BALTIMORE -- A New Jersey man has filed a $35 million lawsuit against the Oriole Bird, claiming he got roughed up by the mascot during a game.

	From atop the dugout to atop the witness stand: The O's mascot must go to court.

Vincent Minervini of Keansburg, N.J., alleges that Jeff Gartner, one of the three men who perform as the Baltimore Orioles mascot, struck him with his tail, pushed him in the chest and took his property without permission.

"Kind of reminds me of Jimmy Carter and the rabbit," Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos told The (Baltimore) Daily Record, referring to the former president's contretemps with a bunny during a canoe trip. He declined further comment.

In his lawsuit, Minervini names two escorts, two policemen and an usher who he claims manhandled him and falsely arrested him during a May 1997 home game against the New York Mets. The Baltimore Orioles and the Maryland Stadium Authority also are named in the lawsuit.

Minervini is seeking $5 million in damages for each of the seven counts in the complaint. He does not specify what, if any, physical injuries he suffered.

His complaint, filed Friday in Baltimore Circuit Court, does not say whether he was booked on assault charges and a police spokesman was unavailable Labor Day.

Julie Wagner, the Orioles' director of community relations, said the organization had no comment on the matter. Neither Minervini nor his attorney Jesse E. Cox could be reached for comment.

Gartner is the second Orioles mascot to land in court this season.

John J. Krownapple, a former Oriole Bird, filed a $200,000 lawsuit in July against a Philadelphia man who he says pushed him off the right field wall at Camden Yards during a game in May.

The defendant, Louis Vitigliano, is charged with second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Krownapple says he chipped a bone in one ankle and badly bruised the other after falling 10 feet from the wall. Trial is scheduled for later this month.

Another of the current Oriole Bird mascots, Bradley Lowe, was assaulted by a New York man in 1994. Lowe did not press charges at the time nor has he since filed suit.