Busy first Blogging day.....

The Fire might burn more once the O's are fighting for division leads. Or if in Sept. we nock the yanks from a wild card birth, or maybe we will pitch a No-hitter at the Final Yankee Stadium game!! That might fire up the rivalry.

The Edwar Ramirez ejection happened today!!!! This blog is so much worse than "Roch around the Clock"

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Rob, good catch. I'm so used to writing for the paper the next day, I just did that by habit. I have corrected it. pete

Hey Peter,

Just saw that the Yanks picked up Pudge. How come no one ever talks about his metamorphosis from short chubby guy, to Incredible Hulk (with pronounced brow to boot) to puny weakling? He was on the Texas Roid Rangers teams with Canseco, Gonzalez, Raffy, Kenny Rogers, Brutus the Beefcake Bat Boy, etc. Is it taboo to speculate on an active (or inactive even - see Brett Boone)player whose name wasn't in the Mitchell report? Or, is it that no one has the Kohonies?

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Greg, I think I-Rod's metamorphosis was a frequent subject of speculation at the time MLB went to a random steroid testing program. The first spring players were really tested, he arrived in camp looking like he was 12 years old. It's not a matter of having the guts to talk about players and steroids. It's more a matter of being unable to prove it. What might be obvious to your eyes might not be so obvious to a judge or jury in a libel/slander lawsuit. Pete

If you watched closely, Roberts obviously didn't get Giambi's gesture. Fortunately, my 10 year old did'nt quite get it either. My opinion Giambi should be fined by the league. Reading lips, Giambi then said it twice. It was also in reference to Roberts taking away a hit from medium right field on a ball hit earlier in the game.

A-Rod, idiot that he is, was caught on camera waving off Luke Scott after robbing him on a ball hit to left field. The Yankees just seem to have that air about them. It's why we love to hate them.

It may be quiet at the warehouse, but I would be not be surprised to see the team make a big trade before the deadline tomorrow. The Rodriguez/Farnsworth trade was consummated in six hours.

Quite often a move by one team pushes another into doing something that they might not normally do. There have to be several teams out there not quite willing to give up what the Orioles need to trade George Sherrill. That could all change with one deal by a division rival. For example, maybe we get Escobar to play shortstop, if the Cubs or Cardinals make a big move.

Also think that teams would have to be crazy not to ante up for Aubrey Huff. Earlier this week(Sunday) his numbers were the same as Manny Ramirez. After the Yankees series they are significantly better, at far less money. I realize the Red Sox have nowhere to put him, but based upon how Huff has hit the Yankees and Tampa Bay alone he would be a perfect fit for them down the stretch. Of course, if they dump Manny tomorrow, Huff could play first base with Youkalis in leftfield.

One can imagine two possible explanations for Daniel Cabrera's plunking Alex Rodriguez: 1. He meant to (unlikely given his demonstrated inability to put the ball where he wants to) 2, the ball got away from him due to his incompetence as a Major-League pitcher--either way, the O's front office is responsible, because those folks put Mr. Cabrera where he has no busines being: a major-league pitcher's mound.

Peter, why did you write:

The tension can build to the boiling point at times, but the players are generally pretty chummy until somebody like Cabrera tries to see if he can make a fastball go in one ear and out the other.

Do you actually think Cabrera tries to do this? On purpose? He leads the league in hit batters. He pitches inside. He doesn't try to hit someone (most of the time).

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I don't know, but he has a history of losing his cool and doing things like that. The umpire obviously thought so, though I think he overreacted in this particular case. Pete

I'd just like to see a Oriole Starter make it to the 7th in the last game at Yankee stadium.

Roberts and Giambi were laughing about it when he was on fiist base. No animosity there.

Now with Cabrera, that's another story.

Yeah, I caught Giambi's salute and wondered what the heck that was all about,except that he HAD beaten the shift, but it was a little unsportsmanlike to be so visible.
The game within the game....

Come on, Pete. Cabrera had just given up a lead-off double. Why on Earth would he want to put another on base, especially in that fashion? We saw how fast a lead can diminish in Yankee Stadium. He definitely did not mean to hit him. He just wanted to get him off the plate. He had no reason to lose his cool, he just lost the pitch. Ramirez, on the other hand, had a purpose behind the pitch to Millar. His nonchalant demeanor after the ejection only made him look more guilty. Fairchild overreacted with Cabrera, as did Gerardi with his post game remarks. But, I doubt this episode carries over to their next series. By the way, nice start to your blog.

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Joe, I'm not saying he definitely hit him on purpose. I suspect the umpire overreacted. But there's no way to be sure because Cabrera has done some erratic things on the mound over the years. It doesn't have to make perfect sense. pete

On purpose or not, I think the ump did us a favor to get him out of there before "Bad Daniel" showed up. Either his mechanics or his mentality were about to take a break.

what will the orioles do if...when the sarfate experiment fails? This is a stupid experiment. i dont get it. sarfate can hardly handle an inning, let along 5to 6. let him develop into a power releiver.

So is there going to be an official blog like Roch has always done for the last several years? Somebody from the Sun needs to let the readers know who's gonna be in charge.

Will that be you, Peter?

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Ben, I'm not sure what you mean by "official" blog, but I'll be responsible for the Orioles.

I'm old school, you have to move a guy off the plate, you do it. The Umps are acting like sissies.

I still believe the umpire made the worst call when Cabrera was ejected from the game. Seriously it was the first time he has hit a hitter in that game and he's throwing him out for that?? He was in the process of having a complete game and the umpire had to ruin it for no reason whatsoever. As for Giambi, I don't know why he did it, but he's been playing baseball for so long now and there should be no reason why he flipped Roberts the bird. He is a veteran and a role model for kids, so he shouldn't be pulling inappropiate gestures to other players.

Great blog, Pete. And Rob B is a moron.

I like your comments, (not all) and your wit so I'm going to play the Sun's little game of kick Roch Kubatko off the train and give Mr. Schmuck a turn to ride the rails of blogging. But too many errors and I'm also off this ride.
I think it's a cheap shot to Roch, but I don't know the whole story. If the Sun wants a story, write one about the end of the line for Roch Around The Clock.

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Bill, thanks for your concern about Roch, who everyone knows is a close friend of mine. Roch took the buyout here because he had another opportunity. He was not forced out in any way. He was in a great situation and took advantage of it. pete

not exactly the opposite ends of the division: the O's are fifth and the yankers are third. Besides hoping the O's finish strong and Wieters rakes in the bigs in September, we should also be rooting for those miraculous Rays. What a beautiful thing it would be to see them take the AL East this year to send a big fat yuck fu! to the 400 million payroll and endless media coverage of the sux/yankers.

Pete -- I don't think Daniel Cabrera was throwing at Alex Rodriguez deliberately, given a) the game circumstances and b) the fact that the ball didn't come in faster. That said, I agree that given his history, you can flip a coin on it.

Certainly, whether the ejection was fair or not, Cabrera brought it on himself by the Dustin Pedroia incident last season. Unfortunately for D-Cab, that flareup is going to be remembered by umpires for a long time and it's going to take years and years of him being a perfect Boy Scout/Altar Boy on the mound before he ever is going to get the benefit of the doubt.

I'm wondering, though, whether it being A-Rod--instead of, say, Chad Moeller--who got hit, had a bearing on the instantaneous ejection (ditto on Joe Girardi's postgame remarks--superstars always seem to get special treatment).

Rob B. -- Bad form on your part to be disparaging a new blog. Pete's entitled to a mulligan. Whether he truly has a "blogger's mentality' (to use Jim Hunter's term for Roch) remains to be seen, but don't jump him so hard right out of the gate. LOL

It's good of the Sun to see the need to continue an Orioles blog. I'm sure your efforts will quickly grow on us, Pete, I just hope the team will continue to give us some good games down the stretch and believe they will.

I just looked at the "blogs" on MASN and I can tell you adding Roch to the line-up there is a big upgrade. I'm not naming names, but...

Welcome, Pete. Looking forward to it. In the words of in-laws everywhere, we haven't lost a Roch, we've gained a Schmuck!

I do not think you need to be Judge Judy to decide that it is not out of the realm of possibility the Cabrera pegged Arod. It doesn't make sense, but, Cabrera is an idiot. He is one of the more immmature players in baseball. But the ump definitely overreacted

Schmuck, why didn't you take the buy out? We want Roch back!

Yes, he has a history of nailing batters to make up for him pitching like crap.

Yes, it could be seen as suspicious that he hit Alex Rodriguez after he hit a home run in the previous at bat.

But... given that particular situation he was in, and given the fact that he was probably more concerned about going deep into the game, and given the fact that Cabrera doesn't have the best control of his pitches... it was absolutely an accidental pitch. Even Michael Freaking Kay criticized the ump Fairchild saying, "This guy doesn't know baseball" in reference to the HPB. So, you're more suspicious than a Yankees broadcaster as to Daniel's intentions?

Try sitting behind first base and watching Giambi chum it up with everyone who singles. These guys are patting each other on the behinds (not just to make tags), talking, they're a bunch of guys.
Giambi flipping off Roberts is indicative of the camaraderie that exists in the MLB between players-well some of them.

Millar is a doofus. It's always about him. Sure the pitch was intentional but so what. It was 2 foot over his head. The pitcher was ejected and will prob be fined by MLB. Poor oh woe is me Millar garnered 2 days worth of press clippings. Give it a break.

IF ALL YOUR BLOGS ARE LIKE THIS ONE,THIS SCHMUCK STOPS HERE TOO. NEVER STOP! YOU BELONG UP THERE WITH PIPPEN,.TANTON, AND STEADMAN!THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! NOW IF YOU COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE NON-EXISTENT UMPIRING IN MLB