Sam Lacy

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Dodgers great Jackie Robinson didn't rate a headline in most of America's mainstream newspapers the day he broke baseball's color barrier a half-century ago, but the 50th anniversary of his first major-league game was knee-deep in ceremony and symbolism.There was his widow, Rachel Robinson, standing side by side with President Clinton to honor a man who had to cross a vast racial divide just to stand side by side with the other top baseball players of his era.There was his grandson, Jesse Simms, throwing out the first ball on Jackie Robinson Night at Shea Stadium -- too young to remember the indignities Robinson gracefully endured, but not too young to live in a world where racial division remains rampant.

A memorable time for authors, 1998. The National Book Award for Fiction, presented to Alice McDermott of Johns Hopkins University's Writing Seminars, of itself makes the year stand out. In addition, the outpouring of general-reader books by Marylanders (or regarding some facet of Greater Maryland) has brought about the longest annual list yet.What follows is a beginning. Next Sunday, a second parade marches by, with books categorized as fiction, food, local history, miscellany, romance fiction, travel, thriller and young readers.

Teams from the Negro Baseball Leagues -- their names anyhow -- are going to be reincarnated. It's a move to help some Little League players in Baltimore become aware of the history that preceded their present interest in the game. They'll be able to identify because they'll actually be wearing uniforms with names from the past.Youngsters on at least five teams will be playing in uniforms that are replicas of Negro clubs no longer in existence. Among those expected to be represented are the Baltimore Elite Giants, Homestead Grays, Newark Eagles, Kansas City Monarchs and Birmingham Black Barons.

NOTEworthy Day:* Doesn't Eddie Murray's 22 homers, 83 RBIs and .315 average (fourth highest in the National League) make it regrettable he couldn't still be ripping all those line drives for the Orioles rather // than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who got him in a "steal of a deal."* Hopefully, Maryland's new athletic director, Andy Geiger, will be more effective than the last Stanford import, Clark Shaughnessy, who coached football in 1943 and 1947 yet offered little improvement (10-8 record)

WHEN FRIENDS and fellow alumni assess the contributions of Jack Scarbath to the University of Maryland, there's resentment over the way he has been treated . . . passed over twice as athletic director for men lacking his stature, dignity, accomplishments and ability.But last Saturday, when Andy Geiger, the new athletic director, was sitting in the press box at Byrd Stadium for the first time, he had Scarbath and Gene Corrigan, the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, at his side.

Bolton Hill baseball and travel writer Charlie Vascellaro normally can be found hanging out at ballparks. So the opportunity to spend a night in late April at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Station after hearing tales about ghostly occupants was something he wanted to experience — but, understandably, not alone.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- So now the Orioles neglect the city's black majority. Next they'll be blamed for starting the recession, creating the hole in the ozone layer and propping up Saddam Hussein.Del. Howard P. "Pete" Rawlings may be one of the city's most respected black lawmakers, but when he criticizes the Orioles for poor community relations, he's simply ignoring the facts.Let's nail the Orioles when they deserve it, OK? Fans and politicians keep crying wolf over perceived injustices. As their howling increases, legitimate gripes become obscured.

Wondering why the black community feels left out of the euphoria and money-making associated with the new $265 million baseball park the state built and paid for with public monies, specifically to accommodate the Orioles, has become a matter of serious concern. Perception may not always be important, but in this case the subject could become a lingering racial issue that needs to be addressed post-haste.Black Baltimore needs to explain to the white ownership of the Orioles what it wants because, obviously, the message is either being misunderstood or not getting through.

Manager Davey Johnson said yesterday that barring a miraculous recovery, reliever Alan Mills will go on the disabled list within the next 48 hours because of a pinched nerve. The move would be retroactive to last Friday, when Mills was injured during a pre-game collision with catcher Lenny Webster in the outfield.The injury mostly affects Mills' left (nonthrowing) shoulder."The report I got wasn't real favorable," Johnson said. "He will possibly be out 10 days to two weeks. Just talking to Jimmy [Palmer]

By the time Rex Barney signed off with his trademark "thank you" before last night's game at Camden Yards, he had spoken volumes about the man the Orioles, and all of baseball, were honoring.Barney, the Orioles' public-address announcer, was on the field as part of the ceremonies that commemorated the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking major-league baseball's color barrier. Also present were Vincent Lee, the last surviving member of the 1931 Baltimore Black Sox, and Ernest Burke and Bert Simmons of the 1949 Baltimore Elite Giants.