In the Shadows of the Matt Wieters Spotlight

Some other Orange-and-Black items from Wednesday night

Undoubtedly, Wednesday's big story was Matt Wieters earning a Camden Yards curtain call with his first major league home run. (See the MLB story with video of the hit.)

My dad called me just to make sure I knew it happened.

Meanwhile, my wife celebrated the fact that she correctly predicted how long it would take Wieters to homer in a previous Roar from 34 poll. (You know it's love when your wife actually reads your blog.)

Believe it or not, there were other O's-related news items from Wednesday, these involving Brian Matusz, Luis Aparacio, and Joe Altobelli.

And really, what day is complete without a Joe Altobelli reference?



Matusz pitches a "masterpiece" in his first Bowie start.

Left-hander Brian Matusz kicked off his Baysox career with a 6.0 inning, 10 strikeout gem as Bowie defeated Reading 4-1. Catcher Adam Donachie's blasted a two-run home run in the fifth inning to put the Baysox on top, as they improve to a season-high four games above .500 at 34-30.

Omar Vizquel matched former Oriole Luis Aparicio's record for hits by a Venezuelan player.

Omar Vizquel matched Luis Aparacio with his 2,677th hit Wednesday night -- the most by a player from Venezuela. Just how good was Aparicio?

Aparicio led the American League in stolen bases for nine consecutive seasons, 1956-64, with a career-high 57 in 1964 with the Baltimore Orioles.

He was also a nine-time Gold Glove winner, with the White Sox and Orioles.

He was the sparkplug on the 1959 pennant winning White Sox, and batted .308 in the World Series. He was also the sparkplug on the World Series champion Orioles in 1966.

Finally, Twitter-Loving Tony LaRussa's selection as a National League All-Star coach brings out the Joe Altobelli references.

La Russa has managed in five All-Star Games --1989, 1990 and 1991 with Oakland and 2005 and 2007 with the Cardinals. He's 3-2 overall, with each of the victories coming when he was with the A's of the American League.

La Russa also is no stranger to coaching.

"I've done it for (Joe) Altobelli, John McNamara, Dusty Baker," he said. "But it's a National League game, so watching the (lineup) card is going to be something that changes, (with) who's available and all that.

...

La Russa's first All-Star Game assignment was in 1984 as a coach for Altobelli, then-manager of the Baltimore Orioles. In 1987, he was on the staff of McNamara, then-manager of the Boston Red Sox.

Image source: Reuters via Yahoo! Sports (click photo for original)