It was an interesting day at the bar on Wednesday.

Lots of good discussion about the Orioles’ current defensive outfield situation.

And a few silly comments thrown in there, too. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but I am going to have to call a cab for some of you.

For the record, and in case it didn’t get spelled out Wednesday, I am happy for Adam Jones that he won a Gold Glove. I never questioned whether he is deserving; I simply said I was a bit surprised because I think he had a better defensive year in 2008.

And I do believe, at this point in their careers, Nick Markakis is a slightly better defensive outfielder, though Jones has the potential to be better as his career unfolds. Plus Jones plays center field, and that does mean something.

The important thing for beleaguered Orioles fans is that you have both of them for a long time. Enjoy that.

The overall discussion – and some of the rants about the Gold Glove going mostly to center fielders – got me thinking.

If you were to use the current Gold Glove rules – that is, choose three overall outfielders, not necessarily one each from left, right and center – to represent the Orioles’ all-time best defensive outfield, who would be in it?

As much as I don’t like the “three center fielders approach” that the Gold Glove committee uses, it’s true that when I think of the best defensive outfielders in O’s history, I immediately think of center fielders, before I shift to the left and right.

So here’s the task at hand today: If you were to give out Gold Gloves to three Orioles outfielders throughout the years, who would win?

There’s no question Paul Blair is one answer. Even if you never saw him play – and I don’t have clear memories of him in Baltimore – he probably should be on your list. Everything I have ever heard from players and fans is that Blair was the best defensive outfielder to ever wear an Orioles uniform. And he has eight Gold Gloves to prove it.

So he gets my first award. I think I have to give the second to Al Bumbry, who was the guy I watched growing up, and that little guy had serious hops before we ever referred to jumping ability as serious hops. Plus, he had his share of outfield assists.

The third is tricky. Mike Devereaux is probably my ultimate answer, but that leaves Jones (the only other Orioles outfielder with a Gold Glove) off the list. That also would deny Nick Markakis, Brady Anderson, Steve Finley, Frank Robinson and Jackie Brandt, among others, the award.

There is no wrong answer here. Pick three outfielders (yes, it can be all center fielders) to receive the Orioles’ all-time Gold Glove. I’d love to hear the reasoning behind your choices.

Daily Think Special: Who are the three best defensive outfielders in Orioles history?

Posted by Dan Connolly at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Connolly's Corner Sports Bar, Orioles, Today's Special
        

Each week in The Toy Department, veteran Baltimore Sun sportswriter Mike Klingaman tracks down a former local sports figure and lets you know what's happening in his/her life in a segment called, "Catching Up With ... " Let Klingaman know who you'd like him to find and click here to check out previous editions of "Catching Up With ... "

He is 77, the last surviving offensive lineman from the Baltimore Colts’ halcyon days of the 1950s. Half a century ago, guard Alex Sandusky made a living carving out daylight for runners named Lenny and L.G. and The Horse, and rebuffing assaults on a slope-shouldered young quarterback who’d won the hearts of Colts fans.

Continue reading "Catching Up With ... former Colt Alex Sandusky" »

Posted by Mike Klingaman at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Catching Up With
        

Adam Jones is now the 13th Oriole to receive an American League Gold Glove and the first since some pitcher named Mike in 1999.

Jones deserves congratulations for the honor – just another impressive accolade for the Orioles’ 24-year-old center fielder.

But I have to admit I am a bit surprised.

Honestly, I thought Jones had a better year defensively in 2008 than he did this year. His penchant for playing a shallow center field caught up with him at times in 2009, probably partially because Jones was dealing with leg issues much of the season and his incredible initial burst was slightly stunted.

Since Jones is a gamer, though, he kept playing through the injuries, until a sprained left ankle sidelined him for the final month of the season. And that’s another reason I am surprised he won the award this season – he only played 116 games in center in 2009.

A case could be made that the Orioles didn’t lose much – if anything – defensively when Felix Pie took over in center. Pie doesn’t make it look as easy or as pretty as Jones does, but he also makes fewer mistakes.

And then there is the guy to their left, right fielder Nick Markakis.

Rawlings – on votes cast by managers and coaches – names three Gold Glove outfielders per league per year, but specific outfield positions aren’t used.

Therefore, the recipients are usually three center fielders, since they are considered the generals of the outfield.

So Markakis, by virtue of being a right fielder, has a built-in handicap in the Gold Glove voting.

If it were my vote, I’d give it to Markakis over Jones in 2009, though Jones, who, remember, was a shortstop not that long ago, has a tremendous upside.

Nick, though, is extremely instinctive and has a more accurate arm than Adam. Pie is most certainly in this conversation, too.

The bottom line is that all three are very good defensive players and make up one of the best trio of outfielders this club has seen in a long time.

But I want to know who you think is the best defender of the group – you can throw left fielder Nolan Reimold in there if you like, though the rookie, in my opinion, doesn’t come close defensively to the other three. You stats guys can use zone rating and the like to support your cause if you please. I am sticking with my eyes in this instance.

Daily Think Special: Who is the Orioles’ best current defensive outfielder?

Posted by Dan Connolly at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)
Categories: Today's Special
        

One more note left over from the Ravens 17-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday:

One of the joys of covering Ravens away games is reading the game stories and columns in the local paper the next day.

Here what Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty had to say about a certain Ravens cornerback who struggled all afternoon against Bengals wide-out Chad Ochocinco:

"The Bengals have better athletes than Baltimore at a few key spots, namely cornerback and wide receiver. Poor Domonique Foxworth. The Ravens paid him big bucks last February to be a high-functioning cover corner. The man couldn't cover Eight Five with a tarpaulin and a tranquilizer gun. Foxworth fell down twice, just in the first quarter."

Ouch. That has to be the worst hit Foxworth's taken in weeks.

Posted by Kevin Cowherd at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (30)
        

Notes from the Ravens 17-7 Waterloo in Cincinnati Sunday:

Amazing difference in the level of fan energy at Cincy's Paul Brown Stadium and M&T Bank Stadium. The simple fact is: Ravens fans are much louder. And seem way more engaged.

The Bengals fans were not only late-arriving yesterday, they were curiously passive. The game was in danger of being blacked-out on TV in the Cincy area earlier in the week due to poor ticket sales. And the fans that actually made it to the game didn't seem all that fired-up, either.

With the Ravens driving late in the fourth quarter -- one of the few times you could actually use the term "driving" -- and faced with a third-and-19 with the game still semi in doubt, the fans didn't even rise to their feet to cheer.

I'm not saying it was library-quiet and you could study for the law boards, but it was a far cry from the raucous, energized madness you get from a Ravens crowd.

 Maybe Bengals fans still don't believe their 6-2 team is for real.

"If the beat Pittsburgh this week," said the cab driver bringing me to the airport this morning, "THEN I'll believe they're good."

Posted by Kevin Cowherd at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (48)
        

OK, I think we can all admit this now.

The Bengals are a lot better than we thought. Even better than they looked last time around. There were only five bar patrons this weekend that predicted a Bengals win.

CB, Mike B., Steven and Rich all get a free drink chip for picking the right winner. And T.J. gets a free drink tab all week for his guess: 24-13 Bengals. It was the closest to the 17-7 outcome.

Here comes the tough part. I’m not really sure what to say here about Sunday’s loss. They simply looked like an overmatched team.

The Ravens have dropped to 4-4 and don’t have an easy road ahead. They have to play the Pittsburgh Steelers twice, as well as the Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.

They do face a trifecta of bad teams – and must wins – against Cleveland, Detroit and Oakland.

So they need to win those, at least split with the Steelers and then win two of three against the Colts, Bears and Packers to get to 10-6.

It can be done. But the Bengals are in the driver’s seat and the Steelers are riding shotgun. So the Ravens have to excel in the second half to make it to the playoffs.

There’s definitely a lot of season left. But even the most optimistic Ravens fans have to be disappointed in the first half. The question is can they do enough to make the playoffs?

Or maybe the real question is what must they do on the field to make the playoffs?

Daily Think Special: What must the Ravens do to have a successful second half?

Posted by Dan Connolly at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (59)
Categories: Connolly's Corner Sports Bar, Ravens, Today's Special
        

Before we get to the Ravens today, I have some Orioles info to pass on.

Bodog.com, an online gambling site, set its odds for winning next year’s World Series, and the Orioles are 75-1 longshots. The only clubs worse off are the Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals. They are all at 100-1 to win the 2010 title.

So, yeah, aren’t you glad it’s Prediction Friday and we have the Ravens to discuss?

(By the way, here’s a drink chip to CSB Jack, who predicted the exact score of the Ravens’ 30-7 victory over the Broncos. Of course, he cheated and submitted it after the fact while the bar was closed. But I am offering a chip anyway for his creativity.)

Now, for your predictions (you must submit before the Bengals’ game, Jack).

For the record, I will not be overlooking the Bengals the way I did in Week 5, when Cincinnati won in Baltimore, 17-14. But I am still going with the Ravens to win.

I am sticking with the same theory I had for the Broncos game (though I didn’t write it). The Ravens need this win more than the Bengals. If they lose, they drop two games behind Cincinnati and also will lose the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Ravens aren’t talking about desperation, which admittedly is a bit of a stretch at Game 8. But this one is pretty darn important.

So I say the Ravens win 17-10 on a Kelley Washington 23-yard TD reception from Joe Flacco in the fourth quarter.

We’ll make Washington the game’s hero. Why? No clue.

Daily Think Special: Predict the winner, score and hero of Sunday’s Ravens-Bengals game.

Posted by Dan Connolly at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (36)
Categories: Connolly's Corner Sports Bar, Today's Special
        

Life is unfair. But, if you're an Orioles fan, you already know that.

 The New York Yankees won their 27th World Series last night. They beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3, in Game 6, and the new Yankees Stadium erupted. The fans hugged each other and cried, the Yankees players hugged each other and cried, I hugged myself and cried.

Well, not really. But I hate the Yankees. I feel like crying whenever they win.

Still, it was inevitable that the season finish this way. The Yankees were the best team in baseball -- the best team money could buy AGAIN. Last night it was the almost forgotten Hideki Matsui who delivered the death blows to the Phillies: six RBIs. A two-run homer in the second inning, a two-run single in the third, a two-run double in the fifth.

And this is a guy the Yankees aren't even sure they'll bring back next year.

It's enough to make you weep. The Orioles, meanwhile, aren't sure if they'll bring back Rich Hill.

The irony of that is enough to make you weep, too.

Posted by Kevin Cowherd at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)
        

Yeah, it’s true I have been away too long.

But you have to give me credit for coming back with a flourish, getting half the bar stirred up about Mark Teixeira in November.

I may not be bright, but like they said about me during my entire educational career, I can stir it up.

Now, to answer the question posed from Rob K. and the other regulars, my time off was not Steve Phillips-esque. There was no forced vacation, no revealing text messages and no rabbits in pots during the entire week the bar was dark.

I simply took some time off after the long baseball season, but it had to be delayed a little bit.

So everything’s cool and there is no need to Google my name with “arrest” or “fired.” Certainly not yet, anyway.

Today’s topic is something we have hit on before. But it has been 18 months or so.

Wednesday evening I attended a screening of “The Blind Side,” the movie based on the book that was based on the life of Ravens’ offensive lineman Michael Oher.

I’ll give you my thoughts about the film at a later time.

I really enjoyed the book and was eager to see how it translates to the big screen. I also was also looking forward to seeing Sandra Bullock for 90 minutes. That’s one of life’s small pleasures.

Plus, this one movie is going to open up a whole lot of cool topics here for the next couple of weeks. Let’s get one out of the way quickly.

Oher’s story – a disadvantaged teen living from home to home was befriended by a rich family that helped him realize his potential – is an inspiring one and deserves to be told.

My question is this: Which athlete’s story – local, national or international -- would you like to see made into a movie? One that already hasn’t been told by Hollywood.

This is a serious inquiry, but I am sure we’ll get some jokers to chip in, and that’s cool too. Just keep it clean.

Daily Think Special: Which athlete’s life story would you like to see become a movie?

Posted by Dan Connolly at 8:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Connolly's Corner Sports Bar