Owner Peter Angelos

Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada started his 943rd consecutive game yesterday but was several steps slow in the field and on the bases because of a knee injury Friday. Tejada hyperextended his left knee chasing a pop fly. He appeared uncomfortable on his first play in the field, when Ichiro Suzuki grounded a ball to his right. He played it cleanly but bounced the throw to first after he failed to plant his leg fully. He also appeared unable to run at full speed when he hit a dribbler in the second.

Do you believe Orioles owner Peter Angelos when he says the team lost $15 million in 2005? With his bankroll, Angelos might have been referring to the money that fell between the sofa cushions in his skybox. Michael S. Herman Sr. Baldwin Last time I checked, Angelos was still a member of the bar in 2005. Bill Hopkins Baltimore Nope. If he keeps up with his current stranglehold on new player acquisitions, he'll lose a lot more than that. Orioles attendance is way down, and he has no one to blame but himself.

Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora still hadn't signed a contract extension after meeting with owner Peter Angelos yesterday morning, but he said he enjoyed the session and feels optimistic a deal could be done before Opening Day. Mora said the two talked about his contract. "We're close," he said. "I think we're going to make a deal." But he said he'd leave negotiations up to his agent. He said he and Angelos talked more about the team and their mutual desire to win. "More to know him, more to meet him," Mora said of the hour-plus talk.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Saying that he has no desire to talk about last season or the past in general, Orioles owner Peter Angelos said he is optimistic about the 2006 season and believes that his franchise is headed in the right direction. In a phone interview with The Sun, Angelos touched on several topics, including the structure of the front office, the state of an organization that has suffered through eight straight losing seasons and his feelings on the World Baseball Classic. "I am not pleased with it, but what are you going to do?"

I don't want to pile on Ray Lewis - who is one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL and has been the heart and soul of the Ravens for a long time - but I'm having a tough time figuring out just what he has to be upset about. The Ravens gave him a $19 million signing bonus a few years ago and made him, at the time, the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL, but that's just the business end of it. The team also stood four-square behind him during that messy situation in Atlanta six years ago, which still ought to count for something.

One of the most enduring images of the Ravens' Super Bowl season was Shannon Sharpe, streaking down the field at Network Associates Coliseum on the way to one of the longest touchdowns in playoff history and a victory over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC championship game. No wonder Brian Billick is conflicted about him. It's hard not to like Shannon. He's loud and funny and articulate and opinionated and he's a major Ravens hero, even though he only played for the team for a couple of years.

Way up in Section 372 of Oriole Park, in that no-man's land beyond the left-field foul pole, sat a man with truly split loyalties. On the outside, to brace against the brisk wind of yesterday's Opening Day, federal worker Bill Spencer wore a dark blue hooded sweat shirt emblazoned with the logo of his new crush: the Washington Nationals, the newest baseball team and the one closest to his Clifton, Va., home. But underneath, closest to his heart, he had the trusty bright orange he has worn for so many summers in the stands at game after Orioles game.

IT'S TIME for the Orioles and Sidney Ponson to stop avoiding a sensitive issue. Ponson needs third-party intervention to help him deal with alcohol. And the Orioles should demand that he get such help. A team can't force a player to go through counseling or rehab, but if the Orioles don't try to make it happen, Ponson is likely to keep having problems, and the Orioles won't get their money's worth from a pitcher whom they're paying $22.5 million over three seasons. It's sad to say all that, but Ponson's Jan. 21 arrest on a charge of driving under the influence in South Florida pushes the situation to an unfortunate brink.

Ignoring the age-old advice about picking fights with somebody who buys ink by the barrel, Orioles owner Peter Angelos took out a full-page advertisement in yesterday's Washington Post to correct what the ad called "misinformation and innuendo about our position - driven, in large part by news accounts and editorials in this newspaper." Angelos, reached at home yesterday afternoon, stressed that he bought the ad to set the record straight on the Orioles" position regarding sharing the market with the Washington Nationals.