The Orioles have had trouble developing young pitchers like Luis Rivera in recent seasons. (AP)

Mark Wiley, manager Mike Hargrove's trusted pitching coach during much of his tenure in Cleveland, this season becomes the Orioles' eighth pitching coach in eight years of Angelos' ownership.

Really, it's one of the most remarkable statistics in the game.

"It almost got to the point where I expected somebody else to be there," Mike Mussina, the former Baltimore ace who signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent, told SportsLine.com last month. "I assumed it would take three months to get to know the guy.

"Fortunately, I knew enough about what I wanted to do."

Starting at the beginning, there was Dick Bosman in 1994, followed by former Orioles' ace and longtime broadcaster Mike Flanagan in 1995.

There was Pat Dobson in 1996, followed by Ray Miller in 1997. When Miller replaced Davey Johnson as the Orioles' manager in 1998, Flanagan returned once again to guide the pitchers.

Then, Bruce Kison was hired as the pitching coach in 1999, Sammy Ellis was installed in Hargrove's debut season in 2000 and, now, Wiley.

On a veteran club, as the Orioles mostly have been since Angelos became the controlling partner, the constant change in the pitching coach position isn't necessarily a crisis. Some pitchers, such as Mussina, are intelligent and savvy enough to make their own adjustments and discuss problems with other trusted members of the team.

However, the constant change certainly is not beneficial -- especially when it comes to veterans who haven't had the success of a Mussina, or when it comes to prospects the organization is attempting to develop. Sidney Ponson falls into the latter category.

Ponson, 29-34 with a 4.82 ERA over 95 career appearances (84 starts), will pitch for his fourth pitching coach in four big-league seasons in 2001.

"As a young player, every time you come into spring training and see someone new, that's tough," Mussina said. "A coach has to get used to a player, too."

Scott Erickson, who is expected to miss the 2001 season while recovering from major elbow surgery, thinks the constant change is more difficult on the coaches than on the pitchers.

"What it boils down to is he's got to learn 11 new guys," Erickson said. "It's not hard for the players. You just have to determine (the latest pitching coach's) credibility for yourself.

"If the guy knows what he's talking about -- if that's the case -- then hopefully it's helpful."

A veteran of 11 big-league seasons, Erickson has had his share of run-ins with pitching coaches.

Starting in Minnesota in the mid-1990s, several of them have tried to instill in Erickson the importance of adding an off-speed pitch to his repertoire of hard fastballs and sinkers. None of them have made Erickson see the light, which many insist is the reason why Erickson has never been the big winner many thought he'd become following his 20-8 rookie season for the Twins in 1991.

"There should be a point in time where you know what you're doing, and you don't want someone else to come in and change it," Erickson said.

Erickson, who was acquired by the Orioles in July 1995, said the most important thing he's had to do as the continuing parade of pitching coaches in Baltimore has passed him by is hold his ground.

"It's surprising what some people think," he said. "It's crazy. Adding a pitch or fine-tuning is one thing, but when someone wants to come in and change your mechanics ..."

Erickson declined to name names. And agree or disagree with him, it's clear an unhealthy situation has developed over the years in Baltimore.

"It's just as difficult for a player to evaluate a coach as it is for a coach to evaluate a player," Erickson said. "You have to find a happy medium."

Obviously, they've yet to do that in Baltimore.

The Orioles haven't advanced to the postseason since 1997, and things have deteriorated to the point where, in the eyes of many free agents, a tour of Siberia would be viewed more favorably than a stint in Baltimore.

Just this winter, infielder Jose Valentin spurned significantly more money in Baltimore to remain with the Chicago White Sox, reliever Tom Gordon signed with the Chicago Cubs rather than join the Orioles and, of course, Mussina fled as quickly as he could.

While the monstrous Belle contract by far is Angelos' biggest mistake since taking over the Orioles, the constant turnover among pitching coaches might be his lasting legacy.

Bird seed

So, where have all of the recent Baltimore pitching coaches landed? Basically, all over the baseball map:

• Last anybody heard from Dick Bosman, he was coaching in the low minors.
• Mike Flanagan continues to work as a Baltimore broadcaster for Home Team Sports.
• Pat Dobson is a top scout with San Francisco.
• Ray Miller is retired.
• Bruce Kison continues to work for Baltimore as a scout.
• Sammy Ellis is working in the Cincinnati Reds' minor-league department.

The sound and the fury

If Gary Sheffield's constant ravings about being traded were the only thing going wrong in Los Angeles' spring camp, it sure would make things much easier to take.

But no.

Right fielder Shawn Green, looking to rebound from a disappointing 2000 (.269, 24 homers, 99 RBI), is nursing a sore right thumb that is expected to sideline him for most of March.

Infielder Dave Hansen suffered a broken bone in the middle finger of his left hand. Ace Kevin Brown was hospitalized briefly at the beginning of camp with an irregular heartbeat, giving the club momentary pause.

Meanwhile, a most unusual situation involving Adrian Beltre appears as if it might force the Dodgers to make an adjustment at third base for opening day.

In early January, Beltre underwent an emergency appendectomy in his native Dominican Republic that soon became infected. He lost 24 pounds and hasn't eaten solid food since Jan. 11. As he's being given nourishment intravenously, Beltre is not working out with the Dodgers until his wound from the surgery closes.

"We're just taking it slowly with him," said Jim Tracy, the first-year Dodgers manager who has watched things unravel on him this spring through no fault of his own. "We're not in a major hurry with the fellow. The hole has to close itself up first, and until we get that accomplished, there's no sense looking further down the road."

So far, the Dodgers' perspective is that this gives them a chance to look at some other infielders in camp as they put their team together, guys like Alex Cora, Tim Bogar, Andy Stankiewicz and Jeff Reboulet.

But with the unsettled Sheffield situation, with Green out and with camp getting deeper and deeper into March, the Beltre situation certainly bears watching. This is a guy who batted .290 with 20 homers and 85 RBI in 138 games for the Dodgers in 2000.

"He's young (22) and athletic," Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone said. "We don't think he needs as much time to recover as, say, a guy in his early-to-mid 30s."

With opening day less than a month away, and with a new minefield being uncovered too often for comfort in Vero Beach, the Dodgers certainly could use their general manager to be right on the money.