Pete Incaviglia

Barry Bonds: Taking after his father, Bobby, who holds the major league record with 35 game-opening homers, the Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder has hit 4 game-opening homers this season and 11 in his career. Andy Van Slyke: The Pirate center fielder has 1 hit in 25 at-bats against Mike Scott of the Houston Astros. "The guy has a voodoo doll of me on his mantle," Van Slyke said.

The public-address microphone remained off for the entire game Tuesday, a fitting reminder that baseball in Baltimore will never sound the same without Rex Barney. Barney, who pitched a no-hitter for the 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers and later gained fame as the Orioles' longtime public-address announcer, was found dead at his home earlier in the day of undetermined causes. He was 72. The Orioles honored Barney by playing without benefit of a PA announcer, and flags were at half-staff at Camden Yards.

Robert Legendre, a freshman right-hander from Cypress College, has signed with the Dodgers, Charger Coach Scott Pickler said Thursday. Legendre, from Western High School, agreed to a minor league contract Wednesday night. He was taken Monday in the 14th round of the amateur draft. Legendre, 19, will leave Saturday for a minor league camp in Vero Beach, Fla., for a few weeks. He then will be assigned to a minor league team. Two other Cypress players were drafted.

AL East: Pitcher gives up back-to-back homers to Tigers, then hits Shelby, causing benches to clear. As a rule, .177 hitters have a problem batting against Roger Clemens. Detroit's John Shelby was no exception Saturday at Boston. But it wasn't the strong right arm of the Red Sox pitcher that stopped Shelby. It was catcher John Marzano. Marzano tackled the irate Shelby in the second inning when the light-hitting center fielder charged the mound after being hit in the back with a pitch by Clemens.

Memo to National League pitchers: Start throwing Henry Rodriguez curveballs. The Expos' Rodriguez homered for the fourth game in a row Wednesday and Shane Andrews singled in the winning run in the 10th inning of a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Montreal. Nothing to it. "They just throw me fastballs and I hit it," said Rodriguez, whose homer came in the first inning. "The way I feel right now I just have to go out and swing the bat." That's the way it has been lately.

When Deion Sanders came down with an upper respiratory infection in late August, Otis Nixon took over in center field and has remained there. "I think he brought his average up from .230 to .270," Brave Manager Bobby Cox said. "I think he and Devon White are the two best center fielders I have ever seen." Nixon finished the regular season batting .269, with 77 runs and 47 stolen bases, the fourth consecutive season he has stolen 40 or more. He is batting .

Union chief Donald Fehr met with player representatives today to brief them on the stalled negotiations that threaten the start of the regular season. Talks broke off Monday, with some players saying the fight over salary arbitration eligibility isn't worth endangering opening day. (Stories, C1.) Camps have been locked for 13 days, and management says they won't open until there's an agreement. "We want to tell them where we are," Fehr said before he met with more than 50 players.

Tom Gordon, once the solid favorite for rookie of the year honors, has hit the wall. The Kansas City Royals' pitcher was knocked out in the third inning of Thursday night's game at Kansas City and took the loss in a 10-4 victory for the Texas Rangers. It was Gordon's fourth defeat in his last five starts, as the Royals dropped 3 1/2 games behind the idle Oakland Athletics in the American League West. Fred Manrique and Juan Gonzalez each drove in two runs for the Rangers, who had 16 hits.

Mike Loynd tied an NCAA record with 20 victories for Florida State this season. The Texas Rangers asked him for just one Thursday night, and he gave it to them. Loynd, 24, pitched six strong innings in his major league debut and helped the Rangers snap a seven-game losing streak with a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Arlington, Tex. "I expected to be more nervous," said Loynd, who was making his sixth start in professional baseball. "I was relaxed the whole time.