Let's see.

The injury occurred almost 2 months ago.

The injury is to his throwing shoulder.

Suffice to say he hasn't thrown much if at all since the injury occurred.

They are obviously trying to downplay the injury as much as possible even though it's been over two months since it happened.

The club slowly leaks out little bit of info including saying he won't pitch for the 1st ten days of spring training.

That timetable means he will have been shut down for 3 months.

Yea, there's alot more to this than they are letting on.

I would be surprised is he's NOT on the DL to start the season. And once a pitcher hits the DL with shoulder issues
one can only hold their breath.

I'm sticking to my outrage about MacPhail not taking adequate preformanc risk mitigation measures. I re-read his qouted apology and find it marginal in oversight accountability. I was a MacPhail supporter prior to this idiot commerical filming but now I'm much more skepical about his GM abilities. I hope by the middle of March I can look back upon this issue as over-reaction but if it turns out to impact Bergesen's entire season (like Guthrie's WBC role last year) and the team underachieves, then MacPhail must go.

"The club slowly leaks out little bit of info including saying he won't pitch for the 1st ten days of spring training."

I believe what they said was he won't be throwing off a mound until then. He's been on a throwing program already.

"Yea, there's alot more to this than they are letting on."

Is that fact or conjecture?

I agree with Chris, I think there is a lot of overreacting going on here. Certainly an injured shoulder is not a good thing, but you'd think Markakis lost a leg the way people are freaking out.

Chris

Throwing off the mound is pitching in my book.

The fact of the matter is he has been dealing with a shoulder injury for over 2 months now and will not be ready to pitch for another 2 weeks.

And really, why shouldn't fans be worried about this? I'm not saying the O's are the only team to do this but they definitely downplay injuries. Always have. Adam Loewen is recent example.

And yes, it's is my opinion that there is more to this injury.

I certainly don't think it's a stretch at all to think he could be headed to the DL to start the year.

I'm laughing to keep from crying. It's a survival tactic I plan on using throughout the season.

Worked pretty well last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, and....

Berggy is arguably the best arm we have. Kevin Millwood will most likely be a one year fix and Guthrie is, lets face it, not very good. Any lingering injury to Brad could be very damaging to the team in the first few months. I think it is very important for the young guys to taste winning early in the season. A bad start could mean another very long season.

"And really, why shouldn't fans be worried about this?"

Because there's nothing you can do about it at this point.

Freaking out about it is pointless and over-reacting. He strained his shoulder. He didn't tear his labrum. He's not shut down for the year. He's not getting surgery. He just strained it. That's it. The MRIs were fine and it usually takes about 6-9 weeks to come back from a shoulder strain. Obviously they're gonna be as cautious with him as they can since the season is still a month and a half away. If he's pitching after the end of next week, he'll still have plenty of time to get his work in.

Worst case, if he's still getting up to speed at the end of Spring Training, it's not like he doesn't have options. He can get a couple starts in at Norfolk while Hernandez gets in a couple big league starts.

Pete's right though. We'll still be talking about this in March because the first time Bergesen has a bad spring game, everyone is gonna start yelling about the commercial shoot.

Get those excuses lined up! Lets now talk about what we didn't do this offseason, lets talk about one sore shoulder and not to worry!

The truth will set you free!

Chris

With your line of thinking why should be even bother writing about anything on this blog?

If you wanna brush this thing aside as no big deal, that's fine.

Far too many times we've seen elbow strains and shoulder strains turn into much more serious things with pitchers.

He has not thrown off a mound since the injury and is already being pushed back. You assert that it takes 6-9 weeks to come back from a strain yet you have no idea how serious the strain is. None of us do. And judging by their past history, we as fans have a right to question what we hear from the warehouse with regard to injures.

It's not about "freaking out". It's about being frustrated that one of the team's most promising young starters is injured. That alone is a problem. The means in which he sustained the injury just adds to the frustration.

Sure, you nor I can't do anything about it. We also can't make Matusz become an ace or make Adam Jones into Willie Mays.

But we talk about all of it.

As a lifelong Oriole fan I've been burned way too many times but the current regime to accept everything that they say.

I wouldn't expect much from Bergerson until when and if he gets 10 starts. My biggest concern is his ability to locate pitches coming off that horrific line drive that broke his leg. (Though team doctors indicated otherwise.)

Getting hit by a batted ball is one of the worst type of injuries that can effect a pitchers psyche. How he plants and finishes, how he fields his position, the next time a liner comes up the middle. I'm predicting him to struggle throughout 2010, but hopefully regroup for 2011.

You might want to recall injuries to Paul Blair and Gary Roenicke when they got hit by pitches. Blair could never hit again, and Roenicke wore a special face guard on his helmet, and never became more than an average platoon hitter.

If this was fantasy baseball, I wouldn't draft him. However, I would take a chance on Guthrie rebounding and having a heck of a season.

I just witnessed Brad Bergesen's arm fall off, Peter, what do we do now?

shrimptrawler--You're right about Paul Blair. The Ken Tatum beaning made him a step in the bucket guy and ruined his hitting.

But Gary Roenicke actually hit quite well with power wearing the face mask.

I have to back Mark here.

It just seems too convenient that the Bergy injury story comes out this late. Its very disappointing as a fan when arguably the best pitcher last year sustains a very preventable injury. This has injury downplay written all over it.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I don't know what the conspiracy might be. The thing happened in December. It has been reported as a mild shoulder strain (We will see). There isn't a team in baseball that would have put out a press release on that. Everywhere I've been, we would have figured it out the first week of spring training. Fortunately, you have Jeff Zrebiec to dig that kind of stuff up, so you heard it earlier than they would have in most cities.

Let's face facts: if Bergesen hurt himself filming a commercial, he could just as easily have hurt himself on the first pitch of ST. Heck, he could hurt himself loofahing in the shower. It's early still, but he just looks like an injury-prone/slow-recovering guy to me, a la Loewen. It's no one's fault, he's just fragile.

downplayed injury

Mark,

Look, I think it sucks that he's injured too. But he got injured during a commercial shoot. Was it silly? Yes. But it is just one of those things that happens in baseball. Weird injuries happen all the time. You don't have to turn it into some conspiracy where the O's are plotting to ruin your life by lying to you about their injured pitcher.

I don't know if you read Roch's blog or not, but he talked to Bergesen himself. Bergesen said he felt good in his throwing program. I don't take that to mean "I'm in severe pain and I'll never pitch again." Yet that's what some people are acting like.

No, I don't know the exact severity of the strain, but I do know that Bergesen feels good and that the team is being cautious with him in expecting him on the mound about 10 days after the other guys. At that time it will be closer to the latter of 6-9 weeks time frame (a time frame I got from my wife, who works in work comp and deals with recovery times) that is for a light to medium shoulder strain.

And please, just so I can get an idea of where you're coming from, name all the times you've been burned by the MacPhail regime in the past 2.5 years.

As long as they don't let him pitch in the WBC, I think he'll be ok.

Chris- your wife should know that the average shoulder strain in WC terms is a life long injury requiring lump cash settlements and addicting loads of pain medications! Sometimes these mild injuries lead to debilitating side effects such as lack of sexual desire/performance, depression and need for radical surgery.

In this case, if I were AM, I would write Bergesen a check for $10k, hook him up with all the Oxy's he can, Cialis, Prozac and schedule Thoracic Outlet and nerve block surgery asap!!!

Chris

Before we go any further I'd like to address something. Over the past few days this blog has basically imploded.

And comments like ". You don't have to turn it into some conspiracy where the O's are plotting to ruin your life by lying to you about their injured pitcher." don't exactly scream of legit conversation.

It seems as if you are contradicting yourself here. In one sentence you feel that I'm being over the top and "freaking out" about this injury and in the same breath you make a statement like that. I get that you meant it as figure of speech but stuff like that just leads to bickering that I'm trying to avoid. I participated in it last year and it got really old.

I did read Roch's blog. I read countless stuff about this team every day and hearing Bergesen say he feels good means is exactly what I'd expect him to say. For one, he isn't testing the shoulder. And I wouldn't expect him to reveal anything specific about the injury. If you don't think that players are given specific instructions as to how they answer those questions then I don't know what to say except that it's pretty universal that they are.

And Im not talking about the MacPhail regime.

I'm talking about the owner.

In defense of chris, I think he was combining yours and Boomers comments.

this line is the best: "I was a MacPhail supporter prior to this idiot commerical filming but now I'm much more skepical about his GM abilities."

GM's don't keep 24/7 tabs on these guys or order who does what in what commercial. For all we know, Bergeson strained his shoulder opening mayonnaise making a sandwich and blamed it on the commercial. If he didn't hurt himself doing the commercial, he probably would have done it anyway early in spring training. Its not like the tried to throw 90 mph after not warming up.

Freak accident, no conspiracy, move on...

SHAMROCK

He specifically addressed me at the beginning of his post.

I think it's pretty obvious he was talking to me.

Mark,

Ok, sorry about the use of "you" in that statement. I meant it more as the general you, but I should have said "people" instead. That was more a reaction to some of the remarks I've seen in the past few days on here.

Basically, what it comes down to is trust. You don't trust the warehouse (and I understand the owner hasn't given anyone anything to jump for joy over throughout the past 12 years), so everything that comes out of there is going to be met with a certain amount of doubt.

Maybe it's living under the sun so much, but I am more apt to believe a guy when he's telling me he feels good. I understand that he hasn't gotten into any real vigorous throwing yet, but I'd rather take things as the come and not assume the worst beforehand. If things turn out well, then it will just be a bunch of hand-wringing over nothing. But like I said before, even if he's not ready by opening day, he has options and I don't think it would be too long before we see him in Baltimore. And I'd still take Hernandez over Eaton, Simon and the starter version of Hendrickson.

Regarding the warehouse, I was willing to wipe the slate clean when MacPhail came on board.

Yes, I know he's talking to you, but mixed in bw was boomers conspiracy rant. Its the overall mood of people out there making something out of nothing.

However, when referring to "The Club" you can't possibly be referring to Angelos. "The Club" is operations management, not ownership. Angelos has very little to do with the day to day operations and is rarely see around anymore. He's 81 years old. He does care about Brad Bergeson or silly marketing clips.

Injured or not, there is a decent probability Bergeson gets hammered this season anyway. Soft tossing accuracy guys have a way of getting figured out. Hopefully not for the O's case, anything they get out of him should be a pleasant surprise.

Fair enough Chris

And you are correct, I flat out do not trust much of what comes out of the warehouse despite the addition of MacPhail.

I believe the burden of proof (or truth) belongs to them and until I start seeing results on the field and a pattern of truths and good will coming from the warehouse, I will continue my skepticism.

I still see things being done that shows more tone deafness as what the reality is with regards to this team's fan base etc....

SHAM,

You were kind of right. I did have that line in particular running in my head when I was replying and like I said, it was aimed at that general sentiment that seemed to have hung around regarding this issue. (Mark, I apologize again since it did seem like I was saying you in particular.)

And regarding the work comp claims... $10k, unnecessary meds and surgery would be getting off light compared to what I've heard some people think they can ask for.

The best is when my wife sees a guy who "can't get out of bed because he's in so much pain" down at Safeway walking around carrying 2 cases of Bud.

Shamrock

I'm referring to the organization as a whole.

I don't know why you think Angelos isn't involved anymore. Sure, he obviously turned the personnel moves over to MacPhail but there's alot more to an organization than that.

I'm really not into playing a semantics game and getting into a debate about ownership.

Chris, Coming off of 98 losses, what would upset you about the Orioles in 2010? I guess what asking is, would you consider 12 more wins, even though it's coming off of a terrible year, a success? For me, anything under a 500 season would be just another losing season in Baltimore. If I didn't know anything about the team, and only went by your descriptions, I would think the Orioles just missed the playoffs last year. Being positive is good, but aren't you very much extreme in your views?

OMG! OOMMGG!! OOOMMMGGG!!!

Hot off the press: According to my sources, B. Bergeson really has an inoperable doppleganger in his shoulder, not just the lethal plastic elbow implant that the WAREHOUSE is reporting. He's not only NOT going to the DL, he's secretly already been sent to the morgue. His place on the roster will be filled secretly by Mike Boeddiker, who has undergone extensive SWPS treatments (Secret Warehouse Plastic Surgery) so he can look exactly like Bergy, who WAS, afterall, just another junkballing righthanded pitcher.

In addition, Tillman, Arrieta, Hobgood, Matusz and anybody who will ever pitch again for the Orioles ALL have mysteriously contracted waynameningitis of the throwing wrist The O's front office confirms that this rare but this fatal bone, blood and JPCS disease, or Just Plain Common Sense, has been found in BOTH WRISTS of all those guys, just in case they try to do an IALARA (Inverted Adam Loewen and Rick Ankiel) and try to make a comeback by throwing with the OTHER hand.

In related news, Matt Weiters has declined to report to Spring Training, telling private inside sources (only ME) that he has decided to give up the sport and pursue a PhD in Rumorology at the UWCA (University of Warehouse Clandestine Activity). "There will always been work on Schmuck's blog," the ex-once-and-future-Yankee-all-star said.

This just in: Nolan Reimold's achilles heel is NOT BETTER! He has been spotted, by this reporter only, going in to LSHH Hospital (Lingering Stages of Hysterical Hyperbole) carrying his OWN ANKLE in one hand, complete with bloody sock, and and Garrett Atkins' 26"/24 ounce Little League Approved bat in the other.

To calm to hysteria of fans, Andy McPhail has just released this statement: "Robert "BOPPER" Andino is feeling great. He should be ready by Opening Day, assuming his terminal case of melonowaynia subsides by April 5th."

Go O's!

About 3.5 hours of adult conversation.

I guess that's pretty good around here nowadays .

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I agree. When the posters here hunker down to talk baseball -- and the adolescent name-callers and namechangers are sent off to bed by their parents -- the quality of the debate ramps up and we've got some pretty smart and prepared people on both sides of just about every argument.

Has anyone on this blog pitched professionally and then suffered a "strained' shoulder capsule? Has anyone on the blog researched exactly what the shoulder capsule is?

I hope that Mr. Bergenson is able to rehabilitate his quite valuable appendage without the need for a surgical procedure. The extent of the injury has yet to be fully disclosed. It will become clear in the next two to three weeks.

Good luck Bradley Bergenson. This was to be your breakout season. Please make it so.

They need a BAT, -- A BAT,-- A BAT!! Someone for DH. They refuse to get one. They need a DH bat and a 1b Bat!! Atkins is a .200 hitter. He hit HR'S in COLORADO, Colorado!! Get it COLORADO!!!

Mike Aubrey will be at 1b by May 1st.

Colorado,
Great stuff.... nailed it and they won't even get it

"Colorado wants me but I can't go back there"....
GA

rob,

What would upset me in 2010?

Well, I was plenty upset during that long losing streak near the end of last season, so I think anything like that would make me upset this season. We need to learn how to cut those losing streaks off way quicker. I understand that we had Fiorintino in center and Reimold was out for a lot of that time, but good grief... And on the other side, I'd like to see a winning streak that ran as long as, if not longer than, our biggest losing streak.

Adam Jones missing a good length of the season due to injury would upset me. He needs to prove this year that he can be durable.

As far as games won, I think we should definitely be up around .500, but it's hard to say that 76 would be considered a failure. I would be a bit disappointed with 76, but it really depends on how we ended up with 76. Was it because of accumulated minor injuries? (Not SO disappointing, could have been bad luck) Was it one or two major injuries? (Disappointing, especially if it was our young guys) Was it Tejada and Atkins not panning out? (Not as disappointing since they aren't the future of the team) Or was it the young guys all regressing with Tejada and Atkins picking up the slack? (More disappointing) It all depends. If I had to put a win number out there though, I'd say another sub-70 win season would be downright horrible because that would mean all our young guys probably regressed.

We need to be a respectable club before we can hunger for contention. I think this is the year we become respectable.

I'll ask you, rob, what do you want to see positive happen this season?

Chris

This is my main issue with the plan as it is so often referred to.

Say we become "respectable". That means another year of losing baseball in the most realistic scenario. I don't believe anyone thinks this team will be over .500. Maybe some do but whatever.

That's ANOTHER year of rebuilding and losing more than likely.

What year is the year when we should expect this team to actually win and go after legit free agents?

Are we gonna hear the same song and dance next season if they win, say 76 games? That we are still a year away from "really competing" and then suffer through another fairly uneventful off season?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure you are in the camp of agreeing with AM's plan so far and not adding any big time free agents.

My worry (and frustration) is that the team will be caught in that "we''re not quite there yet" mode with regard to going out and infusing this young talent with some talent from outside the organization.

I hear about how we need to win first and then attract the type of players we all want.

I contend that this team will not get to that point with the talent they have in house. Unless every single prospect hits their maximum potential (which doesn't happen for any team) I just don't see this team getting over the hump without outside help.

It's almost like the chicken or the egg argument really.

I hope I'm wrong and this team makes huge strides this season and then adds some serious talent in the offseason.

I'm just far from sold that it will happen.

Thanks Chris,

In short, I need a wining season. A 13th consecutive losing season would just do me in as a fan.

I'd like to see players like Markakis, Roberts and Guthrie have great seasons (not good, but great), while Weiters, Reimold, Jones, Matusz and Bergesen take significant strides.

I don't think guys like Tillman are ready, but I hope Gonzo turns into a better than average closer.

I'd love Miggy to have a great year. So great that he gets another one or two year deal in 2011. Atkins I expect nothing from, and I just want Millwood to give 200 innings, something this staff will need.

I haven't mentioned everyone obviously, but if those things happen, helping the team to 82 wins, I'd like for us all to then believe and hope that Andy would then get a big time pitcher as well as an elite slugger so that next offseason can, for once, truly be exciting.

Hey Rob,
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think losing season #13 is in the bag. I wish it wasn't so.

Regarding Bergesen, he's a really nice prospect with tremendous poise. I feel really good for the O's when he's out there. That said, it worries me when this injury, regardless how minor, comes out less than a week before spring training. Get Brad healthy, if it takes some time, then take it. Someone earlier in the blog compared him to Mike Boddicker: I'd take that and I think most Oriole fans would too.

You're right, Mark. It is the chicken/egg theory. There is no definite answer as to when, since there are so many variables.

Take the FA period after this coming season...

There are going to be a couple FA 1st basemen on the market who, unless Brandon Snyder comes up in mid-season and kills the ball, will all be an upgrade at the position. Namely, Carlos Pena, Derek Lee, Lance Berkman (unless Houston picks up his option) and Adam Dunn (I'll go ahead and include him). There's no way St. Louis doesn't pick up Pujols' option. Lee and Berkman are gonna be 35+ and Dunn is not the kind of sure thing with the glove that you want (read: he's sure to suck) and he didn't want to DH last time around. Pena has power, but a low BA. Plus, he'll be entering the last of his prime years. Are these guys worth going all in for considering the following year could have a market featuring A-Gone, Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard?

Oddly enough, right now I like Lee the best in 2011 even though he's older than Dunn and Pena. Given the way the market played out this year, he may come a bit cheaper due to his age. Getting him on a two or three year contract might be feasible and might not hinder you from going after whoever is there in 2012 in that, if you front load his contract a bit, you can probably pay him no more than you did Huff to DH.

But if you go for someone like Lee, you're probably not going to be going after the other Lee, first name Cliff, or Josh Beckett. Will Andy stay with his "grow the arms, buy the bats" motto? I think it depends on how the young guys progress this year. If Matusz continues and looks like he's going to be a top of the rotation guy, and if Tillman also starts living up to his hype, I don't see MacPhail going after either Lee or Beckett.

I feel like I was rambling there a bit, so I apologize. It's all probably a little irrelevant until after the season is a few months in anyway.

Oh, and for my money, I actually like Prince Fielder the best out of of all the 1B guys (not named Pujols) with FA looming. I like to watch him run around the bases. He looks like a guy you wouldn't want to see barreling down on you. Plus, I think he's gonna be a Top 10 All Time Awesome Fat Guy.

"Garret Atkins hit home runs in Colorado"

Yes, this is true. He played for the Rockies his entire career, thus played nearly half his games in Colorado.

Garret Atkins also hit home runs in other ballparks. In fact he has hit more home runs in ballparks OTHER THAN Colorado than he has IN Colorado.

Career HR at home: 48
Career HR away: 50

OK, maybe those away home runs came in a whole bunch more chances. he did play 24 more games on the road than at home.

Home: 1 HR every 31.52 plate appearances
Away: 1 HR every 32.16 plate appearances

Hmmmm, not really. I think we can conclude that his HR numbers were NOT affected by playing in Colorado.

However, if we take a closer look at his stats, his total Offensive Production was much higher in Colorado. His AVG was 75 points higher, his SLG was almost 100 points higher, and his OBP was 61 points higher.

He collected more Singles, Doubles, and Triples playing at home. He also walked less and struck out significantly less. (1 SO every 9.1 PA at home, vs 1 SO every 6.35 PA on the road). I can't think of how the stadium would have that much of an effect on Strikeout numbers. The thin air is supposed to make the ball fly farther, not make it easier to hit.

What could be the reason for this significant difference in production? Perhaps he was much more comfortable playing in front of his home crowd? I have no clue, but I hope he and Crowley can figure something out.

This is concerning, but before we go nuts and say the signing was a total waste, let's see him play in some games. We can only home he plays as well at his new HOME in Oriole Park as he did at HOME in Colorado. Because you certainly can't chalk up all of those differences simply to thin air.

Chris in Hawaii:

What worries me about Fielder would be the potential for him to "let it go" after signing a huge contract. I know nothing about the guy's diet, conditioning, workout program, or work ethic, so maybe this is just baloney coming from me. But what if he decides he doesn't need to work quite as hard once he signs that 9-figure contract? If he does indeed work out aggressively to stay in playing shape, any slip-up in that routine could have disastrous consequences on his playing ability.

I've got nothing against the guy and like you love watching him play. Just an observation and a non-scientific future contingency. As with everything else in life, I suppose it all depends on which of the infinite universes out there we end up experiencing.

All I know about Fielder's diet is that he's a vegetarian and he eats a lot of bean burgers. He went veggie in 2008. Since I'm uncertain of his exact weight beforehand, I'm unsure of just how much weight he lost going into the 2009 season, but it was noted that he lost weight and was getting healthier. Assuming he maintains his diet, he should continue to lose weight, which will most likely lead to him becoming a better, slimmer, more agile... fielder.

jeffChill,
FYI, Prince Fielder is a vegetarian. He genetically predisposed to be a large man. Doesn't mean he's fat. Why would you assume he would slack off on training? Why is his potential to "let it go" any higher than any other athlete who gets the big contract? I would love for the FO to throw money at Fielder. There's no doubt that he has warehouse power and he would solve the Birds problems at 1st for years.

This is worse than the O's are leading on because they always lie about pitching injuries.I don't know how you can figure this down to a 10 day window of catching up. Pure guess work.Next thing you'll hear is Bergy needs surgery.If Berg goes down,the O's starting depth will be razor thin and never make it through the year.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: All clubs minimize injuries when they announce them. I think there's some kind of secret MLB playbook that requires that.

Comments by Mark are idiotic.

Stuff happens ---- it isn't Andy's fault.

Plus, Andy has remade the Birds into a serious organization.

Mark, think it through ...

Dwight

I assume you are talking about the Bergesen injury. How about you read what I've written before spouting off about my comments being idiotic.

There was another poster earlier in this comment section who was calling for AM's head and laying 100% of the blame at his feet but it wasn't me.

AM has "remade" the Orioles into a serious organization? How about you pump and brakes a bit huh?

AM is trying to remake the Orioles into a serious organization.

Any team that is coming off a 98 loss season in which they embarrassed themselves almost nightly for the last 50 games of the season is remade.

How about we wait and see what they do in 2010 before we begin to even think this team is possibly remade.

That should read... "is NOT remade".

JeffChill,

I liked your analysis of Atkins above. Nicely done!

Regarding his tendency to strike out significantly more on the road: this could also be a Coors Field factor. Batted balls fly further in the thin air, and pitches break a good deal less in thin air. Hanging breaking balls could account for the difference, although I have no conclusive facts to support this -- it's just a guess. He could be making contact with the hangers at home, and missing the ones with real bite on the road.

So, is GA just a bad breaking-ball hitter? Or does he need to readjust to breaking balls outside of the thin air of Colorado and the 82 games he played there?

We are about to find out.

One simple question: Why didn't they just use some highlights of Bergesen throwing during a game last season instead of having him throw in the bullpen? Whether this turns into a big injury or not, the creators/producers of this add should never be hired again.

I also agree that management has a role to protect their investments. This shouldn't have happen.

Hey, I just wanted to give some serious props to Mark and Chris in Hawaii for that conversation. That was such excellent work at meeting the other, and it made me proud to be an Oriole fan and an occasional participant on this blog. Thanks, fellas.

Thanks always to Mr. Schmuck for the community forum, too.

Let's just hope that Bergy steers clear of tanning beds...

Let's just hope that Bergy steers clear of tanning beds...

Let's just hope that Bergy steers clear of tanning beds...

Since Bergy is lost for the season now, anyway we can get Adam Eaton back?

Bergeson wasnt going to put up the same numbers he put up last yr anyway. At least he has an excuse now

Max-

Hopefully in their "Welcome to Sarasota" giftpack wasn't a gift card to Marty Codova's House of Sun in Downtown Sarasota.

The really important question here is why haven't we seen the commercial yet?
We could tell a whole lot more by the way his arm hit the backstop!

Sheeeesssshhh

Chris...

WC is so shady. It is its own self feeding ecosystem... Person kind of gets hurt, goes to crooked doctor, lawyers up, lawyer flashes dollars at them, crooked doctor gets them hooked on meds, claimant sells meds (oxycotin is a valuable commodity), claimant requests more meds, Lawyer gets claimant small settlement, claimant goes back to work, cycle starts over again...

Hey Pete,

I'm as concerned about Berggy's injury as everyone on this site. It was hard for me to continue to watch the rest of the season last year when he took that dinger off the shin because I seriously thought Bmore would have a 2009 ROY pitcher. Here's my question though: When Brad does come back to the starting rotation, does he have the "Joe Flacco, Ice-Vein" mentality to pitch 3-4 run, 6-7 inning games consistently like he had been?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I wish I could answer that. I doubt he's going to be gunshy, but I'm concerned about his mechanics, trying to come back from two injuries.