You've gotta be kidding me! Makes you want to just cry. So instead of doing that, here's a story I recently came across on the Sun's O's Talk forum. Made me chuckle. Wonder if it's true? The subject was chance encounters with Cal.

"I bumped into Cal once...literally. It was at a Giant in Towson around 2 in the morning and as I was coming around the end of one aisle a cart coming around another aisle ran into mine. I looked up and couldn't believe it. It was Cal. He had a case of diet Mountain Dew, a stick of butcher baloney, and a jar of horseradish. Boy, that's some late night snack I thought to myself. Anyhow, after I got over my brief moment of being star struck, I told him he ought to be a little more careful and that I didn't care who he was. He mumbled something under his breath which just really frosted my earlobes. So I go after him, grab him by the arm, and tell him if he had something to say he should say it out loud.

He told me to take a hike which is something I didn't appreciate very much since I only have one leg. I was in my late forties then, but still quick as a cat so I said you want to go, let's go. So he pushed his cart away and starts at me and I immediately remember an old wrestling move from my junior high gym class days and go in for the single leg takedown. He tries a reverse pivot but I counter and the next thing you know, I've got him in a headlock cradle right there in aisle 7.

He then goes and grabs one of those big Chunky Campbell Soup cans off the shelf to whack me with but a sympathetic store manager spots what he's up to and grabs it out of his hands just as he was about to conk me on the old bean. At that point Cal knew he was a beaten man so he says okay, okay, if you let me up I'll hit a homer for you tomorrow.

Well, you know what, that bastard lied. It seems he can't play the next night because of a sore neck or something, at least that's what a ball boy told me who was working the game that night (the kid cuts my grass when I'm out of town on the speakers circuit. I extol the relative virtues of maple bats over ash - harder than a Viagrafied pecker and never break!). Anyhow, I guess Cal had played in a bunch of games in a row up to that point and because he couldn't give it a go that night, it turned out to be a big deal or something. I felt bad about that part of it. But don't blame me, he started it!"

What about Jim Miller?

2.52 ERA in 15 games, 23 strikesout with 13 walks. With overall 25IP.

Living here in Norfolk, I tend to go to a lot of Tides games and I've been a little bit more impressed with Miller when he's on his game.

Though Castillo is nasty when he's on too.

Roch... How about passing us a bottle of water from that cushy press box? We're sitting in front of you, the back row at the top of the stairs to your right. (Khaki O's visor).

Love your blog. Keep it up.
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This ceiling fan is providing no relief. And I know there's a joke in there somewhere when I type the words "no relief." - Roch

Its time to let Adam Loewen go after he come back from the DL !

Paging Todd Williams

Castillo it is. We need a left-hander guys.

John - Are you suggesting we release Adam Loewen?

Let Loewen go? Why? We have Bynum on this team not doing anything besides grounding into double plays. Loewen will bounce back. Cut bynum, hernandez, and /millar.

So who's next on the roller coaster? We better hope those young guys in Bowie can develop into something quick. Loewen has been injured since day 1. He never developed into anything due to his contract status. He wanted the big money the second he was drafted. Time to let him go. When Beird comes back option him anyway, if he refuses release him. Loewen isn't anything special but damaged goods.

Cal wrestling in a Giant at 2 am .... sounds plausible enough for me.

The Orioles are 1-12 on Sunday... 8 of those were 1 run games. On Sundays, the O's scored 2.8 runs per game while opponents scored 5.2 . In all 86 games to date the run differential is +2 (398 to 396) in favor of the O's, averaging to 4.6 runs per game. Today obviously our problem has been pitching, but on most sundays it is a combination of both.

I think we just need new catchers.

I'm hoping this is an actual injury, and that it isn't simply a case of Loewen being a graduate of the Erik Bedard School Of Mental and Phyiscal Toughness. Not that I want Adam to be hurt, mind you...

He needs to be shut down for the duration of the year. Little by little, the O's shortcomings are coming to the surface. The wild-card does not beckon them this year, so there's no need to rush Loewen back.

Trembley, Bynum, and Payton all need to go. Payton can't hit his way out of a wet paperbag, Bynum throws awasy an easy doble play and Trembley let's Liz-who'd thrown 100 pitches hyang one for a game deciding home run. I also don't understand why Trembley keeps putting Payton's name in the line-up. The long slide begins with the Rangers winning two of three-when they should have been swept.a

haha Duke of York, cute story... but definitely not true. You think Cal got into a physical fight with someone at a grocery story at 2am because they bumped grocery carts? And then this person with one leg got him into a headlock, and Cal promised a homerun the next day so this person would let him go? And then, Cal had to stop his consecutive games streak because his neck was sore from the headlock he was put in the night before? (Remember, Cal played with a broken nose... I hardly think a sore neck would keep him out). AND this person knows Cal enough to recognize him, but is somehow unaware of his streak? hahaha someone was definitely just having a little fun with this tale.

Roch, sad to see that once again a potentially positive year going down the tubes in the most inopportune time....should have come out of the Washington and Kansas City series with two or three more victories......because of the infamous mr. Sherrill shortcomings didn't happen and obviously this team has no recollection of the humilating defeat that they took at the hands of a lousy Texas team last year in Baltimore of all places.....unless they get Gutherie another true starter to help him, and one other solid bat for clean up and obiously a short stop, they need to start their fire sale now with Sherrill, Bradford, Hernandez, Millar, Walker and a few others for good prospects.......and obviously as O's fans suffer another humiliating year......enough of the excuses, Tampa Bay has been able to do it, why not us.....(obviously with rare exceptions their young players are true potential superstars.....were stuck with the Cabreras, olsons, etc of the world.....long suffering O's fan from Miami (since 1963) Ed

Dave T, I had a better idea----leave the pitcher in and take out the sorry shortstop who made an error due to a showboating move on his sidestep. He had plenty of time and needed only to stand and throw.Our play at short with the exception of Cintron has been so bad that it borders on criminal.

Let the fire sale begin - they need to continue moving players and contracts to clean the decks. You cannot compte anywhere, especially the american league east when your starting staff only pitches half your innings. The feel good stuff with Sherrill and the hat etc. - all that has been fun - but there's a big part of this team that still eeds to be taken apart. I hope they can keep Roberts - if possible. They are headed for the seller in the AL East and that isn't the end of the world...they're headed in the right direction. Leowen can no longer be counted on to fill a spot - but looks like Jones has settled in. There's a lot of good news with this team, including the manager.

Roch, doesn't Loewen still have minor league options since he hasn't completed 3 full seasons in the majors?
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No. He signed a major league deal and would have to pass through waivers to be sent down. - Roch

I know it's not his fault, but I'm really running out of patience with this kid. At what point do we consider him a complete bust?!?

I will give all you bob lancione bashers another reason to jump on me today I told everybody 2 weeks ago that adam loewen would never contribute to the orioles again. Certain guys on here love to take what i post as negative, but in my case what i have been posting has been reality. See people can't stand the truth abouth something in regards to the home team, people stay in denial about things until the bitter end and then then leash out out the posters who happen to be right about something.Happy Sunday Everybody.

Chris Tillman's tearing it up at bowie. I saw him pitch this week and he threw pretty good. Call him up.

I see that Bob McCrory is on the 7 day DL. What is the extent of his injury? He certainly seems to have fallen out of the picture.

Roch, posted earlier, before the comeback ensued, and you see they were able to score 10 runs, and now retrospectively again, Johnson and Sherrill killed the team with the pathetic 8th inning performance.....with Toronto and Boston on the horizon they better come up with a solution (don't want to hear about the injuries) cause Sherrill and Bradford have no excuse for continuing to walk and allow runs to score at will.....these last three series have been a total blowup by the bullpen......are there any position players (even Weiters) maybe Reimold and some of the double A or somebody in triple AAA that can stop the bleeding immediately......heck there right there to have knocked the Yankees into 4th place, believe me that would be hugh for us fans if it ended up that way....

Roch, posted earlier, before the comeback ensued, and you see they were able to score 10 runs, and now retrospectively again, Johnson and Sherrill killed the team with the pathetic 8th inning performance.....with Toronto and Boston on the horizon they better come up with a solution (don't want to hear about the injuries) cause Sherrill and Bradford have no excuse for continuing to walk and allow runs to score at will.....these last three series have been a total blowup by the bullpen......are there any position players (even Weiters) maybe Reimold and some of the double A or somebody in triple AAA that can stop the bleeding immediately......heck there right there to have knocked the Yankees into 4th place, believe me that would be hugh for us fans if it ended up that way....

Paging Rick Bauer.

duke of york..... no one beyond the age of one would be that gullible to even think that BS could be true. Some people on here need to be on 100% pure oxygen 100% of the time..... Geez.

like i said in my post after loewen blew up against KC a few days ago, he needs to go. i said he was probably lying about being healthy just b/c he wants to play (look it up). he would rather play injured and hurt the team, just b/c his idiotic contract says he has to be in the majors. i really hope the front office learned a lesson and won't be held hostage by another player and his family and be forced to put a guy in the majors before he is ready. adam loewen will never do anything in the majors, mark my words. its time to wake up, everyone, the dream of a wild card/.500 team is over. we need to clean house. no one 30 and over should be spared, except for maybe B-Rob. that means we must truly rebuild. "flat breezy" needs to go before he blows anymore saves and other teams realize he's really not worth trading for. millar MUST GO; yeah bynum is terrible, but you still have to pick that ball. just release bynum by the way. i really fell for it with this years team, thinking maybe we had something special. fool me once, shame on you, fool me 5 years in a row, shame on me. go Ravens.

I wouldn't release Adam Loewen but certainly the expectations for his career are in doubt. I thought something was up when he kept throwing high and outside breaking pitches. I wonder when the trouble really started, and if he pitched with discomfort during his last appearance. He isn't healthy. That's evident.

And one more thing: What was up with R. Hernandez's batting today? He was way overeager, swinging at sliders he couldn't begin to get to his first two times up. It just seemed weird. No more pre-game power drinks for him.

I've got a feeling Sherrill won't see any action during the all-star game unless they go into extra innings. His recent performance is very far from "all-star" quality.

Is it my imagination but is Hernandez one of the worst fielding catchers around? He is horrible at blocking pitches. His lack of effort cost us ANOTHER run today.

I think it's time to cut loose Payton and Mora (although who would take Mora and his bloated contract???).

And what the heck has happened to Luke Scott. For a while he was the flavor of the day at Camden Yards and now he is just another rally killer.

It's laughable that people think Sherrill deserved to be an All Star BEFORE Roberts. Sherrill had a nice start to the year but has not shut the door on ANYONE in the last few weeks dating back to the Pittsburgh series.

OMG. 10 walks today???? Seems to be a repetitive trend.

It's time to drop Ramon out of the number 4 spot. We have way too many streak hitters. Payton is one of them. I'm worried about him more than Ramon. But both of them are killing our rallies when it matters most today.

And, I think I have the key to the Sunday losses. It's the lack of focus and concentration. Sure, we battled to get 10 runs but we had to because we gave up 11 runs on errors, walks, and pitchers weren't doing their jobs, except for Cabrera. He did his part with a scoreless inning.

We need to call up pitchers from the minors or at least get a trade or something. Albers' injury is really hurting the bullpen, as is Loewen's. Paging Randor Bierd and company!

Which has made for the biggest bust so far? Adam Loewen or Pamela Anderson's implants.

Why is everybody down on Trembley for leaving in Liz? Radhames has to learn how to pitch without his best stuff. He has to learn to gut through (gasp!) five innings.

Now, let's see what kind of genius / psychologist / born leader Trembley is as the O's start sliding slowly (say that three times, fast) toward oblivion.

If Sherrill is an All Star, I'm a porn star.