moment from Montreal, according to a published report confirmed yesterday by general manager Roland Hemond.Club president Larry Lucchino described the idea as "somewhere between creative and absolutely bizarre," yet Hemond nearly pulled off what would have been one of the most unique trades in major-league history.