BOWIE -- Peter Kirk's plans to bring baseball to Salisbury apparently have been put on hold until 1996.
"It's unlikely that we'll play there next summer," said Kirk, chairman of Maryland Baseball Limited Partnership Inc. "But it'll be nice to finish the ballpark before we start."
The reference was to the half-season Kirk's Double-A Bowie Baysox team played last summer at Prince George's County Stadium, which was still under construction in many areas.
Kirk had hoped to place a Single-A South Atlantic League team in Salisbury in 1995, probably one unaffiliated with a major-league club for the first year.
"Now, hopefully, we can start there [in 1996] by being a part of the Orioles' system," he said.
An announcement about the Salisbury team nickname chosen from 1,700 entries will be made shortly.
Bowie's park is nearing completion, with the clubhouses to be finished next week and the offices and concession stands to follow shortly thereafter.
Kirk said the next step is outfitting the home clubhouse with pitching machines, weights, batting cages and whatever other equipment the parent Orioles might desire.
Also, Kirk said a new picnic area and other improvements are being considered for Frederick's Grove Stadium and that ticket prices have not been raised at Bowie or Frederick.
The Baysox plan to televise a minimum of 10 home games next season on Jones Intercable systems in Anne Arundel, Calvert and Charles counties.
"That number [10] is just a starting point," said Dave Collins, the team's radio announcer and public relations director. "We're looking to grow beyond that point even for 1995."
In addition, Bowie and WMJS (92.7 FM) have signed an agreement to broadcast all 142 games on radio. WMJS, based in Prince Frederick, carried all but two of the Baysox's games in 1994.
Collins will be joined on the broadcasts by Bowie native Jimmy Terrill, a former minor-league pitcher and the pitching coach at the University of Maryland.
Terrill, who also has been a sales representative for the Baysox, replaces Rick Furr, now general manager of the Fayetteville club in the South Atlantic League.
NOTES: Former Oriole Larry Sheets is talking with the Baysox about conducting some hitting clinics and camps next summer. . . . New Bowie manager Bob Miscik said he considers "the pitching in this organization as good as anybody's." He also cited the outfield as probably the Orioles' strongest area for prospects. . . . Bowie's pitching coach will be Chris Lein, who spent the past four years with Orioles' short-season clubs, and the first-base coach will be Cuban-born Julio Garcia, the third-base coach at Pittsburgh's Triple-A Buffalo team last year. Mitch Bibb will be back as the trainer.