Shepherd

VIERA, Fla. - Oscar Munoz's loss could be Keith Shepherd's gain.Munoz cleared waivers Friday and he has until tomorrow to accept or refuse an assignment to Triple-A Rochester. That leaves Shepherd and Jimmy Myers as the only right-handed relievers still competing for a roster spot, and it is unlikely the Orioles would open the season with four lefties in their bullpen.Shepherd, 28, pitched two games with the Boston Red Sox last season. Myers was dropped from the Orioles' 40-man roster at the end of last season.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- The channel between Charm City and this small college community reopened wide several years ago, sending a wealth of football talent westward to a school nurturing hopes for an NCAA Division II championship.Nine Baltimore-area players who prepped in the city and Howard, Harford, Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties -- many of them overlooked or unwanted in recruiting -- are spotlighted members of a Shepherd College team that has national aspirations after a 10-2 season that included its first two games in the Division II playoffs.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Looking for more flexibility and experience in their bullpen, the Orioles purchased the contract of right-hander Keith Shepherd from Triple-A Rochester last night and sent down Brian Sackinsky.To make room for Shepherd on their 40-man roster, the Orioles moved right-hander Billy Percibal, who is out for the year after reconstructive elbow surgery, to the 60-day disabled list.Shepherd, 28, has 28 major-league appearances during his career, pitching twice last year for the Boston Red Sox. Injured last season, he came back to throw well in winter ball, and based on the recommendations of Roberto Alomar and Bobby Bonilla, the Orioles signed Shepherd to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training.

At Single-A Frederick last season, Alvie Shepherd pressed."Being a first-rounder, I put a lot of pressure on myself," said the right-hander, now with the Bowie Baysox. "I felt like I had to be Superman."It didn't work, primarily because Shepherd didn't have the equipment. He came out of the bullpen heaving the ball, not pitching it, and opponents sat on his only offering, the fastball.But late in 1996, the Orioles decided to remove Shepherd from his relief role and convert him into a starter.

Just once Mark Jennings would like to pick up the telephone and call his junior college basketball coach, James Brown, to gloat a little over his team-leading 18-point average at Shepherd College. "He told me I'd be just another player at Shepherd," said Jennings, a former North County standout. "I only averaged 11 points at Hagerstown [Community College] because we had a lot of talented players and I was the fourth option." Who knows if Jennings will ever make that call to Brown, but he's proving to people around the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that he is more than just another player.

The Rev. Angela F. Shepherd has spent her life opening doors -- for herself, for her congregation and community, and for women and blacks.Her latest door opening was celebrated yesterday at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Annapolis, where Shepherd was officially installed as rector in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Robert W. Ihloff. She became the first black woman to hold such a position in Maryland's Episcopal diocese.Shepherd is also the first woman rector at St. Philip's, where she succeeds the Rev. Samuel Edleman, interim minister for two years, and the Rev. Robert M. Powell, rector there for 25 years.

LANDOVER -- Brian Mitchell, Darrell Green and Leslie Shepherd never stopped promising better days for the Washington Redskins, even in the darkest of times during an 0-7 start this season.Yesterday, those three veteran stars joined with quarterback Trent Green to lead Washington to its first fourth-quarter comeback victory in Norv Turner's five-year tenure as coach.Trent Green produced the 24-20 win over the San Diego Chargers with a perfectly orchestrated, 20-yard touchdown pass Shepherd, who caught the ball in full stride in the right corner of the end zone with 1 minute, 54 seconds left in the game before 65,713 at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium.

More honors for James Rooths, nonpareil punt returner for Shepherd College the last several years. The ex-Carver High standout has been named to the Football Gazette's All-American team for Division II. At the same time, Rooths was named the division's specialist player of the year after capping his career with 10 punt return touchdowns. Another Shepherd player, Chris Field (Severna Park), received honorable mention All- America for his work as the team's leading tackler from his defensive end position.

Alvie Shepherd, the Orioles' No. 1 pick in 1995, isn't going to make the club's Opening Day roster. But he will get a chance to show his stuff in spring training -- Shepherd is one of 16 nonroster players the Orioles have invited to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.A handful of the 16 are all but assured of being with the team when it opens the '97 season against Kansas City on April 1, like pitcher Shawn Boskie, catcher Lenny Webster and outfielder Jerome Walton....

The phone finally rang for right-hander Keith Shepherd Thursday night. He had lost out to Jimmy Myers in spring training and stayed behind in Rochester when Brian Sackinsky was recalled earlier this month, but it was just a matter of time. He was throwing too well to be overlooked much longer."I was just out there to have a good year whether I stayed there until September or came down here," said Shepherd, who has impressed the club with both his arm and his attitude since signing a minor-league contract last winter.