Pete--Does Koji always wear a tie when pitches?

Mr. Peter,
You expressed some initial concerns over JJ earlier, as to how many of the more alarming injuries usually start out as "minor" ones. Where do you personally stand on that? Still as apprehensive?

If it's any consolation I get tendinitis in my wrist all the time but no one's ever been concerned enough about it to limit my throwing activities.

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Pete's reply: Yes, I would be concerned about Johnson until he proves there is no reason for it.

When is an "impingement" not an "impingement"? The answer is when the information is being released by the Orioles , who apparently can't decide whether Johnson has tendenitis or not, whether or not Uuhera's hamstring was only a "slight "strain a few weeks ago, and whether or not they will even have a healthy batting practice pitcher by the end of Spring Training.

As I said back when the team brought brought 37 pitchers to camp, Trembley needs to have his outfielders practice a special drill, by running back to the fence, leaping high and reaching into the first row.

The Orioles will have used 15 different starting pichers by July 1.

Pete, when you are writing about how well Alfredo Simon pitched, the situation down there is pretty ugly. Glad it's you watching it{and getting paid to boot}not me. I would have to stick my finger down my throat.

The last time I heard "Impingement" was when a lawyer said it to a crowd of very serious people, which made them all frown. I guess it's a sign of some concern when the ballclub breaks out the Legalese. The club is concerned enough to use terminology that can be interpreted a number of ways later, a hallmark of fiscal and legal management.

Barry, that is freaking hilarious.

I've worked in the health care industry and I can say that, despite what people would like to think, medicine is not an exact science. I think the Orioles report on these athletes' conditions as best as modern medicine will allow. These are human beings, not cars, it's not like going to the garage and being told this is exactly the problem, your alternator's busted, we replace it, you're fixed. Medicine doesn't work that way. And human beings aren't static, they're always changing, so what starts as an impingement today could be tendinitis tomorrow. Or could be the athlete has BOTH problems...or neither ultimately. Trying to get a handle on the concept of PAIN is a huge medical specialty in and of itself. And athletes take LONGER than regular folks to recover from these issues because they have a tendency to resume play BEFORE they are ready, causing reinjury and relapse. This is true of all athletes, whether they play for the Orioles or somebody else. Yes, even the Yankees. Finally, with opening day just a couple weeks away, I'd like to ask for a moratorium on all the snide comments (i.e. finger down throat et al) and overall negativity about the club. What good does that serve? Is that helping the club on the field? One thing medicine has taught us is that there is a spiritual component to healing; prayer, even when you don't know people are praying for you, for example, has been shown to help in a person's recovery. That means sending out POSITIVE energy counts. So let's talk about what's good here, send our best wishes to the club, and try and enjoy this better-than-football-can-we PUHLEEZE-stop-talking-about-the-freakin-Ravens-its-BASEBALL-time-now sport rather than just sucking the life out of it with these "boy do we suck" type comments. Besides, as my Dad would say, it's getting on my $**%*@! nerves.

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Pete's reply: So you're saying that the negative energy toward football is okay?

Whatever happened to the salad days when we had formidable arms like Rodrigo Lopez and Sidney Ponson ?

Pete: To answer your question "So you're saying that the negative energy toward football is okay?," Yes, I am. Football is boring. Football is just yet another variation on the same theme seen in basketball, lacrosse, hockey, soccer, all the major sports, i.e. you have two ends to a grid and you attempt to place a spherical object of some kind in either of the two aforementioned ends. Like Pvt Hudson said in the movie, ALIENS, "Whoopie f**9$ing-Doo"
Baseball is the only sport where the DEFENSE has control of the ball and you DON'T score with the ball. It offers the thrill of both team effort and individual effort at the SAME TIME. And besides, right now, I don't see a jillion posts lamenting as to how bad the Ravens are or how if we don't sign such and such the Raven's are going to suck like a black hole in space, etc. I'm sorry but it's baseball time now. Everytime I turn on 105.7, the Fan, it's all Ravens/Ravens/Ravens. For gosh sakes, it's dang near APRIL. I'm sorry, is the USFL still playing games? Is spring, football season? Let's tone down the Ravens stuff, make that second tier, and lead with the Orioles. Many thanks, and yes, this posting is on behalf of all of us Orioles-Fans-Who-Prefer-Baseball-to-Football-in-This-Town. Yes, all 8 of us.

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Pete's reply: So you're saying that 94 percent Orioles stuff is still not enough, even though probably 80 percent of O's fans are also Ravens fans?

Pete: "94% Orioles stuff is not enough." Excuse me, it's more like 24%. I tuned in WBAL-TV11 sports the other night and Sandusky didn't mention the Orioles AT ALL. When the O's are mentioned by local sports outlets, we're always something like the 4th or 5th story, usually after some high school basketball game highlights for gosh sakes. As for the Ravens, I understand that Baltimore has become a Ravens-first town...but no where is it written that I have to LIKE it.

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Pete's reply: I was talking about this blog.