Strange things happening in Birdland

July 9, 2009

News item: The Orioles came back from another big deficit on Wednesday to defeat the Seattle Mariners and take the rubber game of the three-game series at Safeco Field.

Recent columns

• McNair saga reads like many tragic celebrity tales

  July 7, 2009

  Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair left this world under tawdry circumstances, which might help some people come to grips with another senseless, violent death, but you know it's not as simple as somebody just being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing.

• McNair saga reads like many tragic celebrity tales

  July 6, 2009

  Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair left this world under tawdry circumstances, which might help some people come to grips with another senseless, violent death, but you know it's not as simple as somebody just being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing.

• Orioles on the verge of ... something

  July 5, 2009

  The Orioles have reached the mathematical halfway marker in this transitional 2009 season, and we've learned as much about ourselves as we have about this maddening team.

• Orioles on the verge of ... something

  July 4, 2009

  The Orioles have reached the mathematical halfway marker in this transitional 2009 season, and we've learned as much about ourselves as we have about this maddening team.

• Green is good, at least for that kind of football

  July 3, 2009

  News item: The Ravens are installing natural sod at M&T Bank Stadium for the big July 24 soccer game between AC Milan and Chelsea.

• Ravens say green is good for AC Milan-Chelsea

  July 2, 2009

  News item: The Ravens are installing natural sod at M&T Bank Stadium for the big July 24 soccer game between AC Milan and Chelsea.

• Orioles running Trembley out of a job?

  July 1, 2009

  Throughout his minor and major league coaching career, Dave Trembley has been known as a stickler for the little things. He wants the game played right, and he knows his future as Orioles manager depends on this year's team taking a significant developmental step forward over the next three months.

• Orioles running Trembley out of a job?

  June 30, 2009

  Throughout his minor and major league coaching career, Dave Trembley has always been known as a stickler for the little things. He wants the game played right and he knows his future as Orioles manager depends on this year's team taking a significant developmental step forward over the next three months.

• Sign of things to come? O's introduce Hobgood

  June 28, 2009

  Orioles top draft choice Matt Hobgood looked like a young businessman when he arrived Saturday at Camden Yards to sign his first professional contract. He was wearing a conservative black suit, much in contrast to the "Cali look" that got him a playful earful from Adam Jones and Aubrey Huff the day before.

• Sign of things to come? O's introduce Hobgood

  June 27, 2009

  Orioles top draft choice Matt Hobgood looked like a young businessman when he arrived at Camden Yards to sign his first professional contract on Saturday. He was wearing a conservative black suit, which was much in contrast to the "Cali look" that got him a playful earful from Adam Jones and Aubrey Huff the day before.

• Up-and-down O's pushing the pace in the rear

  June 26, 2009

  News item: The Orioles open a three-game interleague series against the Washington Nationals tonight at Camden Yards after an up-and-down road trip through Philadelphia and Miami.

• Up-and-down O's pushing the pace in the rear

  June 25, 2009

  News item: The Orioles open a three-game interleague series against the Washington Nationals on Friday night at Camden Yards after an up-and-down road trip through Philadelphia and Miami.

• Orioles facing decisions as trade deadline looms

  June 24, 2009

  It's not trade time just yet, but the recent upturn in the fortunes of the Orioles has created just enough buzz to start wondering which direction the team should go when Andy MacPhail's phone starts ringing in July.

• It's time to start contemplating O's trade options

  June 23, 2009

  It's not trade time just yet, but the recent upturn in the fortunes of the Orioles has created just enough buzz to start wondering which direction the team should go when Andy MacPhail's phone starts ringing in July.

• Staff ace role too much for Guthrie

  June 21, 2009

  It wasn't that long ago that Orioles fans - and the media - viewed right-hander Jeremy Guthrie as the steal of the century, which wasn't hard to do since the century was only a few years old anyway.

• Too fast, too soon for Guthrie

  June 20, 2009

  It wasn't that long ago that Orioles fans -- and the media -- viewed right-hander Jeremy Guthrie as the steal of the century, which wasn't hard to do since the century was only a few years old anyway.

• Just add seasoning: Orioles will get better

  June 19, 2009

  News item: The Orioles have rebounded from a deep offensive slump but remain mired at the bottom of the American League East standings with little hope of finishing this season with a .500 record.

• Just add seasoning: Orioles will get better

  June 18, 2009

  News item: The Orioles have rebounded from a deep offensive slump but still remain mired at the bottom of the American League East standings with little hope of finishing this season with a .500 record.

• Marshall gets Ravens-receiver rumor mill churning again

  June 17, 2009

  The flavor of the week in the Ravens' attempt to solidify the receiver position is disgruntled Denver Broncos wide-out Brandon Marshall, which should tell you a couple of things about the situation.

• Marshall gets Ravens-WR rumor mill churning again

  June 16, 2009

  The flavor of the week in the Ravens' attempt to solidify the receiver position is disgruntled Denver Broncos wide-out Brandon Marshall, which should tell you a couple of things about the situation.

• No one's willing to step up to the plate for O's

  June 14, 2009

  In the midst of a horrible offensive slump that has sent the Orioles into a tailspin, the question hangs in the air like another soft fly ball with men in scoring position.

• No one is willing to step up to plate for O's

  June 13, 2009

  In the midst of a horrible offensive slump that has sent the Orioles into an early summer tailspin, the question hangs in the air like another soft fly ball with men in scoring position.

• Respect for Harbaugh rises; Manny, not so much

  June 12, 2009

  News item: Ravens coach John Harbaugh is one of five current and past NFL head coaches who are headed to the Persian Gulf to take part in the inaugural NFL/USO Coaches Tour.

• NFL stature rising quickly for Ravens' Harbaugh

  June 11, 2009

  News item: Ravens coach John Harbaugh is one of five current and past NFL head coaches who are headed to the Persian Gulf to take part in the inaugural NFL/USO Coaches Tour.

• Orioles throw curve but still draft another pitcher

  June 10, 2009

  The first thing that jumps out at you when you go to the videotape of Orioles first-round draft choice Matt Hobgood is that he bears some resemblance - in size and pitching mechanics - to a highly regarded Orioles pitching prospect of the past.

• O's throw curve but still draft another pitcher

  June 9, 2009

  The first thing that jumps out at you when you go to the videotape of Orioles first-round draft choice Matt Hobgood is that he bears some resemblance -- in size and pitching mechanics -- to a highly regarded Orioles pitching prospect of the past.

• After Johnson, don't expect 300-game winner anytime soon

  June 7, 2009

  Hope you enjoyed watching Randy Johnson celebrate his 300th victory Thursday evening at Nationals Park, because you probably aren't going to see a major league pitcher do that again.

• Veg out at Oriole Park, if that's your thing

  June 5, 2009

  News item: The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has ranked Oriole Park ninth on its top-10 list of vegetarian-friendly major league ballparks and the Frederick Keys' Harry Grove Stadium fourth on its corresponding list of minor league parks that cater to vegetarian fans.

• Ravens' Smith is put in tough position

  June 3, 2009

  The Ravens were in the second day of their "Expanded Roles" minicamp, and Troy Smith was doing what he has never wanted to do at the NFL level: expand his role beyond the quarterback position.

• He came, he saw, he still has plenty of time to conquer

  May 30, 2009

  Maybe Mother Nature didn't want Matt Wieters to get a big head.

• Looking at Wieters, O's fans have star in eyes

  May 29, 2009

  Matt Wieters might or might not be the greatest Orioles prospect in history, but there is little doubt that he will arrive today at Camden Yards to greater fanfare than any young Orioles player who has come before him.

• Change, Wieters coming to Orioles

  May 27, 2009

  The new wave already was rolling in, so Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail probably figured there was no sense trying to hold back the tide - or top prospect Matt Wieters - any longer.

• O's progress is in eye of the beholder

  May 24, 2009

  The Orioles' rebuilding program marches slowly on, and there is only one thing that is absolutely certain as the team passes the quarter pole in this difficult transitional season:

• Jockeys may come in threes for 'Bird'

  May 22, 2009

  News item: Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird might run in the Belmont Stakes with his third jockey in three races because Preakness rider Mike Smith was already committed to a race in California that day.

• Orioles' new era is on the horizon

  May 20, 2009

  Orioles fans are growing restless, and why not? The O's are struggling - as everyone knew they would - and the clock seems to be running out on the stopgap options the front office employed to avoid rushing the organization's best prospects into the major leagues during what was always supposed to be a transitional season.

• Derby dodge doesn't suit queen 'Rachel'

  May 17, 2009

  Rachel Alexandra thundered over the finish line at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, and I'm pretty sure this thought was rattling around the skulls of just about everyone who has been waiting for the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978:

• Then and now, Preakness truly a gem

  May 16, 2009

  When New Mexico trainer Chip Woolley was driving across the continent with his painful broken leg in a splint to enter Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby, it probably never occurred to him that horse racing might no longer be worth the effort.

• For Ravens' offense, what a difference a year makes

  May 10, 2009

  The Ravens are in the midst of their first minicamp of 2009 and - at least at first blush - you have to wonder why they all seem so sure they will be a more potent offensive team than they were last season.

• A-Rod, Manny: Two falling stars

  May 8, 2009

  When Alex Rodriguez arrives at Camden Yards on Friday with the New York Yankees, maybe he can explain to us what would possess fellow superstar Manny Ramirez to ingest a substance questionable enough to cost him 50 games and nearly a third of his $25 million salary.

• Fans have chance to needle A-Roid

  May 6, 2009

  If you're an Orioles fan, and who can resist those lovable lunks right now, you might want to catch up on your rest over the next couple of days because you're going to have to be on your game this weekend even if your favorite team isn't.

• A-Rod's high school days, Millar's bearded ways

  May 3, 2009

  News item: The new book about to hit the shelves by Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts portrays Alex Rodriguez as a guy who took steroids in high school and tipped pitches to opposing hitters in the hope they would reciprocate and help him pad his stats.

• Orioles showing true colors

  April 30, 2009

  The only thing to do at this point is to channel Dennis Green, the former NFL coach who is remembered as much for one post-game tirade as just about anything his teams did on the football field.

• For Orioles, less than splendor in the grass

  April 28, 2009

  So far, the Orioles have lived up to their offensive potential, but wasn't this also supposed to be a much-improved defensive team? Weren't we led to expect a little more splendor in the grass?

• Stafford's future with Lions isn't going to be pretty

  April 26, 2009

  News item: The Detroit Lions took all the suspense out of the first pick in the NFL draft, agreeing with Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford on a huge contract Friday. The face value of the deal is $78 million, and he's guaranteed $41.7 million, even if the Lions go 0-16 in each of the next six seasons.

• Orioles' fall expected, but it still hurts to watch

  April 21, 2009

  The Orioles limped out of Boston on the wrong end of a discouraging four-game sweep and a swing of the emotional pendulum - for both the players and the faithful - that was so dramatic it's almost unfair to throw young Brad Bergesen in front of it in Tuesday night's series opener against the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards.

• Ravens should consider hauling in Anquan Boldin

  April 19, 2009

  News item: The Ravens might make an offer to the Arizona Cardinals for disgruntled wide receiver Anquan Boldin, though it would probably cost them a first- and third-round draft choice.

• MacPhail manages delicate balance between present, future

  April 15, 2009

  The Orioles have opened the 2009 season with a shower of base hits that has drenched some of the skepticism that followed the team out of spring training and - any minute now - figures to spawn a new conversation about the franchise's organizational priorities.

• Waiting on slots was gamble that didn't pay off for state

  April 12, 2009

  News item: The Maryland Senate has given preliminary approval to a bill that would authorize the state to acquire the rights to the Preakness and Maryland's two major horse racing facilities by eminent domain or in a bankruptcy auction.

• With no proof to the contrary, O's hope springs eternal

  February 25, 2009

  It is a very long season and it would be folly to attach much significance to any single day during the first two weeks of spring training, but I'm going to anyway.

• Even as SI muddies waters, Phelps' prize clearly visible

  November 29, 2008

  In the interest of building some modicum of suspense, the people at Sports Illustrated have assembled a large group of candidates for the magazine's Sportsman of the Year award, which will be announced Tuesday.

• Mussina is a tough Hall call

  November 23, 2008

  News item: Former Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina, who won 20 games this year for the first time in his career, announced his retirement, saying he made the decision before the start of the season and never wavered on it.

• Phelps golden with the media, too

  August 24, 2008

• Ravens' footing surest with Smith

  August 23, 2008

  Ravens coach John Harbaugh made a lot of sense when he explained why he has designated Troy Smith as the starter for tonight's Game3 of the preseason against the St.Louis Rams. Kyle Boller already has a long paper trail, and the Ravens have limited time to evaluate Smith, who played only a couple of games last year compared with Boller's 42career starts.

• Just like yesterday for '83 O's

  July 24, 2008

  They came back, almost all of them, and it was easy to see why they were so good for so long.

• Steroid era lessens achievements of sluggers like Ramirez, Robinson

  May 31, 2008

  If you were not paying close attention, you probably missed much of the countdown to Manny Ramirez's imminent entry into the once-exclusive 500 Home Run Club.

• New drug policy puts Mitchell Report in rearview

  April 12, 2008

  It would be great if we could say that Major League Baseball put a big punctuation mark on the sport's long-running steroid scandal, but I'll settle for the right decision at the right time for the right reasons.

• Hear lyin' roar

  February 14, 2008

  OK, it's all becoming clear now.

• Harbaugh's Day One energy good sign as Job One nears

  January 20, 2008

  New Ravens coach John Harbaugh said all the right things during his introductory news conference yesterday, but the most important thing came out sounding like a well-worn cliche rather than a call to arms.

• Bisciotti gets back in game

  January 19, 2008

  So much for the mistaken notion that the Ravens did not have a Plan B.

• Remember '08?

  December 31, 2007

  In my continuing effort to show how sophisticated I am, I'd like to quote the French poet Paul Valery: "The trouble with our times," he said, "is that the future is not what it used to be." Never mind that he uttered that cynical little gem several generations ago; no truer words have ever been spoken, particularly when 2007 is going to be such a tough act to follow.

• Clemens' denials get boost from Grimsley affidavit

  December 22, 2007

  If the original release of the infamous Jason Grimsley affidavit - with the names of the alleged steroid and amphetamine users blacked out for public nonconsumption - helped pull the cover off baseball's performance-enhancement scandal, the release of the unredacted version Thursday might have been an even bigger blow to the integrity of the sport.

• More O's woes

  December 17, 2007

  The great hope that blossomed around the Orioles organization with the arrival of new president Andy MacPhail was that - finally - it appeared there was a real sign owner Peter Angelos recognized that the revitalization of the franchise would require a totally new way of doing business.

• Elusive football lets baseball take steroid hit

  December 15, 2007

  During the news conference Thursday in which former Sen. George Mitchell unveiled his 409-page report on baseball's performance-enhancement scandal, I kept waiting for him to announce that he had been hired by the NFL to perform a similar investigation to root out the cheaters in America's most popular television sport.

• Baseball will long be haunted by steroid era

  December 14, 2007

  Not to get all biblical on you, but if the just-released Mitchell Report is any indication, the truth will not necessarily set you free.

• Modell's Hall snub has analogy in baseball's O'Malley

  December 10, 2007

  Though it didn't garner giant headlines in Baltimore, the news last week that the late Walter O'Malley will be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July couldn't help but make me wonder anew when they'll get around to enshrining Art Modell in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

• Schmuck: O's run of the Hall about to hit a wall

  July 31, 2007

  There are several possible reasons Sunday's Hall of Fame induction ceremony drew an estimated crowd that was 50 percent larger than any other.

• Schmuck: With glow, hope for a brighter day

  July 30, 2007

  Soon after Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. overcame their fear of public speaking, somebody tried to usher them back into the sad reality of sports in today's society.

• Schmuck: With Ripken, Gwynn, town has true legends

  July 28, 2007

  It is the pleasant nature of this quaint little upstate village that makes it so easy to overlook the disconnect between truth and legend that allowed it to become the hometown of baseball history.

• Schmuck: Ripken joy is a respite amid list of scandals

  July 26, 2007

  Orioles president Andy MacPhail has always looked young for his age, but don't mistake that for being short on perspective.

• Schmuck: A life in the spotlight

  July 22, 2007

  It must have been terribly frustrating. Cal Ripken Jr. spent his entire Hall of Fame career trying to convey something that was so basic we all just assumed there had to be more to it.

• Baseball's hallowed ground no shelter from steroid talk

  May 11, 2007

  Cal Ripken Jr. seemed to enjoy his orientation trip to upstate New York this week, but even in the idyllic small-town setting of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he could not escape the big-city questions about the troubling state of the game.

• Bonds' excuses positively pathetic

  January 12, 2007

  Of all the days of all the weeks of all the months that have been tainted by baseball's performance-enhancement scandal, Barry Bonds had to stumble back into the drug spotlight on the same day that new Hall of Famers Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were taking their post-election bows at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

• For fans in '95, Ripken's pen was mightier than his bat

  January 10, 2007

  Cal Ripken Jr.'s career speaks for itself.

• McGwire might not mind being skipped in Hall's order

  January 7, 2007

  Sometime in the early afternoon on Tuesday, Cal Ripken will pick up the phone in Baltimore and Tony Gwynn will pick up the phone in San Diego, and it won't be to make a bet on the AFC championship game.

• Throwing off players association, Grimsley hurls hGH into spotlight

  June 11, 2006

  Welcome to the worst nightmare of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

• Dry spell over as juicy story hits home

  June 9, 2006

  Don't know about you, but I was feeling a little bit left out while Barry Bonds bore down on Babe Ruth the past couple of months. How could you help but pine for those halcyon days when Baltimore was -- for a couple of months -- the center of the steroid universe.

• Hendricks' 'Oriole Way' gone, current O's are just wayward

  December 30, 2005

  It was an appropriate sendoff. Elrod Hendricks was remembered fondly by his family, friends and former teammates in a heartfelt and spiritual memorial service yesterday that drew 1,000 mourners to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. What else would you expect for a man so loved and respected in this close-knit community?

• By reaching out to others, Hendricks touched us all

  December 23, 2005

  Maybe Elrod Hendricks could only have happened in Baltimore, where our heroes don't have to be bigger than life. They just have to be like us ... or, in Elrod's case, they just have to like us as much as we like them.

• In a ballpark divided, reactions from fans provide potent mix

  August 15, 2005

  IT WAS the anabolic equivalent of "Tastes Great!" ... "Less Filling."

• Wasted words hang over return and leave little worth hearing

  August 12, 2005

  HE COULD have had us at "Hello" ... but that was 10 days ago.

• Silence speaks volumes in age of lost innocence

  August 11, 2005

  THE GREAT THING about being innocent is that you never have to make up a story to prove it.

• Palmeiro didn't provide hard truth, but Congress asked soft questions

  August 7, 2005

  WHILE WE WAIT for Congress to figure out what it is going to do with Rafael Palmeiro and Major League Baseball's flawed drug policy, it might be a good time to point out something very important.

• He may not fit the bill, but he will pay price

  August 2, 2005

  THE IMAGE still lingers. Rafael Palmeiro, called to testify before a congressional committee on March 17, pointed his finger at committee chairman Tom Davis and denied that he had ever used illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

• Robinson still knows how to bring heat when needed

  June 16, 2005

  SO MUCH FOR the myth of the mellow Frank Robinson. So much for the kinder, gentler Washington Nationals manager who used to have every kind of sharp edge as a player -- and a few in his early incarnations as a manager -- but was widely believed to have gotten in touch with his softer side.

• Orioles' Bancells earns huge save for waving Hendricks to hospital

  April 18, 2005

  IT WOULD have been so easy to make the wrong decision. The Orioles were getting ready to return home from St. Petersburg, Fla., on Thursday night, and longtime bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks just didn't feel right.