Here's what I like about John Harbaugh (left). I spent a few minutes with him after his WBAL show tonight at the Owings Mills facility and talked about last night's game. No talk about a moral victory. No excuses. Very honest about both the bad and the good things that happened at Heinz Field. Very committed to developing a complete team that learns from its mistakes and does not repeat them. I'm starting to think that Bisciotti guy knows something about hiring good personnel.

Congratulations to the Chicago White Sox, who overcame a nasty down-to-the-wire slump to win Monday's makeup game against the Tigers and grind out a tough 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins to win the AL Central title tonight. I feel bad for the Twins, who stay in contention in spite of so much, but the Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox are going to be far more entertaining in the postseason.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 485 points today, wiping out most of Monday's disastrous losses, so I've recalculated my finances and now believe I'll be able to retire at 92. I'm sure you were all real worried about that, considering that I go to ballgames for a living.

I listened to parts of the Al Davis press conference today (that's Mr. Happy on the right) and have only one thing to say about his verbal assault on fired coach Lane Kiffin: Al Davis questioning somebody else's integrity is like me questioning somebody else's eating habits.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to play the Super Bowl Halftime Show? If he plays Rosalita, I won't even care what happens in the second half.

Went to see Righteous Kill the other day. It wasn't even a righteous way to kill time.

Harbaugh/AP photo
Davis/Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:58 PM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Now that we've all registered our complaints about last night's performance by the Ravens, let's all sing Kumbaya and remember that we didn't start out thinking they were going to be a playoff team -- and now, happily, we're not so sure.

John Harbaugh has done a great job of instilling a new team concept and I'm pretty sure he'll get the whole on-field discipline thing straightened out eventually. If not for one or two key mistakes, we'd all be out over our skis and planning a parade down Pratt Street for early February.

There was way more about last night's game to be encouraged about from a long-term perspective than there was to criticize, but the NFL is about wins and losses -- and each win or loss is very significant for a competitive team -- so it's fair to focus your immediate attention on what needs to be corrected. In short, several players need to get their heads on straight before they take the field off a short practice week to face the undefeated Tennessee Titans on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.

That said, every week makes me more convinced that Ozzie and Co. made the pick of the draft when they traded down and then up to get Joe Flacco (left). The guy just exudes poise and confidence, which was best illustrated by his ability to shake off a couple of big mistakes and drive the Ravens to a game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. That 12-second scramble and pass completion wasn't too shabby either.

The defense is as good as ever, which means if it can stay reasonably healthy, the Ravens will be in every game and Flacco will have a lot more chances to prove he's the long-range answer at quarterback.

Baltimore Sun photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:01 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

ESPN football analyst and former NFL quarterback Steve Young (left) didn't hesitate to tie last night's loss to some of the other frustrating defeats suffered by the Ravens on Monday Night Football. He put it on the offense for not putting up enough points to support another great defensive performance and cast doubt on whether the Ravens are balanced enough to compete with the top teams in the AFC.

"It was painful to watch the Ravens again not able to close the deal,'' he said.

It certainly was, but I disagree with his overall assessment. Though I reflected on the circumstances that led to the Patriots loss last year in an earlier post -- and criticized Jarret Johnson for his momentum-shifting brain cramp in the third quarter last night, there is no question the Ravens are a different team than the one that lost its previous four Monday Night games over the past couple of seasons. The difference, of course, is Joe Flacco, who again passed a test of fire in a very hostile environment.

He didn't play mistake-free football, but he kept his head and drove the Ravens to a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter after they appeared to have thrown away a prime opportunity to pull the road upset. There was a lot about last night's game that bodes very well for the future of the Ravens' offense, but that doesn't take away the immediate sting of a defeat that didn't have to happen.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:34 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (61)
        

Everybody was piling on Jarret Johnson last night for his stupid momentum-changing personal foul in the third quarter, and why not? Do the Ravens have to do something totally self-defeating every time they've got a chance to show the rest of the country what they're made of on a national broadcast?

I guess so. This isn't the same team that melted down at the end of what would have been a huge victory over the undefeated Patriots last year, but Johnson's bonehead burst of emotion certainly made you think of that. Didn't it?

John Harbaugh got into Johnson's face afterward. Ray Lewis also sat him down and talked to him on the sideline. Trouble is, Johnson was more willing to listen to the taunts of Hines Ward, who ought to get a game ball for this win. He did what he does, and what the Ravens know he does. He pushed Johnson's buttons and everything about the evening changed at that moment.

No, Johnson didn't lose the game all by himself. There was a missed tackle by Chris McAllister on the Steelers' first touchdown. There was Joe Flacco's first really costly mistake -- that fumble that completed a 14-point, 15-second Pittsburgh comeback. But football is all about momentum and this game was close to being another fourth-quarter grindout by the Ravens' offense.

Then somebody did something really dumb and it came unraveled just long enough to make it a game again. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised, but if you're a Ravens fan, you have every right to be disappointed.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:07 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (56)
        

Cuban rookie Alexei Ramirez delivered one of the best moments of the postseason tonight, and it's not even the postseason yet. His tie-breaking grand slam in the sixth inning propelled the White Sox into a division title playoff against the Minnesota Twins tomorrow in Chicago. It already gave him the major league record for grand slams by a rookie -- it was his fourth -- and gave him a share of the overall White Sox record for salamis in a season (Albert Belle).

The best part was the 1000-watt smile that spread across his face immediately after he made contact with the first pitch from reliever Gary Glover.

Severna Park's Gavin Floyd gave up just one earned run over six innings and got the victory, despite making a costly throwing error in the sixth that temporarily gave the Tigers the lead.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:37 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

I guess it just comes down to whether you like the blog or you don't, because if you like the blog, you're going to be reading it -- and hopefully joining in the fun -- for a long, long time now that I can fit my retirement savings into a small gym bag.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average crashed 777 points today, which is the biggest single-day loss in the history of rich guys screwing up. Of course, the rest of us went down with them, so we'll all have a story to tell our grandkids while they're feeding us chicken broth with a spoon. Hopefully, the Orioles will have won something by then.

If that wasn't bad enough, the makeup game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers was delayed several hours by rain, which means that I probably won't have time to go out and eat before the Ravens/Steelers game kicks off. That might not sound like much of a problem to you, but you can probably tell by my full-body picture in the paper that I have to fill my body frequently to remain conscious.

That means a Ravens loss tonight could leave me deflated on so many levels (physically, financially, emotionally) that I'm keeping a bicycle pump handy in the big-screen basement just in case. Never mind that I predicted a 10-point Ravens loss when I was a little more lucid the other day. This has become a personal must-win situation.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:04 PM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

OK, so it was only ESPN's Page 2 list of the 10 most overpaid baseball teams of the past two decades, but when you're having trouble making the Top 5 in the American League East, you can't be too choosy.

The 1998 Orioles, who had the highest payroll in baseball ($70 million) and also set an all-time attendance record at Camden Yards, also were the team that started the string of losing seasons that reached 11 this year.

If it's any consolation, the No. 1 and No. 2 overpaid teams of the last two decades were from New York, but neither were the Yankees. The 2003 Mets were No. 2 with a losing record and $117 million in payroll and the 1993 Mets were No. 1 with a $38.4 million payroll, which actually was considered real money at the time.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:45 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Orioles manager Dave Trembley deserves some time apart from baseball after what he's been through over the past six weeks, but he said yesterday that he'll be glued to the tube for the playoffs and World Series.

You might think he'd want to get as far away from the game as possible, at least for awhile, but the always-tactful Jerry Coleman -- who has graciously agreed to return to Baltimore and save talk radio -- got under Dave's skin when he suggested just that at Trembley's final postgame news conference of 2008.

"I never get away from baseball,'' Trembley said. "If you knew me, you wouldn't ask that question because I never get away from baseball."

Sounds like Dave needs to get away from baseball, though he seemed to cheer up considerably as soon as he got away from Coleman.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:01 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

So much for my insistence on WBAL yesterday that the Maryland Terrapins would crack the Top 25 after their second victory over a Top 20 team in three weeks. The Terps were the odd team out in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll, finishing 26th in the voting. They were 30th in the USA Today coaches poll.

Nevertheless, the Terps and the Midshipmen of Navy both scored unlikely victories on the road on Saturday against ranked teams, and the Redskins traveled to Dallas to pull off another Maryland-based upset yesterday. That leaves the Ravens needing to hold up their end as they go into tonight's Monday Night Football showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field as a five-point underdog.

I cannot tell a lie. I picked the Steelers to win this one by 10 points, but I would have picked Wake Forest to trounce Navy and I had little confidence in Maryland at Clemson. Didn't care one way or another about the Redskins, but I'll give them credit for letting some of the air out of the team that a lot of people think will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:00 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The Orioles did not rage against the dying of the light today. They lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-1, but manager Dave Trembley chose to look on the bright side as he prepared to head home to Daytona Beach.

"On the positive side, it's good that (Jeremy) Guthrie was healthy,'' he said. "So we can leave and know that. He got that out of the way. It was also good that Sherrill pitched and he's 100 percent."

Dave also waxed philosophical for a moment: "You learn a great deal from adversity and a great deal from success. I'll take a little from both areas."

The final game did alter the team leader sheet a bit. Orioles MVP Aubrey Huff came into the game leading the Orioles in all of the Triple Crown categories, but he went hitless in three at-bats to drop his average from .306 to .303. Nick Markakis had three hits and raised his average to .306 to win the team batting crown.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:43 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Brian Roberts was hit on the left shin by Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Litsch in the bottom of the sixth inning and limped off the field to a loud ovation. Clearly, the crowd recognized the possibility that fans were seeing the last appearance by Roberts in an Orioles uniform.

Manager Dave Trembley acted this weekend as if Roberts' return for 2009 was not in doubt, but Andy MacPhail was less committal during his Saturday news conference. He seems less inclined to deal Roberts than he was last winter, but said it would be irresponsible not to listen to all offers.

I think the Orioles will sign him to an extension in the next few months. They already are desperate for a decent starting shortstop. Can't imagine Andy wants to try and fill two critical middle infield positions.

Roberts finishes the season batting .296 with 107 runs, 51 doubles, 8 triples, nine homers, 56 RBI and 40 stolen bases. He ranks second in the league in doubles, third in the league in runs, fourth in stolen bases, fourth in triples. He also ranked in the top 10 in walks and on-base percentage.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:06 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Jeremy Guthrie wanted to get out there one more time before the end of the season, so his four-inning performance was a success from that standpoint.He probably wanted to get back to .500 for the season, but Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay hit home runs and the Blue Jays scored three times on six hits. He's got a shot at the decision, but not the good kind. The Blue Jays have extended their lead to 6-0 on Wells' second home run -- this one off Alfredo Simon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:42 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Orioles

Roberts 2B
Markakis RF
Mora 3B
Huff DH
Jones CF
Scott LF
Hernandez C
Millar 1B
Fahey SS

Guthrie SP

Blue Jays

Inglett 2B
Scutaro SS
Rios RF
Wells CF
Lind DH
Overbay 1B
Rolen 3B
Zaun C
Snider LF

Litsch SP

Guthrie update: Don't expect Guthrie to go much further than the fourth or fifth inning. He wants to prove he's healthy and get one more win, but manager Dave Trembley is going to have him on a short leash. He'll need to keep his pitch count way down (about 70 for five innings) to get a decision.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Boy, I love it when people do my work for me. Here's a season-closing, marathon post from Birdland Todd, who says he wants my opinion but really just wrote so he could get his votes on the record for all the postseason awards:

Todd's take: Pete, at the beginning of the month, I asked you who you thought would be the MVP, ROY, Cy Young and Manager of the Year in both leagues, so with Sunday being it, who are your picks now?

AL MVP: Justin Morneau (I don't think the Twins would be in the hunt without this guy, as they are a soft hitting team so no way they make up the 129 runs that Justin knocked in)

Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria

Cy Young: Cliff Lee (lower right)

Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon

NL MVP: Ryan Howard (The avg. isn't good nor the errors, but this guy produced when it counted and carried the team to a division title)

Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto

CY Young: Johan Santana (I had Webb at the beginning of the month, but Johan was the one Met pitcher that basically carried his team and did it under a huge spotlight)

Manager of the Year: Joe Torre (It would be easy to go with Lou, but the Dodgers played without Furcal for 120+ games. They lost their closer for 60 days. Andruw Jones was injured and Kent missed a big portion and has been basically a pinch hitter since coming back and yet they won their division)

Comeback player of the year: Carlos Delgado (Hamiltons' story was great, but my definition of a comeback player is someone who's an established player, but either in decline or coming back from a serious injury. Carlos was awesome this year and showed that he is still a feared hitter with 38 HRs and 115 RBIs)

Most Valuable Oriole: Nick Markakis, as this guy walks, scores runs, hits doubles, hit .300, gold glove arm and helps retrieve the grocery cart for elderly women.

Pete's picks...

AL MVP: Carlos Quentin -- I'm overweighting the "value to his team" to make up for his injury.
NL MVP: Ryan Howard -- Slam dunk.

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee -- No argument here.
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum -- Best all-around season. MVP value to team is not part of the equation.

AL Rookie: Evan Longoria -- Simply the best first-year player in either league...in awhile.
NL Rookie: Geovany Soto -- Terrific all-around rookie season for a catcher.

AL Manager: Joe Maddon -- No need to comment here.
NL Manager: Lou Piniella -- Best record in NL and, well, it's the Cubs.

Comeback Player of the Year: Cliff Lee -- Can't go with Delgado (24 HR, 87 RBI) or Hamilton (19 homers in a half-season in 2007). Lee went from 5-8 to 22-3, for God's sake.

Orioles MVP: Aubrey Huff

Howard/AP photo
Lee/Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:14 AM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

With apologies to Jack Handy and, for no apparent reason, Stuart Smalley (right), here are some incisive final thoughts about the Orioles as they prepare to play their final game of the 2008 season against the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards:

So far, I think the biggest perk of Fan Appreciation Weekend has been the decision to shorten the games to seven innings.

The Orioles only need to draw about 70,000 fans for today's season finale to keep from falling under the 2 million mark in season attendance for the first time since the opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Not exactly sure what Dave Trembley was trying to prove by sitting Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff last night when they both need two doubles to join Brian Roberts with at least 50 for the season. Maybe Dave was making a point about the team coming ahead of individual goals, but that was also one of the few things left for the fans to get excited about.

There's a pretty good chance this isn't the final day of the regular season for everybody. There's still a chance the National League wild card race could carry over until Monday and the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins could play each other for the AL Central title on Tuesday.

If I had my way, I'd go right to spring training tomorrow. I'd still have the Orioles show up in mid-February, however.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:30 AM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Orioles president Andy MacPhail held a pre-game news conference to go over some of the offseason issues facing the front office. He didn't get too specific, but he acknowledged his disappointment at the late-season collapse of the pitching staff and re-confirmed his desire to further augment the club's pitching depth.

"Our injuries aren't any more significant than anybody else,'' he said. "Our depth just isn't capable of going Round 3 with these (other AL East) teams. That really took some of the fun away from me. We just have to improve our depth."

He has already said he will go into the free agent and trade markets looking for a couple of veteran starting pitchers -- and hinted that they club would look into its "geographical" advantages with some higher profile players (that probably means you, A.J.) --, but he wasn't making any promises.

MacPhail didn't oversell the club's progress this year, but does feel that the foundation of talent is better than it was when he was hired in June of 2007.

"I'm certainly happier now than I when I first got here," he said.

The evaluation process is on-going, but it will heat up considerably next week when the Orioles hold their annual organizational meetings in Sarasota, Fla.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:08 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Orioles

Payton RF
Montanez LF
Mora DH
Salazar 3B
Jones CF
Hernandez C
Millar 1B
Cintron SS
Fahey 2B

Bass SP

Blue Jays

Inglett 2B
Bautista 3B
Lind DH
Overbay 1B
Wilkerson CF
Mench LF
Snider RF
Zaun C
McDonald SS

Parrish SP

Soggy lineup: It has been raining heavily all afternoon and there is a huge puddle in right field, but the sky has lightened in the past few minutes. Not sure why manager Dave Trembley shook up the lineup so much today. Might be the wet field. Might be just giving some other players an opportunity. I was kind of hoping that Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff would be in there to continue their quest for 50 doubles. Probably get some explanation from Dave when he holds his pregame news conference.

Dave's take: Trembley said before the game that he didn't consult with Huff or Markakis before making out the lineup, then joked that they could still get to 50 doubles tomorrow.

Roster update: It's just a paper move, but the O's have activated Jeremy Guthrie from the 15-day disabled list to start tomorrow's final regular season game against the Blue Jays.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

The Terps figure to crack the Top 25 after today's 20-17 road victory over No. 20 Clemson. Package that with the upset over California at Byrd Stadium and you've probably got a No. 22 team in the upcoming USA Today poll.

Obviously, it would be higher than that if Maryland had not tripped against Middle Tennessee State, but it might have been that game that helped point the Terps in the right direction.

Got to give credit where credit is due. I think it was coach Ralph Friedgen's soft touch before the Cal game that helped loosen the team up. He sensed the players were tight after the Middle Tennessee loss and eased up in the pregame meetings to take some pressure off.

There's probably only one thing to do in a situation like this -- switch my allegiance from formerly top-ranked Southern Cal to soon-to-be-ranked Maryland. The Terps would never lose to Oregon State, right?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:24 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

I realize this is supposed to be a sports blog, but it's hard to ignore the news this morning that Paul Newman has died of cancer. I've been a lifelong fan of his work and also admire the fact that he started his popular "Newman's Own" food business to benefit various charities.

If I need an excuse to comment on him here, remember that he starred in one of the greatest sports movies of all time -- Slap Shot -- and a number of other great sports-related films. I'm not sure billiards is a sport (though the people at ESPN2 obviously think so), but The Hustler and it's generation-later sequel The Color of Money showed his amazing talent to live in a character.

Newman was a huge sports guy who loved auto racing and made decent movie about it in 1969 called Winning. I could go on and on, but I'll just give you my two favorite Paul Newman films and then let you chime in with a thought or two if you want. Newman's anti-hero in the 1963 classic Hud is, for me, the definition of great acting, and his comic turn as Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made that my all-time Newman favorite.

Shameless plug: I'll be continuing this conversation on The Peter Schmuck Show today at noon on WBAL as well as wrapping up the Orioles season and previewing the Monday Night Football showdown between the Ravens and Steelers. If you're not in radio range, you can go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:07 AM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Rays, who are the champions of the American League East despite losing their second straight game against the Detroit Tigers. Their magic number was just one and the Red Sox let them in the back door late last night with a resounding 19-8 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park.

Make that very late last night. The Red Sox made their final out at nearly 1 a.m. (EDT) due to weather delays, making hit pretty much impossible for the Rays to have a normal champagne celebration. Manager Joe Maddon and a few players remained at Comerica Field to watch the the game while the rest of the team watched from the team hotel.

Much of the playoff picture is complete, but there's still plenty of intrigue in both leagues. The Twins and White Sox are still battling for the AL Central title, and it could be decided on Monday if a half-game still separates them after tomorrow's games. The White Sox would have to play a makeup game against the Detroit Tigers if it still has postseason implications.

The NL East race is technically undecided, with the Phillies two games ahead of the Mets with two to go, but it really has come down to the wild card duel between the Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers. The Mets are one game back and will send pitching ace Johan Santana to the mound against the Marlins today on three days rest.

I was talking to my co-worker Dan Connolly (who may be relating the same conversation in his blog), and we agreed that it is shaping up to be one of the more compelling baseball postseasons in awhile. The Rays just might be on a collision course with Maddon's old team (the Angels) and everybody wants to know if this is the year the Cubs finally end their century-old world title drought.

There's also Joe Torre's 13th consecutive postseason appearance. The way things look right now, the Dodgers will open the Division Series at Wrigley Field and the Brewers will face the Phillies, the NL scenario still could shake out differently in the next couple of days. Whatever happens, this is going to be fun.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Chris Waters ended up on the losing end of tonight's rain-shortened game against the Blue Jays, but he still may have come out a winner in the long run. He pitched six innings and gave up three runs on nine hits to finish the season a little higher on Dave Trembley's list than some of the other young pitchers.

"He did more than what was expected of him,'' Trembley said. "He did a lot better than expected and held his own. He should be commended for that."

Trembley was non-committal, however, on whether Waters has improved his standing going into spring training next year.

"He''ll have to come to spring training and earn that,'' Trembley said. "All of us will get together and try to fit people into what we have."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:13 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

The Orioles will fail to draw 2 million fans to Camden Yards for the first time since the ballpark opened. The announced attendance last night was 17,716, bringing the season total to 1,912,143.

It is mathematically possible for the next two crowds to equal 87,857, but there is no way the combined total will be anywhere close to that. The previous low for a season was 2006, when the O's drew 2,153,139.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

While Dave Trembley was stating the obvious -- that starting pitching would have to be an offseason priority -- he seemed to hint that the Orioles may bypass several of the club's older minor league prospects in favor of the Double-A guys next spring.

"I think we should look at some of the younger guys in big league camp,'' he said.

He didn't really expand on that, but it should be obvious to all that a cloud of doubt has formed over the group of young starters that either started the season in the major league rotation (Brian Burres) or came up to fill it out during the latter part of this season.

Trembley also reiterated the need for an "offensive-minded" everyday shortstop and deflected any talk about Brian Roberts possibly playing his last weekend in an Orioles uniform. We'll just have to wait and see how that situation plays out over the next month or so.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

The lineups

Orioles

Roberts 2B
Markakis RF
Mora DH
Huff 3B
Salazar 1B
Jones CF
Scott LF
Santos C
Fahey SS

Waters SP

Blue Jays

Scutaro 2B
Bautista 1B
Rios CF
Wells DH
Lind LF
Rolen 3B
Snider RF
Thigpen C
McDonald SS

Richmond SP

Rotation update: Right-hander Brian Bass will be the starter for tomorrow night's game against former Oriole left-hander John Parrish.

Lineup change: Shortstop Juan Castro was in the original lineup today, but still is sore after suffering a groin strain on Wednesday night. His name was whited out and Fahey written over it.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Today's featured comment comes from our funny friend Chris Joseph, who obviously can't wait for Sunday:

Chris's take: I'm really looking forward to this final weekend, just to see if the O's can clinch the Triple Crown of Wildness (walks, HBP, WP). The walks and hit batsmen are locks, but since the WP race is so close, it could take a Sunday cameo from DCab to nail it down. It might go something like this...

It's the ninth inning, and the Blue Jays have the bases loaded (from walks, naturally). Dave Trembley approaches the mound and signals for the righty. The gate swings open, and the tall, angular frame of Daniel Cabrera (left) lopes in. The massive crowd of 837 goes wild and chants, "Ball-o, Ball-o" which (pardon my French) I believe is Spanish for "one who possesses the control of a rabid pit bull."

Trembley places the baseball in Daniel's massive right paw, pats him on the back, and says, "Trust your stuff. Just aim for the middle of the plate, and everything will be fine..Oh yeah, and respect the game, dammit!" Daniel fires his first warm up toss into the club level, which is just as well because Ramon Hernandez is devouring his third crab pretzel from Phillip's and wouldn't have caught it anyway.

The batter steps in. Daniel toes the rubber, reaches back, and lets it fly...

...The ball bounces five feet in front of the plate, past Hernandez who is now perusing the dinner menu from the Rusty Scupper. The runner trots home from third. It's all over! The O's have won the Triple Crown! But when his teammates run from the dugout to mob him, Daniel has to be restrained because he thinks it's the Yankees coming for revenge.

Some post-game comments:

Trembley: "I'm so proud. Good things happen when you respect the game, dammit."

Cabrera: "I just aimed for the middle, trusted my stuff, and respected the game, dammit. I just wish I could have decked Derek Jeter."

Hernandez: "I'm not sure if I should go with the Tilapia Francaise or the Blackened Diver Sea Scallops...What the hell--I'll just order both."

Sorry. It's been another long season...

Pete's take: I can't improve on that, so I'll just head to Baltimore for my regular appearance on The Week in Review on WBAL (1090). The panel to day is yours truly, Clarence Mitchell IV, former first lady Kendel Ehrlich and 98 Rock personality Mickey Cucchiella. If you aren't near a radio, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

AP photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:06 AM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

If you happen to see A.J. Burnett around town this weekend, you might ask him if the Toronto media reports are correct that $15 million per year is the starting point for negotiations on a new contract if he opts out of his current deal with the Blue Jays.

Sounds logical when you consider that he would be leaving two years at $12 million per on the table if he exercises his out clause, but that number almost certainly will price him out of any chance to play near his home in Monkton. Can't imagine Peter Angelos approving a contract that size for a pitcher and I CAN imagine Andy MacPhail talking him out of it if he was even tempted.

The O's might spend $15 million per year on starting pitching, but that will have to pay for two starting pitchers from either the middle of the free agent market or a team looking to dump payroll. There are just too many holes to fill in that rotation to make that kind of commitment to one guy,

AP photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:15 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm reading your posts. You're happy the regular season is almost over. You can't stand to watch one more Quadruple-A pitcher find himself on a major league mound just long enough to lose the strike zone. You're mad as hell and you're not going to take it anymore because you made the mistake of starting to believe again in June.

Sure, you might show up for one of the last three games because it's Fan Appreciation Weekend. but only because they're giving away airline tickets and that would help you get as far away from the Orioles as possible this winter.

I don't believe you. I think you're secretly disappointed the season is coming to an end and you're already counting the days until the Orioles report for spring training -- hopefully with Albers and Patton and Johnson healthy enough to compete for a place in a brand new Orioles starting rotation.

Last night on WBAL, I debated Steve Davis on the subject of whether the Orioles had taken a step forward or backward this year. I argued that the ugly finish has masked the fact that the team made a big developmental leap over the past 12 months. Steve (that's him on the left with the clearly defensive body language) argued that the obvious lack of pitching depth at the end of the season is evidence that the organization has regressed. I think I'm right, but I'll let you chime in on one side or the other.

It's okay if you want to side with Steve. God knows he can use the friends.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:11 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (28)
        

I'm depressed. The same top-ranked University of Southern California team that crushed Ohio State two weeks ago fell behind Oregon State by 21 points in the first half last night and suffered the first No. 1 upset by a team with a losing record since Michigan State defeated Michigan in 1990.

Can't say I'm completely surprised, however. I've been a USC fan for a long time and Pete Carroll's Achilles Heel is that so-so conference opponent that shouldn't be on the same field with the powerhouse Trojans. Don't know if that's the one flaw in Carroll's highly successful coaching style or simply the way the oblong ball bounces, but it has happened too many times.

No. 2 USC lost a squeaker to Stanford at the LA Coliseum last October and the No. 3 Trojans lost to Oregon State two years ago in Corvallis, 33-31. If somebody can explain this to me -- other than Stan White -- I'm all ears.

This time, however, I don't think it was Carroll's trademark overconfidence that was the difference. This time, he was simply outcoached and his team outplayed by the fired-up Beavers, whose only other victory over a No. 1 team was 41 years ago against the top-ranked USC team that featured O.J. Simpson.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:30 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Today's featured comment comes from Budafinguz, who thinks the lack of trash talk on the part of the Ravens this week is directly connected to the coaching change:

Budafinguz' take: This is exactly the kinda team i've been wanting for years. No matter how much i despise Bill Belichick, I admire his preparation and the subdued demeanor he influences on his team, and this is most definitely a Belichick-esk attitude Harbaugh has brought to Baltimore. We know what Bart and McAllister want to say, but the fact that they don't, says a lot about their focus. Rock 'em to sleep, then punch 'em in the mouth.

Pete's take: I have little doubt that John Harbaugh and the semi-new staff has stressed the importance of acting as a team no matter what the situation, and that includes what the players put on the street going into a game. Don't think you'll ever entirely control the likes of Bart Scott and Ray Lewis, but it seems like everyone is buying into the team concept that Harbaugh has been preaching from the moment he got the job. Of course, that's easy to say when you're 2-0, so let's not make any sweeping judgments just yet.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:43 PM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Tune in tonight from 6-9 p.m. when I give Steve Davis his usual intellectual spanking on Sportsline and kick off three straight days of Schmuck on WBAL (1090). Tomorrow, I'll be in studio with Clarence Mitchell IV, Kendel Ehrlich and 98 Rock's Mickey Cucchiella on The Week in Review and Saturday it's The Peter Schmuck Show from noon to 2:30 p.m. If you are out of area or not near a radio, you can go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you were expecting the undefeated Ravens to be strutting around this week in anticipation of their Monday Night Football showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers, you probably would have been disappointed in the level of rivalry-related trash talk at their Owings Mills facility yesterday.

Because there wasn't any. The locker room was almost subdued, and I'm guessing it wasn't an accident. Maybe they're hoping to tiptoe into Heinz Field and ambush the banged-up Steelers. Maybe they're just a different kind of team under new coach John Harbaugh.

"We're basically going to get ready for the game,'' Haloti Ngata said. "It's pretty much a divisional game and you want to get a win. We don't think of it as a big Monday Night game. We're thinking of it as an important divisional game."

In situations that require a little attitude, the Ravens media usually turns to Bart Scott (left), but he wasn't going there either. Even his supposed personal rivalry with receiver Hines Ward barely bubbled to the surface.

"I don't have a rivalry with anybody,'' he said. "It's early in the season and we've got a long way to go. It's our one opportunity to showcase ourselves on Monday Night Football. It's a divisional game and they count more, so we just want to get an opportunity to get a 'W' and be 3-0 in the division."

Scott even complimented Ward for the work he has done in Korea to raise awareness about widespread discrimination against mixed-race children in that country.

"He does some tremendous things,'' Scott said, "but when it's football, it's different."

Pretty tame stuff, but the Steelers are banged up -- running back Willie Parker won't play -- and there's no reason to slap anything up on their bulletin board.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:54 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

The offday couldn't come at a better time for Ramon Hernandez (right), who has to be sore this morning after a night in which he showed he could play fullback if this baseball thing doesn't work out for him. Who would have expected that after watching him avoid contact at home plate for the past month?

Hernandez decked Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura to break up a possible double play in the sixth inning. The hit was a borderline cheap shot and Hernandez paid a price later in the game when Trever Miller drilled him in the hip. Ramon looked peeved as he headed for first base, but he probably had it coming.

The Orioles couldn't exactly make an issue of anything, since O's pitchers already had hit three Tampa Bay batters, which -- incidentally -- raised their major league-leading total in that department to 80.

Bonus stat: The Orioles are closing in on the dubious Triple Crown of bad pitching in the American League. They definitely will lead the league (and the majors) in HBP and walks, but hold only a slight lead over the Kansas City Royals (70-68) in wild pitches.

Baltimore Sun photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:24 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

Manager Dave Trembley kept it short and sweet during his postgame interview session. This quote just about sums it up:

I thought you saw the resiliency of our club in the first inning when we came out and banged the heck out of it and put five on the board. But you could just sense and feel and you could imagine what it's like when you're standing out there and you're walking people and you're hitting people and giving the lead right back to the opposing club. It's not as if it's the first time it has happened.

The Orioles are mercifully off tomorrow before kicking off their Fan Appreciation Weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night at Camden Yards. Friday night will feature fireworks and a team photo giveaway. Please memorize the team picture because there is going to be a quiz next spring.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:24 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

The Tampa Bay Rays rallied to keep hope of a champagne celebration alive tonight, but the Boston Red Sox just defeated Cleveland, 5-4, to stay in the division title hunt for at least one more day. If the Rays hold on here, their magic number would be down to one going into tomorrow's series opener in Detroit.

That opener is an afternoon game at Comerica Field, which might actually leave too much time to party afterward.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:05 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Baltimore Sun baseball writers Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly are reporting that the Orioles have extended the contract of scouting director Joe Jordan through the 2010 season. Jordan has been with the club since November of 2004 and has gotten high marks for the foundation of talent he has put together in his first four drafts.

The Orioles had languished for years among the lowest-rated player development systems in baseball, but the club's minor league stock has gone up sharply with the solid 2007 and 2008 drafts that featured top picks Matt Wieters and Brian Matusz.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:30 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Dave Trembley came to his pregame news conference with a list. There's so much injury information that he didn't want anything to fall through the cracks.

Here's a quick review:

Daniel Cabrera will go to Miami for a second opinion on his sore elbow/forearm. He'll depart the team on Saturday and who knows if we'll see him in spring training. If he requires some kind of procedure, you can bet the Orioles will non-tender him in December.

Reliever Jim Miller has a huge bruise under his arm pit. He apparently tore a muscle in his side warming up in the bullpen last night. With four games left, he's obviously done for the year.

Dennis Sarfate is scheduled for surgery on his fractured clavicle on Tuesday. Dr. John Wilckens will perform the operation, but Sarfate is visiting Dr. Lewis Yocum in Southern California for a second opinion.

Melvin Mora is sidelined again with that nagging hamstring strain. Trembley said he is on the injury list as "self-limited." Draw your own conclusions.

Rotation update: Chris Waters will pitch Friday's series opener against the Blue Jays and Trembley confirmed Guthrie for Sunday. Who pitches in between is still up in the air.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Orioles

Roberts 2B
Markakis RF
Jones CF
Huff 3B
Salazar 1B
Scott DH
Hernandez C
Montanez LF
Castro SS

Liz SP

Rays

Iwamura 2B
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Longoria 3B
Floyd DH
Navarro C
Gross RF
Hinski LF
Bartlett SS

Jackson SP

Guthrie update Pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who has been sidelined with a shoulder impingement, pitched in a simulated game situation and looked comfortable. He'll likely come back to make a final start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

It's been a couple of weeks since I completely embarrassed myself at the Washington Capitals Media Fantasy Camp, but thought you might like to like to see the moment when the law of gravity and the law of being clumsy and having too big a head combined to rob me of the last vestiges of my self-esteem.

Here's the official Caps TV video, featuring my friend Mike Vogel, who was nice enough to help me find my way home from the team's Arlington, Va. training complex afterward. He and the video staff also were nice enough to insert the clip of my ugly pratfall into an otherwise non-descript interview in which I try so sound like I know something about hockey. Be patient. It's about a minute into the video.

In case you were concerned, the Caps staff has informed me that the spot where my head hit the ice has been repaired and the team is confident there will be no long-term impact on the structural integrity of the Kettler Iceplex.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:57 PM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Today's featured comment comes from TerryP, who quickly grew weary of my Tampa Bay Rays -- print, net, blog -- media blitz:

TerryP's take: It's pretty bad when we get pep talks from the manager of one of the former classic bottom feeders in MLB. I suppose the rationale is that anything is possible but it's also just as possible that the mighty Tampa Bay team will slide down to .500 next year.

Who scares you offensively besides Pena, Longoria or Crawford or maybe Upton?. Their rotation is decent but nothing special (a lot better than ours, of course!) so it's one of those Cinderella stories but give credit where it's due. No one in Tampa seems to care, but their franchise competitive-wise looks brighter than Baltimore.

I guess you could argue that we are now more like Pittsbugh or KC with the consistent losing and with rosters full of unproductive vets that can't catch on anywhere but the BIG 3! Hopefully, this offseason will prove me wrong and we continue the rebuild by immediately releasing guys like Walker/Ramon and stop trolling the bargain bin/waiver wires. I am also hoping that the massive DL is cleared up so we get a true picture of our pitching situation.

Pete's take: Don't turn your nose up completely at the waiver wire. I believe that's where the Orioles stole Jeremy Guthrie. The lesson of the Rays isn't just player development, it's also trolling the bargain bin for the right pieces to complete the puzzle. I agree it's galling to have the Rays pole vault over the Orioles (and everybody else), but there are some things to be learned from their success, however short-lived you think it might be.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:06 PM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Odds-on American League Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria (right) launched a long solo home run off Alfredo Simon in the eighth inning last night and -- at least according to Orioles manager Dave Trembley -- that seemed to light a fire under the Tampa Bay Rays, propelling them to a six-run rally and a sweep of the doubleheader at Oriole Park.

"It just goes to show how in every game our team is,'' Longoria said. "It usually takes only one thing to spark it and then it's (smooth sailing) for us. I think it's just a belief in each other and belief in our team. We all just feed off each other."

All you have to do is look around the clubhouse to see that the Rays have a special chemistry. Just about every one of them is sporting a mohawk haircut. I don't know if there's a direct correlation between looking ridiculous and playing good baseball, but the Rays are doing both right now and the results continue to be far beyond any reasonable preseason expectation.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Here's how Orioles manager Dave Trembley and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon each saw the performance of former Mexican League pitcher Alfredo Simon, who pitched into the eighth inning last night before the bullpen blew a three-run lead in 7-5 loss to the Rays:

Dave's take: "Obviously, he looked a lot more comfortable as a starter. He went right after them and the velocity of his fastball was consistent throughout."

Joe's take: "I thought he had really good sink on the ball. He had good stuff and threw strikes. Did he walk anybody? (no) He threw 96 pitches and was still there in the eighth inning.

He's a big guy. He was pretty impressive. I don't know if he had a slider or a split (a split-fingered pitch), but he had something that was really diving."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:29 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

That depends on how you're going to feel if the Red Sox lose tomorrow night and the Tampa Bay Rays complete the four-game sweep at Camden Yards to clinch the American League East title.

That would definitely be worse, unless you're one of those Orioles fans who can't help but root for the Rays to complete their sacred quest to prove you don't have to be from Boston or New York to win this division. It's probably a pretty big club.

The O's looked like they were going to put up a fight behind Mexican League transplant Alfredo Simon, who pitched 7 2/3 innings and left with a three-run lead in the eighth, but Jamie Walker (right) could not get an out and the Rays would end up scoring six runs in the inning to reduce their magic number to two.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:00 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

Is it possible the Orioles have found another diamond in the rough in the Mexican League? Former Monterey Sultans pitcher Alfredo Simon pitched a strong 7 2/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays itonight at Camden Yards and is making me all nostalgic for Rodrigo Lopez.

Rodrigo came to the Orioles from the Culiacan Tomato Growers and won 15 games in his first season with the Orioles (2002), finishing second behind Eric Hinske in the ballotting for American League Rookie of the year. He would go on to win 14 games in 2004 and 15 in 2005, making him quite a find.

Trivia time: Hinske was one of two players on the current Tampa Bay roster to finish among the 10 players receiving votes in the 2002 Rookie of the Year election. Lopez was one of two former Orioles to finish among the Top 10. Can you name the other two players?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:20 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

Now that The Schmuck Stops Here is up and running, I've made some minor changes in an attempt to make the blog easier to navigate for those who prefer to read about only baseball or only football or -- if you're really deranged -- only my strange opinions on various subjects.

Just scroll down the right side to "Categories" and click on your preference. I've backloaded a few days worth of items to get the categories started, but they'll reach maturity on their own pretty quickly. I'm always looking for new ways to make the blog more appealing -- other than announcing my retirement -- so don't hesitate to use the suggestion box. I aim to please.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

It's time for one of those glass-half-full moments. The Orioles are looking like a solid bet to end up falling short of 70 victories, but that's not all bad. They appear destined to finish with the fifth-worst record in baseball -- cue the derisive applause -- which will position them for another prime pick in next year's draft.

The real good news: They've proven over the past two years that they know how to make the most of an early pick, as evidenced by the success of Matt Wieters during his first full professional season and the consensus around baseball that Brian Matusz was the most advanced pitcher in this year's draft.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:23 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (18)
        

It seems like a long time ago that I got into that heated argument with Steve Davis on his WBAL radio show about Brett Favre and whether the Ravens should make a play for him to solidify the quarterback situation. Davis, probably playing the devil's advocate, made the point that the Ravens might be able to squeeze a couple additional victories out of the 2008 season with a future Hall of Famer at QB ... perhaps even turning the team into a borderline playoff contender.

Of course, it didn't take much to win that argument. The Ravens had already turned the page on their rent-a-quarterback days and were committed to developing Joe Flacco and Troy Smith as their quarterback combo of the future. Bringing Favre into the picture would have forced Cam Cameron to scrap months of work designing the offense and created nothing but uncertainty moving forward.

Nevertheless, there were plenty of callers and e-mailers on Steve's side. Brett is a very popular guy and he certainly would have been a dynamic addition to the Ravens' offense, but it's pretty obvious now that the Ravens did the right thing by staying on the sidelines.

If you watched last night's game between the Jets and the San Diego Chargers, you saw Brett at both his best and worst. He made some real big plays and he made some real bad ones as the Jets got torched at Qualcomm Stadium. I'm not a mind-reader, but whenever the MNF cameras caught Jets coach Eric Mangini on the sidelines, he looked like he was wondering how he got into this mess.

It was bad enough that during the Westwood One halftime show, commentator Jim Gray told former NFL quarterback Phil Sims that he felt "sad" watching Favre struggle to replicate his past glory.

The Ravens, meanwhile, are pretty happy with the way things are developing. Nobody is anointing Joe Flacco as the next great NFL quarterback, but he has made a good account of himself and settled into the starting role. He's probably going to get knocked around a little on Monday night in Pittsburgh, but that's part of the process that could turn him into something special.

Would the Ravens be 2-0 with Favre at quarterback? Maybe. But the fact that they are 2-0 with Flacco is proof that they made the right decision by sticking with him when Kyle Boller went down with an injury and Smith got sick. I was right, too, but I'll keep that to myself the next time I'm on with Davis Thursday night. He's got to be pretty tired of losing arguments to me by now.

AP photo; Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:31 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (32)
        

Clearly, I sold the Tampa Bay Rays short on a couple of counts in yesterday's post about the final week of the AL East race. They picked up another game on the Red Sox last night and could all but lock up their first-ever division title with a sweep of the doubleheader that starts at 5:05 today at Oriole Park.

Things look pretty good regardless, since they end the season in Detroit while the Red Sox end with a weekend series against the Yankees. They even get an additional break because Gary Sheffield did not appeal his four-game suspension for that brawl with the Indians and won't be available for Thursday's game at Comerica Field.

My math was a little off yesterday because I didn't take into account that the Rays would win the tiebreaker for the division title if they end with the same record as the Red Sox. Their magic number is four, so they could clinch tomorrow if they sweep tonight and the Sox lose one of the remaining two games against the Indians at Fenway Park. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

It isn't easy being the most interesting blogger in the world. I don't often make mistakes, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Makes me feel better.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:01 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Brian Bass took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against one of the best teams in baseball, and the Tampa Bay Rays still had no hits when Bass went in to ice his arm in the Orioles trainers room

Bass retired the first two batters in the fifth and then walked the bases loaded before manager Dave Trembley came out and got him. I'm pretty sure Dave will say it wasn't a hard decision, since Bass had thrown 73 pitches and more than half of them (37) were not strikes.

Of course, Randor Bierd came on and immediately gave up a two-run single. Such is life, especially in the Orioles bullpen right now.

Rays prospect David Price also took no-hitter into the fifth, but just gave up back-to-back singles to Ramon Hernandez and Lou Montanez to load the bases with no one out.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:15 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

I'm not making this up. Converted reliever Brian Bass has a no-hitter through four innings and Tampa Bay prospect David Price has a no-hitter through three innings. I believe I saw some cats lying down with dogs on the club level and I'm pretty sure there will be a plague of locusts any minute, but it's still fairly early.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:58 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Matt Wieters (right) is recharging his batteries before heading out to the Arizona Fall League and Brad Bergesen (lower right) will be resting his arm until spring training, but they stopped by Camden Yards to pick up some hardware last night and take part in a pre-game media conference along with the club's other player development award winners.

Here are a few excerpts and my expert analysis:

Wieters, on why he was able to hit better after being promoted from Class-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie: "If you could explain hitting, you'd be making a lot more money."

My take: Just based on that one answer, I've reached two conclusions about Wieters. First, he's ready to answer questions in the major league clubhouse right now, and second, he's probably seen Bull Durham about 12 times.

Bergesen, on why he wasn't sent to one of the fall leagues: "I threw the most innings I've ever thrown this year. I think it was a front office decision to shut me down and give me the rest."

My take: Good answer. It's always a good idea to defer to the front office at least until you're eligible for salary arbitration.

Brad Komminsk, on whether Lou Montanez could have been the O's Minor League Player of the Year instead of Wieters: "He easily could have been...to do all that (win the Eastern League Triple Crown) in just four months tells you something."

My take: Imagine how much fun Wieters and Montanez would have had at the plate if they'd been together in the Bowie lineup from start to finish.

Scout of the Year Dean Albany, on the current condition of the minor league system: "I think the groundwork has been laid by Andy...I think we've taken a lot of steps in the right direction. I think the system is much improved.

My take: I know for a fact Dean means every word of that, but what else could he possibly say in that situation.

Komminsk on Bowie losing in the playoffs to a team that featured major league slugger Travis Hafner: "I wasn't real happy about the way it all went, but what you going to do."

My take: Just be glad those playoffs didn't go to Game 5. I hear the Indians were going to rehab Cliff Lee that day.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:55 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

Jeremy Guthrie threw 45 pitches in the bullpen today and said he felt terrific. He's scheduled for a simulated game on Wednesday and -- if all continues to go well -- will start Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays or in Sunday's regular season finale.

Here's tonight's starting lineup:

Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Adam Jones CF
Aubrey Huff 3B
Oscar Salazar 1B
Luke Scott DH
Ramon Hernandez C
Luis Montanez LF
Juan Castro SS

Brian Bass SP

Bass matchup stats: Brian Bass has pitched 1/3 of an inning against the Rays, facing three batters as a member of the Twins bullpen. He gave up a hit to Nathan Haynes, who no longer is in the majors, and walked Eric Hinske intentionally. The only Rays hitter he retired was Evan Longoria, who he struck out.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:32 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

The Orioles will honor the winners of their player development and scouting awards before tonight's series opener against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Oriole Park. Matt Wieters and Brad Bergesen, the Minor League Player of the Year and Minor League Pitcher of the Year, headline a list of winners that also includes Bowie manager Brad Komminsk and local scout Dean Albany. Here's the complete list:

Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year: Matt Wieters (Bowie)

Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Brad Bergesen (Bowie)

Elrod Hendricks Minor League Community Service Award: Cliff Flagello (Delmarva)

Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award: Brad Komminsk (Bowie)

Jim Russo Scout of the Year Award: Dean Albany

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:56 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The Tampa Bay Rays have a mathematical chance of popping corks in the visitor's clubhouse on Wednesday, but I'm pretty sure Baltimore won't have to host a division title celebration this year.

The Rays could win the division by sweeping all four games from the Orioles, beginning tonight with the first major league start of top 2007 draft choice David Price. No one doubts the Orioles are capable of going winless in the series, but the Red Sox also would have to lose all three of their games against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. That's just not going to happen,

I've got mixed feelings about the Rays right now and I'm sure you do, too. It's got to be hard for Orioles fans to watch them take a giant leap over the Orioles to compete for the AL East title, but it's great to see that it can be done. Even if they get overtaken by the Sox this week and have to settle for the wild card berth, I've got to send out my personal congratulations to manager Joe Madden (right), because I was there to see how hard he worked his way through the Angels organization to get this richly deserved opportunity.

I'm just curious. If that longshot came in and the Rays celebrated on the field at Oriole Park on Wednesday, would you stand and applaud, or walk out shaking your head?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:09 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

Today's featured comment is coming to you a little early because I slept a little late and am stalling for time to put up another scintillating post. This is from Jeff from Roch-ville, who apparently doesn't realize that Roch is now in Birdland:

Jeff's take: Geez Louise Pete, it was a freakin' circus last night for those of us who just wanted to watch a ball game! Having to listen to the ESPN call the game (which they somehow managed to do in between talking about history, Yogi Berra, etc etc) was just torturous.

Yes, there was a huge amount of history in Yankee Stadium and it was a great event, but the game was totally overshadowed by the ceremony pomp, circumstance etc. OK, so neither team is really in contention (unless the Yankees in a frenzy of excitement and enthusiasm go on a streak-which admittedly could happen), but it still counts for stats, for next year and just out of respect for the game.

But whatcha' gonna do Peter? It was what it was. Waters did a fair job in the beginning and we got shut down as usual. I guess the only consolation I can take is that, as a Verizon FIOS subscriber down here in Montgomery County, I FINALLY GOT TO WATCH THE ORIOLES IN TRUE H-D! Seems that Verizon FIOS doesn't deem baseball important enough to give the MASN HD broadcasts an HD channel forcing us to watch it on 67 in Standard Definition or on "FIOS-1" in F-D (Fuzzy Definition). Both stink especially when you still see the little "MASN HD" logo in the corner. At least when ESPN broadcast it, it was true H-D thus justifying my new TV.

Onwards to see what we can do to the Rays or how they can do it to us...then Toronto and blessedly this season will be put to bed. What do you think?

Pete's reply: I totally agree that it's frustrating to watch a non-HD broadcast on an HD set. Better to go upstairs and watch it on your old TV in your kid's room. I don't agree about the Yankee Stadium tribute. Whatever you think of the Yankees, that stadium has featured a ton of history and some of it Baltimore-related. Even the greatest-living-players tribute was stolen from the final day at Memorial Stadium, so we have that going for us. I liked all the history stuff and thought the game should be an afterthought. Now that I think about it, was there an Orioles game last night?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:30 PM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

If you sensed some similarity between the pre-game ceremony last night at Yankee Stadium and the ceremony that followed the last game at Memorial Stadium in 1991, you weren't alone. The Yankees did the same thing the Orioles did, trotting their living greats out to their respective positions in a highly emotional tribute to the past.

Don't you think it's kind of cool that the last home run at Yankee Stadium was hit by a guy -- catcher Jose Molina -- with an ample gut. Babe Ruth, who hit the first homer there more than 85 years ago and said "God knows who will hit the last," would have been proud.

The Ravens looked solid in yesterday's 28-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns, which boosted them into sole possession of first place in the AFC North. Do you think they'll still be there after next week's Monday Night Football showdown with the Steelers?

Guess I owe Joey Porter an apology. He said the other day that beating the New England Patriots "shouldn't be that hard,'' and I took a shot at both Joey (who probably will insist on being called Albert at some point) and the Dolphins for thinking they could transcend their 1-20 regular-season record dating back to Week 14 of the 2006 season.

The U.S. team won the Ryder Cup for the first time in nine years, but it was only a coincidence that it happened with Tiger Woods at home rehabbing his surgically repaired knee. I'm sure we're going to hear all kinds of psychobabble about how the U.S. golfers pulled together as a team because Tiger wasn't there, but it's just not that kind of game. Every player may be out there trying to win for the team, but each golfer still has to hit each shot himself. Is it possible that the U.S. golfers finally won because, well, you can't lose them all?

Everyone keeps talking about the 85 years of history at Yankee Stadium, but they're getting the math wrong. There actually were only 84 seasons played there, because the Yankees played two seasons at Shea Stadium while their ballpark was closed in 1974 and '75 for renovations. If you count that time, it's really more like 86 years of history.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:14 AM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Dawan Landry suffered a spinal concussion on that ugly play at the end of the first half, but tests at Shock Trauma revealed no spinal fracture and he has movement in all his extremities. He never lost consciousness, but did experience some numbness after hurtling head-first into former Raven Jamal Lewis. He'll remain hospitalized overnight so doctors can monitor his condition.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:22 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Willis McGahee was out of the game temporarily. He went to the lockerroom to get his right eye examined after suffering a cut on his eyelid. He returned to set up a Ravens touchdown with a tough run down to the 1 yard line, then came out of the game again with the cut reopened.

If this was a boxing match, they might have to stop it.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:11 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Still trying to figure out why Cam Cameron ran that pitch-back bomb that was intercepted by the Browns in the end zone. I don't make a practice of second-guessing individual play-calling very often, but the Ravens had moved the ball well during their first three possessions, only to have Matt Stover miss a field goal and Joe Flacco throw an earlier interception in Browns territory.

The Ravens were moving the ball again and had a first down at about midfield when Flaccos pitched the ball to the receiver in motion, who passed it back to him before he launched it down field. If it works, we're all applauding the bold play call, but it was intercepted, so you wonder why take the risk in that situation.

Turned out okay, because the Browns stalled and Dave Zastudil shanked a punt that led to a Ravens touchdown, but it's still a fair question.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:13 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

The Red Sox just beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, to clinch at least a tie for the American League wild card berth. The next Red Sox victory or Yankees loss will cement at least the wild card for the Sox, which makes tonight's final game ever at Yankee Stadium a little more interesting.

The O's could, in one fell swoop, spoil the party with a victory and mathematically eliminate the Yankees from the playoff race. It would be largely symbolic, since there's almost no chance of the Yankees catching the Red Sox during the final week of the season, but I'm guessing it would be a sweet, sweet parting for the anti-Yankees fans here in Baltimore.

Of course, while you're waiting for that nationally televised game tonight, there's the small matter of another game that carries some emotional weight in two cities. The winless Browns visit M&T Bank Stadium this afternoon to take on the former Browns in a fairly important early divisional game for both teams.

I'd love to be at Yankee Stadium tonight, but I'm at M&T right now getting ready for some football. I'll keep you posted.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:34 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

If you get a chance, take a look at the list on ESPN.com of the 100 most important sports venues and bathe in the glory of Oriole Park at Camden Yards being ranked No. 2. The list was compiled by long-time baseball writer Jim Caple, so maybe he's a bit biased toward ball parks, but the top five also includes Madison Square Garden and Augusta National.

It's appropriate that Yankee Stadium is No. 1. The House That Ruth Built has been the center of the sports universe for 85 years, hosting not only all those Yankees world titles, but also "The Greatest Game Ever Played" between the Colts and Giants and some of the most important title fights of the 20th century.

Why is Camden Yards No. 2? Caple doesn't need to tell us that it was the model for the new generation of modern throwback ballparks and it spawned an amazing wave of public funding for new sports facilities. There are probably millions of taxpayers around the country who aren't happy about that, but nobody around here seems to have any regrets.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:00 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

This may sound like blasphemy, but the more I think about the controversy over the rescheduling of last week's game against the Houston Texans, the more I think the Ravens will end up benefitting from the NFL's decision.

Maybe if the game had been played at a neutral site, the Ravens would have won and come into today's game against the Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium healthy and undefeated, but that's a big maybe. The Texans were a 4 1/2-point favorite (albeit assuming the game would be at Reliant Stadium) and the Ravens were still recovering from their rash of training camp injuries. They just as easily could be coming into today's game against a division rival with a 1-1 record and a few more bumps and bruises, but they will take the field much better off for the unexpected weekend off.

No doubt, the lost bye at midseason will be lamented if they fall off the map during the span of five road games in six weeks that resulted from the insertion of the Houston trip into that November weekend, but there is no substitute for a fast start, especially for a team that was never projected to be more than a very marginal playoff contender.

If the Ravens win today, they've got a decent chance of being 5-2 when that tough run on the road begins Nov. 2. And if the defense stays healthy, who knows where they could go from there.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:59 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Jeremy Guthrie threw a long side session today and proclaimed himself fit to pitch, but let it slip that the team was not as keen on him starting half of Tuesday night's doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park.

Looks like Dave Trembley might push him back a day so that there is no temptation to send him to the mound next Sunday with a chance to get to 200 innings. If that's the case, my hat is off to the team for protecting him from himself. If I had my way, he wouldn't go back out there at all, but he's itching to pitch and if he really feels 100 percent, he probably can do so without putting himself at great risk.

Trouble is, there's no way to know whether Jeremy's telling the whole truth. He wouldn't be the first pitcher to convince himself he's healthy enough to pitch when he really shouldn't. Apparently, the O's have chosen to take the middle road and let him have one start. I'll defer to the team and call it a prudent decision despite my reservations.

Meanwhile, back in the Bronx: Brian Burres is through the sixth inning with a two-hit shutout. If you don't believe it, turn on the game, because I'm not sure I believe it either. Suddenly, the four young starters who looked totally lost a week or so ago have strung together a bunch of solid outings. If you know what to make of that, please write, because I don't have a clue.

AP photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:45 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Check out Jeff Zrebiec's interview with Andy MacPhail about his desire to step up negotiations on contract extensions for Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis. It sounds logical that the Orioles would like to get down to business before the trading season begins in earnest, but I'm not really sure what it all means.

There's still no guarantee that Roberts is here next spring, though I think the chances are a lot better than they were last winter. He came pretty close to being traded to the Cubs and MacPhail seemed more committed to a full back-to-square-one rebuilding effort than he does now. Of course, that's because that was then and this is now...not because MacPhail has switched gears all that much.

What MacPhail is doing is trying to ascertain ASAP where Roberts is on this. If he wants to come back and is ready to sign, then the club might bear down and try to get an extension done. If Roberts is ambivalent about the future of the team or just asking for way too much, then that will basically tell the Orioles to get to work finding another five-player package like the ones they got for Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard.

Don't really have a clue how the Markakis situation plays out. I think it's really just a feeling out process, but it would be nice to get a long-term deal out of the way before he gets ticked off again during the next year-to-year negotiation.

Schmuck on the air: Listen to "The Peter Schmuck Show" today from 12-2:30 p.m. on WBAL (1090 AM). If you aren't near a radio or out of the area, you can go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Getty images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:49 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

I'm going to come right out and admit it. I'm a little late to the party when it comes to being judgmental about Ramon Hernandez. There have been dozens of posts here over the past few weeks addressing his failure to block balls behind the plate and block runners in front of it, but I have either withheld judgment or let it pass as more proof that he's a player whose intensity varies widely from game to game.

I'll stand by that appraisal, but that's no excuse for what happened in last night's game at Yankee Stadium. The wild pitch that allowed the decisive run to score bounced off him because he failed to do what any high school catcher is taught to do in that situation. It was a standard block and smother, but he remained too upright, so the ball came off his chest and caromed off to his right instead of back into the ground. I'm no expert on catching, but I feel pretty solid on this since Buck Martinez said essentially the same thing on the MASN postgame show.

It was one of two wild pitches that shouldn't have gotten by an American Legion catcher, much less a highly paid, high-profile major league veteran. Can't explain why Ramon has forgotten how to field his position, since he used to be considered pretty good at all this, but I don't need to explain it. He needs to suck it up and earn his big paycheck for nine more days.

He's supposed to help the young pitchers, not be a handicap for them. He's supposed to help the young outfielders, too, but recently squandered a fantastic throw to the plate by Lou Montanez because he wasn't willing to risk even passing contact with the baserunner.

Of course, you know how this is going to play out. He'll report to spring training next year looking like the old Ramon, because he knows that Matt Wieters is going to be hot on his trail and he'll be motivated to hold his place in the starting lineup because it's almost contract time again.

And I know what you're thinking, but he's going to be hard to trade with an $8 million salary next year and a $1 million buyout if the O's don't exercise his $8.5 million option for 2010...especially when every scout who has passed this way has seen that he's become a big defensive liability.

Sun file photo/Gene Sweeney Jr.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:53 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

Lou Montanez just hit a sacrifice fly off Carl Pavano to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the second inning of the final series opener at Yankee Stadium. Who knows how long that holds up, but it got me to thinking about the significance of this final series to the Orioles and their fans.

Do the last days of The House That Ruth Built evoke nostalgia or nausea?

Obviously, it's a big weekend for Montanez and some of the young players on the O's roster. The final game will be particularly significant for Chris Waters, since he will instantly become the answer to a trivia question that will be asked for generations. But what about all you Orioles fans?

Call for the question: How bad do you want the Orioles to spoil this party?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:38 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Now for an interesting possible scenario involving injured pitcher Erik Bedard. He will undergo surgery to repair his torn labrum and remove a cyst from his shoulder and he will probably be lost for much or all of the 2009 season. Can't imagine the Mariners are going to tender him a contract for next year, since they would be unable (under baseball's Basic Agreement) to cut his $7 million salary by more than 20 percent and he is eligible for free agency after the season.

They'll be tempted to hold onto him to avoid the embarrassment of releasing a guy who cost them their best outfield prospect, a top pitching prospect and a 30-save guy (along with pitchers Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler), but they'll probably come to their senses before throwing nearly $6 million more down a hole. Good money after bad.

So, you can figure on him being non-tendered and becoming a free agent in December and then trying to sign with somebody at who knows what price. Don't be surprised if his agent comes back to the Orioles with some kind of proposal, because there's some talk out there that a frustrating year in Seattle has made Erik nostalgic for his buddies in Baltimore.

Would you want him back to rehab and then perhaps be the No. 1 or No. 2 starter in 2010?

Frankly, I don't care for the kid, but that might be the kind of bold move that gets the Orioles a premier starting pitcher at a reasonable price at a point when the rebuilding plan is near fruition.

What do you think?

Schmuck media blitz: Join me at noon for The Week in Review on WBAL (1090 AM). If you're not near a radio or you are out of listening range, you can go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:52 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (78)
        

Starting to hear people refer to the Erik Bedard trade as Seattle's "Glenn Davis deal," and there certainly might be some parallels once the thing shakes out completely, which will take a few years.

The O's got potential superstar Adam Jones, reliever George Sherrill and highly regarded pitching prospect Chris Tillman in a five-player package for a pitcher (right) who was hurt for much of his first season in Seattle and just announced he'll undergo labrum surgery next week and be sidelined for six to nine months. Chances are, the Mariners will non-tender him in December, since he'll be eligible for free agency by the time he's ready to pitch again anyway.

Lest anyone has forgotten, the Orioles traded Curt Schilling, Steve Finley and Pete Harnisch for Glenn Davis back in 1991. Schilling went on to become one of the top power pitchers of his generation. Finley had a long and productive career. And Harnisch, despite some personal problems, was a pretty good major league starter during the 1990s. Davis suffered a freak shoulder injury during his first spring with the Orioles and never delivered on his previous reputation as one of the most feared power hitters in the National League.

It turned out to be one of the worst trades in baseball history -- and certainly the worst in Orioles history -- but no one knew it at the time, just as no one really knew that Bedard's shoulder would give out or Jones would establish quickly in center field for the Orioles or that Sherrill would save more than 30 games and be the key relief pitcher in the All-Star Game. Some things just aren't knowable in advance.

There's really nothing to be learned from the one-sidedness of either of those deals, but there was a hidden lesson in the Davis deal, and if you want to know what it was, you'll have to keep reading.

The thing that nobody talks about while reflecting on Glenn Davis (left) is how little the Houston Astros really got out of the deal from a long-term perspective. They didn't know what they had in Curt Schilling, so they used him as a reliever for one season and traded him to the Phillies for Jason Grimsley (yes, that Jason Grimsley). They also didn't have enough patience to wait for Finley to come into his own, dealing him away a year before he blossomed into an outstanding offensive player and two-time All-Star who averaged 28 homers and 91 RBIs from 1996-2000.

They did get their money's worth for Harnisch, who pitched well his first three years in Houston before struggling through some depression issues and re-emerging as a quality starter with the Reds in the late 1990s.

In short, the Astros got the long end of the Davis deal -- by far -- but lacked the organizational patience to fully realize what they had. I'm guessing the Orioles will not fall into that trap. They are quite pleased with Jones, whose numbers (.271, 9 HR 57 RBIs) are similar to Finley in his first year with the Astros (.285 8 HR 54 RBIs), and they caught lightning in a bottle with Sherrill.

Here's the best parallel of all: Most everyone at the time considered Finley and Harnisch to be the most valuable players the Orioles gave up in the Glenn Davis deal, but then-manager Frank Robinson insisted that Schilling would be the best of the bunch. In the Bedard deal, most everyone focused on Jones and Sherrill, but I had scouts (from other teams) tell me in spring training that Chris Tillman (right) had the most upside.

So maybe this will be the Mariners' "Glenn Davis" deal. The Orioles can only hope.

Bedard/AP photo
Davis/Baltimore Sun photo
Tillman/Baysox photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:01 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

Today's featured comment comes from Scott, who not only refuses to drink the Kool-Aid, he thinks the rest of us have drowned in it:

Scott's take: Listen everyone, I love the fact that all of you have all these hopes and aspirations (pipe dreams). Fact of the matter is this, we may think we have young talent but we don't name one of our pitchers that would even be a No. 2 on someone else's roster. Not one. Its pathetic. Keep dreaming of 2010, maybe Peter will have you thinking of 2015 after that.

Do you honestly think our farm system is that good? C'mon now. We always look at the best of our best but in reality our best is not even mediocre. Wake up. I love the Orioles always have, but the ownership has proved its point once again, we can't even settle for mediocracy, when that is all that they are looking for to show progress? Whatever.

They act like we are all in preschool, show us some candy maybe some silly magic and we will show some interest. Hey lets take a vote. Lets guess who they might trade this year to make our team "BETTER," anyone who has a little bit of a salary. If we get rid of salary and bring up unproven and unwanted talent maybe we can stick it to the fans and watch them pay the same price or more for seats and merchandise but yet shell out less on the talent. Thanks Peter and thanks to all of you who keep believing in it. "Orioles Magic". WOO HOO!!!!

For Pete's response, read on.

Pete's take: First off, I'm not sure if Scott is refering to me or Peter Angelos, but I'll assume it's Angelos, since I'm not getting any of that ticket revenue. There is an argument to be made that the bar has been set so low that just about anything would be viewed as progress right now, but I don't believe that's a reason to be totally cynical about the Orioles and their future.

Mind you, a little skepticism at this point is a healthy thing, but I think Scott may be too cynical to give a little credit where it's due. It's not fair to hold Andy MacPhail responsible for 9 1/2 of the 11 straight losing seasons and -- conversely -- fans are not required to give the team a free pass for those 9 1/2 seasons because they hired a new club president. However, there are some tangible signs of progress in the player development area, and you don't have to believe me.

Go back and look at Jeff Zrebiec's story with Jim Callis of Baseball America, a publication that has upgraded it's view of the Orioles system dramatically over the past two years. I won't go point by point, but I will dispute one of Scott's "facts." Jeremy Guthrie would be a legitimate No. 2 starter on any team, but the fact that he's really the only solid starter on this one is a major issue going into the winter.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:40 PM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Yogi Berra knew what he was talking about, and he apparently was talking about Garrett Olson, who suddenly has morphed back into the guy the Orioles were hoping would develop into a dependable third or fourth starter.

Olson pitched a solid 5 2/3 innings, only to end up getting the loss when Jim Miller came on to give up a two-run double to Gregg Zahn in the bottom of the sixth. The outcome might have been different if Kevin Millar had been able to hold onto a double play relay from Juan Castro that would have cleared the bases before Lyle Overbay's two-out single convinced manager Dave Trembley to make the pitching change.

That was unfortunate, but the important thing is that Olson got an important confidence boost in what probably was his second-to-last start of the season. He really needs to go into the winter feeling he can compete at this level, and tonight's performance had to help.

Meanwhile in the AL East: Evan Longoria hit three homers in tonight's game against the Minnesota Twins, but the Twins scored five times in the ninths to score an 11-8 comeback victory at the Trop. The loss trimmed the Rays' division lead to 1 1/2 games over the Red Sox, who were idle. Longoria had a shot at a fourth homer in the ninth inning, but grounded back to the mound against Twins closer Joe Nathan.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:03 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

This just in from "Z": Daniel Cabrera underwent an MRI on his "tingling" right elbow today and the results were good. Dr. John Wilckens compared the results with an earlier MRI of DCab's elbow and found no abnormalities. The club is calling the problem an elbow sprain and shutting Cabrera down for the remainder of the season.

Guess it's fair to wonder if that means the team is shutting him down for the remainder of his Orioles career. Cabrera is eligible for salary arbitration and could command up to $5 million, which might prompt the team to non-tender him in December. If that happened, he would become a free agent and probably will have pitched his last in an Orioles uniform.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:14 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Injured Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling blasted former teammate Manny Ramirez on a Boston radio show yesterday, saying that his strange behavior disrespected both the game and his teammates and put manager Terry Francona in the terribly awkward position of having to put up with that nonsense to keep him in the lineup.

"Nothing makes a guy that respects the game and respects human beings like Terry Francona feel worse than looking at a guy and saying, 'Go ahead, [mess] with me, [mess] with your teammates, I'll put you in the lineup,' and then turn around to a guy who's there every day early working his [butt] off who gets 110 at-bats a year and saying, 'You know what? Yeah, I can't put you in there tonight,'" Schilling said on a sports talk show on WEEI-AM radio.

"There were times when there were players who were like on fire duty, 'Show up tomorrow. I'm not sure if you're playing or not. We've got to find out what Manny wants to do.' That's not fair to anybody."

If you want to read a more complete account, here's the ESPN.com story.

If you want my rather off-the-wall opinion on the subject, read on.

My feelings are totally mixed on this. I think what Manny did to the Red Sox was reprehensible, but the fact that he did it to the Red Sox and then found a way to also stick it to the Yankees on the way out of town proves that he's got serious game both on and off the field.

Remember, when Manny got traded to the Dodgers, nobody was doing any serious second-guessing of the Yankees for letting Joe Torre go to Los Angeles to lead another team to the postseason. When he entered the starting lineup, they were 54-54 in the weak NL West, two games behind the Diamondbacks and in fifth place in the wild card race.

The Yankees, at the time of the deal, were 12 games over .500 and just three games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, who boasted the second-best record in all of baseball. They have played sub-.500 ball since then (though they still have a better record than the Dodgers) and will fail to reach the playoffs for the first time since there were no playoffs in 1994.

Now, for as long as the Dodgers stay alive in the postseason, they'll be talking about the way Torre was run out of New York by Hank Steinbrenner and Co. You can hate Manny for being Manny, but you've got to thank him for that.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:45 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

The Orioles have a doubleheader coming up with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday and they remain hopeful that Jeremy Guthrie will have a positive side session in the next couple of days and be able to come off the DL to make that start.

Bad idea. I know Guthrie wants to pitch, and if he can get into the seventh inning on Tuesday and do that again on the final day of the season, he could get to 200 innings, but none of that will make a bit of difference if he ends up having labrum surgery the following week.

This smacks of desperation, which is probably understandable when you consider that the club still doesn't have a starter for Saturday's game at Yankee Stadium, much less enough pitching for a doubleheader three days later, but Guthrie is -- as of now -- the CORNERSTONE of next year's starting rotation. Nothing that happens over the next 10 days equals 1,000th of the importance of that.

Don't you agree?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:28 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (25)
        

Melvin Mora was saying just the other day how important it would be for him to finish the season with 100 RBIs after going on an amazing second-half tear, but that lingering hamstring injury threatened to keep him off the field.

Well, the hamstring injury is still lingering, but he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. He singled home his 100th and 101st runs of the year in last night's game before re-aggravating the injury and limping off the field.

He told O's beat writer Jeff Zrebiec that he would need at least a couple of days to bounce back. I'm guessing it'll take a little longer than that, since neither he nor manager Dave Trembley (both at right, enjoying a tender moment earlier in the season) figure to feel any great sense of urgency about getting him back on the field with just a handful of games left to play.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

...didn't last very long. The Orioles scored five runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-0 lead over the Blue Jays, but it was short-lived. Brian Bass, who breezed through four shutout innings, came unraveled in the bottom of the fifth and the Jays battled back to even the series with an 8-7 victory.

Manager Dave Trembley said on the postgame show that Bass didn't run out of gas after four innings, but his loss of command would suggest otherwise. Bass didn't make any excuses either, but he averaged slightly more than 1 1/3 innings per appearance as a reliever with the Twins before being pushed into an emergency starter roll last week.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Just want to thank the Mid-Altantic Sports Network for sparing me the sight of a naked man running onto the field at Rogers Centre during the seventh inning tonight. I was eating a pint of Cherry Garcia and it definitely would have clashed with the carpet.

For years, the various television networks -- both local and national -- have abided by an unwritten rule against turning the cameras on the drunken idiots who run onto the field and disrupt the game. I'm in favor of that policy, particularly in the case of people who shouldn't even be naked in private.

I always think the same thing when I see somebody -- clothed or otherwise -- dashing across the field:

Where's Mike Curtis when you need him?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:29 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

This just in from Orioles beat guy Jeff Zrebiec: Daniel Cabrera (left) is being sent home from Toronto to see club orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens after feeling tingling in his elbow during a side session today. The problem is in a different area than the forearm soreness that caused concern recently and Cabrera has been scratched from his scheduled start this weekend in New York.

The Orioles will send Radhames Liz to the mound Friday to kick off the final weekend at Yankee Stadium. Saturday's starter is TBA and Chris Waters is scheduled to start the final game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

Sarfate update: Jeff reports that Dennis Sarfate has decided to undergo surgery to repair a fractured clavicle, but will first visit orthopedic specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum in Southern California for a second opinion.

AP photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

The Orioles released some preliminary schedule information for the 2009 season, which will open at Camden Yards with a three-game series against the New York Yankees beginning April 6.

The Yankees also come to town for Mother's Day weekend (May 8-10) and make their final visit Aug. 31-Sept. 2. I'm sure Yankees fans all over the Eastern seaboard are marking their calendars at this very moment.

Two of the three home series with the Red Sox will be weekend series (July 31-Aug. 2 and Sept. 18-20).

Along with the Washington Nationals, the other National League East interleague opponents to visit Oriole Park will be the Atlanta Braves (June 12-14) and New York Mets (June 16-18). The O's go on the road during the interleague stretch to Philadelphia and Florida.

Pitching injury of the day: Following the diagnosis yesterday, the Orioles placed Dennis Sarfate on the 15-day disabled list today with a right distal clavicle fracture, a freak non-baseball injury he suffered in April. Club officials think he'll be fine by spring training.

Click here for the Orioles' 2009 schedule.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

While I was trolling the internet this morning I came upon an AOL headline that read "Shortest man meets leggiest woman," which would get anyone's attention. Take a look for yourself. It just might change your life.

I was pretty sure my wife was the leggiest woman in the world when I married her, so to find this out all these years later is a little disturbing.

Chris Waters, whose shutout last night defied science, is scheduled to pitch the final game ever at the old Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Probably against Andy Pettitte. It's not exactly a pitching matchup made in Monument Park, but -- no matter what happens the rest of his career -- Waters will have an amazing memory that no one will ever be able to take away from him.

Maryland's Racing Commission has approved new restrictions on anabolic steroids for thoroughbreds. No word yet on whether the Major League Baseball Players Association will file a grievance.

Just read Rick Maese's column on that nasty hit by Maryland DB Kevin Barnes Saturday. I saw it in person, but felt more queasy after reading Rick. He must be a helluva good writer.

Throw in today's Faceoff, in which Kevin Van Valkenburg (right) channels Jessica Simpson arguing with herself, and I may need to be medicated. I'm really not seeing the resemblance. How about you?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:42 AM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

If you've figured out Chris Waters -- and that's where you would differ from the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays -- perhaps you can make some sense out of all this. The guy flies to California and holds the winningest team in baseball to just one hit over eight innings in his major league debut and last night pitches a four-hit shutout against the Jays at Rogers Centre.

In between, he made seven starts and gave up 30 runs (28 earned) over 36 innings, which works out to a fairly unspectacular 7.00 ERA.

This Jeckyl and Hyde performance is symptomatic of a young pitcher who needs perfect command to be effective in the major leagues. He has had that twice in nine starts, but has not been consistent locating his pitches the rest of the time. That doesn't make him a bad pitcher...just an inconsistent one. The guy reminds me a little bit of Jamie Moyer during his formative years, which weren't always pretty. Of course, Waters throws harder than Moyer, but so do you.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Today's comment comes from Rich, who took issue with my column about the developmental strategies of the Orioles and Ravens:

Rich's take: I think your article about the Raven's and the Orioles is very misleading. The Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000, won their division in 2003 and 2006. The Orioles haven't won HALF their games since 1997 and haven't even been within 13 games of the division lead since 1997. They have been in a rebuilding phase for 10 years!

Simply because they may have some promising minor league players is nice but far from a guarantee. We've seen this before and without a lot of depth, many of these future players either fall to injuries or never become ML players.

Just look ahead to next year. The Orioles have ONE starter you can count on and he has never pitched 200 innings.

I grew up in the Orioles successful days (late 60s/70s/80s) and would love to see that success again but without several more years of obtaining/developing talent in the minors, they simply don't have much depth there, yet. Who is there at SS, 2B, 3B or even 1B in the minors to become a Ryan Howard, Longoria, etc.?

In another year or two maybe the article would have been more appropriate.

Pete's reply: You make some good points, but I don't think the column was particularly misleading. I was writing about the current plan and how it is being carried out and comparing it to how the NFL team tries to rebuild. I conceded that the last 11 years (and particularly the last month of so) make it hard to see progress, and also outlined how the NFL is judged over a shorter period of time because of the salary cap. The fact that the O's have just Guthrie as a legitimate rotation guy going into next spring is only semi-relevant, since the Orioles do have a wide array of young pitchers to audition and the plan has always been focused on 2010. The lack of position depth remains a major problem, but it was part of the original plan to go outside to fill the organizational void at a couple of key positions.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:53 PM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network announced today that it will unveil a full-time HD channel next March and greatly increase the number of games broadcast in Hi-Def in 2009. There will be at least one game in HD every day of the season.

That's great news. I've been critical of MASN for being slow to go to a full HD schedule and still await the day that every Orioles and National game is in Hi-Def, but this is an important step as the number of fans who own HD televisions continues to increase.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

If you're still scratching your head about the decision to put Jeremy Guthrie on the 15-day disabled list last night, it's really not all that complicated -- though I consulted a longtime front office guy to make sure of that.

There really is no procedural reason to put him on the short DL with the major league roster limit at 40 for September, but there is a practical reason. The move removes any doubt about Guthrie's status for the remainder of the season and prevents him from persuading the team to let him make another start.

If you recall, I mentioned several days ago here that Guthrie's desire to get back on the mound (and maybe get to 200 innings) might not be the best thing for him or the team's long-term interests. I also made the point -- using a Casablanca reference that was a huge stretch -- that team officials should do the thinking for him.

That's essentially what happened, though I'm not deluded enough to think that team officials hang on my every blog entry and do whatever I suggest. We all know they should, but I'm not egotistical enough to think they do.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Here's Part II of the extra material that Jeff Zrebiec sent along from his interviews with Jim Callis of Baseball America and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, which are the subject of a more in-depth story on this Web site. The following evaluations come from Goldstein, who analyzes minor league talent for Prospectus:

On Matt Wieters (right): "He’s certainly one of the top prospects in the game. I’m not sure I’d put him No.1, but it’s a single digit ranking for sure. Any time you can find a catcher who also projects as a middle-of-the-order hitter, that’s a special prospect. He’s going to be a really, really good player."

On Brian Matusz: "I do like Matusz quite a bit. There were a number of players that they could have taken [with the fourth overall pick]. They could have taken about four guys and you wouldn’t have gotten too much of an argument. I thought they got a great deal on Matusz. People were surprised about the size of the deal. They thought that it would cost more. Most people thought that he was the best college pitcher. He’s a No. 2 or No. 3 type of starter. He’s very polished and I think he could move pretty quickly."

On the Orioles number of pitching prospects: "Tillman looks like a guy with refinement that could be a No.2 starter. [David] Hernandez could be a four. Bergesen a five, and Arrieta maybe a three. [Brandon] Erbe is still a guy with a tremendous amount of potential. If everything works out, they have the whole future rotation in the minor league system. There’s a ton of depth there. Starting pitching wise, they’re up there with the top third of baseball. Teams go decades without having this much pitching in their system. They have a ton right now."

On the Orioles lack of position prospects: "The problem is having a balanced system. Their pitching is probably in the top 10 in baseball, but their position-player wise is below average. There’s not a whole lot after Wieters. Reimold is a nice player and if you want to believe that Snyder is back on track and might do something, I might buy that. But there’s not a whole lot after that, especially up the middle."

Says that he hasn’t gotten great reports about Billy Rowell: "He’s a huge guy with a whole lot of raw power. But it’s still really just that. His swing is long, he chases pitches. He has a whole lot to work on. People thought potentially he could be a 30-plus home run guy in the big leagues and he’s still very young. But it’s just not translated so far."

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Hopefully, you've already read Jeff Zrebiec's story on the Web site -- Minor miracle for O's farm system -- in which Jim Callis of Baseball America and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus break down the Orioles minor league system. Jeff was nice enough to send along some of outtakes from his interviews.

Here is some further player analysis from Callis, who is executive editor of BA. I'll put up some more of Goldstein's analysis in my next post:

On Matt Wieters: "We haven’t done an overall prospect ranking but he’s definitely on the short list of guys that you can make a case for being the best prospect anywhere in the minor leaguers."

Chris Tillman: "Right now, I’m not sure that [the Orioles] would trade Chris Tillman straight up for Erik Bedard. We haven’t done the list, but if you made a short list of the top 10 or 15 pitching prospects in the minors, I think Chris Tillman will be on there. I think the Orioles are probably still dancing about the trade that they pulled off."

Brian Matusz: "Brian Matusz (right) was the best pitcher in this year’s draft. I could see Matusz being in their Opening Day rotation in 2010. He’s that polished. Guys like that are pretty hard to hold back."

Nolan Reimold: "He’s an eye of the beholder type. There has always been mixed opinion on him. [Scouts] continually say that here are holes in his swing that will get exposed when he moves up to the next level. But he stayed healthy [this season] and kept producing.

Brad Bergesen: "I’ve always heard that the numbers are more overwhelming than the stuff. I don’t think he’s a top guy, but he could project as a No 4 or 5."

Brandon Snyder: "I think they’ll get something out of him. But the problem is where’s he going to play? You are going to have to hit to play first base."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Two things happened today that you don't see every day, and it's a good thing you don't. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 504 points, all but guaranteeing that I'll be blogging into my 90s, and the Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ned Yost with the Brew Crew tied for the National League wild card lead.

The Dow has had bigger drops, but never before has a major league manager been fired in September with his team in such good playoff shape. The Brewers, however, were in a tailspin of their own, prompting GM Doug Melvin and principle owner Mark Attanasio to pull the trigger on an unprecedented move that will look very good or very bad when the playoff races are decided over the next two weeks.

Depending on how you want to look at it, the Brewers management either made a bold, decisive move to try and salvage the season or panicked at a point in the stretch run when everyone should be pulling in the same direction.

I feel strongly both ways. How about you?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:25 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Today's comment comes from Tim, who thinks he has figured out how Garrett Olson can get his head back on straight:

Tim's take: Olsen's problem is very simple. Just like the movie For Love Of The Game, he has to block out all distractions, just zone in, and just concentrate on the batter and the plate. Pitching is 75 percent mental. For assistance in this matter just tell Olsen to do whatever the catcher says. Have the catcher call all the pitches and pitch outs as well as going to 1st base etc. No shaking off pitches. This way it will cut down on thinking too deeply, and improve his concentration, and as he gets more confindance in a couple games, then let him start making his own pitch selections. The nervousness will go away with not having to think too much at first.

Pete's take: So, let me make sure I have this straight, you want him to let Ramon Hernandez do the thinking for him? Seriously, I don't know what the answer is, but I hope Garrett figures it out because he worked hard to have a very good minor league career and hasn't been able to translate that into major league success.

Bonus take: Thanks also for bringing up For Love of the Game, which starred Kevin Costner, who -- coincidentally enough -- is another Cal State Fullerton graduate from 1977-78. Not my favorite Costner baseball movie by a longshot -- how could it be after Bull Durham and Field of Dreams -- but it was an interesting fictional journey through the mind of an aging pitcher as he enjoys one last hurrah. Might be a good one to rent before this weekend's final games at Yankee Stadium.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:31 PM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Dave Trembley wasn't telling tales out of school when he told reporters yesterday that Garrett Olson (right) looks "nervous" on the mound. If you couldn't see that for yourself, you might want to head over to Lenscrafters. The question is what to do about it.

There really isn't anything more Trembley can do. He's telling Olson to relax and trust his stuff. He's sending Olson to the mound every five days or so and apparently will continue to do so for lack of any other viable options at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if he's bought him some of those relaxation tapes with the ocean noise and wildlife sounds to calm him before he goes out to pitch.

There's really only one other thing anybody can do right now -- hope that Olson can crank up one solid start before the end of the season so he'll have something positive to take with him into the offseason. Club officials still believe he has the physical tools to be a solid major league pitcher, but that won't make much difference if something doesn't happen to revive his decimated self-esteem.

He's a good guy. Here's hoping he figures it out.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

Nobody called from Vegas offering me a handicapping job, which does not come as a big surprise after my pathetic performance yesterday. I got just four games right out of 14 in Week 2, which has got to be more than one standard deviation from the statistical norm. I believe a trained seal with a leaky fountain pen could have gotten five or six right, but at least I got the push in the Bears/Panthers game.

It was quite disappointing after a strong performance last week (that I did not publish here, but have plenty of witnesses to my 13-3 mark). I did get my Pick of the Week right when the Colts staged a late comeback to cover their two-point spread against the Minnesota Vikings, but I'll know better than to put any more confidence in Payton and Company until the Colts get their offensive line a little healthier.

If there is a silver lining here, it's that I was able to boost the self-esteem of all the posters who picked against me this weekend. Making others feel good about themselves makes me feel good about myself, even after a 4-10-1 week that the Cowboys won't be able to fix tonight.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:20 AM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This is for everyone who has been ripping the NFL for failing to move the Ravens/Texans game to Baltimore or a neutral site, since most of the complaints have included a nod to Major League Baseball for moving two games between the Astros and Cubs to Miller Park in Milwaukee.

That obviously seemed like a great idea...to everyone but Houston manager Cecil Cooper, who quickly realized that Miller Park is easier to get to for lot of Cubs fans than Wrigley Field. Cubs fans have been known to take the place over when their team plays the Brewers in much the same way Red Sox fans and Yankees fans do at Camden Yards.

"It's like a Cub home game," Cooper told reporters before last night's game. "Only they're not the 'home' team, we are. I'm not happy about that. I need to tell the commissioner that. I will tell him that."

Maybe it wouldn't have made a bit of difference, since Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano pitched a no-hitter, but it is proof that no matter what the NFL or Major League Baseball did to respond to the potential ravages of Hurricane Ike, somebody was not going to be happy.

"It's not the best of circumstances, but when you put it against the backdrop of what a lot of people in Houston are going through right now, it's sort of minimized in that regard," Astros GM Ed Wade told the Associated Press. "In a perfect world, the storm doesn't hit Houston and have the degree of significance that it had and we play these games at home."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:30 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Just want to apologize for my erroneous prediction in my "Today's Orioles lineup" entry before the game. I predicted that Radhames Liz would give up four hits over five innings on the way to an unlikely Sunday victory. Turns out, it took Liz seven innings to give up his fourth hit and he ended up surrendering five over eight shutout innings.

I believe accuracy is the cornerstone of the wild prediction, so I cannot in good conscience take credit for nailing Liz's solid performance.

My bad.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:51 PM in Schmuck being Schmuck | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Right now, I'm trying to figure out just how many Orioles fans have fallen head-over-heels in love with Oscar Salazar over the past hour or so. The guy has turned Twins starter Nick Blackburn into his personal pinata, and I'm guessing there are a few people who are ready to pencil him into next year's lineup.

Not so fast. Salazar is a 30-year-old journeyman minor leaguer with a total of 62 major league at-bats. He has a total of six major league homers, three of which he has hit in the last 24 hours. He hasn't earned the inside track in the competition for the extra infield/DH spots on the roster next year, but he has earned a chance to be mentioned in the conversation after two big run-production years in the Orioles system.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

While you're applauding Oscar Salazar for that two-run home run off struggling Twins starter Nick Blackburn, you might want to tip your hat (if you're wearing one) to Luke Scott for making Salazar's big swing more probable.

Scott fell behind on the count 0-2 and ended up forcing Blackburn to throw 11 pitches in exchange for a deflating single. I've got to think that kind of frustrating outcome can cause a pitcher to compress the strike zone for the next hitter.

If you were wondering if the veteran Orioles still care what happens at this point in the season, that at-bat ought to serve as evidence that they still want to win. Nobody gets to the major leagues without having a lot of pride, though the overall pitching performance of the club the past few weeks made it fair to wonder.

And don't discount the possible impact of Scott's at-bat on the rest of the game. Essentially, he forced Blackburn to use a 10th of his likely pitch count on a single matchup that turned out badly for him and the Twins.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Roberts 2B
Jones CF
Markakis RF
Huff 3B
Hernandez C
Scott DH
Salazar 1B
Montanez LF
Castro SS

Liz SP

Wild prediction dept: Even though it's Sunday, Radhames Liz will hold the Twins to 4 hits over five innings and the Orioles will avert the sweep. Safer bet: The Ravens will remain undefeated today.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Now, I hope we can all stay friends over this, but I'm going to say something that's not going to sit well with a lot of people in Baltimore. I know how much pain this city went through when the Colts skulked out of town and have no mixed feelings whatsoever about who was the wronged party in that situation. Sneaking out of town in the dead of night was reprehensible and Colts fans here had every right to feel betrayed and heartbroken. If they want to continue to hold that grudge against the Colts and the late Pete Rozelle and even Paul Tagliabue, that's just fine with me.

However, there is no logical basis for building an anti-Baltimore conspiracy theory around the decision this weekend to reconfigure the schedule to salvage the Houston home date wiped out by Hurricane Ike.

This has nothing to do with the Colts leaving town. It has nothing to do with Tagliabue's "museum" comment. In fact, it has very little to do with Baltimore at all. Believe it or not, this was about Houston, and I really don't think the outcome would have been different if the opponent would have been the Patriots, as one poster suggested. Does anybody around here really think the NFL loves the Patriots right now?

Here's the deal. The NFL is in the business of putting on big-time sporting events. Did anybody -- including Ravens fans -- really want to see Joe Flacco playing tomorrow night in front of 12,000 people in Atlanta?

The bye week is important, and that's going to be disadvantagous for the Ravens when they have to play five road games in a six-game span. Getting a day or two off this week, way too early in the season, is no substitute for a full bye week, but you can make the case (as some others have here) that the Ravens benefit greatly in the short term. They'll be much healthier for their second straight divisional opponent next week, which means they have an excellent chance of being 2-0 against AFC North competition right out of the chute.

I'm going to assume that nobody is upset because the Ravens lost an opportunity to steal a home date from the Texans or play somewhere that mutes Houston's home-field advantage. Please tell me that's not what's going on here. This is a sports blog and it's fine to talk about the competitive ramifications that grow out of a decision like this, but we can't forget there are some greater issues here.

Not having the Ravens play this week -- on the heels of the uplifting win last Sunday -- is a big letdown for everyone who is a Ravens fan. No question about that. But if you step back and look at it from a distance, the Ravens would have been 4 1/2-point underdogs if the game had been played as scheduled. If you want to be a glass-half-full fan, you could make the case that they may have dodged a loss.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:04 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

Okay, it's time to decide what to do with Daniel Cabrera, other than make up a special trophy to commemorate the fact that he now leads the American League in walks (90), hit batters (18) and wild pitches (14). Dan Connolly appropriately labeled it the "Triple Crown" of wildness.

I'm going to withhold my opinion, since I officially gave up on Cabrera in a column early in spring training. Don't think I can come up with a logical basis for giving up on him again during the same season.

Here's the thing: Even though he's totally infuriating to watch, he's still a guy who can win 10 or 12 games and grind up some innings, which makes him a typical fifth starter in this day and age. The Orioles probably won't be able to trade him, because he figures to get $5 million or so in salary arbitration, so they'll have to decide whether to non-tender him and let him become a free agent. I'm starting to think that's what they'll do.

What do you think?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

Just for fun, here are my NFL picks against the spread for Week 2. Of course, these picks are for entertainment (or embarrassment) purposes only. No inducement to wager is implied or suggested:

Bengals -1
Lions +3
Saints Pick
Chiefs -3 1/2
Panthers -3
Rams +8 1/2
Jaguars -5 1/2
Colts -2
Seahawks -7
Falcons +7
Cardinals +6 1/2
Broncos +1 1/2
Patriots +1 1/2
Steelers -6
Cowboys -7

Lock of the week: Colts.

Pete's picks revisited: Just want to thank everyone for not mentioning that I was 1-6-1 against the spread in the 1 o'clock games today. This, after going 13-3 ATS in Week 1. The law of averages is a female dog.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

There's no question that the Ravens were put at a strategic disadvantage to the rest of the AFC North when they spent this week preparing for a game they aren't going to play and lost their bye week, but I'm not sure you can take the NFL to task for not being pro-active and moving the game to Baltimore to avoid the ravages of Hurricane Ike.

The league reconfigured the schedule to save the home game for the Texans, which means that Houston won't suffer the additional economic damage of losing the commerce that comes with an NFL weekend. If I were anywhere but Baltimore, I would think NFL officials got it right on that count, so maybe they did.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:54 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (77)
        

Gotta show some love to my fellow Sun columnist David Steele, who went out on a limb and all but picked the unpredictable Terps to beat No. 23 California in his column today. David spent a lot of his career in the Bay Area, so you should have listened to him and bet the house with that 14 1/2-point spread.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:24 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Don't look at the deceivingly close final score. The Maryland Terrapins schooled the 23rd-ranked California Bears this afternoon at Byrd Stadium. The Terps were up 35-13 in the fourth quarter before the Bears staged a last-gasp rally and scored a couple of late touchdowns to make it respectable, but it was a one-sided game for more than 50 minutes.

And the best part about it for Maryland. It was on ESPN, so the first national impression of the program this year was very positive, despite the rocky start in their first two non-conference games.

"We just didn't start fast enough,'' said Cal coach Jeff Tedford (left). "I thought we had opportunities we didn't capitalize on and we didn't stop the run. They outplayed us today."

Tedford denied that the coast-to-coast travel had any impact on the game, though the Bears looked flat in the first half and the passing game didn't really look sharp until Cal was playing desperate catch-up in the final quarter.

"No excuses,'' he said. "They were converting on third down and we weren't converting in the red zone. "You just can't live that way."

AP file photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:29 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The 23rd-ranked California Bears came into Byrd Stadium looking like the Big Bad Wolf, but they apparently don't like getting up in the morning. Kickoff was at 9 a.m. (PST) and they were down by two touchdowns before they wiped the sleep out of their eyes.

Cal's high-powered offense has shown it can move the ball down the field in a hurry, but has not shown it can get into the end zone. The Terps have gone into intermission with a still-not-comfortable 21-6 lead.

Halftime nutrition update: Cheeseburger. Diet Pepsi.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:22 PM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

It's a total coincidence that my first Maryland football game of the season is against a California team, and there is no cause for concern about my loyalties. My West Coast bias doesn't extend all the way up to the Bay Area.

The Terps need to make a decent showing today. The loss to Middle Tennessee was discouraging enough that today's game at Byrd Stadium -- the last time anybody checked, anyway -- was not a sellout.

Cal comes in about a two-touchdown favorite. Maryland has a history of stepping up against the better teams in situations like this, and today would be a very good time to do that.

Scoring update: The Terps went 60 yards in five plays on their first possession and took the lead on a 24-yard run by Da'Rel Scott, who just scored again after an interception by Kevin Barnes. Six minutes. Two touchdowns. Who are those guys?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:42 AM in Just football | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Today's featured comment comes from one of our newest posters, John Hamer, who gave a shout out to all of you:

John's comment: Pete, I am new to your blog and I do enjoy checking it before bed. But I just wanted to say you have very knowledgeable readers. Also enjoy seeing the comments of other informed fans. O's in 09!

Pete's take: I'm not sure I intended this blog to be a sleep aid, but I'm always happy to help. I agree about the quality of the discourse. The thing that surprised me the most when I arrived in this little section of cyberspace was the solid writing ability of the people who post comments here -- from both a grammatical and informational standpoint. I'm not just blowing smoke up your laptop, but I don't want to be too complimentary or you'll all end up with giant heads like mine.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:17 AM in Today's featured comment | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Now that the Ravens have been pushed back to Monday night, that leaves Sunday for all the household chores you were going to put off anyway once you saw today's bulging sports schedule. Frankly, the only way you're getting off the couch -- other than to take care of the obvious biological necessities -- is if you decide to go for the bargain basement baseball marathon at Oriole Park this evening.

Come noon, Maryland hosts No. 23 California at Byrd Stadium in an ESPN game that could define the Terrapins football season. Ralph Friedgen's Terps have been unimpressive in a tighter-than-expected victory over Delaware and a road loss to Middle Tennessee State, so they need to make some kind of statement against a Cal team that has scored a total of 104 points against Michigan State and Washington State in its first two games. Could be interesting. Could also be ugly.

Special bonus: The Schmuck Stops There. I'll be keeping you posted and will also write a column for the print edition of The Sun.

Meanwhile, Navy hopes to bounce back from last week's loss to Ball State when the Midshipmen play on the road against Duke in a game that will be televised on ESPNU. Quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, who has been sidelined since suffering a partial hamstring tear during the Mids' first summer scrimmage, is scheduled to make his first start.

Wait, there's more...

Tonight, the focus shifts to a college football game with tremendous national implications when top-ranked USC faces No. 3 Ohio State in a nationally televised game (ABC) from the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Buckeyes could jump to the top of the polls with an upset -- and give Stan White bragging rights at WBAL for the next year -- but they'll have to do it without top running back Chris "Beanie" Wells, who has been ruled out of the game because of the foot injury he suffered in the OSU opener two weeks ago.

If college football is not your cup of tea, there's always Daniel Cabrera in the first game of the twi-night doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins at Oriole Park, but -- as stated earlier -- you'll have to get off the sofa if you want to see that one. MASN will have to pick up the game in progress at 7:05 p.m. because of MLB broadcast restrictions related to the FOX Game of the Week. Garrett Olson will start the nightcap for the Orioles.

Couch potato question of the day: If you and your big screen TV were stranded on a desert island and you could have only one snack food for the rest of your natural life, what would you choose?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

If you're holding tickets from last night's rainout, you can exchange them for today's doubleheader (subject to availability, but I don't think that will be a problem)