Who's On Third? Orioles Play Like Three Stooges

BALTIMORE - It didn't matter who was on first, because everybody was on third.

The Baltimore Orioles, in a blunder made for a blooper film, wound up with three runners on third base and blew a big chance in the eighth inning yesterday, losing to the California Angels 7-5.

The Orioles trailed 6-5 when they loaded the bases with one out. Mike Devereaux hit a fly ball to center field that Chad Curtis trapped, and he threw home.

Then, it got wild, wacky and weird.

Jeff Tackett, who had run halfway home, retreated back to third.

"I just assumed he caught the ball. I didn't hear any of the umpires or any of our guys yelling that he didn't catch the ball," he said.

Brady Anderson, who was on second base and saw the umpire signal safe, ran toward third. Chito Martinez, who was on first base, rounded second and also headed toward third.

The ball eventually wound up in the hands of Angel catcher John Orton. Without a rush, he walked down to third base and tagged all three runners.

Tackett was out on a force play. Anderson was safe because he was entitled to the bag, but Martinez also was out, completing an inning-ending double play.

"It's too bad this game wasn't on TV because you can't describe what happened out there," said Angel third baseman Rene Gonzales. "Harry's Radiator was the last team I was on where I saw something stupid like that happen."

Baltimore Manager Johnny Oates saw the same play, but didn't see it the same way. Especially after seeing the Orioles make dozens of other mistakes in losing seven of their first 10 games.

"That was ugly, what we saw out there today. We ran up and down the basepaths like a chicken with its head chopped off," Oates said.

"I've been watching that for about the last five days. Not exactly like that, but pretty much the same stuff," he said. "Just not heads-up, fundamentally sound baseball. Walking people all over the place, not making pitches when we have to, throwing to the wrong base, not executing bunts.

"Other than that, we've played pretty well."

-- CAN YOU TOP THIS? Ralph Kiner is back - with a Kiner Klassic that may just be his greatest ever.

Late in a spring-training game between the New York Mets and Yankees, Kiner left the broadcast booth between innings, only to discover upon his return that the Yankees had made some defensive changes.

Which would have been OK, except that he wasn't too sure what they were.

Not that that stopped him.

"I see the Yankees have made some changes in the outfield," he reported. "They've put Bernie Williams in left field. And now playing center field . . . uh . . ."

Kiner looked up at the scoreboard, hoping for help. What he found up there, though, were results of fan balloting to decide which song would get played on the public-address system before the next half-inning.

And fortunately for Kiner watchers, the winner of that balloting was a famous number titled "Centerfield," by John Fogarty.

So . . . anybody want to to guess what happened next?

"And in center field," Ralph finally announced, "that's John Fogarty."

We can only imagine the scream that erupted up in the booth after that fascinating bulletin. Bet it went something like: "Nooooooooooooo - that's Gerald Williams in center. Gerald Williams."

"Sorry," Kiner said. "Correction. That's Gerald Williams in center field - and John Fogarty in right."

-- NOTEWORTHY: Minnesota's Scott Erickson, who strained a muscle near the left side of his stomach in spring training, is scheduled to come off the disabled list and start against Kansas City today. To make room on the roster, the Twins optioned outfielder J.T. Bruett to Class AAA Portland. . . . The Florida Marlins expect to be without second baseman Bret Barberie for one month. The club said Barberie tore a ligament in his left elbow Friday night while lunging for a ball that was tapped to his left. . . . A ninth-inning homer by Atlanta's Terry Pendleton snapped a streak of 18 consecutive scoreless innings for the San Francisco pitching staff, which had allowed one run in its previous 28 innings. . . . Frank Tanana of the Mets pitched his 234th career victory. He's two shy of Whitey Ford, who's 49th on the all-time list. . . . Cleveland's Albert Belle extended his hitting streak to 10 games. . . . The Yankees have scored only six runs in Jim Abbott's three starts, even fewer than last year's 2.55 runs scored by the Angels for the pitcher.