Management Team

NEW YORK -- On a road trip where the Orioles have come to expect the unexpected, Eddie Murray finished last night's game in charge of the lineup card, Albert Belle made a catch that became a non-catch, Rocky Coppinger could be found in the eighth inning of a one-run game and fifth starter Jason Johnson outlasted David Cone.For a team no longer bound as much by wins and losses as projection and intrigue, the Orioles' 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees may not have been as significant as its most uplifting subplot.

Help others and you'll help yourself is more than just a slogan at RWD Technologies Inc.It's the business model and the mantra.RWD develops technologies and training programs that help employees of its big-name customers do their jobs better -- which, in turn, helps performance and profitability.But employees and managers say that simple statement doesn't capture the energy and innovation that are fueling RWD's growth.The Columbia company has racked up average annual sales gains of 40 percent over the past five years.

Names in the newsJerry Korzybski of Millersville has been appointed manager of the Mass Transit Administration's Customer and Community Relations Division. He will work with the director of customer services to resolve transit-related issues with individuals, communities, business leaders and elected officials as well as coordinate MTA outreach programs.Don Lundblad of Annapolis has joined Amerix Corp. as executive vice president of operations and part of the management team. Lundblad joins Amerix from Bank One's credit card subsidiary, First USA, where he was senior vice president of card-member services.

MANY COMPANIES talk up the goal of hiring a diversified top management team -- while silently questioning what's in it for them.A new study released by the American Management Association has come up with a promising answer that links corporate diversity to a better bottom line. The association survey of 1,087 firms found that companies with more diverse management teams tend to perform better than businesses whose executives conform to the "white, male, over-40 model."The survey stops short of suggesting that diverse management teams, which include women and workers from a range of racial backgrounds, are directly responsible for higher profits.

CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Indians pitcher Orel Hershiser doesn't mind reminiscing about the first time he crossed paths with Orioles manager Davey Johnson in the postseason. It was, after all, his finest hour.Hershiser almost singlehandedly pulled the Los Angeles Dodgers through the 1988 National League Championship Series against Johnson's heavily favored New York Mets, then went on to be one of the heroes of an even more unlikely World Series victory over the Oakland Athletics."I remember his [Mets]

It's five minutes before powerful Archbishop Spalding takes the field for another important softball game, and coach Linda Taylor is quietly hitting ground balls to the infield.Taylor never raises her voice and looks more like she is getting ready for a pickup game in the back yard than preparing one of the most feared teams in the state to do battle again.Surely, this will all change once the game starts. Right?No way.Taylor keeps the same laid-back posture for seven innings, and the top-ranked and unbeaten Cavaliers (15-0)

What Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger calls his "management team" is slated to get younger and more diverse with the promotion of Robin L. Churchill, 42, to the county's top appointed job.Ruppersberger announced his choice to replace administrative officer Merreen E. Kelly, who will be 62 when he retires June 30, at a Towson news conference yesterday. If the council confirms the appointment, Churchill will be the county's first female administrative officer in the 40 years of charter government.

The new managers of Rosecroft Raceway, the harness track in Prince George's County, will appear before the Maryland Racing Commission today to answer questions about the track's fiscal soundness.A three-person team from Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., owners of Rosecroft, took over management of the track last week.In an agreement reached Friday with Bally's Maryland Inc., a subsidiary of the casino and hotel giant, Cloverleaf gave up ownership of Ocean Downs, Maryland's other harness track on the Eastern Shore, but retained Rosecroft and replaced Bally's management team with its own.Gerald Brittingham, president of both Cloverleaf Enterprises and the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, is leader of the new management team.

It's May 4, 1896, and the Orioles are on the fritz. The champions are 5-7, playing like stumblebums and falling toward the National League cellar. This is the Baltimore team that ran off with the pennant last year? The staff ace was shelled today. The shortstop made three more errors. And everything the Orioles hit was caught, including a foul ball that fell into a fan's coat pocket.Next up: a grueling road trip marked by hot train rides, lumpy hotel beds and bad water.What's a manager to do?

Rent-A-Wreck rewards its turnaround teamRent-A-Wreck of America Inc., the Owings Mills-based used car rental company, has taken a financial U-turn to better times and its top management is going along for the ride.In the three years since Rent-A-Wreck brought in new management, its operations have gone from $400,000 in the red to $500,000 in the black.Due to this success, the company's board of directors said yesterday that it is extending by five years its management agreement with the father-and-son team of K.A.B.