Lucchino

Even the Orioles' front office is divided over American League manager Cito Gaston's refusal to use Mike Mussina in the ninth inning of Tuesday night's All-Star Game.Assistant general manager Frank Robinson said he was disappointed by the crowd reaction, but club president Larry Lucchino and GM Roland Hemond said yesterday they were as livid as any fans.Lucchino, a partner in a Washington law firm, expressed his anger as best he knows how Tuesday night -- by engaging his Toronto counterpart, Paul Beeston, in an argument.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles president Larry Lucchino yesterday reprimanded team official Fred Uhlman Sr. for remarks about Mexican players that the club deemed racially insensitive.A quote attributed to Uhlman in a USA Today story stated that Mexicans lack speed and that it is "a genetic-type thing." Uhlman, a special assistant to general manager Roland Hemond, has specialized in scouting Latin American players. He apologized for the remarks, which he said were not interpreted as he intended.

Glenn Davis is likely to go down in Orioles history as an expensive gamble that didn't pay off. But an insurance policy may soften that blow.Orioles officials say they expect to collect about $600,000 from a disability policy that insured them against injuries to theTC ailment-prone slugger, who was released by the club last month.The payoff offsets a fraction of Davis' 1993 salary of $3.75 million."This was an unusual situation. We usually don't insure our players against disability," said Larry Lucchino, club vice chairman for operations.

The Orioles, a wealthy Florida businessman and a Minneapolis developer have signed an agreement to build a $15 million spring training facility near Naples, Fla., to be paid for, in part, by a South Florida tourism tax.Orioles president Larry Lucchino yesterday detailed the site plan for a 7,000-seat stadium and training complex that could be ready as early as spring 1993. The complex will be located in southwest Florida's Collier County off Interstate 75.Lucchino also announced an interim agreement with St. Petersburg, Fla., officials to share Al Lang Field with the St. Louis Cardinals for 10 to 14 exhibition games next spring.

SAN DIEGO -- The deal that brought the Super Bowl back to San Diego ultimately might be remembered as the deal that drove major-league baseball out of town."

Larry Lucchino said he was sorry."I want to personally apologize," he said, "to anyone who has been inconvenienced by the ticket process."He said it over the phone, so I don't know if the Orioles president was winking or had his fingers crossed, or if his expression was heartfelt. But let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's say he is sorry. I'm sure of one thing -- that he's sorry this has ever come up. And he wanted you to know.Call him up. He's in the book. It'll make you feel better.

When the Baltimore Orioles make their debut in the new Camden Yards baseball ballpark in the spring of 1992, the visiting team may well be visiting from the National League.Although details haven't been completed, the Orioles have had discussions with the New York Mets about opening the ballpark with an exhibition game against the NL team, according to officials of both clubs.According to preliminary plans, the game probably would be played on the night of April 3, the Friday before the start of the vTC '92 regular season.

So far it's an encounter that could evolve into a bitter confrontation if reason doesn't prevail. The Baltimore Orioles and some leaders of the black community are at odds over an agreement that was signed by the team's previous administration that is now been virtually ignored. It's the kind of a dispute that needs to be settled posthaste.A news story and a full-page advertisement in the Baltimore Afro-American accuses Peter Angelos, owner of the Orioles, of failing to fulfill what the African-American Task Force on Professional Sports believes is a binding obligation that was worked out with the former president of the team, Larry Lucchino.

Almost no one caught Cal Ripken smiling throughout July and deep into August. His slump kept getting worse and he was beginning to think that his contract negotiations might never end.Ripken's agent, Ron Shapiro, and Orioles president Larry Lucchino had held their first meeting to discuss a new contract on Sept. 26, 1991, even before Ripken's MVP season had concluded. Both men knew that this would not be an easy or a brief negotiation.They were right. In all, it would take 333 days to produce a signed contract.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- So now the Orioles neglect the city's black majority. Next they'll be blamed for starting the recession, creating the hole in the ozone layer and propping up Saddam Hussein.Del. Howard P. "Pete" Rawlings may be one of the city's most respected black lawmakers, but when he criticizes the Orioles for poor community relations, he's simply ignoring the facts.Let's nail the Orioles when they deserve it, OK? Fans and politicians keep crying wolf over perceived injustices. As their howling increases, legitimate gripes become obscured.