Press Box

A Japanese reporter approached me in the press box before yesterday's game and asked about the significance of the numbers hanging on the warehouse. I explained The Streak to him, and then he wanted to confirm whether 2,632 was a record. And yes, I spoke slowly and at a higher volume, figuring I would be more easily understood. Never makes sense to do it, but I'm as guilty as anyone. Alex Rodriguez told reporters Saturday night that the Orioles are pitching him carefully and he's probably had one good pitch to hit in three days.

Athletics: Jason Giambi is 25-for-64 with four homers and 20 RBIs in his career against the Devil Rays.Tigers: Detroit finished with six extra-base hits -- in its past 15 games, it has 25 homers, 37 doubles and four triples. Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, a longtime baseball fan, attended the game and visited the press box a day before his team's exhibition opener.

The Orioles' first game since the death of public address announcer Rex Barney went off as scheduled, but with a completely different feel.Flags flew at half-staff. Barney's chair was empty. A long black cloth was draped over the counter behind it, where after the end of the fifth inning a plaque was unveiled that said "Rex 26 Thank Youuuu." Next to the microphone, a replacement for the one that will be sent to the Babe Ruth Museum, was a cap from the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team he pitched for during six seasons.

They were joined together as crusaders in the humane objective of trying to eradicate the color line in baseball -- Sam Lacy, the sportswriter whose fighting words jumped off the typewriter, and Jackie Robinson, a pioneer in the middle of the firestorm, feeling intense heat from all sides but never relenting.The cause originated from deep within the embodiment of hearts and souls and a desire to beat back prejudice of the worst sort. They were born, raised and paid taxes in America, but were treated with disdain by those who wanted to keep Robinson off (( the field, this game called the national pastime.

Richard Harhai, a longtime Orioles fan from Damascus, always wanted to meet Rex Barney. Always wished to offer a greeting and extend his hand, "just to tell him what he meant to this community. Jon Miller is gone [to San Francisco], and now Rex has died. It will be different around here, starting today."The Orioles' first game without their public address announcer went off as scheduled, but with a completely different feel. Flags flew at half-staff. Barney's chair was empty. A long black cloth was draped over the counter behind it, where after the end of the fifth inning a plaque was unveiled that said "Rex 26 Thank Youuuu."

On this, the first anniversary of The Announcement, sports fans should offer a moment of silence for the Cleveland Browns, then ask a variation of a question once posed by Ronald Reagan:Are you better off now than you were a year ago?In Baltimore, the answer is yes -- NFL Sundays are back, and fans can spend their autumns fretting about the Ravens instead of counting the number of days until spring training.But is sports better off?The answer is no, no, a thousand times no.Oh, it was a great day for Baltimore when Gov. Parris N. Glendening stood on a makeshift stage waving a Browns mug last Nov. 6. And it was an even better day for the city's new best friend, Art Modell.

Chuck Thompson arrived behind a microphone back in that distant, primordial time when big league baseball players left their gloves on the field between innings and scoreboards were still operated manually. He remembers broadcasting one game "by peeking through an aperture in the right field scoreboard where they hung the scores" and another from ground level only "10 or 15 feet behind home plate."And here he is, past his 75th birthday, past his induction into baseball's Hall of Fame, past the time when his contemporaries have hung up their larynx to dry, the voice still golden, the enthusiasm still buoyant, the microphone moved south from 33rd Street to Camden Yards, but he's still behind it.For nearly 40 years, he's been a voice of the Orioles, and for 30 years he was synonymous with the Colts of blessed memory, and now Thompson's put his whole professional life on paper, in a book called "Ain't the Beer Cold," which was the joyous cry that served as his signature call for years.

Hurricane Felix has become a major player in the continuing drama surrounding Cal Ripken's pursuit of Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record.The heavy winds and rain being pushed ahead by the tropical storm have put the Orioles' next two games, tonight against Cleveland and tomorrow against Kansas City, in serious jeopardy. If one or both of those games should be postponed, it would put a severe damper on The Streak Week celebration.Ripken is scheduled to tie Gehrig's record of 2,130 games on Sept.

Pull up a chair, but it is best that all readers be forewarned. The greatest sports book ever written -- called "No Cheering In The Press Box" -- will keep you awake until dawn's early light. It's like tapping into a time capsule, or finding a gold mine of laughter and lore as 24 of America's premier sportswriters, from decades ago, tell some of the stories they never dared tell before.The anthology was conceived by Jerome Holtzman of the Chicago Tribune, one of the country's finest sportswriters who is held in the highest of personal and professional esteem by his contemporaries.

Recently retired sportscaster Vince Bagli threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Sunday's Orioles game and was given a lifetime seat in the Camden Yards press box. The Sun's Jason LaCanfora spoke with the dean of Baltimore sportscasters about his career and the Orioles' chances in the pennant race.Q: Do you miss not being at the ballpark?A: To tell you the truth, I don't. I kind of enjoy not having to worry about the clock. I enjoy the people in the business, and I miss some of them, but the ballplayers these days are not the same as they were a few years ago -- even four to five years ago. Money has bent things all out of perspective.

1 Geno? No: As Connecticut plays Arizona State for a spot in the women's Final Four (7 p.m., ESPN), consider this: Is Geno Auriemma the most annoying coach in America? 2 Money game: Purdue-Oklahoma (after UConn-Arizona State on ESPN) is the next stop on Sooner Courtney Paris' Scholarship Refund Challenge. 3 It keeps going ... : Watch the replay of the Virginia-Maryland seven-overtime men's lacrosse game on ESPNU. But it starts at 8:30 p.m., so you might be sleepy in the morning.

R. Gordon Beard, a retired Associated Press sportswriter and well-known master of ceremonies who was also an author and expert on Baltimorese, died Saturday of Parkinson's disease at Perring Parkway Center. The longtime Gardenville resident was 82. Mr. Beard - who was known to generations of readers by the byline Gordon Beard - as born and raised in South Baltimore. While a student at Southern High School, he played basketball and baseball and enrolled in a public speaking class. He also found out he had a talent for making people laugh - as was shown when a physics teacher asked the class one day, "What happens when a body is immersed in water?"

Joe Paterno coaching from the press box might not be such a big deal after all for the No. 3 Penn State football team. With his team down by three at halftime Saturday to Michigan, the hobbled Hall of Fame coach didn't make it down to the locker room to personally deliver a pep talk, instead relaying messages over a microphone to an assistant coach. It took a little longer than usual, but Penn State delivered another knockout blow. Thirty-two unanswered points and a dominating second half later, the Nittany Lions (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten)

Clemson, Swinney enjoy "Walk": : Clemson interim coach Dabo Swinney wanted his players to go "all in" the rest of the season. Looks like Tigers' fans got the message, too. Fans stood five and six deep for Swinney's first "Tiger Walk," which the new coach hoped would show his fragile team it wasn't alone as it got ready for visiting Georgia Tech yesterday. Swinney took over Monday after longtime coach Tommy Bowden stepped down amid the Tigers' struggling season. Clemson couldn't sustain the emotion, falling to Georgia Tech, 21-17.

The Ravens have changed designated smoking areas at M&T Bank Stadium to comply with the newest city smoking ordinance. The following changes of locations and times when smoking is permitted are in effect immediately and affect the lower concourses at the stadium. Designated areas and times smoking is permitted are noted by signs: * Within the designated areas just inside of gates A, B, C and D beginning at kickoff. * Next to the northwest ramp area opposite of Section 148 beginning when gate opens (from the press box - opponents' side of the field, to the left)

Vince Bagli retired 13 years ago after spending more than three decades as WBAL television's genial sports anchor. Before that, he had a five-year stint at the old News American. Now 81, he lives near Finksburg and enjoys an afternoon out with his wife, Jean, at the theater. Some weeks ago, he saw the play, Doubt, which he called "a fine piece of work" and reminded him of his days growing up in Baltimore's Hamilton neighborhood and of Sister Isabelle at St. Dominic's Parochial School.

Late last year, I attended a conference on blogging - the first of its kind that I know of - and the closing keynote speaker was Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Cuban is a versatile guy. A businessman extraordinaire, he has made billions in computer/digital/information technology. A rabid sports fan, he owns a fairly successful sports franchise. Being light on his feet, he did better than OK on Dancing with the Stars. And with a keen appreciation for the information free range the Internet has become, he's a celebrity blogger (blogmaverick.

It snowed yesterday. You know what that means. There's nothing more important to talk about than the weather (unless you're looking for a new head football coach, but that's being addressed elsewhere on these pages). So back to the weather. New York Giants-Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Temperature forecast: a high of 4 degrees. And with the wind, who knows? A couple of years ago, I was in Green Bay a week or so before Christmas to work on an article about the Packers not doing so well.

Winston-Salem, N.C. -- As Maryland's 21-point lead unraveled yesterday and Wake Forest moved with ease toward its improbable comeback, the Terps' assistant coaches became unhinged, and their fist-pounding frustration in the press box was audible from the stands outside. Their pain was another assistant's pleasure. Maryland@Rutgers Saturday, 3:30 p.m. or 8 p.m., 105.7 FM, 1300 AM

A Japanese reporter approached me in the press box before yesterday's game and asked about the significance of the numbers hanging on the warehouse. I explained The Streak to him, and then he wanted to confirm whether 2,632 was a record. And yes, I spoke slowly and at a higher volume, figuring I would be more easily understood. Never makes sense to do it, but I'm as guilty as anyone. Alex Rodriguez told reporters Saturday night that the Orioles are pitching him carefully and he's probably had one good pitch to hit in three days.