TOE

The Ravens will place Jonathan Ogden on the physically-unable-to-perform list when they report to training camp Sunday, but team officials said the 10-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle should be ready to play by the regular-season opener. Ogden hyperextended the big toe on his left foot against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 17 and did not participate in any offseason minicamps with the team. Coach Brian Billick said Ogden will remain on the PUP list for an "indeterminate amount of time," although the Ravens knew this would be the plan for Ogden since the end of last season.

Dwan Edwards' season of career highs continues to unfold. Having already recorded a personal best in starts (four) as well as his first sack and interception, the Ravens defensive tackle said he has gained exponentially from his time filling in for injured starter Trevor Pryce. "It's just more experience, more reps," Edwards said yesterday after practice at the Ravens' training facility in Owings Mills. "That's really what I need to get better as a player - to get out there and play." Edwards could get another chance to improve on those numbers.

It was a street-corner political drama played out on a sunny Election Day. The site was a polling place at Callaway Elementary, in the heart of the city's northwest. The cast was Baltimore to the core.At one end of the sidewalk stood Roxanne Alexander, handing out fliers for her first cousin, Lawrence A. Bell III. Nearby was Darryl Stokes, handing out fliers for his second cousin, Carl Stokes. Just past him was Karin Marie Kendrick, handing out fliers for her one-time law school classmate, Martin O'Malley.

BaseballAthletics: Optioned C Ramon Hernandez to Triple-A Vancouver. Reassigned former Orioles P Mike Oquist to minor-league camp.Blue Jays: Assigned P Billy Koch to minor-league camp.Expos: Released P Erik Bennett, OF Ed Brady, OF Dax Jones, C Luis Rivera, OF Mo Blakeney, OF Jermaine Swinton, OF Trovin Valdez, P Jason Woodring, P Andrew Frierson and P Raymond Plummer from minor-league camp.Giants: Assigned 1B Damon Minor, OF Calvin Murray, P Steve Connelly and former Orioles IF-OF Jack Voigt to minor-league camp.

Quote: "What happened last year is not going to happen again in my lifetime. I don't know why everyone expects it to." -- Mark McGwire, who hit 70 homers last year but has gone 15 days without a homer, four days longer than his longest drought last yearIt's a fact: The Astros went 13-9 in April, their eighth consecutive winning month. They haven't had a losing month since August 1997.Who's hot: The Astros have homered in 16 of their past 22 games and have not gone back-to-back games without a homer since April 7-8.Who's not: The Marlins' Derrek Lee leads the majors with 33 strikeouts.

Ravens tight end Brian Kinchen was beginning to feel like an invisible player.Two years ago, Kinchen caught a career-high 55 passes. But after Eric Green arrived in 1996 and got healthy last year, Kinchen's role in the offense never stopped shrinking. Until yesterday, Kinchen had only appeared occasionally in a two-tight-end set, and had not touched the ball on offense.That changed after Green left the game in the first half with a punctured lung. Suddenly, the 11-year veteran from LSU was back in the game plan.

I am the second wife of a successful businessman. He is a patron of the opera in our city, and we are going to the annual opera gala, the social event of the year. It is always covered by the newspapers and last year my husband's first wife had her picture prominently displayed on the society pages. This year, she is the chairwoman of the event. She is competitive and extremely sophisticated, but I plan to meet her toe-to-toe.What is your advice on a knockout dress that will get me on the front page this time?

I have been worried ever since my doctor discovered my diabetes three years ago, because my mother had a lower leg amputated as a result of this disease. What can I do to avoid an amputation?Diabetes is often complicated by a decrease or loss of sensation in the feet (peripheral neuropathy) and accelerated hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) that obstructs the delivery of blood to the feet. With the poor sensation, minor injuries or blisters often go unrecognized and untreated. Reduced blood supply prevents healing, leading to infections and the development of ulcers.

Everyone looked terrific yesterday at Mildred C. Berger's surprise party, but what would you expect at a retirement gathering for a hairdresser?After 52 years of making everyone look just so, Mrs. Berger, 66, is leaving the business to spend more time with her family.Family, friends and clients of the Linthicum resident turned out at Snyder's Willow Grove Restaurant to say goodbye and share memories.A hush fell over the room just before 1 p.m. as the guest of honor arrived. Her daughter, Christine L. Lienesch, grabbed a camera and dropped to her knees.

In the 1930s, 8-year-old Agnes Schwabline sang and danced in talent shows at the Hippodrome Theater on North Eutaw Street in Baltimore. After an appearance with screen star Clark Gable on the Maryland Theatre Program, one newspaper dubbed her "Baby Agnes."Next month, the 69-year-old woman who now is Agnes Tudor, will take to the stage again in search of another title: Ms. Senior Sweetheart of America.She will be Maryland's representative in the first such national pageant at the Performing Arts Center in Providence, R.I., competing against about 40 other women from across the country.

Jonathan Ogden said he will likely decide before next month's NFL draft whether to retire. The 11-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle said yesterday that his toe injury remains a problem and that he won't be participating in the Ravens' first minicamp April 17. The draft begins April 26. "If I can't play football the way I'm used to [playing], then I'm not going to [return]," Ogden said at yesterday's 5-35 autograph event honoring the city's two Super Bowl championship teams. "If I think I can, I want to give it a shot."

Dwan Edwards' season of career highs continues to unfold. Having already recorded a personal best in starts (four) as well as his first sack and interception, the Ravens defensive tackle said he has gained exponentially from his time filling in for injured starter Trevor Pryce. "It's just more experience, more reps," Edwards said yesterday after practice at the Ravens' training facility in Owings Mills. "That's really what I need to get better as a player - to get out there and play." Edwards could get another chance to improve on those numbers.

Two weeks away from the Ravens' regular-season opener, Pro Bowl offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden said he can't guarantee he'll be ready to play. Ogden remains on the physically-unable-to-perform list with a toe injury, which has sidelined him through the offseason and preseason. "My goal is to get out there for Week 1," Ogden told The Sun yesterday. "It's still too soon to really say with any certainty that it's going to happen." If Ogden is unable to play in the opener at Cincinnati, the Ravens likely would go with rookie Jared Gaither, who has played well filling in for Ogden this summer.

The Ravens will place Jonathan Ogden on the physically-unable-to-perform list when they report to training camp Sunday, but team officials said the 10-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle should be ready to play by the regular-season opener. Ogden hyperextended the big toe on his left foot against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 17 and did not participate in any offseason minicamps with the team. Coach Brian Billick said Ogden will remain on the PUP list for an "indeterminate amount of time," although the Ravens knew this would be the plan for Ogden since the end of last season.

Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, is exposed as a man with holes in his socks as he leaves the Selimiye mosque in Edime, Turkey, on Sunday.

When Jonathan Ogden hobbled out of the Ravens' locker room yesterday, it might have been for the last time. The 10-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle said there is a "possibility" he might retire and end his career after 11 seasons. "I'll take a week to try to let my toe get better and I'll see from there," Ogden said as players packed up their lockers yesterday. "I'll take some time away and re-evaluate some things. That's how it's going to be. I'll see what I want to do next year a little later on."

Three months ago, a young Peruvian whose hands had been injured in an explosion showed up at Union Memorial Hospital with a stack of medical records and an ambitious request: New thumbs, please. Remarkably, surgeons granted his request. With his visa due to expire Friday, Francisco del Alamo-Benavente now thinks he can return home and realize his dream of becoming a chef, an occupation that would require enough strength and dexterity to slice a steak or peel a garlic clove. "It was just a setback," the 22-year-old former army officer said of the accident that obliterated the thumbs on both hands.

The artificial turf at M&T Bank Stadium has been unkind to a number of Ravens over the past year. Team officials, though, have no plans to return the favor. Even though four key players have had toe problems at home since November, the Ravens are sticking with their Sportexe Momentum turf for the foreseeable future, attributing the injuries more to circumstance and footwear rather than surface. Deion Sanders was the first to go down when he hurt a toe against the Cleveland Browns midway through last season.

NASHVILLE, TENN. -- Quarterback Kyle Boller could be facing surgery on his hyperextended right big toe. Boller, who stood on the sideline yesterday still wearing a protective boot, is scheduled to see a specialist in North Carolina today for a second opinion. Ravens coach Brian Billick said last week that the team was "optimistic" that Boller would be available for the game against the New York Jets on Oct. 2 but then couched the prognosis by indicating his three-year starter could be out as long as two months.

Talk about your bright and shiny shindig! The Baltimore School for the Arts celebrated its 25th birthday last weekend at its annual "Expressions" gala, this year held at the Hippodrome. To honor the school's silver anniversary, the invitation encouraged the 2,200 guests to "express yourself in silver." Event co-chair Sally Michel glimmered in a silver tunic. Fellow co-chair Molly Shattuck glittered in a silver beaded top, satin skirt and rhinestone sandals. That was just for starters. Halima Aquinot sparkled in a silver beaded corset.