Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Josh Hamilton has become the 16th player in major league history to hit four home runs in a game.

Facing the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers outfielder hit two-run homers in the first, third and seventh innings and added a solo shot in the eighth to tie the major league record. He also doubled in the fifth.

The 18 total bases is a new single-game American League record. His seven RBIs are a career high.

The last player to hit four home runs in a game was Carlos Delgado on Sept. 25, 2003, for Toronto against Tampa Bay.

Two of the 16 players to hit four homers in a game did it before 1900. Hamilton is the sixth American League player to perform the feat.

Hamilton leads the American League with 14 homers and 35 RBIs and is batting .406.

Merv Griffin’s former 40-acre estate near Palm Springs has been reduced by 34% percent to $9.5 million. Lauren Schuker has details on The News Hub.

Merv Griffin’s former 40-acre estate near Palm Springs, Calif., has been reduced by 34% to $9.5 million.

The La Quinta, Calif., property of the late TV host was first listed about two years ago for $14.5 million. It came back on the market last month.

The estate has 14 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms across several structures; there’s a 5,000-square-foot main residence as well as four free-standing guest casitas and two guesthouses. The interiors have a Moroccan look, inspired by Yves Saint Laurent’s house in Marrakech, and were done by noted decorator Waldo Fernandez. The property also includes a 2½-acre lake as well as full equestrian facilities with staff quarters.

Mr. Griffin built the estate in 1986 and used it as a second residence until his death in August 2007. He began his career as a singer and actor and then went on to host his own talk show, “The Merv Griffin Show,” and to create some of today’s most iconic game shows, such as “Jeopardy!” Later, he got into real estate, buying a fleet of hotels including the Beverly Hilton.

Tyler Morgan, Todd Monaghan, and Keith Markovitz of Capitis Sotheby’s International Realty have the listing.

A Saudi family sells a Miami home to a Los Angeles developer for $8.5 million. Lauren Schuker has details on The News Hub.

A Saudi Prince Sells in Miami Beach

Sheik Tarek Al Fassi, a member of the Saudi royal family, has sold his 10,271-square-foot Miami Beach, Fla., home for $8.5 million to Los Angeles developer Richard Meruelo.

Built in 1929, the Mediterranean home has nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms and 170 feet of water frontage on Indian Creek Canal. The home sits on a 2.7-acre property, which includes a sports field, swimming pool and fitness center as well as a basketball court and a tennis court.

The property spans two lots, which the sheik purchased separately. He bought the first lot in 1985 for $1.3 million and the second in 1991 for $1.6 million, according to public records. He and his family has lived on the property since.

Kenny Raymond of Prudential Florida Realty, who represented the seller, said the sale was the highest price ever paid for a home on Pinetree Drive, one of the most prestigious streets in Miami Beach because of its proximity to major golf courses, the airport and night life and because it is bordered by water on one side.

Ralph Arias and Mirce Curkoski of One Sotheby’s represented the buyer. They declined to comment.

The owners of Phillips Seafood have listed their Maryland home for $32 million. Lauren Schuker has details on The News Hub.

Maryland Estate Lists for $32 Million

Steve and Maxine Phillips have put their 23-acre estate overlooking the Severn River in Annapolis, Md., on the market for $32 million. The couple owns Phillips Seafood, one of the country’s largest seafood companies.

Called the Friary on the Severn, the estate was formerly a Capuchin monastery and includes a 26,000-square-foot Georgian home. The brick structure has seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, 11 fireplaces and 270-degree views of the river.

The Phillipses bought the property in 2002 for $2.5 million and performed an extensive renovation on the home as well as the grounds. With a commercial-size gourmet kitchen and an oversize ballroom, the home can now be used for large-scale entertaining. Outside, there’s a roof garden, a pool pavilion, a 60-foot infinity pool and a tennis court. A three-bedroom guesthouse and Asian tea house also sit on the property.

Maria-Victoria Checa and David DeSantis of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty have the listing.

—Lauren A. E. Schuker—Email: privateproperties@wsj.com

By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN

With prospects for new jobs or promotions still looking grim, many workers are struggling to take their careers to the next level. Some, though, have found ways to cope and make themselves more marketable for when companies start hiring again.

“You don’t have to be stuck,” says Dory Hollander, a workplace psychologist and founder of WiseWorkplaces, a career coaching and executive-development firm based in Arlington, Va. “You can be an active player in shaping your own future.”

Indeed, there are a number of ways workers can bolster their résumés in preparation for when the job market ramps up. These include volunteering to gain new skills, building a wider network of contacts and moving into a parallel position within their company.

One of the reasons many people may be feeling like their careers are at a standstill: decreasing voluntary turnover. Between January and November of 2009, 19.6 million workers quit their jobs, an amount fewer than any during that period since the U.S. Labor Department began tracking the data in 2000.

“To get a promotion, somebody has to leave,” says Steve Gross, a senior consultant for New York-based consulting firm Mercer LLC. But fewer “people are quitting and [fewer] people are retiring.”

What’s more, many workers didn’t receive pay increases last year, and some even saw their salaries shrink. Of 555 large and midsize U.S. employers polled by consulting company Hewitt Associates Inc. in October, 48% said they froze wages in 2009 and another 10% cut salaries. And while many firms expect to reinstate raises this year, the average increase will be just 2.5%, the second-lowest level on record, reports Hewitt. The worst year for raises: 2009, when salaries dipped to 1.8%.

Once the economy improves, some 60% of more than 900 U.S. workers surveyed between October and November 2009 said they plan to pursue new job opportunities, reports Right Management, a talent and career-management consulting firm in Philadelphia.

Meghan Stinton felt her career had hit a wall early last year while she was working as an event and fund-raising coordinator for a national nonprofit’s Denver branch. After a colleague was laid off in March, the 25-year-old says she had to do that person’s job—program coordinator—on top of hers, despite not being given a raise or title promotion.

She kept her eyes open, but says she never saw any positions in her field open up above her at the organization. She also looked for jobs at other nonprofits but failed to find anything that matched her skill set and background. “I was pretty much at a standstill,” she says.

Ms. Stinton decided to make the most of her situation. She began doing volunteer work in public relations—a field she wanted to move into—for three nonprofits that weren’t hiring. She also joined two trade groups to expand her network, including the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

Later, when a manager position opened up in the chamber’s public-relations department, she applied by emailing her résumé to the membership director—one of several staffers she got to know on a first-name basis from networking. She landed the job in December, increasing her annual income by 20% to $32,000.

Another way to make yourself more marketable during a career slowdown is to see about transferring into a position at the same pay grade within your firm but in a different area—the classic lateral move. “You’re still learning and growing,” says Cindy Nicola, vice president of talent acquisition for Electronic Arts Inc., a videogame company based in Redwood City, Calif. “Broad-based experience can ultimately position you to move up.”

In late 2008, Kate Pullman, 31, moved into a director position at Prudential Financial Inc. in Newark, N.J., after about a year working at the same level but in a different niche within the financial-services firm’s human-resources department. “I thought it was better to move laterally than to wait for an opportunity to move up,” she says.

Though her salary remained flat, she got to supervise employees with different work styles than those she previously managed, plus she oversaw a company-wide initiative for the first time. She says the move paid off. In November, she was promoted to vice president of staffing operations and received a 12% raise.

Keep in mind that before moving sideways within a firm, it can be wise to research the opportunity to make sure it won’t only benefit your career later on, but that you’ll also enjoy it. You can do this by meeting with colleagues in the department you’re targeting to find out what the culture’s like, what they find most challenging and others insights they might have that could help you decide whether moving there makes sense for you.

Chris Karel, 35, wishes he took this step. In 2005 he switched to a director job in the passenger division of British Airways from a director job in the cargo area to expand his knowledge of the business. “The end goal was to be able to choose which side I ended up in at the (vice-president) level,” he says.

But he didn’t research the culture of the company’s passenger side and was disappointed to learn that it “wasn’t as entrepreneurial” as the cargo area, he says. The following year he quit the company.

Offering to take on extra responsibilities at work that will allow you develop a new skill or gain experience in a new area may also be a way to bolster your résumé, says Margaret-Ann Cole, a senior consultant at Towers Watson, a human-resources consulting firm based in New York. Just be sure to limit your efforts to a specific time frame such as six months to avoid being taken advantage of, she advises. Also, make sure what you’ll be doing will help you move up later on by first running the idea past someone in your target job, a mentor or a career adviser.

If you think the additional work might overwhelm you, see if you can delegate some of your primary duties to a junior colleague who could benefit in the same way, says Ms. Cole. “Managers love when you say, ‘Here’s my plan to take on more and not leave myself to suffer,’ ” she says.

Finally, consider enrolling in workshops or classes on a subject pertinent to your goals, and once you’ve finished, add them to your résumé, says Ms. Hollander, the workplace psychologist.

“It negates the idea that you’re lazy and just biding your time,” she says. “It shows you’re taking charge and no matter what the market’s doing, it’s not going to stop you from reaching your goals.”

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

By TREVOR CLARK

Trevor Clark

Mountain biking on the Tequila Trail near Oaxaca, Mexico

IT WAS EARLY. Hours from sunrise kind of early. My wimpy headlamp struggled to break through the predawn drizzle, and I could barely see my front tire or the trail ahead. Roots, rocks and stumps all seemed to be in cahoots, working together to upend me.

I tried to become one with the bike. I tried to feel out the trail with my other senses. I tried to anticipate obstacles, but I am no Zen master. My mountain biking skills are rough under the best conditions, and I was in the jungle in the dark.

My mate’s more powerful headlamp suddenly provided a snapshot of a sharp turn and a wooden footbridge ahead. Then, lights out. I made an educated guess, went straight and took a hit that emptied my lungs: “Huhhhhh!” Cold water rushed into my clothes and pack as I lay in the stream, bike still on my feet, straight up in the air.

For a few moments, I laughed hysterically at my predicament and the fact that I was OK after missing the bridge. Then I picked myself up and kept moving.

We made it to the peak of Piedra Larga, a 10,761-foot-high lookout, for breakfast, corn-based hot chocolate and sunrise. As the sun slowly emerged from a thick layer of fog, we found ourselves hovering above a golden sea of clouds. The scenery was worth every blind pedal stroke.

Seven of us had come to the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico, a forested mountain range in the northern part of the state. Oaxaca is known as the country’s culinary and cultural center, and many visitors experience it through cooking classes and gallery walks in the capital city. We, instead, were mountain-biking part of an ancient Zapotec network of walking trails that have connected eight villages to each other and the rest of the world for eons.

Mountain biking is fairly new to Mexico and few people, even in the biking world, have explored its potential. But for the past 15 years, those eight villages have been working to create an environment where adventure tourism can thrive, sharing responsibility for and income from the efforts. Considering the fact that they had to breed their own mountain-bike guide, it is little surprise that things have taken a while to get off the ground.

“What followed was perhaps the best mountain biking I have ever done. There was no backing out, no second-guessing and no stopping.”

I was with a tour company looking into new mountain-biking trips. For five days, we wound our way through fields, along mountain ridges, up dirt roads and down steep, narrow corridors through thick forest. We dodged cows and plants with knuckle-piercing thorns, tipping our helmets with a big “Hola!” as we rolled through each village. The area offers more than 70 miles of one-lane trails (or singletrack, as it is known in mountain biking) stomped into perfect biking paths over countless years, and the opportunities seemed endless.

We arrived via van from the vibrant city of Oaxaca, riding along pothole-strewn arteries. We unloaded, a little carsick, in Benito Juárez, a pint-size village perched on the edge of the very steep road. The mountain air was crisp and refreshing, but the elevation made breathing laborious. A crowd of villagers quickly gathered around our wobbly group of Lycra-wearing gringos. We looked funny, but all that seemed to matter was that we were visitors, and were welcome.

We rolled our bikes out of the trailer; in short order chains were lubed, adjustments were made and we were clicking in. We sped into the woods for a two-hour ride to the village of Llano Grande, where we would be based for the rest of our visit. We cruised through the mountainous jungle, smiling, laughing and pointing out trees and plants that could have inspired Dr. Seuss’s books. We were so giggly that when we came across a carnivorous-looking cactus as big as our van, we all lost it and belly-laughed like little kids.

We rolled into Llano Grande as the sky turned dark, met up with our luggage-laden van and were shown to our accommodations. I was expecting a leaky hut, but a local ushered me into the warm, cedar-scented cabin and flipped on the light. There was a fire crackling in the fireplace; the water heater had already been primed.

Dinner was served in a small cinder-block building that doubled as the village store. Blue paint on the outside read, “Todo con medida.” Roughly translated: “Everything in moderation.” The cook’s young children raced an old tricycle in and out of doorways and around our bags, occasionally hitting our outstretched feet. Food filled the table—and our stomachs. Beans, chicken, salsa, corn tortillas, Oaxacan cheese and fiery mezcal. Todo con medida, not so much.

Our guide was José Luis Marco, the 19-year-old grandson of the village elder, Adelfo, who has been heading up the tourism project since its inception. Even with an inferior bike and slick tires, José had no problem smoking us like we were on training wheels. Each day he led us through new sections of trail, stopping in different villages for lunch and sometimes a little sightseeing. Each night, we hung out in the only spot in town.

Late one afternoon, we were working our way up to a ridge that promised the best downhill stretch of singletrack of the trip, maybe in all of Mexico. It had been hyped for days: steep, daring and unpredictable.

It was raining. No surprise, as it rained every afternoon, but on this day the rain fell without pause. As my legs pushed and my lungs strained for a decent breath, all I could think about was the hazardous Mexican practice of using tortillas as utensils. A post-lunch siesta would have been more appropriate for my starch-filled belly than a steep, soggy bike ride.

Stroke after gut-wrenching stroke, we reached the height of the climb. Relief, excitement and nervous anticipation emerged as we looked around into the eerie abyss of fog and leafless trees below. Though we couldn’t quite see it, we knew from the angle on each side of our bikes that the ground dropped off into nothingness. Before us a faint trail led into the same nothingness.

“Dropping in.”

The phrase pierced the silence in a serious, matter-of-fact monotone. The riders ahead of me disappeared one by one into the fog.

Minutes ticked on like hours as I waited in the lonely white silence for a sign that we weren’t going off a cliff. Then: “Aaaahhahahahaha, yeah!!!!”

The path ahead was steep, but it led somewhere—and that somewhere sounded fun.

“Dropping in!”

What followed was perhaps the best mountain biking I have ever done. The only word for it is “committed.” There was no backing out, no second-guessing and no stopping. Millimeters from losing my manhood to the teeth of my back tire while dodging low branches and threading through suspended fallen trees, I was on a magical tear down the mountain.

I had finally found The Force, that place where practice, physical conditioning, environmental awareness and mental stamina come together. It is a place where things just happen. You become the action, moving without thought or hesitation. For a grand instant, I was in sync with the environment I was passing through and it was in sync with me.

As we descended further into the fog and rainy saturation of lower elevation, the trail turned into really wet clay. It felt like a layer of Jell-O. Semi-controlled sliding became the name of the game, but nobody was backing off.

Our hard concentration turned into wide eyes and whooping grins. We wobbled around corners on the precipice of disaster. Giddy laughter turned into competitive jabs and before long, we were all flying like rag dolls into the woods. Lying in the mud having gone from out-of-control biking to uncontrollable laughter was the highlight of the entire trip.

Todo con medida? Maybe for the locals, but certainly not for us.

A version of this article appeared April 14, 2012, on page D1 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Blazing Trails in Mexico.