THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180642
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: 64 lines
This week, while the Yankees play the Orioles, baseball seems to matter.
Of course, you can always get an argument about that. For pro football's magpies there is nothing more vital and entertaining than another week of NFL games.
You can see why they'd be excited.
Who wouldn't drop everything to watch Arizona play New Orleans?
And what about Jacksonville vs. New England? Ah yes, the long and storied rivalry continues.
In another game sure to take the crease out of Chris Berman's trousers, Seattle travels to Tampa Bay for a much-anticipated matchup of legendary franchises.
Meanwhile, at the New Jersey Meadowlands, it's the Giants against the Jets in the the Peyton Manning Bowl. It just doesn't get any better.
Pitted against this sort of awesome competition from the NFL, it's amazing that the Yankees-Orioles series has managed to attract attention.
All it's got going for it, after all, is the drama of meaningful games.
It may turn out that the Orioles' visit to Yankee Stadium has more impact on Baltimore's wildcard race with Chicago than on the American League East title run. Some of us are just getting used to the wildcard. Some of us never will.
But if nothing else, even if New York solidifies its lead, Yankees vs. Orioles is an attractive prelude to the playoffs.
The Orioles, playing their first games after breaking the major league record of 240 home runs set by the Yankees in 1961, are attempting to overtake a New York team that seemed to have the division wrapped up a month ago.
At the very least, the series presents intriguing theater.
It's a reminder, too, that while pro football's been rumbling out of the gate, baseball has been enjoying some good times.
The Orioles have had a lot to do with that. They've bounced back from 12 games behind New York in late July with a lineup that sometimes features nine hitters with 20 or more home runs this season.
The return of one of those sluggers to the Orioles' clubhouse has been linked to Baltimore's resurgence.
An observer can make too much of Eddie Murray's presence. But a good story is a good story, a sometimes rare commodity in baseball.
By hitting his 500th home run in an Orioles' uniform, Murray presented baseball with a feel-good moment.
Monday night, Paul Molitor contributed another.
As much as his 3,000th career hit, it was the way Molitor streaked around the bases and belly-flopped into third base that should make him an inspiration to all 40-somethings.
At 35, Molitor was considered too injury-prone to last much longer. That was about 1,100 hits ago.
You don't clout 500 home runs or collect 3,000 hits without taking a relentlessly professional approach to the game. The celebration of Murray and Molitor, then, has been good for the image of baseball, which has fouled a lot of pitches off its foot in recent years.
Otherwise, this season will be remembered for its abundance of home runs. Sunday, as if to counter NFL fireworks, American League hitters launched 27 homers in only six games.
Juiced ball. Pitiful pitching. Whatever. It's been a star-spangled season of power hitting. No place is this more evident than in Baltimore, where 182 years after Francis Scott Key wrote his hit single, bombs still are bursting in air. by CNB