Mike Boddicker

It didn't matter if it were cards, pingpong, tape ball or clubhouse wrestling, Cal Ripken liked to win. So did the handful of holdovers from the team's glory years - Eddie Murray, Mike Flanagan, Scott McGregor, Mike Boddicker and Tippy Martinez. As long as they had been playing baseball, they were winners.2 * Leads Orioles in eight offensive categories.

He was considered the best in the business during his time, but George Bamberger says he couldn't operate in today's game.He was the Orioles' pitching guru during a period (1968-1977) BTC that produced at least one 20-game winner each season -- 17 overall, including four in the 1971 season. Some were admittedly outstanding pitchers (Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar), but just as many (Pat Dobson, Mike Torrez, Wayne Garland) had limited success -- and none of them peaked until they came under the tutelage of Bamberger.

Mike Mussina, who will pitch the final game of the series against the Mariners this afternoon, has an Orioles milestone within his grasp.The right-hander will be going for his 30th career win in his 56th start. Only Mike Boddicker (53) reached that plateau in fewer starts. Hall of Famer Jim Palmer needed 60 starts before recording his 30th victory.However, Mussina has lost only 12 times and no Orioles pitcher has ever won 30 of his first 42 decisions. The closest were Palmer, Storm Davis and Wally Bunker (30-15)

It could get a little crowded around the practice mounds at Twin Lakes Park next weekend. The Orioles will open pitcher and catcher workouts in Sarasota, Fla., on Friday with a long list of candidates for the final spot in manager Johnny Oates' five-man starting rotation.Don't know much about Jamie Moyer and Steve Searcy? Stick around. Excited about the Mark Williamson experiment? Why not? Ready to get acquainted with Wayne Edwards and Mike Cook and promising John O'Donoghue -- or reacquainted with Anthony Telford?

FOR THE first time in years, there's a press war at Johns Hopkins University. An upstart weekly, the Hopkins Standard, has published four issues and has diverted some reporters, advertising revenue and attention from the 96-year-old News-Letter.The Standard was founded by senior Ethan "Juice" Skolnick, who spent the summer organizing a staff, finding a printer and seeking advertisers. It's a tabloid, deliberately different from the News-Letter's broad-sheet format. It comes out on Thursdays (when it comes out on time)

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Ask assistant general manager Doug Melvin what the Orioles must do to contend this season, and he points to the necessity of three pitchers combining for 90 starts.Sounds simple enough, but for the Orioles, it's anything but. Seventeen of the other 25 clubs met Melvin's standard last season. The Orioles, for the fourth time in five years, did not.It's clear the trend must be broken. But it isn't clear whether the club's projected five-man rotation includes three pitchers dependable enough to average 30 starts.

TORONTO -- Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter has not had a major offensive impact on the American League Championship Series, but he isn't letting it get him down."

Don't trust LucchinoLarry Lucchino was quoted June 7 as saying: "When the ownership transfer occurred in 1988, I had authority to do what I thought was good for the team. We made the Eddie Murray deal, we traded Mike Boddicker and Fred Lynn during that time period."Based on what Lucchino got in return, let's hope he is not allowed to handle anything if the team is sold again.W. Donald BellBaltimore7/8 I have been an avid Orioles fan since I attended Opening Day in 1954. I have supported the team through the good and lean years.

Three days later, it still hasn't sunk in. Mike Morgan, a $3 million man. Just what everyone expected when he pitched for the Orioles in 1988.Mike Morgan, the guy who gave up six straight hits without getting an out in Kansas City to send the Orioles to 0-16. Mike Morgan, the guy who won only one game the entire year.Morgan, 32, had three decent seasons in Los Angeles, but still was only 33-36. He's coming off his first winning year, and his career began in 1978. Lifetime, he's 67-104.You think the New York Mets giving Bobby Bonilla $29 million is crazy?

With Roger Clemens out, Mike Boddicker has been shouldering a heavy load as the most experienced starter in the Boston Red Sox rotation.But Boddicker wasn't particularly interested in being called temporary staff ace after winning a pennant-race game last night against the Baltimore Orioles, his former team."

Die-hard Orioles fans could have been forgiven for feeling tinges of panic when Mike Flanagan hobbled off the mound on May 17, 1983. With Jim Palmer already on the shelf and Dennis Martinez unable to find any consistency, Flanagan's twisted knee made him the third mangled piece of the club's projected pitching puzzle. Flanagan's injury occurred in the first half of a doubleheader against the slugging Chicago White Sox. Set to take the mound in Game 2 was a lithe Iowan named Mike Boddicker, who had come to Baltimore for brief stretches of the previous three seasons.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Orioles continue to recite the mantra of a rebuilding team, whether it's done inside the brick walls of the B&O Warehouse or the cramped offices and sun-drenched fields at their spring training home. Sometimes it's necessary to take one step backward to move two steps forward. Count on the stride being shorter in the wrong direction. Unless a team is willing to raise its payroll through the roof, this method is the only way to go from bad to good - and this especially applies to clubs that have posted 10 straight losing seasons.

Poll results Last week, we asked you to pick a cause for the Orioles' recent struggles. You decided the fault mainly resides in the team's bats. The results: Clutch-hitting difficulties, 39.6 percent (639 votes) The starters' inability to pitch deep, 24.7 (398) Mental mistakes and lack of intensity, 19.0 (307) Sam Perlozzo's managerial decisions, 12.0 (193) A brutal schedule, 4.8 (77) Poll position Who would you like to see come out of retirement to pitch for the Orioles? Mike Boddicker Mike Flanagan Dennis Martinez Scott McGregor Jim Palmer Steve Stone Vote at baltsun.

THE MEDIA guide gives only the basic raw data. Full name: Hayden Penn. Born: October 13, 1984. Opening Day age: 20. Height: 6 feet 3. Weight: 197. Bats: R. Throws: R. Then, the fact that stands out the most. M.L. Service: None. Well, that's about to change ... in a hurry. It's about to change on a stage that even the most steel-nerved prospect must admit is probably bigger and more daunting than the one he dreamed about all those years. The Orioles are in first place in the American League East, determined to stave off any advance by the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Penn is replacing the team's most dominant pitcher so far this season, Erik Bedard, who was 5-1 before a strained knee ligament sent him to the disabled list yesterday.

Late Orioles game: Last night's game between the Orioles and Mariners in Seattle ended too late to be included in this edition. A complete report can be found in later editions or on the Internet at http://www. sunspot.net. SEATTLE - It's axiomatic in baseball that teams able to perform the little things well naturally take care of the larger things. Turn the routine double play, advance the runner, pitch ahead, and don't allow an opponent extra outs. For the Orioles there have been far too many innings like Friday night's first against the Seattle Mariners combined with too many ruinous starts by Jose Merce des. This time they created an early hash of what finally ended as a 10-1 loss to the best team in baseball, a team committed to doing the little things correctly rather than relying on a collection of superstars.

Membership in the Orioles Hall of Fame swelled to 44 yesterday with the inductions of bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks, former pitcher Mike Boddicker and former general manager Hank Peters. No one has logged more time in an Orioles uniform than Hendricks, who's in his 33rd season as a player or coach in the organization. He's the first person still active in his position to be enshrined. "All my rewards come from being in this uniform," Hendricks said. "This is a bonus and something I never expected.

He was considered the best in the business during his time, but George Bamberger says he couldn't operate in today's game.He was the Orioles' pitching guru during a period (1968-1977) BTC that produced at least one 20-game winner each season -- 17 overall, including four in the 1971 season. Some were admittedly outstanding pitchers (Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar), but just as many (Pat Dobson, Mike Torrez, Wayne Garland) had limited success -- and none of them peaked until they came under the tutelage of Bamberger.

It didn't matter if it were cards, pingpong, tape ball or clubhouse wrestling, Cal Ripken liked to win. So did the handful of holdovers from the team's glory years - Eddie Murray, Mike Flanagan, Scott McGregor, Mike Boddicker and Tippy Martinez. As long as they had been playing baseball, they were winners.2 * Leads Orioles in eight offensive categories.

FOR THE first time in years, there's a press war at Johns Hopkins University. An upstart weekly, the Hopkins Standard, has published four issues and has diverted some reporters, advertising revenue and attention from the 96-year-old News-Letter.The Standard was founded by senior Ethan "Juice" Skolnick, who spent the summer organizing a staff, finding a printer and seeking advertisers. It's a tabloid, deliberately different from the News-Letter's broad-sheet format. It comes out on Thursdays (when it comes out on time)

Mike Mussina, who will pitch the final game of the series against the Mariners this afternoon, has an Orioles milestone within his grasp.The right-hander will be going for his 30th career win in his 56th start. Only Mike Boddicker (53) reached that plateau in fewer starts. Hall of Famer Jim Palmer needed 60 starts before recording his 30th victory.However, Mussina has lost only 12 times and no Orioles pitcher has ever won 30 of his first 42 decisions. The closest were Palmer, Storm Davis and Wally Bunker (30-15)