Orioles executives thankful to be alive after car crash

JAN. 14, 2003: Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis, 44, who as Ravens defensive coordinator helped assemble the 2000 Super Bowl champions, is named head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals — the eighth black head coach in NFL history.

JAN. 17, 2002: “I have to make some big lineup changes,” Maryland women’s basketball coach Chris Weller says after a 52-44 loss to Virginia at Cole Field House. The Terps allow 25 points on turnovers and fail to score in the final 5:19.

JAN. 16, 1997: “It’s a miracle we’re alive,” says Syd Thrift, the Orioles’ director of player development says after he and general manager Pat Gillick are pulled, unharmed, from a car crash on the Baltimore Beltway in which their vehicle flips twice.

JAN. 14, 1967: “I probably could have gotten a few thousand dollars more, but I didn’t think it was worth haggling over,” outfielder Frank Robinson says as the American League Triple Crown winner signs the first $100,000 contract in Orioles history.

JAN. 14, 1967: Coppin State’s basketball team loses, 94-89, to Bowie State in double overtime. Six Eagles foul out as the losers play the final three minutes with only three players.

JAN. 18, 1962: Dunbar defeats Mount Saint Joseph, 20-10, in wrestling as undefeated Poets Eddie Davis (145 pounds) and John Broadway (165) score their fourth straight pins.

JAN. 13, 1954: Satchel Paige, the Negro leagues pitching great who played last year for the St. Louis Browns, tells reporters he’d like to pitch for their successor, the Orioles, “but I haven’t heard a thing from ’em yet.” Two weeks later, Baltimore releases the 47-year-old Paige, who’ll be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1971.

JAN. 15, 1919: Navy routs Mount St. Mary’s, 49-8, in basketball for its ninth win during a 16-0 season. Forward Lance Farwell scores 10 points and will earn All-America honors despite battling influenza much of the year.

Birthday

JAN. 13, 1929: Ed “Big Mo” Modzelewski, Maryland fullback and Most Valuable Player of the Terps’ Sugar Bowl champs who defeated Tennessee, 28-13, on New Year’s Day 1952. Modzelewski, who later played for the Cleveland Browns, died in 2015.