No sooner than we write of Sunday curses (Orioles) and attendance issues (Tampa Bay Rays) and along comes word from the Warehouse that the O’s are tackling both with their own promotion next Sunday, July 6. The Orioles are calling it, “We win, you win.”

The Orioles are playing the Texas Rangers at Camden Yards at 1:35 p.m. The idea, of course, is to get as many fans to the ballpark as possible as the Orioles try to break this extremely weird string of 12 straight Sunday losses.

Here’s the deal: If the Orioles win, all fans who attend the game get a complimentary ticket in the same seating category to any future non-prime game (there would be 33 of those during the rest of the schedule). The offer is good for paid tickets only to the July 6 game. If the O's win, the ticket office will stay open after the game so that fans can get their free tickets. Redemption can be made through Aug. 31.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Tampa Bay's stunning turnaround in the standings has an interesting sidebar to it -- whether unexpected success on the field can translate to more enthusiasm among the fan base.

Not only did the Rays wallow at the bottom of the the standings last year, they vied with intra-state rival Florida for the worst attendance in the majors. According to statistics on ESPN.com. the Rays attracted 17,148 fans a game, while the Marlins drew 16,919 in 2007.

After a win yesterday over Pittsburgh, the Rays slipped into first place again in the AL East, marking the biggest win-total turnaround ever for a team that finished with the worst record in baseball the previous season. At 49-32, Tampa Bay is now within 17 victories of its entire total from last season (66-96). Whether they can keep it up will be answered over the new few months, but a similarly interesting question is whether the Rays can recapture a fan base that has become understandably disenchanted with a franchise that has been a perennial loser since it came into the league in 1998.

So far, attendance figures don't offer a clear-cut answer. In their most recent home series in mid-June that included nine interleague-play games with three opponents, the Rays averaged a stadium about 65 percent full.  When the Cubs were at Tropicana Field for three games in mid-week, there were more than 30,000 at the ballpark for every game. Then, when Houston rolled in for the weekend, attendance slumped badly to an average of about 21,500.

Obviously, the Cubs have drawing power on a couple of counts: there's a big Cubs expatriate following base in Sunbelt locales, such as Florida and Arizona, plus the Cubs have been among the best teams in baseball this season.  But after the Rays swept the Cubs, you would have thought the Rays' fans would be in an exuberant frenzy to support their team against whomever was coming into town next -- Houston in this case --  and it just didn't happen. 

At this point in the season, the Rays are well ahead of last year's average attendance with a little over 20,000 (last year at the same time, it was nearly 6,000 a game fewer). Obviously, if Tampa Bay can keep it up on the field and steam into August and September in the hunt for its first  playoff spot ever, you'd expect attendance to become even stronger.  But it will be interesting to see if wins can infuse enthusiasm into a fan base in a part of the country that some observers have doubted is really fertile ground for Major League Baseball.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Any week now I expect the ghost of Rod Serling to do the pre-game intro and post-game wrap-up for the Orioles games on Sundays.

If there was ever a case for eliminating Sunday games from the remaining Orioles calendar, we have to look no further than yesterday's 3-2 loss in 12 innings to the Nationals.  Closer George Sherrill, who has thrilled and delighted Orioles' fans with his high-wire act all season, finally made a misstep with a 1-2 slider that Washington's Ronnie Belliard stung for a two-run game-winning (or game-losing, depending on one's point-of-view) home run.

If you're counting, the Orioles have now lost 12 of 13 games on Sundays.  The rest of the week,  they're 40-27.  I mean that's some serious weirdness.  Enough to make you want to investigate  juggling of the calendar to have a six-day week.

Orioles fans may argue that Baltimore did win yesterday's game, that Sherrill had Belliard struck out on the pitch proceeding the drive that just managed to stay on the right (wrong) side of the leftfield foul pole.  Well, that strike that Sherrill didn't get and Belliard's drive staying fair are further indication that we may be dealing with supernatural forces here. 

Of course, with Jeremy Guthrie starting you knew that Baltimore would be scuffling for runs. After giving up just one earned run in seven innings yesterday, he is the runaway leader in the American League for the dubious distinction of combined best ERA (3.50) and worst W-L record (4-7).

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is an interesting sort. He has the polish and charm of the boy commissioner Pete Rozelle but he also knows how to carry the water of team owners like Paul Tagliabue.

Goodell was recently at the Chautauqua Institution up in New York speaking at a sports symposium where he made some pointed comments on the injustice of paying high rookie draft picks enormous amounts of money at the expense of veteran players who are already producing on the field. 

The further point that Goodell was making is that under the current cap system, if a high-priced draft pick is a bust, he still has to be paid the guaranteed money; that guaranteed money is going to count against future years' salary cap totals, and as a result, there will be less money for players who are actually producing. 

"That money is not going to players that are performing," Goodell said. "It's going to a player that never makes it in the NFL. And I think that's ridiculous."

According to news reports, this oration got long, loud applause.  It should have.  It makes a lot of sense.

But are we to understand that NFL owners aren't somehow culpable in how all this evolved? And are we to believe that only the players (and I should say, I suppose, the players' union because some rank-and-file players have pointed out that they are among the most injured parties here) are only to blame in all this?

Actually, what Goodell was doing was taking an opportunity to press the owners' case as they opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement with the union and try to hammer out new terms with the NFL Players Association on a reworked deal. The players' share of revenues is 60 percent under the current CBA and Goodell also made the point that the owners have other problems, such as escalating costs of stadium construction and a wounded economy, that, in Goodell's words, "squeezes the margins and just makes it financially unworkable."

If you think the owners would like to ratchet down that 60 percent that's been going to the players, you'd be on the right track.

What I didn't see in this story about Goodell's presentation was any mention of the tepid performance of the NFL Network so far. If he did, I apologize. But when the NFL brain-trust put that business model together someone clearly didn't count on the push-back the league is currently getting from the cable TV industry or they overestimated the network's appeal. I personally think that eventually the NFL Network will be a big hit and a money-maker for the owners but someone fouled up the calculations on its short- and intermediate-term prospects. So let's be a little honest.  The owners, with all insight they should have into the economy, didn't foresee the current downturn as they pushed ahead with stadium and other capital projects and there's at least one major business decision that's a drag on the league's larger financial picture. And now they'd like the players to help solve their problems.

But Goodell had what he knew would be a home run talking point all lined up -- rookie salaries -- and he belted it out of the park.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

As if anyone needed to be reminded of the popularity chasm that exists between the NFL and every other competitive enterprise in the universe save the World Cup, the occasional presidential election and American Idol, we need only to look at how each league's draft is treated by the media and received by the public.

The NFL draft arrives with the pomp and circumstance of the Roman legions returning from Gaul.  The NBA draft needs the constant drumbeat of its feverish media acolytes to even momentarily distract the general sports public from its mid-season review of baseball fantasy teams. 

The first three picks of the NBA draft yesterday were Derrick Rose (Chicago), Michael Beasley (Miami) and O.J. Mayo (by Minnesota and traded to Memphis).  The real news there is the historical footnote that for the first first time all three were freshmen.  And that highlights the problem for college basketball programs who now find themselves having to buy in to the cynical practice of rent-a-freshman when they recruit. 

You wonder if university basketball recruiters even bother to mention that they actually confer degrees at their institutions of higher learning when they try to lure some hotshot high school senior who has as much chance of finishing college as Steve Trachsel had of pitching a complete game or I would have finishing the Boston Marathon.  Mount Airy's Joe Alexander, a junior from West Virginia, was the first "veteran" college player to be taken at No. 8 (Milwaukee).  The seven taken before him were mostly freshmen plus one sophomore and a teenager from Italy.

Yes, plenty of college juniors are drafted into the NFL but at least they spend enough time on campus to know how to get to the library without asking directions. OK, maybe the cafeteria.

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Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Three Maryland golfers get their Andy Warhol 15 minutes -- and more, about $10,000 more -- when the World Series of Golf is aired tomorrow and Sunday on CBS, 2 p.m.

Rhett Butler of Rockville, Bill Strayton of Mount Airy and Bob Winegard of Burtonsville were part of the 80-player field that competed in the unusual tournament played at Paiute Golf Resort near Las Vegas in mid-May. The tournament combines golf with the betting strategy of poker. This was the tournament's second year.

All three Maryland players won their first-round matches which meant they collected $10,000, the buy-in amount for the event. The field included some celebrities, such as comedian Ray Romano, poker professionals and average golfers. The winner was a Michigan car salesman, Andrew Johnson, who pocketed $250,000. Butler, of Rockville, is already somewhat famous -- aside from his Gone With the Wind name. An insurance agent, Butler finished second in this event in 2007and he made the final table of the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event where he finished fifth.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Orioles got everything they needed out of the third game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

For starters, they got a victory, 11-4, which gave them the edge in the three-game series against the team with the best home record in baseball.  Secondly, manager Dave Trembley got to both rest and work his pitching staff in just the right amounts after having to go to the bullpen early the previous game.

With an 11-0 lead, Trembley was able to let young Radhames Liz work his way out of trouble as he pitched into the sixth inning.  Both Brian Burres, who missed his start on Wednesday because he was ill, and Chad Bradford, who had thrown just a handful of pitches since June 20, both got some work in middle relief.  And Jim Johnson needed just eight pitches in the ninth as the honorary closer.  It all sets up the Orioles to begin a weekend series in Washington where they should have have the advantage in the match-up against the struggling Nationals.  But, of course, the Cubs probably thought the same thing.

Meanwhile, Aubrey Huff continues to redeem himself from a first season where he was a disappointment at the plate and an off-season of intemperate remarks about the city.  Huff was 4-for-5 yesterday and in June, he's hitting .357 with 10 doubles, five home runs, 14 RBIs and 15 runs scored, which is more in line with the expectations the team had when it signed him to a three-year, $20 million deal.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

There has been so much consistently bad news about Michelle Wie's golf game that you wonder if her performance will ever match her potential or the hype.

Today, she shot a quintuple-bogey 9 on the ninth hole of the first round of the Women's U.S. Open in Edina, Minn., which gave her a 42 on the front nine. She finished with an 8-over 81 on the day and is essentially out of contention.

On the sixth stroke of the 413-yard, Par 4 where her Open fell apart, Wie was chipping from off the green and up a slope when the ball failed to make the ridge at the top and trickled back to her feet.

Personally, I just hate it when that happens on the windmill hole but at least I get a chance for a free game if the last putt goes in the clown's mouth.

As far as Wie is considered, she's been on the golf stage for so long and so prominently that it's sometimes easy to forget that she is still just 18-years-old. She has lots of time to recover from things like this but you do have to wonder about her golfer's psyche.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

The Fresno State baseball team's underdog story is just the kind of happening that makes sports so enjoyable (unless you're a Georgia fan).  Fresno State was 8-12 at one point during the season, made it to the College World Series playoffs by winning the WAC tournament, survived several elimination games and beat favored Georgia, 6-1, yesterday to win the best-of-three finals.

The offensive hero was outfielder Steve Detwiler who hit two home runs for Fresno yesterday and drove in all six runs.  But significantly, it was Detwiler who helped bring Fresno back from the brink in Game 2 of the final series.  Georgia, the No. 8 national seed, had won the first game and had a 5-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings in the second game.  The championship seemingly was within its grasp.

In the bottom of the third in Game 2, Detwiler was the lead-off hitter and his single started a six-run rally that was capped by Tommy Mendonca's three-run homer with two out that gave Fresno a 6-5 lead.  Georgia  tied the game, 6-6, in the top of the fourth but in the bottom of the inning, Detwiler again led off the inning with a base hit and Fresno scored another five runs on their way to a 19-10 victory that evened the series and set up yesterday's finale.

While Georgia was a No. 8 national seed, Fresno State was a No. 4 regional seed.  To get to the national title series, Fresno had to beat three other national seeds North Carolina (No. 2), Arizona State (No. 3) and Rice (No. 6).

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The strange injury suffered by Orioles pitcher Matt Albers illustrates the fragile nature of a team roster, particularly its pitching staff these days.  With so many pitchers locked into roles and so much reliance on the bullpen, a broken link is a much bigger tactical problem than it would have been in previous eras.

In the Orioles case, you have the traditional bullpen role of closer (George Sherrill) and more recently defined role of set-up man (Jim Johnson) requiring those pitchers to be reserved for those instances.  Some pitcher have their best use in very specific situations (lefty Jamie Walker versus lefthanded hitters).  Of course, your starters are your starters and unfortunately, too often they can be counted on for just five or six innings.

Albers had been especially reliable in a versatile capacity.  Ideally, he was the bridge between the starter and Johnson.  On a few occasions, he started himself.  Last night, he was the emergency starter for an ill Brian Burress. After feeling a twinge in his shoulder, Albers came out of last night's game, a 7-4 loss to the Cubs, after five batters and getting just one out. His ERA soared from under 3.00, where it had been most of the season, to 3.49. Considering he had absorbed the most innings of any pitcher in the bullpen, it's easy to see how he has really been something of a keystone holding the pitching arrangement in place.

Best case for the Orioles is that Albers is OK and that the discomfort he felt in his shoulder is nothing serious.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's difficult to imagine any instance when the victim of a crime bears responsibility for being victimized and we are not doing that here.  However, wide receiver Javon Walker's experience in Las Vegas should stand as further evidence to athletes that even though they're tough guys on the playing field, they are not immune to the dangers of the street that can accompany free-wheeling merry-making.

The Oakland wideout was found unconscious on a Vegas street a week-and-a-half ago after a long night of partying at a casino nightclub.  Walker suffered what was described as a "moderate" concussion and substantial facial injuries but is apparently OK.  He was robbed of $3,000 in cash and about $100,000 in jewelry.

While much of the U.S. is wired for video -- surveillance cameras, that is --- no one has it wired quite like Las Vegas and so much of Walker's activity that night has been traced by investigators.   What police discovered is that his alleged assailants were in the same areas where Walker was partying and that he apparently got into a vehicle with them voluntarily.  One man has been arrested and another is being sought.

This, from a Las Vegas police lieutenant: "Mr. Walker was in town to have a good time, as many of our visitors to Las Vegas do. As he will readily admit, he probably had a little too much to drink and he did not pick up on the clues that Mr. Fadel (the man arrested) was someone he probably should not have been with."

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

TMZ.com, a Web site that tracks all things salacious in the celebrity world, is reporting that a Phoenix-area company is suing Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis for nearly $5,800 for what TMZ says were hostesses who were provided for a Lewis event at the last Super Bowl.

To be clear, the suit itself identifies whatever Lewis is supposed to owe money for as "promotional services." If the word hostess is in the lawsuit and I missed it, I apologize.

An odd thing about the suit is that it identifies some of the defendants thusly: "Ray and Jane Doe Lewis are husband and wife and are nonresidents of Arizona."

If the Ravens' linebacker is married, that's news to me and also to the team. Here's a copy of a suit posted by TMZ.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)
                    

The Orioles got a taste last night of why the Cubs have the best record in the majors.  The O's seemed to have last night's game at Wrigley Field wrapped up after scoring three runs in the sixth inning to go ahead, 7-1, but Baltimore still found itself hanging on by its fingernails at the end clinging to a two-run lead with the bases loaded and no out in the bottom of the ninth.

In the end, Baltimore prevailed because it was clutch both pitching and hitting.

Closer George Sherrill, who may be the biggest catch so far in the the Orioles' offseason trades, struck out the side (after having loaded the bases) to preserve a 7-5 win. In the process, he also ended a 14-game winning streak at home for the Cubs. Before Sherrill got his 26th save, Brian Roberts went 3-for-5 with a triple and an RBI -- an interesting twist becaise it was Roberts who was considered one of the most likely of the Orioles to be traded before the season to the Cubs.

Also key last night were the runs the Orioles scored with two outs.  Kevin Millar had a two-out RBI in the fifth inning. And Roberts' two-out triple in the sixth drove in what proved to be the deciding run. Markakis then squeezed out a base hit to bring in Roberts.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Don Imus isn’t the only one saying he didn’t mean literally what he said.

Shaquille O’Neal is explaining that his freestyle rap in a New York nightspot over the weekend, in which the Phoenix Suns' center ridicules Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, was essentially all just in fun.

O’Neal’s rap, which surfaced yesterday on TMZ.com, started out with, “You know how I be. Last week Kobe couldn't do without me.” The two, who won championships as teammates in L.A., have feuded intermittently for years.

After that opening salvo about the Lakers’ loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals, the lyrics got a bit tougher. O’Neal explains he was simply entertaining within the normal boundaries of freestyle rap and “if I hurt anyone's feelings, I apologize.”

An edited version of the rap is part of this ESPN report.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The latest Don Imus controversy -- this one regarding a reference to Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones -- says as much about the nature of the blogosphere as it does about Imus.

A little background here. The Imus thing began breaking in the early afternoon yesterday with some of the earliest blogs having something posted being Pro Football Talk and politico.com but there were a few others.(Also, some of these blogs have had follow-up items as the news has evolved).

We had it ready to go as well yesterday, along with the sound clip but I noticed that some blog readers were saying that rather than Imus being insulting to African-Americans, that he was being ironic -- that he was actually saying Jones might have been unfairly targeted because of race. News stories today have Imus saying the latter is the case.

The original exchange went roughly like this (and you can listen below): An Imus straight man gives the news report beginning with a reference to the Las Vegas shooting incident that was part of Jones' year-long suspension in 2007. Then, the news announcer alludes to Jones' many arrests. Imus inquires about Jones' race. The news person answers, "African-American." Imus says, "There you go. Know we know."

Some blogs took Imus literally and implied he was reverting to the form that led to his comments regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team. I wanted to know whether Imus was being literal as some bloggers implied or sarcastic as some commenters were saying. So we put a call in to WABC radio, on which Imus appears, for clarification. Because we didn't hear back immediately, we held the blog entry.

This morning, we finally reached WABC programming director Phil Boyce, who is also identified as a Citadel Broadcasting vice president, and he explained as Imus already has that the comment was in defense of Jones rather than critical.

So here goes, you can judge. Below that is Imus' expnataion from today:

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
                    

More than a week after the fact, the news comes out that Pele -- voted the athlete of the century by the world's national Olympic committees and declared a national treasure by the government of Brazil -- was the victim of an armed robbery in his home country. Pele, who was the passenger in a car, was reportedly riding to a seaside home near the city of Santos when his car was surrounded by about 10 men. Pele lost a gold necklace, a watch and cell phone, according to some reports.

So did the robbers not know it was Pele or did they just not care? According to the little  information available, in some accounts of the crime, Pele rolled down the window and told the robbers who he was but they took the items anyway. Other reports say that the driver of the vehicle had some of his items returned when it registered that it was indeed Pele in the car. The robbery occurred on a stretch of road where bandits have been known to set up roadblocks to ambush motorists.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Over the weekend, comedian George Carlin passed away from heart failure. Carlin is best known for not merely pushing the envelope but shredding it to bits in terms of language and subject matter in his comedy. However, one of his classic riffs has to do with sports. Along with Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" and Bill Cosby's routine on "Street Football," Carlin's contrast of baseball and football stands the test of time as a comical look at the sports landscape. And, of course, in Carlin's case, there is a societal message in the humor.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The mystery of Big Brown's stunning failure in the Belmont -- when the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness fell so far out of contention after the final turn that jockey Kent Desormeaux eased him to the finish line -- took another strange turn over the weekend.

Two photos reportedly taken by freelance photographer Russ Milton were sent to one of Big Brown's owners, Michael Iavarone. They show the shoe on the colt's rear left hoof loose at least momentarily during the race. The hoof with the crack, which had been of concern leading up to the race, was the left front.

Deepening the mystery was that while there had been a report of a loose shoe after the race, the owner called that a miscommunication and an examination of Big Brown showed no signs of damage from a loose-shoe event.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Get 10 walks in a game and it there's just no way you can lose, right? Makes sense -- unless you're the Orioles playing on Sunday.

The O's left nine runners on base in yesterday's 7-3 loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee and hit into five double plays. They led twice twice but saw the Brewers do what they have been doing all season, which is to come-from-behind. Even third baseman Melvin Mora who has been money with runners on base all season failed to deliver all day with a total of nine runners on base.

I hadn't given much credence to this Sunday thing but now I'm beginning to rethink it.  Baltimore has now lost 11 straight Sunday games, scoring more than four runs just once in that run.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling appears to be heading for the door on his Major League career and assuming that's the case, his ticket should be punched to the Hall of Fame.

Over the course of a 20-year career, Schilling's win total (216-146) is a little on the low side and his ERA (3.46) is slightly on the high side but there certainly are Hall of Fame starting pitchers  with fewer victories and higher earned run averages, plus he worked when ERAs have been inching upward across the board. But his strikeouts (3,116) and post-season record (11-2) are spectacular.

He has three seasons -- 22-6 in 2001, 23-7 in '02 and 21-6 in '04 -- that are hands-down HOF caliber on their own merit and they all came when he was over 33 years old.

Plus, Schilling may also get high marks in the overall picture because in an era when there is so much doubt about numbers being inflated because of performance enhancing drugs, Schilling has been the anti-steroids champion.  He was part of World Series winners in both leagues.  And on top of everything else, he has that element of romantic sports lore going for him -- the famous bloody sock.

Schilling has been on the shelf all season trying to rehab his right shoulder and now he needs surgery, which could end his career but hopefully, allows him to live without pain.  It's hard to predict how many ballots it'll take to get him elected to Cooperstown because of some of the stats and because he has rubbed some people the wrong way with his outspokenness.  Actually, I think the latter should be to his credit -- but I don't have a vote.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
                    

In one more weird and grim turn to that Adam "Pacman" Jones strip club incident in Las Vegas last year where three people were shot and one man paralyzed, the woman in Jones' party who was part of the commotion inside the club has been found dead in New York.

Sadia Morrison was found dead last week in the Bronx.  Her injuries were consistent with a fall, according to police, but the article implies that a medical examiner's report is still pending.  Morrison pleaded no contest to felony battery for her role in the Vegas altercation.

Meanwhile, Jones -- now with the Dallas Cowboys --  reportedly is trying to shed the "Pacman" nickname presumably because it has been associated with his numerous legal problems and simply wants to be known as Adam Jones.  An item in the The Big Lead sports blog about the two athletes who coincidentally share the same name includes the suggestion that Orioles outfielder  Adam Jones may now want to adopt a nickname to create some distance between himself and the other Jones. Frankly, I don't think we'll have any trouble keeping it straight in these parts.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Charles Barkley's scheduled participation in a charity poker event is causing a stir because of his vow not to gamble for "the next year or two" after the Wynn Las Vegas and the Clark County prosecutor's office had to chase him for a $400,000 gambling debt.  Barkley repaid the casino and a $40,000 fee to the DA's office.

Barkley is on the roster of celebrities to play in a tournament called Ante Up for Africa being held on July 2, the day before the World Series of Poker Main Event starts in Las Vegas at the Rio casino.  The organizers are actor Don Cheadle and poker professional Annie Duke and last year, the event raised more than $700,000 for relief efforts in Darfur, a part of Sudan where overwhelming human misery is the result of conflict and famine.

However, Barkley's participation in the event, which has an invitee list that includes the Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd, actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as well as number of big-name poker pros, doesn't break his no-betting promise -- technically.  Whatever he wins, he is reportedly donating to one of the humanitarian charities associated with the tournament, according to a spokesman for TNT, the television network for which Barkley does basketball analysis. 

Of course, the trick for Sir Charles is staying away from all those blackjack tables that are just down the hall from the poker tournament area.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Just fired manager John McLaren was the latest victim to be tossed from the sinking ship that is the Seattle Mariners.  Earlier this week, general manager Bill Bavasi was dismissed and McLaren's departure was inevitable with Seattle suffering through a 25-47 year so far.  As others have already pointed out, Seattle is poised to set a dubious 100-100 mark -- a payroll of over $100 million and on track to lose 100 games.  That's never been done before.

McLaren is being replaced by bench coach Jim Riggleman.  An interesting twist is that Lee Elia, now 70, was only recently promoted from part-time consultant to batting coach and he now becomes bench coach. 

The turnover in leadership in a season beyond salvage also signals that Seattle will be looking to revamp its roster.  The pickings are pretty slim but a guy with value who should be on the block is former Oriole pitcher Erik Bedard.  Bedard is one of the reasons Bavasi got fired.  After giving up five players for the lefthander, all Seattle has gotten in return is a mediocre performance and a sour attitude.  Bedard is 4-4 with a 4.14 ERA but the worst, I think, is that he is averaging fewer than six innings a start in his 12 starts.  What would be a shocker is if Ichiro Suzuki is dealt away.  He's hitting .291 but that 40 points under his career average.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The Orioles created a little unnecessary drama last night by allowing the Astros to bring the lead run to the plate in the ninth inning of a game Baltimore went on to win, 7-5.  But the way things have been going, even if Houston had tied or gone ahead, the O's were entirely capable of still coming back and winning. Baltimore trailed at some point in all three games against the Astos and swept the series.

Success breeds confidence and confidence has been in short supply in Orioles clubhouses in recent years.  Since salvaging the final game of an otherwise disappointing four-game home series against Boston early this month, the Orioles have gone 11-5.

It's kind of interesting, when the Orioles lost to Boston back on June 1 to go three games under .500, it was the low point of the season.  The O's were 7 1/2 games out of first place back then.  Now they're on this 11-5 run and know what?  They're still 7 games out of first.  Yet, the mood is entirely different.  That's because in this rebuilding season, the Orioles are not to be measured against other teams in the standings.  They are to be measured against what they have been.  And this is a big improvement.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

There's a lot of justifiable hand-wringing going on among golf enthusiasts that without Tiger Woods, the profile index of the PGA Tour will slip to something approximating that of pro bowling  or curling.

There's talk among golf commentators about how the PGA has to begin promoting other players so that there won't be such a huge drop in interest, especially in TV ratings, when Woods isn't playing (a much-quoted Los Angeles Times article indicated that when Tiger played and was in contention, the ratings on CBS and NBC were up an average of 111 percent).

The hard truth here is that pro golf has been flirting with something I can best describe as a general malaise in terms of spectator interest for a couple of decades and that the Tiger Phenomenon has masked that.  The game's Golden Era featured its own Four Horsemen, Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and Trevino but who were also supported by an identifiable supporting cast of characters like Billy Casper, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Don January, Orville Moody and Raymond Floyd earlier and the likes of Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Greg Norman later.

Again, truth be told, I'll wager that more golf fans are more familiar with the names of players who were stars prior to 1990 than guys who have starred on the PGA Tour since.  That's why the Seniors Tour (now Champions Tour) was such a hit when it really got rolling in the mid-1980s.  Those guys may not have hit the ball as far as the younger players on the regular tour but they had something else going for them -- individual styles, engaging personalities, something that fans could latch onto.

But then Tiger Woods came along, an All-American superstar who was simply Ruthian in his accomplishments -- huge drives, iron shots that bit and scurried to the pin, putts that snaked their way into the hole -- and so universal in his appeal.  He was everything traditional yet modern at the same time. He has been both style and substance. And golf has shamelessly ridden his coattails for more than a decade now.  

Certainly there are many current pro golfers who are skilled and articulate and just plain good guys.  But there have not been enough like the late Payne Stewart who have the charisma to fire up a fan base as can the captivating Tiger Woods.  Phil Mickelson -- for all his 34 Tour wins and three majors, including two Green Jackets -- is really best known as Woods' most likely foil in any big tournament.

Last weekend, a journeyman named Rocco Mediate came out of nowhere and charmed a national television audience in what was truly a national happening.  Years from now, people will be able to tell you where they were when they watched that U.S. Open playoff.  Mediate's easy-going, wise-cracking everyman reminded me of Lee Trevino, the kind of pro golfer that a public course duffer could identify with.  But Trevino's enduring popularity was built on his considerable achievements that came as part of the package along with his immense likeability.  Mediate would need to add some victories to his resume to approach Trevino status and help golf's star power crisis in the absence of Tiger.

I don't know what the answer is for pro golf.  I suppose my point is that if there is a popularity problem for the game with Tiger missing from the scene -- and there is --  it's really a deeper problem that's been out there for a while. And that special magic appeal we call charisma isn't something you intentionally concoct, it just happens.  Like last weekend.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Speaking of the Yankees.  With a pitching staff beaten up by injuries -- the most recent being a base-running misadventure by Chien-Ming Wang -- New York has signed former Oriole Sidney Ponson, the occasionally benighted knight.

Ponson was last seen in the uniform of the Texas Rangers where, despite a 4-1 record and 3.88 ERA, he was released mainly because the honoree of the Dutch Royal House was a royal pain-in the-clubhouse

Ponson goes to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to prepare to pitch in about a week against the Mets.

I particularly like Yankees GM Brian Cashman's quote on picking up Ponson: "Hopefully, whatever happened in Texas stays in Texas."

This is Ponson's eighth Major League stop with six teams.  He's been in Baltimore twice and this is his second tour-of-duty with the Yanks.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The Orioles' performance approaching the halfway mark of 2008 and observers reaction to it -- both fans and the media -- is an interesting study in the law of relativity. No, not the Albert Einstein variety.  Maybe we can call it the John Kruk version.  As I was flashing through channels following last night's Orioles 2-1 comeback win over Houston, one of the ESPN analysts -- and I think it was Kruk, although I apologize if it was one of the other commentators -- was oohing and aahing over what the O's had accomplished this year.

At that point, one of his colleagues reminded him that the team is just two games over .500 (36-34) and merely in front of the last-place Toronto Blue Jays in AL East.

And when you look at Baltimore's bottom line in that context, you can say, "What's the big deal?"

The Yankees are six games over .500 but in the Bronx, they've been suffering from a season-long anxiety attack because they've been looking up at Boston and Tampa in the standings since April.  The Mets have been bobbing around the .500 mark, similar to the Orioles, and they've already fired their manager while Dave Trembley is considered Manager of the Year timber.  Likewise, the Braves are a game under .500 and the speculation is that Atlanta will have a trade-deadline fire sale because they're about ready to throw in the towel on 2008.

Of course, the difference in those cases and the Orioles is that everything is relative (hence, our Kruk law of relativity).  In all those cases, those teams were expected to contest for championships.  In contrast, no one expected much of the Orioles.  In fact, as a rebuilding team, it would not have been surprising if they finished with fewer than the 69 wins they had last year (Las Vegas didn't, the preseason over-under in sports books was in 63-64 win range). 

So, even if the Orioles keep up their current pace and finish with a win total in the low 80s, they won't be a playoff team but the season would be considered an enormous success.  In the Bronx, a similar finish will have Steinbrenner the Younger apoplectic.  Of course, then next year, it will be the Orioles who are held to a higher standard.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

As the Orioles continue a two-week stretch of Interleague play and go on the road for nine games beginning Friday in Milwaukee, they head into uncharted territory for 2008.  For the first time this season, the Orioles pitchers will have to hit and run the bases as the O's are required to play National League rules.

What is generally simply an unfamiliar and awkward situation for American League pitchers, who almost never find themselves in the batter's box and even more rarely on the base paths, has been elevated to a genuine danger over the last week.  Two AL pitchers, the Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang and the Red Sox' Bartolo Colon were both hurt performing unfamiliar offensive duties.

Wang, who was 8-2 with a 4.07 ERA, suffered the worse of the injuries. He tore a tendon and sprained a ligament in his right foot rounding third base in Houston last weekend and is out at least 10 weeks.

Colon, 4-2, 4.09 ERA, hurt himself merely swinging the bat against the Phillies on Monday.  He had to leave the game after five innings and now he's on the 15-day DL with back problems.

Yankees executive Hank Steinbrenner blew up after Wang's injury saying, ''My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century. They need to grow up and join the 21st century."

It's unrealistic to expect that the Orioles' pitchers will contribute much at the plate as the team swings through NL ballparks in Milwaukee, Chicago and Washington but O's fans have to keep their fingers crossed that the hurlers at least stay out of harm's way.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

The Golf Channel is reporting that Tiger Woods' left knee will require more surgery and the damage to his joint could be worse than had been reported so far.

Just after finishing second in the Masters in April, Woods had arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage. He didn't play 18 holes until his dramatic playoff victory in the U.S. Open over the weekend against Rocco Mediate.  Reportedly, this new surgery would be to repair his ACL.  In addition, it's also being reported that Woods suffered a stress fracture in his left leg two weeks before the U.S. Open.

It is not clear whether the new surgery would also be arthroscopic. 

Bottom line, it appears that  this new surgery will force Woods to miss the British Open  (mid-July) and keep him from defending his PGA Championship title (August).

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Argue all you want about the MVP of the Boston Celtics turnaround season and crushing Game 6 over the Los Angles Lakers, 131-92, last night in the NBA championship clincher.

Last night, clearly Kevin Garnett was the biggest of the Celts' Big Three that includes Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.  Garnett tied Allen with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting an added 14 rebounds.  When Boston was running away from the Lakers in the second quarter, he seemed to be the hammer nailing down the title.  Pierce, of course, was the Finals MVP averaging 22 points, six assists and 4.5 rebounds.

But I'm going to cast a vote for general manager Danny Ainge as Boston's MVP.  Ainge -- the pesky, whiny, seemingly chronically angry  point guard who played on the Larry Bird championship teams of 1984 and '86 -- presided over 24 wins last season and then wheeled and dealed (and, truth be told,  gambled his team's future) in the off-season to assemble this powerhouse that won 66 regular-season games.  And although observers wondered down the stretch whether the veteran Celtics would have enough steam left for the grueling playoffs, Boston proved conclusively it had both the energy enough fill-in pieces to mount a series-altering comeback in Game 4 on the road in L.A. and then last night's demolition at home. 

In retrospect, the deals that Ainge worked with Minnesota and Seattle for Garnett and Allen respectively look like no-brainers (meaning that the franchises on the other side of the deal were robbed witless).  But at the time, putting together a team whose nucleus would be in its early 30s and chemistry was an unknown was a huge risk -- especially since Ainge had to ship off a boatload of tomorrows in the form of draft picks to get this done.  And on the chemistry side, give Boston coach Doc Rivers for getting that talent to blend.

Well, the Big Three played like guys who have a few more miles of tread on them and the chemistry was magical.  Even if there are no more championships (and who bet against that?), Ainge's gamble has already brought Boston a jackpot.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

We may never know what Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada told Astros closer Jose Valverde about pitching to his former teammate Melvin Mora during a critical situation in the eighth inning last night (runners on first and second, two out and the O's behind by a rub) but the guess here was that it wasn't throw a 3-2 pitch down the middle of the plate to a guy hitting nearly .400 with runners in scoring position.

Actually, we can pretty much figure out that Miggie told Valverde to keep the ball outside because that's where Valverde had been working Mora during a classic nine-pitch at-bat and Valverde said this after the game in an interview that appeared in the Houston newspaper: "I missed with that pitch (to Mora). That's what happened. I didn't have too much command (Tuesday) for my split finger. The pitch Mora hit I was supposed to throw away, and it stayed in the middle."

Well, it didn't stay there long because the O's third baseman jacked it to just right of  center for a one-hop double to the wall that drove in two runs giving Baltimore a 6-5 lead that held up through George Sherrill's 23rd save.

It was also the 20th Orioles comeback win as they lifted themselves above .500 (35-34) one more time.  At this rate, the O's may not wind up being in serious contention for the playoffs in September but they won't be mathematically eliminated, either.  And right now, they're giving fans plenty of reason to watch beyond the seventh inning.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Most folks are familiar with those Disney commercials from the Super Bowls where the star of the game is asked, "Well, Trent Dilfer, you just won the Super Bowl, what's next?"  And a grinning Dilfer, John Elway, whoever answers, "I'm going to Disney World!"

And that's all well and good.

But imagine if some players were asked that same "What's next" question after landing a big contract and they were really, really honest.

The answer might go something like, "I'm going to Vegas, go clubbing, buy some Dom. P, spray some and get rolled and left in an alley."  And it wouldn't be funny at all.

Oakland Raider wide receiver, after carping his way our of Green Bay and crapping out in Denver, somehow managed to convince another NFL team, the Oakland Raiders, that he was worth a six-year, $55 million deal with $16 million guaranteed.  He inked that in March.  Now, he's recuperating from some serious injuries, including a reported orbital fracture, he apparently suffered on a Las Vegas street where he was found beaten and robbed after a couple of nights of partying at Vegas casino nightclubs -- Tryst at the Wynn Las Vegas and Body English at the Hard Rock Casino (photo). Body English appears to have been one of his last stops before he was discovered roughed up early Monday morning.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Apparently, we can officially put Spygate behind us. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter says that he is not seeking a Congressional inquiry into any further misdeeds by the New England Patriots. The Pennsylvania senator told the Philadelphia Daily News editorial board, "I've gone as far as I can” and that the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which he sits, has too much on its plate already.

He did say, though, that he’d like to examine the issue of public financing for sports stadiums. Specter brought up once again that NFL owners enjoy a federal anti-trust exemption.

With Specter closing the book on Spygate that would appear to be the definitive end of one of the more intriguing story lines of the 2008 season that saw the Patriots come one game short of a perfect season. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had already said after interviewing former Patriots employee Matt Walsh that the league had exhausted all apparent avenues of investigation. After being caught breaking league rules by taping the New York Jets’ defensive signals early in the season, the Patriots were penalized a first-round pick this year; coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, and the team was clipped for $250,000.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Talk about bleeding purple.

Baltimore Ravens tight end Daniel Wilcox is getting married in a couple of weeks to Shauna Chin, a former Ms. Belize.  But the news here is that the ceremony will take place at the 50-yard line at M&T Bank Stadium, according to Wilcox's publicist.  The bride will be carried into the stadium by a Cinderella-style horse-drawn carriage.

Wilcox has been extremely engaged in community activities since joining the Ravens in 2004, including organizing spelling bees, SAT preparation classes and book drives, and working with Habitat for Humanity and PAL, among other groups.

Photo: Baltimore Sun

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

It has been a long time since a golf match created as much day-after buzz as yesterday’s epic battle between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open playoff round.

And as much as fans were understandably pulling for the 45-year-old underdog, Woods’ accomplishment in holding off a determined and tenacious competitor with a victory on the 91st hole was just as worthy of applause considering his not-yet-healed left knee that was operated on in April to repair cartilage damage.

That Tiger allowed after the match, “This is probably the greatest tournament I've ever had," speaks volumes about the physical challenge of his knee and unrelenting press of competition from Mediate.

It’s unknown how long Woods will have to shut it down since he obviously didn’t do that knee any good from Thursday through Monday. It wouldn’t be surprising if he missed the British Open, which is in a month. And you even have to wonder about the PGA Championship four weeks after that.

And who knows when the next time will be that Rocco Mediate makes another charge to the top of the leader board. Maybe it’ll be at the World Series of Poker where he played pretty well three years ago. Well, probably not this year – his thrilling struggle against Woods has made him a pretty hot name in golf for now. And with Woods likely on the shelf, he’s the guy the galleries will want to follow.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The housecleanings have begun in the majors in a couple of entirely predictable places.

In Seattle, general manager Bill Bavasi, architect of a miserable Mariners team, was fired earlier in the week.  And last night in a move that was almost scary in the hush-hush way it was carried out Mets manager Willie Randolph and two of his coaches were sacked in the middle of the night in Los Angeles after the Mets had just won two in a row and four of six.

Randolph's impending exit was a foregone conclusion after last year's epic collapse and this year's disappointing start that made it appear the Mets hadn't shaken off the hangover from 2007. Still, the way it was handled was simply bizarre. Randolph is replaced by bench coach Jerry Manuel.  The other fired coaches were Rick Peterson (pitching) and Tom Nieto (first base).  First base coach?  Did he forget to tell someone how many outs there were?

The Mariners are 22 games under .500 and playing out the string.  The Mets are one game under .500 and 6 1/2 behind the first-place Phillies.  But both share a common quality -- expensive payrolls.  The Mets are reportedly have the No. 2 payroll in the majors, nearly $138 million.  Incredibly, the Mariners have the No. 9 payroll (sixth in the American League), more than $117 million -- so that falls pretty heavily on the GM.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Jay Gibbons finally has a team. It's the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League.

Gibbons had been unable to land a spot with a Major League organization after being released by the Orioles in March. He had also been named in the Mitchell report as having received a shipment of human growth hormones after it had been banned by baseball. He has admitted his involvement.

Gibbons had written an emotional letter to all 30 baseball teams essentially pleading for a chance to prove he can play, even at the minor league level and had gotten no takers.

Independent teams offer players an opportunity to play their way onto an affiliated team or even to the majors. Gibbons is still owed about $12 million by the Orioles.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Just like Rocky in the movie, Rocco Mediate went the distance with the best in the world -- and then some -- but came up just a stroke short in the U.S. Open.

In what was the most stirring U.S. Open in recent memory, Mediate overcame Woods' three-shot lead after 10 holes to take a one-stroke lead after 15 holes. As he did on Sunday, though, Woods kept his U.S. Open alive on the 18th green with a birdie putt. On the first hole of sudden death, Mediate hooked his tee shot left into a fairway bunker and could not save par on a 451-yard Par 4 as Woods made an easy par.

When it was all over, Mediate and Woods embraced. "He said, 'Great fight,' to me and that meant the world to me," Mediate said.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The putts haven't been quite so automatic for Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate has found a rhythm off the tee. Mediate birdied No. 13 and No. 14 as a Woods birdie putt lipped out on the Par 4 14th hole. Woods has been having trouble hitting fairways and you have to wonder how much his left knee is bothering him on the long shots. He hasn't winced noticably today very much but he did on one occasion. He is now on his 87th hole of the U.S. Open after having not walked 18 holes since the Masters on his repaired left knee.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

If you don't have an opportunity to keep track of the U.S. Open playoff round, Tiger Woods has been giving Rocco Mediate some opportunities to pick up ground but Woods' putter is hot and he keeps shutting the window of opportunity. Meanwhile, Mediate has not been putting well and he had bogies at No. 9 and 10.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

If you haven't been following the U.S. Open that's currently in a playoff round between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate (Tiger leads by one stroke after six holes at the moment), you may not be aware that Mediate is an avid amateur poker player who participated in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event.  That was the tournament where local poker player Steve Dannenmann finished second and won $4.25 million.  Australian Joe Hachem won the event and made $7.5 million.

Mediate did well in the poker tournament (photo) but just missed cashing.  However, here is Mediate in an interview with the New York Daily News three years ago in a conversation that is prescient about what's happening today.

Mediate : "Let me put it to you this way, If I had won the U.S. Open it would have paid me a million dollars, and probably another $3-$5 million off the golf course in the next couple of years. When I come here to the World Series of Poker, I have an opportunity to win - what's it going to be $7, $8, $9 million? That's to play cards. That is unbelievable. It's bigger than the United States Open as far as how much money you can make."

Right now, I think Mediate would settle for the U.S. Open.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

We're a little late on this video but since we're still within 24 hours of Father's Day, we wanted to get it up anyway. The Orioles' Melvin Mora missed the Father's Day game against Pittsburgh yesterday because of an injury suffered Saturday but the O's third baseman still got a lot attention from a stand-room-only crowd. The Moras are the parents of 6-year-old quintuplets plus one older daughter. Here's Melvin and his wife being interviewed about their extraordinary family circumstances.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

As the NBA Finals head to Game 6 back in Boston with the Celtics leading the Lakers, 3-2, a couple of thoughts occur following L.A.'s 103-98 win yesterday.

The first is prompted by Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant's observation about having to win two games at the Boston Garden (OK, it's the TD Banknorth Garden but I can't imagine Norm at Cheers calling it that). Bryant said after yesterday's game: "In training camp if you told us, 'We'll give you two games that you have to win to win a world championship,' we would have taken it in a heartbeat. This is a great opportunity for us."

So as daunting as winning two in a row on the road appears to be, Bryant sums it up nicely. The Lakers have climbed a mountain to get where they are and two more steps don't seem quite so impossible when put in that perspective.

However ... The Celtics have proved they are an incredibly, incredibly resilient team. Overcoming a 24-point Laker lead to win Game 4 in L.A.  Then coming back from 19 down early in the second period to finally tie it, 90-90, with about four-and-a-half minutes left yesterday. If Boston can do that on the road, imagine how tough the Celts will be at home.

So maybe those final two steps for L.A. really are impossible.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

For all the credit one must give to Rocco Mediate for being in a playoff today with Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open, make no mistake about it -- Woods' biggest challenge in his own body.  It is ironic indeed that perhaps the most physically fit man to swing a golf club since Gary Player must overcome a physical disadvantage but that's exactly the strange situation in which Tiger finds himself.  Woods' repaired left knee has turned out to be a bigger challenge than most observers ever thought and now he has to push himself beyond 72 holes in what is always the most grueling tournament of the year.  If you're a golf fan and have a chance to see any of this, do it.  It is going to be one of golf's memorable, perhaps even historic moments.  It's scheduled to be on ESPN from noon to 2 p.m. and on NBC from 2 p.m. to its conclusion.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Forget about Sunday hexes, if Orioles fans want to scratch their heads over something, there's always Daniel Cabrera. Just when you think the big right-hander has his considerable talent harnessed, his grip on his control slips from him again. The guy is an enigma.

After about a month-and-a-half of showing that he can be a genuine stopper-type starter, Cabrera has slid dramatically in his last three outings. He has given up 16 runs in 17 innings, including four in six frames in yesterday's 5-4 10-inning loss to Pittsburgh. More concerning was the way he struggled against the Pirates, mostly with himself. If you want a quick snapshot of how Cabrera is pitching, just look at his balls-to-strikes ratio. Yesterday, he threw 109 pitches, 59 for strikes. Not surprisingly, he walked five batters. He also hit a couple of guys and threw a wild pitch. You wonder if those are from overthrowing or frustration or both.

Still, the Orioles battled back, as they did all weekend against the Pirates, and tied the game in the ninth only to have George Sherrill, who has had a great year so far, have a rocky outing in the 10th for one of the few times this seasons. Manager Dave Trembley has done a terrific job manging the bullpen so far but if the guy who is supposed to be his No. 2 starter keeps putting the team in a hole like this, it's going to be impossible to keep this club at .500.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The World Series of Poker going on in Las Vegas right now always produces its share of intriguing human interest stories.

In the last few days, winners of tournaments included a few famous TV poker personalities and a couple of less familiar players but with fascinating back stories.

The famous names to capture bracelets were Daniel Negreanu and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. Negreanu won Event No. 20 (there are 55 tournaments leading up to the famous Main Event beginning in early July), the $2,000 Limit Hold ‘em event that paid him about $205,000.  It was Negreanu's fourth WSOP bracelet. The colorful Matusow won an event that had a small field (85 players) but was packed with top pros. The Mouth won the $5,000 No-limit 2-7 draw lowball with rebuys (Event No. 18). He won about $538,000.

But some of the lesser-known winners are equally newsworthy. Eric Brooks, a businessman from suburban Philadelphia, won the $10,000 Seven-card Stud Championship for nearly $416,000 and is donating it all to an educational charity, one that helps students (K-12) develop decision-making skills. And Vanessa Selbst (right) won the $1,500 Pot-limit Omaha tournament worth nearly $228,000. Selbst is a Yale graduate who plans to return to New Haven to study law and pursue human rights issues.

Getting into the Main Event itself is a pricey endeavor; it costs $10,000 to enter but some Internet sites, such as AOL, have offered free opportunities. A strictly poker Web Site, PurePlay, which is based in San Francisco and whose officials say it is compliant with federal laws also is offering WSOP seats. It does offer two levels of membership, though. One is completely free (basic) and the other has a $20 a month subscription fee attached to it. No endorsement is implied here.

Both categories of players have opportunities to win seats in the WSOP Main Event, albeit the odds are long. Free players have to win a multi-table qualifier (1,000 players) to get to the semifinals, finish in the top five of the semis (250 players) and then win the finals (500) outright. Subscribers get to enter much smaller opening round qualifiers and then advance to the same-size semis and finals. The finals are being held June 22.

Photo: IMPDI for the 2008 WSOP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

This NBA officiating situation was bound to get ugly and it has.

Information is beginning to leak out that the FBI has questioned some referees about veteran ref Dick Bavetta, who happened to be part of the crew for the now infamous Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals between Sacramento and the L.A. Lakers which was won by the Lakers.  The general belief is that the calls went in favor of the Lakers -- one of the NBA's glamor teams -- and as a result, forced a Game 7.  The deciding game was also won by Los Angeles.

Tim Donaghy, the former NBA ref who has pleaded guilty to gambling-related charges and is scheduled to be sentenced soon, has alleged in a letter to the court that the officiating in a game that can only be deduced was that Kings-Lakers game was tilted toward the Lakers to help ensure more exciting games for the league.  Similarly, Donaghy  has alleged that a league official urged  refs to officiate a playoff game in 2005 in a fashion that would have benefited the team trailing in the series.  The result would be to prolong the series and materially benefit the league.

That the FBI is asking question about Bavetta or anyone else should not be taken as anything other than what it is -- investigators following up on information from a cooperating witness.  No one should assume that the mere fact that the FBI asks questions implies guilt.

Meanwhile, NBA commissioner David Stern is vigorously defending his referees.  But you have to remember that the Donaghy allegations are as much about alleged implied malfeasance on the part of the NBA itself as much as they address specific referee conduct.  So in a very real sense, Stern is defending the very integrity of the league -- and by extension, himself.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, whose Lakers trail the Boston Celtics, 3-1, in the NBA finals has -- apart from anything going on at the moment -- suggested that game officials be under the oversight of someone apart from the league.  Perhaps to do that right now might appear like some sort admission of guilt on the part of the NBA but at some point, the league should consider such a concept.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

I wanted to add my two cents worth on Jonathan Ogden retiring and frankly, there is not too much novel I can express -- except for perhaps one thought, and I'll get to that in a moment.

But first, I don't think it can emphasized too much how valuable Ogden was from a tactical point of view.  To say Ogden is among the best left offensive tackles of all time -- the very best of his era -- is to say a lot.  In my humble opinion, offensive left tackle is the second most important position on the field next to quarterback -- and just as hard to fill.  An ineffective left tackle can make even a good quarterback look bad.  Conversely, a great left tackle can elevate the play of even a mediocre quarterback and the entire offense.  Being able to consistently protect the blind side without requiring the additional help of a double-team from a guard, tight end or running back has an enormously positive ripple effect.  And remember, the left tackle has to play against arguably the best athlete on the other side, the pass rushing defensive end or linebacker -- some guy who is big, fast and quick AND is frequently single-purposed.  On the other hand, being a left tackle involves switching gears on successive plays from essentially a defensive posture (pass blocking) to an aggressive one (run blocking).  It requires a combination of aggression and emotional control that's really without comparison in sports.

So left tackle is a tough, tough job.  That's why it's so very hard to find a good one.  The Ravens had the best in the last dozens years and Baltimore football has been blessed now with two all-time greats, Ogden and the Colts' Jim Parker.

Now, here's what I really wanted to say about Ogden (above with his son, Jayden).  While the Ravens are among the most respected franchises in the NFL and a place where players like to come as free agents, let's face it, they have been literally and figuratively one of the league's black-hat teams -- for reasons associated with things both on and off the field with which we're all familiar.  Sometimes, that works to Baltimore's advantage and when it does, local fans revel in the image. 

However, a franchise needs some white hats, too --players who are respected for their quality of character.  Players who exude, if I can use the word, nobility.  There are plenty of Baltimore Colts fans out there who know exactly what I'm talking about.  Guys like No. 19.

Ogden, the huge, tenacious trench fighter has been exactly that.  Even-tempered, thoughtful, articulate, he has been a player who the local sports media could count on, year-in and year-out, to explain for the benefit of the fans why things went well and not so well.  He has been a role-model in the way he interacts with the community.  If you ever heard about something Jonathan Ogden was involved with off the field, it was always positive.

Ogden said that what he prized most was the respect of his peers.  That's what he wanted as a player.  Well, he certainly earned it and just as importantly, that respect was transferred to the franchise he played for.  Aside from his special athletic talents, it was that quality that made him even more special and an enormous source of pride to the Ravens and their fans.

Photo: Karl Merton Ferron/Sun

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

It's hard to convince fans that any loss is less painful than another but from my perspective the kind of defeat the Orioles suffered in Boston last night, a 9-2 drubbing, really is a lot easier to digest.  It was one of those nights when the opposition was hitting on all cylinders and the Orioles were basically out of it with one swing of the bat, the grand slam by Mike Lowell in the fifth.  The positive of this past road trip, when the Orioles went 5-4, was that they could have tanked after a disappointing previous home stand but did not.

Now, they have to reverse their 10-year trend in Interleague play.  The next 15 games are against the National League, six at Camden Yards and nine on the road. As many fans know, the O's have the worst Interleague record in the American League.  The good news is that they start by playing the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have the worst Interleague record in the Major Leagues, just .377 since 1997.

The next two weeks offer a mixed bag. Along with Pittsburgh, Houston and Milwaukee, all teams that have been treading water  like the O's, Baltimore plays the Cubs, who have been hitting great, and the Nationals, who are struggling.  Just posting a positive W-L record over the next two weeks would be continuation of what the Orioles have been trying to do this year -- improve incrementally.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Jewel thieves got away with some ice that may be a little too hot to dispose of profitably.

Over the weekend, a jewelry store in Attleboro, Mass., was relieved of a 1,000-pound safe after a hole was cut in the roof.

The haul reportedly was worth about  $2 million but the interesting part of the take was a number of the latest Super Bowl rings that were intended for staff members of the New York Giants organization.  The company that was robbed, E.A. Dion Inc., manufactures the rings. The white-gold rings, which have the team's three Vince Lombardi trophies on them, are worth about $25,000 each.

Interestingly, the caper happened not far from Gillette Stadium, home of the losing New England Patriots and if you have some zinger about Bill Belichick, put it in the suggestion box.

Photo: Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

A story on ESPN.com reported on the difficulty that some baseball players named in the Mitchell Report are having trying to get jobs in the majors this season. Of course, the most high-profile player connected with performance enhancing drugs without a job is Barry Bonds. But Bonds should be considered apart from other players because he happens to be facing a multi-count federal indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice.

The trangressions of a player such as former Oriole Jay Gibbons are far less and in Gibbons' case, he has admitted his culpability. Still, he's out of work. He has written a letter to every team in Major League Baseball offering to start out in the minors and donate all of his minor league salary to charity and a portion of his major league salary to charity as well. Also understand that Gibbons slumped to .230 last season playing in just 84 games and when he was released by the Orioles in March, reportedly he was still owed about $12 million on the final three years of his contract. After the jump is the full text of Gibbons' letter that appeared on ESPN.com.

I am young, healthy and determined. I have acknowledged and apologized for the mistake that I made and writing this letter should be proof enough that I have indeed suffered for my mistake.

I have faith and hope that some team will give me the chance to prove that I can not only be a productive player but also be a stellar member of their organization. My faith in a second chance has inspired me to work harder than I have at any time in my life. My faith has gotten me through this most difficult period in my life.

All I need is a chance -- any chance -- anywhere. I am more than willing to begin the process of proving that I can and will be a productive major league player by playing in the minor leagues.

As you know, I have played seven seasons in the big leagues and have hit 20-plus homeruns in three seasons and have hit .277 in three seasons (2003, 2005 and 2006). At 31 years old, I have NO DOUBT that my best baseball is ahead of me.

I know that my agents at ACES have tried to land me an opportunity in the minor leagues but have been met with negative responses by each and every Organization. I am not blind to the fact that I have made a mistake and that mistake has raised doubt about my character and ability. It is important that you know that my indiscretions, while regretful, were made in an effort to heal a nagging wrist injury. I would encourage you to speak with anyone in this game, including players, coaches, front office etc. who know me. I am confident that everyone you speak with will vouch for my character.

I respectfully and humbly request that you grant me the chance to play for your organization.

I am so willing to prove myself as a player, and a person, that I will donate ALL of my minor league earnings to your Club's charity. In the event that I earn the right to play at the major league level, I will gladly donate a significant sum to that same charity.

Once again, all I need is a chance and I will prove that I can be an extremely productive player and a great addition to your organization.

Please feel free to contact me directly [phone numbers redacted].

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Jay Gibbons

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (58)
                    

No matter how this Lakers-Celtics NBA finals turns out, the forensic investigation by NBA observers undoubtedly will concentrate on the officiating. Granted, it makes zero sense that anyone in a striped shirt would do anything but call an absolutely honest game at this point. But the public is still going to wonder and question.

And it doesn't matter that disgraced former NBA ref Tim Donaghy (right) has all the credibility of an oil company executive explaining how much his corporation is trying to hold down gasoline prizes. Ever since Wilt Chamberlain dipper-dunked his way through an NBA career without ever fouling out of a game, the NBA has been under fan suspicion for protecting its star players to protect the gate. More recently, those suspicions of the league have spread to favoring more popular teams and extending playoff series to boost TV ratings.

As a result, Donaghy's contentions in court papers that a 2002 playoff game (presumed to be between the Sacramento Kings and the Lakers) was tanked by the refs at the behest of the NBA to help L.A. advance resonates with the public.

If you're in the conspiracy camp, you couldn't have asked for a better script than last night. Lakers down to the Celtics 2-games-to-none in the most attractive NBA finals since league fashion was tight silks. The officiating crew included two of the three refs -- Joey Crawford and Mark Wunderlich -- who were part of the crew in this year's Spurs-Lakers game in the Western Conference finals where there was a critical non-call on L.A.'s Derek Fisher against San Antonio's Brent Barry.  (You want a little more irony? Crawford went to the same high school as Donaghy, although at different times, and Wunderlich at one time lived in the area in suburban Philadelphia.)

Last night, with the Lakers needing a victory to have the series stay a series -- and extend the TV exposure of this very important opportunity for the league -- L.A. got 34 chances at the foul line to Boston's 22. The net difference on the scoreboard was six points. The Lakers won, 87-81. Am I suggesting anything about the officiating? Not at all. What I AM saying is that that kind of statistic is the type of thing that gets the attention of a skeptical public which doesn't have to be convinced that Tim Donaghy is Honest Abe to be credible. 

And NBA commissioner David Stern smiling and brushing aside the Donaghy allegations citing Donaghy's messy rep and reminding everyone that the guy is an admitted felon doesn't get it done in the court of public opinion.

There is a belief among many that the NBA finagles games to help its general economic health.  True or not -- and it doesn't matter how much the league opens itself to investigation -- too many fans see it that way. Stern has to realize that his league's perception problem is grave and getting worse regardless of what he contends is the reality. And there is something he can do about it -- put a firewall between the league and its officials. It's a suggestion being advanced by none other than Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

Here's what Jackson said last night: "You know, a lot of things have happened in the course of the Tim Donaghy disposition. I think we have to weigh it as it comes out, and we all think that probably referees should be under a separate entity than the NBA entirely. I mean, that's what we'd like to see probably in the NBA. It would just be separate and apart from it. But I don't think that's going to happen."

Photo: Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

It was refreshing for Orioles fans to see Baltimore come back on the Red Sox last night, 10-6, on the strength of some timely hitting. Getting 15 hits was terrific. Even better was making sure those runners counted. For instance, Freddie Bynum and Brian Roberts helped stake the O's to an early 4-1 lead with two-out base hits driving in two runs each. Four double plays on defense didn't hurt, either.

But the point I wanted to make today was not to simply toss out the reminder that last night's comeback from a 6-4 hole was possible due to the bullpen but also recognize manager Dave Trembley's role in juggling the relief staff. After Daniel Cabrera was roughed up through five innings, Trembley used five more pitchers over the last four innings -- a luxury he had after an off-day. In the Boston seventh, for example, Trembley used three pitchers in what was a one-two-three inning. Dennis Sarfate, who had pitched the previous inning, retired the first batter. Then Jamie Walker retired the hot-hitting J.D. Drew on four pitches and finally Chad Bradford got Manny Ramirez, who has been hitting home runs against the Orioles lately at a clip of one a game, on three pitches. Jim Johnson pitched the eighth and closer George Sherrill, the ninth.

Of course, if your lefty doesn't get out the lefties (Walker-Drew) and your righty doesn't get out the righties (Bradford-Ramirez), you don't look like much of a genius. But for the most part this season, Trembly has been pushing the correct buttons. He's not an Earl Weaver or an Ozzie Guillen in attracting attention -- in fact, he's the exact opposite -- but the guy who was essentially told to keep the seat warm last year has been doing a heck of job so far.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

It was inevitable that Big Brown's failure in the Belmont was bound to attract some satire, mostly because of trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. shooting off his mouth.

So we have two lampoons. First, sports business writer Darren Rovell comes up with a mock ad campaign for delivery service FedEx skewering rival UPS for its blatant commercial association with the colt. Slogan: "Big Brown, if you're not first ... you're last." See it here.

And then there's this video send-up of a Congressional hearing looking into steroid use by Big Brown. Dutrow admitted to administering steroids to Big Brown but then discontinued the practice. The steroid Big Brown was receiving was not a banned substance for horses in the states where the Triple Crown is run.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Here's an interesting take on those Rampaging Rays, who have surprised the baseball world so far by jumping out to 12-games-OVER-.500 and trail the Red Sox by just one game in the AL East.

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller, of Vegas Watch in an article that appears on Covers.com, identifies fielding as one of the two major contributing factors in Tampa Bay's success so far. The other is relief pitching. Interestingly, the same is true of the Orioles, if not on such a dramatic scale.

The writer, using measurements from Baseball Prospectus, points out that Tampa Bay's defensive efficiency rating has improved to just about a major league best  of 71.8 from what was a league worst of 66.2 last year. The defensive rating is a ratio of balls-in-play that are turned into outs. That 5-point-plus increase translates -- in some estimates -- to 200 runs over the course of a season, or 20 wins. I can't vouch for the specific math and the assumptions implied here but the correlation between improved defense and the W-L record seems to hold up.

But more to the point, I think, is that the Tampa Bay improvement, particularly defensively, did not involve going out and signing big-money free agents. Instead, they did it with more subtle tweaking: trades, promotions from the minors and internal position switching. One move that many baseball fans would recognize was moving the promising B.J. Upton from the middle infield to center field.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

There is no end to the trials of Roger Clemens, it seems. I realize for a lot of baseball fans, that's perfectly fine.  Some see his righteous defiance as the ultimate in celebrity arrogance. Well, we'll let federal investigators sort that one out but in the meantime, the New York Daily News -- which trots out something embarrassing about Clemens every week or two -- reports today that Clemens kept a stash of Viagra around the locker room for performance-enhancing purposes.

On the field, that is.

Even if he did, Clemens would not have been breaking any Major League Baseball rules. Viagra is not a banned substance for players, not yet anyway. But the newspaper story went on to say how popular Viagra has become in locker rooms because of its reputed benefits in delivering oxygen and nutrients to muscles more efficiently and because it's suppose to help endurance, especially at high altitudes. Three universities are doing research into whether there's a scientific basis to support the anecdotal evidence that Viagra gives athletes a boost.

On the field, that is. On the field.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Former Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson certainly hurt himself with his stupidity over the weekend when he was stopped by police for an alleged traffic violation that was compounded by a DUI charge. But he also created even more cynicism among the public concerning bad athlete behavior because there was a segment of fans who bought into Benson’s contention that his highly-publicized boating incident back in May was a case of over-aggressive police conduct.

Over a month ago, Benson was stopped on a Texas lake and cited for boating while intoxicated. He was pepper-sprayed because, police said, he was uncooperative. Benson garnered some public support when he said he was not drunk and was completely cooperative, in part, because he was immediately forthcoming about the incident and a few other accounts – including one from an apparent impartial party – backed some of Benson’s claims.

Then, there was this past weekend’s middle-of-the-night traffic stop in Texas. Again, Benson said he was not drunk but admitted to having some alcohol at dinner. While the traffic stop and the boating incident are obviously unrelated in a legal sense, in the court of public opinion, fans who may have been leaning toward Benson’s version of events in the boating incident may feel duped now. Certainly the Bears had enough. They were willing to wait-and-see after the lake arrest but they took about 48 hours to release their former first-round pick after this most recent run-in with the law. And the next athlete who gets in a jam and says he’s the victim of overzealous law enforcement or his own celebrity? Forget it.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

It's a little strange to say of a guy who just joined one of the most exclusive groups in baseball history, "What if," but that's exactly the case concerning Ken Griffey Jr., who hit his 600th career home run yesterday against Florida.

Griffey's feat puts him with just Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa as players who have hit 600. For many fans who discount Bonds and Sosa, the legitimate club is smaller. And there is lots of room to speculate what Griffey would have accomplished had he not been slowed by injuries earlier this decade.

Four seasons, from 2001 through 2004, Griffey averaged just 80 games a year which, in turn, slowed his home run pace to just an average of 16 a season. In that way, Griffey is reminiscent of Ted Williams, who lost nearly five full seasons to military service. Williams finished his career with 521 homers and baseball fans have debated in the nearly five decades since he finished his career with a home run whether he would have passed Babe Ruth.

It's difficult to say how many home runs Griffey will finish with. Last year, he played in more games (144) than he had in seven years. But although he has stayed healthy and has appeared in 61 games in 2008, he has just seven homers this season. Right now, he projects to an 18-homer, .260 season as a 38-year-old outfielder. There are many in baseball who, in hindsight, would have much preferred that it was this son of a major leaguer rather than Bonds who had scaled the mountain that is Aaron's home run totals. This much is clear, though, while Bonds' Hall of Fame fate may hinge on the outcome of a federal indictment related to performance enhancing drugs, Griffey's path to Cooperstown will be an easy home run trot.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Kenny "The Snake" Stabler always had a good ol' boy reputation for scrambling on the wild side and it has caught him with him from time to time.  One of those times was yesterday when the former Raiders and Saints quarterback was pulled over for DUI.  It was Stabler's third arrest since 1995 for driving under the influence.  Sort of shocking is Stabler's mug shot.  The Snake is 62 years old but in this Nick Nolte-like police portrait (in what resembles one of those county-issued orange jumpsuits), Stabler looks more like 82.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan is retiring after 15 seasons during which he recorded 141 1/2 sacks.

Strahan first told FOX Sports of his decision saying that he wanted his teammates and the organization to be be aware of his plans as soon as possible so they could prepare accordingly.  Last week, the Giants signed veteran DE Renaldo Wynn bracing for this possibility.

Strahan obviously has an immediate future in television. He has worked in a fistful of commercials and has appeared frequently as a commentator for studio shows as well as a guest on the Best Damn Sports Show and other TV programs. Along the way, he has become one of the most recognizable figures in the NFL.

Photo: Bill Kostroun/AP

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson just used up his last ounce of public and team goodwill over the weekend -- if he had any left to begin with.

Perhaps you'll recall that Benson was involved in a controversial boating under the influence arrest down in Texas several week ago. Essentially, Benson was saying that he was the victim of overly aggressive police action and I think initially a lot of people gave that contention some credence. I admit that I did for a couple of reasons. For one thing, Benson was immediately forthcoming about the incident, describing what occurred in detail. Secondly, there was some corroborating accounts  -- some from friends of Benson that had to be viewed in that context and some from apparently impartial observers.  At least there was enough there to think that just maybe this time, the athlete in an arrest situation may be getting a raw deal. Maybe.

Over the weekend, though, Benson was arrested for  driving under the influence in Texas. He says he passed the field sobriety test, which is what he also said about the boating incident. The police reported said he was glassy-eyed and unsteady, according news accounts. Some alleged questionable driving was involved prompting the police stop. It was in the middle of the night. Benson's lawyer says he had 2-3 drinks. OK, so what happened over the weekend doesn't necessarily prove what did or didn't happen with the boat -- but it probably doesn't matter any more.

The Bears front office, meaning GM Jerry Angelo, had this understandable and telling reaction: "Disappointment is too much an often-used word when we're talking about Cedric."

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Unless something comes up in scientific testing over the next few days or weeks to explain Big Brown's sluggish run at the end of the Belmont Stakes Saturday, the legacy of the powerful bay who was a prohibitive favorite to finally break through the three-decade barrier of the Triple Crown is likely to be mystery.

Why did he not run in the Belmont as he always did? As he did in the Florida Stakes, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

Not only had Big Brown won five straight, none were even close. And so, in the absence of some absolute determination, there will be theories and conjecture. At the top of any list will be how much steroids or lack thereof, helped or hurt Big Brown. Of course, the crack in his hoof and its ramifications will be debated, including the loss of training time. One of his owners tossed out that the track might have been too deep. And then there's the oppressive heat and humidity that hung over the Northeast United States that day. Now it's being suggested that trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. may have altered the horse's intake of electrolytes which would prevent dehydration (and that's not even known for sure at this point). And I'll be surprised if we don't hear some exotic conspiracy theories, of course tied to wagering

The easier explanation is simply that on this Saturday in June, the horse just didn't feel like running as hard he normally does. We tend to anthropomorphize animals -- credit them with characteristics that are human. In Big Brown's case, because we considered the Belmont  the biggest horse race in the last several years, the horse was supposed to get that too. Well, Big Brown ran hard for the first two-thirds of that race and for whatever reason, when he came around that far turn, he figured enough was enough. Perhaps to him, he was just on another gallop around some track for exercise.

But I doubt that's going to satisfy human observers. You see, we have our own psychological needs. For instance, we need to make sense out things that don't make sense.  Ancient man did it with natural phenomena. The sun comes up in the east and sets in the west.  The weather changes from hot to mild to cold to mild to hot. Twinkling lights in the sky move around. And so our ancestors, ignorant of the universe and nature, came up with elaborate explanations of gods and goddesses acting out to make it light or dark, warm or cool, the earth fertile and barren.

And Big Brown's performance will be scrutinized because it's in our nature to seek out reasons which also means that something or someone has to be at fault. Reasons and blame go hand-in-hand. In the case of the Triple Crown, when a horse falls short in the Belmont, the jockey gets the heat -- maybe he brought the horse out too quickly. Kent Desormeaux on Real Quiet, Chris Antley on Charismatic, Stewart Elliot on Smarty Jones. This time, there's a convenient fall guy, the mouthy trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr.,  who no one cared for anyway. It's not in our nature to blame the animal.  

And so the guessing and speculation and theories about Big Brown will become sports of sports lore, sort of the way Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steve Blass' sudden and utter loss of control after an All-Star season became one of baseball's imponderables. At least in the case of Blass, the guy could discuss what had happened to him. In Big Brown's case, though, we'll never get a definitive explanation from the horse's mouth.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The Orioles' lost a tough one yesterday that was made even more frustrating because they had a two-run lead against a pitcher who, year-in and year-out, is among the the best in the American League. There are guys who may be more dominating through stretches but taking into consideration all the important categories, Toronto's Roy Halladay is always at the top -- ERA, strikeouts-to-walks, innings pitched.

The Orioles can beef about the strike zone that Halladay was getting yesterday during the Blue Jays' 5-4 win but that third inning when the O's had guys at the corners and one out and Halladay got Aubrey Huff and Kevin Millar swinging was classic stuff from purely a baseball point of view.

So, the Orioles are .500 once again and we're reminded that not only do the O's play in a division with two of the biggest spenders in the majors -- the Yankees and Red Sox -- but now the division is the most competitive in baseball. What .500 gets you in the AL East these days is last place.  In two other divisions, the Orioles would be in second place. In the NL West, they'd be 2 1/2 games out of first place. They have done well -- 4-2 -- so far on a road trip that could have been the undoing of their season after a disappointing finish to the last home-stand with one more stop in Boston. These guys have really been surprising.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The thing about the World Series of Poker is that you just never know who's going to show up.

The WSOP Ladies Championship begins Sunday and the event now draws more than 1,000 competitors, including a good number of celebrities. Among this year's well-known names is Mindy McCready, the country singer who has been linked romantically to Roger Clemens in published reports. Those reports appeared to prompt a public, if vague, apology from the Rocket for conduct unbecoming.

So, McCready -- whose professional and personal life has hit some rough patches and now has an autobiographical docu-film due out this summer -- is keeping herself in the limelight apparently as part of the Queen of Hearts Poker Team. She is listed on a roster that includes a fistful of show biz types (Teri Hatcher, Cheryl Hines), poker pros (Barbara Enright, Clonie Gowen) and business women with part of the winnings benefiting the Nevada Cancer Institute.

Photo: Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The Red Sox are having an eventful time of it. They just evicted the upstart Tampa Bay Rays from first place in the AL East with a three-game sweep at Fenway. Then, last night they were in a second-inning brawl with the Rays after Tampa Bay pitcher James Shields plunked Boston center fielder CoCo Crisp on the leg in retaliation for a previous-game hard slide by Crisp. And then later, Boston's Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis nearly mixed it up in the Red Sox dugout. The Sox were mum on the dugout feuding between teammates but Crisp was happy to talk about charging the mound and scrapping with the Rays -- and seemed to delight in calling Tampa Bay's attempts to scratch and pull his hair tactics that reminded him of "little girls." It wasn't a slip, either, he said it twice.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Now it's Belmont challenger Casino Drive who has a minor foot injury.

Casino Drive, who is considered the main threat to Big Brown's Triple Crown bid, has a bruised foot possibly sustained by stepping on a stone.  But Casino Drive will still race tomorrow, his camp insisted.  The colt's trainer noticed that Casino Drive wasn't walking normally and held him out of today's workout.  It's the horse's left hind hoof and he is being treated with heat and ice.

Meanwhile, Big Brown, who has a crack in his front left hoof, is having an acrylic and fiberglass patch applied today as planned and his trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., keeps saying that the condition doesn't bother the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness one bit.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

If you cruise the Baltimore Sun's Web site, you'll notice that there is quite an assortment of sports blogs to peruse.  Some are subject specific, such as ones on mixed martial arts, fantasy sports and the Ravens. Others, such as this one, are about sports in general and one of those is written by the talented Kevin Van Valkenburg called The Life of Kings.

I like to include video here as much as possible -- after all, you are looking at something that resembles a TV screen -- but so far, we haven't done any original videos (we hope to remedy that in the future).  But Van Valkenburg made a spash recently in a George Plimpton-esque video in which he tries to do what he writes.  Kevin covers swimming for the Sun, including chronicling the exploits of local Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.  In his video, the writer tries to understand what it means to do what Phelps does -- in this case, swim the butterfly. 

Folks, we have here a brave, brave man, and the results are immensely entertaining, I dare say hilarious.  We encourage you to take a look. We don't want to be a spoiler but just to relieve any concerns, Kevin does not drown. And there's even a follow-up here.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's never easy trading away a young, star player -- especially a pitcher -- and when the Orioles sent Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners in the off-season deal, there was considerable apprehension, even among Orioles fans who realized that the team needed to rebuild and that you have you give up something to get something.

But in the early going, at least, the Orioles seem to have gotten a steal -- actually a couple of steals, in the five-for-one trade that made the lefty a Mariner.  Those would be center fielder Adam Jones and pitcher George Sherrill.

Last night's deciding run, a solo homer in the seventh inning that helped the O's to a 3-2 victory over Minnesota, came courtesy of the 22-year-old Jones, whose play has been quietly encouraging.  He hasn't shown enormous power by that should come as he develops.  After going quiet at the plate for the last 10 days or so of May, this month Jones has hit .368 with 7 RBIs, including a couple of game-winning blows.  For the year, he's a respectable .256 with three home runs and 24 RBIs batting mostly at the bottom of the order.

Sherrill, meanwhile, has been one constant in an up-and-down Orioles' season that now sees the O's again inching toward .500 (29-30).  A rock as a closer, Sherrill last night notched his 20th save.

Meanwhile, in Bedard's time with Seattle, he has been something far short of the Cy Young-caliber pitcher Orioles fans recall from last year.  And his new team is similarly suffering at 18 games under .500.   In a column in today's Sun, I wrote about the tribulations suffered by both Bedard and former manager Sam Perlozzo, now a coach for the Mariners, earlier this week.  Bedard is struggling at 4-4 with a bloated ERA of 4.47.  After failing to get out of the fourth inning Tuesday in a loss to the Angels, Seattle fans booed him off the mound.

Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, in an interview with a Seattle paper, wouldn't  say he was disappointed with Bedard but did admit that he was perplexed.  Bavasi on Bedard: "He cannot seem to get his feet on the ground in Seattle. He cannot get his arms around it yet. You see a brilliant outing, and then you see an awful outing. Right now, I wish his wheels didn't come off so easily."

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
                    

Big Brown took a five-furlong spin around Belmont Tuesday, his final hard workout before the big race Saturday. Here's a video of the workout and some interviews with trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., the exercise rider, a horse racing writer and Casino Drive rider Edgar Prado. What might be the most interesting part of the video is a pretty good look at that quarter crack in Big Brown's left front hoof everyone has been talking about (at the 40 second mark). It gets a patch tomorrow. I've read a bunch of descriptions but, as they say, a picture is worth a whole bunch of consonants and vowels.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I lay no claim to competing with Martha Stewart or Rachael Ray so my hospitality tips for throwing a shindig for Saturday's Belmont Stakes are pretty meager with the exception that I did dig up the recipes for the "official" drinks of the Belmont, past and present.

The most important part of any party, at least for me, is the food. And that's where the Belmont stumps me. If we're talking the Preakness, it's pretty obvious. Crab cakes. A food associated with the Kentucky Derby is Benedectine dip. But for the Belmont, I suppose one could go with deli just as long as there's New York cheesecake.

Traditional cocktails for big horse races are ... well, traditional. The Derby has its Mint Julep and the Preakness its Black-eyed Susan. But what about the Belmont?
Well, according to About.com, the current official drink of the third jewel of the Triple Crown is the Belmont Breeze, at least since 1998. Before that, it was the White Carnation. Here are the recipes for both from About.com. As always, enjoy responsibly.

We were reminded that the Belmont Breeze was concocted by famous New York City mixologist Dale DeGroff.

White Carnation
Ingredients:
2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Peach Schnapps
2 oz. Orange Juice
Soda
Splash of Cream
Crushed ice
Preparation:
Stir liquors and soda together and pour over ice in a highball glass. Splash cream over top then garnish with an orange slice.

Belmont Breeze
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. Seagrams 7 (I've also seen Jack Daniels suggested)
3/4 oz. Harveys Bristol Cream Sherry
1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz. Simple Syrup
1 1/2 oz. Fresh Orange juice
1 1/2 oz. Cranberry juice
1 oz. of soda
1 oz. of 7up
fresh strawberry
lemon wedge
(possible substitute 1 oz. of Sweet & Sour mix for the lemon juice and simple syrup)
Preparation:
Shake first 6 ingredients with ice and top with half 7up and half soda, approximately one ounce of each. Garnish with fresh strawberry, a mint sprig, and a lemon wedge.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

If  the Pittsburgh Penguins had played  any significant portion of last night's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals the way they played the final 90 seconds or so, there would be a Game 7 in Detroit Saturday night. But it was the Red Wings who skated like they were facing elimination rather than the Penguins and Detroit held on at the end for a 3-2 win and the 11th Stanley Cup in team history including four in the last 11 years.

With the clock under two minutes and Detroit ahead by two goals, Pittsburgh appeared to have no chance when the Penguins' Marian Hossa scored on a power play with 1:27 remaining. Then with the grains of sand running out on the Penguins, superstar Sidney Crosby sent a backhander from the left headed for the far side of the net that Detroit goalie Chris Osgood got a piece of and it went wide. Hossa's follow slid across the goal mouth but it was nano-second after time had expired anyway.

For a few moments, Detroit must have been having flashbacks to Game 5 when Pittsburgh tied the game with about a half-minute left and won it in triple overtime to force last night's game. In truth, Detroit was the better team last night beating the Penguins to the puck consistently, stifling Pittsburgh's offense and creating its own scoring opportunities off its defense.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

An NFL player getting into hot water over drug-related issues is not new news. An NFL player turning undercover cooperating witness in a federal investigation is pretty novel, though.

The New England Patriots, whose occasional misdeeds are anything but garden-variety, have another interesting case unraveling. Starting offensive right tackle Nick Kaczur reportedly wore a wire to help investigators nab his oxycodone supplier, one Daniel Ekasala. Oxycodone is a perscription pain-reliever.

Kaczur’s involvement started, according to a Boston Globe article, when he was stopped for speeding on a New York highway in April and police discovered a small amount of a substance that turned to be oxycodone. Kaczur reportedly made three buys from Ekasala while cooperating with authorities. Ekasala was indicted yesterday and his lawyer said it was Kaczur who fingered Ekasala, one would presume so that the player might lessen his own legal liability.

For his part, the player is denying knowing anything about the case or Ekasala. The Patriots are declining comment and deferring to law enforcement. Likewise, the NFL office is declining comment also deferring to law enforcement. Meanwhile, misusing a drug like oxycodone violates the league drug policy and the Patriots signed another offensive lineman this week.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Big Brown will make his run for immortality at the Belmont Stakes out of the No. 1 starting position as a result of today's draw for Saturday's third jewel of the Triple Crown. His chief rival, Casino Drive, is the No. 5 horse. There are 10 horses entered.

Naturally, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness is the favorite at 2-5. Casino Drive is 7-2.

For the Belmont, the No. 1 starting spot does not hold the same dangers as it might in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness because the starting field is smaller and the Belmont is a longer race. According to several Web sites, the No. 1 post position has been the most successful in Belmont history with 23 winners coming out of that gate. The No. 3 and the No. 5 spots have produced 13 winners each.

Here are the entries and the early odds:

1. Big Brown 2-5
2. Guadalcanal 50-1
3. Macho Again 20-1
4. Denis of Cork 12-1
5. Casino Drive 7-2
6. Da'Tara 30-1
7. Tale of Ekati 20-1
8. Anak Nakal 30-1
9. Ready's Echo 30-1
10. Icabad Crane 20-1

Posted by Bill Ordine at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

John Smoltz, one of the most versatile pitchers in Major League history, may be at the end of long and distinguished career. Now in his 20th season with Atlanta, Smoltz will be the subject of a press conference today where Smoltz, team executive vice president Frank Wren and manager Bobby Cox are expected to participate.

Smoltz has had shoulder problems this season, went on the 15-day disabled list and when he returned, had a tough outing as a reliever earlier this week. He blew a save opportunity against Florida. But more importantly, the pain in his right shoulder was back.

Smoltz is 41. He has starred as both a starter and a relief pitcher with 210 wins, 154 saves and a career ERA of 3.26. This year, he was 3-2 with a 2.57 ERA as a starter before going on the DL.  A lilely Hall of Famer, he won a Cy Young in 1996 as a starter and a Relief Pitcher of the Year award in 2002 as a bullpen ace. However, he is apparently facing the prospect of serious surgery and a long rehab and is in the final guaranteed year of his contract.

Update:  Smoltz reportedly confirmed on his radio show that he is facing season-ending surgery but would like to return for the 2009 season.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

By many measures, it would appear that former NBA star Kevin Johnson is likely to be the next mayor of Sacramento. In that city, a candidate needs to receive more than 50 percent of the vote to win an election outright. If that doesn’t happen, a run-off election is held. Johnson, who played 14 seasons mostly with Phoenix, received 47 percent of the vote and incumbent Heather Fargo received 40 percent. Other candidates shared the remainder.

The runoff is in November.

Johnson’s candidacy has survived two sex-related broadsides. One accusation dated back to 1995 when there was an investigation that he molested a 16-year-old and the other was more recent when a teenager accused him of inappropriate contact. No charges were filed in either case. There was a report that a large settlement payment was made in the situation 13 years ago.

After leaving basketball and returning to his home town of Sacramento, Johnson has been active in helping both his old high school and neighborhood.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

You have to hand it to the Orioles -- they are resilient.

After losing their fourth straight on Sunday (and 9 of 11) to slip into last place into the AL East, they could have just kept sliding like the setting sun behind the horizon but instead they battled back to salvage the fourth game of a series with Boston on Monday and then won the first game of a road trip in Minnesota last night behind just-called-up Radhames Liz who illustrated the secret to pitching success is pretty simple -- just throw strikes, baby.

Also encouraging was that Adam Jones had his second straight big game. He went 2-for-3, scored a run and drove in two with a sacrifice fly and a base hit.

The win wasn't nearly as spectacular as that 11-inning home run duel with the Yankees exactly a week earlier but it counts just as much in the standings. Speaking of the standings, the Yankees -- behind their new but struggling starter Joba Chamberlain -- lost last night to Toronto and fell behind the O's into last place in the division.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

It's June, typically a sleepy time for the NFL (if there is such a thing) but ...

Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard is staying away from Philadelphia voluntary workouts over a contract issue and because his role with Philadelphia is a question mark since the team signed big-money free agent Asante Samuel. Sheppard, 27, was at mandatory wokouts earlier in the spring and he shared reps with Samuel and another starter, Sheldon Brown.

The Ravens had been looking for cornerback help because their own two starters are on the high side of 30 and both missed playing time in 2007. Of course, the Ravens have already acquired former first-rounder Fabian Washington, 24, from Oakland for the relatively modest price of a fourth-round draft pick so there's not nearly the urgency there was several weeks ago but if the price on Sheppard gets cheap enough ... well, you can never have enough cornerbacks in the 21st century NFL.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Big Brown is still on pace to run in Saturday's Belmont Stakes to continue his pursuit of the elusive Triple Crown despite the crack in his left front hoof that has been the overriding issue leading up to the race.

Today, he ran five furlongs in about a minute and the damaged hoof held up well.

Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. said: "There's not any issues with our horse. He's right on target. He's by far the best horse in the race."

Of course, what's on the minds of many people are recent high-profile horse injuries and deaths, such as Barbaro in the 2006 Preakness and Eight Belles just after this year's Kentucky Derby.

Hoof specialist Ian McKinley has been treating Big Brown and will be putting an acrylic and fiberglass patch on the horse's hoof on Friday. He also dismissed the suggestion that Dutrow would jeopardize the horse's life by running him in the Belmont, even breaking it down to a matter of dollars-and-sense.

"There's a lot of money at stake, but they're not going to (risk the horse)," McKinlay said. "They'd be an idiot to do it. He's certainly worth a lot more alive than he is dead."

Big Brown's syndication rights have been sold for a reported $50 million.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

At the end of the day, the Cincinnati Bengals’ brash wide receiver Chad Johnson is pragmatic.

Frustrated that the team around him hasn’t measured up along with the fact that the Bengals have not made the roster improvements Johnson thinks are necessary, he has demanded a trade. But that has not happened despite at least one attractive offer.

Coach Marvin Lewis said if Johnson wants to sit out the 2008 season, well, he should just do that. The problem for Johnson is that he’s scheduled to make $3 million this year and that’s a lot of lettuce to leave on the salad bar. So now he’s saying he’ll join the team for its mid-June minicamp.

 “I told my coaches I'm going to California to act, but the truth is I may come back to the Bengals as early as June,” Johnson was quoted as saying.

And here’s where the man with the golden grill shows that despite his wild ways, he has a firm grip on reality: "I may be crazy but I'm not stupid."

Here’s what I think happened. Johnson has been the editor for ESPN the Magazine’s Revenge of the Jocks issue and I think he found out what journalists get paid.

Photo: Associated Press

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

The Pittsburgh Penguins' 4-3 win in triple overtime over the Detroit Red Wings makes the Stanley Cup stretch run interesting from a couple points of view.  With the Penguins' win in Detroit turning the series into a contest now -- Detroit leads, 3-2 -- the Penguins get a chance to even things up at home.  A week ago after Pittsburgh failed to score in the first two series losses to the Red Wings, that would have been just about unthinkable.

So if Pittsburgh can hold serve on their home rink tomorrow night, that means a Game 7 back in Detroit on Saturday night on NBC. I'm interested to see what the TV ratings would be for the most dramatic NHL playoff game in recent memory between two of league's more popular teams on the same day of the week and in roughly the same time slot as last weekend's mixed martial arts fight card that featured Internet star Kimbo Slice.

The NHL has felt a little better about this year's Stanley Cup TV ratings after last year's television  disaster that was the Anaheim-Ottawa match-up. The NHL has to take its popularity victories where it can find them and without question, the game-tying goal by Pittsburgh's Max Talbot with just about a half-minute left in regulation and the game-winner by Petr Sykora on a power play that kept these finals alive meant a great deal to the league as a whole.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

A Jason Taylor article in the Miami Herald today was a little surprising in that some Dolphins observers down there do not think it is inevitable that Taylor will be traded.

In a Miami Herald article, it was reported that new coach Tony Sparano and GM Jeff Ireland attended Taylor's charity gala last night. It was interpreted as a sign that Taylor's relationship with higher-ups is not beyond salvage.  How much of that is significant and how much of it was just PR is a debatable -- after all, the charity benefits children in South Florida.  I would be much more impressed if Bill Parcells had showed up and thrown an arm around Taylor's shoulder.

While the Dolphins aren't going to simply give away Taylor, it just does not make sense that they keep a guy who has already said that he's retiring after this season.  There is no value in it for Miami.  By the time the Dolphins are playoff-ready, Taylor will be in Hollywood.

Taylor has said he wants to go out a winner and while he doesn't have much of a say in the matter, realistically, the teams that would be willing to trade for him would have to be in a category of believing they have a shot at the Super Bowl this season.  That narrows the field to teams that are A) Playoff contenders, B) Have the cash/cap room/financial creativity to sign Taylor, C) Are willing to give up the future draft picks/player it would take to swing a deal.

That seems to have Washington Redskins written all over it (certainly not Baltimore Ravens so as some of my Sun colleagues have pointed out, you can forget about Taylor playing in Baltimore).  The Eagles could think about it.  Taylor could push Cleveland over the top.  Dallas has come up but that's because Dallas always comes up.

In the end, Parcells will call the shot -- even if it's to keep Taylor and send a message that he's the one who dictates who goes where and does what within the organization.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

If there is a brighter future for the Orioles and their fans, it will only come with the continuing maturation of players like Adam Jones. He may not yet be the face of the the team but he is already the face of its rebuilding program. I don't overlook Nick Markakis. But although Nick is only 24 and on his way to becoming the rock of the team for years to come -- if he isn't already -- he did precede the Andy MacPhail era. He has already earned too many battle scars as an Oriole to be considered part of the deliberate rebuilding that most O's fans identify as having started in the 2007-08 off-season.

Jones didn't start out with the crackling sizzle of Cincinnati's 21-year-old Jay Bruce who has hit three homers and is batting .577 in his first seven games but the 22-year-old Jones has already shown what an asset he can be in the field while growing within his own abilities at the plate. He's hitting .250 with 21 RBIs batting late in the order. Last night, he helped salvage a win with the Red Sox with a three-run double in the eighth inning that gave the Orioles a 6-3 victory. The ball nearly left Camden Yards and in a year or so, you imagine that Jones' strength and power will increase and that similar drives will be just a bit higher and deeper.

In the meantime, O's fans -- and starter Jeremy Guthrie -- can only keep their fingers crossed.  Guthrie continued to put in another solid effort and come away empty. This time it was 6 1/3 innings with just two runs allowed -- the fifth game in his last seven starts that he's allowed two or fewer earned runs. Guthrie got a no-decision last night and is 2-6 for the season. That's with a 3.58 ERA. In the entire majors, only the Red's Aaron Harang (2-7, 3.81) has had tougher luck.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

As many Orioles fans already know, Boston's Manny Ramirez hit his 500th career home run Saturday night at Camden Yards. Adding insult to injury, Ramirez's home run chase brought in more than the usual throngs of Red Sox Nation including, I'm thinking, the guy you will see at the 1:10 mark of this video who makes his way onto the roof of the visiting dugout and performs a somersault. Thanks to Dan Lamothe of Red Sox Monster for sending it along.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

The stock question regarding poker is: Luck or skill, which is it?  Well, given a reasonable field, skill seems to still come in handy.

The first event of the 39th World Series of Poker over the weekend was a $10,000 buy-in in pot-limit hold 'em and the cost of admission kept the field to a cozy 352 players.  In part because of that, the final table featured at least five well-known professionals so there must be something to this skill thing.  The final table big names were Andy Bloch (finished 2nd), who was part of the famous MIT blackjack card-counting team; Kathy Liebert (3rd), one of the most accomplished woman players in the world; Mike Sexton (4th), a commentator on TV's World Poker Tour; Phil Laak (9th), the "Unabomber" and TV regular, and Patrik Antonius (7th) from Finland.  The winner was a lesser-known but still formidable pro, Nenad Medic, who collected more than $794,000.  Former pitcher Orel Hershiser, who went to the elite eight in the national poker heads-up championship earlier this year (he lost to Bloch), was in the field but didn't cash.

Don't expect such luminaries at the final table for Event 2.  It's a much cheaper buy-in, just $1,500, attracting a record field of 3,929 (record for live non-Main Event tournament).  From that kind of land-rush crowd, often it's an amateur who emerges from the pack although last year, Phil Hellmuth won his 11th World Series bracelet in a similar event in a field of more than 2,600 players.

Posted by Bill Ordine at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)