O's front office hirings another Angelos ploy

I find it almost beyond belief (and hilarious) that the sports staff of The Sun has fallen for the Peter Angelos ploy of hiring two new people (Mike Flanagan and Jim Beattie) who supposedly will jointly run the team and return it to respectability.

I especially find it difficult to comprehend how Peter Schmuck writes about these hirings as the second coming! Schmuck is baseball-savvy and should know better.

There will never be a return to credibility for the Orioles with Angelos as the owner.

Also hilarious is Angelos saying - with a straight face - that the reason for hiring two more flunkies is because the complexities of today's baseball operations are too much for one person.

Like most of the declarations from Angelos, this idiotic statement was not challenged by any of the sportswriters.

To wit: At the same time Angelos makes this statement, the Ravens promote Ozzie Newsome to general manager, in charge of all football operations.

I would bet that the complexities of running a football team are equal to, or greater, than those of running a baseball team.

I have one more question. Why is The Sun sports staff afraid to take on Angelos?

Joe Michael Cierniak

Glen Burnie

Morgan State athletics making progress

I was astounded to read Mike Preston's column published in The Sun on Nov. 23. ["Morgan sports have some juice, but officials asleep at switch"].

Morgan State has made great progress in its development as a first-class urban university. School president Earl Richardson and his administrative staff are primarily responsible for this achievement. There is no sleepwalking here.

The athletic department is moving in the right direction. Under coach Donald Hill-Eley, the football team had its first winning season since 1979. Senior running back T.J. Stallings broke all offensive records on the field this year. The women's volleyball team is tops, and there's more.

The president and his budget managers are well aware of the department's needs and are taking steps to correct existing problems.

I hope Mr. Preston will take time to talk to responsible officials at Morgan State. If he does, I'm convinced that he will change his mind.

He may even write a factual column that reflects positively on the athletic department's achievements, and the honor its athletes bring to the university.

Wilbert L. Walker

Baltimore

Toughness is what set McNally apart

Mike Cuellar was crafty. Mike Flanagan was as intelligent as he was clutch. Mike Mussina had focus, a dozen deliveries and the knuckle-curve. Jim Palmer was pure of form and "Cy-sational."

But if I could have one Orioles pitcher to pitch one game for all the marbles, it would be No. 19, Dave McNally, who died last week at the age of 60.

Mentally and physically tough, McNally never gave an inch to anyone or anything. He was quietly but fiercely competitive and pitched every game with the same approach - work quickly to keep the defense sharp, keep consistency at the front of your game and keep throwing.

Blisters and nagging injuries never interfered with this man's job.

Though he hailed from Billings, he was all-Baltimore every fourth game.

Gary A. Rostkowski

Parkville

Murray's Hall election will be well-deserved

I enjoyed Laura Vecsey's column on Eddie Murray's expected first-ballot selection to Cooperstown ["Kind words for Murray, the man of few words," Dec. 4].

I am so sure Murray will be elected that I am making plans to go to the Hall of Fame in the summer.

Any sportswriter that does not vote for him should be taken to task and banished for life.

A ballplayer with all he has done, to see him retire and come back to coach and help young players is refreshing, too.

Ron Armstrong

Baltimore