Thigpen

SARASOTA, Fla. -- What can Chicago White Sox reliever Bobby Thigpen do for an encore?Trust me, it's impossible for him to improve on his record 57 saves. Thigpen knows this as well as I do. He had a ready answer:"I could go 35 for 35, or 38 for 38 or 40 for 40 and we win the division. It's a better year for me and for the team."A miracle scenario, nonetheless. Absolute perfection is required to rack up 35 saves in 35 opportunities. But there is a near-precedent.In 1984, when the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, Willie Hernandez, their bullpen star, had a dream year: 32 consecutive saves.

Richmond gets win: : Blue Jays rookie Scott Richmond picked up his first career victory with six innings of four-hit ball before the game was shortened after a rain delay of 1 hour, 5 minutes. The right-hander, 29, allowed no walks and struck out three in his fifth major league start. High mark for Waters: : Orioles starter Chris Waters' scoreless-innings streak against the Blue Jays ended at 14 2/3 when Scott Rolen hit an RBI double in the sixth to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. The rookie left-hander, 28, threw a shutout against the Blue Jays on Sept.

BOSTON -- Why doesn't the world care more about Bobby Thigpen? For a stopper whose 57 saves last year is a major-league record, it is a honest-to-goodness puzzlement.Well, the truth is that the Chicago White Sox right-hander is a victim of changing attitudes about saves and statistical overkill that has become a new kind of measuring stick for relievers. Nowadays, he rates as only a second-class citizen in a world that by definition should be reserved for very special people.The numbers he compiled in 1990 might have been just too staggering for the average fan to digest.

Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said yesterday that his office is considering criminal charges against the parents of a 4-year-old boy who fatally shot his 5-year-old sister with a semiautomatic handgun, even as the family mourns the girl's death. "We understand the family must be grieving and, yes, that's something we consider," Ivey said in an interview. "At the same time, we've got some legal obligations. Parental accountability is a point of emphasis for us, especially when it comes to making sure kids don't get their hands on loaded weapons."

Add Yancey Thigpen's name to the growing list of NFL free agents who have found out that money doesn't buy happiness.When Thigpen left the Pittsburgh Steelers to sign a five-year, $21 million deal with the Tennessee Oilers last February without visiting any other team, he thought he could make a difference to the Oilers."

PITTSBURGH -- On a night of rather offensive football, the offensive play of the night belonged to a wide receiver just trying to please his mom.And she probably made a better move on the play than her son.The Pittsburgh Steelers' Yancey Thigpen, whose 130 yards on a half-dozen catches Sunday night nearly surpassed the Ravens' 136 on 15, registered the only score of a 37-0 Pittsburgh romp that wasn't a 1-yard plunge or a field goal. His nifty contribution was a 52-yard, fake-and-streak pattern down the left sideline in the third quarter.

Call it Yancey Thigpen's way of welcoming rookie cornerback Chris McAlister to the NFL.There was McAlister, making the first start of his promising career -- and doing so at the expense of fellow first-round draft pick Duane Starks -- in Tennessee on Sunday. There was McAlister, tracking Thigpen closely in man-to-man coverage near the right sideline, where the Titans' receiver slowed down and turned slightly toward the line of scrimmage as quarterback Neil O'Donnell pump-faked.And as McAlister took the bait, looked at O'Donnell and fell for Thigpen's stop-and-go move, there went Thigpen.

Tennessee's passing attack can be likened to a game of poker. The Titans added two face cards to their hand late in the season. The Ravens have lost one, but they aren't close to folding. The Ravens invade Adelphia Coliseum tomorrow for an AFC divisional playoff game. The Titans have been bolstered by a first-round bye and the return of wide receivers Carl Pickens and Yancey Thigpen, former Pro Bowlers who ended the regular season coming off the bench. The Ravens, conversely, will be without strong safety Kim Herring, who will miss the game with a bruised ankle he suffered in last Sunday's wild-card win over Denver.

Marcos Olvera Ramirez thought Sheldon Thigpen wanted him for a painting job. But when the 74-year-old took him to a Jessup motel and made sexual advances, Ramirez reacted with rage so intense that he strangled the Silver Spring man, his attorney argued yesterday.During a Howard Circuit Court hearing, Assistant Public Defender Sam Truette said that the 27-year-old Hyattsville man should be shown leniency due to the circumstances surrounding the killing at the Cedar Motel on U.S. 1.But Judge Dennis Sweeney sentenced Ramirez to 22 years in prison for the June 23, 1994, slaying.

A Hyattsville man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Howard County Circuit Court yesterday in the slaying of an elderly man at a Jessup motel last June.Marcos Olvera Ramirez, 27, could be sentenced up to 25 years in prison as part of a plea agreement he accepted before Judge Dennis Sweeney. Ramirez will be sentenced on May 16.Ramirez was initially charged with first-degree murder in the strangulation death of Shelton Woodrow Thigpen, a 74-year-old self-employed accountant from Silver Spring.

Lynne Thigpen,54, who co-starred in the CBS drama The District and won a Tony Award in 1997 for her portrayal of a black Jewish feminist in An American Daughter, died Wednesday night at her Los Angeles home. Ms. Thigpen had been in good health and the cause of death was not immediately known, network spokeswoman Beth Haiken said yesterday. Production was shut down on The District, which stars Craig T. Nelson as Washington, D.C., police Chief Jack Mannion. Ms. Thigpen played Mannion's secretary, Ella Farmer.

Tennessee's passing attack can be likened to a game of poker. The Titans added two face cards to their hand late in the season. The Ravens have lost one, but they aren't close to folding. The Ravens invade Adelphia Coliseum tomorrow for an AFC divisional playoff game. The Titans have been bolstered by a first-round bye and the return of wide receivers Carl Pickens and Yancey Thigpen, former Pro Bowlers who ended the regular season coming off the bench. The Ravens, conversely, will be without strong safety Kim Herring, who will miss the game with a bruised ankle he suffered in last Sunday's wild-card win over Denver.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair will have, for a rare time this season, his full arsenal healthy for Sunday's divisional playoff game against the Ravens. Receivers Carl Pickens and Yancey Thigpen have both missed time with an assortment of injuries. Pickens, who signed as a free agent shortly before training camp after parting with the Cincinnati Bengals, has played in just eight games this season; Thigpen has played in 11. Neither Pickens nor Thigpen are on the injury report and both are expected to contribute Sunday.

CB Chris McAlister vs. WR Derrick AlexanderChris McAlister already has been schooled by one outstanding receiver. And the Ravens' rookie cornerback will be lining up for another class tonight, when the Kansas City Chiefs come to PSINet Stadium.Say hello to Derrick Alexander, who rolls into Baltimore with some of the better hands, quicker feet and slicker moves of any AFC wide-out. Oh, and extra motivation will not be a problem for Alexander, who put together back-to-back, 1,000-yard seasons in Baltimore before the Ravens let him take the free-agency route to the Chiefs following the 1997 season.

Call it Yancey Thigpen's way of welcoming rookie cornerback Chris McAlister to the NFL.There was McAlister, making the first start of his promising career -- and doing so at the expense of fellow first-round draft pick Duane Starks -- in Tennessee on Sunday. There was McAlister, tracking Thigpen closely in man-to-man coverage near the right sideline, where the Titans' receiver slowed down and turned slightly toward the line of scrimmage as quarterback Neil O'Donnell pump-faked.And as McAlister took the bait, looked at O'Donnell and fell for Thigpen's stop-and-go move, there went Thigpen.

1 The Ravens had no passing attack in the second half, as quarterback Stoney Case went stone cold (7-for-19, 91 yards).2 The Ravens' receivers drop several passes from Case to hurt the offense and need to become more consistent as a group.3 The Ravens had trouble slowing down Tennessee's short passing game, especially receiver Yancey Thigpen, who had five catches for 99 yards and one touchdown.

A five-day search for the stolen white sedan owned by a 74-year-old Silver Spring accountant who was strangled last week in a Jessup motel ended yesterday when Howard County police located the car on a police impound lot in Hyattsville -- where it had been since a few hours after the man's body was discovered.Howard County detectives found the four-door 1990 Buick Park Avenue through an inter-agency computer search, matching the car's license number with one scanned by Prince George's County police about 7 a.m. Thursday.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans' winning touchdown, a 27-yard pass from Neil O'Donnell to Yancey Thigpen in the third quarter yesterday, was a setup job.The pass came against rookie cornerback Chris McAlister, starting his first game in the Ravens' 14-11 loss to Tennessee."

Ozzie Newsome drew an imaginary line in the dirt beyond which he would not go in pursuit of free agents Doug Evans and Yancey Thigpen last winter.When negotiations took Evans and Thigpen well past that line, Newsome, vice president of player personnel for the Ravens, retreated posthaste to explore other options.It was the smartest thing Newsome did in the off-season.Since signing a five-year, $21 million contract to play wide receiver for the Tennessee Oilers in February, Thigpen has labored with foot, groin and knee injuries.