Warning Track

There's good news for runners who coordinate their schedules with baseball's Opening Day.The Oriole Advocates Home Run, which will be held March 31 at Camden Yards, has been changed from an 8-kilometer race to a 5K and will have an accompanying 1-mile fun run.In addition, "for the first time since 1992 we're going to be finishing the fun run and the 5K on the warning track," said Oriole Advocates spokesman Tom Howser.The decision to add a fun run is aimed at making the day more of a family-oriented adventure.

You know those amazing videos we see of minor-league managers flipping out and getting ejected from games in emphatic fashion ? We can now add Norfolk Tides manager Gary Allenson to the highlight reel. In Sunday’s 11-5 win over Durham, the manager of the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate took objection to a home run getting switched to a ground-rule double by the umps. So Allenson sauntered out to the warning track, scaled the outfield wall and started looking for more phantom ground-rule doubles in the shrubbery in center field.

Back.Back.Back.And he makes a one-handed catch . . . on the synthetic rubber granulate with a polyurethane binder.Ohhh, doctor.What's this? The first play-by-play call of a chemical reaction? No. It is a glimpse of outfield play as fans soon will know it at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.Like every major-league stadium, the new park is equipped with a warning track -- about 18 feet wide and circling the playing field.But the similarities end about there. Unlike the old track, which was composed mostly of crushed rock and brick dust, the new one was cooked up by scientists.

His strong start has been overshadowed a bit by his good friend and fellow Orioles mainstay Brian Roberts, but right fielder Nick Markakis leads the first-place Orioles -- that will never get old, will it? -- in batting average and has made significant contributions in each of the team’s four season-opening wins. The finest play, of course, was has game-saving, Web-gemming grab on Saturday. With two out, two on and Baltimore leading by two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Tampa Bay’s Ben Zobrist smashed a Kevin Gregg pitch deep to right field.

Last night's game was played with a regulation American League ball rather than the international, or "soft" ball employed in the March 28 exhibition in Havana. Orioles catcher Charles Johnson homered in the first game and appeared to hit a second pitch even harder only to have it fall short of the Latin American Stadium warning track. "Charles Johnson centered one ball. If it had been a normal ball it probably would have gone out of the stadium," said manager Ray Miller. "But it sounded like a punt on a practice field when he hit it. Will [Clark]

The Orioles trumpet their offseason acquisitions in today's home opener, to wit: a spiffy new warning track and an expanded foul screen behind home plate. Fans likely won't notice the new warning track, that rubberized surface that surrounds the playing field. "It's the same exact thing that was here before," said Nicole Sherry, the Orioles' new head groundskeeper. The old brown warning track lasted six years - perhaps its limit, given the gopher-ball leanings of ex-Orioles pitchers Bruce Chen and Rodrigo Lopez, who allowed 60 home runs between them in 2006.

Last season Papy Ndungidi possessed what is known in baseball lingo as "warning track power." His best shots were dying on the gravel track that warns outfielders of an impending collision with the fence, and, as a consequence, he accumulatedmore than400 at-bats without a home run."Papy added 20 to 25 pounds over the winter, and balls that were going to the warning track are now out of the park," said his manager at Frederick, Dave Machemer. "I'm impressed with the way the ball is jumping off his bat. He's got a good swing in the zone and doesn't feel for the ball."

Good morning -- Cal Ripken Jr. -- That'd be some warning track they'd need at the Great Wall, wouldn't it?

HittingScott Rolen, Phillies: 3-for-3, 2 HRs.Todd Helton, Rockies: 2-for-4, 2 HRs.Craig Biggio, Astros: 2-for-4, 2 doubles.Derek Bell, Astros: 2-for-5, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs.PitchingOrel Hershiser, Giants: 8 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs.FieldingRaul Mondesi, Dodgers: In the second, he retreated to the warning track in right field and made a running, backhand grab of pitcher Brian Meadows' two-out, bases-loaded fly.Pub Date: 5/11/98

Opening Week is a month away. But already it is too late to join in one of the activities related to the opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.The Oriole Advocates 8-K Home Run road race is closed. Last week, entries for the event, scheduled for April 5, a day before the ballpark's official opening, reached the limit of 2,000, race director Les Kinion said.The race route will connect Baltimore's baseball past with its future -- beginning at Memorial Stadium and winding through downtown streets to the new ballpark, where runners will finish on the outfield warning track.

Good morning -- Cal Ripken Jr. -- That'd be some warning track they'd need at the Great Wall, wouldn't it?

The Orioles trumpet their offseason acquisitions in today's home opener, to wit: a spiffy new warning track and an expanded foul screen behind home plate. Fans likely won't notice the new warning track, that rubberized surface that surrounds the playing field. "It's the same exact thing that was here before," said Nicole Sherry, the Orioles' new head groundskeeper. The old brown warning track lasted six years - perhaps its limit, given the gopher-ball leanings of ex-Orioles pitchers Bruce Chen and Rodrigo Lopez, who allowed 60 home runs between them in 2006.

Who's hot Bobby Estalella of the Rockies is 7-for-16 with nine RBIs in his past five games. Who's not Athletics starting pitchers are 14-22 this season. Line of the day Barry Bonds, Giants LF AB R H RBI HR 3 3 3 3 2 On deck Mark Buehrle of the White Sox tries to become the AL's first eight-game winner to day, facing the Angels. He said it "I hit that ball as well as I can hit one. It's just too big out there. Now I know why Juan [Gonzalez] had such trouble playing here - and he's twice as strong as I am."

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Standing uncomfortably alone without a sense of control, Jose Mercedes found himself in the compromising position of having walked four consecutive hitters in the third inning of yesterday's game against the Anaheim Angels. Orioles pitching coach Sammy Ellis already had exhausted his one mound visit for the inning. Brook Fordyce had tried everything a catcher could do for his struggling pitcher. Now Mercedes stood with a full count, two outs, a one-run lead and the bases loaded against Angels right fielder Garret Anderson, one pitch away from manager Mike Hargrove coming for the ball.

Last season Papy Ndungidi possessed what is known in baseball lingo as "warning track power." His best shots were dying on the gravel track that warns outfielders of an impending collision with the fence, and, as a consequence, he accumulatedmore than400 at-bats without a home run."Papy added 20 to 25 pounds over the winter, and balls that were going to the warning track are now out of the park," said his manager at Frederick, Dave Machemer. "I'm impressed with the way the ball is jumping off his bat. He's got a good swing in the zone and doesn't feel for the ball."

Last night's game was played with a regulation American League ball rather than the international, or "soft" ball employed in the March 28 exhibition in Havana. Orioles catcher Charles Johnson homered in the first game and appeared to hit a second pitch even harder only to have it fall short of the Latin American Stadium warning track. "Charles Johnson centered one ball. If it had been a normal ball it probably would have gone out of the stadium," said manager Ray Miller. "But it sounded like a punt on a practice field when he hit it. Will [Clark]

Who's hot Bobby Estalella of the Rockies is 7-for-16 with nine RBIs in his past five games. Who's not Athletics starting pitchers are 14-22 this season. Line of the day Barry Bonds, Giants LF AB R H RBI HR 3 3 3 3 2 On deck Mark Buehrle of the White Sox tries to become the AL's first eight-game winner to day, facing the Angels. He said it "I hit that ball as well as I can hit one. It's just too big out there. Now I know why Juan [Gonzalez] had such trouble playing here - and he's twice as strong as I am."

You know those amazing videos we see of minor-league managers flipping out and getting ejected from games in emphatic fashion ? We can now add Norfolk Tides manager Gary Allenson to the highlight reel. In Sunday’s 11-5 win over Durham, the manager of the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate took objection to a home run getting switched to a ground-rule double by the umps. So Allenson sauntered out to the warning track, scaled the outfield wall and started looking for more phantom ground-rule doubles in the shrubbery in center field.

HittingScott Rolen, Phillies: 3-for-3, 2 HRs.Todd Helton, Rockies: 2-for-4, 2 HRs.Craig Biggio, Astros: 2-for-4, 2 doubles.Derek Bell, Astros: 2-for-5, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs.PitchingOrel Hershiser, Giants: 8 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs.FieldingRaul Mondesi, Dodgers: In the second, he retreated to the warning track in right field and made a running, backhand grab of pitcher Brian Meadows' two-out, bases-loaded fly.Pub Date: 5/11/98

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- As of Tuesday, the Orioles' starting rotation becomes whole again. With a productive side session, Scott Kamieniecki confirmed yesterday that he has sufficiently recovered from a groin pull and an inflamed right elbow to leave the disabled list Tuesday, when he will make his first start since April 24 against the Minnesota Twins."