We could see it coming

This, unfortunately, was a foregone conclusion:

The Orioles announced today that they have designated right-handed pitcher Steve Trachsel for assignment and selected the contract of first baseman Oscar Salazar from Triple-A Norfolk.

Trachsel, 37, was 2-5 with an 8.39 ERA in 10 games (8 starts) this season.

I have no earthly idea why they brought up Salazar, of all people, a guy who hasn't played in the majors in six years. Nor do I have any idea why they didn't call up an infielder who was already on the 40-man roster (Eider Torres, Scott Moore), another left-handed hitting outfielder (Jeff Fiorentino) or add somebody more useful to the 40-man roster (Mike Costanzo, Chris Roberson).

Sad to see Trachsel go, but the pitching staff is developing just fine and there is really no need for him to take up any more space on the active roster...

YES! YES! YES!

This may be the most important news for the Orioles yet:

After 36 years, it appears as if the city's name will make a return to the Orioles' road uniforms.

The Sun has learned that the Orioles are in the process of filing the required paperwork with Major League Baseball to add "Baltimore" to their road jerseys, replacing the nickname of the club that has adorned the away uniforms since 1973, according to a source with knowledge of the plans. The uniform change would go into effect for the 2009 season.

Words cannot possibly describe how important and awesome this truly is. All I can say is that it's about damn time......

Being Generally Asinine

During a relatively interesting piece on Bobby Valentine by the generally not-annoying Jon Heyman, we get this:

Valentine even supported his old boss Bush for president, which only goes to show that nobody's perfect.

Does that really have any purpose in a column postulating why Valentine isn't managing in the majors? Not really. Just an asinine comment dropped into an unrelated story for no particular reason by someone who should know better......

That's 7 of 8.....

.....and it just makes you want to sing (I'm just happy I finally found this in a form that can be embedded):

Orioles Magic 2008
Uploaded by gatecitycanes

Quarterpole

We are one-fourth of the way into this pretty surprising Orioles season, considering even eternal fans like this guy were prediction doom, gloom, and 107 losses.

What is shocking about the Orioles 21-19 start has less to do with the fact that this team is 2 over .500, but the fact that this team is far from firing on all cylinders:

• Nick Markakis is only hitting .261, and is 1 for his last 17
• Ramon Hernandez has been hurt off and on, and is hitting .211
• The .246 team batting average is third worst in the American League
• Luke Scott has the highest average on the team at .271.....despite hitting .198 in the last month, hitting .133 against lefties, and .194 on the road
• Steve Trachsel......'nuff said.

The fact of the matter is that despite that, this team can win ball games, even if they spot the defending champs a 3-0 lead two nights in a row. The bullpen has been mostly phenomenal, the starting pitching has done its job (keeping us in games) and the team is playing with confidence. It has been a fun group to watch.

Now, at the quarterpole, let's talk about the Most Valuable Orioles for 2008:

1. Dave Trembley: Sure, he isn't an active player. But it is hard to argue with the impact he has had on this club. Remember, the preponderance of players on this 2008 team were also on the 2007 team; that team was nine games out 40 games in, and was 11 games under .500 when Sam Perlozzo got canned. Trembley has had a year and a Spring Training to implement his philosophy and his system with his staff and his players. It's working.
   
2. Jim Johnson: Where would the bullpen be without this guy? He was a starter in the minors and had brief cameos in '06 and '07, but he has been the stopper out of the bullpen this year, including his amazing duel with Manny Ramirez on Tuesday that ended with a 1-2-3 double play to kill a Red Sox rally.
   
3. George Sherill: Sure, it hasn't been pretty, but Sherill has stepped into the closers role and gotten the job done when it counts.
   

2008 has been more than we can ask for. Let's hope it keeps up. But remember this: the 2002 overachieving squad got to 63-63 on August 23rd, only to go 4-32 down the stretch, so we're not even close to seeing this team be where it needs to be quite yet...

Bad Planning

Just because Andy MacPhail is in charge doesn't mean mistakes don't get made:

For one day, Adam Jones will get to pay homage to a hero. Jones, Baltimore's 22-year-old center fielder, was chosen as his team's representative to wear No. 42 Tuesday on Jackie Robinson Day, a tribute to one of the game's greatest legends. Jones, who has read several books about Robinson, termed the opportunity "a tremendous honor."

Good for Jones. Why is this a mistake? It's not Jones' fault. It's just the fact that Tuesday is Adam Jones t-shirt night, so the player of honor will not even be wearing the number that he normally wears, the one that will be on the t-shirt being given out to fans.

Most years, the O's would get beat up for such a mistake, but having the best record in baseball helps...

Good Things to Come

See the future:

(Matt) Wieters, the fifth overall pick out of Georgia Tech last June, homered in each of his first two official professional at-bats after walking in the opening inning, leading the host Keys to a 7-3 win over Lynchburg in the Single-A Carolina League opener for both teams.

While his first homer, an opposite-field shot down the right-field line, barely cleared the fence, his second - a shot to left - sailed over a 28-foot fence behind the outfield wall.

Awesome...

55-107

You can never really discount the optimism one has on Opening Day, when all 30 teams and all of their fans can wax poetic about how this is their year to win the World Series. Of course, if you are a realistic Orioles fan, you've probably come to grips with the fact that this is not going to happen in 2008. Or 2009. Or probably 2010.

I for one, wouldn't have it any other way. Finally, despite my own worries, andy MacPhail has is fully in charge of baseball operations. This is his project. He is the one who got a load of prospects and players for both Erik Bedeard and Miguel Tejada, and hopefully soon Brian Roberts as well. MacPhail is calling the shots and for once, the Orioles rebuilding project looks like it is going in the right direction.

It is going to come at a short term price, however. The team is going to be bad this year. The starting pitching from top to bottom is suspect. Beyond Roberts and Markakis, the hitting his worrisome. Luis Hernandez as the starting shortstop troubles me given his play in the spring. We still have $13 million tied up in albatrosses Aubrey Huff and Jay Gibbons. This season is going to be rough, and I think 55 wins is probably the most one can reasonably expect from this team. I hope they prove me wrong.

The future is where the focus should be on. We've got Markakis, and we've got Adam Jones. But we also have a load of prospects on the way: Radhames Liz, Hayden Penn, Cory Doyne, Chorye Spoone, Bob McCrory, Brandon Erbe, Chris Tillman, Billy Rowell, Brandon Snyder, Nolan Reimold, and of course Matt Wieters. We are fortunate that we have this future to look forward to it what is going to be a rough and tumble present...

Baseball Predictions

Since the season starts at 6 am Tuesday Morning, I'd figure I should make my picks now:

AL East: Boston, New York, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Baltimore
AL Central: Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota, Chicago, Kansas City
AL West: Los Angeles, Seattle, Texas, Oakland

NL East: New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Florida, Washington
NL Central: Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Houston, Pittsburgh
NL West: Colorado, Arizona, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco

AL Champion: Detroit
NL Champion: New York

World Champions: New York Mets

Knuckling Under

ESPN's Jim Caple takes on the knuckleball. Hilarity doesn't ensue, but it's funny to see a civilian try and catch the knuckler:

They'll give anybody a fourth chance

If you can throw above 90 MPH, and you have a pulse, you may have a chance:

Sidney Ponson and the Texas Rangers agreed to a minor league contract Sunday.

Ponson last pitched May 12 for the Minnesota Twins, who released him 10 days later. He was 2-5 with a 6.93 ERA in seven starts last season.

The 31-year-old right-hander has won at least 10 games three times in his major league career, including a career-high 17 wins with Baltimore and San Francisco in 2003.

Amazing. The guy has been a head case who can't get hitters out, and he gets a major league contract.....

Attention Getter

If there is one thing that Orioles OF Luke Scott (left) is known for, it has little do with his baseball prowess. Acquired from Houston in the Miguel Tejada trade, people know Scott less for the fact that he hit 31 homers for Round Rock in the Pacific Coast League in 2005, and more for the fact that Scott chooses to avail himself of a fundamental Constitutional right.

So it was probably only a matter of time before we saw a story like this from Sun reporter Jeff Zrebiec:

Orioles manager Dave Trembley knew about the intensity, all-out hustle and powerful uppercut swing. But he still had one question about his new left fielder, so he approached Luke Scott while Scott was shagging fly balls last week.

"Talk to me about the gun situation," Trembley said to Scott.

Trembley, who has never fired a gun and joked that he wouldn't know the difference between a water pistol and a BB gun, had read about Scott's thoughts on gun control and about how the player almost always carries a concealed firearm...

..."He very quickly said to me, 'Second Amendment, right to bear arms,' " Trembley recalled. "He said it's not a big deal. He'll never have one here. To me, it's a nonissue."

Obviously it's an issue to somebody on Calvert Street, or else the story would not have wound up in the paper.

To be fair to Zrebiec, he at least went out to detail some of the reasons that ballplayers just might want to be prepared to defend themselves:

[Nick] Markakis said he was at a gas station in Georgia five or six years ago when somebody who was armed tried to force his way into his truck. Markakis, who didn't have a gun in his car, got away unscathed, but the day left an impression on him.

A similar incident helped persuade Scott to obtain a handgun. Scott, then a student at Indian River (Fla.) Community College, was at a party in Delray Beach when somebody pulled a gun on him....

....Scott told of one situation several years back when he was at a Houston gas station and was confronted by a man carrying a shank.

"I didn't pull my gun on him," Scott said. "I would have if he had gotten close enough, and I would have shot him if he wouldn't have backed off. But all I had to do was lift up my shirt and put my hand on [the gun] and I said, 'Can I help you?' He stopped in his tracks. Who knows what that saved me?

Scott's position on guns was also chronicled a few years back on an ESPN story about athletes and guns.

I take solace in the fact that ballplayers are exercising their Constitutional rights and that the Orioles have several players like Scott, Markakis, and Jamie Walker who are willing to speak out about their experiences and why they choose to protect themselves. I just find it somewhat puzzling that the story about Scott's outspoken view on gun rights and self-defense drew attention now, in the middle of Spring Training, as opposed to back in December when the trade happened.

I'm lumping three sports topics together

Orioles: Orioles bring back Steve Trachsel. Well, that's the move that'll put us over the top in the AL East.

All kidding aside, we needed a veteran starter, and he came cheap. No harm no foul.

NFL: Steelers to keep grass. That's completely ridiculous, because I think the Pasadena Chargers play youth football on a better field over at Lake Waterford Park than the Steelers play on at Heinz Field. It's a completely bush league situation.

Baseball: John Rocker says Selig knew he was on steroids. Enh. It's John Rocker. How credible is it?

Our long national nightmare is over.....

Erik Bedard is finally a Seattle Mariner:

Erik Bedard, the Orioles' first true ace since Mike Mussina, was traded today to the Seattle Mariners for five players, including promising young outfielder Adam Jones.

The Orioles also will receive left-handed reliever George Sherrill and three pitching prospects -- Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler.

The move caps months of trade dialogue surrounding the 28-year-old Bedard, the left-hander who attracted inquiries from more than 10 teams after a season in which he went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and set a single-season franchise record with 221 strikeouts.

And for once with an Orioles deal, everybody loves the trade.

Now, we unload Brian Roberts to the Cubs as I mentioned before, and we can finally, after ten years, allow the rebuilding to begin...

Massive Frustration

MASN is showing the Caribbean Series on tape delay. Miguel Tejada is playing for the Dominican team (naturally). He just stole third base.

Miguel Tejada. Hustling. Wow, never thought I'd see that day again....

Maybe things are looking up

If the Orioles can ever getting around to sealing the deal on this godforsaken Erik Bedard to Seattle trade, maybe things really will start to turn around down at the Yard. Check out what Jayson Stark says:

One other thing we should mention: Every baseball man we've polled rates the Orioles' return for Bedard as being vastly superior to the Twins' return for Johan Santana, assuming the rumored names are correct.

Adam Jones "oozes tools," said one scout. Another had this review: "I think he'll be a very good offensive player, with exceptional defense." Jones has been compared to both Torii Hunter and Mike Cameron. But the second scout said: "He could be better than either one of those guys." And the primary pitching piece, Chris Tillman, is such a scout favorite that one says: "When it's all said and done, he'll be the one guy in this deal everybody talks about."

We can only hope. But I still prefer unloading Bedard a year early and getting good to great prospects in return than taking him into the season and trying deal him before July 31st during his walk year, or even worse getting nothing for him but a compensatory draft pick if he were to leave in free agency.

But having Adam Jones in center and Nick Markakis in right for the next ten years sounds like a plan to me...

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen good bye

And Good Riddance:

Two years after he first suggested that he'd benefit from a change of scenery, Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada finally got his wish as he was traded to the Houston Astros today in president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail's boldest move to date.

In return for the four-time All-Star, the Orioles will get outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo.

And the best news of all:

The Astros will assume the $26 million left on Tejada's contract.

This is fantastic. Of course, I said trade him two years ago when he started fussing about wanting out. His value was certainly higher then.

Kujan is happy, and notes that if Bedard and Mora also get traded that it means that we'll get a great haul of prospects to build for the future. If MacPhail can trade Melvin Mora for anything useful, we should have a parade given the amount of money Mora still has on his contract as his usefulness continues to decline...

The greatest Orioles news in forever

And it's because of this:

The Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers have agreed in principle on a trade that will send Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit for key prospects, sources told ESPN's Peter Gammons on Tuesday.

The Tigers would send outfielder Cameron Maybin, pitcher Andrew Miller, catcher Mike Rabelo and minor league pitchers Eulogio De La Cruz, Dallas Trahern and Burke Badenhop to the Marlins.

The deal is expected to be announced Tuesday night when the physicals and paperwork are completed.

Why this does this matter to us? It means that, with Detroit coming out of nowhere to consummate the Cabrera trade, that the Angels, Dodgers, and a few other teams still are in the market for a right-handed hitting infield bat. And that means that the likelihood of a trade sending Miguel Tejada out of Baltimore are very, very good at the moment.

But if they send Erik Bedard to the Dodgers or to Toronto, they better get a massive haul (let's just say Matt Kemp and Jonathan Broxton good; anything involving A.J. Burnett, bad....)

Scenarios upon Scenarios

Usually, I note how crazy football tiebreaking scenarios are. So, to be fair, check out all of the problems the National League could have next week:

Five-way tie (Mets, Philllies, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies):

• The Mets and Phillies play a one-game playoff Monday in Philadelphia to decide the NL East.
• The Rockies, Diamondbacks and Padres would have a three-team playoff Monday and Tuesday to decide the NL West champ. (The Rockies, the team with the best three-way head-to-head record, would have the option of playing two games at home or one game on the road.)
• That would still leave three teams tied for the wild card. So those three then would kick off another three-team playoff for that spot Wednesday and Thursday. (If Colorado is involved, it's just about guaranteed to have the best head-to-head record and, again, the option to choose two home games or one road game. But if the Rockies win the West and three other teams are involved in the wild-card playoff, don't even ask. Too many different scenarios.)
• The survivor of those four days of madness would be the wild-card team and, if it's an NL West club, would start the playoffs in either New York or Philadelphia. If it's an NL East team, it would start the playoffs in the park of the NL West winner.)

And this goes on like this. As Stark notes:

Among the fun possibilities if that happens: The Padres theoretically could play in Milwaukee on Sunday, in Arizona on Monday, in San Diego on Tuesday, in Philadelphia on Wednesday, back in San Diego on Thursday and then in New York on Friday.

In Praise of the Joba Rules

I usually don't say too much kind about the Yankees, but they certainly cannot be faulted for their handling of vaunted young pitcher Joba Chamberlain. Sure, the " Joba Rules" sound funny at first, but it was a smart way to protect a young pitcher from overuse. Plus, now that he is stretched out, he is ready to pitch as needed in the playoffs, as any other pitcher would. And remember, he did start the season playing in the Florida State League.

Additionally, the Yankees use of Joba has been completely old school. Starting pitchers back in the day routinely were called up and used as relievers in the bigs before being moved into the rotation. Chamberlain will have no trouble making the transition next year into a big league starter. Added points for having the experience of pitching in New York, in meaningful games, in the late innings, in September.

So, the Yankees get credit for their handling of Chamberlain. Now, let's hope they get swept right out of the playoffs....

The Cabrera Bunch

Daniel Cabrera and Fernando Cabrera combined to give up 13 runs, 11 of them earned, during tonight's 18-6 blowout by the Angels.

This season cannot end soon enough...

Good Grief

It was nice that the Orioles had not been shut-out all year coming into the day. But did we really have to get no-hit by a kid making his second major league appearance? Did we really need that after the season we have had?

And yes, if you are an O's fan you've seen this movie before...

It wasn't cute the first time

Following up last week's 30-3 debacle with an 11-run 8th inning against Tampa Bay, turning a 6-3 lead into a 14-6 deficit, is probably not what anybody associated with the Orioles franchise needed. Trust me, it wasn't cute last week and the continued bullpen debacles are really losing their novelty...

Augustus Minimus

The Orioles are getting into this uncanny habit of having really bad Augusts:

August 1998: 14-14
August 1999: 12-16
August 2000: 14-15
August 2001: 11-16
August 2002: 14-16
August 2003: 11-20
August 2004: 13-15
August 2005: 11-17
August 2006: 12-14
August 2007: 8-15

Unsurprisingly, the last time the Orioles play over .500 baseball in August was....1997. Hard to go wire-to-wire and not play .500 in August.

And August, 2002 was a special case since the time sat at 14-6 on August 23rd, and not only finished the month under .500, but went 4-32 to finish the year...

I'm not even sure how to fix it. Certainly, it is not impeding their ability to compete for playoff spots, however it is somewhat indicative of the last ten years of mediocrity O's fans have been subjected to...

Panic Mode?

Is this a desperation move?:

Right-hander Radhames Liz will make his major league debut Saturday, starting for the Baltimore Orioles against the Minnesota Twins.

It will be the first time in his three-year professional career that Liz will pitch above the Class AA level. The 24-year-old is 11-4 with a 3.22 ERA this season with Double-A Bowie. He leads the Eastern League with 161 strikeouts (in 137 innings) and pitched a no-hitter on June 1 against Harrisburg.

I know that it's hard to call a move to call up a 24-year old rookie from AA a desperation move for a team that has lost four in a row and is 14 games out of the Wild Card. And it's not like there were any alternatives on the 40-man roster. But it seems that purchasing the contract of a starter from Norfolk such as 35-year old Tim Kester or 27-year old Aussie Craig Anderson may have made more short-term sense than the still raw Liz. Particularly given how late-season, emergency starters such as Hayden Penn, Brian Sackinsky, John O'Donoghue, etc. have worked out over the years....

Wow

Ravens had a tough go of it today, getting plastered 30-3....

...wait a minute, that was the Orioles score? Good grief. I can only hope that the pitching gave up all of their runs for the month of August and September and got them out of the way in one game. And poor Burres, Bell, and Shuey had to stand there and take it in order to keep some semblance of order in place for the second game of a doubleheader.

It happened, so let us never speak of it again...

More on Wild Bill Hagy

A 1979 WJZ piece about Wild Bill....

Cutting it Close

Talk about brinkmanship...

Matt Wieters was prepared to sign a contract Wednesday night that would make him part of the Orioles' future, the franchise catcher that has eluded them. He also was prepared to return to Georgia Tech for his senior year and re-enter the draft in 2008.

With less than an hour left before the midnight deadline to sign Wieters, the Orioles and Boras were nearly $6 million apart, according to baseball sources. Andy MacPhail, president of baseball operations, said an agreement was reached at 11:51 p.m.

I mean, I'm ecstatic that the Orioles finally got the deal done. Because the best way to start off the MacPhail Era in Baltimore would not have been to allow our 1st round pick in the draft to go back to school over a financial issue. But good grief, could they have possibly waited any longer to get this done?

Watching the Wheels Fall Off

Here is the O's season in a nutshell. Erik Bedard pitches seven and two-thirds scoreless, gets unlucky on a seeming swing that was called a check-swing, a generous ball 2 call on a fastball at the knees, and all of a sudden everything goes straight to hell.

No, Jim Hoey is pitching, still with two outs in the eight, and Boston has a 5-1 lead.

Watching the Orioles, watching the wheels fall off, is still like watching a slow-motion train wreck...

Juiced by the Tax Code

If you want further proof about how complicated and idiotic some of our current tax laws are, well here ya go :

Before he celebrates his windfall, the New York Mets fanwho emerged from a violent scrum clutching Barry Bonds' r ecord-setting home run ball should probably call his accountant.

As soon as 21-year-old Matt Murphy snagged the valuable piece of sports history Tuesday night, his souvenir became taxable income in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service, according to experts.

"It's an expensive catch," said John Barrie, a tax lawyer with Bryan Cave LLP in New York who grew up watching the Giants play at Candlestick Park. "Once he took possession of the ball and it was his ball, it was income to him based on its value as of yesterday,"

By most estimates, the ball that put Bonds atop the list of all-time home run hitters with 756 would sell in the half-million dollar range on the open market or at auction.

That would instantly put Murphy, a college student from Queens, in the highest tax bracket for individual income, where he would face a tax rate of about 35 percent, or about $210,000 on a $600,000 ball.

Even if he does not sell the ball, Murphy would still owe the taxes based on a reasonable estimate of its value, according to Barrie. Capital gains taxes also could be levied in the future as the ball gains value, he said.

How insane is it for somebody to be in the right place at the right time and catches a baseball owes over $200,000 to the federal government? For any reason? What did the federal government do to deserve that money from this poor kid?

Let's face it, the federal tax structure needs to be scuttled and started anew...

An Alternative Bonds Theory

Who says Barry Bonds needed steroids when it was all about the body armor?

Beyond his alleged steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the "armor" that he wears on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds' unnatural bulk, the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed.

This is unfortunate, because by my estimate, Bonds' front arm "armor" may have contributed no fewer than 75 to 100 home runs to his already steroid-questionable total.

Read the whole thing. I hate to say it, but Witte's analysis seems to have some merit. Given the importance of mechanics in swinging a baseball bat, particularly when it comes to driving the ball, I can imagine that Bonds' gizmo might have had some effect on his home run totals. 75 to 100? That seems a little suspect. But, as somebody whose front shoulder tended to fly open on his swing, I can see where this mechanical device might have been able to help Bonds' mechanics.

Told Ya So

I expected to see something like this:

Braves Interested in Franco
He has hit .200 with one homer in 50 at-bats this season, but the Braves believe 48-year-old Julio Franco might be able to help them return to the playoffs.

The oldest player in baseball was designated for assignment Thursday by the New York Mets, and the Braves will consider making an offer.

"We had the benefit of having him here, watching him produce, seeing his impact," general manager John Schuerholz said. "You can't forget those things."

I'm just hoping at this point that the Orioles management don't get any funny ideas....

The End of the Line

Did time finally run out on Methuselah?:

Julio Franco may have finally run out of at-bats.

The New York Mets cut the 48-year-old utilityman Thursday, opting to give 22-year-old outfielder Lastings Milledge another chance in the majors.

The NL East leaders announced the move before starting the second half with a game against Cincinnati.

Franco hit only .200 in 50 at-bats with one home run and eight RBIs. Mostly a pinch-hitter, he also played a bit at first base and third base this season.

Franco wants to play until he's 50, and he still needs only 424 hits to reach 3,000. He is certainly better than players on a lot of team's rosters, I just wonder if he'll actually catch on with another team somewhere for the stretch drive. Wouldn't it make sense for a team like the D-Backs or Padres have his bat and experience coming off the bench?

Amzazingly Few Complains

When I heard that Brian Roberts was the lone Orioles all-star representative, and that Erik Bedard and Jeremy Guthrie had been passed over, I was somewhat skeptical. I was waiting to see which undeserving pitcher made the roster.

But take a look at the team:

Josh Beckett, Boston
Dan Haren, Oakland
Bobby Jenks, Chicago White Sox
John Lackey, L.A. Angels
Gil Meche, Kansas City
Jonathan Papelbon Boston
J.J. Putz, Seattle
Francisco Rodriguez, L.A. Angels
C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland
Johan Santana, Minnesota
Justin Verlander, Detroit

You really can't argue with any of those selections. So maybe there is no actual reason to complain that the two pitchers, both deserving of all-star game selections, got left off. And while Guthrie certainly ptitched better than a guy like Gil Meche...well, somebody had to go from the Royals.

Now the selection of Angels RHP Kelvim Escobar over the two for the final vote selection...that's another story.

There is no "I" in Team...

...but there is "ME":

Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada appeared just long enough to extend his streak of consecutive games played to 1,152, the fifth-longest in big league history. Tejada, who got hit on the left wrist by a pitch from reliever Doug Brocail on Wednesday night, bunted in his only at-bat in the first inning. Roberts was forced at second on the play, and Gomez then pinch-ran for Tejada.

For a team and a town that saw Cal Ripken and his streak extended only in legitimate fashion, this is a sad, sad commentary on both Tejada and the state of this franchise...

Less than stunning development

Joe Girardi spurns Orioles.

If you were Joe Girardi, and a lot of high profile and better run organizations than the Orioles likely will have managerial vacancies this offseason (including the Yankees), would you try and come in and put this mess back together?

Next on the agenda: Dusty Baker (please no), Davey Johnson, and Rick Dempsey. I have a funny feeling that by the All-Star Break, either Rick Dempsey will be managing the team, or Dave Tremblay will still be the interim skipper...

Seeing is Believing

"I'm absolutely responsible for baseball operations,"
- Andy MacPhail

Let's hope so. I cannot actually trust that to be the case until I see Peter Angelos letting MacPhail do his job the way he needs to do his job. Until then, he's just another face stuck in the revolving door of Orioles management types.

Peter Schmuck is giddy:

For once, they didn't have to open the windows on the sixth floor of the B&O Warehouse to get some fresh air.

New Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail took the podium this morning and took charge of this floundering franchise and, cynics be damned, it sure felt like a new day in Birdland.

It started with the structure of the media conference, in which club counsel (and Peter Angelos surrogate) Russell Smouse made the introduction instead of executive vice president Mike Flanagan. It started with Smouse acknowledging that ownership finally has gotten the message from the club's disgusted and diminished fan base and announcing unequivocally that MacPhail would have "full and ultimate responsibility" for the operation of the team.

Smouse was speaking for Angelos, who should have been there himself, but let's not quibble at a time like this. The Orioles -- for the first time since they hired Pat Gillick -- have a baseball operations czar with the kind of juice to affect dynamic change inside the organization and repair the team's broken image in the community and around the major leagues.

And I hope he is right. I was four years old in 1983, when the Orioles knocked off the Phillies. I cling to (and still wear regularly) my "1997 Eastern Division Champions" t-shirt, because it's the only thing I have left that signifies playoff success. I hope that, by next year, I have a reason to switch out that portion of my wardrobe.

That was the other shoe

Nobody is surprised that Sam Perlozzo was fired . A month ago we knew that, for better or for worse, Perlozzo's head was on the gallows and that it was just a matter of time before Boris dropped the floor.

Here is the real surprise of today's proceedings; Andy MacPhail:

Meanwhile, the same sources said Andy MacPhail has reached an agreement to be the Orioles' chief operating officer.

MacPhail and Girardi overlapped in Chicago during MacPhail's tenure as Cubs president and CEO of the Chicago Cubs, which began in 1994 and ended in 2006. Girardi, who managed the Florida Marlins in 2006, was the Cubs' catcher for two stints totaling six seasons, the last from 2000-02.

MacPhail won two World Series championships as general manager of the Minnesota Twins in 1987 and 1991.

And that probably makes Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette very nervous campers right about now. MacPhail has a pedigree for winning; they don't, and this year certainly does not help their cause.

The question is this: will MacPhail be given the ability to do his job properly? Remember that Pat Gillick only lasted three years as the O's GM before bailing out of town.

Maybe, just maybe, Peter Angelos has finally seen the writing of the wall and understands that, like George Steinbrenner, sometimes being hands off works out a little better than being so hands on. Maybe Angelos realizes the free agent bounty that awaits in the coming off season and that MacPhail, with the backing of the Angelos checkbook, can rebuild this team into an honest to god contender.

Now, let's hold our breath and see if Joe Girardi really wants to be here....

Guthrie: ND

Jeremy Guthrie tonight: 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 2 BB. And he leaves in a tie game....

Can't this guy catch a break?

Oh, and Chad Bradford allowed a run three batters after entering the game....

We're going to have to be the 1980 A's in order to compete at this point...