I think it's hillarious that's he's even bothering to appeal the fine.

Every break seems to be going against the o's these days but these things run in cycles.I predict Greg Zaun is going to go on an offensive tear soon.I'm also going to hit the lotto tonight.
The O's should put Pie and Freel on EBay and let them go to the highest bidder.Minimum bid: A low A utility player.

While Walker is in the twilight of a fairly decent career, I have to admire his gritiness. He seems like a stand-up guy as well; didn;t sugarcoat his poor season in '08. He came back and worked harder this year. So far, he's pitched better and through all this, he doesn't come across as a whinner and seems to be a mentor for the younger guys.
I'd like to see some of his'fire' rub off on Trembley who seems to be in over his head at times and almost oblivious to the gaffes around him. Dave seems like a baseball lifer and a 'nice guy' but is he really the best guy to turn this franchise around? Maybe he's better suited to be a coach...

Hard to imagine we have a catcher worse than Rick Dempsey,thats right they are related,only could happen to the Orioles!!!

Peter,
That is exactly what MLB did. They saw that the call was bogus and I wouldn't be surprised if Angel got a call from the guy in charge of the umpires for MLB. Now I wonder if the umpire association will chime in? Stay tuned!

Sweet. no suspension = more rocketships.

How long until Rich Hill is ready and does that make Lou M the odd man out, assuming the Pie experiment continues?

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Wouldn't surprise me if Lou went back and forth once or twice this year.

Pete,

You are dead-on right, undoubtedly, about the balk call being wrong. By fining Jamie with no suspension, he completes two purposes: (1) lets everyone know that the league can't tolerate the fans thinking umps are on the take and (2) when a mistake is made, the team that is affected should not pay an additional price of losing a player.
Rarely do we see an impressive use of power by the bigwigs. Solomon must have been consulted.

I'd like to think that all of the fine money MLB collects is given to charity.

Pete -- checking in after a few days away and wanted to add my encouragement in a time of layoffs. My best to Rick Maese and David Steele, too. It isn't right. I just hope they land well.

If Bob Watson is so concerned about the :Professionalism" of major league umpires maybe he should give some thought to the intregrity and ability of said umpires and hold them accountable for their boo-boos. Officials in all areas of professsional sports need to clean up their acts. I have seen more outright dumb calls and rulings in sports in the past year than I could evr imagine.

I think Walkers fine shoud be spent
buying Angel Hernandez a pair of
glasses.that call was indeed a
H....S... one!!!!!!!!!!

I am glad that Walker spoke up. Maybe he was a little over the top, but that was a phantom balk call. Walker will probably pay the fine with a smile on his face.

Kudos to Walker. Umpires have virtually no accountability. They should not be protected from jabs such as Walker's.

Bring up Weiters and Reimold NOW!

It's OK they fined Jamie but you know what else they need to do..., make public when umpires are disciplined also. I think that would help take some sting out of these bogus calls for the players affected. If they know the umpire will be disciplined they probably be less likely to have to point it out themselves by venting right after a game when emotions are up.

I think that Angel Hernandez should be fined or suspended. Walker was wrong in his comments, but he is a good old country boy and that is how they talk, what is on his mind. I agree since Walker was fined the money should go to buy Angel a pair of glasses.

Pete:

I liked Jamie Walker before the confrontation, but like and respect him even more now. His down home way of putting things in perspective is refreshing in a world of political correctness.

It WAS a horses***t call and I'd have gotten a case of red-ass too. Jamie, you're my new hero. Tell it like it is! Down and dirty!

Pie and Freel on e-bay ! Great idea but the asking price is way too high.
How about a fungo bat and a box of used balls ?? Freel should call his Mom and she can complain to the coach about how every little league player must play at least 2 innings and bat at least once..............

Good to see there will be no suspension. Obviously MLB saw it was a horrible call. On another note, what's up with all of these 2 games series this year? I counted 4 in the next 2.5 weeks, I think. Seems strange.

I see where Angel was coming from. From a certain angle, it looks like Jamie started towards the plate before he stepped to first. I'm not sure Angel got the call wrong.

The MLB should fine both Walker (for his insulting comments) and Hernandez (for a horse ---- call). That call cost the O's 2 runs and the angels won by TWO!

Pete,

Walker is a stand-up down to earth guy, who I like a lot, but really is really ineffective in his role. In his defense, it wasn't a balk and I believe the punishment said as much!

The calvary should have already been called (Wieters & Riemhold)!