Fastball Fans

Chicago acquired outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., 38, and cash from Cincinnati for reliever Nick Masset and Triple-A second baseman Danny Richar. Griffey was hitting .245 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs. The Reds agreed to pay some of the money left on Griffey’s contract to get the deal done. He makes $12.5 million this season and has an option for 2009 at a $16.5 million salary.

What a sweet win. You all know what happened — the Orioles finally snapped a streak of 15 consecutive Sunday losses as they beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-2, on a overcast and rainy day in the mid-Atlantic region.

Guillermo Quiroz had three RBI’s to down Ervin Santana — who walked into the Yard with eleven wins. Olson looked great as he finally pitched to his potential, going a little more then six innings and giving the Orioles a chance to win.

George Sherrill earned his 30th save, and time will tell if he’s in an Oriole uniform by weeks’ end due to the trade deadline.

It was a great Sunday and even better to see the Orioles finally win on the Sabbath. We’ve got changes to make, moves to do — Liz was sent back to Norfolk, while Walker was activated — and whatever else, but the Orioles landed on the Worldwide Sports Leader, perhaps for all the wrong reasons — but hey, we needed the win.

Last night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the 1983 World Championship reunited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the organization’s third and most recent World Series victory.

Although I was only five years old when Baltimore won the holy grail, and have absolutely no recollection of that time aside from a few events, it was nice to partake in the nostalgia and learn why the 1983 team was so special and still resonate in the hearts of many.

Through stories and images shown on the large video screen in center field — before, during and after the game — fans who remember that period got to relive happy memories; meanwhile, a whole new generation got to see a winning Oriole team on the field.

During the on-field ceremonies, the players seem to jostling and having fun with one another. Despite the crowd being a lot smaller than expected in the stands — as it seemed a lot of fans were waiting for autographs in the concourse and on Eutaw Street (where the trophy was being displayed) — the fans gave their respects to their heroes of yesteryear, and the players responded in kind.

Seeing Cal, Eddie, Mike Flanagan, Boddicker, Jim Palmer, Dennis Martinez along with Tippy on the field with my own eyes brought back images I’ve seen on video as well as stories I’ve heard and again from the mouths of fans and the media about the good ol’ days of Oriole baseball.

Although many fans have not experienced seeing the Orioles as a winning team, it was good to see the good ‘ol days once again come to life and in living color.

In other news, it rained hard and stormed last night – the game was suspended until Thursday afternoon — and the Orioles managed to lose two games in a row in the same day.

To view more, check out my blog, The Oriole Post

Folks, I’m alive. It’s just been a busy week, and I didn’t do much because I was pretty worn out from my whole All-Star experience and then commuting back home (which was all right), but considering I didn’t get back into my hotel until nearly 4am after the game and had to check out by 11am, I didn’t get much done.

It’s not cool to have a game end at 1:4o in the morning, and then take a train back to Manhattan to pick up your car. Baseball needs to start the All-Star Game earlier, so actually a generation could be able to watch an event in it’s entirety.

The pictures are coming - you just have to wait another day or two.

This year’s rendition of the midsummer was nothing short of amazing, and was worth every penny I spent on this trip. Though it was a drag watching a game go fifteen innings and having adrenaline keep you up, it was a lot of fun to partake in especially with the conversations I had with various fans around me.

I will say that the event this year at Yankee Stadium was perhaps underwhelming in comparison to what I saw with the last few I saw in person, it exuded a lot of class. The tribute the fans give to Bobby Murcer before the game was extremely touching; as well, seeing the Hall of Famers on the field side by side joined by the starters at each position added a touch of nostalgia and respect.

Notes:

• Seeing George Steinbrenner on the field during the pre-game stuff was very interesting. I sat in the upper deck, perhaps along the third base line and 6 rows up the railing, but you could clearly tell he was not in good shape. He looked extremely moved by the whole affair, and was just in awe. Personally, I have mixed feelings about him — considering his ownership tenure, and being suspended from baseball twice; however, his philanthropy and assisting those in need (especially the Virginia Tech community after the shootings), doesn’t make him a bad guy — just an overly competitive man who can be uncompromising.
• The game itself dragged at times, and I was kind of alarmed at the response the Sox players got. Yes, I am not a Yankee fan — but could the differences between Yankee and Sox fan be put aside for one day? Even at the end of the game, J.D. Drew got booed without mercy. Even funnier, Scott Kazmir and Evan Longoria got booed too — so perhaps, the Rays are now officially part of the American League East dance. However, for one night — I wish Yankee fans would have put their hatred towards other teams and players aside.
• Dan Uggla — what can you say? Great bat, ok glove; however, when it rains it pours, and he just looked awful…
• The contrast in reaction between A-Rod and Jeter was startling. While both men got cheers their way — Jeter was cheered respectfully and with passion; A-Rod, um, not so much.
• It was nice to see a competitive game, rather than a glorified exhibition. Say what you want about Bud Selig, but his addition of home field advantage for the World Series brought the best out of the reserves who got to play in the duration of the game. You saw a bit of everything and McLouth’s throw in the latter part of the game to nail Navarro was amazing (of course he extended the game by a few more innings.)
• Papelbon got serenaded with boos as bad as I have ever heard. While I think he made some stupid remarks out of ego concerning closing out the game, it was blown way, way out of proportion by the New York media. After the eighth inning, let’s just say he got it from the New York faithful.
• New Yorkers love Sheryl Crow — um, Bud Selig, no; Sarah Jessica Parker who brought a ladies’ view of New York onto the small screen, seemingly isn’t well liked either.
• We (the fans) were coming up with strategies what the teams would do if the game even went longer; however, no one of us thought that we could have seen David Wright or J.D. Drew pitch? What in the world. I am so glad it didn’t happen, or else this game would have been turned into a complete joke.
• There was a lot of good baseball — and the ugly — (i.e., Uggla, not scoring with runners in scoring position), but Francona managed the game brilliantly and Hurdle did well too (leaving his guy, Aaron Cook to pitch three innings) and being creative with using his players (Cristian Guzman at third??)
• Needless to say, George Sherrill was impressive. He 2 1/3 innings on Tuesday, or should I say Wednesday morning — especially after his horrible week prior — awesome.

Finally, I wore my Oriole cap along with my Terps T-shirt, I got zero problems whatsoever from Yankee fans (then again, if I sat in the bleachers - I might be in jail or not around to tell my story). In fact, I saw a few Oriole fans there, including a lady who wore a “This is Birdland” T-shirt, as well, I had the extremely good fortune of sitting close to a O’s fan, and in back of me was a Nationals fan with his son from Chevy Chase, Md. — the next town over fom where I live.

Great game to see, and it’s always nice to see history — again.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Washington Nationals; July 10th, 2008

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Washington Nationals; July 8th, 2008

Sometimes spending a lot for a big ticket item doesn’t work out…

Slugger Richie Sexson was finally released Thursday by the Mariners after a slump that lasted for most of two seasons and made him a target of constant booing from frustrated Seattle fans.

The Mariners would have loved to have been able to trade Sexson, but his $14 million salary this season made that nearly impossible. So now Seattle is eating the rest of that money — $6,120,219 Sexson is owed from Friday through the end of the season — in what may be the first of multiple moves to rid the last-place team of underperforming veteran players.

That amount would be reduced by a prorated share of the $390,000 minimum salary if Sexson signs with another team.

“I think we gave Richie a lot of rope… and there just wasn’t enough improvement,” said Mariners interim general manager Lee Pelekoudas.

Good luck, Richie.

Being from Maryland, I feel bad for Mariners’ fans - I really do. Now, you all see what we had to put with up…

The Mariners placed opening-day starter Erik Bedard on the 15-day disabled list with stiffness in his left shoulder. The move, retroactive to July 5, means Bedard will be eligible to return on July 20 — and will miss some chances to be showcased for teams interested in possibly trading for him before the July 31 deadline for deals without waivers. Bedard has just six wins in 15 starts and has not pitched since going five innings on July 4, extending his trend of not being able to pitch deep into games.

Ah, Erik. You were going to expose yourself sooner or later. All the hype, hope, etc. Now, you’re really hated in Seattle…

Congrats, Evan and Corey…

Hart got the news from Brewers manager Ned Yost as he walked into the Miller Park interview room with his two young children after Milwaukee’s 11-1 win over Colorado. A couple minutes into his news conference, about a dozen of his teammates rushed into the room and sprayed Hart and his children with beer, loudly cheering his first-time selection.

Milwaukee supported the outfielder with its “I Hart New York” campaign, and Hart himself did several interviews a day to drum up support.

“It was a frustrating experience, but it paid off with all the campaigning. Now, it’s worth it,” said Hart, who hit his 15th homer in the Brewers’ win Thursday and is batting .292 with 57 RBIs.

Longoria received 9 million votes for the AL spot and was followed by Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox, Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees, Brian Roberts of the Orioles and Jose Guillen of Kansas City.

Longoria had a .281 average, 16 homers and 53 RBIs entering the AL East-leading Rays’ game at Cleveland on Thursday night.

“He earned it,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “He made a strong push in the last month. It’s quite a testament to him.”

Hart got 8 million votes and was followed by the New York Mets’ David Wright, Philadelphia’s Pat Burrell, San Francisco’s Aaron Rowand and Houston’s Carlos Lee.

Should be a grand ol’ time…