The Orioles claimed 26-year-old catcher Craig Tatum off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds today and designated left-handed pitcher Chris Waters for assignment. It's a minor transaction that gives the O's a good defensive guy to add minor league depth and maybe compete for the backup role behind Matt Wieters.

I still have to believe the O's will re-sign Chad Moeller to be the backup/mentor for Wieters. The club declined his option for 2010 to save room on the 40-man roster, but indicated that Moeller could come back under the same terms as last year. If that happens, it likely would be after the Winter Meetings in December.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Just baseball
        

The free agent market has been open for almost 12 hours and the Orioles still haven't signed John Lackey. What's the deal?

I'm just reinforcing the point that we wait breathlessly for the opening of the free agent market and then sit back and wait another month or two for something to happen. Of course, that didn't keep ESPN from trotting out baseball analyst (and former Sun reporter) Tim Kurkjian on SportsCenter right after midnight last night to kick off this year's free agent frenzy.

Obviously, the Orioles aren't in on Lackey, but they'll be in a lot of rumors. They'll be used by some teams and they'll have a legitimate shot at some medium guys if they really want to sign one or two of them.

I'll be interested to see if they are aggressive with some of those comeback pitchers like Erik Bedard. That's where a team could catch lightning in a bottle and be much more competitive than they might appear on paper. But it'll be awhile before we have a real clue.

Today's shameless plug: You need to rush to the radio right now and tune into WBAL (1090 AM) or WBAL.com for The Week in Review with me, Clarence Mitchell IV and state senator Jim Brochim. We'll be butting heads from noon to 3 p.m. on a variety of subjects, from Sheila to Oprah and everything in between.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (47)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Actually, I am a little worried about the direction the Orioles may take this offseason, because Andy MacPhail has painted himself into a corner with his stated desire not to trade any of the top prospects for offensive help. That wouldn't bother me if the free agent market -- which opens for business tomorrow -- was heavy with run-producing corner infielders that could be had for reasonable years and salary, but the choices are fairly limited and none of them is a slam-dunk fit for this team going forward.

I believe the Orioles have to go out and get at least one decent middle-of-the-order bat, and I'm starting to wonder if they're willing to spend even the medium money it would take to do that. I'm afraid there might be a disconnect between the front office, which may be dispassionately looking at the team and figuring that there's no point in spending much if there is little chance of competing for a wild card berth next year, and a disintegrating fan following that wants to see the team take a tangible step forward in 2010. In which case, we may see another half effort to upgrade the batting order.

There may be some nuts and bolts logic there, but you can't remove the fans from the equation. They need to be reassured that the club is really moving forward, and you're not going send that message by conceding another 90-plus loss season. That doesn't mean you have to throw the plan out the window, but you can't steer around every opportunity to improve because a player might block one of your unproven prospects.

The Orioles need to upgrade offensively at first and third base and they have prospects who have a chance to pop over the next two years at those positions. That is an argument against giving out big multi-year deals to fill both holes, but in the DH league, you still have the flexibility to sign or acquire one quality corner infield guy without really blocking anyone.

If we wake up in February with Michael Aubrey projected at first base and Ty Wigginton at third, it's going to be very hard to convince the paying customers that the team will ever be willing to do what it takes to really compete in the American League East.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (66)
Categories: Just baseball
        

The Orioles moved six players onto the 40-man roster today in anticipation of Friday's deadline for submitting their protected list to MLB. The O's added pitchers Brandon Erbe and Luis Lebron and infielders Josh Bell, Brandon Snyder, Rhyne Hughes and Pedro Florimon, bringing the roster to a full 40.

That leaves a few recognizable players exposed to the Rule 5 Draft -- including shortstop Blake Davis and recently acquired pitcher Steve Johnson -- and leaves room to question why certain journeyman-type players are still on the 40-man. The Orioles kept pitcher Chris Waters, for instance, even though he didn't seem to be on the radar when the Orioles needed help at several points last season.

There is a plausible explanation: If there are some players still on the 40-man who seem more expendable than some who were left unprotected, keep in mind that somebody is going to have to be moved off the roster for every player acquired or signed during the offseason. If the entire roster was filled out with young players the team does not want to risk losing on waivers, that would create a disincentive to upgrade the roster through free agency.

The team instead is gambling that -- in the case of Johnson -- no major league club is going to pick up a pitcher who has never played above Double-A and keep him at the major league level for the entire 2010 season. That's probably a fair bet.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Just baseball
        

The opening of the free agent market on Friday won't generate nearly the same level of anticipation around here as last year, when fans could fantasize about big-ticket players Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett before the Yankees had time to snap them up. The Orioles have the same basic needs this time around -- a big-swinging corner infielder and a frontline starting pitcher -- but the dynamics of the market are considerably different.

Here's the latest list of free agent corner infielders that Andy MacPhail has to choose from if he doesn't want to give up any of his core pitching prospects to make a trade:

First base

Hank Blalock TEX
Russell Branyan SEA
Carlos Delgado NYM (B)
Nomar Garciaparra OAK
Jason Giambi COL
Ross Gload FLA
Aubrey Huff DET
Nick Johnson WAS (B)
Adam LaRoche ATL (B)
Kevin Millar TOR
Robb Quinlan LAA
Matt Stairs PHI
Mike Sweeney SEA
Jim Thome LAD
Chad Tracy ARZ

Third base

Adrian Beltre SEA (B)
Geoff Blum HOU
Craig Counsell MIL
Joe Crede MIN
Mark DeRosa STL (B)
Pedro Feliz PHI
Chone Figgins LAA (A)
Troy Glaus STL (A)
Jerry Hairston NYY
Mike Lamb MIL
Melvin Mora BAL (B)
Juan Uribe SF

If you recall, the name that was buzzing around late this last season was Nick Johnson, but I'm trying to figure out how to cast a guy who has a total of 13 homers over the past two years and has never driven in 80 runs in a season as an upgrade.

Personally, I'd like to see the Orioles make a real play for third baseman Adrian Beltre. The guy is coming off an injury-diminished 2009, but hit at least 25 home runs the previous three seasons. He'll be in some demand, but might consider the Orioles because of his close relationship with shortstop Cesar Izturis.

Our beat guy, Jeff Zrebiec, thinks that Pedro Feliz is the most likely third base possibility. The best player available at third is Chone Figgins, who would be an interesting choice if there was any chance he would consider Baltimore.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (93)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Obviously, no one should be surprised that Andrew Bailey was just announced as the American League Rookie of the Year after the great season he had out of the Oakland A's bullpen, but I am a bit surprised that neither Brad Bergesen nor Nolan Reimold registered a single point in the balloting.

Reimold either led or ranked highly among AL rookies position players in all the Triple Crown categories for much of the year, but his final numbers weren't impressive enough to get any love from the BBWAA selection committee. I think Brad Bergesen would have been in play if he had not had his leg cut out from under him late in the season.

You could have made a case for the second and third place guys (Elvis Andrus and Rick Porcello), but there was no room for such ambivalence on the National League side, where Chris Coghlan's terrific offensive stats made him the third Florida Marlin to be named Rookie of the Year.

Oh well, maybe those guys will have an easier time sneaking up on the rest of the league next year.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: Just baseball
        

The American League Rookie of the Year is about to be announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America, but there's no sense anyone here getting their hopes up. The Orioles had a couple of legitimate candidates emerge during the season, but Brad Bergesen's season was cut short by injury and Nolan Reimold's raw numbers -- though solid in relation to other rookie hitters this year -- just aren't impressive enough to overcome the big pitching performances from Rick Porcello, Jeff Niemann and Andrew Bailey or top position candidate Elvis Andrus.

I'm guessing Reimold finishes fifth in the balloting and Bergesen sixth.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Just baseball
        

One of the first players to surface in Orioles trade speculation this offseason was Florida Marlins infielder Dan Uggla, who would certainly add some pop to the O's lineup, but probably wouldn't be joining Adam Jones on next year's list of Gold Glove winners after reluctantly switching from second to third base. Which brings us to an important philosophical question that some posters already have been trying to answer.

Which is more important at third base -- offense or defense?

It's a complicated question, because it has to be answered from a local rather than a general perspective. Obviously, you'd like to get both run production and solid corner defense from your starting third baseman, but the Orioles aren't exactly ordering from a menu here. Andy MacPhail has to decide whether it's more important to protect his young pitchers with a great glove or get some protection for his top hitters with a big bat.

I suspect that when you throw price into the equation -- and by that I mean the price in both salary and what it will take to get a decent player to replace Melvin Mora -- the Orioles will go for the glove and rationalize that's the best thing for the successful development of Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen and Jack Arrieta. Don't know that I agree.

Some posters here have rightly pointed out that the connection between pitching and winning in the DH era is not quite as strong as it was in the past, as evidenced by the fact that only four of the playoff teams this year ranked among the top 10 major league teams in ERA, while 7 of the eight ranked in the top 11 teams in runs scored. The Angels, if you want the most glaring example to illustrate this point, ranked 20th in team ERA, but first in batting average and second in runs scored (behind only the Yankees.)

Based on what I've heard from our beat guy Jeff Zrebiec, I'd have to say that Uggla would be third or fourth on the Orioles' wish list, behind Pedro Feliz, Garrett Atkins and the most expensive option, Adrian Beltre.

What do you think?

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (88)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Sorry, but I've got to start the day off with all my shameless plugs. If you read my last blog entry about the Orioles' latest overture to Cuba, you might want to check out my column for the print edition and Website on the same subject right here. And I've also put up my weekly "News Item" column, which you can check out over here.

If that doesn't put you in Schmuck overload, I'm also doing the Saturday Sportsline show on WBAL (1090 AM) starting at noon and taking you up to Navy football pregame coverate at 2:35 p.m. We'll talk about the opening of the free agent market next week and also preview the Ravens' Monday Night Football matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

Out of radio range: Go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon. It's a good day to call in because the show is twice as long as on weeknights and you won't have to squeeze your comments in between traffic and weather.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Just baseball, Just football
        

Really can't say I'm surprised that there is talk of the Orioles making another goodwill trip to Cuba next spring. Owner Peter Angelos savored the opportunity to engage in some baseball diplomacy back in 1999, and I was there with the delegation in Havana that negotiated the terms and arrangements for the goodwill series.

It was a hot-button issue then and it would be again. The Clinton administration was amenable to the trip, though it did not lead to any concrete changes in Cuban-American relations. Now, the Obama administration is making noises about improving relations after nearly a half-century of isolating the communist island nation, and Angelos told the Associated Press that he'd like the Orioles to play a role this time, too.

"Hopefully as next spring approaches, both governments will see clearer to improve the relations and make it rather easy for there to be a reciprocal arrangement," Angelos said. "Personally, I think the relations between the two countries should be clearly and emphatically re-established."

The initial delegation included Angelos, his son Lou, Sandy Alderson and a contingent from the Commissioner's Office, Tony Bernazard (representing the players union), B.J. Surhoff, Tom Garafalo of Catholic Charities (which was to be a beneficiary of the event), Washington-based consultant Scott Armstrong and me, masquerading as a club official since the Cuban government did not want any media to be involved in the negotiations.

The Cubans, however, were not fooled, and sarcastically referred to me during the official welcoming ceremony at the Havana airport as "Peter Schmuck, special advisor to the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun."

It was the first of two trips to Havana. The team arrived in late March for the Cuban half of the home-and-home series. The Cuban All-Stars then traveled to Baltimore early in the regular season and defeated the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Who knows where this will go from here, but the last overture sparked protests in Miami during spring training and garnered criticism for Commissioner Bud Selig and Angelos for sitting with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during the game at Havana's Latin American Stadium.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Sorry, but I was on my flight home yesterday when the announcement came down that Adam Jones had won his first Gold Glove -- and the first by an Orioles outfielder since Paul Blair won the last of his eight in 1975 -- so I'm a little late to this party. It was no surprise, of course, since Adam's brother spilled the beans on his MySpace page last week, but it has generated quite a bit of conversation about the selection process.

Since I used to handle the balloting in Baltimore for The Sporting News (which distributed the ballots for Rawlings), I think I can give some decent insight into the situation.

The process definitely is flawed, though that doesn't mean the vast majority of players aren't very deserving. I think Adam Jones is a terrific center fielder and will go on to win a lot more Gold Gloves, but he does benefit from a format that awards three Gold Gloves to outfielders in each league without respect to their specific outfield positions.

That means there is a natural predisposition toward center fielders, who are generally considered the best all-around athletes in the outfield, and that predisposition has been magnified during the ESPN era. Since the managers and coaches who vote cannot vote for their own players, they depend on a variety of sources for information on opposing players. There is some direct observation, of course, but you can't discount the impact of the nightly highlight shows on the outcome of the voting.

In short, the guy with the most Web Gems is going to have a big advantage, and the outfielders with the most Web Gems are usually going to be center fielders. That's just the way of the baseball world right now. I don't know if that qualifies as injustice, but there are a lot of corner outfielders who get overlooked, and Nick Markakis has been prominent on that list the past couple of years.

The first year of the Gold Gloves in 1957, separate awards were given for left field, center field and right field. I think they should go back to that. If they awarded the infield Gold Gloves the way they award the outfield Gold Gloves, you'd have three shortstops and a third baseman winning in each league every year. Where's the sense in that?

But, in my opinion, the real problem with the Gold Glove selection process is the surprising weight that -- intentionally or subconsciously -- has been placed on reputation and offensive production. Past winners have a huge advantage in ensuing seasons, as evidenced by the time Rafael Palmeiro won one at first base during a season when he was the everyday designated hitter.

It's basically proof that some managers and coaches take the balloting very seriously, perusing the defensive stats carefully before making their choices, and some others take a more casual, instinctive approach that favors higher profile players.

In short, I applaud Rawlings for deciding a half century ago to create a high-profile award to reward excellence at each defensive position, but it's high time to perfect the selection process.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (52)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Good to see the home fires are still burning here in spite of my recent disappearance. My travels took me to Southern California and Nevada (I'll admit it, I still love the Southwest) and allowed me to recharge my batteries for the baseball offseason and the second half of the Ravens schedule. I'm boarding a plane (Southwest, of course) in a couple of hours and will be back on the job in time for tomorrow's Ravens workout.

What did I learn over the past 10 days? Sadly, I learned that the Ravens may not be a playoff team, which would be a great disappointment after their 3-0 start. I learned I'm not a jinx -- I think it's been the defensive secondary all along. I learned that traffic in Maryland is never really that bad, at least in comparison to Los Angeles. I learned that playing golf on a repaired Achilles tendon is the best excuse yet for the way I play golf.

Believe it or not, I ran into a few of our regular contributors on the blog while I was out West, which made me feel pretty good. Marshall McLuhan's "global village" is a reality, and the proof is right here, from Jim Doss out in LA to our European Prof in Latvia to Kevin in Iraq and all the great local sports fans that have made this one of the top regional blog destinations.

Thanks for carrying my water for the past 10 days. If you spent some of that time over at the School of Roch looking for dating tips, that's fine too. I'm just glad the blog will still be here when I get back tonight.

By the way, just heard the Orioles claimed right-hander Armando Gabino off waivers yesterday. Don't know how I could have missed that.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Just baseball, Just football, Schmuck being Schmuck
        

The Rawlings Gold Glove Awards probably will be announced early next week, and there are rumblings that Adam Jones is about to become the first Orioles outfielder to win a Gold Glove since Paul Blair back in 1975.

We've made some inquiries to try and confirm that, but the best info anybody has at the moment was a MySpace entry by Adam's brother Jonathan the other day saying how excited he was about his little brother winning a "Golden Glove 4 his Baseball Team, the Baltimore Orioles."

If it's true, and I don't think that would surprise anybody who has watched him glide around the outfield the past two years, Adam would be the first Oriole to win a Gold Glove since Mike Mussina in 1999 and the first Orioles position player since Roberto Alomar and Rafael Palmeiro each won one in 1998. The Orioles are currently tied with the Yankees for the most American League Gold Gloves all time. Blair won eight of them during his reign as the league's best defensive center fielder from 1967-75.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (53)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Now that the Yankees are world champions for the 27th time and all is right with the world (Sasrcasm alert!), we can get on with our lives -- and our offseason. If there is a bright side for the Yankee haters, it is that -- for the first time since 2000 -- there will be no postseason panic period in the Big Apple, which has generally been followed by an attempt to corner the free agent market.

The bad news, of course, is that the free agent market isn't really worth cornering, but there are players that could make a difference for the Orioles, especially if they are willing to consider moving Nolan Reimold to first base.

Sorry, I'm not sold on getting somebody like Nick Johnson, who wouldn't even replace the run-production potential of the departed Aubrey Huff. If it were my money and my team -- oh yes, it will be mine -- I would take the best bat possible in either the free agent or trade market and figure it out from there.

Not that anything's going to happen real soon anyway. There's still the free agent filing period to wait out before the Orioles can make any offers, if that's the direction Andy MacPhail decides to go. He can talk trade any time, but the end of the World Series is sort of the traditional time to start doing that kind of thing.

Make no mistake. Though the landscape isn't terribly promising, the Orioles have to make some significant moves to keep people interested. That doesn't mean throwing the youth movement under the bus, but it will require some flexibility if MacPhail wants to do anything dynamic. I said this in a column last week. MacPhail has delivered on the foundational aspect of his rebuilding program. The time has come to start the next phase in earnest.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (103)
Categories: Just baseball
        

I'm sure a lot of people would like to see the Orioles boldly go where they haven't gone before and pony up the big money it will take to sign Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

There are several indicators that point in the opposite direction, which likely means that the club's meeting this week with Chapman and his agent is more public relations than aggressive international player development.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying the Orioles weren't really interested in talking to the guy, but when you consider what it could cost to sign him -- some say $40 million or more -- it's hard to imagine the Orioles really being in the ballpark with some of the other teams that have shown interest.

The club wants to have a solid international presence, but came up about $1 million short on promising Dominican infielder Miguel Angel Sano when the competition for his services was relatively light and he signed for only $3.15 million. If they would balk at Sano at that price, what makes anybody think they'll be a real player at $40 million for Chapman?

The Orioles did pony up $10 million for Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara last winter, but they aren't exactly bragging about that acquisition anymore...and we're not hearing a lot of chatter about their new emphasis on international player development like we heard at this time last year.

Hopefully, the team is still just as committed to a global approach, because the O's are going to have to keep every avenue open if they are to have any chance of competing with the Yankees and Red Sox on a yearly basis. They probably will never be able to out-spend them, so they're going to have to out-scout them, both here and abroad.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (88)
Categories: Just baseball
        

This is the lull before the storm. This is the time when major league front office people tie up loose ends, take a few days off and catch their breath before offseason begins in earnest following the World Series.

That's why the biggest baseball headline in The Sun today is about negotiations with reliever/swingman Mark Hendrickson, who almost certainly will re-sign with the Orioles -- which is fine because he's a versatile role player on the pitching staff, but it's not really news when you consider he's from nearby York and not many other teams will be beating down his door this winter.

The Orioles had an extended conversation with Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman yesterday. That's an interesting development, but we all know that he's going to end up in Boston or New York. The thing that's most significant about the meeting is that it signals that owner Peter Angelos no longer has strong reservations about negotiating with Cuban players, though I guess we should have figured that out when the Orioles gave all that money to Danys Baez.

The biggest story of the week was the official decision to decline the option on Melvin Mora, which was no surprise to anyone. Melvin told us he wasn't coming back a couple of months ago when he publicly blasted manager Dave Trembley.

Basically, this is roster crunching time, and the Orioles have moved a bunch of players off the 40-man roster, including pitcher Rich Hill. Seems like a long time ago that the O's were hanging tough with Hill because they were afraid someone would take him off waivers. His 7.80 ERA pretty much took care of that. The club also outrighted Alfredo Simon, which means they can monitor his recovery from surgery and bring him back later if they think he's still got some promise.

Frankly, this is such a soft news period that it might be time for another warm weather vacation.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Most of you probably know this already, but I thought I'd clarify the Chad Moeller situation for anyone who didn't get to the end of Jeff Zrebiec's story on the subject. The Orioles declined his $850,000 major league option yesterday, but that does not mean he will not return as Matt Wieters backup next season. In fact, I would guess that his return is fairly likely.

The option was declined to free up room on the 40-man roster in anticipation of the finalization of the club's reserve list. The O's have to determine by Nov. 20 who will be protected in anticipation of the Rule 5 draft in December. That's also why several players were outrighted yesterday and a few more may be today.

The club has told Moeller that it will basically honor the terms of the option that was declined if he later accepts a minor league deal and then makes the major league roster out of spring training. He has the option of accepting a guaranteed roster spot from another team in the meantime, but the Orioles want him back and he is open to coming back if somebody doesn't offer him a more secure situation.

Moeller isn't an impact player, but he bonded well with Wieters last season and seemed to have a positive effect on his development. He's also a terrific guy who is well-liked in the clubhouse, though that's not an important reason to keep him.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (30)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Jeff Zrebiec has already posted stories on the long-expected decision by the Orioles to decline Melvin Mora's option for 2010 and also the choice of former Indians coach Jeff Datz as the new O's bench coach.

The club also declined the $850,000 option on catcher Chad Moeller and outrighted some guys to free up room on the 40-man roster. It's probably still possible that Moeller could be re-signed. Doubt there's any chance that the Orioles will try to bring Melvin back for less.

The only surprise, really, is the selection of a relatively unknown coach to replace Dave Jauss. I think a lot of O's fans were hoping for somebody more familiar, but Datz apparently came well-recommended by some of the people Dave Trembley consulted around the major leagues.

I'm sure he's a fine coach, but I'm pretty sure there are going to be some people who will view Datz as a guy who was chosen because he will not pose an obvious threat to Trembley's job security the way a Bob Melvin or some other former major league manager might. I'm pretty sure that's not the case -- because Dave knows that this is a do-or-die year for him no matter what-- but I'll leave you all to your opinions.

What do you think?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Cliff Lee's performance in Game 1 was so impressive, I'd like to change my World Series prediction to the Phillies in five, but I won't because that would just give me a chance to be wrong twice.

You don't see all that many complete games in the postseason in the era of bullpen specialization, but Lee tamed the Yankees lineup so completely that he'll be very much in their heads when he comes back around in the rotation. Meanwhile, A.J. Burnett has to go to the mound tonight carrying a lot on his eighty-million-dollar shoulder.

If he struggles with his control in the early innings -- and that would appear to be a possibility since he has walked 10 batters in 18 1/3 innings in this postseason -- the Phillies are going to smell blood.

Now that I think about it, I probably doomed the Yankees when I picked them in six before the start of Game 1. I don't think I've guessed an outcome right since I gave the points in the presidential election.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Just baseball
        

...will be over by Thanksgiving -- I promise -- but the Yankees and Phillies might cut it close if this fall continues to be as rain-soaked as it has been the past few weeks. I'm particularly sensitive to that because I've spent the day with a caulk gun filling cracks around the foundation of the house and tearing out a bunch of soggy carpet padding in the basement. Please forgive me, but I'm getting a bit nostalgic for Southern California, where they don't have either rain or basements.

If anyone has any advice in this area, I'm all ears, but I'm going to take a break from proving I'm a Renaissance man to give you my quick take on the World Series, which begins tonight at Yankee Stadium.

First off, if I knew the Yankees were going to play host, I wouldn't have rooted for the American League in the All-Star Game, because I think the home-field advantage probably will be enough to put the pinstriped pariahs over the top. Both teams have star power and both teams can hit the ball out of the park, but the Yankees may be able to neutralize the Phillies' advantage at Citizens Bank Ballpark because they have nine players who can hit a long fly ball -- and you know what happens to long fly balls in Philly.

Yankees in six.

Sorry. I don't like it any more than you do. If the Phillies win and prove me wrong, I'll promise to root for the Eagles a couple of times this year.

Personal note: I'm heading over to Chipotle Grill before the game. I have a friend who won that promotion where you get to bring nine friends for a free meal. I'm guessing not one member of the current Orioles roster shows up, but I feel an obligation to be there.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Just baseball
        

President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and his staff are getting their ducks in order for a very important offseason -- and the team needs to make some significant moves to be more competitive next year -- but the winter landscape seems forbidding.

If you want to read more about that, check out today's column here and let me know whether you think the O's have a real chance to improve with the right offseason trades and free agent acquisitions.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (69)
Categories: Just baseball
        

It's a petty little tempest in a teapot, but I still have to respond to the post-Brooks-bash "controversy" over how many current Orioles showed up at last night's event at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. There were 1,500 people there, including myself, and there were at least a dozen people who were definitely in attendance that I looked for and never saw, so I couldn't say with certainty who was or wasn't there.

Frankly, I think it's terribly disrespectful to Brooks to shift the focus from his great night to some opportunistic Orioles axe-grinding. I didn't see any current O's there, but I didn't see any current Ravens there either (doesn't mean there weren't any, just that I didn't see one), and -- if we're going to get technical about this -- doesn't Brooks transcend baseball as one of the most important sports figures in the history of Baltimore?

Of course he does. That's why Sandy Unitas was the one who convinced him to take part and that's why there were a bunch of former Colts -- Art Donovan, Tom Matte and Bruce Laird, to name a few -- in attendance. So, I guess if you're going to rip the Orioles, who were one of the principle sponsors of the event, you've got to take a shot at the Ravens, too, for not having a particularly visible presence. Except that you don't have to take a shot at anyone, because it wasn't about that, and making it about that distracts attention from what a terrific and touching evening it was.

By the way, to be fair, the place was full of Orioles and MASN employees, so the notion that Brooks was being ignored by the current organization is ridiculous. I'm pretty sure the Ravens were also supportive, but if your priority on Brooks' special night was to take roll of who was and wasn't there, I guess you've got to count everybody. Open question: Were there any current Blast players present?

And one more thing, to compare this to the Elrod Hendricks funeral is just plain wrong. The criticism of the current Orioles roster at the time -- which was represented at the memorial only by Melvin Mora -- was legitimate, because Elrod was a major figure in the Orioles clubhouse and a friend to every one of those guys.

The "Evening with Brooks" was a trip down memory lane for all of the long-time Baltimore fans and sports figures, so I don't know if you can expect the players who don't have any personal or nostalgic link to Brooks to fly across country just to be seen.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (69)
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Just want to say that the "Evening With Brooks" at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall last night was truly special and a lot of congratulations are due -- and not just to the guest of honor.

The setting was terrific, all the speakers struck the right tone, a combination of reverence for Brooks and recognition that he's never been about that kind of thing. Lots of stories. Lots of fun. Lots of love for a guy who has given way more than he has gotten over the course of his life.

The Orioles and Crown Petroleum got together to sponsor the night, which benefitted the Babe Ruth Birthplace/Sports Legens Museum and the American Cancer Society.

Kind of felt sorry for Brooks, who isn't comfortable listening to people say nice things about him. He had to do that for a couple of hours, but at least he had his lovely wife (of almost a half-century) Connie there at his side for the whole night. Then he had to speak, which he always does well.

"This is a lot tougher than my Hall of Fame speech,'' he said.

He proceeded to tell everyone that this event was just an another example of why he made the right decision way back when he first chose the Orioles over the Cincinnati Reds. They were the two teams that offered him a major league contract when he was an all-around high school standout in Little Rock, Ark., in the 1950s. By the way, that wouldn't be the last time he disappointed the Reds.

He was asked at various junctures during the evening for his personal favorite career moment, everyone undoubtedly expecting him to say the 1970 World Series. He had a little bigger one in mind.

"Sometimes I get that question from someone,'' he said at the end of the program. "I've been out of the game for 32 years, and the more I think about it, the thing I'm most proud of is the fact that I played longer with one team than anyone else in baseball, along with Carl Yastrzemski. He played 23 years with the Red Sox and I played part or all of 23 years with the Orioles...Believe me, it has come back tenfold for me."

Of course, Brooks always had things in perspective.

"The biggest highlight of my life was meeting my beautiful wife Connie,'' he said."I met her playing for the Baltimore Orioles. You can't ask for more than that."

It was a great night.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
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It was typical Brooks. He might be the greatest third baseman who ever lived – and certainly one of Baltimore’s most beloved figures – but he had to be all but dragged to the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on Monday night for “An Evening with Brooks” – a night of testimonials for the benefit of the Legends Sports Museum and the American Cancer Society.

“They had to twist my arm for about a month,’’ he said.

Everybody knows the story by now. It took some special arm-twisting by Sandy Unitas to get Brooks to show up. It didn’t take much persuasion at all for anybody else, and just about everyone who is anyone in Baltimore sports was on hand to honor “Mr. Oriole.”

Sportscaster Scott Garceau and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer served as Masters of Ceremonies for an event that was broken up into nine “innings” and featured stars from the entire spectrum of Baltimore sports history as well as some of the Cincinnati Reds players who competed against Brooks during the 1970 World Series which cemented his reputation as the “Human Vacuum Cleaner.”

Maybe you’ve noticed that I haven’t bothered to address Brooks by his full name, but that is no accident. Brooks will suffice in a sports town where he needs no further introduction. If you’re a Baltimore sports fan, you’re more likely to say “Madonna who?” than ask “which Brooks.”

“He was a very special player both on and off the field,’’ said Palmer. “As Davey (Johnson) used to say, ‘He’s just so unassuming.’ That’s Brooksie. That’s what made him so appealing.”

How unassuming? The guy just doesn’t feel comfortable being told what a great player he was and what a great guy he still is, but – in the end – he just couldn’t say no to the opportunity to raise money for the museum and the American Cancer Society, especially after his recent brush with prostate cancer.

“I’ve had enough adulation,’’ Brooks said. “I though that was over. My heart can’t take much more of this. But a lot of people have come a long way to be here…It’s overwhelming, to tell the truth.”

Continue reading "An Evening with Brooks" »

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (54)
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Guess you've got to give it up for the Yankees, who took care of business in Game 6. The Angels did not go down quietly, but a defensive meltdown in the eighth inning stretched a slim Yankees lead, and how much help does Mariano Rivera need, anyway?

Though I certainly would have prefered a coast-to-coast World Series, you can't deny that the upcoming matchup between the Yankees and Phillies is an interesting and attractive one. Both teams have considerable star power and both play the game the way it is supposed to be played.

The Yankees are an impressive (and expensive) group, but if you watch them day in and day out, you have to admit that they are more than just a huge payroll. The thing that has impressed me the most during this postseason is how well they've scouted their opposition, which is reflected in the seemingly perfect positioning of the fielders.

Can't count how many times Mark Teixeira has stolen a hit halfway between first and second base. In the top of the eighth inning tonight, Torii Hunter hit a hard shot right up the middle for what normally would be a hit, but Robinson Cano was playing right over the bag at second. That's great advance scouting and dugout coaching. The Yankees spend a lot of money, but they also develop great talent and they do their homework.

It's hard to root for them -- and I won't in the World Series -- but you have to give them credit.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (71)
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The decision by MLB to postpone tonight's scheduled Game 6 at Yankee Stadium would appear to be to the advantage of the Los Angeles Angels, who would be in a position to bring back ace John Lackey on Monday if they can defeat Andy Pettitte tomorrow night and extend the series.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi has decided to stay with Pettitte in Game 6 instead of going back to C.C. Sabathia, even though the Yankees ace would be back on regular rest. This way, Sabathia gets an extra day after pitching on short rest in Game 4. Lackey would be on short rest if he gets the opportunity to face Sabathia on Monday.

Perhaps a case can be made for moving Sabathia up and trying to avoid giving the Angels a chance to build some more momentum, but it would have been a tough sell when you consider that Pettitte owns a share of the major league record for both series-clinching victories (4) and total postseason victories (15) and could take sole possession of both marks with a victory tomorrow night.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Angels manager Mike Scioscia managed to avoid his Pedro Martinez moment last night. He pulled bulldog starter John Lackey right before the Yankees scored six runs in the seventh inning to wipe away a four-run Angels lead in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

Lackey was livid. You could read his lips when Scioscia came out to get him with two outs and the bases loaded.

"It's my game,'' he said. "Mike, you told me this game was mine."

The Angels hitters had Scioscia's back, rebounding quickly to score three times in the 7-6 victory that forced the ALCS back to New York. The Yankees remain a prohibitive favorite to reach the World Series, but Yogi Berra had a saying about this kind of situation.

Lackey hadn't even calmed down after the victory. Fox's Ken Rosenthal asked him at what point in the game he was able to get past the anger, and he basically said he was still ticked off at his manager.

I think the Yankees will hold on, but it sure would be fun if the Angels took Game 6 and made them sweat through those pinstripes. If the ALCS goes seven, they Haloes would have to beat C.C. Sabathia, who would be back on regular rest after the extra offday Wednesday. Even better, maybe we could get a rainout and have Sabathia and Lackey go head-to-head on Monday.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans, who are headed to the World Series for the second year in a row. It must be nice. The better team definitely will represent the National League in the World Series, though I'll admit I was hoping for either a Dodgers/Yankees matchup or a Freeway Series in Southern California.

No disrespect intended toward the Phillies, but I'm a Southern California native and spent a large chunk of my youth dreaming of a Dodgers/Angels Fall Classic. The Dodgers/Yankees thing was just based on the delicious possibility of Joe Torre making a triumphant return to New York. Didn't happen. Jimmy Rollins took care of that with his dramatic game-winning double in Game 4. Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth did the rest.

Seems like yesterday that Werth was the sappling catcher the Orioles drafted with their first pick in 1997. Pat Gillick thought he was going to be a star and he turned out to be right, though Werth ended up an outfielder and Gillick ended up his GM in Philadelphia instead of Baltimore. Funny how those things work out sometimes.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (30)
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If you haven't already, take a look at today's column about the continuing economic disparity in baseball. I'm not exactly splitting the atom, but it bears repeating that baseball's evolving revenue-sharing system has not succeeded in closing the competitive gap between the big-revenue and small-revenue franchises.

Not that there's much that can really be done about it. I can't see the owners trying to shove another salary cap proposal down the union's throat, especially with overall industry revenues more than triple what they were when ownership tried to implement a salary cap system during the 1994-95 labor disaster.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (36)
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The O's announced earlier today that midwest crosschecker Deron Rombach has left the organization for a similar position working under former Orioles executive Tony DeMacio in the Atlanta Braves organization. DeMacio was just promoted to scouting director by current Braves GM and former Orioles GM Frank Wren.

There will be no search for a replacement for Rombach. The Orioles already have promoted amateur scout Jim Richardson to the position.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Everyone here knows that I am not a big proponent of instant replay in baseball -- heck, I don't really like it that much in the NFL, either -- but if you're going to have umpiring crews that do not work in concert and are not willing to confer and overrule obvious bad calls, then Bud Selig's going to have to do what he did with the weather delays. Change the rules on the fly.

Tim McClelland took his medicine after two horrendous calls in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series last night. He took part in the postgame news conference -- which you can watch here courtesy of MLB.com -- and admitted his mistakes. That's fine. Guys make mistakes. That's part of the human element of the sport, and I don't want to install contact sensors and laser beams all over every stadium to take human judgment out of the game.

But the two calls -- both of which could have been very important to the outcome of the game if the Yankees had not blown out the Angels in the late innings -- might have been corrected in real time if McClelland had been willing to confer with home plate umpire Jerry Layne to make sure he got each of them right.

The most damning aspect of the call in which Nick Swisher was ruled out for leaving third base too soon on a tag-up play is that the replay shows that McClelland was not in great position to see the runner at the time. He clearly was looking out toward left field to see the catch and depending on his peripheral vision to pick up the departure of the baserunner as he backpedaled toward Swisher.

That's what the third base ump has to do to see both ends of the play, but he was late getting into position to be able to get a decent look at both players and may have been fooled by Swisher's shoulder movement before he left the bag. McClelland mildly disputed the validity of the split-screen replay after the game, but it's hard to make that argument when you're head is turned so far away from the runner.

The second play, in which Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano were both caught off third base on a rundown play, was totally obvious on replay and should have been pretty obvious on the field. Again, McClelland can be forgiven for not being able to keep his eyes on both tags and both sets of feet around the base, but Layne should have been able to see the play from home plate. Cano was well to the right of the base when he was tagged, which was visible to all, but Posada was the only guy called out.

Turned out that it didn't have much of an impact on the outcome of the inning or the game, but that's not the point. In the end, the Angels actually got the better end of the two bad calls, but the point is to get all of them right. There should have been an umpire conference on the double tag. It's the postseason.

The replay monitor is already available for the border calls. There's no good reason not to use it on plays like these if the opposing manager requests a review. If you're concerned about slowing down the game, consider that it doesn't take all that much more time for the crew chief to look at a replay than it does to listen to 40 seconds of expletives from an angry manager who knows he got the short end of a bad call.

We all knew when MLB approved limited replay that it would be a slippery slope. Might as well enjoy the slide and get those calls right.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
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First off, I've got to give credit where credit is due. I wouldn't have remembered that today is the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake that killed 63 people in the San Francisco area and delayed the 1989 World Series unless Roch Kubatko had mentioned it yesterday during one of the history classes at the School of Roch.

Frankly, it's not often you get a history lesson over there. I once checked Roch's course catalog and almost every class was listed as Sex Education 101. Just signed up for a new seminar called "Speed Dating at the Arizona Fall League."

Anyway, Roch asked the "Where were you" question and I thought I would answer it here. I was in the upper deck at Candlestick Park when it seemed like the whole world had become the School of Rock. I was a native California guy covering the Fall Classic for the Orange County Register, so I pretty much knew what was going on, but you really couldn't tell how bad the quake was because the upper deck of a stadium like that has some built-in earthquake flexibility.

When it started, my first thought was that it was the vibration from the sellout crowd getting excited about the start of Game 3. It was common at my home stadium -- Anaheim Stadium -- for the fans to intentionally make the upper deck rock by stamping their feet during playoff games. Of course, it quickly became apparent that something way more serious was going on.

My most vivid recollection was climbing up to the concourse to get a look at the San Francisco skyline, and that's when I knew the thing was really bad. In the distance, plumes of smoke were rising all across the horizon. It looked like the city had been bombed. The next few days are a haze, We stayed in the Bay Area for awhile to cover some earthquake-related stories and then headed home to wait for the resumption of the World Series.

Wonder how many Baltimore fans ever considered that if a certain weekend in 1989 had gone better for the "Why Not?" Orioles, it's possible they would have been the team facing the Giants in the "Earthquake World Series."

The other Orioles link for me: Just two weeks later, I got a call from Baltimore Sun assistant sports editor Pete Baker asking me if I was interested in replacing Tim Kurkjian as the beat writer covering the O's. In December, I interviewed with sports editor Marty Kaiser and in early January I decided to move away from the beach in Southern California and settle in the Baltimore area. Truthfully, I never intended to stay this long, but you all had me at hello.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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If you stayed up last night to watch the NLCS opener between the Dodgers and Phillies, you probably had a George Sherrill flashback, and not a good one. Sherrill came on with the Dodgers down by a run, hoping to hold the line to give his team a chance to get at the so-so Phils bullpen.

The Dodgers actually did make a run later in the game, but they fell short because Sherrill delivered a full-pack performance that started with back-to-back walks and exploded with a long home run by Raul Ibanez.

Nit-pickers beware. I'm growing weary of the semantic hair-splitting that sometimes goes on here, and I'll give an example. When I talk about the law of averages, it should be pretty obvious that I'm using it as a cliche to reference the feeling that the pendulum of fate may be ready to change directions.

It's never meant as a real mathematical concept, so let's get over that. The spelling and punctuation stuff also is getting tired. It's a blog, people. I don't have a copy editor and I'm not perfect, so if you're tempted to write in and tell me how you can't believe I could make a mistake like that, I'll take that as a compliment, but I'd like it better if you would -- as Archie Bunker used to say -- stifle yourself.

Still haven't heard from Kevin Cowherd, who has an open invitation to respond to my verbal assault on him in this space yesterday. Come get your whuppin'.

All's still quiet on the bench coach front, and it will continue to be quiet for quite some time, if you take manager Dave Trembley at his word. He said when most of the coaching staff was renewed -- and Dave Jauss wasn't -- that he and Andy MacPhail could ponder that hire well into the offseason. Lots of blog support for B.J. Surhoff, who would be a great choice if he wants to get back into an everyday job this soon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)
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I'm pretty impressed. We really haven't even started a real debate about who should be the next Orioles bench coach and I've already seen some outstanding possibilities discussed here. The one that really jumps out at me is former Orioles catcher Bob Melvin, though I don't know that he would have any interest in coming back unless he doesn't get any better offers.

The trouble with Melvin, if the choice is being made by Dave Trembley, is that he would probably be viewed by many as a manager in waiting, since he has quite a bit of experience in that capacity. Obviously, he would be highly valuable both as a strategist and a guy who could help in the continuing education of catcher Matt Wieters.

I doubt Rick Dempsey is a possibility. He wants to manage, but I think he probably would rather be a broadcaster than an everyday coach. I certainly would consider B.J. Surhoff or Chris Hoiles terrific candidates, but don't know if either one is ready to get back in the game on an everyday basis right now.

So, let the conversation continue.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (51)
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It wasn't the best-kept secret in the world, but the Orioles made it official today that Dave Jauss would not be returning to the coaching staff. Everybody else will return in their current incarnations, which means that Dave Trembley is searching for a new bench coach.

Don't know who that might be, but I think it would be nice to have somebody on the staff with some major league catching background, since the Orioles have no one on the major league staff to oversee the development of Matt Wieters. If nothing else, I think they need to bring back Chad Moeller in the reserve role.

Don't have any hard info on why Jauss was let go, but if I were to guess, I would think it was a staff chemistry thing.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (55)
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Following yesterday's late loss to Carson Palmer and the Cincinnati Bengals, I'm sensing some anxiety from Ravens fans about what the Ravens will be able to do to stop red-hot Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson in Minnesota this week. It's a fair concern, but I wouldn't get all hinky about it.

The Ravens have played very well on the road during the John Harbaugh era and I believe they'll bounce back this weekend. The Vikings are not a super team -- though they are obviously pretty good -- and there won't be a protective halo around Favre. The Ravens will flush him and then it will be a matter of whether they can force him into mistakes.

My take: This will be the week that Brett does what Brett does sometimes, throw two or three damaging picks. It's early in the week, but I'm picking the Ravens to win and I think you'll be surprised at how well the defense handles Peterson and the Minnesota running game in the wake of Cedric Benson's great afternoon yesterday at M&T Bank Stadium. It was a wakeup call and I believe Greg Mattison and the defense will wake up.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (51)
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I'll have to throw a shout out to DJ for pointing out that the terrible foul call on Joe Mauer's ground-rule double last night happened on the 13th anniversary of the Jeffrey Maier incident at Yankee Stadium.

Umpire Phil Cuzzi whiffed on Mauer's soft fly ball, which fell about a foot inside the foul line in left field and bounced out of play. It should have been a leadoff double, and Major League Baseball should extend the replay system to fix something that egregious, but it wouldn't have been challenged because the play wasn't visible from the Twins dugout.

It is rather curious that the Yankees seem to have this kind of thing happen in their favor more than other teams, but it's probably just because they're in the postseason a lot more than any other team. So $200 million buys you a winning team and the occasional bonus call.

Who knows whether the Twins would have scored and won the game. Mauer ended up hitting a single and the Twins loaded the bases with no one out, but failed to score and left a total of 17 runners on base in the game, so it's kind of hard to blame one bad call. It is, however, easy to blame the umpiring crew, since it is expanded in the playoffs to put a guy on the left field line. It wasn't even a tough call.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
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The baseball gods always make you pay for the kind of mistake the Twins made to cost themselves a run in the fourth inning. It looked like they might get away with it when they entered the ninth inning with a two-run lead and brought on Joe Nathan to nail down the win, but they hadn't paid the gift tax yet.

Nathan, who came into the game with 47 saves and a 2.10 ERA, grooved a fastball to Mark Teixeira for a leadoff single, then fell behind 3-0 on the count to Alex Rodriguez. That was the moment when the TBS broadcast crew came up with the statistic that Nathan had not allowed a home run with a runner or runners on base all year, and anyone who has heard Gary Thorne throw out a "never" stat like that knows what happened next.

Nathan got the first strike, but served up another straight fastball to ARod and he launched it over the center field fence to tie the game. If that wasn't bad enough, Nathan came back in the 10th to wing a pickoff throw into center field to put the winning run at third base with one out, but the Yankees made a baserunning mistake to help the Twins out of the inning.

Now, let's see if they pay the gift tax.

Instant update: Apparently not. The Yankees seem to have the baseball gods at their feet. Joe Mauer bounced a ball into the stands to lead off the 11th and umpire Phil Cuzzi called it foul, even though it was at least a foot fair and shouldn't have been that tough to see for one of the outfield umpires who is supposed to be out there for just that type of play. The Twins still managed to load the bases with nobody out and not score, running their LOB total to 17. You know what happened next.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
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Last night, it was Matt Holliday muffing a relatively routine line drive to left field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. If he catches the ball, the NL Divisional Series between the Dodgers and Cardinals would be even going back to St. Louis. Instead, the Dodgers are in control and need to win just one of the next three games to advance to the National League Championship Series.

Tonight, Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez just made a huge baserunning error that cost his club both the final out of the fourth inning and a run that was about to cross the plate. Delmon Young was streaking home on a two-out single by Matt Tolbert when Gomez rounded second and fell down. That might have been forgiveable, but he tried to get up and return to second base, where he was tagged before Young crossed the plate.

It was a unusual sequence of events, but Gomez has to know that in that situation, he should be trying to continue on to third to protect the lead runner. The TBS broadcast crew criticized Gomez for even rounding the bag, but give center fielder Melke Cabrera credit for making a heads-up play and a perfect throw behind him.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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The conventional wisdom going into tonight's Division Series opener between the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees is that the Twins are both undermanned for this matchup and emotionally drained from last night's 12-inning playoff marathon against the Detroit Tigers.

It's hard to argue with that. The Twins left everything on the field at the Metrodome, then left more out there in the postgame celebration, then had to fly to New York to open a best-of-five series against C.C. Sabathia after using much of their pitching staff to complete their terrific September comeback and win the AL Central title.

That said, don't discount the pressure that is on this Yankees team to get back to the World Series after years of $200 million near-misses. If the Twins can somehow find a way to split the first two games in New York -- which admittedly looks like a longshot -- they could make things very interesting at the Metrodome.

If you're a Yankees hater, you can only hope.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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If you came here through the Baltimore Sun Web site, you may have checked out Jeff Zrebiec's final grade report for the 2009 Orioles by now, but you can take a look at it right here if you haven't already.

I thought Jeff took it easy on Adam Eaton -- I would have given him a G or an H -- but I'll stand with my beat guy on the rest of his individual evaluations and give you all a chance to chime in with your opinions and letter grades.

I'm particularly interested in what grade you would give Brian Roberts, since opinions have been so mixed about him throughout the season. There were some posters here at midseason who were regretting the club's decision to re-sign him longterm, but he ended up setting a major league record for doubles by a switch hitter and bounced back from some physical issues early on to remind everyone that he is the guy who makes the O's offense go.

Bring it on.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (62)
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Okay, I know the Orioles offseason began yesterday, but I was on a plane back from Providence and I was so happy that it wasn't struck by lightning and nobody smashed my fingers in a luggage bin that I took the rest of the day off.

Also, it just won't feel like the offseason until the AL Central race is decided later tonight.

So, where do we go from here. The Orioles already have made their managerial decision, so all that's left for October are a possible coaching change or two. There has been some speculation that Dave Jauss will be replaced as the bench coach, but I doubt anything will happen until Andy MacPhail gets back from vacation next week.

I'm sure there are some people here who think that Juan Samuel should be on the chopping block, too, but I don't see him leaving unless he's offered something better elsewhere. He could, however, end up moving onto the bench beside manager Dave Trembley and being replaced at third base by a new face on the coaching staff. Just a hunch.

The Orioles had some interesting adventures on the bases which put Samuel in a negative spotlight this year, but my sense is that he's well-respected inside the organization because he's a no-nonsense guy who isn't afraid to tell it like it is in the clubhouse or during a coaches meeting.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
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The Ravens continue to be their own worst enemies in this game. They had the Patriots stopped on their second drive of the game, but Haloti Ngata clubbed Tom Brady in the head as he let go of the ball on a third-and-long in Ravens territory, keeping the drive alive.

It was the kind of mistake that makes coach John Harbaugh lie awake at night, but it was a heat-of-the-moment situation rather than a bonehead play.

What I'd like to know is what Ray Lewis was doing after the Patriots got that first down at the 1-yard line at the end of the first quarter. He made the stop to keep Sammy Morris out of the end zone and rushed out of the pile to celebrate the tackle, even though the Ravens failed to keep the Pats from getting the first down. The only thing I can figure is that he had a brain cramp and thought it was fourth and goal.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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The Ravens opened the game in a no-huddle offense and Joe Flacco just drove them 81 yards for a touchdown -- teaming with Derrick Mason on a terrific 20-yard TD pass and catch with 8:01 left in the first quarter.

The bad news: Mason landed very hard on his upper back and was down for a long time in the end zone. He left the field under his own power, but it looks like he may have injured the left shoulder that was repaired during the offseason. It would be a tremendous loss if he cannot continue, but don't count him out. He played with that painful shoulder separation all last season.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The Orioles are ending the 2009 season on a tiny upswing, their three-game winning streak averting a 100-loss season and allowing Dave Trembley the opportunity to enjoy his contract renewal out from underneath their long September losing streak.

Can't remember the last time I was this eager to get a season over with, and I'm guessing I'm not alone. The past month, in particular, has forced everyone to consider the possibility that the current rebuilding program is not quite as far along as some had hoped, though Andy MacPhail will doubtless be burning the midnight oil in October looking for ways to speed things up and position the O's for a more respectable 2010. Godspeed.

Somebody called me out today for writing a column wondering just how we should interpret the decision to rehire Trembley. No disrespect to Dave was intended, and I'm sure it didn't diminish his ability to enjoy at least one more year of job security, but I think it's fair to ask about the team's intentions going into next season.

Inquiring Schmucks want to know. Do you think MacPhail will be able to make enough offseason progress for the Orioles to be competitive next year? To define our terms, I'll set the bar for competitiveness rather low, at a 15-game improvement over this season.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (68)
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If you recall, there was a school of thought – related here – that the decision to retain Dave Trembley was made before Andy MacPhail traded away closer George Sherrill and cleanup hitter Aubrey Huff. I don’t know if that was actually the case, but it was logical in the wake of earlier statements by MacPhail that Trembley’s future would depend, at least to some degree, on the performance of the team during the final weeks of the season.

The rationale: MacPhail is a fair man and it would not have been fair to put the carrot and stick in front of Trembley at the start of the season and then pull the rug out from under him in the second half.

This decision certainly has disappointed a lot of fans and message board people, who have been hoping for a new manager for months. Now, they’ll have to wait and see what transpires over the offseason and lay in wait for Trembley when the 2010 season starts next April.

This is not exactly a high-risk play by the Orioles. If they don’t show any progress early next season, it’s not like Dave is signed to a rich multi-year deal. He’s a reasonable priced manager who now has another year of security. If the O’s decide to make a change in-season next year, it’s not like it’s going to break the bank.

Personally, I approve of this move (as you all know) because I believe in stability and I don’t believe that Trembley was even remotely to blame for the team’s dismal performance.

That said, I would like to see a more relaxed Trembley next season and a more authoritative one. That may sound like a contradiction in terms, but the Orioles have sent a message to these players that the manager is the manager and the onus is on them. Now, Trembley needs to manage like he’s their boss instead of their uncle.

He doesn’t have to tell the players in advance exactly when they are going to play and force his own hand with a pre-ordained lineup. He has to get tough with anyone who lets up or loses focus. The fan-board complaints about the team’s lack of intensity and fundamentals during the first half was legit. Things improved after the All-Star break, but he needs to make sure they improve some more next spring.

I also think he needs to go with the flow of the game a little more, but that’s just an opinion. I’m not so presumptuous as to think I know more than he does about game strategy. He just seems a little too predictable at times.

In other words, the Orioles didn’t need a new manager, but they could use a new and improved Dave Trembley.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (138)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Everybody has been waiting a long time for the Orioles to play some meaningful games at the end of the season, which reminds me of an old saying: Be careful what you wish for.

The Orioles are 1-0 in October and the games this weekend at Camden Yards are very meaningful, though I don't think anybody was looking for this kind of meaning. The O's have to win two of three during Fan Appreciation Weekend to avoid the third 100-loss season in team history. Kind of makes you want to throw away all your Ravens stuff and rush right over to Oriole Park.

Well, at least the losing streak is over. The 13-game skid was the longest for the Orioles since they opened the 1988 season with a record 21-straight defeats. I guess that means next year will be another "Why Not?" season, though I think there are a few posters here who will be happy to tell you why not.

Attendance update: The Orioles will need to draw just over 100,000 this weekend to equal last year's season total of 1,950,075, but there's a catch. The 2008 O's ran up that total in just 78 dates, so even if the prospect of all those Fan Appreciation prize packages brings in three big crowds to match 2008, the average attendance this year would still be about 1,000 per game lower than last year.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (31)
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Things are starting to heat up around here, with Dave Trembley's status likely to be determined in the next four or five days. The wolves are out and some of them want me on a slow boat to China along with poor old Dave.

That's fine. Everybody's got an opinion here and I'm glad that there is enough passion left in Birdland to care who's going to be the manager next year, but I'm troubled by a segment of the posting population here that doesn't think anybody else has a right to an opposing opinion.

The thing that makes a blog worth reading is the exchange of ideas. The fact that I'm not on the Blame Dave Bandwagon is a reflection of my opinion of how a manager affects a team and what really constitutes progressive change in a baseball organization. Obviously, you can make a compelling argument for a new manager, but I choose to view the situation a little bit differently.

I'm sorry if that offends some of the most strident Dave-haters, but I'm a little tired of the posters who have so little confidence in their own opinions that they choose to question the integrity of anyone who disagrees with them. And, though I welcome almost all comments and recognize that a blog is a fairly anonymous community, I'd like to compliment those posters -- particularly the ones who are hitting me the hardest -- who do it with some kind of consistent identity.

Oh, and one other thing. There's a poster here who actually believes that I put up two entries about Michael Vick to divert attention away from the Orioles' abysmal September to protect Peter Angelos and the front office. To that person, I just want to assure you that isn't the case and, while we're on the subject of conspiracy theories, I was not old enough to be one of the guys behind the grassy knoll in Dallas.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (126)
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I’m headed out to Los Angeles today to attend to some personal business and to escape the torch-bearing mob that almost certainly would have been waiting for me in Baltimore now that I’ve come out in favor of retaining Dave Trembley.

So, if you’re looking for me – and I mean you, Bob – you’ll have to fly west and guess which In-And-Out Burger location I’ll be frequenting over the next couple of days.

From California, I’ll be headed to New England this weekend for the big game between the Ravens and Patriots, so I won’t be back until the Orioles season is over. And it won’t be long after that before we know for sure whether the O’s will pick up Dave’s contract option.

Today’s WBAL plug: Former Ravens receiver Qadry Ismael will be filling in for me tonight at six on Sportsline (WBAL 1090AM), and you can stick around for “Ravens Report” with Qadry and Jerry Sandusky at seven. Greg Bianco will take my place tomorrow night. I’ll be back on my regular radio schedule on Tuesday.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (58)
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One of the callers last night on Sportsline (WBAL 1090) asked a fairly simple question that probably does not have a simple answer. He wanted to know why the Orioles have finished so many seasons the way they are finishing this one.

The simple answer is, of course, that they have been a terribly flawed franchise for a long time, but I think my radio buddy was looking for something a little more specific than that, and I tried to provide the best answer I could, though there really isn’t one common theme in all that late-season failure.

I think if you go back to the early part of this decade, you could make the case that the Orioles handicapped their player development system so severely when they were signing all those free agents in the 1990s that there just wasn’t enough organizational depth to weather a 162-game schedule. Once the quality players started getting hurt – as they do on every team – the O’s were stuck replacing them with mediocre minor league talent.

There also were other systemic issues that led to some bad scouting decisions and some wasted draft choices, as well as a number of ill-advised free agent acquisitions that clogged up the roster and further inhibited player development.

But that doesn’t explain what is happening right now. The Orioles really have made great progress in player development, but they again ran way short on talent at the end of this season, and it wasn’t like they were rolling in it to begin with.

That’s why I’ve continually referred to 2009 as a “transitional” season. This O’s team does have some high-quality young players who have come up to the major leagues and delivered on their promise, and there are some more to come, but they are still developing and they’ve been pushed to a high level of on-field responsibility on a team that doesn’t have the veteran framework to support them.

Which brings us back to the simple answer that this is a really bad team right now, though not necessarily for the same reasons that it has been a bad late-season team in the past. I doubt that’s much consolation, but this team does have some upside, especially if Andy MacPhail can fix the bullpen and come up with a quality run-producer for the middle of the lineup.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (78)
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The Orioles now own the longest losing streak in the major leagues after their 12th straight defeat tonight, though I don't know if congratulations are in order. This is starting to look a lot like that 4-32 collapse during the Mike Hargrove era.

You know it's really bad when you're headed into Week 4 of the NFL season and the Ravens have won more games than the Orioles since their September 13 opener, but I guess you knew it was really bad long before that. Now, it's just a matter of figuring out who is going to be around for 2010.

Which brings us to an advance plug. Look for dueling columns by Kevin Cowherd and me tomorrow morning on the subject of Dave Trembley's future. Kevin and I also debated the issue in a video that will be posted in the same Web package. You can also check that out below to find out which side of the argument I took, but I'll give you a hint. It wasn't an easy case to make.

Where's Waldo dept. For those of you who were following my infrequent posts from Israel, I'll be headed in the opposite direction tomorrow. I have to go out to California for a couple of days before joining our football staff in Foxborough, Mass., for the Ravens/Patriots game on Sunday. I'll try to find some exotic animal to sit on and post the photo on the blog.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)
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It seems like every Orioles loss brings a new appreciation for the size of the job facing Andy MacPhail during the offseason -- and there's obviously way more to it than finding an impact guy for the middle of the lineup and one of the corners of the infield.

No matter who's swinging the bat, there will be little hope for solid improvement if the Orioles go into spring training with the same group of relievers that has floundered so dramatically in the second half of this season.

When MacPhail talked about the club suffering a little more "short-term" pain after George Sherrill was dealt to the Dodgers, it seemed to make sense, Now, with Jim Johnson's status as a dependable closer very much in doubt, the makeup of the entire 2010 relief corps seems problematic. We all knew the club was going to miss Sherrill, but we -- and maybe even Andy -- didn't know how much.

Johnson (far right) and Chris Ray probably will compete for the closer role next spring, but their uneven second-half performances have created the need for an additional last-inning option. There were some brief moments when Kam Mickolio looked like he might have the right stuff for the role, but we're talking about an area where you need some sense of stability. Might have to go outside the organization for that.

Maybe Mark Hendrickson sticks around as an all-purpose left-hander and Cla Meredith stays in the mix, but the Orioles are going to have to bring in or develop one more dependable middle guy. I suppose that could be Jason Berken, but I'm not going to be too confident if the O's come back in the spring with most of the usual suspects.

So, I'll throw it out there. Who would shore up this bullpen? And who should be on the next bus out of town?

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (99)
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It's hard to hide from the fact that I have said over and over in this space that there was no way the Orioles would lose 100 games this year...and I believed that because it's really, really hard to do. Now, I'll be surprised if they can rebound during the final week of the season to win three of seven games and avoid slipping below the standings equivalent of the Mendoza line.

The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the few teams that has found plenty of ways to lose to the O's this year, but I'm guessing they'll figure things out over the next four games. My crystal ball says the Orioles win one of the four games at Tropicana Field, which means they will have to win two of three against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards this weekend to stop at 99 losses.

What does it all mean? Not much from a nuts-and-bolts perspective. The season has been a total bust from a win/loss perspective and that wouldn't change if the O's won all of their remaining games. That 100th defeat might come with some negative psychological implications, since it's like a big neon sign that tells free agents to steer clear of a doormat franchise, but it really shouldn't change the way anybody looks at the team headed into next season.

The Orioles still have the same reasons to be optimistic about a more competitive 2010, and the same reasons to wonder if they will ever get off the floor in the American League East. They've reached the point where they're probably better off long-term if they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the No. 2 pick in next year's draft, but who really wants to go there? That is the consolation prize of a truly desperate situation.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (74)
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That's not a reference to my recent camel experience. It's just to let you know that I have returned from my nine-day sojourn to the Middle East and am ready to resume my regular duties here.

It has not been lost on me that the Orioles did not win a single game while I was away, which is just more evidence of my intangible positive influence on the ballclub. When I left, they were only 33 1/2 games out of first place in the American League East. Now, they're 39 1/2 games out.

Coincidence?

Apparently, my absense had the same effect on the Maryland football team, though I can't see any connection there.

Oh, and since I'm still too jet-lagged to give you any real insight into the Orioles and their most recent descent into oblivion, I've included another photograph from my exhaustive (and somewhat exhausting) tour of Israel. This is me standing above on the Valley of Armageddon, which -- according to the Book of Revelations -- will be the site of the final battle between the forces of good and evil.

Of course, no attempt is being made here to draw a parallel between that apocalyptic theological outlook and anything happening in the sports world, but I'm sure there are a few cynical posters out there who will give it a try.

Later that day, we visited the Dead Sea, which -- at 1,378 feet below sea level -- is reputed to be the lowest place on the face of the earth. And all this time you thought that was Oriole Park.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
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I don't have to tell anybody here that it's been a long season, but I can think of a few things that might illustrate the point:

The 2009 season has been so long that Felix Pie has had time to go from being the most unpopular position player on the team to being the reason some people think the Orioles should move Rookie of the Year candidate Nolan Reimold to first base.

The 2009 season has been so long that Mark Hendrickson started the season as the embodiment of everything that supposedly was wrong with Andy MacPhail's winter strategy, but has had time to evolve into a valuable enough situational reliever to make a case for a new contract.

The 2009 season has been so long that the Orioles recent hired a shaving coach for Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman.

Okay, now it's your turn...

Radio tonight: Join me at six for Sportsline on WBAL (1090 AM). It will be my last show for awhile, because I'm going to be on vacation next week. If you're outside of signal range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (112)
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The Bowie Baysox have announced they will continue an annual Halloween tradition by transforming Prince Georges Stadium into a house of horrors on Friday and Saturday nights in October. It will be the eighth year that 30 live actors turn the ballpark into "Glenn Dale Asylum" and terrorize visitors during a 20-minute tour/show. Admission if $15.

Frankly, I don't know what the big deal is. The Orioles have been scaring people to death at Camden Yards for the past 12 years, but generally take a break in October.

Okay, that joke was hanging there like a Daniel Cabrera curveball in a tight situation, but I just couldn't resist.

Tickets for the "Asylum" cost $15 and are available at www.baysox.com.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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There was some talk in the press box during the rain delay that Jim Johnson had thrown quite a bit in the bullpen in anticipation of pitching the ninth inning, but he warmed up again and entered the game in the top of the ninth to give up a game-tying home run to Ben Zobrist.

No big deal. The blown save turned into his fourth victory of the year when Matt Wieters slammed a two-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game, and everybody who has been concerned about Wieters soft home run total can stand down.

When young players get to the major leagues, power generally is the last thing to blossom. Nolan Reimold is an exception (as was Evan Longoria last year), but Reimold spent a lot more time in the minor leagues developing his power stroke. Wieters will hit his share of home runs. Don't worry about that.

What I'm really impressed with right now is the way Wieters is throwing the ball. He gunned down Carl Crawford twice tonight -- something that has only happened one other time in Crawford's career. Obviously, Wieters was rushing early in the season and his mechanics were out of whack. Now, he looks very relaxed and he's putting the ball in the right place with a lot on it.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)
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This is my second game back in the press box after a 10-week absense and I'm starting to realize how much important media interaction I've missed since tearing my right Achillies tendon and undergoing surgery to reattach it.

Tonight, the big issue in the early innings was whether Roch Kubatko and Jeff Zrebiec would join the rest of the regular writers and grow a goatee in time for us to have an All-Beard team photo on the last home date of the regular season. Roch is game, but Jeff apparently feels that he would be doing the women of the world a disservice to cover even a small part of his face.

Now, things are getting a little more serious. We're arguing over who should be the Orioles MVP. The Brian Roberts supporters are -- for the moment -- being shouted down by the Nick Markakis supporters, but I believe Roberts will emerge on top when the actual ballots are counted in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, Chris Tillman is done, though not in any negative way. He gave up four hits over 6 2/3 innings and just left the game with one out and runners at first and third.

Crawford caught twice: Matt Wieters has thrown out speedy Carl Crawford twice trying to steal second base tonight. It's only the second time in Crawford's career he has been caught more than once in a game. Rangers catcher Gerald Laird caught him twice on April 10, 2007.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Nolan Reimold claims that a final decision has not been made on surgery for his sore Achilles tendon, but he's giving every indication that he'll undergo a procedure immediately after the season that will smooth over a spot on his heel bone that has caused the tendon to fray. He said today that the recovery time has been estimated at 3-4 months, which would mean he'll have about a month of wiggle room before spring training.

Manager Dave Trembley cited Reimold's sore ankle as the reason he was not brought on to pinch hit in last night's game, and the reason why Reimold is not in the lineup for tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

"I was not going to play Reimold yesterday, out of respect for him,'' Trembley said. "He was sore. He played a lot of games in a row. I told him I would not call on him unless it was an extreme emergency."

Reimold will be available to pitch hit.

"He said he feels a whole lot better,'' Trembley added. "He could play. The lineup has more to do with Reimold than that lineup being successful last night."

Rays lineup

Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Evan Longoria 3B
Ben Zobrist RF
Pat BUrrell DH
Willy Aybar 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Gregg Zaun C
Akinori Iwamura 2B

Andy Sonnanstine RHP

Orioles lineup

Felix Pie CF
Cesar Izturis SS
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Melvin Mora 3B
Luke Scott DH
Matt Wieters C
Ty Wigginton 1B
Jeff Fiorentino LF

Chris Tillman RHP

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Manager Dave Trembley said the other day that Chris Tillman has a few starts left this season, but I wouldn't bet on that. I'm betting that if Tillman has a performance tonight like Brian Matusz had in his last start against the Yankees, the Orioles will call a halt to his first major league season.

Nobody told me that, but it just seems logical and it would be consistent with Trembley's original indication at the start of September that Tillman (and Matusz) would make two or three more starts.

If I were Trembley, I would want to keep him in the rotation as long as possible to maintain some semblance of competitiveness during the final weeks of the season, but Dave is a true believer. He really would put the future of the kid in front of his own chance to get his contract option picked up.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (30)
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Congratulations to Brian Roberts for breaking his own Orioles record for doubles in a single season. Brian is among a very elite group of players who have ever had three 50-double seasons, and he clearly is one of the best doubles hitters in the sport, but he'll have to grind out several more big seasons like this to make a real dent in the all-time career list.

Brian has 314 career doubles, which ties him for 347th on the all-time list. He's 31 years old, so he's got a significant chunk of his career ahead of him, but he'd have to average 40 doubles a season through his 40th birthday to crack the top five. Not out of the question if he stays healthy and motivated.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Maybe I didn't make my self real clear in my last post about the 2010 schedule. I wasn't saying it is any easier than this year's, just front-loaded with fewer games against the three or four truly elite teams in the American League. Don't know if that makes any difference, since the Orioles won 6 of their first 9 against the Yankees, Rays and Rangers this year anyway.

The first quarter of the 2010 season just looks less daunting to me, but it won't make any difference if the Orioles aren't a significantly better team than they were in 2009. Certainly, you would suspect that starting the season with a core of Guthrie, Matusz, Tillman, Bergesen and maybe a solid acquisition or Arietta, the Orioles would be in better position to be competitive than they were with Eaton, Hendrickson and Alfredo Simon in the rotation.

Of course, I'm probably whistling through the graveyard, but if you can't look forward to the next season and see the possibility of something good happening, then I think you would be better served to take up butterfly collecting or something.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Am I the only one who thinks the Orioles' 2010 schedule is front-loaded with a lot more soft teams this year. I'm comparing this year's April and May schedule with next year's and I'm starting to think the O's could get off to a pretty decent start if the young pitchers are for real.

This year, the O's opened against the Yankees and played almost all contending teams through the first quarter of the season. Next year, there's a string of 12 straight games against the Yankees and Red Sox in late April and early May, but the first two months are packed with the lesser Al West and Central opponents.

Guess you never know how tough the schedule is until you see how good those teams will be, but the early season outlook looks a little more promising.

Tonight's radio plug: Tune in at seven for Sportsline tonight, immediately following the John Harbaugh Show on WBAL (1090 AM). Jamison Hensley will join me as we look back on Sunday's game between the Ravens and Chiefs and look ahead to the upcoming road matchup against the San Diego Chargers. If you're out of signal range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

All Schmuck all the time: I take a look at the Chargers in my column for tomorrow's print edition, but you can read it right now right here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (48)
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Dave Trembley didn't have all that much to say after the game, other than to point out the obvious -- that David Hernandez did not pitch very well.

"I didn't think Hernandez was very aggressive with all his pitches,'' Trembley said. "This is the second outing in a row where he looked like he struggled with his command."

When Trembley was asked if he thought the innings were starting to pile up on the rookie pitcher, he pretty much dismissed the notion that September fatigue might be an issue -- even though the Orioles have been more sensitive about that with some of the other prospects.

"He told me it's not,'' Trembley said.

Somebody asked Trembley if he gave Brian Bass an abrupt hook because of Bass's panicky throw into left field in the fifth inning or because he wasn't pitching well.

"Both,'' Trembley said curtly. "Both."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (65)
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There was some question today whether Brian Matusz could stay in the major leagues for the rest of the season and retain his rookie status for next season. The rules state that to be a rookie, a player must have fewer than 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days of major league service time.

Matusz will finish the season with 46 1/3 inning, but will have more than 45 days of major league service time by the time the regular season comes to an end. But Matusz will retain his Rookie of the Year eligibility for 2010 because -- for the purposes of determining who is a rookie -- only days spent in the major leagues during the time of the 25-man roster limit count. Matusz came up on Aug. 4, so he had only 27 days of major league service before the roster limit expanded to 40.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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The Tampa Bay Rays arrived in town in a tremendous funk. They've lost 11 straight games in a slump that has erudite manager Joe Maddon quoting Winston Churchill to put the thing in proper perspective.

"When you're going through hell,'' he said before tonight's game, "keep going."

The Rays responded by opening up with a run off David Hernandez in the first tonight, but the Orioles pinned a four-spot on Tampa starter David Price in the bottom of the inning, which had to have Maddon searching his memory bank for some other British wisdom.

How about this from 19th century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli: "There is no education like adversity."

That would probably apply to both teams right now. The Rays quickly responded with three more runs off Hernandez in the top of the second inning and took the lead on a fourth-inning homer by B.J. Upton.

Which, for some reason, reminds me of a quote from American humorist/philosopher Mark Twain: "By trying, we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man's, I mean."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
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During his pre-game news briefing, manager Dave Trembley endorsed the organizational decision to shut down rookie Brian Matusz and explained the drill for the next three weeks.

"He won't do any more throwing,'' Trembley said. "He'll stay with the club. There are some things (Rick) Kranitz will want to work on with him.

"It's the right thing to do for Matusz and the right thing for the Baltimore Orioles. He's a big part of our future and he had a tremendous season. We're all real proud of him. I think he has shown not only the ability to pitch at the major league level. He has a real knack for poise."

Trembley designated Mark Hendrickson to assume Matusz's place in the starting rotation, though his next start will likely be a by-committee kind of thing.

"We just feel comfortable with Hendrickson,'' he said. "That doesn't mean when he goes out there he'll throw 90 pitches."

Then came the obvious next question about the rotation: What about Chris Tillman?

"Tillman's got a few more starts,'' Trembley said. "He'll let us know where he's at."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has told rookie starter Brian Matusz that he's done for the year, but Matusz will stay with the major league club for the remainder of the schedule.

Matusz wanted to continue, but he accepted the club's decision without complaint.

"It was never in the plan for me to be here this year,'' he said. "I'm really proud that I went out and didn't give them any choice but to bring me up. I really learned a lot and am proud of my progress."

"I told Andy it couldn't have worked out any better. I got to end on a good note and finished the year healthy. Now, I get to spend the last three weeks of the yaer watching like like David Price of the Rays and try to learn something."

Here's today's Orioles lineup::

Brian Roberts 2B
Cesar Izturis SS
Nick Markakis RF
Nolan Reimold LF
Melvin Mora 3B
Matt Wieters C
Luke Scott DH
Ty Wigginton 1B
Jeff Fiorentino CF

David Hernandez RHP

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Don't know for sure whether the Orioles will give rookie Brian Matusz another start, but I'm guessing he just completed his first professional season on a very high note. That's what Orioles officials were looking for when he took the mound today, and he just gave up four hits over seven innings and finished strong by striking out Derek Jeter with his 106th pitch.

Jeter's expression after that strikeout said it all. He stood at home plate taking off his batting gloves and watching Matusz walk back to the dugout. It was a look that clearly said "I'm impressed." So were the rest of us.

Matusz -- at left in a photo from today's game -- would do well to sit down now and spend the offseason knowing that he can compete with the best in baseball. The last thing he will remember is scoring a resounding victory over the Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium. Can't top that.

He has pitched 157 2/3 innings combined between the minor leagues and the O's rotation. That's more than enough for a first professional season. And, if the Orioles shut Matusz down right now, he'll retain his rookie status for next year.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (78)
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Take a look at Jeff Zrebiec's story from earlier today in which Andy MacPhail says that he does not intend to trade any of the club's core prospects this winter, but feels he can get a significant bat without dipping that deep into the organizational talent pool. You can read the article right here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (42)
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The O's batted around in the sixth inning and have increased their lead to 10-4 in the seventh, delivering a series of clutch hits and productive outs to make the most of a couple of big opportunities. Haven't seen enough of that this year, but O's fans will take a big offensive performance against the Yankees any way they can get it. If they hold on, it would be only their second road win against the Yankees or Red Sox since last July.

Not much else good news tonight, however. The club has shut down Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara for the remainder of the season after his elbow soreness persisted and also will not be sending Kam Mickolio back to the mound in 2009. If that wasn't enough disappointing injury news, Melvin Mora had to leave the game after being hit on the elbow, and Felix Pie has been removed with an injury.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Chris Tillman struck out Derek Jeter in the first inning tonight, but Jeter was not going to be denied. He came up again in the bottom of the second and sliced a hard shot past Luke Scott at first base for this 2,722 career hit -- passing Lou Gehrig to move to the top of the Yankees' all-time hit list.

The crowd gave him a long ovation and his teammates came onto the field to congratulate him individually. It was a nice moment for a classy player who is headed for the Hall of Fame. Tillman tried to avoid it, but he now has a small place in Yankees history. He can only hope that someday, he'll be remembered for a lot more than that.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
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There are two reasons why tonight's start by Orioles rookie Chris Tillman might be significant, the most obvious being the possibility that he'll go into the Yankees record book by giving up the historic hit that will push Derek Jeter past Lou Gehrig and put him on top of the Yankees career hit list.

Tillman's performance tonight at Yankee Stadium -- which has been delayed by rain -- also may determine whether he will be eligible to compete for the American League Rookie of the Year Award next season. If he pitches 3 2/3 innings, he'll reach 50 innings this season, which is the limit for retaining rookie status going into 2010.

Poster Chris W brought up the subject of ROY eligibility earlier today, so thanks for that reminder because I (and some other posters) would not have thought to check on that. Brian Matusz also remains eligible for the moment, since he has pitched only 37 2/3 innings, and probably won't reach 50 innings before the team shuts him down.

If Tillman comes up short tonight -- or his outing is interrupted early by the showers that are delaying the start of the series opener -- then his rookie eligibility will come down to whether he gets one more start. Andy MacPhail announced on Sept. 1 that both of the club's top pitching prospects would only make two or three more starts each before the team put their arms on ice until next spring.

Koji update: The Orioles have decided to shut down Koji Uehara because of continued elbow soreness. Check out Jeff Zrebiec's story about that here. MASN's Gary Thorne just said on the broadcast that Kam Mickolio also will be shut down for the remainder of the season.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
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The Orioles public relations department has sent out a release making a case for outfielder Nolan Reimold to be the American League Rookie of the Year, based on the fact that he leads all AL rookies in batting average (.274), home runs (14), on-base percentage (.364) and slugging percentage (.461). Not bad for a guy who didn't make the Opening Day roster.

The club makes the case that over the last 25 years, only four American League players have led their rookie class in four of the five major offensive stats (RBI is the only category Reimold doesn't lead), and all four of them -- Tim Salmon, Nomar Garciaparra, Ben Grieve and Evan Longoria -- won the Rookie of the Year Award.

Trouble is, none of Reimold's actual numbers are going to jump out at voters, who probably will bypass Reimold and White Sox rookie Gordon Beckham in favor of one of the three rookie pitchers who are likely to end up with 14 or 15 wins. Tampa Bay starter Jeff Niemann, who is 12-5 with a 3.57 ERA and still figures to get four or five more starts, would likely win the award if the voting took place today, but Ricky Romero and Rick Porcello also have 12 wins and a chance to improve on that.

The selection already has taken place for the Orioles' top minor league awards. Brian Matusz has been named Minor League Pitcher of the Year and Brandon Waring has been named Minor League Player of the Year. You can read the particulars in Dan Connolly's story right here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (47)
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As if the Orioles need any more good news, reliever Kam Mickolio is returning to Baltimore to have his sore arm examined by orthopedic specialist Dr. John Wilckens. Mickolio has been experiencing some tenderness in his right bicep, but team officials expect him to rejoin the club in New York for the weekend.

Here's a hunch. Mickolio will be shut down for precautionary reasons and won't pitch again this season. I mean, what's the point?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (40)
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...you need to know about the competitive divide between the Red Sox and the Orioles. The Red Sox just brought in a guy to pinch hit who would be leading the Orioles in RBI.

Of course, Victor Martinez hit a three-run double to increase his RBI total to 95 and blow up a game the Orioles had a chance to win before Dave Trembley started playing his nightly game of reliever roulette.

Maybe he doesn't have any other choice, but playing matchup against the Red Sox in the sixth and seventh innings with this bullpen is like staging Riverdance in a minefield. Eventually, somebody's going to step on something bad.

Trust me, I understand the concept of the situational lefty, but it doesn't mean a whole lot when Alberto Castillo and Mark Hendrickson both look sharp, only to throw to one batter each before giving way to a hit-or-miss right-hander. It wasn't hard to see where this game was headed.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (51)
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Gary Thorne interviewed Nick Markakis on the MASN pregame show tonight and got his take on his increasing leadership role on this young Orioles team. Though Nick is not an enthusiastic talker, I was impressed with the way he articulated his desire to help in the development of the growing number of first and second-year players on the roster.

He's not going to be a big rah-rah guy in the dugout, but does lead by example with his patient approach at the plate and his work ethic off the field. Clearly, he gets the fact that he is a cornerstone player and that a lot of things come along with his big contract and growing stature in the organization.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (37)
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We all know that it isn't going to get any easier for the Orioles over the final weeks of the season -- with the possibility exception of that Cleveland series -- but I'm still intrigued by the up-and-down performance of Jason Berken (left). He has rebounded nicely from that discouraging 1-9 start, which says something good about the guy and something bad about those of us (me included) who gave up on him, even though you could see he had some decent stuff and was getting no run support.

Tonight's series finale against the Red Sox is just another test of his mettle. The Sox just crushed David Hernandez and the O's in the opener last year, their first five hits of the game failing to come down anywhere on the field. Berken can probably identify with that, since he lasted just 1 1/3 innings in his last start against the Red Sox and gave up six runs on seven hits.

This will be Berken's third start against the Sox, but the first at Fenway Park, which isn't going to make things any easier. In his first appearance against them, he lasted five innings and gave up four runs on eight hits.

He'll probably need to do better than that tonight to stay on the upswing, but the late-season indicators are pointing in the right direction. He has given up three earned runs or fewer in five of his last six starts and is facing veteran Paul Byrd, who is coming off a blow up against the White Sox in his second start since coming back out of semi-retirement.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (47)
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The Orioles have completed a minor league deal to acquire reliever Sean Henn from the Minnesota Twins organization. Henn is a 28-year-old left-hander who appeared in 14 games for the Twins this year. He also has had major league experience with the Yankees and Padres, though none of it terribly auspicious.

His career major league stats: 2-9, 7.50 ERA in 54 appearances, five of them starts.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (118)
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No surprise here, but the Orioles have added five more player to their already expanded September roster. Right-handed starter Chris Lambert, left-handed starter Chris Waters, reliever Bob McCrory, infielder Justin Turner and catcher Guillermo Rodriguez are joining the team in Boston.

To free up some room on the 40-man roster for the non-roster guys on that list, the Orioles have moved Brad Bergesen and Lou Montanez to the 60-day disabled list, which confirms that they will not play again this season. Also, Adam Jones has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive until Sept. 2.

The promotion of Lambert may mean the O's will stay with five starters after Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman are shut down in the next week or so. There had been talk that manager Dave Trembley would go with four starters and a bullpen committee for the times a fifth starter would be necessary.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
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Like the Orioles, I pretty much had the day off today, though I did read every post and e-mail that came my way in spite of the holiday. I guess that's why they call it Labor Day.

I know one guy who labored hard today, so I thought I'd give him a plug. Jeff Zrebiec continues to grind it out every day at the ballpark to keep you informed, and even on the offday he cranked out a big story about Brian Roberts. You'll be interested in some of BRob's observations on the future of the team, his leadership role and his obligation to live up to his big contract.

Roberts is not a controversial guy, but he isn't afraid to stand up to the people who have criticized his effort this year. And he isn't afraid to stand up for manager Dave Trembley, which will probably get him some more criticism.

If you haven't read Jeff's article yet, you can do that right here.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (40)
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If you have read my latest column, which you can check out right here, I suspect you're wondering whether I ran out of orange Kool-Aid at just the wrong moment. So, I just wanted to point out that the Sunday column was written early Saturday, before the Orioles snapped their latest losing streak and came back to win the series against the Rangers.

That's not an excuse. I'm just trying to get credit for turning the club around.

There was some sentiment on the blog that I was abandoning Andy MacPhail's plan, but nothing could be further from the truth. I believe in the rebuilding effort, but -- in the column -- I'm trying to make sense of the fact that MacPhail expressed the hope earlier this year that the club could avoid another big September swoon, then made two deals that almost guaranteed another late-season meltdown.

The only thing I can conclude is that he's amassing minor league inventory to position the O's for a a couple of big offseason acquisitions. I hope that's the case, because the longer he waits to make a big offseasson push, the more negative variables come into play that could undermine the team's anticipated resurgence. I'm not suggesting this is the year to break open the vault for a bunch of over-priced free agents, but it might be the winter to throw the fans a bone shaped like Adrian Gonzalez or someone else who could put a big charge in the batting order.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (112)
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How often this year have you seen the Orioles chase a starting pitcher in the fourth inning of the rubber game of a three-game series on Sunday? I guess if I had an ounce of initiative, I'd look that up, but why over-analyze things. The Orioles just ran Texas Rangers starter Derek Holland off the mound, thanks in part to a couple of the Sunday lineup guys. Chad Moeller has two hits and two RBI and Jeff Fiorentino has a big hit and two runs.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Guthrie continues his stretch-run salvage project. He looks like a completely different pitcher since he bottomed out in mid-August, and he's got a shutout going in the sixth inning.

Here's a quick stat for you. If Guthrie can complete a scoreless sixth, his ERA will drop below 5.00 for the first time in two months.

There's no World Baseball Classic next spring, so maybe he'll be able to carry this momentum into 2010.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
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The New York Daily News is reporting that a federal judge has dismissed Roger Clemens' defamation suit against personal trainer Brian McNamee, ending that chapter in the Rocket's attempt to clear his name after McNamee claimed to have injected him numerous times with steroids and human growth hormone. The decision was with prejudice, which means that the suit cannot be refiled, though the judge's decision can be appealed.

For the moment, that leaves the only pending lawsuit in New York, where McNamee countersued Clemens for defamation, and a pending grand jury investigation in Washington to determine if Clemens lied under oath.

There's no one to root for here, of course. I hope McNamee's case gets thrown out, too, and the grand jury stops wasting its time and our money on the perjury investigation, since there's so much disinformation out there that it's going to be too hard to prove anyway.

Which leaves the guys who win no matter what -- the lawyers. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
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It didn't look like this was going to be a very good day for Brian Matusz, who gave up three runs in the first inning against the Texas Rangers, but he's got poise beyond his 22 years and he collected himself nicely. He got better as the game went on and didn't give up a hit after the third inning on the way to a solid seven-inning performance. He required only 93 pitches and allowed just six hits and one walk, which will cause some consternation if the bullpen gives it up, but everybody knows that the O's are going to handle Matusz with kid gloves. Very encouraging.

Meanwhile, Melvin Mora and Nolan Reimold manhandled Rangers starter Kevin Millwood as the Orioles came from 3-0 and 4-2 early deficits to take a lead into the ninth. Melvin, who struggled for much of the year, has 12 hits in his last 29 at bats (.414) and just got banged up making a terrific diving catch on a bunt attempt by Ian Kinsler int he eighth.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
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Brian Matusz looks good in that old-fashioned flannel uniform of the Negro League Baltimore Elite Giants, but he doesn't look that good on the mound yet. He just gave up three runs in a hurry, on one-out hits by Elvis Andrus and Marlon Byrd and a two-out, two-run home run by David Murphy.

The Fox regional broadcast crew gushed about Matusz at the start of the inning -- and also related a pre-game meeting between him and one of his boyhood idols, Fox analyst Mark Grace -- but the banter about his great changeup couldn't change the fact that three of the first five batters hit the ball hard against him to put the Orioles behind the eight-ball once again.

Instant update: The Orioles threatened to get back a couple of those runs right away when Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold opened the bottom of the first with base hits, putting runners at second and third with no one out. But I guess no one should be surprised that they managed to squeeze just one run out of the opportunity when No. 3 hitter Brian Roberts struck out and Nick Markakis followed with a short fly ball, that barely scored Pie. Sorry, but one run is not enough in that situation.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)
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It's good to see the umpires are on the ball tonight. They've taken a decided NFL approach to the league rules about the color of the gloves being used by the pitchers in the series opener between the Orioles and Rangers. Early in the game, they forced Rangers starter Scott Feldman to find another glove because his was too light in color. Then, to be completely balanced, they did the same to Orioles reliever Cla Meredith.

Fortunately nobody was wearing high tops to honor Johnny U, or it might have gotten ugly.

Postgame update: Dave Trembley actually asked the umpires to enforce the rule on Feldman's glove, and Rangers manager Ron Washington was ready to reciprocate when Meredith came out of the bullpen. And you thought the managers just sit there.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
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Okay, now that the euphoria of the Ravens' preseason victory has worn off, we can get back to agonizing about the Orioles and just how many games they might end up losing this season. To that end, I'd like to direct your attention to Dan Connolly's story for Thursday's print edition about the possibility of the O's reaching 100 losses, which you can read right here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (59)
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Nothing like another Yankees sweep to keep everyone focused on the dismal present. The Orioles obviously are in the same division as the Yankees, but they haven't been in the same league in quite some time, but every time they lose a game to the most expensive team in baseball, the most frustrated Orioles fans come out of the woodwork and want a pound of flesh from whoever they imagine is responsible.

Fair enough, if that's the point. Everybody knew this team could not compete six months ago, yet a lot of people seem surprised that it isn't competing now. I'll concede that I expected the O's to be slightly better than they are right now, but we're really talking about subtle shadings here. I thought the team could win 68 games, but with George Sherrill and Aubrey Huff down the highway, it's starting to look like they could lose 100.

That's not good, of course, but it's damaging more from an appearance standpoint than a rebuilding standpoint. Whether the Orioles win 62 games or 68 doesn't mean a whole lot in the greater competitive scheme of things, except in the effect that could have on the ability to sign quality free agents.

Andy MacPhail said earlier this year that he was looking for the Orioles to avoid another disastrous late-season cliff dive, both for the purpose of showing more promise for next year and also to present a better face heading into the offseason. But he obviously didn't think that was important enough to hold onto Sherrill or Huff...and he rightly doesn't think it's important enough to risk burning up Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman.

Which leaves all of us to wonder what's over the horizon. Has MacPhail secretly decided to move the whole timetable back a year? Or is he preparing to package some of his inventory to trade for the big bat that would solidify the offense? The Orioles rank fifth in the majors in batting average and hits, so they aren't that far away from being a pretty decent offensive team, but that's really a side issue. The only way the Orioles get competitive quickly is if these young pitchers bloom quickly. If the O's young rotation matures enough to be competitive next year, the team could improve significantly, but that's a lot to ask.

Frankly, the Orioles have sagged so badly, that all I can think of right now is that old saying: The first thing you need to do to get out of a hole is to stop digging.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
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There's been a lot of bad water under the bridge since Dave Trembley went to his bullpen in the sixth inning, and I'm still trying to figure out why he pulled Jason Berken after only 86 pitches with one out and a runner at second.

Maybe there's something I don't know. Maybe Berken let it be known before the inning that he was tiring and only had a few hitters left. Maybe Trembley or pitching coach Rick Kranitz saw something they didn't like. Maybe this is part of their commitment not to overwork their young pitchers.

If so, fine, but from a strategic standpoint, it's hard to imagine that DT felt his best option at that point -- with the score 1-1 -- was to trot out another five or six relievers and hope that all of them would be on their game. This isn't just hindsight talking. I was scratching my head even after Mark Hendrickson and Kam Mickolio got out of the inning without allowing the go-ahead run.

So, basically, the same thing happened that happened last night when the Orioles were up 6-5. The bullpen parade started on Tuesday and two of the five O's relievers faltered -- most egregiously Chris Ray, who gave up back-to-back home runs. This time, it was Kam Mickolio who couldn't get anybody out in the seventh inning and Jim Johnson, who got shelled in the ninth.

I don't know that it would have changed the outcome, but if Berken can throw 20 more pitches and get close to completing seven innings, the equation simplifies considerably, since you only need two or three relievers to pitch well instead of five or six. The O's ended up using seven, but who's still counting at that point?

In mathematical terms, it's called reducing the variables. Again, I don't know that it would have changed the outcome against C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees bullpen, but using that many pitchers is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (154)
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The Orioles are leaving open the possibility of Adam Jones returning from his sprained left ankle before the end of the season, but that's probably a longshot. As Orioles beat guy Jeff Zrebiec pointed out when he appeared with me on Sportsline tonight on WBAL Radio, there isn't anywhere for Jones to rehab late in September and there really isn't any compelling reason for him to come back for the last five or 10 games of the regular season.

The O's can use his playing time to get even more of a look at Felix Pie, who continues to swing one of the hottest bats on the team. Pie has come on strong in the power department the past three weeks, hitting more home runs in his last 51 at-bats (6) than he did in nearly 400 previous major league at-bats (5). He is hitting .318 since his average dipped to .158 way back on May 6.

Pie probably would have played a lot anyway, since the O's are auditioning Luke Scott at first base and need to get Nolan Reimold DH at-bats to spare his sore Achilles, so Jones' absense probably will also mean more playing time for Jeff Fiorentino. I think Zrebiec was right tonight when he speculated that Andy MacPhail may be regretting the deal that shed minor league outfielder Joey Gathright.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (50)
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There were a lot of people, including myself, who were wondering where Kam Mickolio was last night, when manager Dave Trembley had to send in Dennie Sarfate in a close middle-inning situation in the sixth inning.

So I checked with our Orioles beat reporter, Jeff Zrebiec, who told me that Mickolio has not been available for a couple of days because he has a tired arm. Guess he got pushed a little hard when he came on so strong after his most recent call up.

Zrebiec also said that Chris Ray has complained of some late-season discomfort in his arm, but he went out there last night and got shelled. I'm not sure what to make of his situation right now. He looked pretty good for awhile, but when he's bad, he can get lit up like a Christmas tree, something the Yankees confirmed in the seventh inning last night.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)
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There were a lot of people, including myself, who were wondering where Kam Mickolio was last night, when manager Dave Trembley had to send in Dennie Sarfate in a close middle-inning situation in the sixth inning.

So I checked with our Orioles beat reporter, Jeff Zrebiec, who told me that Mickolio has not been available for a couple of days because he has a tired arm. Guess he got pushed a little hard when he came on so strong after his most recent call up.

Zrebiec also said that Chris Ray has complained of some late-season discomfort in his arm, but he went out there last night and got shelled. I'm not sure what to make of his situation right now. He looked pretty good for awhile, but when he's bad, he can get lit up like a Christmas tree, something the Yankees confirmed in the seventh inning last night.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)
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In case you missed it, or all the copies of today's print edition are sold out in your area, I've got a column up today about the decision by Andy MacPhail to shut down top pitching prospects Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz after another two or three starts. If you want to read it, just click here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
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Manager Dave Trembley said during his postgame news conference that Adam Jones suffered a sprained ankle when he jammed his foot into the first base bag tonight. X-rays were negative, but that doesn't mean Jones will be back any time soon. Trembley said it was "a pretty good sprain," which could put Jones back on the shelf for a significant chunk of the remaining schedule.

Just another nasty twist of fate for Jones, who just returned from a back injury and nearly got hurt crashing the wall on Monday night.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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Adam Jones has been removed from the game after a freak play at first place that may have left him with either a sprained left ankle or a hyper-extended left knee -- or both. He turned the wrong way after reaching first on an overthrow and then jammed his leg hustling back to the bag.

Jones went down hard and looked like he was in serious pain, but eventually got up and tried to stay in the game. Though he seemed to be walking all right, when the Yankees decided to go to their bullpen, O's manager Dave Trembley sent newly promoted Jeff Fiorentino in as a pinch runner.

Pie chart: Felix Pie has six home runs in his last 49 at-bats, dating back to Aug. 14. That means he has hit more home runs in his last 17 games (six) than he hit in his 395 previous major league at bats (five).

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (56)
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Don't know about you, but I wish MASN had a stationary camera fixed on Eutaw Street, so we could see where the long home runs land. Luke Scott's mammoth three-run home run looked like it had a chance to become the first ball ever to hit the Warehouse on the fly in game action, but there was no camera angle that showed where it landed.

If it had, we'd know by now. The O's get a report from the ushers and other witnesses out there and embed a brass baseball in the concrete where the ball landed, but it would be nice to know right away. I realize there would be some expense involved in an extra camera, but I believe the Giants do it in San Francisco to for homers that land in McCovey Cove.

Bad baseball update: Adam Jones just got away with a real bad fundamental gaffe, his throw on Alex Rodriguez's game-tying single sailing well out of reach of the cutoff man and allowing Rodriguez to move into scoring position. Fortunately for Jones and the O's, Chris Ray struck out Jose Posada to get out of the inning with the score still tied.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
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There were a lot of angry Orioles fans when the club failed to make a legitimate run at free agent starter A.J. Burnett. The guy lives in Monkton and seemed like the rare front-line free agent who might actually want to play in Baltimore, but he did not fit into Andy MacPhail's "Grow the arms, buy the bats" philosophy.

Looking back, maybe that was a good thing. Burnett was a durability risk and the price ended up through the roof. The Yankees eventually signed him to a five-year, $82.5 million contract and are cruising toward the postseason, but it's not like he's been the cornerstone of their starting rotation.

In fact, coming into tonight's game, he had won exactly one more game than Orioles No. 1 starter Jeremy Guthrie, who took a pay cut last spring and is having a very difficult season. Don't misunderstand, Burnett has pitched much better than Guthrie, but he has struggled with his command at times -- Burnett leads the American League with 80 walks -- and was 0-4 in six August starts.

Of course, if you compared the Yankees record in Burnett's games with the Orioles overall record in Guthrie's games, it would not be close, but the guy does make $15.9 million per year more than Jeremy.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
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The Orioles announced today that Nick Markakis has been named the club's candidate for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given at every World Series to a major league player who represents the humanitarian ideals of the great Pittsburgh Pirates star who was killed in a plane crash attempting to deliver relief supplies to earthquake victims.

The club also announced that Nick and Christina Markakis have made a $75,000 contribution to the Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation. The donation will be split among the Baltimore RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Inner City) League, Baltimore City Schools education programs and Shannon's Fund.

Lou Montanez update: Montanez will begin a quick injury rehabilitation assignment to Class-A Frederick tonight. He has been recovering from hand surgery and will spend the final regular season home series with the Keys.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (42)
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Jeremy Guthrie pitched well for the third straight start tonight, for all the good it probably will end up doing him. He worked six innings and gave up just four hits, but two of those hits were a home run and an RBI double by Nick Swisher, and they'll probably be enough to send Guthrie to his 13th loss -- especially after Mark Hendrickson gave up three more runs in the eighth.

Of course, with Andy Pettitte taking a perfect game into the seventh inning and a one-hit shutout into the eighth, Guthrie was never much of a threat to earn his 10th victory, but the Orioles have to be encouraged by his performance. He has pitched 20 innings in his last three starts and given up just four runs.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (61)
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Andy Pettitte entered the seventh inning with a perfect game going at Camden Yards, but Adam Jones just hit a sharp grounder that handcuffed former Oriole Jerry Hairston at third base. it wasn't a tough decision for the official scorer, since it was an obvious error, and the no-hitter went right behind it when Nick Markakis slapped a base hit down the left field line.

Can't imagine Hairston feels too good right now. He's filling in for Alex Rodriguez tonight, and if he had made that play, the inning would have been over and the perfect game would have gotten into the eighth.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)
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Hot-hitting Felix Pie is not in the starting lineup for tonight's series opener against the New York Yankees. Manager Dave Trembley is going with a largely right-handed lineup, though Luke Scott is in the lineup as the designated hitter.

Don't know what to make of that, since Scott is 0 for 9 against Pettitte over the past two seasons. Pie did not have an at-bat in Pettitte's only previous start against the Orioles this year.

What I do know is that Pettitte is 25-6 lifetime against the Orioles and the O's are going with almost exactly the same group of hitters who managed one run off him in his first 2009 start against them. The only difference is that Ty Wigginton is at first base instead of Aubrey Huff and the order of the lineup is different.

Pie generally doesn't play against left-handers, but if he was ever going to, this would probably have been the time to see if he can stay hot. Trembley, however, may be looking at it from a different perspective. He may think the best way to keep Pie hot is not to expose him to one of the better left-handers in the game.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (48)
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Brian Matusz clearly figured something out before yesterday's terrific performance against the Cleveland Indians. Now, we get to find out if Jeremy Guthrie's last two starts were a sign that he has worked through the longball issues that have undermined his season.

Guthrie couldn't have been a whole lot better in his two starts on the last road trip, putting up almost identical lines against the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins. He pitched seven innings and gave up a run on six hits in each game, but was more dominant (5 K's) his last time out.

So, now comes the real test. Guthrie faces Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees tonight in the opener of a three-game series at Camden Yards. This would be a pretty good time for Guthrie to keep the ball in the park and show that he can compete against anybody, though that might not be enough to beat the first-place Yanks and Pettitte, who has given up two earned runs or fewer in five of his last six starts and has a 2.61 ERA (11 ER in 38 IP) over that period.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: Just baseball
        

If you're watching the game on MASN, you saw the same thing I did. Adam Jones was trying to get his neck loose after slamming into the center field wall trying to run down Grady Sizemore's sixth-inning triple.

Jones went down on the warning track after going into the fence shoulder and hip first. The first thing that popped into my mind was that he might have aggravated the back injury that knocked him out of the lineup for a week, but the way he keeps rotating his head in center field, it looks more like he jarred his neck. He seemed okay chasing down the two-out single by Shin-Soo Choo, but you have to wonder whether he'll come back out for the seventh inning.

If he doesn't, it would create a big problem for manager Dave Trembley, since all of the other outfielders on the roster are already in the game in some capacity. Trembley would have to move Luke Scott from first base to left field, Felix Pie from left to center, Ty Wigginton from third to first and put Melvin Mora in the game. Or he could move Nolan Reimold to the outfield and lose the DH.

Instant update: What do I know? Adam is back out there and looks okay.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (81)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Felix Pie's hot streak keeps getting hotter. I was a little worried that the night off and the hamstring strain might cool him off, but he just jacked that two-run homer in the third inning and remains on a tremendous offensive roll.

Don't know if he can keep this up for an extended period. If so, the Orioles will have to start thinking outside the box as far as the configuration of the team in 2010. To keep him in the everyday lineup, the club would almost have to consider experimenting with Nolan Reimold at first base next spring.

Of course, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Pie's latest power burst still only leaves him with seven home runs and 23 RBI in 183 at-bats, but that's a big improvement over his power and RBI ratios coming into this season. He had just three homers and 30 RBI in 260 major league at-bats with the Cubs.

Though you have to be impressed with the progress he seems to have made, let's see if he can keep cranking against the string of contenders the Orioles will face over the next three weeks.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: Just baseball
        

There was a moment tonight when all was right with the sports world in Baltimore. Cesar Izturis was at the plate with the rain pounding down on him and the O's needing him to drive home the go-ahead run from third in case the game was rained out. He delivered a triple to break the tie and bring on the tarp. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the rain eventually relented, though not before creating a plumbing disaster in the dugout.

The reason that moment was so significant to me was because of what was happening at almost exactly the same time down in North Carolina. Joe Flacco connected with Todd Heap for a nifty touchdown pass that put the Ravens ahead of the Carolina Panthers to stay in their third preseason victory. Both teams took the lead simultaneously, but only the Ravens could keep it. No great surprise there.

The Izturis hit, of course, had no chance to be as significant as the Heap catch, even though the Orioles were playing a regular season game and the Ravens were not. The Ravens have been looking for Heap to re-establish himself as a go-to tight end, and he certainly looked like that with four catches and the touchdown in tonight's game.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: Just baseball, Just football
        

For some reason, I woke up this morning wearing my patented Jim Hunter rose-colored glasses, took a big swig of orange Kool-Aid, and tried to see light at the end of the looming string of 18 consecutive games against the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Rangers -- all teams that are in the hunt for the postseason. If you want to see if I succeeded, check out my column for Sunday's print edition right here.

It could get ugly, but I think the Orioles just might be able to take something positive out of the next three weeks, maybe even a few uplifting victories to carry the young starting rotation into 2010.

Have I gone completely nuts, or what?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (42)
Categories: Just baseball