Management Team

Baltimore school officials have told a federal judge they expect the state to pay for a new team tasked with fixing the city's special-education system, an expense they said will be more than originally projected. City administrators also want state education leaders to develop a work plan that would include goals to measure the team's performance and determine when it is no longer needed, a motion filed in federal court Friday shows. The motion comes after an Aug. 12 order by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis created an eight-member management team to oversee instruction of the district's 15,000 special-education students.

In September 2003, a reluctant Jerry Narron talked a bit about his interest in becoming a major league manager again. It looked like the Orioles were about to fire Mike Hargrove, and Narron, then bench coach for Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little, was rumored to be a candidate. An Orioles coach under Johnny Oates and a minor league manager in the Orioles' organization, Narron took the professional approach, saying he didn't want to speculate about a job that wasn't vacant. But he acknowledged that he loved Baltimore and would be honored to try to steer the Orioles back to respectability.

As he prepares for a re-election attempt, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. unveiled the most significant staff changes of his administration yesterday, announcing the resignation of his longtime chief of staff and the promotion of the state budget secretary as a replacement. Steven L. Kreseski, who was chief of staff when Ehrlich was in Congress and continued after the 2002 election, will leave the executive office in July to take a Washington lobbying position. Replacing Kreseski in the critical position will be James C. "Chip" DiPaula Jr., secretary of the state Department of Budget and Management.

The Orioles took their turn yesterday courting free-agent pitcher Carl Pavano, greeting him at Penn Station and arranging dinner with owner Peter Angelos. In time, they will find out if their first swings of the offseason moved them ahead of two division rivals. Orioles executive vice president Jim Beattie met Pavano and agent Scott Shapiro around 3 p.m., making Baltimore the fourth stop on Pavano's whirlwind tour. The itinerary was supposed to begin with the second half of the Ravens' game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but the invitation was declined after Pavano's train arrived too late.

Decision to play shows O's don't care for fans Any last vestige of belief that the Orioles care at all for their fans was erased with the team's decision to play a baseball game Thursday afternoon against the New York Yankees. The broadcast of the game was interrupted by requests from the mayor for residents to stay at home. Had the game not been played, the Orioles would have had to give ticket-holders a refund. Instead, the Orioles played five innings, putting their fans and players at risk, and kept the money from the fans who had purchased tickets.

New Positions USi names Mucchetti chief operating officer USi hired Stephen A. Mucchetti to the newly created position of chief operating officer of the Annapolis company, which provides business software and other services over the Internet. Mucchetti previously was chief executive of Scient Inc. and general manager for International Business Machines Corp.'s Global Telecommunications & Media Solutions unit. Mucchetti is responsible for USi's day-to-day operations with a focus on enhancing USi's services and developing new operating strategies.

Fila Holding SpA, the Italian maker of athletic footwear and apparel, sold all its subsidiaries yesterday, including Sparks-based Fila USA Inc., to a Fila management team for $351 million in cash. The new owner is Sport Brands International LLC, whose partners include Fila USA's current chief executive, Jon Epstein, and its chief operating officer, Tom O'Riordan. In addition to Fila USA, the purchased companies are Fila Sport SpA, Fila Nederland BV, Ciesse Piumini SRL and Enyce. Sport Brands International, a newly formed affiliate of Cerberus, a private U.S. investment fund manager, will operate from the current Fila USA headquarters in Sparks and from offices in New York.

Peter Bepler and Matt Voorhees started their tech company the dot-com way: over a keg of beer in a parking lot during alumni weekend at Kenyon College. But when it came time to expand the business, the pair needed more seasoned executives. "We saw that this company had tremendous potential, and we needed to bring in experienced and proven leadership to fill that potential," said Bepler. Enter Chief Executive Officer Dennis Hooks and Vice President of Sales Bart Hawe. With years of experience in the business world, Hooks and Hawe had just the know-how that Bepler, 28, and Voorhees, 30, needed for their 2-year-old Rockville-based online accounts payable outsourcing company, Anybill Financial Services Inc. Experience was a prevailing theme yesterday at the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association's Capital Connection 2003, where start-ups seeking investments showcase their businesses for venture capitalists.

Orioles manager Mike Hargrove received word during the weekend that his ailing mother had taken a turn for the worse, so he flew home to Texas yesterday, leaving control of the team to bench coach Sam Perlozzo. After beginning Easter with that unsettling news, the Orioles found a way to make things easy for Perlozzo, playing a game so crisp, it was Tough Decision Lite. Melvin Mora hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and Omar Daal turned in his first dominant pitching performance of the season, as the Orioles coasted to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before 25,787 at Camden Yards.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos has rearranged the management structure of the team's front office, hiring a two-man decision-making team to run the baseball operation and - he hopes - restore some prestige to an organization tarnished by five consecutive losing seasons. It is a gutsy play. Baseball operations director Syd Thrift is out. Former Montreal Expos general manager Jim Beattie and popular former Orioles pitcher, coach and broadcaster Mike Flanagan are in. Angelos envisions a team-oriented braintrust that takes advantage of the strengths of both new executives, without designating either as the clear-cut No. 1 guy. Flanagan is the Angelos confidante with firsthand knowledge of much of the team's major- and minor-league personnel.