Following what proved to be an exciting 2014 season, the Washington Nationals invite fans of all ages to celebrate with their hometown team this offseason at NatsFest, returning to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday, December 13, 2014 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tickets will be available for purchase online at nationals.com/natsfest on Wednesday, October 29 at 10:00 a.m. Returning to the Convention Center, the fun-filled baseball festival will give fans the exciting...

One of the most difficult parts of a fielding a winning minor league team is keeping the roster cohesive throughout an entire season. This is a difficult proposition because the main goal of the minors is to get prospects ready for the big leagues and sometimes they are moved up based on injuries or needs the big club has, which leads to a trickle-down effect on the lower levels. In Part 2 of our series on high Single-A Potomac's championship season, we focus on how the P-Nats were able to...

For the third straight year, the Nationals have two players named finalists for Rawlings Gold Gloves. This time, it's Adam LaRoche and Denard Span. LaRoche was selected as one of three finalists among National League first basemen, along with the Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez and the Rockies' Justin Morneau. The 34-year-old LaRoche won his first Gold Glove in 2012. This season, he posted a .994 fielding percentage, making seven errors in 1,200 chances. LaRoche doesn't have tremendous range at...

Shortstop J.J. Hardy, center fielder Adam Jones and right fielder Nick Markakis have been nominated for the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. The winners will be announced on Nov. 4 on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. The ceremonies will be held on Nov. 7 in New York. The Orioles had six nominees last year, but they have to settle for half that total in 2014. The selection process is approximately 75 percent votes submitted by managers and coaches - up to seven total votes per team - and 25 percent...

Watching the World Series from Kansas City, I thought of a friend from high school whose story has to be told. John Martin grew up on a farm outside of Bryant in eastern South Dakota, near my hometown. He had bushy dark hair with thick eyebrows and a crooked smile. He had a bear-trap handshake, molded from years of never-ending chores. He loved sports, especially baseball, but it was easy to see that his best sport was football. John often joked about his baseball ability, but that never...

Former Orioles reliever Josh Stinson has signed a minor league deal with the Pirates that includes an invitation to spring training. Stinson became a minor league free agent earlier this month after going 5-5 with a 5.48 ERA in 22 games (13 starts) at Triple-A Norfolk. Stinson made the Orioles' opening day roster after allowing two unearned runs and striking out 13 in nine exhibition innings. However, he surrendered nine runs and 16 hits in 13 innings over eight appearances for a 6.23 ERA...

In 2012, Tanner Roark lost 17 games at Triple-A Syracuse. In 2013, Roark pitched well at Syracuse, made his way to the big leagues for the first time in his career and posted a stellar 1.51 ERA in 14 games, split between the bullpen and rotation. In 2014, Roark became arguably the best fifth starter in the majors. Roark's rise from frustrated minor leaguer to legitimate major league starter has been one of the more interesting stories we've seen on the Nationals roster over the last couple of...

Let's face it, Chris Tillman did not have a strong postseason for the Orioles. He gave up seven runs in 9 1/3 innings and went 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA. He went five innings, allowing two runs, against Detroit and he went 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs, against Kansas City. The Orioles rotation produced just one quality start in the postseason, so Tillman was not alone in producing stats not as good as he had during the regular season. But there's no reason to let two outings take away from...

The Orioles aren't feeling the love from opposing managers and executives in the American League. Buck Showalter finished second in Manager of the Year voting in the Sporting News and none of the Orioles were chosen as All-Stars. Don't shoot the messenger. The Sporting News staff isn't doing the voting, just tabulating the results and passing them along. Besides, the Orioles honestly don't care about that stuff. Given the choice, they prefer to fly so far under the radar that their...

Now that the Orioles have strung together three consecutive winning seasons and won their first division title in 17 years, they're determined to bring the city it's first championship since 1983. Owner Peter Angelos likes the direction that the club is headed and believes that it can reach its goal. The Orioles signed shortstop J.J. Hardy to a three-year extension during the playoffs and seem determined to get a deal done with right fielder Nick Markakis. Nelson Cruz won't receive a...