Between The Lines

Bad Hair Night. It was Jay Buhner Haircut Night at the Kingdome last Thursday, and before the Mariners' game against the Rangers, 426 people lined up in front of 10 barber chairs to get a buzz cut just like the Seattle rightfielder's. "It was crazy," Buhner said. "Hair was flying everywhere. I should have collected some in case I need a weave someday." Among those who had their heads nearly shaved were a 60-year-old man and two women. Everyone who was sheared at the ballpark, plus 86 other fans who showed up with buzz cuts at the Kingdome, received a free seat in the rightfield bleachers. "Some of the ugliest-looking people I've ever seen," Buhner said when he looked up at his private cheering section. Before every inning Buhner tossed an outfield warmup ball into his cluster of fans. "It was the least I could do for anyone whose head looked like mine," he said.

Second Wind. In the nightcap of an International League doubleheader last Thursday, the Norfolk Tides beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons 14-10 by scoring 10 runs in the top of the seventh (and last) inning after there were two out and none on. (Triple A teams play two seven-inning games in a doubleheader.) Eleven straight Tide hitters reached base, making a winner of outfielder Jim Vatcher, who had pitched a scoreless bottom of the sixth. Vatcher went to the mound because the Norfolk staff was worn out from the first game of the twin bill, which the Tides lost 1-0 in 13 innings. It was the second time in a week that the Red Barons had lost to an outfielder; the Richmond Braves' Brian Kowitz pitched the last three innings of a 17-inning game on May 12 and was credited with the win. "I've never seen anything like it," Norfolk manager Bobby Valentine said of the Tides' comeback. Even though closer Mike Cook was tired, Valentine sent him in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. "After we scored 10," Valentine said, "I thought, If we screw around and not win this game, we'll never win another."

Team Effort. They've been playing baseball in the National League for 118 years, and until this season there had been only one game in which six pitchers had combined for a shutout. Then it happened twice in three days: Six Marlins blanked the Mets on May 15, and six Cardinals shut out the Pirates on May 17.