Ray Miller

More than two months after his hiring, Orioles manager Ray Miller officially completed his six-man coaching staff yesterday with the promotion of longtime Dominican scouting supervisor Carlos Bernhardt.Bernhardt joins a staff of pitching coach Mike Flanagan, third base coach Sam Perlozzo, hitting coach Rick Down, bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks and Eddie Murray. The responsibilities of Murray and Bernhardt remain unclear, though Miller said last night that he intends to start Bernhardt as first base coach in spring training.

Highlights and lowlights from the Orioles' 8-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla.Ups and downsUP- Rich Amaral: Filling in for center fielder Brady Anderson, Amaral walked and doubled twice. He was about the only hitter with a pulse.EVEN- Mike Mussina: Four hits and two runs -- including a homer -- in two innings. But he accomplished the important stuff.DOWN-Terry Burrows: One of the nicest guys in the clubhouse had a bad, bad day.UP- Cal Ripken: He made the trip, he autographed baseballs, he sent a lot of fans home happy who otherwise would have groused again about missing the future Hall of Famer.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos has heard the whispers about manager Ray Miller, but he wants to make one thing perfectly clear: They aren't coming from him. Angelos said last night that he has no plans to make a managerial change, even though the Orioles are in the throes of a troubling early-season slump that has dropped them to the bottom of the American League East standings. "I'm not thinking about firing the manager," Angelos said. "He's safe, period." The speculation had increased to the point where a published report had Orioles officials asking the Atlanta Braves for permission to talk to Braves coach and former Colorado Rockies manager Don Baylor about the job. But both Angelos and Braves officials emphatically denied that there has been any discussion of Baylor.

ATLANTA -- Orioles bench coach Eddie Murray left the Arizona Fall League Friday night and is believed under consideration for the team's managerial vacancy, according to industry sources.Murray would represent the ninth candidate to interview as the possible successor to Ray Miller, fired Oct. 6 after a 78-84 fourth-place season. Murray also would be the Orioles' only candidate without what club officials have described as "significant" time as a manager.Murray's managerial experience is limited to the two weeks he has served as skipper of the Scottsdale Scorpions of the developmental Arizona Fall League.

End of the line for RipkenHow much longer are we Orioles fans going to have to watch Cal Ripken at third base? He can no longer do the job that he is paid to do. If any other player on the team played like he does, he would surely be on the bench.Opening Day was the biggest joke of all. There was absolutely no justification for starting Ripken. This was just another form of his selfishness, and unwillingness to let the spotlight shine on someone else. Your back doesn't stiffen up in two innings.

Ray Miller - UP - The supposed lame-duck skipper oversaw the American League's longest winning streak this season as his charges make a belated run at .500 and third place. Suddenly, warehouse whispers are heard that Peter Angelos might be rethinking this firing stuff.Cal Ripken - DOWN - Ripken's splendid, even inspirational season ended Thursday on an orthopedic surgeon's table in Cleveland. After hitting .340 with the team's highest slugging percentage, he's stuck on 2,991 hits for 6 1/2 months.

The Angelos WayThe once-proud Oriole Way has given way to the Angelos Way. In other words, it's Peter Angelos' way or no way, and you're out the door.The Orioles have become the laughingstock of baseball. To suggest that King Angelos is just as bad as George Steinbrenner is wrong. King Angelos is worse. At least Steinbrenner changed his ways somewhat and let baseball people do their jobs, and now he has won the World Series two of the past three years and is going for another one.I firmly believe that as long as Angelos owns the club, the Orioles will never win a World Series.

Miller bears responsibilityOrioles owner Peter Angelos recently said that the fans and sportswriters who want Ray Miller fired have a "lynching mentality," and he asked "how the manager was responsible" for the team's last-place standing.I will leave the insults to Mr. Angelos -- I'm sure he is better at them than me -- but I will answer his question.Miller has failed to earn the respect of the players and fans due to many blunders and mishandling of situations and individuals. If the problem is the players, as Angelos contends, then that is one major coincidence.

ONE RECENT night in the Baltimore Orioles dugout, Manager Ray Miller laced into relief pitcher Terry Mathews, but good. Mathews, the most forlorn figure in a dreadful season, had dared to show his frustration when yanked from a ballgame. Miller was showing him who was boss. In fact, he thought he was showing everyone who was boss. The bawling-out was captured by a Home Team Sports television camera.Later, it was reported, Miller thanked HTS color announcer Rick Cerone for the channel's presentation of his harangue.