Playing Baseball

SATURDAY MORNING, in brilliant sunshine, I heard the familiar smack of a fastball into a catcher's mitt. I love that sound. Next to the crack of the bat, the smack of a fastball hitting leather is the most distinctive sound in baseball, and the faster the pitch, the louder the smack. The one I heard Saturday morning actually echoed a little across a back yard in Joppa, Harford County.The kid throwing the ball was Troy Neville, a tall and lean left-hander, with long arms and a nice bend in his back when he winds up. He has a smooth delivery and, in the dozen or so pitches I saw him throw, an eye for the target.

James E. Kerr, a retired Baltimore Fire Department lieutenant who played catcher on Pacific Coast League baseball teams in the 1930s, died Thursday of complications of Parkinson's disease at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Parkville resident was 87.Mr. Kerr, known as Jimmy, had a baseball career that spanned the sandlots of Catonsville in the 1920s to coaching the Kawasaki [Japan]-Baltimore Youth Team Exchange in the 1980s. He was a roommate of Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams when both played in the highly competitive Pacific Coast League at the highest level of the minor leagues.

On Opening Day 1999, baseball's much-debated creation myth took another big hit, this time from way out in left field -- at Baltimore's Walters Art Gallery of all places.Baseball, in the form of two boys at play with a bat and a ball, appears in an illustration in a hand-lettered, hand-painted fragment of a 700-year-old prayer book unveiled last night at the Walters.So much for Abner Doubleday, the man popularly, if dubiously, credited with the creation of baseball in 1839. The Walters manuscript, called the Calendar of the Ghistelles Hours, dates from 1301, which any baseball statistician can tell you is a good five centuries before Doubleday laid out his first diamond in Cooperstown, N.Y.The Walters acquired the 14-page Ghistelles Calendar at auction in London in honor of Dr. Lilian M.C. Randall, curator of manuscripts at the gallery from 1974 to 1996.

Clarence S. Inman never said much about today's professional baseball players. He never questioned their high salaries or compared the talents of modern players to the skills of ballplayers from the 1930s and 1940s.He was just happy to see the athletes -- especially the black baseball players -- get the chance he never got.Mr. Inman, 80, who died July 3 of a heart attack at Bon Secours Hospital, played baseball for many years as a member of the Baltimore Elite Giants in the old Negro National League.

His love is basketball and baseball is in his blood.Choosing between the two sports is impossible for Glen Burnie High's gifted senior athlete Desmond Dailey.When he's raining threes on an opponent and scoring as many as 47 points in a game, basketball comes first for the 6-foot-2 Dailey.When he's batting .380 and playing left field for the Gophers, baseball is his passion."My dad tells me to play the sports I love and he'll support me whichever sport I choose down the road," said Dailey.

THE KIDS on the Arundel High School baseball team are playing nicely. It's the grown-ups who are causing trouble.Since she was seven, Becky Carlson, now 14, has been playing baseball with boys. Nobody has ever had a problem with that -- until now. All of a sudden, state and Anne Arundel County school athletic administrators are kicking up a stink over Becky, saying she ought to be playing girls' softball. Their argument: Federal regulations do not require that schools allow girls to play boys sports (and vice versa)

Becky Carlson lifts her Arundel High baseball cap, tosses her hair and ponders the question: Why play baseball is this a gender thing, or what?She drills it as she would a hanging curve."

Brad PenningtonWhat he would be doing if there were no strike: Pennington, 25, would be one of a handful of pitchers riding the bubble in the competition for making the major-league roster. The left-hander went 6-8 in 35 appearances for Triple-A Rochester, and allowed eight runs in six innings for the Orioles.Where he is instead: Pennington is in Raleigh, N.C., where his wife is completing her degree in psychology at North Carolina State.How he's filling his time: Pennington is working out with the North Carolina State baseball team, throwing batting practice or pitching in intrasquad games or participating in drills six days a week.

Curtis GoodwinWhat he would be doing if there were no strike: Goodwin, 22, would be trying to justify the faith that new manager Phil Regan has in him. Regan has made it clear that the left-handed hitter is the front-runner to be the Opening Day center fielder. Goodwin, who hit .286 at Double-A, had a terrific off-season, in the Arizona Fall League and in Venezuela.Where he is instead: Goodwin is in Los Angeles, waiting for a resolution to the strike.How he's filling his time: Goodwin just began working out, lifting weights and taking a few swings.

JEFF HUSONCareer recordPlayed as a utility infielder for the Montreal Expos and Texas Rangers before signing a Triple-A contract with the Orioles on Dec. 28, 1994. Called up June 25, when Jeff Manto went on the disabled list. Came up through the Expos' organization, reaching the major leagues in 1988. Spent last season with Triple-A Oklahoma City.Personal recordTurned 31 on Tuesday. Born in Scottsdale, Ariz. Lives in Bedford, Texas. Spent two seasons at University of Wyoming. Played with current Orioles teammates Rafael Palmeiro and Harold Baines in Texas.

The Clark twins, Travis and Tyler, are described by Hammond baseball coach Mike Lerner as "dramatically" different from each other in personality, but quite similar in nature when it comes to baseball. "Travis is more boisterous, more vocal," says Lerner, "while Tyler is more reserved. But they both play the game with the same intensity and dedication." Tyler, a first baseman, is batting .353, with two doubles and two home runs, and has yet to strike out. Travis, a right-handed pitcher, is hitting .500, with four doubles, four home runs and is 2-0 on the mound with 16 strikeouts in 10 innings.

Chase Gardner played a big role in Harford Tech making it to yesterday's Class 1A state baseball final. The junior third baseman led the team with a .539 average heading into the state semifinals, where he went 2-for-4. Gardner says he feels fortunate just to be playing at all. He had to make a long recovery from an accident last summer, when he fell off a 3-foot ladder while working in a local retail store, breaking the right occipital bone in his head. He was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center and, despite not having surgery, he couldn't do any physical activity for six months.

As a freshman at Wilde Lake in 2005, Josh Futter won four playoff games to lead the Wildecats to an improbable run to the Class 3A state title game. The senior pitcher-first baseman is hoping to close out his high school career in similar fashion. Futter is 4-1 with one save this season and an ERA under 2.00. He's batting .532 with 17 runs and 11 RBIs. Futter played football and basketball before focusing on baseball this year. He has accepted a scholarship to play at James Madison University and said he would like to turn pro some day. With a 3.14 grade-point average, Futter is considering a major in sports management at James Madison.

The Calvert Hall baseball team is stockpiled with talent, but shortstop Patrick Blair might be the best overall prospect with the Cardinals. The junior has already garnered interest from Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, North Carolina and LSU. Blair, a first-team All-Metro selection last year, carries a 3.6 grade point average and scored 1,620 on the SAT. He's also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Calvert Hall and plays for the...

DEAR CAL -- My kids like to play Wiffle ball inside during the winter, but my older son's elite team coach said to stop because it messes up your timing with the bat. Is that true? Walt Sandifer, San Antonio, Texas DEAR WALT -- First of all, let me say that I think it's great that your kids like to play baseball so much that they even look for opportunities to play a form of the game during their offseason. When I was a kid, I can't remember many days when we didn't do something baseball-related - whether it was getting a group of kids together to play at a local field or playing "tape ball" in our backyard.

BEIJING -- Han Jichao is 12 years old, and he has been playing baseball for two years. He has already been spotted by Major League Baseball officials, who've taken note of his raw talent and tireless work ethic. Hard work and dedication, Han says, are what it will take for him to someday realize his dream and play in the majors. If only the path from China to the big leagues were that simple. In the midst of a 10-day goodwill tour, Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. crossed paths with Han at a baseball clinic yesterday afternoon.

Asecond-team All-Metro first baseman last season as a junior, Arundel's Shawn Pleffner had six homers, six triples, eight doubles, 37 RBIs and a .406 batting average for the Class 4A state champion Wildcats. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound left-handed hitter also pitched and won a few games in the playoffs after hurting his shoulder early in the season. Pleffner, who has a 3.70 grade point average and is headed to Tallahassee Community College in Florida on a baseball scholarship, already holds school career records for homers (12)

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Garrett Olson was the 48th overall selection in the 2005 draft. Two years later, he's knocking on the door to the majors. David Stockstill, the Orioles' director of minor league operations, said the left-hander might be ready for the team's bullpen now if he wasn't projected as a starter, which probably will require him to spend most, if not all, of the upcoming season at Triple-A Norfolk. What was your reaction when notified of your spring training invitation?

Gerald Bark, a highly respected pitching coach who in his youth had perfected a devastating curveball on the playgrounds of Northwest Baltimore, died of cancer Saturday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Pikesville resident was 61. Mr. Bark, who was known as Jerry, was born in Baltimore and raised on Towanda Avenue, not far from the playground where he began playing baseball -- a game that was to become a central part of his life. "Jerry and I played Little League baseball together.

Baseball is major cause of blindness As a pediatric eye physician and surgeon, I have been distressed by the Maryland Senate's unwillingness to pass the bill that would protect children from blinding injuries playing baseball ("Youth baseball could get new look: masks, goggles," March 22). The leading cause of monocular blindness in children ages 5 to 12 is baseball injuries. Young pitchers can throw a ball up to 60 miles per hour. The impact of a wild pitch to a child's fragile eye can result in permanent eye damage such as ruptured globes and retinal detachments.