Sandlot

The Ravens have proved two things through one-fourth of their first season.They can beat bad teams at home (two wins against teams with a combined 1-9 mark), but have problems beating competitive teams on the road.That's why the Ravens' 17-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints yesterday at Memorial Stadium set the stage for what is likely to be the defining game of their first season, when they play host to the New England Patriots on Sunday. The Patriots' defensive coordinator happens to be former Browns coach Bill Belichick.

The night Al Kaline got his 3,000th hit at Memorial Stadium, only 11,492 people showed up. Orioles attendance has improved since 1974. The hype surrounding major-league milestones has increased. Yet the Baltimore-born Kal in his hometown.Kaline is one of 25 Hall of Famers appearing at this weekend's baseball card and memorabilia show sponsored by the Babe Ruth Museum. Baltimore's forgotten baseball hero is coming home.Part of the reason Kaline's accomplishments often go unnoticed is that he left Baltimore after his second major-league season.

Milton Davidson Jr.Retired auditorMilton Leroy Davidson Jr., a retired internal auditor for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, died Friday of cancer at his home in Annapolis. He was 70.Mr. Davidson, who was known as Mickey, had worked for the agency for more than 20 years. Earlier, he worked about five years for P. Ballantine & Sons brewery as a salesman.Mr. Davidson was a sports fan who loved baseball and lacrosse. He coached sandlot baseball for the Annapolis Recreation and Parks Department for 12 years and had been active in the St. Mary's Athletic Association.

Cooperstown, N.Y. -- He came into prominence with the Oakland Athletics, and he will go into the Hall of Fame representing the New York Yankees. But it was in Baltimore that Reggie Jackson first attracted national attention.And it wasn't when he left the Orioles to become the marquee player in baseball's first free-agent pool in 1976. Jackson, who hit 47 home runs in his second full season in the big leagues, had established himself as a dominating performer long before that controversial, but productive, season.

Tim Nordbrook couldn't have conceived a more fitting way to pay tribute to his old coach, the late Sterling "Sheriff" Fowble.Nordbrook, who played on Fowble's Baltimore sandlot teams and later was an Orioles infielder, organized the inaugural Sheriff Fowble All-Star Game, which will be played tomorrow at Memorial Stadium after the Bowie Baysox meet the New Britain Red Sox at 2:05 p.m.Tickets to the doubleheader are $5, with proceeds going to the Sheriff Fowble...

Tom Guiry and Marty York want people to know they take their work seriously. Forget about becoming the next Macaulay Culkins; for these actors the play's the thing -- or in this case the movie: "The Sandlot," opening today at area theaters.Ensconced recently in a Washington hotel room during a six-city promotional swing, the 12-year-old actors slog manfully through a day of interviews with television and newspaper reporters. Like actors three times their age, they talk glibly about their agents, the inspiration their director (David Mickey Evans)

"The Sandlot" is essentially a $15 million "Our Gang" comedy, and it has exactly the amount of warmth, spontaneity, nostalgia and humor that such a huge amount of money can buy: none.If awards were given for phoniness, this one would retire the prize. It's one of those treacly plastic jobs that looks back on a childhood no human could ever have lived, in a tone of such exaggerated cuteness that by contrast it makes the Disney oeuvre seem neo-realist.Set in the baby-boomer Camelot year of 1962, it's about a "new kid" named Scotty (Tom Guiry)

Let me give you sports fans a one-two punch today. We'll talk some pioneering baseball on the first swing and give you a knockout free boxing show to complete the combo.To revitalize youth baseball in the Annapolis and South County area, the Peninsula Athletic League has started a "Summer Sandlot Series," and the response has been terrific.Ed Stubbs and Bill Bilasi, members of the PAL board of directors, started the program this summer to give the kids in their community something more after the regular season ends.

All that's cherished and rewarding about the high school football experience is exemplified in the presence of the man, Irv Biasi, a coach who cared. Tough. Disciplined. Strong of purpose. Not given to frivolity or gimmickry. A winner.Now, after 36 years away from the sidelines, his players from the past are lifting him to their shoulders once more and planning a spectacular testimonial Friday night at Eudowood Gardens that is intended to express how grateful they are for the leadership and guidance he provided at what they now realize was a pivotal juncture in their lives.

Let's not waste any time today and get right to those "Q's without A's," sports fans. Any response or new business you have is always welcome, and all you have to do is buzz me on the 24-Hour Sportsline, 647-2499.* How's this for a bargain? The cost for amateur teams to rent the Anne Arundel Community College baseball diamond this summer is "only" $293 a game providing you play the game in less than three hours.Let me break it down for you non-profit sandlot teams who might want to take advantage of this "steal."