Randy Milligan

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Attention, Randy Milligan: Don't start learning French. Don't start crooning, "I Love L.A." The Orioles aren't trading you to Montreal or Los Angeles. The way things are going, they aren't trading you anywhere just yet.In what is becoming an annual ritual at the winter meetings, rival clubs are mocking the Orioles with low-ball trade offers. It happens when you lose 95 games. And it happens when everyone knows you're desperate to deal a Randy Milligan.Manager John Oates understands all this, but midway through a second day of fruitless talks, he could not contain his frustration.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Attention, Randy Milligan: Don't start learning French. Don't start crooning, "I Love L.A." The Orioles aren't trading you to Montreal or Los Angeles. The way things are going, they aren't trading you anywhere just yet.In what is becoming an annual ritual at the winter meetings, rival clubs are mocking the Orioles with low-ball trade offers. It happens when you lose 95 games. And it happens when everyone knows you're desperate to deal a Randy Milligan.Manager John Oates understands all this, but midway through a second day of fruitless talks, he could not contain his frustration.

Before we get to the important business of revitalizing the Orioles -- one free-agent signing and one trade could do it -- we must first discuss prepositions.Yes, prepositions. What would we do without them? We'd have to say: What would we do them?The reason I'm bringing this up is because of The Sign. You know which sign. The one that goes out in front of the new stadium that was first set to read this way, sans preposition:5/8Oriole ParkCamden YardsThis is what we call a visual. Note the giant Oriole Park.

Where have you gone, Randy Milligan?It's not too early to start asking. At the moment, the Orioles' first baseman is vacationing in Virginia. He doesn't want to talk about Glenn Davis. He doesn't want to concede his days in Baltimore are numbered.The Moose as Garbo is as bizarre a notion as Eddie Murray on "Geraldo," but in this case it's understood. Milligan, who turns 30 on Nov. 27, might be the most popular Oriole after Cal Ripken. Sadly, he no longer fits on this team.His silence reflects his dignity, but that won't help him remain an Oriole.

For Sam Horn, it has always been feast or famine. The home runs are plentiful, but so are the strikeouts.As the Orioles start a road trip tonight in Boston (7:35, Ch. 2), Horn has the momentum generated by a prosperous homestand. His two-run homer in yesterday's 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians was the final flourish.Horn played in eight of the 10 games on the homestand and batted .391, with two doubles, five home runs and 11 RBIs. He had an extra-base hit in seven of those eight games.

As near as can be determined, this is what was expected when the season began. The difference is that most people thought the Orioles might go on a roll for a couple of months early -- instead of a couple of weeks long after the contenders had been identified.Yesterday's 7-3 win over the AL West-leading Minnesota Twins, the team with the best record in baseball, left the Orioles with a 9-5 record for the last two weeks. With the exception of a three-game sleepwalk in Milwaukee, it has been a generally impressive stretch.

Third baseman Leo Gomez and first baseman Randy Milligan were in the middle of everything last night.They were the principle characters in an umpiring controversy that almost sent the Baltimore Orioles to their sixth straight defeat.They were also prominent in the three-homer barrage that brought the club back to score an 11-inning, 5-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox last night at Memorial Stadium.Gomez delivered the final shot, a one-out homer to left off reliever Donn Pall that broke the White Sox's seven-game winning streak.

For the first time this year the Orioles have returned home with a winning record on a road trip that took them to more than one city."It's a start," said manager John Oates, who won't admit to any expectations he might have about what his team can accomplish. "Sometimes it does creep into my thoughts, but we dug such a big hole for ourselves that we just have to concentrate on going out every day and earning some respect by showing we can win."Shortstop Cal Ripken, whose three hits last night gave him a major league-leading 35 multi-hit games and increased his American League-leading average to .355, expressed the same feeling in a slightly different way."

CLEVELAND -- The hits just kept on coming last night. The Baltimore Orioles averaged a dozen per game on a seven-game swing through the two gulags of the American League, closing out their most successful trip of the season with a 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.They hammered the last-place club from each division. Now they must prove they can do it against a real team.The Boston Red Sox, who arrive at Memorial Stadium tonight to open a three-game series, don't figure to be so accommodating, but the Orioles appear to be on a major roll.