IT WAS ONE of those rare glimpses of Orioles third baseman Tony Batista. Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Until You Get Enough" was being played in the team clubhouse, and Batista was getting his groove on. Off came the cap, then a glove and then a shirt. The hips were working, and the room eventually erupted with laughter about the mock striptease.

But make no mistake, Batista can't dance like Michael Jackson. Too stiff to moon walk. He is more of a John Travolta, disco fever throwback of the 1970s. But he also has quietly evolved into one of the Orioles' leaders. The New York Yankees bring one of the game's greatest circuses and a lot of tension to every city they play.

So when the Orioles need a big hit and a little levity, Batista keeps stepping up to the plate. And he did so again last night, getting the game-winning line drive to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Gary Matthews from second base and defeat the Yankees, 8-7.

Batista had struggled for most of the game, but delivered on a 1-2 pitch from right-hander Steve Karsay. Batista was looking fastball but found slider.

"I think it was a pretty good game for myself. It was exciting for my team and for myself," Batista said. "I was looking fastball. ... I just wanted to get on base because [Marty] Cordova was hitting pretty good behind me, but they sent Matthews in to win the game. They had been throwing me a lot of fastballs, but I was just missing on them tonight."

Said Matthews, the right fielder: "He is really quiet around the media. But when the door is closed to everyone, and even on the team bus, he is pretty much a jokester. Not only is he our offensive leader, but he keeps the team loose, and recognizes when we need it."

Possibly no other player symbolizes the Orioles of 2002 more than Batista, 28. There is nothing flashy about his play. His stance, where the back foot is in Camden Yards and the front one is in Siberia, is downright ugly. He got hit in the head by a Robert Person fastball nearly two weeks ago, and crashed into a railing trying to catch a pop in the same game, which resulted in a nasty cut to his knee.

Yet Batista, claimed off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays in late June, hasn't missed a game. He is the only Oriole to play and start in all 75 games, and he leads the team in hits (73), home runs (17) and RBIs (46). His production couldn't have come at a better time, as the team's top two hitters, Jeff Conine and David Segui, are on the disabled list.

Segui (left hand) has been on the DL since May 21; Conine (right hamstring) has been on it since June 15. Batista struck out twice last night, once with runners in scoring position. But in the past 21 games, he has four doubles, a triple and four homers.

Batista is starting to get some attention. He got pitcher Roger Clemens' last night in his first at-bat: The first two pitches to him were high and inside.

Everyone knew Clemens was going to plunk Batista, who had homered off the pitcher twice this season - including a grand slam. Poor Roger. Predictability is a sign of old age.

"Regardless of the stance that looks so different, he gets in position to hit the ball," said Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley. "The shoulders, his hips, his front side, all are squared up good. ... When Tony is in a comfortable surrounding and playing every day, he is going to get his share of home runs and runs batted in."

But his role as a leader is somewhat surprising. Watch Batista walk into a locker room, and he just kind of strolls. A snail has more urgency. He is a deeply religious man who makes significant donations to the community. He likes to talk about God, but not about himself. The media is neither friend nor enemy.

"I try to be the same most of time for showing the people," Batista said. "I believe in the line from Jesus Christ that if you try to be simple, he will give you success in public. If I do good, I do bad, I will always be the same person."

Watch Batista on the field, and he does some strange stuff. Ever check him out after the Orioles' first pitch of every game? Batista staggers, draws an imaginary circle, then acts as if he is going to catch a pop-up.

"I don't know why he does it, you have to ask him," Crowley said. "But he is always doing something interesting."

Said Batista: "I don't want to talk about it. Let's leave it right there."

And Batista has become a comforting force for the Baby Birds, especially reliever Jorge Julio.

"He is like having a coach at third base," Julio said. "Tony is like my family, my brother, everybody for me. He is like 'The Man' for the team."

The guy is a professional who has the same demeanor whether he hits a game-winning three-run homer or a game-ending double-play ball. He plays the game only one way - hard, much like the 2002 Orioles.

"What surprises me now, looking back on it, is that Tony is a pretty doggone good defensive player," Crowley said. "He has great hitting mechanics, runs the bases well and is a full package player. He's a good role model for all our players."