Hey Roch,

Long time reader, first time poster. Big fan of your work. But I have a nagging (possibly lame) question about this "suspended game". I thought they simply ended games once they reached 5 innings. And that suspended game with the White Sox earlier in the year was just a fluke because it was a tie game. What gives? I'm just curious, mainly. Go O's.

I was at the game tonight, I got to the Eutaw Street entrance at 5:25 p.m. Al Bumbry had a swarm of people around him. Glenn Gulliver was also at the gate, but there were not too many people around him. The ceremony was great although Gary Thorne said Disco DON Ford. Waited over an hour for autographs, but did not get any. Then the monsoon hit. Oh well.

Chris - You make some excellent points about Reimold being brought up. Maybe I should have been more clear about what I think will happen, if and when, he comes up. BTW he was in leftfield again tonight for Bowie.

I think the team will make several moves. Jay Payton leaving is one. Reimold plays 4-5 times a week in August and Sept. Luke Scott should be playing 6-7 days a week. He becomes your primary DH/part time lf with Aubrey Huff becoming the primary first baseman. I really believe that somehow Kevin Millar or Melvin Mora(would need to waive his no trade clause) are traded.
If none of the above are moved, it still makes sense to have Reimold here. That's what rebuilding is about. It makes no sense to continue to give Jay Payton at bats or for that matter many to Millar. Neither should be in the plans for 2009.

As for 30 year olds being too old. I think I've been the harshest critic of those suggesting such non-sense on this site.

Bo - Good point about Trembley being too critical of the young pitchers and not building their confidence. In Olson's case he seems to put a lot of pressure on him and despite what the manager believes(that Olson is very confident) I would tend to think his performance suggests that he's not.

One other point about Olson and Trembley. And I've addressed this before. Why was he the first pitcher to start after the All-Star break? Here again Olson probably sees this as pressure. He's thinking "Wow the manager wants me to start the first game back. It's really important for me to do well so that the team gets off to a good 2nd half start". His two starts since the break have been awful, while Guthrie's have been very solid.

Zach - Colby Rasmus is not Jay Bruce, and not many people are making that comparison. Bruce was all-world last year and named Minor League Player of the Year. Rasmus last season hit .275 with 29 homeruns and 72 RBI. This year, after a horrid first two months, he is now at .249, 11 homeruns, and 36 RBI. Think Matt Weiters if you are looking for someone to compare to Jay Bruce.

Yes, it would be great to see him in leftfield, but not at the expense of Brian Roberts and George Sherrill. I don't know if the Cards would make that deal, but I don't believe AM would. Keep in mind Roberts is still one of the top leadoff hitters in the game. He leads the league in doubles and triples. He's excellent defensively. Sherrill has proven this year that he can close and has been a dependable setup guy in the past. It's just too much to give up for a guy who despite being Baseball America's fourth best prospect has not performed up to expectations in the minor leagues this season.

Trembley - "If had some other people that could come here and take their place I might consider it, but there is no one to take their place."

It's July 24th. Brad Bergeson is 12-3 with a 2.91 ERA. He has walked only 20 in 108 innings pitched. His WHIP is 1.14. Tonight he threw only 57 pitches in five innings of a rain-shortened game. That's called pitch efficiency. After retiring nine in a row to start the game, he faced a bases loaded no out situation in the fourth inning. He promptly struck out Harrisburg's clean up guy and induced a DP grounder to the next batter.

A couple of weeks ago he was informed a half hour before his start that Randor Beird would be starting instead. Bergeson pitched seven solid innings in relief of Beird allowing one run. That's doing well in the face of adversity.

What does the organization have to lose by moving him up and replacing Olson. It's not like he is a prized arm like Matusz, Tillman, or Erbe. You are not going to be criticized greatly for rushing him if he fails. Last year at this time he was pitching in Delmarva. Raise your hand if you had even heard of him before this year.

And you say he can't pitch on three days rest and take Olson's spot in the rotation for Sunday. Why not? He only threw 57 pitches tonight. Or maybe you start Jeremy Guthrie(only 80 pitches tonight) on Sunday and Bergeson gets that start on Monday vs. Yankees.

I'm not saying he's going to be a savior, he may fail. But he can't be any worse than Olson and for the above mentioned reasons I like his chances. Trembley can not legitimately state that there is NO ONE to take Olson's place.

Roch, Can you update us on how that will work for tickets tomorrow?

If you say there were so many scouts at yesterday's game, I can only think it's kind of likely someone gets dealt. Along those lines, any time I read a Ken Rosenthal snippet about a trade possibility in "What they're saying about the O's," I wonder why I never see details like that in my own paper. Not that I never see it, but it just seems he has info that we don't see in The Sun.

Say, I saw where Jorge Posada has decided to rehab his shoulder and not have surgery. Any truth to the rumor he also plans to re-start his career ... as a pitcher? (ba-da-bing!)

For the post made by Bo about the venting and yelling ---

Trembley has shown excellent patience while his pitchers develop, and we have never seen him get mad like Ozzie Guillen yet. This is his way of venting because he has never vented yet in this job with the Orioles.

He has been encouraging them and being patient with them while they learn the hard way. But, sometimes, you have to vent to get your point across sometimes. That's what Ozzie does with his players as we've seen in the past. It can work. Hopefully, the pitchers get the message!

Roch-
I saw that Reimold started at LF the other night. Is that a little pre-cursor to him finally getting his shot in your opinion? I mean, really what more can the guy do? He has stayed healthy this year. And we know what happens when Luis Montanez gets above AA. (He falls to pieces). I am anxious I guess to see if we have our outfield all set for 2009 and beyond.

Trembley can't sleep because of starting pitching woes. It the new Orioles Way and no one does anything about it. Call up someone else now. We have arms or trade bait to get some help. But leave Sherill here.

The one pitcher who can and does give us innings gets knocked out in the 6th by rain, meaning the bullpen gets an extra three and a third to cover today as the first part of a doubleheader. We're cursed!

And on a day that our starter would have lasted more than 6 innings no less. I guess I should have expected something to slow down a good start.

I got stuck in the rain at the game, but it was worth it for the pre-game ceremony. Just being able to do the "Eddie, Eddie" chant again was worth driving up from Washington.

Roch,
When will we see Salazar-(Tearing it up in AAA.at 1B).
Costanzo-(hitting over .300 since June 1st at 3B....Moore is out with a broken thumb) and Reimold in LF.
Am I alone or is it time to see what these guys have on the MLB level or what?...what do you think?

Roch, this is off-topic, but I was looking at baseballreference.com and saw that Alan Mills made a comeback last year. It says he had 23 SV and a 2.39 ERA for the Tigers AA club, and that it was his first time in the affilliated major or minor leagues since he pitched for the Orioles in 2001. It also says he hasn't played yet this year. Is this a misprint, or, at 40 years old, did Mills make a great comeback? Why did he not return after such a successful 2007? The O's could use an extra reliever, is all I'm sayin'....
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Mills did pitch in Double-A last year, but that was it. - Roch

There is no reason what so ever why salazar is not playing 1st base for the remainder of the year. Millar is not going to be around when we rebuild and i think the orioles should see what this guy can do over a extended period of time instead of batting 4 times 1 day and sitting the next 5 games.Millar has been good for this club but not any more .

When are we going to see some roster changes with this team. We have become very stagnant in our improvement. We need to continue this rebuilding phase and non start going backwards. I do not mind if we loose but if we keep loosing the same way with the same people it will become hard to watch. I sure am tired of ramon hernandez throwing the ball into the outfield, and seeing our starters throw up on themselves while on the mound. Pretty frustrating.

The whole Colby Rasmus debate is moot. On its Prospects Blog yesterday, Baseball America reported that Rasmus sprained the MCL on his left knee and is out for the season.

J -- Last night was also, in effect, a tie game. Since the O's didn't get to bat in the 6th, if the game were called the score would revert to the end of the 5th, which was a 1-1 tie. Hence, suspended game rather than called.

And to those pushing for call-ups from the Tides to see how they can do in the AL, don't forget C Omir Santos, a AAA All-Star this year who is currently batting .318. Not much power, but how many catchers bat .300 even in AAA? He might be Wieters back-up long-term.