Relief Pitcher

DETROIT -- Relief pitcher Mike Flanagan said yesterday that he is not ready to retire and has notified the team of his desire to return to the Orioles bullpen next season.Flanagan's agent, Bob Teaff, apparently contacted the front office earlier this week to relay that message to club officials, who must decide soon after the World Series whether to exercise their contract option to retain Flanagan for the 1993 season."There are times when people quit not because of a loss of talent but because of a loss of desire," Flanagan said yesterday.

Goose Gossage entered the Hall of Fame this past weekend recognized as a pioneering relief pitcher, one of the archetypal modern bullpen firemen. But in reviews of Gossage's career from 1972 to 1994 (pitching for nine teams), an important distinction has been made between him and the star closers who have followed. Gossage's outings were, on average, for far more outs and innings than latter-day relief pitchers. For instance, while Gossage has 310 saves over 22 seasons compared with Mariano Rivera's 469 in 13-plus seasons, Gossage worked more than two innings 52 times in getting those saves.

SEATTLE -- Closer Gregg Olson will travel to Los Angeles today to have his sore elbow examined by orthopedic specialist Dr. Frank Jobe.Olson underwent extensive testing earlier this week to determine the cause of persistent soreness in the area. The injury has been diagnosed as a strained ulnar collateral ligament -- and club officials said nothing in the test results indicated otherwise -- but no one wants to take any chances with the most productive young relief pitcher in history.The second opinion was requested by Olson and agent Jeff Moorad, who felt there was nothing to lose by taking the extra precaution with Olson already on the disabled list.

The Orioles and the San Francisco Giants appear to be close to a trade that would exchange veteran outfielder Joe Carter for a right-handed relief pitcher -- either Julian Tavarez or Jose Mesa, a former Oriole who was dealt to the Giants last night by the Cleveland Indians.Tavarez, 25, is on the disabled list with a strained lateral muscle beneath his right arm. He is scheduled to be activated Monday when the Orioles travel to Cooperstown, N.Y., to play in the Hall of Fame Game. Tavarez is 3-3 with a 2.71 ERA in 63 innings in 39 games.

Hot-stove baseball's fires are burning in January with the latest issue of Baseball America. The publication's college baseball preview showcases Severna Park's Mark Teixeira.Teixeira, who played at Mount St. Joseph and was The Sun's Metro Player of the Year last spring, setting state career records for homers (29) and RBIs (108), is a freshman third baseman at Georgia Tech. He is the subject of a feature article in Baseball America.Ranked No. 9 in the publication's preseason Top 20, the Yellow Jackets and coach Danny Hall are expecting big things from Teixeira, a ninth-round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox in June.

Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo isn't committed to running out the same lineup for every game, with a surplus of outfielders giving him enough options that the look can change almost nightly. Who figured that David Newhan would become a constant? After fighting to make the team as a utility player in spring training, Newhan has relinquished his seat on the bench and started five of the past six games. He started in left field again last night for the series opener against the Los Angeles Angels and hit his second homer of the season.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- "Hey," said the very American relief pitcher, listening to the salsa music between innings, "I see where Maryland's football coach resigned."The equally American reporter from Baltimore, who was sitting on the bench in the visitors' dugout -- the manager had invited him -- looked up. "Where did you hear that?" he asked.Said the relief pitcher: "I get CNN at the hotel. . . ."CNN? Hotel?"Yeah," he said. "I get HBO and the Movie Channel, too. All the American networks.

ATLANTA -- Mark Lemke was standing by his locker last night when someone noticed the letters MV stitched into the front of his cap."Are you going to add a P to that," the Atlanta Braves' shortstop was asked."

NEW ORLEANS -- I'm trying to finish my novel about the end of the world and I'm having as much trouble as God must have had finishing the world in the first place.The beginning was easy: all uncharted territory, full steam ahead, imagination at play. The middle wasn't so easy because the beginning stood there, demanding some continuity if not responsibility from what came after.The difficulties increased exponentially the farther I wrote. As I grew closer to the end, the complexity of relations between my own inventions became so great I feared that I would be devoured by my own characters.