Roar from 34 - A Baltimore Orioles Blog

Visit the new Roar from 34

2011-06-21T13:57:00.000-04:00

Be sure to visit Roarfrom34.com for all the latest content. In addition to regular blog entries, the new website neatly categorizes Flashback Fridays and the Eutaw Street Chronicles on the front page for ease of navigation.

Check out the new site, and be sure to let me know what you think.

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Latest Roar from 34 content

2011-04-21T12:19:00.000-04:00

Visit the new Roarfrom34.com for my lastest posts on the Orioles new policy allowing bloggers in the press box and the longest losing streaks of Buck Showalter's managerial career.

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Roar from 34 is moving

2011-04-11T07:50:00.000-04:00

I'll be working as a guest blogger on MASNSports.com from Monday, April 11 to Friday, April 15. Visit MASN this week for my latest thoughts on the Birds.

Also, I'm excited to announce that Roar from 34 is moving to a new home at Roarfrom34.com. Update your links accordingly, and stop by to check out the new site. Just be sure to pick up a moving box on your way out the door.

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Flashback Friday: The Orioles' youngest Opening Day starter was part of the Kiddie Corps

2011-04-08T08:30:00.011-04:00

For the second consecutive year, the Orioles started a pitcher in their home opener age 25 or younger. Brad Bergesen got the call at age 24 last year while Jake Arrieta, 25, did the honors on Monday. Both pitchers had a good three years or more on the Orioles' youngest Opening Day starter.

Jerry Walker was 21 years and 67 days old on April 19, 1960, when he took the Memorial Stadium mound to kick-off the Birds' season against the Washington Senators. Walker was part of the Orioles' original Kiddie Corps along with Steve Barber, 22, Chuck Estrada, 22, Jack Fisher, 21, and Milt Pappas, 21.

Together with veteran pitchers Hoyt Wilhelm, 37, and Hal "Skinny" Brown, 35, the Kiddie Corps posted a league-best 48 complete games (Arnie Portocarrero, 28, had one of those 48 complete games). The O's overall pitching staff tied the Yankees for lowest ERA at 3.52

Catcher Gus Triandos described what made the staff effective in John Eisenberg's, "From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: An Oral History of the Baltimore Orioles."

"The young guys didn't spot pitches; they just wound up and threw good stuff," said Triandos. "They didn't work on things. They just called a fastball and zinged it. You knew they'd be somewhere around the plate. They had good stuff, had good control. And then when Wilhelm relieved with the knuckler, it was tough on hitters."

Earlier this year, O's broadcaster Fred Manfra identified the Kiddie Corps' "kicking ass in big league baseball" among his childhood baseball memories.

The 1960 Orioles posted the franchise's first winning record, 89-65, since moving to Baltimore from St. Louis (the 1957 Orioles finished an even 76-76). They did so on the arms of a young pitching staff. They'll need a similar effort from their current Kiddie Corps in 2011 to post the franchises' first winning season in 14 years.

[Note: Jerry Walker is currently vice president and special assistant to the GM for the Cincinnati Reds.]

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Game Recap (April 7, 2001): Orioles 9 - Tigers 5; Another series win

2011-04-08T08:26:00.001-04:00

Vlad had his first home run as an Oriole. Shortstop J.J. Hardy's consecutive games streak as an Oriole ended at five enabling Cesar Izturis to deliver his first RBI of the season. Adam Jones's bat came alive while Mark Reynolds's bat stayed hot.

Orioles 9 - Tigers 5

The Hometown Take

Orioles rally in big way in 9-5 victory over Tigers (The Sun)

"Jones' offense helped carry the Orioles to their fifth victory in six games this year, putting them back in sole possession of first place in the American League East. It also marked their second consecutive series victory; they didn't win two in 2010 until May11-13, their 11th series of the year.

'It's better than last year, but we've still got a lot of games to go,' Jones said. 'You've seen a lot of people start out well, and you never hear anything about them. We've got to maintain our game, do what we need to do and not worry about other teams.'"

The View from the Motor City

Tigers' relief pitching fades with lead (Detroit Free Press)

"The Tigers are heading home, and just in time.

After six weeks of spring training and two losing series on the road, the Tigers make their Comerica Park debut today against the Kansas City Royals.

The Tigers lost their fourth in six games Thursday night, 9-5, to the Baltimore Orioles, but manager Jim Leyland remains upbeat.

'We were hoping to get home .500, and we had a shot at that tonight and let it get away,' Leyland said. 'But we play tomorrow — it’s that simple. We’ve played six games and we’re 2-4, and that’s what we deserve to be, so tomorrow you try to make it 3-4, and if we pitch well, we’ll have a shot.'"

Other A.L. East Scores

Yankees win; Red Sox, Rays, and Blue Jays all lose.

Sentence I thought I'd never write this season: The first-place Orioles are five games up on the Red Sox and Rays.

Same Day in Orioles History

April 7, 1979: Mike Flanagan earns his first win of the season as the O's defeat the White Sox 6-3 at Memorial Stadium. Rick Dempsey leads the way from the ninth spot with a 2-for-4 day that includes a double and two RBI.

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Game 5 Recap (April 6, 2011): Tigers 7 - Orioles 3; Less than perfect

2011-04-06T23:07:00.004-04:00

Brad Bergesen is successful when he induces ground balls. He did not do so on Wednesday. Therefore, the Orioles will not go 162-0.

Box Score

The Hometown Take

O's far from perfect in falling 7-3 to Tigers for 1st loss of season (The Sun)

"The Orioles were jolted back to reality tonight when a defensive miscue led to two early runs, the pitching couldn't keep the ball in the yard and the offense was handled by Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

The sight of legions of empty seats at Camden Yards added to the home opener hangover.

Alex Avila had three hits and drove in five runs, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, and Verlander was in control throughout as the Orioles were beaten, 7-3, before an announced 12,451."

The View from the Motor City

Alex Avila drives in five in Tigers' victory (Detroit Free Press)

"Alex Avila had three hits and drove in five runs as the Tigers beat the Orioles, 7-3, tonight in Baltimore.

Justin Verlander went eight innings and gave up three earned runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out nine, including the side -- Matt Wieters, Adam Jones and Mark Reynolds -- in the seventh.

Joaquin Benoit pitched the ninth and induced a groundout by Derrek Lee, a pop out in foul territory by Vladimir Guerrero and a groundout by Wieters"

Other A.L. East Scores

Twins - Yankees (postponed)
Angels 5 - Rays 1
Indians 8 - Red Sox 4
Blue Jays 5 - A's 3

Some Light O's Reading

Orioles not shocked by fast start, even if most of baseball is (Jon Heyman, SI)

Today in Orioles History

April 6, 1989: The "Why Not?" Orioles complete a two-game mini-sweep of the Boston Red Sox to open the season. Jose Bautista goes eight innings and picks up the win for the Birds. Former Oriole Mike Boddicker, traded from Baltimore to Boston the previous summer for Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson, sticks around for only 2.1 innings at Memorial Stadium but ends up with a no-decision.

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Life lessons for a baseball fan

2011-04-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

Orioles baseball has been a conversation between generations in my family, one that now includes my newborn son. We watched the Orioles home opener on television together on Monday. While he and I couldn't discuss the game, his first Opening Day provided me an opportunity to consider some life lessons I might teach him as a baseball fan. This is what I came up with:

The newest Orioles fan

-I want you to be an independent thinker, so be a fan of any team you want. Just know that you'll make it much harder on your daddy if you cheer for the Yankees. And I'm the one who pays the bills.

-You're going to hear about ballpark fights and fans acting like fools. Keep in mind that there are good people at the ballpark, too. Hopefully you'll come across some of them - the guy who gives a kid a foul ball he caught, offers up his extra tickets, or buys you a soda at the game simply because you're sitting next to him. Better yet, be one of them.

-Your team is going to lose, maybe even a lot. (Daddy should know.) That's okay. You'll learn to support people even when they let you down.

-It doesn't matter whether you're a player or an umpire's attendant, your role is important. Do your job well enough for long enough, and maybe someone will notice. Either way, be sure to be a person who notices.

-Sometimes you're going to get booed regardless of whether you deserve it.

-Baseball can be boring. When it is, be grateful for the opportunity to sit still.

-On occasion, other people will try to frustrate you, even in your home ballpark. Focus on who you came with and who'll be with you after you leave. Enjoy your time with them.

-The guys you're watching now aren't the first ones to play the game. Learn the names of the ones who came before them.

-You're inevitably going to endure some tough times, so be sure to enjoy the good moments while they last. Go O's.

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Game Recap (April 4, 2011): Orioles 5 - Tigers 1; Drunk on success

2011-04-04T22:57:00.001-04:00

The Orioles' rotation is looking like the Phillies' four aces and Brian Roberts is on pace for 81 home runs. In other words, this team isn't going to play this well all season. But it sure is fun while it lasts.

The O's rode another strong pitching performance, this time from Jake Arrieta, along with a wind-assisted three-run homer from Roberts to win the home opener 5-1. It's the Birds' first 4-0 start since the 1997 Wire-to-Wire run, and their last playoff appearance. It's telling how things are going that the six hits Arrieta allowed in six innings of work equal the hits allowed by the Orioles' first three starters combined.

Box Score

The Hometown Take

Roberts' three-run homer lifts Orioles to first 4-0 start since 1997 (The Sun)

"A sellout crowd of 46,593, which enjoyed a game-time temperature of 76 degrees, watched Jake Arrieta continue the early roll of the Orioles' rotation, Roberts continue his RBI binge with his tie-breaking three-run homer in the fifth inning and the home team continue its winning ways.

The Orioles' 4-0 beginning equals their best start since 1997, and they are one win shy of tying the 1970 club, which won its first five games.

'I don't think anybody's ever had a bad 4-0 start. It's been awesome,' said Roberts."

The View from the Motor City

Offense missing as Tigers fall to1-3 (Detroit Free Press)

"Brian Roberts homered in a four-run fifth inning, and Jake Arrieta outdueled Rick Porcello as the Orioles stayed perfect. Baltimore (4-0) is baseball’s biggest surprise through four games. Last year, the Orioles didn’t get their fourth win until April 27, in Game No. 20."

Thumbs Up

Thumbs up to ... the Orioles for the Ernie Tyler tribute as well as the 10th man award (an 18-year tradition) that allowed an 11-year-old to race down the orange carpet during pre-game ceremonies ... the ball girl on the first-base side who made a move for Matt Wieters' double before realizing it was a fair ball and thinking better of it ... the police officer on the third-base side who grabbed his stool and made a break for it as Mark Reynolds chased down a foul ball late in the game.

Thumbs Down

Thumbs down to ... the Orioles' music man for choosing Beck's "Loser" as the background music as the Tigers were introduced prior to the game.

This Day in Orioles History

April 4, 1997 - Mike Bordick's double-play ball in the top of the seventh inning scores Jeff Reboulet with what turns out to be the winning run in a 5-4 Orioles victory at Texas. Scott Erickson picks up the win, the Birds' third in three tries, and Armando Benitez, who will break fans' hearts come playoff time, earns the save with an overpowering five strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work.

And finally, here's your drunk fan video of the day from the opener. Gary Thorne is not pleased.

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Undefeated Orioles return home

2011-04-04T08:14:00.002-04:00

In the final season of "The Wire," Baltimore Sun journalist Scott Templeton makes up a story about an orphaned child in a wheelchair who struggles to find tickets to Opening Day at Camden Yards after skipping school to be there.

Plenty of Orioles fans have good Opening Day stories that are actually true. Perhaps you'll find one today willing to share his or her own. Or you may even happen upon a Tigers fan among the orange and black faithful. If so, you'll have plenty in common to discuss, including:

Losing streaks -Tigers fans endured 12 straight losing seasons from 1994 through 2005 including back-to-back 100-loss seasons in 2002 and 2003. The 2003 Tigers lost 119 games, 12 more than the franchise-worst record of the 1988 Orioles.

World Series droughts - The Tigers last won the World Series in 1984, one season after the Orioles' most recent title.

and

Mickey Tettleton - An Oriole from 1988 to 1990, Tettleton played for the Tigers from 1991 though 1994. He was an All-Star for each team ('88 and '94) and became the first player to hit a Eutaw Street home run on April 20, 1992.

There's nothing quite like a home opener in Baltimore. And that's the God's honest truth.

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Game 3 Recap (April 3, 2011): Orioles 5 - Rays 1; Yeah you, swept me away

2011-04-03T18:10:00.001-04:00

For the first time in club history, Tampa Bay has started the season with three consecutive losses thanks to the Baltimore Orioles.

Rookie lefty Zach Britton pitched six strong innings (3 H, 1 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB) to help the Orioles to a season-opening sweep of the Rays. The O's last three-game sweep at Tampa came at the close of the 2005 season: Sept.30, Oct. 1, and Oct. 2.

Mark Reynolds (2-4, 2 RBI ), J.J. Hardy (1-4, 2 RBI), and Matt Wieters (2-4, RBI) accounted for the O's runs.

Box Score

The Hometown Take

Britton, Orioles sweep away Rays 5-1 (The Sun)

"The Tampa Bay Rays didn't know what hit them.

The 2010 American League East champions hoisted their white title banner Friday night at Tropicana Field and then apparently mistook it for a flag of surrender.

Jeremy Guthrie, Chris Tillman and emergency starter Zach Britton dazzled the Rays with three dominating performances that allowed the Orioles to get off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 1997 wire-to-wire team won its first four games."

The View from St. Pete

Britton shines in debut as Orioles beat Rays 5-1 (St. Petersburg Times - AP Story)

"Zach Britton pitched six sharp innings in his major league debut, J.J. Hardy hit a two-run double and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Sunday to complete a season-opening three-game sweep.

Britton (1-0) allowed one run and three hits, struck out six and walked three. Recalled before the game from Triple-A Norfolk, Britton had around 30 family members and friends in attendance."

Other A.L. East Scores

Twins 4 - Blue Jays 3

Tigers 10 - Yankees 7

Rangers 5 - Red Sox 3

This Day in Orioles History

April 3, 1991 - The Orioles open Camden Yards with a 5-3 exhibition victory over Eddie Murray and the New York Mets. Mike Flanagan picks up the exhibition win at Camden Yards after getting the last out at Memorial Stadium several months earlier.

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Game Recap (April 2, 2011): Orioles 3 - Rays 1; Markakis picks up the save

2011-04-02T22:46:00.001-04:00

It took the Orioles eight games against Tampa Bay last year before they picked up their second win over the Rays on July 20, 2010. This year they've done it in two games. It took the Orioles eight series last year before they picked up their first series win with a sweep of the Red Sox from April 30 to May 2. This year they've done it in their first series of the season.

The final from the Trop: Orioles 3 - Rays 1 (Box Score).

If you haven't seen Nick Markakis' game-ending catch, be sure to check out ESPN's "Web Gems." The catch made Markakis a nationwide trending topic on Twitter within 10 minutes of the game's conclusion.

The Hometown Take

Tillman strong, Roberts homers to lead Orioles to 3-1 win over Rays (The Sun)

"In a scoreless game in the eighth inning, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon removed a dominant James Shields and replaced him with left-hander Jake McGee. Brian Roberts sent his third pitch deep into the left-field seats, the three-run shot, coupled by Nick Markakis' game-saving and game-ending catch, giving the Orioles a 3-1 victory over the Rays in front of an announced 22,164 at Tropicana Field."

The View from St. Pete

Tampa Bay Rays avoid no-hitter but lose 3-1 to Baltimore Orioles to fall to 0-2 (St. Petersburg Times)

"By comparison, Friday's opening night loss was a relative festival.

Saturday, the Rays were no-hit into the seventh inning. They lost star third baseman Evan Longoria with what was described as a sore left oblique. They wasted a tremendous start by James Shields. They were done in by one of their inexperienced relievers. Their ninth-inning rally was cut short by a spectacular leaping catch by rightfielder Nick Markakis at the wall.

And, naturally, they lost again, this time 3-1 to the Orioles."

Other A.L. East Scores:

Toronto 6 - Minnesota 1

Yankees 10 - Tigers 6

Rangers 12 - Red Sox 3 (7th inning - in progress when this was posted)

This day in Orioles history:

April 2, 2001 -A walk-off single by Brady Anderson in the 11th inning scores Jerry Hairston from second based and gives the Orioles a 2-1 Opening Day victory over the rival Red Sox. Pat Hentgen gives the Orioles 8.2 strong innings to neutralize Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez.

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Game Recap: Orioles 4 - Rays 1; One down, 81 to go

2011-04-01T22:37:00.002-04:00

One down, 81 to go. The Orioles' pursuit of their first winning season since 1997 began with a 4-1 Opening Day victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field behind a strong pitching performance by Jeremy Guthrie (8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 6 SO, 1 BB). David Price (7 IP, 5H, 4 ER, 7 SO, 1 BB) took the loss for the Rays. Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts led the way for the O's with two RBI a piece.

Box score

Hometown Take: Guthrie pitches gem as Orioles open 2011 season with 4-1 win over Rays (The Sun)

At long last, the 2011 Orioles debuted their beefed-up lineup against one of baseball's best. But David Price wasn't the best pitcher as the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays opened their 2011 seasons at Tropicana Field, nor was the Orioles' offense the biggest story.

Jeremy Guthrie was both by a wide margin as he took command of Game 1 and relinquished it only after his team had a reasonably comfortable lead. Guthrie threw eight scoreless innings, and Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts each drove in two runs as the Orioles exacted revenge for last year's brutal season-opening loss here to beat the Rays, 4-1, before an announced sellout crowd of 34,078.

The View from St. Pete: Roberts, Markakis lead Orioles past Rays (AP Story on TampaBay.com)

Taking up where they left off during a nice two-month stretch to end last season under manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles ruined a festive evening in which the defending AL East champions hoisted their latest division title banner at Tropicana Field.

And, they did it with Guthrie outdoing last year's AL Cy Young Award runner-up.

"It's one day, but I sure like being on this end of it," Showalter said. "It's a tough place to play on opening day."

Star of the Game: The lady in the silver sequined shirt behind home plate at the Trop. What a treat for MASN viewers.

Other A.L. East Scores:
Rangers 9 - Red Sox 5
Blue Jays 13 - Twins 3

How They Stack Up: The Orioles' most recent winning season came in 1997 when the team went wire-to-wire and finished 98-64. Throughout the season, Roar from 34 will check the Birds' current results against those past results.

1997 Opener
April 2, 1997 at Camden Yards
Orioles 4 - Royals 2

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Opening Day Roundup - Good things do happen during road openers

2011-04-01T08:30:00.007-04:00

The Orioles open their 2011 campaign in Tampa on Friday night looking to avenge their 4-3 come-from-ahead loss against the Rays in last year's road opener. The Rays accounted for five of the Orioles' eight losses in their first nine games last season. The O's posted a season-worst record for any month in 2010 by starting 5-18 (.217 winning percentage) in April.

Road openers are never as much fun as home openers, especially when your newly acquired free-agent closer posts a blown save and takes the loss (though, to be fair, he did so during the home opener as well). However, the away games can be memorable for positive reasons as well.

The Orioles earned their first-ever Opening Day victory on the road when they defeated the Washington Senators 7-6 at Griffith Stadium on April 15, 1957 (Read the news story from the following day). The O's had lost each of their openers since moving to Baltimore from St. Louis in 1954.

Two years later in Washington, on April 9, 1959, the Orioles turned an unprecedented Opening Day triple play during a 9-2 loss to the Senators. (Here's that news story.)

Roar from 34 favorite Sam Horn knows something about memorable moments on the road. He clocked two home runs and established a club record with six Opening Day RBI in Kansas City in 1990.

Speaking of Opening Day long balls, Hall of Famer Frank Robinson's eight home runs are tied with Ken Griffey Jr. for the most on the season's first day. Robinson homered during his first Opening Day with the Orioles on April 12, 1966, as part of a 5-4 victory in 13 innings at Fenway Park.

On the defensive side, Hall of Famer Jim Palmer's five Opening Day wins are the most in club history. Palmer started six openers for the Birds. Only Mike Mussina (three Opening Day wins) pitched the first game of the season for the O's as often as Palmer.

Among Palmer's victories was an April 9, 1976, gem (okay, it was at home) against Boston - 8 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 K, 2 BB. Palmer picked up the victory against fellow Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins 1-0. The pitchers won a combined 552 career games.

And as long as I've allowed home openers to sneak into this post, Wee Willie Keeler started his 44-game hitting streak for the International League Orioles in Baltimore on Opening Day 1897. Keeler's record streak began with that April 22 game and extended until June 18. Joe DiMaggio broke Keeler's record with his 56-game hitting streak in 1941.

Happy Opening Day, O's fans.

Related Reading:

Opening Day on the road can still prove memorable (Roar from 34)

Season Previews: Baltimore Orioles (Babes Love Baseball)

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Unlucky versus the Orioles, Okajima will now try to stem the Tides

2011-03-29T16:05:00.001-04:00

The Orioles have reassigned a handful of relievers to the team's minor league camp, including veteran lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson. However, the bigger bullpen pitching news related to the Orioles comes out of Red Sox camp where former Birds reliever Matt Albers (11-12, 4.60 ERA, 1.529 WHIP, 5.8 SO/9, 4.3 BB/9 in three seasons with the O's) won a spot in the Boston pen while Hideki Okajima was sent to the minors.

The Orioles have fared well - very well - against the otherwise steady Okajima (16-8, 3.06 career ERA, 1.239 WHIP, 7.9 SO/9, 3.1 BB/9). Against Baltimore, Okajima is 0-4 with a 5.76 career ERA in 29.2 innings pitched.

Some of Okajima's memorable meltdowns against the Orioles include the following:

May 14, 2008
Orioles 6 - Red Sox 3
Jay Payton hits a grand slam on Okajima's second pitch after the reliever entered the game in the seventh inning with the Red Sox leading 3-2.
Okajima: BS, 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 HR

June 2, 2008
Orioles 6 - Red Sox 3
Okajima enters with a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning and leaves with a 6-3 deficit.
Okajima: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER

June 10, 2008
Orioles 10 - Red Sox 6
Okajima relieved Josh Beckett after six innings and turned a 6-4 lead into a 7-6 deficit. Said Dave Trembley: "You have to wait him out."
Okajima: BS, 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB

June 30, 2009
Orioles 11 - Red Sox 10
What would an Orioles slugfest be without Okajima? Most of the damage on this day comes when Takashi Saito and Jonathan Papelbon fail to clean up Okajima's mess in the eighth inning.
Okajima: 0.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER

April 25, 2010
Orioles 7 - Red Sox 6
Tim Wakefield hands Okajima a 4-1 lead with one runner on base in the seventh inning. The Orioles quickly even up the game with a run-scoring double by Nick Markakis and a two-run homer by Miguel Tejada.
Okajima: BS, 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 HR

June 6, 2010
Orioles 4 - Red Sox 3
Nick Markakis' walk-off single off Okajima in the bottom of the 11th inning wins it for the O's.
Okajima: L, 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB

Albers appeared for the Orioles in at least half of the aforementioned games.

And speaking of the Red Sox, here are three photos from the Orioles' 4-3 win against Boston on Sunday.

Related Reading:

Okajima pitches like he belongs in the Baltimore bullpen (Roar from 34)

Hideki Okajima to minors (Boston Herald)

Classy Hendrickson ponders options, returns to clubhouse to say goodbyes (The Sun)

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Will the Orioles have a 20-20 player for the first time in more than a decade?

2011-03-28T14:04:00.001-04:00

The Orioles should have a 30 home run season from a player this year for the first time since Aubrey Huff stroked 32 homers in 2008. They may even match or - dare to dream - exceed the club record for number of players with 30 or more homers in the same season, which sits at two (Brady Anderson and Rafael Palmeiro, '96; Larry Sheets and Eddie Murray, '87; Boog Powell and Frank Robinson '66 and '69).

It's unlikely, however, that the O's will have their first member of the 30-30 club, or even the 20-20 club for that matter in 2011.

Baltimore is one of three teams in the American League East - Boston and Tampa are the others - to never have had a player in their lineup hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. Toronto's had two (Shawn Green '98, Jose Cruz Jr. '01) and New York's had three (Bobby Bonds '75 and Alfonso Soriano '02, '03). It's a much more common accomplishment in the National League where it has happened 38 times, compared to 15 times in the American League.

The Birds' best - albeit still unlikely - candidate for a 30-30 season may be Mark Reynolds, who hit 44 homers and stole 24 bases in 2009. While those numbers would fall short of the 30-30 club, they would give the Orioles their first 20-20 player in more than a decade.


20-20 vision?

Brady Anderson was the last Oriole to post a 20-20 season when he hit 24 home runs and stole 36 bases in 1999. Brian Roberts (16 home runs, 30 stolen bases in 2009), Nick Markakis (23 home runs, 18 stolen bases in 2007), and Corey Patterson (16 home runs, 45 stolen bases in 2006) have come closest to 20-20 since then.

Anderson sits alongside Barry Bonds as the only players to record a 50-homer season as well as a 50-steal season during their careers. Anderson had 53 steals in 1992 and 50 home runs in 1996. Bonds had 52 steals in 1990 and hit 73 homers in 2001.

On the face of it Anderson would seem to have been the O's most likely candidate in recent memory for a 30-30 season; however, he was never closer than that 24-36 season in '99. Anderson stole more than 30 bases only three times in his career (53 in '92, 31 in '94, 36 in '99); he hit more than 30 home runs just once (50 in '96).

Nevertheless, he is still the last Orioles player to post a 20-20 season. Chances are things will stay that way through 2011.

Of Note

-There are four members of the 40-40 Club: Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), and Alfonso Soriano (2006).

-Former Oriole Albert Belle is the only player in major league history to have 50 homers and 50 doubles in the same season. He did so in 1995.

-Brian Roberts had four consecutive seasons (2006-2009) with 30 doubles and 30 stolen bases. The 50 stolen bases-50 doubles club has two members: Tris Speaker (1912) and Craig Biggio (1998).

Orioles Stolen Bases Leaders since 2000

2010: Corey Patterson 21
2009: Brian Roberts 30
2008: Brian Roberts 40
2007: Brian Roberts 50, Corey Patterson 37
2006: Corey Patterson 45, Brian Roberts 36
2005: Brian Roberts 27
2004: Brian Roberts 29
2003: Brian Roberts 23
2002: Jerry Hairston 21, Chris Singleton 20
2001: Jerry Hairston 29
2000: Delino DeShields 37

Related Reading:

Powerball in Baltimore (Roar from 34)

Thirty homers used to mean something. It still should. (Roar from 34)

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The Macho Man, the Hatchet Man, and classic Orioles baseball

2011-03-24T13:59:00.002-04:00

A-Ha! (image:Where's Randy Savage?)

Imagine having the Macho Man at catcher and the Hatchet Man behind him calling balls and strikes. It's the stuff made for either pay-per-view television or a minor league promotion, but it could just as easily have happened at a major league ballpark.

Before "Where's Randy Savage?", "Snap into it," or even "Oh yeah," legendary professional wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage played minor league ball in the Cardinals organization. Mel Proctor and John Lowenstein discussed Savage's brief baseball career during the July 15, 1989, Orioles broadcast, which MASN showed on Wednesday as part of its "Orioles Classics" series.

After the Macho Man's name emerged, Proctor and Lowenstein moved on to discuss umpire Ken Kaiser, who covered first-base duties for the July 15 game. Kaiser, a former bouncer, once wrestled under the name "The Hatchet Man."

During his wrestling days, Kaiser wore a black hood and carried an ax. Some (many?) would say he had an ax to grind with Earl Weaver and Eddie Murray as he feuded regularly with both Orioles.

Weaver feuds with "The Hatchet Man." (image: The Sun)

Back to Savage. Second only to Hulk Hogan among '80s wrestlers, Savage (real name Randy Poffo) had 16 home runs in four minor league seasons spent between the Rookie and A levels. He had a .254/.292./.391 overall slash line. In other words, wrestling was a wise choice.

Here's a photo of a retired Macho Man attending a Braves-Mets game. (Notice he's checking his cell phone - He would've fit perfectly at Camden Yards in the late '90s and early '00s).

The baseball-wrestling connection goes beyond the Macho Man and Hatchet Man. Consider:

-Babe Ruth was once asked to serve as a guest referee for a pro wrestling watch.

-Current Independent Wrestler "Always Trending" Tyson Tyler played minor league baseball in short-season A ball. Tyler's real name is Brian Barnett. Baseball Reference has his minor league stats.

-"Mr. Baseball" Bob Uecker and all-time hits leader Pete Rose are members of the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame.

-White Sox conditioning coach Dale Torborg, son of former player and manager Jeff Torborg, used to be a professional wrestler. His dad, meanwhile, holds the distinction of having caught Sandy Koufax's perfect game as well as two no-hitters, the second of which was Nolan Ryan's first no-no.

Image sources: "Where's Randy Savage?" and The Baltimore Sun.

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Off Topic: Sarasota Journalism

2011-03-21T23:49:00.000-04:00

With Sarasota on most Orioles fans' minds, here's an excerpt from a quirky Sarasota Herald-Tribune job listing for an investigative reporter (original post on A Few Tasteful Snaps):

But if you’re the type of sicko who likes holing up in a tiny, closed office with reporters of questionable hygiene to build databases from scratch by hand-entering thousands of pages of documents to take on powerful people and institutions that wish you were dead, all for the glorious reward of having readers pick up the paper and glance at your potential prize-winning epic as they flip their way to the Jumble… well, if that sounds like journalism Heaven, then you’re our kind of sicko.

For those unaware of Florida’s reputation, it’s arguably the best news state in the country and not just because of the great public records laws. We have all kinds of corruption, violence and scumbaggery. The 9/11 terrorists trained here. Bush read My Pet Goat here. Our elections are colossal clusterfucks. Our new governor once ran a health care company that got hit with a record fine because of rampant Medicare fraud. We have hurricanes, wildfires, tar balls, bedbugs, diseased citrus trees and an entire town overrun by giant roaches (only one of those things is made up). And we have Disney World and beaches, so bring the whole family.

(H/T Jeremy Ashton)

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Sarasota Update: Brian Matusz, Nick Markakis, Cliff Lee & More

2011-03-21T23:33:00.000-04:00

Ever planned a trip specifically to visit a ballpark or other athletic facility? If so, you might enjoy Stadium Journey, where writers review and rate their experiences at venues nationwide based on factors including atmosphere, food and beverage, fans, and ease of access to the location.

Here's a portion of Stadium Journey's favorable take on the refurbished Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.

It's all-but-brand-new, so what do you expect? The seats are immaculate (fun fact: every seat in the house was brought in from Camden Yards, refurbished, and installed), every detail is gleaming, and the landscaping both inside and out is well-maintained. The stadium itself is a little out of the way for those wanting to go to downtown Sarasota and the beach areas, but otherwise, it's pretty close to perfect.

The scoreboard in right-center is large, easy to read, and even includes oriole-shaped weather veins on-top. The audio system is definitely audible; loud enough to hear over the crowds, but not enough to cause your ear drums to implode.

...

Even though it was built in 1989, a renovation was badly needed to keep Ed Smith Stadium a viable option for Major League teams. Thankfully, the Orioles organization were open enough to make their own, custom upgrades to this park. They obviously put a lot of care and thoughtfulness into the redesign, and it shows in every minute detail.

Sarasota now has a stadium they can be proud of again; since the team isn't going anywhere for a while, you'll definitely have a chance to see this new jewel in the crown of the Grapefruit League. Come on down and see the new Ed Smith; it shines brightest in March.

And here are some recent action photos from inside Ed Smith -

The Present, The Future
(copyright: Norm Schimmel)

Markakis with chew (?) in the back pocket.
(copyright: Norm Schimmel)

Luke Scott - From DH to left field to first base.
(copyright: Norm Schimmel)

(copyright: Norm Schimmel)

Postseason Performer
(copyright: Norm Schimmel)

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Who will the Orioles players be following in the Big Dance?

2011-03-17T14:23:00.000-04:00

I've chosen a March Madness-themed post over a St. Patrick's Day-themed post for today. Feel free to chime in on your favorite Irish Oriole in the comments section. In the meantime, check out the college hoops loyalties of some members of the Orioles roster based on where they attended college.

Matt Angle has to be feeling good about March Madness as his Ohio State Buckeyes are the tournament's number one overall seed.

Brian Roberts split time between UNC and South Carolina, but the Durham, N.C., native maintains his Tar Heel loyalties and tends to attend a game or two in Chapel Hill during the off-season.

Joe Mahoney had a solid spring in Orioles camp. Now the former Richmond student will get to see if his college can make good as a popular 5-12 upset pick.

Jake Fox is focused on winning a roster spot behind Matt Wieters, and based on his numbers, he's clearly locked in. Hopefully he can take a break to watch his Michigan Wolverines end an extended tournament drought. Or to cheer against those Uncle Toms at Duke.

Jason Berken's college made the "First Four," but is unlikely to appear in the "Final Four." Berken's a Clemson guy.

Other Orioles with college affiliations:

Mark Reynolds - Virginia. Here's hoping Reynolds didn't watch the ACC tournament, or at least not the final 42 seconds of regulation.

Luke Scott - Oklahoma State. I wonder if Luke had any thoughts about Oklahoma State's win over Harvard in the opening round of the NIT?

Matt Wieters - Georgia Tech. Tourney talk is fun, but so too is guessing who the next coach will be.

Craig Tatum - Mississippi State. Tatum's school fell short of the tournament but still had plenty of fight in 'em.

Brian Matusz - San Diego. Not much to talk about for the Toreros on the hardwood this year other than a victory over one of last year's Sweet Sixteen darlings, St. Mary's.

Jeremy Guthrie - Stanford. Guthrie always has the Cardinal women's team to brag on.

Jake Arrieta - TCU. Basketball? The undefeated Horned Frogs won the Rose Bowl. And you expect them to care about basketball?

Jeremy Accardo - Illinois State. Accardo's ready to party like it's 1998.Unfortunately, his Redbirds are not.

Mark Hendrickson - Washington State. Sure, his Cougars aren't in the NCAA tournament, but he's the only guy in the clubhouse who can watch March Madness and say "Been there, done that."

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Look for Roar from 34 on MASNSports.com

2011-03-15T13:21:00.001-04:00

I'm pleased to report that I'll be serving as a guest blogger on MASNSports.com during the first half of the 2011 baseball season. Look for the Roar from 34 perspective on MASN during the weeks of April 11, May 9, June 6, and July 4.

MASN announced the guest blogger arrangement this afternoon:

Beginning April 4, Orioles Buzz will feature guest bloggers every weekday. MASNsports.com recognizes that the blogosphere contains all sorts of opinions on the O's, and bloggers following the orange and black are a particularly hearty breed of fan. What they say is increasingly relevant and how their present their perspective has become more and more savvy.

Since the Orioles now credential selected bloggers on a game-by-game basis, we thought you'd be interested in reading what some of the most rabid Internet-based O's faithful has to say. And Orioles Buzz is a perfect platform for sharing their thoughts, ideas and reminiscences.

The list of Orioles guest bloggers includes some of my favorites: Dempsey's Army (Heath), Camden Chat (Stacey), and Orioles Post (Anthony). It should be a fun project. Thanks to Pete Kerzel and MASN for the opportunity.

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What difference can one letter make? A big one for these former Orioles.

2011-03-11T10:06:00.001-05:00

Turns out we've all been saying and spelling Angels first baseman Kendry Morales' name wrong. It's actually Kendrys - with an "s" - Morales. Think one letter in a first name doesn't make a difference? Just consider what it would do for these former Orioles.

Bully Ripken - Bully Ripken thinks you're a F*** Face, and he's not afraid to tell you. That's what bullies do.

Early Weaver - A man before his time, Early Weaver was using stats to inform his decision-making before anyone had even heard of Moneyball.

Meltin Mora - Benching this guy was a sure recipe for a meltdown. Just ask Dave Trembley.

Job Orsulak - Talk about suffering, he played for the '88 Orioles as well as the Pirates, Marlins, and Expos.

Done Aase - He saved 23 games in the first half of the '86 season, induced an All Star Game-ending double play with runners on the corners, and once held the record for most Orioles saves with 34, which also were the most ever for a last place team. For a time, the game was Done once Aase entered from the bullpen.

Learry Bigbie - Players would've done well to be a bit more leary of Bigbie, whose name appeared 93 times in the Mitchell Report and who accused Brian Roberts of steroid use.

Stove Finley - He was part of what in hindsight was perhaps the worst Hot Stove move in Orioles history, the Jan. 10, 1991, trade that sent him, Pete Harnisch, and Curt Schilling to the Astros in exchange for Glenn Davis.

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Who was the last Orioles player to have a pinch-hit walk-off home run?

2011-03-10T13:59:00.002-05:00

Earlier this week my trusty Orioles calendar included the following trivia question: "In an Aug. 24, 1988, game against the Mariners, he became the last Orioles player to hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run. Who is he?"

Answer: Larry Sheets

Here's some more information about Sheets' pinch-hit heroics during the worst season in Orioles history.

Sheets, pinch hitting for third baseman Rene Gonzalez, entered the game with one on and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Orioles trailed the Mariners 3-2.

Outfielder Fred Lynn started the inning with a line-drive single to right and was replaced by rookie Brady Anderson. Anderson was acquired less than a month earlier in a trade that also brought Curt Schilling to Baltimore and sent Mike Boddicker to Boston.

After a Jim Dwyer fly out, Anderson stole second and advanced to third on a Jim Traber ground out. It was Anderson's third of six stolen bases in the month of August. Sheets then took a 2-2 offering from Mike Schooler deep for his eighth home run of the season.

Mark Williamson picked up the win for the Orioles with two perfect innings in relief of starter Jeff Ballard.

The Orioles won the nightcap of the doubleheader, also by a score of 4-3, on a 12th-inning sac fly by Joe Orsulak that plated Ken Gerhart. Sheets led off the inning with a walk.

The Mariners were the only team the 107-loss Birds beat in a 1988 season series. The O's went 14-15 in August, which was the team's best month of the season.

Related Roar from 34 posts:

The Nets, the Orioles, and the Larry Sheets Amusement Center

Powerball in Baltimore

"O"dds and Ends: Current Events Produce O's Nostalgia

Flashback Friday: A Rainy Game Day - July 20, 1987

Flashback Friday: Sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx has never been easy

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Hope Springs Eternal - Jim Palmer's comeback attempt (1991)

2011-03-04T12:32:00.001-05:00

Already in the Hall of Fame, Palmer, the noted Jockey spokesman, attempted to defy age in the pre-HGH days by returning to O's camp at age 45, one year older than Roger Clemens when he retired and one year younger than Nolan Ryan was at the time of his retirement.

Palmer's fastball topped out at 75 MPH during his lone Spring Training game, some seven miles per hour faster than Ryan's first pitch in Arlington during the 2010 World Series. Palmer allowed two runs on five hits, a walk, and a balk in two winnings of work against the Red Sox with Boston batters missing contact only once in 15 swings.

Despite stating after his lone exhibition outing that it would be "premature to quit now," Palmer's comeback attempt indeed ended due to a hamstring injury he suffered while running wind sprints prior to facing the Red Sox. He likened the sound he heard to a Rice Krispie pop. In an earlier intrasquad game, Palmer tossed two innings and allowed two runs on four hits, one of which was a wind-assisted home run by catcher Chris Hoiles.

Sports Illustrated chronicled Palmer's efforts - along with those of other aging pitchers like Goose Gossage, Steve Howe, and fellow Orioles camper Mike Flanagan, age 39 - in the March 11, 1991, article "Hope Flings Eternal."

Here are a couple of excerpts from that piece:

Because Palmer remains a legend in Baltimore, the Orioles felt obliged to find out. They sent scouts to see him three times, including minor league pitching instructor Dick Bosman, who beat Palmer for the American League ERA title in 1969. Although none of the observers required surgery to have their eyes put back into their sockets, the Orioles invited Palmer to their camp in Sarasota. There he has failed to excite either ridicule or astonishment. He's in fabulous condition, no question. But no matter whom he lines up with on the row of practice mounds, there is more pop in the gloves of catchers other than his.

...

At a locker near Palmer's, Flanagan struggles with that dilemma of whether to leave gracefully or leave at all. Flanagan, the 1979 American League Cy Young winner as an Oriole, appeared to have erred on the side of leaving ugly when the Toronto Blue Jays unceremoniously cut him last May. But Flanagan faulted the strike-shortened spring training for his performance and decided to work his arm back into shape and try again. "And by September I felt like I was throwing too good to stop," he says. A chance meeting with Hemond at the Hall of Fame ceremonies in August encouraged Flanagan to visit with the Orioles. "Some guys get to the point where enough is enough," says Flanagan. "And some guys just love the game." And some guys are lefthanded pitchers, which gives Flanagan more than a sentimentalist's chance to make it.

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Related Reading:

Hope Springs Eternal: When Sammy Sosa came to Baltimore

The Ed Smith Stadium opener in words & (mostly) pictures

2011-03-02T13:50:00.002-05:00

A sellout crowd, an orange bird of paradise flower for each female fan in attendance, local construction workers honored on the field, and many rave reviews. The Birds opened their renovated Spring Training home on Tuesday but couldn't wait to leave the sparkling new yard in a 12-6 victory over the Rays that featured five home runs in the first two innings.

Here's a look at the new Ed Smith Stadium in words and pictures.

Big League Stew - "Renovations turn O's home from pit to palace."

Though the taxpayer-funded repairs sparked a good amount of dissent in the area and the initial facelift was completed in only eight months, there was no arguing with the results. Ed Smith Stadium now has amenities that are equal to other spring homes. In many cases, they're even better. While I would have told you to skip Sarasota as a stop in previous years, it's now something you should circle if you're doing a tour of the Gulf Coast parks.
...

Opening day began with local construction workers taking the field to a round of applause — though it did rain while they did so ... figures — and ended with a 12-6 O's victory as everyone walked around and checked out the stadium's new features.

Big League Stew includes a brief photo essay as part of its story. You can also see some great photos of the game and the stadium at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune website. Meanwhile, The Sun has added new photos from Tuesday's opener to its overall Spring Training gallery.

[Edit: Another photo link from a commenter, this one to ABC7 in Florida.]

Finally, here's my contribution, some on-the-scene pictures from Sarasota Friend of the Blog Norm Schimmel.

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O's Quotables

2011-03-02T10:55:00.003-05:00

This may be my favorite Orioles quote for the 2011 season:

“Stealing bags isn't part of my repertoire. We may mix in a few surprises here and there, but I prefer to trot around the bases."

-Luke Scott

The quote comes courtesy of Franklin Sports, which provided Roar from 34 with Spring Training interviews of Scott and J.J. Hardy.

I'm still forming my impressions of new Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy. One thing's for sure, from now on I'll associate him with these words: "I take a lot of pride in my Ping Pong."

Here's the full quote:

"My dad was a professional tennis player, and he still teaches for a living, and we grew up around it and I have a brother who is about 17 months older than I am, we played Ping Pong growing up and it was a sport that we kind of clicked at, and having someone as good as I was at it, and me as good as he was, kind of kept us getting better. I take a lot of pride in my Ping Pong."

-J.J. Hardy

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Fun baseball photos

2011-03-01T13:59:00.000-05:00

There are some great baseball finds, including the gem below, on the Baseball Images Flickr page.

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Sneak Peek at Ed Smith Stadium

2011-02-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune provides a preview of the Orioles' renovated Spring Training home in the article "Ed Smith Stadium poised to be a jewel." The latest batch of photos from Sarasota Friend of the Blog Norm Schimmel certainly supports that notion. My personal favorite is the directional sign with distances to all the affiliates.

(Note: Norm Schimmel retains copyright for all of the images below. Please do not use them in any form without his express permission.)

Here are previous Roar from 34 posts that include Sarasota photos from Norm: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

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How have the Orioles fared during your lifetime?

2011-02-24T10:53:00.000-05:00

If you're in your 30s, or even younger, and you're still a fan of the Baltimore Orioles, you qualify as a dedicated fan. A diehard even. Words like bandwagon and front runner do not apply. That's because any Orioles fan born in 1974 or later has seen more losing than winning on the baseball diamond.

You have to go back to 1973 before the Orioles' cumulative record through 2010 reaches .500. Since 1973, when Baltimore posted a 97-65 mark - the O's have gone 3,013-3,005 overall.

Obviously, this cumulative misery has been weighed down greatly by the team's current stretch of losing seasons. For example, the Orioles won 90 games the year I was born and didn't experience a losing season until I was 11. During that span the Orioles won 90 or more games seven times and 100 games twice. Things looked so promising. But it's just like a bird to go South. The Orioles' cumulative record during my lifetime is 2,825-2,869 (.496).

Perhaps (hopefully) current teenagers will have the exact opposite luck that I've had as an Orioles fan. Bird backers born in 1998 - they either have turned or will turn 13 this year - have never seen a winning baseball season. The O's are 921-1183 (.437) in that span.

So while dads can tell their sons about having to walk several miles in the snow to school - uphill no less - they can't exaggerate their agony as baseball fans. Those tall tales belong to the young. But take heart, the Orioles are still a winning franchise overall: 4,617-4,405 (.511). And if you're in your late 50's, you can honestly say you've seen it all.

How have the Orioles done during your lifetime? Check the spreadsheet to find out.

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Hope Springs Eternal: When Sammy Sosa came to Baltimore

2011-02-23T11:18:00.003-05:00

There are plenty of good Spring Training updates out there along with projections for player and team performance headed into 2011. For something different, I figure it's interesting to revisit stories of seasons past when, as seems to happen nearly every year, "Hope Springs Eternal" for players and teams.

Thirty-six-year-old Sammy Sosa arrived in Baltimore in 2005 looking for a fresh start after a tumultuous end to his 13 seasons at Wrigley Field. As the Orioles incorporate fresh faces into the 2011 lineup, including a couple of aging sluggers at or around Sosa's age at the time, here's a look back on what was being said about Sosa at the time.

If anything, this story reveals how difficult it is to get an accurate read on those things we're most likely to read about prior to the season -- intangibles like a player's attitude and drive.

The following excerpts are taken from a June 13, 2005, Sports Illustrated article by Tom Verducci.

First, a word from then-Cubs President Andy MacPhail on Sosa following his departure from Chicago.

Says MacPhail, "I do like Sammy. I appreciate all he accomplished for the franchise. To some degree I am sympathetic to him because he doesn't quite understand the depth of the negativity that he incurred."

Next, a Spring Training anecdote that suggests Sosa had lightened up and perhaps changed his early season ways.

On his first morning in an Orioles uniform, an on-time Sosa, the guy who made a habit with the Cubs of showing up--he thought--fashionably late for spring training, busted out of the batter's box and sprinted full-bore for second base, the first in line for what he thought was a team baserunning drill. When he looked back, however, he saw his new teammates standing idly or walking back to the dugout. He'd been set up. But he laughed and lit up one of those smiles that for many people will always take them back to the sweet summer of '98 and the great Home Run Race.

And finally, some words on how Sosa's fall from baseball grace perhaps introduced some humility to his persona.

What is remarkable about Sosa this season, though, is what he is not. In Baltimore he is not the captain, he is not the best player in the room, he is not the diva with club officials and personal valets at his side, he is not the clubhouse deejay oblivious to the annoyance of his infamous boom box, he is not--by a long shot, given the boos he hears wherever he plays on the road--the most popular player in baseball. Sosa can't sell Orville Redenbacher's popcorn like he used to.

...

His teammates and manager Lee Mazzilli marvel at Sosa's boyish enthusiasm and comportment. Pitching coach Ray Miller appreciates the counsel Sosa gives the club's young Latin pitchers, including Daniel CabreraJorge Julio. Second baseman Brian Roberts praises Sosa for having "the greatest attitude every single day. It's energizing. He doesn't get mad and doesn't get down no matter what. I've been amazed at that."

"It's perfect," Sosa says of his fit in Baltimore. "It's like when you move into a new house. You just want to enjoy it."

As a counterpoint, consider this recent piece by The Sun's Kevin Van Valkenburg that looks back on Sosa's brief Baltimore tenure.

Sosa wanted out of Chicago so he could have a fresh start, because the fans had soured on him for a dozen different reasons, and he said all the right things in news conferences about how much he loved the people of Baltimore and couldn't wait to be the old, beisbol-loving Sammy Sosa again.

...

Approximately 99 percent of sports writers don't search for scandal, they're just interested in telling the truth, not some rosy version of it. And at that point, the truth was that Sammy Sosa was an aging, selfish, injury-prone slugger. Except I didn't even really view him that way at the time. I just wanted to write an Orioles notebook about his foot injury because I thought the fans might want to know when his awful bat might return to the lineup.

...

There are plenty of Orioles, like Brian Roberts and Adam Jones and Jeremy Guthrie, just to name a few, who I think are good people who understand the media is the best way for them to communicate how they go about their profession to the fans, in good times and bad. And there are plenty of Ravens I'd throw on that list as well, like Trevor Pryce and Kelly Gregg and Haloti Ngata, among others.
But mull that the next time you see a clip of a professional athlete treating someone like dirt. Sammy Sosa isn't a jerk because he most likely took steroids, and then failed to tell the truth about it. And he isn't a jerk because he feuded with the media, both in Chicago and Baltimore. He's a jerk because in the second half of his career, he treated people poorly, media and teammates included.

When it comes to knowing a player's attitude and demeanor, the truth is out there, but so is plenty of well-spun fiction. The latter is readily available now; the former often emerges over time.

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Where to get your Orioles Spring Training fix

2011-02-22T17:01:00.000-05:00

The Orioles are advertising for their first Spring Training game at Ed Smith Stadium. If, like me, you can't, "Be there as we make history," you can still catch the Birds on TV and radio.

Here's the MASN broadcast schedule for Spring Training:

Monday, March 7 at 7 p.m., New York Yankees vs. Orioles

Monday, March 14 at 1 p.m., Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Orioles

Tuesday, March 15 at 1 p.m., Houston Astros vs. Orioles

Saturday, March 19 at 1 p.m., Philadelphia Phillies vs. Orioles

Sunday, March 27 at 1 p.m., Boston Red Sox vs. Orioles

And here's the WBAL radio schedule:

Monday, February 28 Pittsburgh Pirates 1:05 p.m.

Tuesday, March 1 Tampa Bay Rays 1:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 5 Boston Red Sox 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 6 Minnesota Twins 1:05 p.m.

Monday, March 7 New York Yankees 7:05 p.m.

Thursday, March 10 Pittsburgh Pirates 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 12 Houston Astros 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 13 Detroit Tigers 1:05 p.m.

Wednesday, March 16 New York Yankees 7:05 p.m.

Friday, March 18 Minnesota Twins 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 19 Philadelphia Phillies 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 20 Tampa Bay Rays 1:05 p.m.

Thursday, March 24 Pittsburgh Pirates 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 26 Tampa Bay Rays 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 27 Boston Red Sox 1:05 p.m.

Tuesday, March 29 Toronto Blue Jays 1:05 p.m.

And here's Fred Manfra sharing some fun memories of listening to Hoyt Wilhelm's no-hitter, using baseball cards to help him visualize the game during radio broadcasts, and watching the Orioles Kiddie Corps "kicking ass in big league baseball."

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The Spring Training story you'll never see written

2011-02-18T15:24:00.003-05:00

Spring Training is an extended exercise in the slow news day. I may envy those reporters who get to travel to Sarasota each spring to watch baseball, but I don't envy the task with which they're charged - trying to coax non-cliched anecdotes and information from players, coaches, the manager, front office personnel, etc. Has anybody talked to the groundskeeper yet?

With that in mind, I offer my version of what an honest Spring Training story might look like, featuring many of your favorite Orioles media personalities.

Nondescript Player Reports to Camp in Nondescript Fashion

"Nothing's changed ... Really."

Beat reporters and feature writers at the Orioles' Spring Training complex in Sarasota struggled to find an appropriate story angle on the team's everyday outfielder after he arrived to camp on time this week, showing no discernible differences in his physical appearance, and displaying the same consistent attitude and determination that got him to the majors in the first place.

"He appears to have neither gained nor lost weight during the off-season, his attitude and focus are pretty much what they've always been, and his hair color and facial hair situation have not changed in the slightest. What the Hell?" said The Sun's Peter Schmuck. "I've got a few Hawaiian shirts I could loan him. That would at least be interesting."

Team officials indicate they anticipate the usual steady performance from the outfielder this season that he's demonstrated throughout his career and expect neither more, nor less leadership from him.

"The guy showed up exactly on time - not a second early, not a second late. Apparently he got one of those atomic clocks in the off-season. Even Buck was speechless," said MASN's Roch Kubatko. "It's one thing to screw up my storyline; he ruined my headline as well. I wanted to use 'Outfielder Arrives in the Nick of Time' but then everybody would think I was talking about Nick Markakis. Now I'm stuck trying to make something out of UPS and on-time delivery. UPS ... OPS ... hmmm. Excuse me while I get back to my laptop."

The Orioles young outfielder compounded matters when he stepped into the cage for his initial Spring Training batting practice session and hit baseballs over the outfield wall at precisely the rate and distance one would expect from a major league player hitting against a minor league instructor on his first day of camp.

"The least this guy could've done for us during the off-season was commit a crime or something," said Orioles Insider Jeff Zrebiec. "I'm not talking felony stuff. Just some sort of misdemeanor that would give us a bit of a redemption angle to work with. Sometimes I wish I covered the Ravens."

"You know I used to cover the Rays, don't you?" added Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com. "The Rays have Manny Ramirez in camp this season. Manny Freakin' Ramirez.

"Those stories practically write themselves," she added, before stepping away to research non-roster invitees and see if any of them ever caught a baseball in the stands from Derrek Lee.

Other reporters expressed a desire not so much for a different team as they did different players.

"This kind of crap makes me long for my days playing Hide 'N Seek with Sammy Sosa. At least that filled my time - lots of it in fact - and gave me something to write about, if only years later" said The Sun's Kevin Van Valkenburg. "I'd even take Albert Belle. Chasing trick-or-treaters on Halloween - that's rich. Oh well, at least this guy's contract is up in a couple of years; although, knowing him, he'll go ahead and sign a fair-market deal with the team. No hold outs, no hometown discounts, nothing."

A distracted Buck Showalter offered little help to the determined scribes.

"What more do you guys want from me? I gave you the term 'nuggets' right out of the gate. That's golden. Ha, see there, I did it again," said the manager as he traced individual steps down the left field line to double-check the ballpark dimensions at the Orioles' upgraded facilities. "It's too bad the guy doesn't have blonde hair. You could go for some kind of Goldilocks and the Three Bears theme and allude to the fact that he's doing everything 'Juuust Right.'"

Peter Angelos was unavailable for comment and directed inquires to general manager Andy MacPhail.

"He gives us exactly the same chance of competing in the American League East that he always has," said MacPhail, before adding, "We've gotta grow the arms and buy the bats."

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Great Moments in Orioles Facial Hair History

2011-02-17T09:42:00.001-05:00

Vladimir Guerrero reported to O's camp on Wednesday. So did his goatee.

Per Orioles Insider:

"He appeared to be in good shape and was sporting a goatee, which may have to come off under the Orioles restrictive facial hair policy."

If Vlad plays his cards right, he could add his name to the list of

Great Moments in Orioles Facial Hair History

Kevin Millar, The Hirsute Hitter (2006-2008)

Kevin Millar was one of Boston's beloved idiots. He tried to bring the same attitude to Baltimore. His efforts failed.

Here's some of the wisdom of Millar from Spring Training 2007, as reported then by Peter Schmuck.

"It's time to end that," Millar said of the facial hair policy. "Nine straight years of losing. It's time to show some hair."

"Doesn't hair show personality? You want a team with personality. I think if you asked everyone in the clubhouse, they'd be in favor of growing facial hair."

Apparently Millar overstated his case. Not everyone cared. Said Chris Gomez: "I think this is Kevin's battle. I don't think anyone else really gives a crap."

Known to grow a beard to bust a slump, Millar instead shaved his head a year later. He promptly hit two home runs against the Angels. "Worth it to get the stroke back," Millar said in The Washington Post. "Hit .380 the next couple of months and 10 homers, I'll shave my eyebrows next year, look like Mona Lisa in spring training."

After signing with Toronto in 2009, Millar showed up to the Blue Jays' camp with long hair, a thick beard, and some zingers.

"It's nice to see they're still clean-shaven over there," Millar said of the Orioles. "The one plus over here is I don't have to shave, so I grow my beard out just for Aubrey [Huff]. It's a show beard. I have show hair and show beard and now I look like a ballplayer."

Orioles Bullpen, The Unity Stache (2007)

For some reason, athletes seem to use facial hair as bonding. Banned from having bears, the 2007 Orioles bullpen resorted to "the unity stache."

John Parrish summed it up thusly: "You like it? It looks kind of trashy."

Jay Gibbons & Co., Hairy Streakers (2005)

The 2005 Orioles were one win away from eliminating the facial hair ban under new manager Sam Perlozzo. They lost.

Here are the details, as provided by Jorge Arangure Jr. on Aug. 11, 2005, in the Washington Post.

Baltimore appears revived under Perlozzo, who is 4-2 since being given the job last Thursday. After the game rap music played loudly. Former manager Lee Mazzilli had banned postgame music. Several players have begun to show the makings of a beard. Mazzilli had banned facial hair.

"The more stuff we win, he said the more stuff we get," Gibbons said of his new manager. "The fourth win in a row we get facial hair. We're trying hard. We got that incentive."

The 2005 Orioles won four straight from Sept 10. through Sept. 13.

Lee Smith, Exception to the Rule? (1994)

By many accounts, Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who led a group of investors in a 1993 purchase of the team, is the source of the O's strict facial hair policy. If that's the case, there are multiple exceptions to the rule, including former closer Lee Smith.

Consider this 1994 story by John Marshall of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "New brood of tough guys decides fierce, mean goatee can't be beat"

Pro athletes, particularly baseball players, such as Orioles closer Lee Smith, seem to be in the forefront of the goatee explosion, with at least a few on almost every major league team joining in. But musicians and film stars are not far behind.

Mike Mussina, Rebel Without a Contract (1993)

Mike Mussina's rebellious stage emerged later than it does for most. Mussina grew a goatee prior to signing a new contract in 1993, as reported by the Associated Press.

Now that he's got a new contract, Mike Mussina can shave that scraggly goatee off his face. Mussina had been referring to the goatee as his "Rebel Without a Contract" look. But after agreeing to terms with the Baltimore Orioles on a one-year pact Wednesday, the facial hair is history.

"Yeah, I'm gonna shave it," he said. "I would have shaved it today, but I didn't have a chance."

Ending the Beard Ban, Rick Sutcliffe (1992)

The Orioles' beard ban pre-dated Peter Angelos. Perhaps he reinstated the rule after noted rebel Johnny Oates (that's sarcasm, folks) let the Orioles run around looking like a bunch of hippies.

Per The Sun's Peter Schmuck in '92 -

Of course, it all started with [Rick Sutcliffe], whose trademark red beard was not allowed to become an issue when he was negotiating a contract with the Orioles last winter. Manager Johnny Oates, who owns a conservative mustache (and even wears it on special occasions), decided to end the beard ban rather than make an unfair exception for Sutcliffe.

"Before I even knew the Orioles had a hair rule, Johnny told me that it wasn't a problem," said Sutcliffe, who insists that it wouldn't have been a problem anyway. "There will come a time when I shave it, because I look younger without it. When I start looking as old as Mike Flanagan, then I'll definitely shave it."

[Todd Frohwirth], who overpowers hitters with his unorthodox submarine delivery, hasn't needed anything else to make him a successful relief pitcher, but he still would like to fit in with the other members of the Orioles bullpen. Mike Flanagan has a mustache. Storm Davis has a perpetual 5 o'clock shadow. Even Alan Mills, the newest Orioles reliever, has a Fu Manchu.

Hall of Fame Hair, Eddie Murray (1977-1988, 1996)

No discussion of Orioles facial hair would be complete without mention of Eddie Murray. Brady Anderson had some chops, but Murray sported a chops-into-mustache look that was so legendary it ended up on a Hall of Fame T-shirt.

Finally, though it's not the Orioles, there's this classic Simpsons clip:

Have a favorite Orioles facial hair memory of your own? Add it in the comments section below.

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More Spring Training Photos

2011-02-15T13:51:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like ... Spring Training.

Images: Norm Schimmel

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Photos: Sarasota Stadium Upgrades

2011-02-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

Here are a dozen images of the stadium renovations at Ed Smith Stadium, spring training home of your Baltimore Orioles.

[Image copyright: Norm Schimmel]

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Buck in Sarasota

2011-02-11T10:34:00.000-05:00

Buck Showalter paid a visit to the Sarasota Area Sports Authority on Wednesday along with VP of Planning and Development Janet Marie Smith as part of the SASA luncheon series. Here's a photo of Buck along with the program from the event, both courtesy of Norm Schimmel.

And here are some photos of the soon-to-be-occupied Ed Smith Stadium.

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Powerball in Baltimore

2011-02-07T15:35:00.004-05:00

After weeks of intense negotiations against themselves, the Orioles have signed Vlad Guerrero pending a physical. That means there's a real potential for power in Baltimore this season (emphasis on potential). Here's where the team's new heavy hitters fit into the context of recent and distant team history.

With the signing of free-agent slugger Vladimir Guerrero the Orioles will now have had six different Home Run Derby winners in their lineup at some point.

In addition to Guerrero, who won the Derby in 2007, the Orioles Miguel Tejada (2004), Sammy Sosa (2000), Brady Anderson (1996), Cal Ripken (1991), and Eric Davis (1989).

Short-time Oriole Albert Belle registered a second-place finish in the 1995 Home Run Derby to Frank Thomas. Belle's overall home run total of 16 was one greater than Thomas' total; however, Thomas won the head-to-head match-up in the final round by a 3-2 score.

See a full list of winners here.

By most reports, the Guerrero acquisition means that Luke Scott will see consistent time as the Orioles' everyday left fielder rather than the team's designated hitter. The additional at-bats will provide Scott the opportunity to pursue in earnest his third consecutive season as the Orioles' top home run hitter. Only three other Orioles have led the team in home runs for at least three straight seasons: Eddie Murray (six seasons), Gus Triandos (five seasons), and Boog Powell (three seasons).

Murray was the Orioles' top home run hitter every season from 1980 through 1985. Triandos led the team in home runs from 1955 to 1959; in 1958, he became the first Oriole to hit 30 home runs in a season. Powell led the O's in homers from 1968 to 1970. Powell never hit 40 home runs; his career high of 39 came in 1964 (Note: Jim Gentile was the first Oriole to hit 40 home runs; he had 46 in 1961.)

Between Guerrero, Derrek Lee, and Mark Reynolds, the Orioles now have three players who have hit 30 or more home runs a combined 14 times. Only four times in Orioles history have two players had 30 or more homers in the same season. Overall, only 14 Orioles players have recorded 30-homer seasons, led by Eddie Murray who did it five times. Guerrero has done it eight times.

Here's the breakdown of 30 home run seasons in Baltimore by decade.

2000s
2008 - Aubrey Huff 32
2004 - Miguel Tejada 34
2002 - Tony Batista 32

1990s
1999- Albert Belle 37
1998 - Rafael Palmeiro 43
1997 - Rafael Palmeiro 38
1996 - Brady Anderson 50, Rafael Palmeiro 39
1995 - Rafael Palmeiro 39
1991 - Cal Ripken 34

1980s
1987 - Larry Sheets 31, Eddie Murray 30
1985 - Eddie Murray 31
1983 - Eddie Murray 30
1982 - Eddie Murray 32
1980 - Eddie Murray 32

1970s
1979 - Ken Singleton 35
1970 - Boog Powell 35

1960s
1969 - Boog Powell 37, Frank Robinson 32
1967 - Frank Robinson 30
1966 - Frank Robinson 49, Boog Powell 34
1964 - Boog Powell 39
1962 - Jim Gentile 33
1961 - Jim Gentile 46

1950s
1958 - Gus Triandos 30

Based on their single-season career highs, Guerrero, Lee, and Reynolds would each place in the Orioles' top five all-time for home runs. Only four Orioles have hit 40 home runs in a season.

O's Top 10 Home Runs (Single Season)

1. Brady Anderson, 1996, 50
2. Frank Robinson, 1966, 49
3. Jim Gentile, 1961, 46
(Derrek Lee, 46, 2005)
(Mark Reynolds, 44, 2009)
(Vlad Guerrero, 44, 2000)
4. Rafael Palmeiro, 1998, 43
5. Boog Powell, 1964, 39
6. Rafael Palmeiro, 1995, 39
7. Rafael Palmeiro, 1996, 39
8. Rafael Palmeiro, 1997, 38
9. Boog Powell, 1969, 37
10. Albert Belle, 1999, 37

Finally, here's what the Orioles' home run leader board has looked like since the team's last winning season in 1997.

2010: Luke Scott 27, Ty Wiggington 22, Adam Jones 19
2009: Luke Scott 25, Adam Jones 19, Nick Markakis 18
2008: Aubrey Huff 32, Melvin Mora 23, Luke Scott 23, Millar 20 & Markakis 20
2007: Nick Markakis 23, Miguel Tejada 18, Kevin Millar 17
2006: Tejada 24, Hernandez 23, Markakis, Mora, Patterson 16, Millar 15
2005: Mora 27, Tejada 26, Gibbons 26
2004: Tejada 34, Mora 27, Palmeiro 23, Lopez 23
2003: Tony Batista 26, Gibbons 23, Mora & Conine 15
2002: Tony Batista 31, Gibbons 28, Mora 19
2001: Chris Richard 15, Gibbons 15, Conine 14
2000: Belle 23, Charles Johnson 21, Anderson 19
1999: Albert Belle 37, Surhoff 28, Anderson 24, Baines 24
1998: Palmeiro 43, Eric Davis 28, Surhoff 22
1997: Palmeiro 38, Hammonds 21, Surhoff & Anderson 18

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Walk-up music in Baltimore and beyond

2011-02-01T13:43:00.000-05:00

Walk-up music has become such an ingrained element of baseball that I have specific memories attached to it. They begin with a mid-'90s road trip to Toronto for a Blue Jays game, during which my friend ranted that there was no place in baseball for music prior to each at-bat. It was common practice in Canada at the time, not as much so in our native Baltimore. Some 15 years later - now accustomed to the practice and therefore likely to tune out most songs - I chuckled the first time I heard Toby Keith's "I'm Not as Good as I Once Was" as Miguel Tejada strolled to the plate at Camden Yards.

Joe Lemire digs into the stories behind players' walk-up music in his fun piece "Inside the prank-filled, throughly-researched world of at-bat music" on SI.com.

Here's an excerpt:

Ah, yes, the pranks. Take this one, courtesy of the Rangers' Michael Young, who comes out to Beastie Boys songs "Sure shot" and "Sabotage." While playing for Class A Hagertown in a 1998 game at Cape Fear, N.C.

Young recounts an amusing incident in which the girlfriend of an opponent wanted to give her boyfriend a nice surprise and had the player's intro song switched -- to Boyz 2 Men's "End of the Road."

"I think it was the end of the road after that," Young said. "When he found out, I think he kicked her to the curb.

"Guys were laughing about it for the whole series."

Ah, "End of the Road." Boyz II Men could make Metallica sound romantic, so the tune ended up on many a 1990s teenager's romantic mixtape thereby creating adolescent confusion before Facebook was there to do it for us. But I digress.

Reading Lemire's piece inspired me to do some Orioles-related digging on walk-up music.

Anybody remember the 2008 debut of Kevin Millar's blonde locks and "Ice Ice Baby" walk-up music?

Now go back a bit further. Test your knowledge of which Orioles batters used these walk-up songs in 2004:

"Sweet Home Alabama"

"Hot in Herre"

"Sultans of Swing"

"California Love"

"Hit 'Em Up"

"Shake it Fast"

See how well you did here.

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Orioles FanFest 2011 Recaps

2011-01-31T14:39:00.003-05:00

So what was it like to attend Orioles FanFest 2011? I can't tell you firsthand given that there's a new baby bird in the nest at home; however, plenty of folks have shared their experiences online. Two of my favorites are reviews of the day as seen through the eyes of a caricature artist and of an autograph hound.

Emily Anthony offers some of her caricature portfolio from a hard day's work at the Convention Center. Where else are you going to get a perspective like that? Thanks, Internet.

Eutaw Street Cardboard is one of at least three different blogs chronicling the experience of a grapher (I just learned that term and I'm not afraid to use it) trying to compile a comprehensive set of all-time Orioles' signatures. In this instance, his post is a fun behind-the-scenes look at the hunt for autographs made more interesting given the controversy over this year's signing policy. Spoiler Alert: "All in all it was a good day."

Here's a more complete list of recaps:

Another Orioles Blog: Orioles FanFest 2011 pt. 1

Camden Chat: Orioles Fan Fest Updates (Stacey via Twitter)

Camden Crazies: 2011 Orioles Fan Fest Recap

Emily Anthony: What's orange and black...

Eutaw Street Cardboard: 2011 FanFest Recap

Orioles Hangout: 2011 Fan Fest Photos

Oriole Post: Fanfest 2011

Schmuck Stops Here: FanFest in the rear view

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Orioles Announce Details About FanFest 2011

2011-01-17T07:59:00.003-05:00

The Orioles have announced the details of their new FanFest autograph policy, including which players will appear and at what times. There will be five available time slots at four stations with three to four players per station. There also will be a complementary kids area, for which the players appearing won't be announced in advance.

Children ages 4-14 will have a specially designated Kids Only player autograph station presented by ESSKAY that is free of charge and will operate continuously throughout the day. All other ESSKAY autograph stations at FanFest will require the advance purchase of autograph vouchers exclusively at orioles.com for $15 each, with all of the proceeds to benefit children's charities through OriolesREACH.

There will be 250 vouchers available for each autograph session, guaranteeing that each fan purchasing a voucher for a particular session will receive an autograph from each of the players at the station. Fans will be able to print their vouchers at home and must present them to the attendant at the appropriate autograph session, shortening the amount of wait time in autograph lines. Fans must be in line for their autograph session no later than 30 minutes after the session begins.

...

The complimentary Kids Only area at FanFest will operate throughout the day in a free-flowing system. Players signing in this area will not be announced in advance. Youths ages 4-14 may go through this line as many times as they would like as players rotate through the station.

I won't be at FanFest, but I'd recommend targeting Station 2 at 4:40 p.m. for what I like to call the "Past, Present, and Future" station: Tippy Martinez, Nick Markakis, and Chris Tillman. It's nice to mix in a little history with the current stars. How many times do you think Tippy gets asked about those pick-offs?

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The Latest Happenings in Sarasota

2011-01-13T13:12:00.002-05:00

Pressbox has provided some interesting details about the upgrades to Ed Smith Stadium, which are being guided by Janet Marie Smith. Smith designed Camden Yards.

Smith has been working with David Schwarz Architects, based in Washington, D.C., and Hoyt Architects, based in Sarasota, to ensure the new Ed Smith Stadium will reflect both the mid-Atlantic origins of the Orioles and the Floridian location in which the stadium resides.

"There will be more orange and black and Oriole birds on this facility before it's over with," Smith said on "Inside PressBox." "There'll be no mistaking that it's our spring training home. It's been beautifully designed. ... David Schwarz, the architect that worked with the local company of Hoyt Architects, really worked hard to develop something that had a real Floridian character."

During their first season in Sarasota, the Orioles set a spring training attendance record, when more than 100,000 fans attended their 14 home games. About 1,500 seats are being brought in from Camden Yards to increase the ballpark's capacity to 9,000.

Here are some photos of the aforementioned Camden Yards seats at Ed Smith Stadium, courtesy of Sarasota friend of the blog Norm Schimmel.

The Pressbox article also notes the strategic touches added by Andy MacPhail and Buck Showalter.

Between Ed Smith Stadium and Twin Lakes Park, the team's minor league facility that is also undergoing some modifications, the Orioles have nearly 89 acres of space with 10 fields for their major league team and minor league affiliates to use.

One of those fields will now be made of Astroturf, Smith said, because Andy MacPhail, the Orioles' president of baseball operations, thought it would help the team prepare for trips to the Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field and the Toronto Blue Jays' Rogers Centre, both of which boast synthetic turf.

A suggestion by Orioles manager Buck Showalter caused another field to be changed. He took a tour of the facility in September and asked architects to adjust the dimensions of one of the practice fields so it would conform to the specifications of Camden Yards.

Construction is expected to be completed by the time players report to Sarasota on Valentine's Day. Here are some additional photos of construction in progress, taken in December by Norm.

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The Eutaw Street Chronicles: Rafael Palmeiro hits Eutaw Street Twice; April 11, 1997

2011-01-11T17:16:00.001-05:00

Rafael Palmeiro's five Eutaw Street home runs are the most in the history of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He got two of them in the same game on April 11, 1997. Palmeiro sent the baseballs a combined 819 feet, pushing the Orioles to a 9-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in the early stages of what became a wire-to-wire run for the Birds in the American League East.

Palmeiro made a routine out of torturing his former employer, posting a .311/.428/.592 career slash line against the Rangers with 15 home runs and 45 RBI in 58 games. Nevertheless, he produced a series of unproductive at-bats early in this game: a double-play ball in the first inning, a strikeout leading off the third, and a ground ball that stranded two runners in the fourth.

He returned to form in the seventh and eight innings by taking first-pitch offerings from lefties Eric Gunderson and Ed Vosberg out of the park. The late-innings binge left Palmeiro with three home runs in his last seven at-bats, all against lefties. His ninth-inning home run sent the team's previous game at Kansas City into extra innings, where the Orioles won 4-2.

Hitting coach Rick Down analyzed Palmeiro's mismatched effort afterward in The Sun.

"Sometimes, in situations where you're trying to hit the ball hard against a right-hander, you get a little jumpy," said Down. "Against a left-hander, you know you have to stay there and let the ball travel."

If Palmeiro's twin blasts attracted oohs and aahs, Mike Mussina's seven-inning, three-hit effort on the mound drew sighs of relief from concerned Orioles fans.

Just five days earlier, also against Texas, Mussina served up seven runs on six hits in four innings of work. This after allowing 11 runs in 16 innings in his final three Spring Training outings and skipping an Opening Day start due to bone chips in his elbow.

The game also featured the home debut of Roberto Alomar, who served a five-game suspension to start the season for spitting on umpire John Hirschbeck the previous September.

Like Mussina, Alomar had been limited by injury; a severe ankle sprain caused him to miss the last week of spring training. Alomar went 2-for-4 with an RBI and played highlight-quality defense, including fielding a second-inning grounder that passed through Palmeiro's legs.

"Robby was all over the field tonight, even though there are times when it seems like he can hardly move," said Mussina.

For his part, Palmeiro wasn't concerned about where the spotlight shined.

"It's no big deal. It's important that we won," he said. "I don't worry about what I do or don't do. Once it's done, it's done."

The visiting Rangers, managed by Orioles Hall of Famer Johnny Oates, started four former O's players: Mike Devereaux, Mark McLemore, Damon Buford and Mickey Tettleton. Tettleton hit the first Eutaw Street home run five years earlier.

Former Oriole Walt Dropo dies; Played for Baltimore's first winning team

2010-12-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

Monday's Washington Post includes the obituary for Walt Dropo, the 1950 American League Rookie of the Year for the Red Sox who finished his career in Baltimore.

From the Post:

In 1950, Mr. Dropo beat out New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford to win AL Rookie of the Year honors after batting .322 with 34 home runs and a league-best 144 RBIs in 136 games. He also made his only All-Star team that year.
...

A broken wrist slowed Mr. Dropo in 1951 and he was never able to match his outstanding rookie numbers. The first baseman batted .270 with 152 homers and 704 RBIs during his career. He was traded by Boston to the Detroit Tigers in 1952 and also played for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles.

Shortly after being traded to Detroit in 1952, Mr. Dropo tied a major league record that still stands when he got hits in 12 consecutive trips to the plate. During that streak. he also tied another big league mark that's still in place when he totaled 15 hits in a four-game span.

The Orioles acquired Dropo on June 23, 1959, in a trade that sent Whitey Lockman to the Cincinnati Redlegs. Dropo saw limited action during his two-plus seasons in Baltimore as Diamond Jim Gentile, a subsequent Orioles addition on Oct. 19, 1959, blossomed.

The 37-year-old Dropo played 79 games for the 1960 Orioles, the club that gave Baltimore its first winning season since relocating from St. Louis. A career first baseman, he appeared in three games at third base for the O's.

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Can the 2011 Phillies Match the 1971 Orioles with Four 20-Game Winners?

2010-12-15T11:13:00.002-05:00

The Phillies brought Cliff Lee back to Philadelphia this week, thereby piecing together what on paper is one of the great four-man rotations of all time. The Associated Press has termed it "a potentially historic rotation."

Among the potential history Philadelphia's rotation presents is the possibility of having four 20-game winners on one team. It's happened only twice before with the 1920 Chicago White Sox and the 1971 Baltimore Orioles. Wins don't mean what they used to for many baseball fans, but there's no denying the significance of having four 20-game winners in the same rotation.

So how do the top four pitchers in the Phillies' 2011 rotation compare to the top four pitchers in the Orioles' 1971 rotation? Can history repeat itself?

The purpose of this exercise is not to determine which rotation is better, but rather to size up both rotations and offer an educated guess as to whether the Phillies can match the Orioles' accomplishment. I believe it's important to remember the past greats of the game and celebrate their achievements. This represents the perfect opportunity to do so. It's entirely possible to celebrate modern greatness without overlooking or overshadowing prior triumphs. That's the point here.

Who's better? I'll leave that to the fans in bar rooms in Charm City and the City of Brotherly Love. For now, I'll conclude that the Phillies won't match the Orioles with four 20-game winners for two primary reasons:

1. Starters today throw fewer innings and therefore have less opportunities to pick up wins. And the 1971 Orioles utilized a four-man rotation.

Roy Halladay led all of baseball with 250.2 innings pitched in 2010. That total would be last among the Orioles' top four starters in 1970 and is nearly 40 innings less than the combined average of Baltimore's rotation.

Consider the remarkable difference that exists in the approach to the game by era. The 1971 Orioles rotation averaged 287.3 IP in 1970 led by Jim Palmer's 305 IP. By comparison, the 2011 Phillies top four picthers averaged 220.3 IP in 2010 led by Halladay's 250.2 IP.

2. As Mike Mussina demonstrated for 17 of his 18 seasons in baseball, there's a certain amount of luck involved in winning 20 games.

Both the 1971 Orioles and the 2011 Phillies had/have remarkable pitchers in their starting rotation. Among each team's starting four, only one pitcher entered/enters the season having never won 20 games. However, Baltimore's 1971 rotation had three pitchers who won 20 games the previous season while Philadelphia's 2011 rotation has just one pitcher who won 20 games in 2010.

The likelihood of three pitchers holding form (Cuellar, McNally, Palmer) and one other catching enough breaks to win 20 (Dobson) is greater than the likelihood of one pitcher holding form (Halladay) and three other starters catching enough breaks to win 20 (Oswalt, Lee, and Hamels).

Here's a rundown of the numbers for the Orioles' four-man rotation in 1971 (through the 1970 season) and the numbers for the top four members of the Phillies' 2011 rotation (through the 2010 season). If you love great pitching, you'd have a hard time doing much better than this.

Age (1970, 2010)
Palmer - 24
Hamels -26
McNally - 27
Dobson - 28
Lee - 31
Oswalt -32
Cuellar and Halladay - 33

Average - Orioles rotation - 28, Phillies rotation - 30.5

20-Win Seasons (though 1970 and 2010 )
Halladay - 3 (22-7 in 2003, 20-11 in 2008, 21-10 in 2010) and McNally - 3 ( 22-10 in 1968, 20-7 in 1969, 24-9 in 1970)
Cuellar - 2 (23-11 in 1969, 24-8 in 1970) and Oswalt - 2 (20-10 in 2004, 20-12 in 2005)
Lee - 1 (22-3 in 2008) and Palmer - 1 (20-10 in 1970)
Dobson - 0 and Hamels - 0.

Average: Orioles rotation - 1.5, Phillies rotation - 1.5

Career Wins (through 1970 and 2010)
Halladay (13 seasons) - 169
Oswalt (10 seasons) - 150
McNally (9 seasons) - 114
Lee (9 seasons) - 102
Cuellar (8 seasons) - 89
Hamels (5 seasons) - 60
Palmer (5 seasons)- 59
Dobson (4 seasons) - 25

Average: Orioles rotation - (6.5 seasons) 71.75, Phillies rotation - (9.25 seasons) 120.25

Career ERA (through 1970 and 2010)
Palmer - 2.94
Cuellar - 2.95
Oswalt and McNally - 3.18
Halladay - 3.32
Dobson - 3.39
Hamels - 3.53
Lee - 3.85

Average: Orioles rotation - 3.12 (1970 League Average - 3.72), Phillies rotation - 3.47 (2010 League Average - 4.03)

Career ERA+ (through 1970 and 2010)
Halladay - 136
Oswalt - 135
Hamels - 123
Palmer - 120
Cuellar - 117
McNally - 114
Lee - 112
Dobson - 108

Average: Orioles rotation - 114.75, Phillies rotation - 126.5

Career WHIP (through 1970 and 2010)
Cuellar - 1.152
Hamels - 1.176
Halladay - 1.181
Oswalt - 1.189
McNally 1.195
Palmer - 1.209
Lee - 1.256
Dobson - 1.275

Average: Orioles rotation - 1.208 (1970 League Average - 1.330), Phillies rotation - 1.201 (2010 League Average - 1.348)

Wins in most recent season (1970 and 2010)
Cuellar - 24
McNally - 24
Halladay - 21
Palmer - 20
Dobson - 14
Oswalt - 13
Lee - 12
Hamels - 12

Average: Orioles rotation - 20.5, Phillies rotation - 14.5

IP in most recent season (1970 and 2010)
Palmer - 305
Cuellar - 297.2
McNally - 296
Dobson - 251
Halladay - 250.2
Lee - 212
Oswalt - 211
Hamels - 208

Average: Orioles rotation - 287.3, Phillies rotation - 220.3

Image Source: Here (though the original appears to be from Sports Illustrated).

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Flashback Friday: Don Buford's Five Strikeout Day

2010-12-10T13:32:00.002-05:00

Don Buford established two Orioles records in 1971: He hit five home runs leading off games, and he struck out five times in a nine-inning game.

Brady Anderson easily eclipsed the former mark in 1996 with 12 home runs leading off a game. Hopefully, Mark Reynolds will surpass the latter mark in 2010; not because I don't like Reynolds, but rather because Buford deserves better than to be remembered for a bad day at the plate not consistent with his overall performance.

Buford had a career AB/SO ratio of 7.92. Other leadoff hitters with a similar career AB/SO ratio are Roberto Alomar (7.96), Kenny Lofton (7.99), and Jimmy Rollins (7.89). Anderson, meanwhile, finished his career with a 5.5 AB/SO ratio, which nearly matches Boog Powell's 5.4 ratio.

In four seasons, Reynolds is averaging a 2.6 AB/SO ratio, which is to say that a five strikeout day would be entirely consistent with his overall performance ... except for the fact that he's never actually done it. Reynolds' career high for strikeouts in a game is four. He was worn the golden sombrero multiple times.

Back to Buford. As if keeping company with Alomar, Lofton, and Rollins wasn't impressive enough, Buford's numbers outshine Ichiro's - and any other player in history, for that matter - when it comes to staying out of double plays.

Buford, who played 10 major league seasons, has the lowest GDP in baseball history. He hit into 34 double plays in 4,553 career at-bats. Ichiro has grounded into 46 double plays in 10 seasons. Though the number of games played doesn't match up, Buford's 162-game average (4) is one better than Ichiro's (5).

Strangely enough, Buford's bad day at the plate came during what was otherwise a career year. In 1971, he led the league in runs scored with 99 (his third consecutive season of 99 runs scored), and posted career highs in average (.290), OBP (.413), slugging (.477), and OPS (.890).

Those numbers earned him his lone All-Star appearance for a half-season's work and MVP vote points for a full-season's work. But it only took one day for him to earn his Olympic Rings.

Other notables from Don Buford's five seasons with the Orioles (1968-1972):

-He was the first player to lead off a World Series with a home run. He did so off Tom Seaver in Game 1 of the 1969 World Series. Dustin Pedroia matched Buford's effort in 2007.

-He was the first Oriole to homer from both sides of the plate in a single game, doing so on April 9, 1970 against the Indians.

Strikeout Percentage (SO%) and AB/SO ratio while in Baltimore

Sam Horn
(Holds team record for most strikeouts in an extra-inning game with 6)
1990 - 22.1%, 4.0
1991 - 27.4%, 3.2
1992 - 32.4%, 2.7

Mickey Tettleton
(Holds team record for most strikeouts in a season with 160)
1988 - 22.2%, 4.0
1989 - 23.9%, 3.5
1990 - 28.6%, 2.8

Don Buford
1968 - 9.3%, 9.3
1969 - 9.4%, 8.9
1970 - 8.7%, 9.2
1971 - 11.3%, 7.2
1972 - 17.1%, 4.9

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Like Budweiser, Mark Reynolds has Whiffability

2010-12-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

Mark Reynolds will establish a new Orioles record in his first season in Baltimore. Unfortunately, it will be for strikeouts.

Reynolds, whom the Orioles acquired in a trade with Arizona on Monday in exchange for David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio, is an all-or-nothing swinger who makes Adam Dunn seem like a contact hitter. All of which should make former Orioles catcher Mickey Tettleton a happy man.

Tettleton holds the Orioles' single-season team record for strikeouts with 160 in 1990. In four major league seasons, Reynolds has averaged 191.75 strikeouts per season. And even that figure underestimates his whiffability as it includes his 129 strikeout total in only 111 games during his rookie season.

[A quick aside: Having never before used the term "whiffability," I Googled it to examine its usage and whether the word actually exists. Turns out it has non-baseball applications. From Life magazine: "Budweiser has whiffability ... a clean, fresh aroma you find only in Bud." I smell a sponsorship opportunity in your future, Mark Reynolds.]

Other former Orioles who may be excited about the Reynolds acquisition are Don Buford, team record holder for most strikeouts in a nine-inning game (5 on Aug. 26, 1971), and Sam Horn, team record holder for most strikeouts in an extra-inning game (6 on July 17, 1991).

For information on Reynolds' positive value to the team (and there definitely is some), check out this ESPN piece on his "contact to damage" ratio.

A record-setting pattern

Should Reynolds indeed establish a team record during his first couple of seasons in Baltimore - for strikeouts or otherwise - he will be following a pattern established by other sluggers the O's have acquired in recent history. Specifically, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Belle, and Miguel Tejada.

The Birds signed Palmeiro prior to the 1994 season; by 1996 he held the team record for most RBI by a left-handed batter with 142.

The Birds signed Albert Belle prior to the 1999 season; by 2000 he held the team record for most RBI in a month with 37 in June 2000.

The Birds signed Tejada prior to the 2004 season; by the end of the year he held the team record for most RBI by a right-handed batter with 150. Two years later he set the team record for hits in a season with 214.

Welcome to Baltimore, Mark Reynolds. Here's hoping you make the Orioles brass look like Real Men of Genius.

"So here's to you, Mr. Whiffability."

Confederate money and fake prospects; It must be Winter Meetings time

2010-12-02T14:00:00.001-05:00

The Winter Meetings are almost here. Let the Syd Thrift references begin!

Dan Connolly offers a nod to Thrift and his much-repeated "confederate money" phrase over at Orioles Insider.

Call this the “Courting of Paul Konerko 2.0.”

The first version occurred in the 2005 offseason, when the Orioles’ brass had a clandestine meeting with Konerko and offered a five-year, $65 million deal to the then 29-year-old first baseman. He decided to stay with the Chicago White Sox for $5 million less, prompting more jokes about the Orioles’ “Confederate money.”

(I’m still quoting Syd Thrift all these years later. God rest his soul.)

But nothing says Syd Thrift quite like"minor league prospect" Gary Dell'Abate. Jeff Labrecque interviewed the real Dell'Abate, who referenced Thrift's broadcast misstep in 2000.

Not counting the famous pop-cultural shout-outs, like to Peter Jennings during the O.J. Simpson Ford Bronco chase, but what’s the strangest place you’ve gotten a Baba Booey shoutout?
I’m not very religious but I went to church a couple of times after 9/11. There was this woman wearing this very matronly dress and when she handed me the program whatever, she leaned in and just said, “Big fan, big fan. Baba Booey.” I just thought that was really funny because she did not look the part at all. Just shows you, the fans are everywhere.

One of my favorite stories of yours didn’t make the book and actually involved your given name. I’m a Baltimore Orioles fan and—
The Syd Thrift story? I love that.

They’ve been bad now for so long and that story kind of encapsulates their impotence.
That made it in to Sports Illustrated, as part of a story about how dysfunctional the Baltimore Orioles organization was. I love that one. Have you ever heard the actual call? Syd Thrift actually says, ‘Oh yeah, [Gary Dell' Abate] is one of our big prospects. He’s coming along.’

Orioles Baseball: As much fun as a trip to the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.

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Related Reading: Flashback Friday: Revisiting a "Thrifty" Trade Deadline

Flashback Friday: All Politics Wasn't Supposed to be Local in Baltimore

2010-11-19T14:21:00.003-05:00

Jerry Hoffberger & Earl Weaver

Tip O'Neill popularized the phrase "All politics is local." Former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn might well have disagreed.

In a move that irked Kuhn, Baltimore Orioles owner Jerry Hoffberger joined Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes on the Memorial Stadium mound for the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game Two of the 1979 World Series. President Jimmy Carter handled first-pitch duties nearly a week later before Game 7, but it was the local guy, a friend of Hoffberger, who raised Kuhn's ire.

Kuhn fined Hoffberger $2,500 for using the governor's services and, according to an Associated Press article, cited a rule that prohibited "movie actresses and actors, politicians and people of note" from handling first-pitch duties.

Time magazine picked up on the controversy.

"Kuhn, standing next to the Governor at the toss, was smiling, but his grin was deceptive. Hoffberger's choice violated a rule that all first-ball throwers must be approved by the commissioner, with politicians and movie stars acceptable only in rare circumstances. For disobeying the rule, Hoffberger, who last season sold his team to Washington Attorney Edward Bennett Williams, was fined $2,500 by Kuhn. Hoffberger has protested the fine and requested a hearing; Kuhn is considering the appeal."

Sports Illustrated also spilled some ink on the stare down.

"Hoffberger ... said he defied the rule because Hughes was a personal friend (not to mention a onetime pitcher in Class D baseball), and he said he might refuse to pay the fine. In his anger, Hoffberger claimed that Richard Nixon had thrown out the first ball at an American League playoff game in Anaheim; in fact, Nixon merely was an honored guest of California Angel owner Gene Autry. However, the Pirates did have Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh hold a ball for photographers before a World Series game in Pittsburgh, after which the widow of former Pirate Manager Danny Murtaugh threw it."

Years later, Commissioner Kuhn had his say in the book, Hardball: The Education of a Baseball Commissioner (p. 232)

"Jerry emerged as president of the Orioles under the Williams ownership. Since the sale was not effective until November 1, 1979, Jerry was still the boss during the Pittsburgh-Baltimore World Series, during which he drew a fine from me for inviting Governor Harry Hughes of Maryland to throw out the first ceremonial ball. This was contrary to our sound World Series rule against using local politicians. It was a typical owners' trick designed to give the commissioner fits: invite a popular local governor to do the honors and then say how churlish the commissioner is for standing in the way. I let the governor go ahead and collected my fine with help from Williams."

Major League Baseball's Official Rules do not currently include any provisions about local politicians throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

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Image: Clarence B. Garrett, The Baltimore Sun

Bringing the Heat ... Again

2010-11-17T12:34:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday I mentioned some off-season baseball reading I'm doing thanks to the Barnes & Noble clearance rack. Today I want to revisit a book I read this summer because the publisher sent me a copy for free. Forget best-seller lists, my reading choices are strictly economic.

If you're looking for a well-timed book to read in the wake of the Year of the Pitcher, check out "High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time."

I wrote my review of High Heat on Roar from 34 in early July. I later posted a transcript of the interview I conducted with author Tim Wendel. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts from that conversation.

Wendel on the Joel Zumaya injury and the physical challenge of throwing triple-digit heat, an exchange made all the more interesting in hindsight given Strasburg's injury weeks after we conducted the interview.

Yeah. You know It pained me to see what happened with Zumaya, because Zumaya made the list of maybe the top dozen fireballers in High Heat in part because more of the potential and the promise more than anything he’s done so far. I guess it shows how fine the line is and how much stress, and torque, and punishment the arm takes when you’re talking about throwing this hard. At times we tend to take a lot of this for granted as fans or maybe people who cover the game.

Strasburg, for example, is doing phenomenal right now. I think he certainly has proven he’s more ready for prime time than the eight other guys he’s taking the field with half the time. I was watching the game when he was in Cleveland and he was having trouble with the mound and at one point he slipped and you just go “Oh!” All it takes is something like that and there goes a career.

Will Joel Zumaya ever throw as hard as he once did? I don’t know after watching the tape of what happened last night. You talk about Sandy Koufax who went literally in three weeks from a journeyman to all world and being able to suddenly spot his fastball and suddenly gain control of his curve. You look at the price he paid in terms of what it did to his arm, the arthritis, the types of medications he was taking just to get through those last couple seasons. Even someone like Nolan Ryan who could probably go out today and throw, I don’t know, probably 92 or 93, still just the mental anguish he went through.

I think sometimes we just kind of think “Oh yeah, somebody like Stephen Strasburg, he’s got it made” or somebody like Sandy Koufax, “Yeah, Hall of Fame,” and you don’t see the price and you don’t see the real things they had to go through. They all know this next pitch might be my last one. You had to think that’s what ran through poor Joel Zumaya’s head last night.

Wendel on Earl Weaver, Steve Dalkowski, and how good Dalkowski's stuff must have been if he made the High Heat list even though he never caught on in the majors.

He almost became the number one guy and actually Earl Weaver’s the one who kind of talked me down off that a little bit, which I found amazing because Earl Weaver did as much as anybody to get Steve Dalkowski in the major leagues or to get him as close as he did, but then Earl said, “No, I can’t make him number one because he never made the majors.”

You know, I think part of it is just the mythic element. You’ve seen Bull Durham, the Nuke LaLoosh character being in a sense the myth of what Dalkowski was. That was certainly helped by the fact Ron Shelton, who went on to be a Hollywood writer and director, was in the Orioles organization about four or five years behind Dalkowski. He never played on the same team as Steve, but he knew all the stories and such. The stories of his fastball are just epic, and I think that’s part of what the appeal is too; here you have a very almost very docile guy who wears spectacles at least part of his career. He doesn’t look like an athlete at all. And yet boy did he have a gift. I think in an odd way that really appeals to people. He didn’t look like a Ryan or even a Feller. He looked like some guy you’d walk by on the street, and yet you put him on a mound, granted he couldn’t throw a first strike half the time, but as near as we can tell he threw potentially 104 to maybe 107 miles per hour.

And finally, Wendel on the time Tim Lincecum was blocked from the visitor's clubhouse at Nationals Park.

One of the great times I had doing High Heat was in Washington at the Nationals ballpark with Tim Lincecum, and we’re looking to enter the visitor’s clubhouse. The guy guarding the door wouldn’t let Lincecum in, in part because Lincecum kind of like this short, skinny, punk skateboard kid. And me and another guy are like, “No, he’s actually won a Cy Young.” And because Lincecum didn’t have his ID there was a bit of a hubbub for a few minutes until they let him in. I thought that was pretty interesting, somebody like Tim Lincecum could be part of this whole equation, too.

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Were the Orioles Quitters?

2010-11-16T14:12:00.000-05:00

On multiple occasions during the past 13 losing seasons it has seemed, from a fan's perspective, that the Baltimore Orioles quit during the second half of the season. It makes sense since quitters never win and frankly neither do the Orioles.

From 30-3 to the late summer swoon, circumstantial evidence abounds. But it turns out there's testimonial evidence as well.

I'm currently reading John Feinstein's "Living On the Black" (Thanks, Barnes & Noble clearance rack), which chronicles the 2007 seasons of pitchers Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine. Mussina offers many interesting anecdotes, including a statement about playing on teams that approach the second half of the season in a manner similar to that of a high school senior facing his final weeks before graduation. It's baseball's version of senioritis.

Were the Orioles quitters during Mussina's time in Baltimore? [Vote in the Roar from 34 poll on the sidebar.]

Here's the relevant section from the book (emphasis added):

"Player meetings in baseball are rarely emotional, and it isn't often that anything especially brilliant or revealing is said. This meeting was no different. Pettitte was the right person to call the meeting and start it because he was the one pitcher on the staff who had pitched well. His point was simple: What we're doing isn't good enough. Yes, we've been injured, and yes it's early (it is, of course, a long season), but this was unacceptable.

He was talking, for the most part, to the starters. The bullpen hadn't been that great, but it had the excuse of being overused because of the starters' incompetence.

Mussina, the other veteran in the room, also spoke. He pointed out that he hadn't been much use to the team in April but went on to talk about what was expected when you pitched for the Yankees. 'I've been on teams that began circling days on the calendar trying to get the season over with from the All-Star break on,' he said. 'Believe me, it's not fun. And it really wouldn't be fun here. That can be tough, but it's what's expected ....' "

Was Mussina using hyperbole in his clubhouse speech, or did he believe his teammates had quit on him the in the past? If so, when?

At the time Mussina made the comments he had yet to experience a non-playoff season with the Yankees. So if he was wasn't exaggerating for effect (which is possible), he was referring to the Orioles.

Mussina played for the Orioles from 1991 through 2000. The O's finished with a losing record in five of those seasons: 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2000. We can remove the '98 and '99 seasons from consideration. Baltimore had solid second-half records both times (41-33 in '98, 42-33 in '99).

Next to go is 1995. The Birds were an even 38-38 in the second half of the '95 season, won nine of their last 10 games, and posted a 16-11 record in August.

That leaves the 1991 and 2000 seasons.

The 2000 Orioles went 36-40 in the second half, won eight of their last 12, and finished the months of July, August, and September one game under .500. Hardly the stuff of champions, but also not the obvious mark of quitters.

In 1991, the Orioles went 34-48 after the All Star Break and lost seven of their last 10. So the guess here is that Mussina thinks the '91 Orioles phoned it in after the All-Star Break.

Mussina entered the big leagues on Aug. 4, 1991. It's possible that the young, eager pitcher encountered a dour clubhouse atmosphere that left an indelible impression on him. In other words, his first cup of coffee was bitter. And as we fans can tell you, losing is an acquired taste.

It's also worth noting that Manager Frank Robinson was fired at the end of the 1991 season. So perhaps the Orioles quit on a manager they expected would soon be gone. Kind of like they did with Dave Trembley. But that's a topic for another day ....

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Related Reading on Roar from 34:

-Moose Was a Great Bird

-The August Swoon is a Myth

The View from Sarasota - Upgrades at Ed Smith Stadium

2010-11-02T13:43:00.000-04:00

The 2010 baseball season is in the books. The preface to the 2011 season comes on Feb. 13 when pitchers and catchers report. In the meantime, Roar from 34 has some photos of the renovations taking place at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, courtesy of Sarasota resident and FOB (friend of the blog) Norm Schimmel.

Here are the details about the renovation.

"Ed Smith Stadium is undergoing extensive improvements which will dramatically transform the ballpark aesthetic and radically expand areas and amenities for fans. Enhancements to the fan experience include the addition of a two-story concourse with shaded views of the playing field; a new stucco façade with tile accents; refurbished stadium seats directly from Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore; additional private suites and party facilities; and a state-of-the-art audio/video system and video board. Improvements to the player facilities include new dugouts and bullpens; a new half field with AstroTurf; refurbished batting cages; and a practice field with the same dimensions as Oriole Park at Camden Yards. All of these upgrades will be finalized in time for next year's spring training games."

Watch Out for Batted Balls? Not in 2010

2010-10-19T14:53:00.002-04:00

No player hit a Eutaw Street home run in 2010. It was only the second time in Camden Yards history that fans could stroll down Eutaw Street during baseball season without heeding the club's advice to "Watch Out For Batted Balls" (photo credit: WallyG, Flickr).

The other Eutaw Street homerless drought occurred in 1993. Eutaw Street remained untouched by cowhide from May 23, 1992, to April 24, 1994, when Ken Griffey Jr. hit a 438-foot homer to right field. Griffey's blast was the only Eutaw Street home run of the 1994 season.

Batters reached Eutaw Street during game action four times in 2009. Luke Scott hit the two most recent "Bronze Bombs" on July 11, 2009, and Sept. 1, 2009. Scott's four Eutaw Street home runs are the second-most behind Rafael Palmeiro, who hit five in four different seasons.

Scott failed to put any baseballs beyond the right-field flag court in 2010 despite establishing a career high in home runs with 27, 19 of which came at Camden Yards.

The 1993 Orioles team ERA was 4.32. The 2010 Orioles team ERA was 4.59.

Will the next Eutaw Street home run be hit by the home team or the visitors? Vote in the poll on the sidebar.

Related Reading:

The Eutaw Street Year in Review (2009)

Luke Scott Closes in on Rafael Palmeiro for Most Eutaw Street Home Runs

What if the Warehouse Were in Left Field?

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Which was the Orioles' best walk-off win in 2010?

2010-10-08T14:49:00.001-04:00

There weren't many things the Baltimore Orioles did better than other teams this season; however, walk-off wins did become something of a specialty at Camden Yards in 2010. The O's enjoyed a dozen walk-offs, half of which came during Buck Showalter's tenure. Orioles Magic indeed.

The Birds walked-off against both the Red Sox (three times) and the Yankees. They pinned a loss on Jonathan Papelbon and a blown save on Mariano Rivera. They won on bunts, singles, doubles, a botched fielders' choice, and a home run.

Five Orioles had two walk-off hits in 2010: Adam Jones, Julio Lugo, Nick Markakis, and Ty Wiggington. Meanwhile, Cesar Izturis, Brian Roberts, Luke Scott, and Miguel Tejada rounded out the delightful dozen.

Markakis was in the walk-off mix most often, either as a hitter or as the winning run. And Ty Wiggington has to take the crown as best walk-off hitter of 2010 given that he beat both the Red Sox and the Yankees with his last-inning heroics.

But that still leaves this question: Which was the Orioles' best walk-off win of the 2010 season?

Here's the full list (in alphabetical order by player's last name) -

Cesar Izturis - Aug. 5, 2010, Orioles 5 - Angels 4
A one-out Izturis single off Francisco Rodriguez scores Julio Lugo, who pinch ran for Matt Wieters after the catcher led off the ninth inning with a double.

Adam Jones (1) - Aug. 6, 2010, Orioles 2 - White Sox 1
A two-out Adam Jones single plates Nick Markakis in the 10th inning. Neither team had scored since the top of the third inning. A Luke Scott single moved Markakis from first to third to set up Jones' game winner. It is the first and only time all season that the Orioles will win two consecutive games in walk-off fashion, demonstrating right from the start that these would indeed be different times under new manager Buck Showalter.

Adam Jones (2) - Aug. 16, 2010, Orioles 5 - Mariners 4
The bunt heard round the world. Okay, the bunt heard round Baltimore. Okay, okay, the bunt heard round Baltimore by those fans who hadn't already tuned out the Orioles in favor of Ravens training camp. Still, it was awesome.

After matching the Mariners in the 10th inning, the Orioles pulled out the victory in the 11th when Adam Jones laid down a two-out bunt to score Nick Markakis from third base. Markakis doubled leading off the 11th inning and advanced to third base on a Ty Wiggington groundout.

Julio Lugo (1) - June 25, 2010, Orioles 7 - Nationals 6
The Orioles trailed 6-0 after three innings and still faced a three-run deficit headed into the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Orioles tied it. Cristian Guzman's throwing error while trying to turn two on a Julio Lugo grounder in the ninth gave the Orioles the win. Guzman's errant throw was the Nationals' fourth error of the day. Washington gave away the first game in what would turn out to be a three-game sweep.

Julio Lugo (2) - July 20, 2010, Orioles 11 - Rays 10
A Scott Moore sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th inning ensured that the Orioles wouldn't go home extra-innings losers. A Julio Lugo single to right in the bottom of the 13th ensured that the Orioles went home extra-innings winners.

Nick Markakis (1) - May 18, 2010, Orioles 4 - Royals 3
Nick Markakis' bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th sent Orioles fans home happy and gave Alfredo Simon his first major league win.

Nick Markakis (2) - June 6, 2010, Orioles 4 - Red Sox 3
Another single to center field, another extra-innings, walk-off victory - this one in 11.

Brian Roberts - Aug. 9, 2010, Orioles 3 - White Sox 2
Brian Roberts' first home run of the 2010 season wound up being the Orioles' only walk-off home run of the season. Roberts went deep in the bottom of the 10th inning off J.J. Putz. Alfredo Simon blew his fourth save of the season in the top of the ninth inning after allowing a leadoff home run to Paul Konerko.

Luke Scott (1) - Sept. 13, 2010, Orioles 4 - Blue Jays 3
Luke Scott doesn't just hit doubles and home runs. Scott's 11th inning single scores Nick Markakis, who reached base on a line-drive single and advanced on an infield groundout. Orioles win. Orioles win.

Miguel Tejada (1) - April 30, 2010, Orioles 5 - Red Sox 4
Miguel Tejada follows up a game-tying, eighth-inning homer off hotshot Red Sox prospect - and likely successor to closer Jonathan Papelbon - Daniel Bard with a 10th inning single to score Adam Jones and secure the first win of the three-game series for the Birds. The win ends the Orioles' seven-game losing streak to the Red Sox at Camden Yards and sets up the first non-losing season series against Boston since 2004.

Ty Wiggington (1) - May 2, 2010, Orioles 3 - Red Sox 2
How sweep it is. The Orioles finish off an unlikely early-season sweep of the Red Sox when Ty Wiggington doubles home Nick Markakis in the bottom of the 10th inning for the team's second walk-off win of the three-game set.

Wiggington, one of the team's lone bright spots during a dismal start to the season, is on his way to his first All-Star selection. Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, meanwhile, takes the second of his career-high seven losses in 2010. Papelbon also had a career-high eight blown saves.

Ty Wiggington (2) - Sept. 19, 2010, Orioles 4 - Yankees 3
Ty Wiggington deserves some kind of award for beating the Red Sox and the Yankees in the same season in walk-off fashion. Luke Scott provided the ninth-inning heroics in this one with a home run off Mariano Rivera to tie the score at three. Scott then led off the 11th inning with a double to left field, and Wiggington finished the job with a line-drive single.

The Verdict

So which was the best walk-off win of the 2010 season?

The way I see it (and I saw it in person), the Orioles saved the best for last. The Sept. 19th win against the Yankees was the Birds' best walk-off of 2010.

Consider that it featured the following improbable twists and turns:

-Longtime Orioles killer Andy Pettitte had just returned from the disabled list but was up to the same old tricks. Pettitte allowed one run in six innings, and the lethargic Orioles looked to be on their way to getting swept at home in their final series against New York.

-Mariano Rivera entered to close the door in the ninth inning and received a standing ovation from the large Yankees contingent at Camden Yards. The only thing missing was "Enter Sandman." Oh, and the actual save thanks to Luke Scott.

-And then there was the Mike Gonzalez Houdini act in the 11th inning. Gonzalez straight-jacketed himself with a leadoff walk and errant pick-off throw that put a runner on third with no outs. He then escaped unscathed with a strikeout and double play. Back-to-back intentional walks in between were the key.

Add in the fact that the Yankees were in the thick of the division race with the Rays while the Orioles were just trying to avoid 100 losses, and you've got yourself the best walk-off win of the 2010 season.

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Don Larsen was far from perfect in Baltimore

2010-10-07T15:15:00.001-04:00

It took one day for the Major League Baseball playoffs to produce a legendary moment. Roy Halladay became only the second pitcher in baseball history to throw a postseason no-hitter.The other was former Oriole Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game for the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

While Halladay's postseason success seemed almost pre-ordained after a career-long playoff drought - although granted, not to this level - Larsen's success was anything but.

Two years before his World Series perfect game, Larsen set the Orioles record for losses in a season with 21. Think about it, during the franchise's first-ever season in Baltimore Larsen established a mark for futility that hasn't been matched since. Among individual Orioles records, only Bob Turley's mark for walks in a season, 181, has stood as long.

[Larsen and Joe Coleman also established the more obscure record of most losses to one team in 1954, Larsen with five against the White Sox and Coleman with five against the Yankees.]

Keep in mind, however, that the 1954 Orioles were a bad ball club, one that finished 54-100. The '54 Orioles' .351 win percentage is better than only one other Baltimore team - the 1988 Orioles (.335).

For comparison's sake - and with full acknowledgment that it's difficult to make judgments across time - Larsen's 1954 numbers aren't altogether different than Brian Matusz's numbers in 2010 aside from strikeouts (where Matusz's total is much better).

ERA: Larsen - 4.37 ERA in 28 starts; Matusz 4.30 in 32 starts

WHIP: Larsen - 1.498; Matusz 1.343

H/9: Larsen - 9.5, Matusz 8.9

While he turned it on down the stretch, Matusz already had nine losses halfway through his 32 starts.

All of which goes to show (jokingly) that we can expect a post-season no-hitter from Brian Matusz in two years' time.

Related Reading:

-Legendary Washington Post sports writer Shirley Povich's story about Larsen's perfect game

-Baltimore's Never Been Perfect (Roar from 34)

-Looking Back on Better Days: The Orioles' First No-Hitter (Roar from 34)

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The top five teams with a gripe toward the Orioles

2010-10-05T14:39:00.003-04:00

For those of us fans whose teams are on the outside looking in during the playoffs (again), it's the time of year for season recaps. To that end, Roar from 34 considers which five teams have the biggest beef with the Orioles now that the season is over. Each team's record against the Orioles is in parentheses.

[Which team do you think has the biggest gripe with the Orioles? Vote in the poll in the sidebar. ]

5. New York Yankees (13-5) - The Yankees dominated the Orioles again in 2010. What's there to be upset about?

Dumb question. For Yankees fans, there's always something to be upset about. The Yankees finished one game back of the Rays in the A.L. East. Shouldn't they have gone 14-4 against Baltimore? 15-3? Heck, should they ever lose to the Birds?

The Yankees went 3-3 against the Buck Showalter Orioles during a stretch of the season where every game supposedly counts more (which actually makes no sense, but since when is sports logic actually logical?). Most painful among those losses to the Orioles was the Sept. 17 extra-innings defeat at Camden Yards following a Mariano Rivera blown save (Luuuuuuuke) that helped make the immortal closer appear more human headed into the playoffs.

Still, any gripes Yankees fans have with the Orioles are misplaced. New York failed to win the season series against any other division opponent. The Yankees split with Boston (9-9) and lost the season series against both the Rays (8-10) and the Blue Jays (8-10). Think New York's ready to consider divisional realignment?

4. Seattle Mariners (3-6) - If you had polled every American League manager at the All-Star break and asked which A.L. team was most likely to lose 100 games in 2010, my guess is the 59-loss Orioles would have been at the top of every ballot except one (If there's one thing I loved about interim manager Juan Samuel it was his optimism).

Ultimately, the Mariners were the American League's only 100-loss team thanks in part to the team's 3-6 record against the Orioles. One of those losses came on Adam Jones' two out, walk-off bunt. As if Seattle fans didn't hate Baltimore enough after that Erik Bedard deal.

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (0-6) - The Angels were the only team that couldn't beat the Orioles, which helps explain why Los Angeles-Anaheim finished with an overall losing record (80-82) for the first time since 2003. It also was the first time since 2003 that the Angels finished below second place in their own division. To make matters worse, the Angels lost one of those games to the Orioles on a Cesar Izturis walk-off single, which accounted for one of Izturis' 28 total RBI in 2010.

2. Texas Rangers (4-6) - It's a mixed bag for Texas, but they still rank in the No. 2 spot given that: 1. The Rangers had a losing record against the Orioles, and 2. The Rangers finished four games behind Minnesota for post-season positioning.

The bad news is that four games separated the Rangers from playing the Yankees at home rather than playing Tampa on the road. The good news is that four games separated the Rangers from playing the Yankees at home rather than playing Tampa on the road.

The Rangers lost the League Division Series to the Yankees in 1996, 1998, and 1999 (i.e. the previous three times they won the A.L. West). Perhaps Rangers fans should be thanking the Orioles.

1. Boston Red Sox (9-9) - Last season, Red Sox writers blamed the Orioles for giving Red Sox fans inflated hopes. In short, the thinking was the O's were so bad that fans mistakenly took to thinking the Red Sox were good for beating them so frequently. It was a bit of a stretch.

This year, Red Sox fans have a legitimate gripe with the Birds. Hampered much of the season by injuries, the Red Sox had enough fight left in them to win 89 games and a record good enough for third place in the A.L. East and second place in the other American League divisions. Nevertheless, the season ended early in Boston this year leaving plenty of time to discuss woulda-coulda-shoulda scenarios.

The Orioles beat the Red Sox as often as the Yankees did in 2010. Included among the Orioles' victories was an 11th inning walk-off win in Baltimore (Don't you just love Hideki Okajima?); a 10th-inning victory at Fenway; and an unlikely, late-April sweep of the Red Sox at Camden Yards featuring a Ty Wiggington walk-off double against Jonathan Papelbon.

The Orioles entered the latter series with a 4-18 record while Boston was riding high - and looked to be turning a corner - after sweeping Toronto on the road. Instead, Baltimore surprised fans in both cities with a sweep of its own. Incredibly, the Red Sox won seven of 10 games in a stretch where the team's only losses came against the Orioles.

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This Orioles fan is seeing red

2010-09-29T14:02:00.000-04:00

Cincinnati Reds fans have waited longer than Baltimore Orioles fans to watch their team in the post-season. The Reds' last playoff appearance came in 1995, and they failed to make the post-season in 1999 despite winning 96 games.

Cincy fans have endured nine consecutive losing seasons (remember when nine seemed like a lot?).

And they're forced to cheer for T.O. on football Sundays.

So it's hard not to appreciate this.

If you're like me, watching Jay Bruce's division-clinching, walk-off homer against the Houston Astros sent you to daydreaming. It's pretty easy to turn those "Bruuuuuce" cheers into "Luuuuuuke."

Hats off to the Reds, including former Orioles pitcher Arthur Rhodes.

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What they're saying about the Orioles ... Facebook edition

2010-09-28T14:28:00.004-04:00

Readers of The Sun are familiar with the semi-regular media roundup known as "What they're saying about the Orioles." Thanks to Openbook, I can now do a similar feature of my own. It's called "What they're saying about the Orioles ... Facebook edition."

Here's a rundown of Facebook updates from the past eight hours that have included the word "Orioles." It seems Facebook users are most interested in attendance woes at The Trop, the anniversary of Ted Williams' final hit in a game against the Orioles, and the frustrating fact that the Rays weren't able to clinch the division against the last place Orioles.

Here's what's been said today on Facebook:

Randi Muller Dixon GO RAYS Ferg is GIVING AWAY 50 free tickets to tonights Rays v Orioles game. Be on the patio here at 6:30pm sharp. Participate and win. We'll test your knowledge of the Rays, baseball and who knows what...? FREE TICKETS! See you on the patio at 6:30pm. Don't be late.

[RF34 Note: Bag the trivia. It'll be hard enough to find 50 people who want to go to the game without jumping through hoops first.]

John Crowley Note to the Rays: I know that you're upset of the lack of attendance but seriously concentrate on winning games especially you Price, concentrate on beating the Orioles.

Eric Geiple wants to go to the Rays/Orioles game! It makes me sad that they could clinch the playoffs and only 10,000 people are showing up.. Obviously you haven't sucked since 1998.

Joe Aro Tampa Bay doesn't deserve to have major league baseball. As good as that team is and nobody cares. Camden Yards would be packed every night (will be soon) if the Orioles were closing in on the A.L. East Title

Jim Miller Watched the Tampa bay Orioles game. ALL 10 People at the game saw a great Orioles win. Can't believe they can't draw more people to a Major League team in contention for a division crown. Oh well I wouldn't go either unless they were playing the YANKS.

Grant Holly Ok, looking good this month Baltimore Orioles. Let's finish up the season on a high note!!

Rick Dennis being a cubs and orioles fan I often forget baseball is still being played this time of year!

Rod Reder You are making multi millons per year, you are a grown man, get over it. 90% of the tri county population is struggling, it's on TV, it's the Orioles, it's a 6 hour day to travel from Pasco...etc

[RF34 note: This is in relation to Longoria griping about the lack of fans at Tropicana Field.]

Matthew Daniel Aragon III The orioles will be good when the orioles get rid of Kevin Millwood and put Brian Matuz at ace. He is one the best underrated young pitchers who doesn't get noticed cuz the o's aren't doing anything special.

Michael Pizarro O's win vs Tampa Bay! wat a game! 4-0! Baltimore Orioles 4 Tampa Bay Rays 0! Go O's! Go Showalter! Go Matuz! I'd rather see Tampa Bay win n da Yankees loose than the Boston Red Sox try 4 da post season! :)

Scott Andrews we cant beat the orioles, really ???? wtf

[RF34: Haven't been watching many games lately, have you Scott?]

Matthew Holding seriously, can the orioles cap trend die, the iron man must be turning in his grave

Lee Weldon Do I root for the Orioles to lose so that the Yankees don't get the penant? What a quandry!

[RF34 Note: Never actively root against the Orioles. Passively, maybe.]

Courtney St Amant so the rays got shut out by the orioles?!!! we're obviously not ready for the playoffs if we cant even win against the orioles! kiss ass tonight boys!

[RF34 Note: See earlier comment in response to Scott. Oh, and I think - hope - you meant "kick."]

Joe Lourenco Did the spankees lose again, to bad they dont play the Orioles everyday and CC can win more games against them lmao

Tim Reilly 9-28-1960, Ted Williams hit a home run in his last career at-bat as his team, the Boston Red Sox, defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 at Fenway Park. Nice to see that nothing has changed in 50 years.

Rebecca Roberts Can see the city and the ocean from her balcony. What a view to wake up to. Going to the Salty Dog for some deep fried hotdogs and later to see the Rays play the Orioles!

John Gorman When I was 3 or 4 my parents bought me a number 9 T-shirt. Ted Williams was my first hero. It was 50 yrs. ago today. The place: Fenway Park. The Red Sox were playing the Baltimore Orioles. Ted Williams took what would be the final swing of his long career for a home run. It remains the greatest finale in sports. www.tedwilliams.com The greatest hitter, Ted Williams, online autobiography. Baseball Hall of Famer, US Marine, fighter pilot & fishing Hall of Famer. Hitting tips, fan letters, ...

Jim Hilliker Cmon Tampa Bay....beat by the Orioles ??? The Yankees want you to win !!!! At least the Red Sox won......

Jay Kelley 9/28/1960: Ted Williams hits a HR in his last career AB as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 @ Fenway Park.

Eric Harris 12,446 fans at the Orioles/Rays game last night - totally embarrassing for a first place team in late September

Bruce Wallick Looking forward to attending "Yeardley at the Yard" this Friday evening to benefit Notre Dame Prep through the "One Love Foundation" in building a turf field, Orioles v. Tigers!

Sharon Poore Dang it! C'mon Tampa Bay! We just need 1!!! Those dang Orioles have been kicking everyone's asses lately...what the hell happened? Are they juiced? lol oh well, at least NY Yankees lost too! RAYS are still #1!!!! dang! Phillies won too! dang! Now, let's go RAYS!!!!

Michael Sakata Im calling it Baltimore Orioles 2011 AL East Champions no joke...

[RF34 Note: Any relation to Lenn, Michael?]

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Baltimore: Football town or baseball town?

2010-09-27T11:13:00.002-04:00

The Sun's Kevin Van Valkenburg penned a feature on Sunday that daydreams about what it would be like for Baltimore fans to have two competitive teams for which to cheer in September.

The article, "In this Charm City fantasy, late September means football and baseball," includes comments from fellow Blog-O's-phere members Stacey Long of Camden Chat and Chris Stoner of Baltimore Sports and Life as well as yours truly.

Here's what I had to say:

"I've thought a lot about whether this is a football town or baseball town," said Matt Taylor, who grew up an Orioles fan and started a blog, Roar From 34, in 2006 so he could vent. "I think what I've I settled on is that it's a sports town. The fans are willing to get behind any team as long as it's competitive. If one team struggles as badly as the Orioles have, people are going to lose interest. I think it wouldn't take much, just a .500 record, and people would still be talking about the team even when Ravens training camp started. The passion is there, but it's hard not be a little cynical."

So what sayeth you, dear reader? Given two competitive teams, would Baltimore be considered a football town or a baseball town? Vote in the poll in the sidebar.

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Can Aubrey huff, puff his way into the post-season?

2010-09-24T14:02:00.002-04:00

"Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." Ahem.

From his purple checkered pants to his red thong, former Oriole Aubrey Huff certainly doesn't dress for the job he has; whether he's in fact dressing for the job he wants is anybody's best guess.

Huff did not return a request for comment prior to the Roar from 34 deadline. [Note: I didn't actually contact Aubrey Huff.]

Sartorial savvy aside, Huff is making news these days for things that actually have to do with the game of baseball. As fans in Baltimore well know, that's not a taken-for-granted type thing.

Here are a few tidbits about Huff's chase for the post-season, his big numbers on bad teams, and his prospects for next season.

-Turns out that Huff was the losingest player of the 2000s. Playing for the Orioles will do that to a guy. Washington Post

Huff has played in 1,470 regular season games, which means he trails only Texas's Michael Young and St. Louis's Randy Winn among active players who have appeared in the most games without a playoff appearance. But neither Young nor Winn has suffered quite as acutely as Huff. He was the losingest player of the 2000s, which he spent primarily with the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles, appearing in 776 losses. (Winn was second, at 771.)

When I asked Huff if he has allowed himself to imagine that moment when the Giants clinch a playoff berth he said, "Oh, God, absolutely. How could you not? All that hard work, the mental grind, the misery, finally paying off? There's still a long way to go here, and there could still be a bad ending, but hopefully this is the year for me."

-Rays third baseman Evan Longoria recently became the fourth player in franchise history to tally consecutive 100 RBI seasons. The others: Fred McGriff (1999-00), Carlos Pena (2007-08-09) and Aubrey Huff (2003-04). MLB.com

-Like the Orioles, the Cubs need a first baseman for the 2011 season. The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan raises Huff's name as a possibility. Chicago Tribune

Paul, what are the chances that the Cubs resign Xavier Nady as their first basemen, instead of wasting money on Adam Dunn? Do they try to go value with Nady at first, if it would allow them to splurge on Carl Crawford? -- Chad, Kansas City. Mo.

Nady's agent, Scott Boras, is probably working on a 20-page mission statement regarding the value Nady has provided with his strong finish since Derrek Lee was traded and he got regular time at first. I like Nady, but his slow start while recovering from Tommy John surgery was one of the problems early on in 2010. The Cubs need a power hitting first baseman, preferably a left-handed hitter. If not Dunn, then perhaps a short-term, one-year fix like Aubrey Huff until they get more payroll flexibility in 2012.

-Finally, here's a USA Today profile from last week about Huff considering the prospects of playoff baseball.

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Baltimore Orioles

Flashback Friday: Steady Eddie Doubles Down

2010-09-24T13:04:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, Nick Markakis become the third major league player to hit 43 or more doubles in four consecutive seasons. The other two players are Hall of Famers: Joe Medwick and Tris Speaker. There's another Hall of Famer, an Orioles legend, who made history by doing half as well for five times as long.

Fourteen years ago this week, on Sept. 24, 1996, Eddie Murray doubled in a 13-8 loss to the Boston Red Sox. Murray, who two weeks prior hit his 500th career home run, became only the second player to have 20 or more doubles in 20 consecutive seasons. The other was Speaker. Murray hit 560 doubles overall.

Speaker is Major League Baseball's career leader for doubles. The lefty outfielder totaled 792 doubles in 22 seasons with Boston, Cleveland, Washington, and Philadelphia. Speaker had 50 or more doubles in a season five times as well as five additional seasons where he hit 40 or more. His single-season best was 59 doubles in 1923.

Cal Ripken Jr. is the Orioles' career leader in the category with 602 doubles, the 13th most overall. Had it not been for the strike-shortened 1994 season, during which he hit 19 doubles, Ripken would have had 20 or more doubles in 18 consecutive seasons. His single-season best was 47 doubles in 1983.

Ripken is followed on the O's career doubles list by Brooks Robinson (482) and Murray (363). Brian Roberts currently trails Murray by 32 doubles.

Steady Eddie never had a 40-double season in 21 years in the bigs. His career high for a season was 37, set in 1985 and matched in 1992.

Murray had two RBI in the 1996 Boston game where he stroked his 20th double, and he added another on Sept. 27 to finish the season with 79 RBI. It was his 20th consecutive season with 75 or more RBI, which broke Hank Aaron's record of 19 straight seasons.

As is the case with doubles, Murray trails only Ripken and Robinson for career RBI in an Orioles uniform. And, as is the case with doubles, Roberts is the current Orioles player closest to Murray for RBI. Roberts trails Murray in career RBI for Baltimore by 766.

[This article also appeared on Camden Chat.]

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Baltimore Orioles

Who is Baltimore's best bunter?

2010-09-21T17:39:00.002-04:00

Baltimore's baseball players have been getting on base without hitting the ball very far since the late 19th century. Back then, with the help of the groundskeeper and some tightly packed dirt, the Baltimore Chop turned into the stuff of legend.

Before becoming Baltimore's baseball franchise, the St. Louis Browns made a name for themselves by allowing short hits to Nap Lajoie - bunt singles, to be specific - as part of an infamous doubleheader that shaped the 1910 batting race.

(Jon Wertheim tells that story in the recent Sports Illustrated article, "The Amazing Race").

All this to say that Baltimore - the home of pitching, defense, and the three-run homer - also has some small ball in its blood. Just ask Adam Jones.

A little more than a month after he won a game with a walk-off bunt in the 11th inning, Jones plated the Orioles' first run on Sunday against the Yankees with yet another two-out RBI bunt single. In the process, he tied Cesar Izturis for the team lead in bunt hits with seven. Both players are tied with Ichiro for fifth place for bunt hits in the American League.

Overall, the Orioles have the sixth most bunt hits in the American League and are in line with the league average of 20.

Though he has played in roughly 50 fewer games than either Jones or Izturis, Corey Patterson currently has the third-most bunt hits on the team with five. That should come as no surprise to anyone who follows this stat, which means that anyone reading this is now surprised.

Patterson led the team in bunt hits in 2006 and 2007; his 17 bunt hits in 2006 are the most ever recorded for an Orioles player (the stats go back to 1988).

If Patterson is the master of the bunt hit in Baltimore, Melvin Mora is surely his apprentice. Mora led the Orioles in bunt hits for three consecutive seasons (four times overall) and finished second to Patterson in the category in 2006. He had 16 bunt hits in 2001.

As if all this information weren't trivial enough, here's your final piece of bunt hit trivia: 1991 American League MVP and All Star Game MVP Cal Ripken Jr. tied Brady Anderson for the team lead in bunt hits that season with four.

On to the numbers:

2010 American League Leaders - Bunt Hits

1. Erick Aybar - 16
2. Julio Borbon - 13
3. Elvis Andrus - 11
4. Juan Pierre - 10
5. Ichiro Suzuki - 7
5. Adam Jones - 7
5. Cesar Izturis - 7
8. Ben Zobrist - 6
8. Sean Rodriguez - 6
8. Cliff Pennington - 6
8. Chone Figgins - 6

Baltimore Orioles team leaders in bunt hints, by season

Brian Roberts, 2009 - 3
Melvin Mora, 2008 - 6
Corey Patterson, 2007 - 12
Corey Patterson, 2006 - 17
Melvin Mora, 2005 - 12
Melvin Mora, 2004 - 7
Melvin Mora, 2003 - 6
Jerry Hairston, 2002 - 7
Mevlin Mora, 2001 - 16
Luis Matos, 2000 - 3
Gene Kingsale & Mike Bordick, 1999 - 3
Roberto Alomar, 1998 - 5
B.J. Surhoff, Mike Bordick & Roberto Alomar, 1997 - 2
Roberto Alomar, 1996 - 9
Curtis Goodwin, 1995 - 5
Brady Anderson, 1994 - 5
Harold Reynolds, 1993 - 8
Billy Ripken & Joe Orsulak, 1992 - 3
Cal Ripken & Brady Anderson, 1991 - 4
Steven Finley, 1990 - 6
Phil Bradley & Brady Anderson, 1989 - 3
Rick Schu & Brady Anderson, 1988 - 4

Related reading:

"Walk-off bunts are nothing new in Baltimore" (Camden Chat)

"Bunting for a Hit with 2 Outs and a RISP from the 4 Hole" (Baseball Reference Blog)

"The Amazing Race" (Sports Illustrated)

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Is there room enough in the A.L. East for everyone to win?

2010-09-15T10:32:00.002-04:00

The Orioles' inspired play under Buck Showalter has reignited hopes in Baltimore that the team's prolonged chase for a winning record can mercifully end sooner rather than later. While the ultimate goal - the dream, really - is to reach the top of the division ladder, playing .500 baseball or better over the course of a full season is the first rung on that climb. After all, it hasn't happened for 13 consecutive seasons.

But would a .500 record be satisfying for fans if it still left the Birds in last place? It's entirely possible - though perhaps not probable - that such a thing could happen.

Only once since Major League Baseball introduced the Central Division in 1994 has every team in a division finished .500 or better. The Washington Nationals finished in last place in the N.L. East in 2005 with an 81-81 record.

The Nationals essentially had as good a chance at winning their division in 2005 as they did at winning the Wild Card. The entire N.L. East was separated by only nine games in the standings that season while the Nationals finished eight games off the Wild Card pace.

On five other occasions there have been divisions where four teams finished .500 or better: the 2000 N.L. West, 2003 N.L. East, 2007 N.L. West, 2008 N.L. Central, and 2008 A.L. East. The Blue Jays (73-72) are chasing a sixth occasion, but the Orioles are making it difficult for them. It seems every division series offers the O's a chance to play some version of a spoiler role here down the stretch.

Would you be satisfied with a .500 record in 2011 if the Orioles still finished in last place? Vote in the poll on the sidebar.

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Baltimore Orioles

Division Races with four or more teams playing .500 baseball or better

2000 N.L. West
San Francisco Giants       SFG     97     65     .599     --
Los Angeles Dodgers       LAD     86     76     .531     11.0
Arizona Diamondbacks ARI      85     77     .525     12.0
Colorado Rockies             COL     82     80     .506     15.0
San Diego Padres             SDP     76     86     .469     21.0

2003 N.L. East
Atlanta Braves           ATL     101     61     .623     --
Florida Marlins          FLA        91     71     .562     10.0
Philadelphia Phillies PHI        86     76     .531     15.0
Montreal Expos         MON     83     79     .512     18.0
New York Mets         NYM     66     95     .410     34.5

2005 N.L. East
Atlanta Braves             ATL         90     72     .556     --
Philadelphia Phillies     PHI         88     74     .543     2.0
Florida Marlins             FLA        83     79     .512     7.0
New York Mets            NYM     83     79     .512     7.0
Washington Nationals WSN        81     81     .500     9.0

2007 N.L. West
Arizona Diamondbacks     ARI      90     72     .556     --
Colorado Rockies               COL     90     73     .552     0.5
San Diego Padres              SDP      89     74     .546     1.5
Los Angeles Dodgers        LAD     82     80     .506     8.0
San Francisco Giants        SFG     71     91     .438     19.0

2008 N.L. Central
Chicago Cubs             CHC     97     64     .602     --
Milwaukee Brewers MIL     90     72     .556     7.5
Houston Astros        HOU     86     75     .534     11.0
St. Louis Cardinals   STL        86     76     .531     11.5
Cincinnati Reds        CIN         74     88     .457     23.5
Pittsburgh Pirates   PIT         67     95     .414     30.5

2008 A.L. East
Tampa Bay Rays     TBR     97     65     .599     --
Boston Red Sox        BOS      95     67     .586     2.0
New York Yankees NYY     89     73     .549     8.0
Toronto Blue Jays    TOR     86     76     .531     11.0
Baltimore Orioles     BAL      68     93     .422     28.5

Was Meatloaf right: Two out of three ain't bad?

2010-09-10T15:12:00.002-04:00

This week's Flashback Friday post on Roar from 34 revisits the last time the Baltimore Orioles swept the New York Yankees in the Bronx. It happened back in 1986 and ~~woulda, coulda, shoulda~~ didn't happen earlier this week thanks to a Nick Swisher walk-off home run.

It's not just the road where the O's have struggled to complete a sweep of the Yankees. Baltimore hasn't swept New York at home since the final three games of the 2000 season. So while two out of three ain't bad, and the games don't really mean anything in the standings for the Birds, it still would've been great to take that third game in New York this week.

All this got me wondering where Wednesday's loss ranks in terms of missed sweep opportunities against the Yankees. At the very least it's the worst sweep-averting Yankees win since 2001, but to my mind it's easily the worst sweep-averting Yankees win this decade, and century for that matter.

Since 2000 the Orioles have entered the third game of a series against the Yankees with a chance at the sweep 13 times. They've won that third game exactly once. Three of the 12 losses have come by one run, and three of the twelve losses have come by 10 runs (the score was 13-3 each time).

On only two occasions before Wednesday had the Orioles lost a "sweep game" in the ninth inning or later. Both times it involved a bases loaded walk.

In 2004 Jorge Julio issued a bases loaded, ninth inning walk at Yankee Stadium in a game the Birds lost 4-3. In 2001, Willis Roberts failed to hold the lead for the O's at home in the ninth inning, surrendering a sacrifice fly that tied the game at four. The Yankees then won the contest in the 10th inning on a bases loaded walk by John Parrish.

Here's the full rundown of potential sweep games against the Yankees since 2000.

2009
April 6 to 8, 2009 @ Home - Lost the last game 11-2
Sept. 11 to 13, 2009 @ NY - Lost the last game 13-3

2008
April 18 to 20, 2008 @ Home - Lost the last game 7-1
May 26 to 28, 2008 @ Home - Lost the last game 4-2
July 28 to July 30, 2008 @NY - Lost the last game 13-3

2007
June 26 to 28 @ Home - Lost the last game 8-7
July 27 to 29 @ Home - Lost the last game 10-6

2005
April 6 to 18 @ Home - Lost the last game 13-3

2004
Sept. 3 to 5 @ NY - Lost the last game 4-3

2003
Aug. 23 to 25 @ NY - Lost the last game 5-2

2002
June 25 to 27 @ Home - Lost the last game 3-2

2001
Sept. 21 to 23 @ Home - Lost the last game 5-4

2000
Three game sweep to end the season, Sept. 29 to Oct 1. Scores: 13-2, 9-1, 7-3

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Flashback Friday: Sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx has never been easy

2010-09-10T14:45:00.001-04:00

The Orioles came tantalizingly close to sweeping the New York Yankees this week. It would have been the Birds' first three-game sweep in New York since 1986 when they shut down the Yanks in a series from June 6th through 8th.

Scott McGregor, Mike Boddicker, and Ken Dixon picked up the wins for Baltimore that weekend in a trio of games the O's won by scores of 5-2, 7-5, and 18-9, respectively. Don Aase earned the first two saves of the series while Tippy Martinez finished the sweep with the last of his 115 career saves, his only one during the 1986 season.

Sunday's wild finale in 1986 may as well have been Old Timers Day at the ballpark. The 36-year-old and soon-to-retire Martinez pitched 3.1 innings, allowed three runs on six hits, struck out two, and walked one. His line was better than that of 43-year-old Tommy John, who went three innings, allowed four runs on seven hits, and recorded no strikeouts or walks.

Both pitchers entered the game due to unique circumstances.

Martinez was Weaver's only rested relief option when he came into the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. Weaver was limited to eight available pitchers for the weekend series due to Mike Flanagan's trip to the disabled list and Nate Snell's bruised foot that kept him back in Baltimore.

Tippy wasn't particularly stressed about the prospect of impressing his manager and ending the O's meltdown.

"I knew he'd be patient with me," he said of Weaver. "He didn't have anyone else."

The lefty promptly struck out Yankees third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, who homered the previous night, to stifle a New York rally that closed a 7-1 gap to one run. Former Oriole Gary Roenicke drew a bases loaded walk earlier in the Yankees' five-run sixth inning. The offense provided Martinez an extra seven runs of insurance to work with in the top of the seventh inning. All of the runs came at the expense of 23-year-old Yankees rookie, and future Oriole, Doug Drabek.

The O's bullpen had been key to the team's success during a 20-6 run they enjoyed prior to the Sunday finale. The group posted a 7-0 record with 11 saves and a 1.66 ERA.

Aase, who had spent nearly two full seasons on the disabled list following reconstructive elbow surgery in 1982, led the bullpen charge as he worked toward a career-high 34 saves and his lone All Star appearance in 1986. One night earlier he made his 25th appearance of the season and earned his 16th save.

"He's the biggest difference in this team," Lynn said after the Saturday win. "We're playing well and getting some big hits but, right now, we've got that guy to come in and shut the door. That means so much to a team. You start believing you're not going to lose in the late innings."

Tommy John took the loss on Saturday after giving up six runs - three of them earned - in four innings of work. He then became the fifth Yankees pitcher on Sunday when he appeared in relief of Al Holland, who pulled a hamstring after tossing five pitches to Lynn.

After two fleet contests that each ended in well under three hours, Sunday's series finale turned out to be the longest-nine inning game in American League history. The game lasted four hours and sixteen minutes, not including a 40-minute rain delay along the way. The total topped the previous longest game by five minutes.

"A record, huh?" Weaver asked afterward. "Does it go to the Hall of Fame or the Hall of Shame? The thing is, how would you like to sit through something like this and go home a loser?"

Lee Lacy made sure that didn't happen. Lacy, who emphasized after the game that he was a "line-drive hitter," ripped three home runs, the third of which caused Rick Dempsey to feign fainting in the dugout. Larry Sheets added a blast into the black center field bleachers at Yankee Stadium on what was in fact Bat Day in the Bronx.
Overall, the Birds totaled 22 hits.

The sweep was the Orioles' first against the Yankees since Aug. 8-10, 1980, and put some early distance between the second-place Birds and the third-place Yankees. Not that Weaver was doing any celebrating.

"I told my players if they ever miss curfew again, they're going to have to watch a tape of this damn game," he said. "I've been around a long time. Hell, I was around a long time today."

Perhaps Weaver knew what was coming.

Baltimore finished the 1986 season in last place in the seven-team American League East with a 73-89 record, 22.5 games behind the first-place Red Sox. The 90-win Yankees finished in second-place by 5.5 games.

[This post appeared Thursday on Camden Chat.]

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Baltimore Orioles

Thirty home runs used to mean something. It still should.

2010-09-08T14:52:00.004-04:00

Luke Scott has never truly received the appreciation he deserves during his time in Baltimore, in part because his feast-or-famine routine at the plate leaves him starved for hits for extended stretches. As full seasons go, 2010 has been Scott's most impressive effort over the long haul as he continues adding to a career-high home run total that currently rests at 26. Hitting 30 would move him into some elite Orioles company and hopefully earn him some acknowledgment.

Baseball's steroids era inflated home run expectations among fans. At this time in 1998 Mark McGwire was busy burying Roger Maris' single-season home run record and in the process making 30 homers appear pedestrian. Consider, though, that only 14 players in O's history have hit 30 or more home runs in a season, led by Eddie Murray who did it five times.

Gus Triandos was the first Oriole to pass the 30 homer mark. He did so in 1958.

The '60s brought a relative power surge to Baltimore as the O's had batters with 30 or more home runs in six different seasons. Meanwhile, Jim Gentile and Frank Robinson became the franchises' first 40 home run hitters. Gentile whacked 46 in 1961, Robinson 49 in 1966. The 1990s Orioles matched that effort with 30 home runs in six different seasons, topped by Brady Anderson's 50 in 1996 and Palmeiro's 43 in 1998.

On the flip side, Boog Powell and Ken Singleton were the only Orioles to break the 30-homer mark in the '70s. Powell (1970) and Singleton (1979) each totaled 35 home runs in a season. Baltimore has never had fewer 30 home run seasons in a full decade.

So Luke Scott will have accomplished a fairly rare feat in Baltimore should he hit four more homers this season, but unfortunately it's not likely to make him much more memorable. After all, can you name the last three Orioles to hit more than 30 home runs? [See the chart below for the answer.]

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Related Recommended Reading: Dempsey's Army - "Luke Scott: An Appreciation"

Baltimore Orioles 30 Home Run Seasons By Decade

2000s
2008 - Aubrey Huff 32
2004 - Miguel Tejada 34
2002 - Tony Batista 32

1990s
1999- Albert Belle 37
1998 - Rafael Palmeiro 43
1997 - Rafael Palmeiro 38
1996 - Brady Anderson 50, Rafael Palmeiro 39
1995 - Rafael Palmeiro 39
1991 - Cal Ripken 34

1980s
1987 - Larry Sheets 31, Eddie Murray 30
1985 - Eddie Murray 31
1983 - Eddie Murray 30
1982 - Eddie Murray 32
1980 - Eddie Murray 32

1970s
1979 - Ken Singleton 35
1970 - Boog Powell 35

1960s
1969 - Boog Powell 37, Frank Robinson 32
1967 - Frank Robinson 30
1966 - Frank Robinson 49, Boog Powell 34
1964 - Boog Powell 39
1962 - Jim Gentile 33
1961 - Jim Gentile 46

1950s
1958 - Gus Triandos 30

Interview with "High Heat" author Tim Wendel - Part Three

2010-09-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

The third and final installment of my interview with High Heat author Tim Wendel considers hard-throwing closers and the brotherhood that develops among baseball's hardest throwers.

Why do you suppose that more of these guys don’t end up as closers with it being so difficult to put it all together when you have this gift?

I think it’s somewhat the money involved. It’s funny because one of the major characters in High Heat is David Price, and I caught up with David last year, because David was kind of the phenom of last year, and he was kind of going through some of the things that Strasburg and Chapman are going through now. At one point he was down at Durham in Triple-A, which ironically is where Bull Durham is set and things kind of came together on that end, and at one point he’s talking and he says “Maybe I should just go to the bullpen, maybe I could get up there quicker.” But I would’ve been really surprised if the Rays would’ve had him do that in part because I just think once there’s so much money involved and starting pitching is at such a premium then if somebody can make it as a starter you’re probably better off having them do that.

Ironically, I think one of the best closers around these days, Jonathan Papelbon with the Red Sox, went against that grain. It’s kind funny at times in doing this book how certain eras and things are kind of clicked together. Norm Sherry caught Koufax and was very close to when Koufax literally turned his career around in like about two to three weeks during spring training. In interviewing Norm I asked him “Who do you like watching today? Who really lights up your circuits?” And the first guy he named was Papelbon, which I found amazing because Sherry lives out in Southern California, but he watches the games and as he says, “I try not to miss Jonathan Papelbon. He really gets me excited.”

It’s interesting, at times we think everything in baseball is happening right now, but whether it’s Norm Sherry, or Bob Feller, or even Nolan Ryan, they’re all kind of watching who’s coming along and who’s the next fireballer, because they can really relate to them.

Even within this summer we’re kind of seeing the gift and the curse at the same time where Strasburg comes out and is doing so well so far, but then you’ve got someone like Zumaya who’s struggled with injury, and who knows what happens with his career. Do you think that’s fair, do you think there’s an accurate parallel there?

[Note: We conducted this phone interview one day after Joel Zumaya fractured his elbow on June 28.]

Yeah. You know It pained me to see what happened with Zumaya, because Zumaya made the list of maybe the top dozen fireballers in High Heat in part because more of the potential and the promise more than anything he’s done so far. I guess it shows how fine the line is and how much stress, and torque, and punishment the arm takes when you’re talking about throwing this hard. At times we tend to take a lot of this for granted as fans or maybe people who cover the game.

Strasburg, for example, is doing phenomenal right now. I think he certainly has proven he’s more ready for prime time than the eight other guys he’s taking the field with half the time. I was watching the game when he was in Cleveland and he was having trouble with the mound and at one point he slipped and you just go “Oh!” All it takes is something like that and there goes a career.

Will Joel Zumaya ever throw as hard as he once did? I don’t know after watching the tape of what happened last night. You talk about Sandy Koufax who went literally in three weeks from a journeyman to all world and being able to suddenly spot his fastball and suddenly gain control of his curve. You look at the price he paid in terms of what it did to his arm, the arthritis, the types of medications he was taking just to get through those last couple seasons. Even someone like Nolan Ryan who could probably go out today and throw, I don’t know, probably 92 or 93, still just the mental anguish he went through.

I think sometimes we just kind of think “Oh yeah, somebody like Stephen Strasburg, he’s got it made” or somebody like Sandy Koufax, “Yeah, Hall of Fame,” and you don’t see the price and you don’t see the real things they had to go through. They all know this next pitch might be my last one. You had to think that’s what ran through poor Joel Zumaya’s head last night.

Is there anything else you’d like to highlight?

Once these guys get to this point, or even if they get close, I think they realize they’re part of a brotherhood, and they really take pride in that. There are so many different ways you can look at baseball. You can follow the great teams, you can follow the different eras – the Deadball Era and that goes to the Golden Era before and after World War II, etc. – I think another key thread you can follow through the game is just following the fastball pitchers. And these guys, even the contemporary ones, they kind of know that to a certain extent.

Again, I’m back to Tim Lincecum a little bit. Tim Lincecum is not a baseball historian. You ask him “Gosh, 1975 World Series,” and he’ll just kind of be looking at you like “Who played?” and “What happened?” and “Oh, that was Carlton Fisk? Okay, yeah, I think I kind of know him.” But then the thing is you start talking about the names we were just talking about, the names that are through High Heat. Okay, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, JR Richard, Nolan Ryan, etc. And all of the sudden he knows all those people. He may not be in contact with them, but he knows at least in broad strokes what they were about and what they did. And it’s funny you get him talking about his windup or his delivery and a great many of these guys they’ll go “Oh yeah, I do a little bit like Koufax did here, and I then I do a little like Nolan Ryan did here, that was my stride to the plate,” whatever it may be. So early on, and I think it starts way back when they’re at a pretty young age, they start hearing these names, and part of it is I better start knowing their stories, because maybe if I start knowing the stories well enough of the guys that I’m hopefully trying to follow in the footsteps of then maybe I can succeed, too. That was a pretty cool thing to find in doing High Heat.

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Interview with "High Heat" author Tim Wendel - Part Two

2010-08-31T06:00:00.001-04:00

Part two of my interview with High Heat author Tim Wendel from earlier this summer includes topics such as Orioles minor league legend Steve Dalkowski, Earl Weaver, Bull Durham, and Strasburg mania.

There are so many interviews and conversations that informed your research for the book. How difficult was it to get access to so many different people who could help you in your thinking?

It was a little difficult at times. I was one of the founders of Baseball Weekly so sometimes that gave me some cache. It’s gotten a little more difficult because some ballparks are giving credentials, and justifiably so, much more to the beat credentialed guys as opposed to guys doing books and so that gets a little problematic. Once people kind of realized what the conversation was about doors opened up a little bit more than you would think.

Bob Feller’s a great example. Bob certainly gives interviews, you’re not quite sure how the interview’s going to go. Once Bob Feller, who tends to feel the level of pitching overall was maybe greater in his era and even into the ‘60s than maybe it is now even though I think you can start making an argument it’s coming back in a big way, but once he heard something like Tim Lincecum doesn’t ice his arm Feller perked up and went, “Oh, that’s interesting” because he didn’t ice his arm either. In fact one of Feller’s great lines was “Ice, that’s for drinks.” And once he found out that Lincecum kind of felt the same way and followed in his own sort of more modern approach, kind of the same techniques, suddenly Feller said, “That Lincecum guy, give me his number.” In an odd way, in the course of writing High Heat, you’re able to bring some of these almost odd fellows together. Now say Tim Lincecum and Bob Feller I guess are friends in part because they heard that neither one of them iced their arms.

And I think some people when it came to this wanted to set the record straight a little bit. I spent almost three days down in Texas with Nolan Ryan. Certainly Nolan Ryan’s in any conversation about guys that throw hard, but once he heard that I wanted to talk about those early days with the Mets and how he struggled and how frustrated he was - I didn’t realize how much he really struggled, I mean how close he came to quitting. It’s mind boggling. He said “Yeah, come on down, let’s talk.”

Ryan told me at one point, “I knew I had this gift.” He pretty much said in the next sentence, “I didn’t ask for it, and I didn’t deserve it,” and so therefore in an odd way it carries a lot more pressure. You see it everywhere today. Some kid starts throwing hard when he’s 12, 13, 14. Somehow we think it’s easy, we think everything’s laid out for him. If anything I think if you ask many of the guys in High Heat, “Hey, this gift of a fastball, it’s almost kind of like a Midas touch isn’t it?” I think they’d probably say yes. And I think if you asked them, certainly a guy like Dalkowski or somebody, “Hey what if we could just wave a magic wand and take that back, would you agree to it?” I think a great many of them would say yeah in a heartbeat.

Speaking of Dalkowski, what does it say about how good his stuff must have been if he made this list even though he never caught on in the majors?

He almost became the number one guy and actually Earl Weaver’s the one who kind of talked me down off that a little bit, which I found amazing because Earl Weaver did as much as anybody to get Steve Dalkowski in the major leagues or to get him as close as he did, but then Earl said, “No, I can’t make him number one because he never made the majors.”

You know, I think part of it is just the mythic element. You’ve seen Bull Durham, the Nuke LaLoosh character being in a sense the myth of what Dalkowski was. That was certainly helped by the fact Ron Shelton, who went on to be a Hollywood writer and director, was in the Orioles organization about four or five years behind Dalkowski. He never played on the same team as Steve, but he knew all the stories and such. The stories of his fastball are just epic, and I think that’s part of what the appeal is too; here you have a very almost very docile guy who wears spectacles at least part of his career. He doesn’t look like an athlete at all. And yet boy did he have a gift. I think in an odd way that really appeals to people. He didn’t look like a Ryan or even a Feller. He looked like some guy you’d walk by on the street, and yet you put him on a mound, granted he couldn’t throw a first strike half the time, but as near as we can tell he threw potentially 104 to maybe 107 miles per hour.

Hitting a fastball is all about timing, and it seems like with the publication of this book the timing is almost perfect in part because of all the Strasburg mania and attention. How much does that help to have the book come out in a summer where there’s so much attention to Strasburg and so much attention to pitching really?

It’s something you hope and wish for. I’ve had other books that haven’t done nearly as well as this. I’ve got a friend in publishing who talks about a book being like you carve this statue and it’s as good as you can do and you go down to the water and you throw it in and you hope it floats. I think that sums up publishing today.

Strasburg’s a huge part of it. In a way it’s kind of like Halley’s Comet coming around. Each generation seems to get caught up in another great fireballer. Certainly predecessors, you look at Feller’s generation, you go back to Walter Johnson, certainly Ryan, Koufax, JR Richard, that whole crowd. I think it’s somewhat because, you know I can take somebody who doesn’t know a great deal about baseball who certainly doesn’t know a sacrifice bunt from a hit-and-run to whatever, but I can take them to the ballpark and somebody’s throwing like a 100 miles per hour and that gets their attention. It’s something that just kind of translates very well. It’s something that all of us just kind of stand in awe of whether you’ve seen a thousand baseball games or this is your first game, it just translates.

What’s going on too is I think pitching is making a comeback. I’m currently looking at a project that may involves 1968, the year of the pitcher, and I think the pitching today is kind of getting back to that. It’s not only Strasburg right now; we’ve got some other pretty incredible fastball pitchers, too: Jimenez out with Colorado; I mentioned Lincecum; Broxton, the closer with L.A.; even this kid Chapman, the Cuban defector who I’ve been following a little bit from afar, he’s in the Reds organization, it looks like now they may make him into a closer. It’s really intriguing how we kind of went through real down time with pitching and certainly guys that could really bring it, and now we seem to be suddenly back in a golden era again certainly led by Strasburg.

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Interview with "High Heat" author Tim Wendel - Part One

2010-08-30T06:00:00.002-04:00

Earlier this summer I wrote about the book "High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time." Author Tim Wendel was generous enough to do a phone interview with me about his book, but I've been very slow about getting that interview posted. I'll do so over the course of the next three days.

Part one of our interview examines Wendel's motivation for writing the book, the role of stats in telling the story, and how throwing 100 miles per hour is a gift plain and simple. Also,Wendel tells the story of how Tim Lincecum wasn't allowed in the visitor's clubhouse in Washington because the security guard thought he was just another punk kid rather than a Cy Young winner.

This is your eighth book, and I see you've done some other baseball books. Why write this book?

This one came out in a roundabout way out of the ones that had preceded it. Actually I was in Cuba on one of my trips down there - I've made three trips down to Cuba and some of the other books I've done, Castro’s Curveball, Far From Home, are somewhat based in that part of the world. A bunch of us are behind home plate one night in Havana, both Anglos and Cubans, and all of the sudden this topic of who's the hardest thrower ever came up and it became pretty impassioned, as do many things in Cuba, and that got me to thinking later, well if this cuts across language, culture, etc. there must be something there. And that got it kind of kicking around in my head.

The book almost defies the statistical measures that are so popular today. Why write this book in such a stats conscious era?

Maybe to go against the grain a little bit. You know I belong to SABR. I like stats I guess as much as most folks. But as I got deeper into writing High Heat I found I wasn't going to find any holy grail of testing. Ironically, almost all the epic fireballers - Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Ryan, Koufax - in their own way were very curious about how hard they threw and where they stacked up against the all-time greats, and so they allowed themselves to be tested in some very unconventional ways.

We're so driven in this era that somehow we’re going to find some stat or somehow we're going to be able to analyze something with numbers. And what I realized once I got pretty deep into High Heat was no, that wasn't going to be the way necessarily out of this. It was going to be more of the stories and more of almost every one of these guys ended up at the crossroads pretty early on. Were they going to make it or not? They knew they’d been given this gift of being able to throw really, really hard and were they going to be able to find their way out and do as well as everyone expected they would? Probably half the guys in High Heat did, and these are the guys you hear about that have become legends – Ryan, Feller, etc. Probably the other half didn’t, and that’s why you don’t hear that much about Amos Rusie or Steve Dalkowski and guys like that who flamed out.

Once I hit that point I realized that all of us, in an odd way, you know, we’re not going to be able to throw 100 miles per hour – I know I sure can’t because I was tested and didn’t come close – but I’d like to believe all of us have some gift and so therefore maybe part of living a life is are you going to be able to bring that gift to fruition? Are you going to bring it to the forefront? In a way that’s what all these guys grappled with.

[A discussion of how you have to be born with the gift to throw that hard leads to this comment …]

One of the things that really appealed to me in doing this book was you can line up all the great fireballers, fastball pitchers, going over a century, like a police line-up, and there’s little or no correlation in height, size, weight. Maybe there’s some kind of way you can figure out fast-twitch muscles or something like that. Billy Wagner, for example, who’s shorter than me, is in this equation alongside somebody like Strasburg, alongside somebody like the Big Train Walter Johnson, and that’s really kind of cool, because I think a lot of sports we’ve kind of micromanaged this alchemy right out of it. If you want to play basketball then okay it makes sense you’ve got to be tall. If you want to play football, okay, if you really wanna go a long way you’ve got to be big and fast.

One of the great times I had doing High Heat was in Washington at the Nationals ballpark with Tim Lincecum, and we’re looking to enter the visitor’s clubhouse. The guy guarding the door wouldn’t let Lincecum in, in part because Lincecum kind of like this short, skinny, punk skateboard kid. And me and another guy are like, “No, he’s actually won a Cy Young.” And because Lincecum didn’t have his ID there was a bit of a hubbub for a few minutes until they let him in. I thought that was pretty interesting, somebody like Tim Lincecum could be part of this whole equation, too.

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Eutaw Street Chronicles: Bobby Bonilla - Sept. 8, 1996

2010-08-23T14:46:00.000-04:00

As the 1996 season entered September the Orioles were threatening to become only the eighth major league team to win a division or league title after trailing by 12 games or more. The team was powering its way into the playoffs.

Three eighth-inning long balls on Sept. 8, including Bobby Bonilla's 405-foot Eutaw Street homer, led the Orioles to a 6-2 win against the hapless Detroit Tigers, who would lose 109 games in 1996. Bonilla's effort was the final of seven Eutaw Street homers in 1996, second only to the eight that were later hit in 2008.

The victory pulled the Orioles within three games of the American League East-leading New York Yankees for the first time since June 24. The homers, meanwhile, pulled the Orioles within nine of the 1961 Yankees for most by a team in one season.

Bonilla, whom the Orioles had considered trading in July, stepped to the plate against reliever Jose Lima with the Orioles leading 3-2 following a Rafael Palmeiro two-run home run. Bonilla took Lima's first offering deep, marking the fifth time that season in which the O's duo struck in back-to-back fashion. Overall, it was the Orioles' 14th set of back-to-back blasts.

After strikeouts of Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray, Lima allowed a single to Pete Incaviglia followed by a Chris Hoiles homer to round out the scoring. Orioles reliever Alan Mills got the win in relief of Rocky Coppinger, who allowed two runs on three hits in seven innings of work.

Bonilla had previously placed two balls onto Eutaw Street during the 1993 All-Star Home Run Derby. He also predicted correctly that Ken Griffey Jr. would be the first player to hit the Warehouse.

Baltimore Sun columnist Ken Rosenthal fittingly dubbed the '96 Orioles the Eutaw Street Bullies. And bullies they were.

The Orioles finished the season with a record 257 home runs. One year later the Mariners topped that mark with 264 home runs of their own.

Seven Orioles (Alomar, Anderson, Bonilla, Hoiles, Palmeiro, Ripken, Surhoff) ended the year with 20 or more homers tying a major league record.

And on Sept. 7 Brady Anderson joined Bonilla and Palmeiro as the first Orioles trio to record 100 RBI in the same season since Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, and Brooks Robinson did so in 1966. Cal Ripken later became the fourth '96 teammate with 100 RBI.

Unfortunately, the Orioles' postseason fortunes did not match those of the '66 Orioles. The '96 team finished four games back of the Yankees in the division and later lost the ALCS to New York four games to one. Both Bonilla, who signed with the Florida Marlins in the off-season, and Eddie Murray, who signed with the Angels, homered in their final Orioles at-bats during the Game 5 loss.

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Baltimore Orioles

Bunt Singles

2010-08-20T13:26:00.002-04:00

My "Flashback Friday" post this week focused on two-out, walk-off bunt singles in honor of Adam Jones' effort on Monday night. Here are a few tidbits related to bunt singles that I came across while working on the article.

-A 2007 Baseball Prospectus article examines bunt hit percentage (BUH%) to determine which players have been the best at bunting for singles. Brett Butler's 1992 season (40 hits, .597) ranks first followed by Kenny Lofton's 1992 season (31 hits, .463). I'll always remember Lofton as a thorn in the Orioles side. The guy could do so much offensively and defensively to affect a game.

-Big League Stew points out that Erick Aybar of the Angels is the top guy in MLB for bunt singles in 2010. He has 12 so far this season, six shy of his career-high 18 bunt singles in 2009.

-Adam Jones and Cesar Izturis are tied for the Orioles lead in bunt singles this season with six a piece. Corey Patterson (3) and Miguel Tejada (1) are the only other Orioles players to bunt for a hit in 2010. Brian Roberts and Cesar Izturis tied for the O's team lead in 2009; each player had three bunts for hits.

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Baltimore Orioles

Flashback Friday: Melvin Mora's two-out, walk-off bunt single

2010-08-20T13:13:00.003-04:00

Adam Jones' two-out bunt single against the Mariners in the bottom of the 11th inning on Monday night had MASN broadcaster Jim Hunter - and likely many fans watching at home - enthusing about the play. Hunter stated mutliple times that Jones may start a trend of walk-off bunts. Actually, Jones was only continuing a trend.

Earlier this season Howie Kendrick's ninth inning, two-out bunt single earned the Angels a 4-3 victory over the Indians and none-too-appreciative pitcher Chris Perez who said: "It was a bad baseball play that happened to work out ... I don't want to say it was bush league, but you never see that ... a stupid play that just happened to work."

Kendrick got the green light from Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke, younger brother of former Oriole Gary Roenicke, who was filling in for Mike Scioscia. You can see Kendrick's bunt single to second base here.

Meanwhile, the most recent two-out, walk-off bunt in extra innings came from Melvin Mora. Mora's bases-loaded bunt single in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sept. 28, 2007, gave the Orioles a 10-9 victory over the Yankees.

You can see Mora's effort (featuring post-game fireworks!) here.

Monday night's game-ending rally started with a lead-off double by Nick Markakis. Back in 2007, Tike Redman - yes, Tike Redman - hit a one-out double and moved to third on a passed ball. Intentional walks to Markakis and Miguel Tejada put Kevin Millar in a position to "Cowboy Up" for the O's. Instead, he struck out looking and left Mora to be the hero.

Mora bunted toward Wilson Betemit at third, reached base without a throw, and continued running down the first-base line. Dan Connolly noted in his game story that Mora "nearly ran to Eutaw Street in celebration."

"In my career, what I've had success on is bunting for base hits," Mora said afterward. "When I saw the third baseman way back, I just made my mind up before everything was going to happen. We just want one. We didn't need a grand slam."

The Orioles' collective 10-run, 20-hit effort against the Yankees left fans with plenty of reason to celebrate despite the Birds' 69-91 record at the time.

-The O's throttled former teammate Mike Mussina for 11 hits and six runs in five innings. (I admittedly continued to appreciate Mussina even after he went to New York. See the 2006 Roar from 34 post "Moose Was a Great Bird.")

-Oriole Magic was in full effect even before Mora's hit, and it just so happened against one of the greatest closers in baseball history. Mariano Rivera suffered a blown save after the Birds scored three runs on three hits against him in the ninth inning. The Orioles caused Rivera's only two blown saves after April 20th during the 2007 season.

-With the win the Orioles denied the Yankees their 10th consecutive A.L. East title. The division title instead went to the Red Sox, who watched the game from their clubhouse at Fenway following a 5-2 victory over the Twins. Prior to Mora's walk-off Red Sox infielder Alex Cora called out "He's going to bunt."

Mora's 2007 effort wouldn't have been possible were it not for the clutch hitting of former Red Sox player Jay Payton, whose bases-loaded triple against Rivera tied the game an inning earlier. According to the Boston Herald, many Red Sox players were as surprised as Orioles fans, yelling "Holy S----."

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Baltimore Orioles

A version of this story appeared on Camden Chat on Thursday.

The Red Sox, the Yankees, and their high school equivalents

2010-08-18T16:05:00.001-04:00

The Sports Pickle has provided a list of "8 Teams and Their High School Classmate Equivalents" that includes two of the Orioles' A.L. East rivals: the Red Sox and the Yankees.

Of the Red Sox: "This is the girl who was unattractive and kind of a loser at the start of high school. But then she got hot all of a sudden and became unbearable to put up with."

Of the Yankees: "She had it all. She was hot, a top student and a great athlete. But it was only because her dad got her a boob job and paid for all kinds of top tutors and personal coaches."

And for those of you who are fans of other Maryland teams (and of gender equity in insults), here's the description of Duke: "The rich, smug, phony who almost no one liked. But for some reason all the teachers and parents bought his act and he was able to just coast through school."

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Baltimore Orioles

Construction in Sarasota

2010-08-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos, courtesy of Norm Schimmel, of the construction work being done at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.

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Baltimore Orioles

Can Showalter match Baltimore's best?

2010-08-17T10:25:00.001-04:00

An august performance

With their next win the Orioles will have matched or exceeded their August win total from six of the last ten seasons. The O's are currently 10-5 in August.

Want to aim even higher? The Birds haven't had a non-losing August since 1998, when they finished 14-14. The team hasn't had a winning record in the eighth month of the calendar year since 1997, when they finished 18-10.

In truth, the O's record down the stretch has little bearing on what the 2011 season and beyond will bring. After all, the 1999 Orioles were 20-8 in the month of September. But darn if it isn't fun. And it's a considerable change from seasons past.

Granted, as I've explained before, the "August Swoon" is a myth. [In short, the Orioles have often had a worse record in July than in August. However, the August losses have been more dramatic (think 30-3) and therefore memorable.] With that said, it's nice to be watching quality baseball this late in the season for a change.

Showalter looking to match best 15-game start in team history

What a difference a game can make.

If the Orioles win tonight Buck Showalter will match Davey Johnson and Earl Weaver for the best record after 15 games in team history.

If the Orioles lose Showalter will match the starts of Mike Hargrove, Lum Harris, Lee Mazzilli, and Ray Miller.

Managerial records after 15 games

Davey Johnson 11-4

Earl Weaver 11-4

Buck Showalter 10-4

Mike Hargrove 10-5

Lum Harris 10-5

Lee Mazilli 10-5

Ray Miller 10-5

Joe Altobelli 9-6

Sam Perlozzo 9-6

Hank Bauer 8-7

Billy Hitchcock 8-7

Dave Trembley 8-7

Cal Ripken 8-7

Phil Regan 6-9

Johnny Oates 7-8

Jimmy Dykes 5-10

Paul Richards 4-11

Juan Samuel 4-11

Frank Robinson 0-15

World beaters

The Birds are 6-6 against the Red Sox this season with six games remaining between the two teams. Should the Orioles win four or more of those games they will win the season series against Boston for the first time since 2004. Of course, Boston went on to win the World Series that year.

Go figure.

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Baltimore Orioles

The story behind the Eutaw Street baseballs & other Orioles tidbits

2010-08-10T11:41:00.002-04:00

Here's a rundown of some O's-related items, including the story behind the bronze baseballs on Eutaw Street.

(Shameless plug: Check out past entries in The Eutaw Street Chronicles. More to come soon.)

-Brandow Morrow pitched 8 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball against the Rays this weekend before surrendering a single to Evan Longoria. August 10th happens to be the anniversary of two Orioles one-hitters.

Mike Cuellar gave up a leadoff single to Minnesota's Cesar Tovar in a 2-0, one-hit win on Aug. 10, 1969. Meanwhile, Jim Palmer tossed his fourth career one-hitter on Aug. 10, 1976. Same opponent (the Minnesota Twins), same final score (2-0).

-Speaking of the Rays, the team's vice president of communications, Rick Vaughn, is the brains behind the bronze baseballs on Eutaw Street at Camden Yards. He wanted to do a similar thing with the catwalk at Tropicana Field.

At Vaughn's suggestion, the Orioles mark each home run ball that lands on Eutaw Street, which runs behind right field at Camden Yards, with a bronze plaque resembling a baseball sunk in the ground and bearing the name of the batter, the date and the distance from home plate.

"That way you could stand there and say, 'Wow, this is where that home run landed,'" Vaughn said.

Vaughn actually got that idea from all the games he attended at RFK Stadium while growing up in nearby Virginia. The seats in RFK's upper deck were green. The Senators would paint one white to mark where one of Frank Howard's monster blasts landed.

-And speaking of historical marks on Aug. 10, this is the anniversary of Boog Powell becoming the first Orioles player to hit three home runs in a game. He did so on Aug. 10, 1963, against the Washington Senators. The Orioles lost 6-5 despite Powell's heroics.

-Don Baylor and Bobby Grich were inducted into the International League Hall of Fame on Monday.

Both players suited up for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, an organization with deep Orioles ties. They were managed by "Mr. Rochester," Joe Altobelli, who will be honored later this week with a statue outside of Frontier Field.

Baylor and Grich were 21-year-old rookies on the 1970 World Series team; they played a combined 38 games for the Birds that season. Grich is a member of the Oriole Hall of Fame.

Baylor once shared the club record by going 5-for-5 in a game. It happened on Aug. 4, 1975, in a 12-8 win against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Grich went 3-for-4 batting behind Baylor that day. Both players homered and had three RBI a piece.

Cal Ripken Jr. broke Baylor's mark on June 13, 1999, when he went 6-for-6 in a 22-1 thrashing of the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

Grich still holds the team record for walks in a game. He had five against the White Sox on Aug. 9, 1975, which left him with this interesting line: 0-for-0 with three runs scored.

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Baltimore Orioles

Flashback Friday: Johnny Oates' contributions to the 1989 Why Not? Orioles

2010-08-06T17:21:00.002-04:00

There are some fun historical facts related to Johnny Oates' career as a player.

He started his major league career in 1970 with a four-game hitting streak in five games for the Orioles.

He was Hank Aaron's teammate when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record.

He helped Jim Palmer to a 10-0 record in 1972 when he caught for him, leading Palmer to remark: "He was the perfect catcher for me. He was smart, always full of questions. He knew what he could do and what he couldn't. He worked so hard all the time. You have a lot of respect for somebody like that.''

Oates listed his priorities as a player as follows: "My number one goal was to catch a win. Second, I hoped for a shutout. Third, I wanted a complete game for the starter. Fourth, well, if I got a hit, that was fine."

His hitting struggles were no secret. Broadcaster Harry Carey once remarked, 'Johnny Oates just hit his annual home run.' "

Oates played two seasons in Baltimore (1970 and 1972) and 11 seasons in the majors, but he won't be remembered for his contributions to baseball as a player. The Oriole Advocates, who will honor Oates as a member of the team's Hall of Fame this weekend, correctly state, "It is for his work as a manager ... that Oates is best remembered by Baltimore fans."

Oates was Sporting News Manager of the Year with the Orioles in 1993. He replaced Frank Robinson during the 1991 season - inherting a team that had yet to win more than two consecutive games - and became Baltimore's fifth manager in seven seasons. Nevertheless, he turned two consecutive losing seasons into three consecutive winning seasons before being dismissed following the strike-shortened 1994 campaign.

After leaving Baltimore Oates led the Texas Rangers to their first post-season appearance in 1996. He shared American League Manager of the Year honors that season with Joe Torre of the New York Yankees. He added American League Division titles with Texas in '98 and '99.

He is a member of the Rangers Hall of Fame - and come this weekend - the Orioles Hall of Fame. The Rangers retired his number; the Orioles obviously have not.

All things considered, it's easy to overlook Oates's time in Baltimore, in part because he never led the team to the post-season. In many fans' minds his time as skipper likely just fills the space between memories of the beloved "Why Not?" campaign in 1989 and the team's first Wild Card appearance in 1996.

However, Oates deserves to be recognized, though he rarely is, for his role in "Why Not?" And not just because he was a coach for the team.

In 1988 Oates managed the Rochester Red Wings, the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate at the time. He earned International League Manager of the Year honors while coaching League MVP Craig Worthington and Rookie of the Year Steve Finley, both of whom contributed to the "Why Not?" effort.

Oates stood by Finley in 1988 when the outfielder got off to a slow start in Rochester and became a candidate for demotion. Here was Oates' scouting report: "I think he's ready to hit in the major leagues. He has a God-given gift of speed and intelligence. He's going to bunt, and as he gets bigger, he's going to get his 10 to 15 homers. He's going to be outstanding defensively."

Finley played 19 seasons in the majors, won five Gold Gloves, and was a two-time All Star.

Oates insisted at the winter meetings prior to the 1989 season that players like Finley, Worthington, and Bob Milacki were ready to help the parent club immediately. All three did just that, led by Milacki whose win total (14) and ERA (3.74) were both second-best on the club.

And then there's Jeff Ballard.

Ballard acknowledged that he struggled with the mental aspects of pitching, particularly as he bounced back and forth between Triple-A Rochester and Baltimore during the 1987 season. Promoted to the bigs after a fast start Ballard split time with the two teams, finishing with a 13-4 record at Triple-A and a 2-8 record in Baltimore. He then moped in the minors in 1988 after failing to make the team out of spring training. That is, until Oates pulled him from a game and told him "I don't like your attitude."

"I snapped out of it after that," Ballard said. "I realized the way I was acting wasn't helping anyone. I pitched two real good games and was called up May 19."
Ballard led the Orioles with 18 wins and a 3.43 ERA in 1989.

Ultimately, Oates understood that it was about the players and not about him. He summed up that sentiment when he was inducted into the Rangers' first Hall of Fame class alongside Nolan Ryan, Jim Sundberg and Charlie Hough.

"There's one big difference between [the other inductees] and myself," Oates said. "They're here because of what they did. I'm here because of what others did for me.''

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[This post also appeared on Camden Chat on Thursday.]

Baltimore Orioles

Background on the Buck Showalter - Johnny Oates relationship

2010-08-04T19:14:00.001-04:00

New Orioles manager Buck Showalter earned some good-guy points out of the gate by selecting uniform number 26 to honor the late Johnny Oates. It was a simple gesture, though not as simple as it may seem.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos once called Oates, whom he fired following the strike-shortened 1994 season, "an insecure man." Oates, meanwhile, reportedly griped privately about Angelos and took to calling the owner the guy "who'd never hit a ball going more than 50 mph."

Apparently Showalter was more concerned with paying tribute to a friend and mentor than he was about offending the new boss. As Ken Rosenthal writes in a well-reported story based on his time on the O's beat, Oates kept Showalter the player on his Triple-A Columbus squad in 1983 in order to help him earn a $1,000 bonus. Showalter had played for Oates the year before at Double-A Nashville.

Oates' decision to help Showalter was consistent with a compassion that, according to a 1991 New York Times article, almost led him to quit managing.

"Players would come to me crying," the 45-year-old Oates said Friday, the day after he was named to succeed Frank Robinson as manager of the Baltimore Orioles. "I couldn't handle situations like that. I took it personally. I knew that if I was sitting on the other side of the table, it would hurt me just like it hurt them. My wife always knew when it was cut day because I didn't go to bed."

Showalter's familiarity with Oates' compassion extended beyond that one moment in Columbus. Here's another excerpt from the '91 Times article:

Showalter, who also played for Oates at Class AA Nashville in 1982, recalled a long, tiring bus ride from Orlando, Fla., to Charlotte, N.C. The bus arrived in town in the early-morning hours, but the team was not permitted to check into its hotel until noon to save money.

"Johnny walked across the street to another hotel," Showalter said, "plunked down his own credit card and got everybody rooms."

It was the way he cared for his players, Showalter said, that impressed him the most.

"He was very sensitive to people's feelings, almost too much sometimes," he said. "He never seemed to let the coldness of the game affect him. But there was a fine line between being a good guy and someone you didn't cross. Johnny could be tough when he had to be, but at the same time it wasn't a barracks-type atmosphere."

In 2003, Showalter, whose managerial style has at times been compared to that of Oates, called his former manager "the best I ever played for."

He went on to explain to Hank Kurz Jr. of the Associated Press that his was not an offhand remark: "When you've played for so many guys and been exposed to so many people, you try to be careful with that, but Johnny, I tell you what, he's a good, solid man."

Like Showalter now does, Oates inherited a losing Orioles ball club in 1991. Oates took over for Frank Robinson after 37 games. The Orioles were in last place with a 13-24 record; they finished the season in sixth place at 67-95. Oates subsequently led Baltimore to three straight winning seasons. He was 291-270 (.519) during his time as the O's skipper.

Here are a couple of additional connections shared by Buck Showalter and Johnny Oates:

-Back in 1995 Buck Showalter was mentioned as a potential candidate for the Orioles' managerial spot after Johnny Oates was fired.

[Buck Showalter]'s three-year contract for about $900,000 runs through the end of the 1995 season. Asked yesterday whether the Yankees might grant the Orioles permission to speak to Showalter, general partner Joe Molloy said, "We probably wouldn't talk about it. Buck's been a Yankee a long time. Before the season was shortened, he was having quite a successful year. He's done an excellent job, and I'm unaware of a potential request by the Baltimore Orioles."

-The Sporting News named Johnny Oates its Manager of the Year in 1993 following an 85-77 season for the Orioles. Buck Showalter, managing the Yankees, finished a close second for the award. Showalter's Yankees finished three games ahead of Oates' Orioles in the standings. The Yankees and Orioles placed second and third, respectively, in the seven-team A.L. East.

-Jerry Narron replaced Johnny Oates as manager for the Texas Rangers when Oates resigned his post during the 2001 season. Showalter replaced Narron two seasons later.

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Baltimore Orioles

Miguel Tejada represents hope unrealized in Baltimore

2010-07-30T11:25:00.002-04:00

Miguel Tejada has been traded to the San Diego Padres for pitching prospect Wynn Pelzer. Tejada leaves Baltimore for the second and presumably final time with a mixed legacy.

He was a three-time All Star and two-time Silver Slugger for the Birds and holds the team's single-season records for hits, 214 in 2006, and RBI, 150 in 2004. His league-leading 50 doubles in 2005 are the fourth-highest total in team history. Apparently swinging at the first pitch isn't necessarily a bad strategy.

Meanwhile, Tejada played every game at shortstop during his first three seasons in Baltimore, an accomplishment for which fan appreciation should have grown over time. If it didn't impress you by 2008 - when the Orioles rolled out the five-headed monster of Juan Castro, Alex Cintron, Freddie Bynum, Brandon Fahey, and Luis Hernandez at short - it probably never will.

On the other side of the legacy coin are Tejada's league-leading GIDP numbers for his first three seasons in Baltimore, his alternating love-hate relationship with the idea of playing for the Orioles, and ultimately a confusing trail of mistruths related to steroid use (it started with the Rafael Palmeiro soap opera that introduced fans to B12 injections and ended with Tejada copping to lying to Congress about his knowledge of steroid use in baseball) as well as his own age.

Tejada's pathetic E:60 interview about his age ended with him walking out midstream; a final, surreal touch to an exchange more suitable for the Colbert Report than ESPN. And while the age revelation, along with the guilty plea, happened while Tejada was in Houston both incidents left many Orioles fans wondering, "Who is this guy?"

Baltimore had a second chance at love with Tejada when he returned to the fold this season. The soft-focus lens with which the game of baseball is so often viewed, combined with the unearned favoritism a guy receives whenever he slips on the home-town uniform, allowed for a recasting of Tejada's role from not-quite-villain to almost-hero.

"He's willing to move to third," the thinking went.

"He's happy playing for the Orioles and once more has pep in his step."

"He's holding down the hot corner and ready to treat it like a hot potato once Josh Bell has the necessary seasoning."

In his second act Miguel Tejada was to willingly play the role of stepping stone to the bigger things that presumably were in the Orioles' near-term future, an aging veteran ready to sacrifice some of his own pride for the good of a franchise poised to regain its own. The jury's technically still out, but it appears there are many more stepping stones remaining for the O's.

So there were two different narratives surrounding the Orioles during Tejada's stays in Baltimore.

In 2003, his signing represented big things on the free agency front. The Orioles had inked a deal with a coveted free agent, leaving then executive vice-president Jim Beattie to boast: "We have other players that are big players that we want to add to the club. This is a signal – one of the things we can do to show players that the Orioles are ready to contend, hopefully quickly."

In 2007, the Tejada trade represented big things on the rebuilding front. The Orioles sent Erik Bedard to the Mariners soon thereafter and the new strategy, getting value in trades and building from within, was taking hold. From USA Today: "After years of half-baked attempts to compete with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the American League East, the Orioles send a definitive message that they are rebuilding. Dealing Bedard two years before he's eligible for free agency enabled Baltimore to maximize the return package."

Sandwiched between those two narratives, however, was an all-too-familiar theme: Could've, Should've, Would've ... but Didn't.

In 2006, the Orioles failed to reach agreement with the Angels on a deal for Tejada that would've brought Erick Aybar and Ervin Santana to Baltimore. From SI.com: "Opposing executives praised the Angels' proposal, with one even calling it a 'great offer the Orioles should take.' But apparently, Angelos, who loves star players, felt otherwise."

I don't love Miguel Tejada the baseball player. I don't hate Miguel Tejada the baseball player. For me, his legacy will be one of transactions made and transactions lost. He brought the Orioles a package of five players from Houston and now another young arm from San Diego. But he could have brought two fine prospects to Baltimore in a proposed deal that's difficult to forget.

Miguel Tejada might therefore be the most fitting symbol of Orioles baseball in the early 21st century. He is hope unrealized.

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Baltimore Orioles

Solo Shots: Bob Hale homers off a Hall of Famer

2010-07-23T14:51:00.004-04:00

Last week I wrote my first entry for "Solo Shots," an effort to tell the stories of Orioles players since 1954 who finished their careers with one home run while wearing orange and black. Jim Brideweser (1954, 1957) was up first. This week Bob Hale is the focus.

Robert Houston Hale played for the Orioles nearly 20 years before the designated hitter rule went into effect in the American League. Hale is therefore remembered as a pinch hitter and part-time first baseman. He batted in 376 games, but played the field in just 120.

In seven major league seasons with the Orioles, Indians, and Yankees Hale compiled a .273 career average. He batted most in 1956 when he dug in next to home plate 223 times. It was the same year he hit his only home run for the Birds, the first of two career long balls in 670 plate appearances.

Hale homered on July 21, 1956, in a 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Memorial Stadium. Hale's third-inning solo shot off Hall of Famer Bob Lemon extended an early Orioles lead to 2-0. Nevertheless, Lemon stuck around for all nine innings in Baltimore and earned the 12th of his 20 victories during the 1956 season. It was the seventh and final time in his career that Lemon won 20 or more games. Lemon also led the league in complete games for the fifth and final time of his career.

Lemon allowed an average of 0.6 home runs throughout his 13-year career. Players to never homer off him included Hall of Famers Nellie Fox (150 plate appearances), Enos Slaughter (43), Bobby Doer (41), and Joe DiMaggio (24) as well as All Stars Billy Goodman (109), Harvey Kuenn (78), Dom DiMaggio (68), and Johnny Pesky (65).

Clearly Hale wasn't intimidated by a Hall of Famer, perhaps because he came up with one. Hale played on the 1955 York White Roses team with 18-year-old rookie third baseman Brooks Robinson.

Robinson made his major league debut on Sept. 17, 1955, after batting .331 with 11 home runs in 354 at-bats with York. Hale, 21, got the call earlier in the season after hitting .355 with 12 home runs and eight triples in 248 at-bats. He debuted with the Orioles on July 4, going 1-4 with a walk. Hale recorded his first major league hit off Dean Stone in a 6-2 Orioles victory over the Washington Senators.

Hale's second of two career home runs came in his final season on Sept. 6, 1961. Playing for the Yankees, Hale homered off Baltimore native and University of Maryland graduate Roy Heiser. Heiser, a 19-year-old righty, played three games for the Washington Nationals in 1961.

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Baltimore Orioles

Interesting baseball reading

2010-07-22T17:01:00.005-04:00

A few baseball-related items caught my eye today. Each would qualify for the traditional "Thought You Might be Interested in This" e-mail subject line.

-First, b's Matt Vensel looks outside the spotlight - well done - for the story of Orioles bullpen catcher Ronnie Deck. Says Deck: “This is an unreal opportunity. I just want to enjoy every day in the big leagues, work as hard as I can and let that take me where it may.”

With all the griping and bad Orioles news that's out there this summer, it's refreshing to read about a guy who's paid his dues and is relishing a rare opportunity.

-More well-known than Deck is former Voice of the Orioles Jon Miller, who will receive the Ford C. Frick Award during Sunday's Hall of Fame ceremony in Cooperstown. USA Today has the write-up.

The anecdote about Miller asking his wife if she's ever slept with a Hall of Famer is good for a laugh. Meanwhile, this line is good for a sullen sigh:

"Miller's reputation and his knowledge of the game have earned him the right, fans say, to criticize the performance of a player or team — oftentimes his own — even though he never played professionally."

Unfortunately, criticizing a player or team (i.e. doing his job) didn't work out so well for Miller in Baltimore.

-Finally, The Boston Globe has a story on the sale of the Field of Dreams location and its $5.4 million asking price.

If you haven't made the pilgrimage to Dyersville yet - thanks to some awesome planning by my wife, I have - The Voice has some advice for you: "Go the distance."

Done any good baseball-related reading lately? If so, share a link in the Comments section.

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Baltimore Orioles

More bobbleheads, fewer T-Shirts equals Orioles victories

2010-07-21T18:51:00.002-04:00

The Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 11-10 in 13 innings on Tuesday night. Every Orioles win in 2010 is significant, but this one was especially so given that it was the team's first victory on T-Shirt Tuesday.

So far in 2010 the Birds are 1-3 on T-Shirt Tuesdays, 2-1 on Bobblehead Nights, and 1-1 during 2110 Eutaw Street games.

With apologies to my stat-conscience baseball friends for the small sample size, the Orioles clearly need to give away more Bobbleheads at the ballpark. And as you'll see in a moment, the Birds should feature Adam Jones in promotions more often.

The splits for players look like this:

-On T-Shirt Tuesdays, featured batters have gone 1-8 at the plate while featured pitchers have a blown save and no wins.

-On Bobblehead Nights, featured batters not named Nolan Reimold have gone 4-9 at the plate with a home run and 2 RBI.

-During 2110 Eutaw Street games, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones are a combined 2-14.

Adam Jones' struggles during 2110 Eutaw Street games are inconsistent with his otherwise sterling performances on nights when he's the featured player in a promotion. Perhaps he just hates sharing the spotlight.

Jones went 3-5 with a home run and 2 RBI on Adam Jones Mini Bobblehead Night on June 24. Meanwhile, he went 1-2 with a home run on Adam Jones T-Shirt Tuesday on April 15, 2008.

Here's the full promotional rundown:

T-shirt Tuesdays

Matt Wieters - April 13
Rays 8 - Orioles 6
Wieters 0-4, RBI, BB

Brian Matusz - May 11
Mariners 5 - Orioles 1
Matusz (DNP)
Next start - May 15, 7 IP, 7 hits, 6 SO, 4 BB, ND (O's lose 8 -2)

Ty Wiggington - June 22
Marlins 10 - Orioles 4
Wiggington 1-4, R, K

Jason Berken - July 20
Orioles 11 - Rays 10
Berken (BS) IP, H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, K

Bobblehead Nightss

Nolan Reimold Mini Bobblehead - May 26
A's 6 - Orioles 1
Reimold (DNP, Triple-A Norfolk)

Adam Jones Mini Bobblehead - June 24
Orioles 11 - Marlins 5
Jones 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K

Matt Wieters Bobblehead - June 30
Orioles 9 - A's 6
Wieters 1-4, K

2110 Eutaw Street

May 16
Indians 5 - Orioles 1
Markakis 0-4, K
Jones 1-4, K

June 27
Orioles 4 - Nationals 3
Markakis 0-3, BB
Jones 1-3, 2B, RBI, R

Upcoming Promotions

Aug. 5 - Nick Markakis Mini Bobblehead

Aug. 7 - Matt Wieters Kids Chest Protector Backpack

Aug. 8 - 2110 Eutaw Street

Sept. 4 - 2110 Eutaw Street

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Markakis leads majors in doubles, ahead of pace for team record

2010-07-19T10:03:00.000-04:00

With his two doubles against the Blue Jays on Sunday Nick Markakis took sole possession of the major league lead in the category. Markakis' 31 doubles are two better than the season totals posted thus far by Josh Hamilton and Evan Longoria.

Markakis, one of the Orioles' lone bright spots during a dismal 2010 season, is currently on pace to top Brian Roberts' club record 56 doubles in 2009. Roberts had 30 doubles through 91 games; Markakis has 31 doubles in 91 games.

Roberts has three of the Orioles' highest single-season totals for doubles (50, 51, and 56). Meanwhile, Markakis' career-high 48 doubles in 2008 tie him with Aubrey Huff for the team's seventh-highest single-season total. Teammate Miguel Tejada's 50 doubles in 2005 are tied with Roberts for fourth all-time.

Cal Ripken Jr. is the franchise's career leader in doubles with 603 in 21 seasons.

Markakis, 26, currently has 190 career doubles and counting. Roberts had his breakout season for doubles at age 26, hitting 50 to up his career total at the time to 90. Ripken had 211 doubles by age 26.

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Baltimore Orioles

Solo Shots: Saving the best for last - Brideweser swats first home run in final big league season

2010-07-16T13:24:00.012-04:00

Cal, Eddie, Boog, Brooks; most Orioles fans recognize the names that sit atop the Orioles' career home run list. Less familiar are Grady, Arnie, Albie, and Vic, four of the 65 players to have hit just one home run during their time in Baltimore.

Fridays are typically reserved for Orioles history on Roar from 34. This week I'm using the occasion to start a new project that shares the stories of those players who, since 1954, made just one trot around the bases for the Birds. These are "Solo Shots."

Jim Brideweser
(1954, 1957)

James Ehrenfeld Brideweser played seven major league seasons, two of them in Baltimore. The six-foot tall shortstop hit one home run in 697 career plate appearances. It happened during his final season in a May 24, 1957 game against the Boston Red Sox at Memorial Stadium.

Batting eighth, Brideweser deposited a fifth-inning offering from Boston starter Frank Sullivan into the stands to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead. Brideweser's three-run shot scored George Kell and Dick Williams and provided Baltimore its only runs of the day. An eighth-inning Red Sox rally gave the visitors a 4-3 victory before 15,970 fans on 33rd Street.

While the newspapers did report Brideweser's first career home run the next day, the real story was Ted Williams, who went 3-for-4 to raise his league-leading average to .417. (Visit the Google News Archive for the May 25, 1957, newspaper report.) Williams held the lead throughout the 1957 season, finishing the year with a .388 average. He lost a tightly contested MVP race to Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees.

Brideweser batted .252 for his career with one home run and 50 RBI. He tallied a .949 career fielding percentage at shortstop (217 games), second base (57 games), and third base (11 games). His strikeout percentage of 11.2 percent was in line with the MLB average. He put the ball in play 78 percent of the time.

Brideweser is one of four Orioles in the University of Southern California Hall of Fame. Don Buford, Rich Dauer, and Fred Lynn are the others.

[Image source: Baseball Almanac.]

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Baltimore Orioles

Ty Wiggington is no Cal Ripken Jr., but their first-half numbers aren't as different as you'd think

2010-07-14T13:36:00.003-04:00

People love "best" and "worst" lists, so naturally Ty Wiggington's appearance on the 2010 American League All-Star roster got fans wondering where he ranks among Orioles representatives to the Midsummer Classic. Could Wiggington be the O's least-deserving All-Star?

All-Stars are measured primarily by their offensive numbers, so much attention has been focused on Wiggington's modest slash line of .252/.334/.434. The 13 home runs that placed him among the league leaders in April and May look less impressive after he added just one home run in June.

In essence, an anemic month at the plate doomed Wiggington to join the likes of 1987 Terry Kennedy (.264/.318/.432, 13 HR, 42 RBI) in the conversation for least-deserving Orioles All-Star.

However, my advice to O's fans is this: Don't go down that path, because you won't like what you find. If you're going to use Wiggington and Kennedy's offensive numbers against them then you have to put the Iron Man in the conversation as well.

Cal Ripken Jr. was an automatic All-Star for much of his career with fan balloting carrying him to 19 consecutive appearances in the game. More often than not he deserved the start he earned at shortstop. Nevertheless, Ripken brought Wiggington-like offensive numbers with him to at least a third of his All-Star appearances.

Consider a snapshot of seven seasons where Ripken struggled in the first half (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2001) in comparison to Wiggington's performance in five offensive categories: average, OBP, slugging percentage, home runs, and RBI.

In five of those seven seasons Wiggington's 2010 average would be equal to or better than Ripken's average at the time; his OBP was better in four; his slugging percentage was better in six; his home run total was better in all seven; and his RBI total was equal to or better than Ripken's in six.

You couldn't have staged an All-Star game in Baltimore without Ripken, but the Iron Man's 1993 numbers didn't help make that case. While O's fans best remember that contest for Cito Gaston, legendary Washington Post sportswriter Shirley Povich directed the attention elsewhere:

"As for those Baltimore fans who turned loose their boos at Gaston for the perceived slight to Mussina, where were those fans' sense of justice when their man, Cal Ripken, who was being outhit by seven guys on his own team, was heavily voted into the all-star lineup?"

Obviously, Ty Wiggington is no Cal Ripken. And while I appreciate that Wiggington, a gamer by many accounts, enjoyed an All-Star appearance, I believe Nick Markakis belonged in Anaheim. Nevertheless, I don't begrudge the guy his opportunity.

Wiggington deserved some reward for the month-and-a-half he spent carrying a woeful Orioles team on his back. Besides, to begrudge Wiggington would be to begrudge Ripken. And I don't think any Orioles fan wants to do that.

Here's a look at Cal Ripken's first-half numbers in seven of his 19 All-Star seasons:

         1989 - .275/.337/.416, 11 HR, 51 RBI

         1990 - .252/.354/.397, 9 HR, 39 RBI

         1992 - .262/.347/.397, 10 HR, 40 RBI

         1993 - .229/.312/.394, 12 HR, 45 RBI

         1998 - .258/.322/.362, 7 HR, 36 RBI

         2000 -.239/.239/.444, 13 HR, 43 RBI

         2001 - .240/.270/.324, 4 HR, 28 RBI

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Orioles History: Baltimore's Earliest All-Stars

2010-07-14T12:01:00.001-04:00

"Paul Richards admits his last-place Orioles aren't much of a ball club but he insists he has one of the best pitchers in the league in Jim Wilson, a shop-worn veteran who got a 'bum's rush' in Milwaukee."

It took three years and a position player before Baltimore's All-Star representative saw game action in the Midsummer Classic.

Third baseman George Kell started the 1956 All-Star Game after pitchers Bob Turley (1954) and Jim Wilson (1955) failed to get on the field the previous two years. Each player was the Orioles' lone All-Star for the first three years in Baltimore franchise history. It was the longest stretch of lone representation until the 2000s, when the Orioles went four consecutive seasons (2001-2004) with just one All-Star. Their current streak is five.

Looking back on the Birds' early years, it would be easy - but inaccurate - to cast Wilson as the least-deserving of the team's early All-Stars.

Turley won 14 games and led the league in strikeouts for a 1954 team that finished 54-100. He later won a Cy Young award with the Yankees in 1958 and finished second in MVP voting after posting a league-leading 21 wins that season.

Kell, meanwhile, represented the Orioles during the final two seasons of his Hall of Fame career.

And then there's James Alger Wilson with his 3.7 strikeouts per nine innings and league-worst 18 losses during his All-Star season in Baltimore.

Wilson took a line drive off the bat of Detroit's Hank Greenberg in 1945. Many concluded his career was over after he struggled mightily for the remainder of the '40s. However, he regained his form following a stint with the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League and ended up in the Braves' organization.

Wilson tossed baseball's only no-hitter in 1954 for Milwaukee but was turned loose by the team the following spring.

The Orioles purchased the 33-year-old pitcher's contract in 1955, not long after he had declared that he would "rather pitch for Richards than any other manager."

Baltimore skipper Paul Richards, who managed Wilson with the Rainiers, clearly still believed in his guy as well.

Here's how a United Press article put it: "Paul Richards admits his last-place Orioles aren't much of a ball club but he insists he has one of the best pitchers in the league in Jim Wilson, a shop-worn veteran who got a 'bum's rush' in Milwaukee."

Richards got an immediate return on his $40,000 investment in Wilson.

By mid-July the 6' 1", 200-pound righty had seven victories, four of which came against the American League's top four teams: New York, Cleveland, Chicago, and Boston. Wilson allowed four hits or less in each of those games. He entered the All-Star break with seven complete games, six wins, and a 2.50 ERA.

Overall, Wilson pitched 14 complete games in 1955 and went nine or more innings 12 times. Those totals include two 11-inning complete-game victories and one 12.2-inning loss. Wilson earned four consecutive complete game victories in September.

The following May the Orioles traded Wilson to the Chicago White Sox in a deal that brought Kell to town. Kell and Wilson both played in the 1956 All-Star Game.

Kell, representing the O's, went 1-for-4. Wilson, who had not played in his first two All-Star appearances, allowed two hits and one run in one inning of work during his third and final All-Star Game.

[Note This article appeared on Camden Chat last Thursday.]

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Baltimore had its own Bob Sheppard in the legendary Rex Barney

2010-07-13T13:24:00.002-04:00

Fans in attendance at the 81st MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday in Anaheim along with millions of viewers at home will hear the recorded voice of Bob Sheppard, the longtime Yankees' public address announcer who died on Sunday, introduce Derek Jeter prior to the shortstop's at-bats. The effort is a tribute to the man Reggie Jackson famously dubbed "The Voice of God."

It has been nearly 13 years since Baltimore lost its own legendary public address announcer. Rex Barney, the man who made "Give that fan a contract" and "Thank Youuuuuu" as much a part of every local fan's summer as a trip to the Eastern Shore, died on Aug. 12, 1997.

Barney moved to Baltimore in 1965 after then-Orioles GM Lee MacPhail encouraged him to do so. He started working Orioles games as a fill-in public address announcer in 1967 and took over full-time duties in May 1973.

His tenure included stays at both Camden Yards and Memorial Stadium, where he delivered a "Thank Youuuuuu" following the team's final game there in 1991 from a hospital bed. Having been hospitalized with exhaustion, he made the appearance on the stadium Jumbotron.

The Orioles paid tribute to Barney on Aug. 12, 1997, by playing their 8-0 victory over the Athletics without a PA announcer. Stadium flags were flown at half-staff and a plaque bearing Barney's uniform number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, 26, was unveiled behind his traditional press box seat, where a scorebook and Dodgers cap rested for the evening.

Here are some things that were said or written about Barney after his passing:

"Some take great talent and squander it. Some are haunted by what might have been -- if only they or their world had been ever so slightly different. A very few, however, have the almost saintly capacity to accept life exactly as it is, complete with all its disappointments and malicious ironies. They take the ball and then, as the old-timers say, they're 'in there for nine.' No bullpen, no relief, no complaints. Barney was knocked out of the baseball box for good when he was still just a kid. He had a no-hitter against the Giants and a couple of losses in the World Series, plus a perfect opportunity to chew on a mouth of sour grapes all his life.

Instead, he turned it around. He laughed with the world at the humor of a man being given a 100 mph fastball and the worst control on earth. Instead of being bitter about what he couldn't get, he was perpetually grateful for what he had. Because of that gift of temperament, he spent the last 30 years being a kind of role model -- and, sometimes, a standing reproach -- to every Orioles player. Could you take the game's best punch and still turn out like Rex?"

-Thomas Boswell, The Washington Post, Aug. 14, 1997

"It's going to be different without hearing his voice. When you think of Orioles tradition and Orioles baseball, you think of Rex Barney's name. He's going to be sorely missed."

-Cal Ripken Jr.

"I looked forward to seeing him every day and hearing him. I thought we got here early, but he was always earlier."

-Elrod Hendricks

"He was always happy. He wasn't in the best of health, but he always had a smile on his face. I'll miss him. It's a great loss. He was a great friend. I don't now if there's a higher compliment that you can give him than that."

-Davey Johnson

"You're never prepared for this. There are certain constants that are always supposed to be there, and Rex is one of them."

-Mike Flanagan

"I never met anyone as caring as Rex who would take time to acknowledge a little person like me."

-Myrtle Farinholt, Camden Yards custodian.

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