BASEBALL FUN

TECHNO THRILLS                                GAMEDAY I was, until  ambulance chaser Peter Angelos bought and ruined the Orioles, an avid fan.  When Angelos forced Manager Davey Johnson out, just hours before he was named American League manager of the year (1997), I quit.  I've missed nothing but a lot of grief in the ensuing years. Last year Hucker got my attention with tales of sensational play under manager Buck Showalter, and the club's return to building from below.  This enthusiasm got me to actually watch a full game.  I'm not a regular yet.  For one thing I couldn't put a name on a single position;  these guys were all strangers.   Now I  Google  "Orioles" whenever I want a quick game score.  Today when I checked, the O's were losing to Detroit 1-0.  I fiddled with some links and found this amazing deal.  It follows the game in real time, instantaneously (seemingly) showing the flight of pitches thrown, and what type of pitch it was, e.g.,  four seam fastball in the dirt.  You can at anytime listen to the radio broadcast, or watch it live. I stayed with the computer generated version.  I's amazing how drama and tension builds, and it reminded of the old days—before my time. Dutch Reagan's first job in broadcasting was doing play-by-play for the Cubs for an Iowa radio station. In those days all he had to work with were telegraphed pitch by pitch summaries sent by an agent watching the game.  He'd weave that into a commentary that took the listener into the ballpark.  That's what I thought of while this deal was running.  And best, the O's  came from behind to win 4-2.  Go to MLB.com, find the game you want and select the baseball diamond avatar.   Because player stats accompany each at-bat, it's easy to learn who these guys are.  There really is no better game than baseball.