Berroa Dismisses Hitless Debut

Geronimo Berroa arrived in Baltimore carrying a couple of suitcases and none of the baggage that comes with being hailed as the savior of a struggling offense.

“No pressure. I left the pressure behind me a long time ago,” Berroa said Sunday, hours before his first game with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles obtained the power-hitting outfielder from the Oakland Athletics on Friday for pitcher Jimmy Haynes and a player to be named. Berroa is being asked to revive an offense that has struggled while Eric Davis and Chris Hoiles are on the disabled list.

Berroa went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts Sunday, batting third as the designated hitter in the Orioles’ 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. He stranded six runners.

But Berroa expects things to get better because, after all, he barely got any sleep after arriving at 2 a.m. from Oakland.

“It was only one ugly game. I’ll be OK,” he said.

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Cricket is more his game, but Australian Prime Minister John Howard can talk a little baseball too.

Howard, in town to deliver two speeches this week, visited Yankee Stadium for the first time Sunday to watch the Yankees play host the Cleveland Indians and visit with fellow Aussie Graeme Lloyd, a reliever for New York.

Before the game, Howard chatted with Lloyd and posed for pictures with Lloyd and Yankee second baseman Pat Kelly, whose wife, Rebecca, is also Australian.

Howard was asked his impressions of the storied ballpark.

“It’s terrific,” he said. “It’s one of the greatest stadiums in the world, and it’s such a part of the culture of this country.”