Some have said they think the wild card playoff game should be more than just one game. That it should be a best-of-three series and that would be more fair after playing 162 games - or even 163 as Tampa Bay played. My take: Leave it the way it is, as a one-game playoff. I prefer that for the drama, the tension, the pressure and all that a one-and-done scenario creates. O's fans probably can still remember the butterflies dancing in their stomachs as the Orioles played in Texas last...

On June 5 of this season, Anthony Rendon started his first big league game at second base. Rendon had been promoted from Triple-A Syracuse the day prior, marking his second stint with the Nationals, and Danny Espinosa, who had been the Nats' starting second baseman the vast majority of the season up to that point, had been placed on the disabled list. That day, June 5, served as a turning point as far as the Nationals' second base job went for the remainder of the season. Rendon effectively...

When Manny Machado collapsed on the infield dirt at Tropicana Field, tears filling his eyes as he grabbed his left knee, three thoughts immediately sprung to my mind. 1. Is it his ankle? 2. Is his career in jeopardy? 3. Is this a chronic issue? The first two questions became fairly easy to answer. It wasn't his ankle, and my first clue was that whole grabbing-the-knee thing. But the ankle definitely turned. Machado's career seems to be safe, considering the diagnosis and how surgery...

Nationals minor league right-hander Taylor Hill was named a minor league Gold Glove award winner on Tuesday. The announcement was made by Minor League Baseball and the Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., Inc. The Gold Glove is awarded to players that exhibit stellar defense at their position for the season. The 24-year-old Hill joins second baseman Steve Lombardozzi as the second Nationals farmhand to be honored with a Gold Glove. Lombardozzi received his minor league Gold Glove in 2011. Hill made...

Orioles first-round draft pickHunter Harvey, is no longer pitching in any games during the club's instructional league workouts at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. "He just has a sore lower back and it's from running and conditioning and doing PFPs (pitchers' fielding practice)," O's director of player development Brian Graham said. "We're not pitching him in a game, but it's not a concern, not an injury. "He had a great year and threw the ball well and did everything we wanted...

That stone-cold visage he displays in the dugout isn't the look on Buck Showalter's face every minute of every day. The Orioles manager may look serious as a heart attack during a game, but he has a heart of gold when it comes to kids. So it's no surprise that Orioles manager Buck Showalter has partnered with KidsPeace, an organization that gives hope, help and healing to children, families and communities throughout the United States. Not every kid is lucky enough to get to spend an...

One of the under-the-radar hurlers that is making a nice move within the Nationals organization is right-handed reliever Richie Mirowski. Along with Aaron Barrett and Robert Benincasa, Mirowski is one to watch for in 2014. Mirowski went 8-3 with a 1.50 ERA in 32 games for high Single-A Potomac. In 48 innings, Mirowski had 59 strikeouts and 11 walks, yielding an amazing .180 batting average against. Potomac manager Brian Daubach said Mirowski added a third pitch that became one of his biggest...

The Orioles didn't qualify for the playoffs this year, but Adam Jones will get to experience more of the postseason. Not the way that he did in 2012. Not as a center fielder. Jones will serve as a guest studio analyst for MLB Network during the month of October, joining Raul Ibanez, Mark Teixeira, Mark DeRosa and longtime broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. Harrelson will be the first guest analyst on "MLB Tonight" with a two-night stint beginning Friday. Did anyone tell him that the...

Offseason baseball events have come a long way since the rubber chicken awards dinners of winters past. Mark your calendars now for Wednesday, Dec. 4 - that's the night when the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation will host "The Hot Corner: A Conversation of Baseball Greats" at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event will feature an intimate conversation between Cal Ripken Jr., the longtime Orioles third baseman who was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, and...

Last night's Rays win over the Rangers in the American League play-in game means that former Nationals great David DeJesus will taste the postseason for the first time in his 11-year big league career. What do you think DeJesus will remember most about this season - finally reaching the playoffs, or those three at-bats he got in a Nationals uniform back in August? They're probably about even, is my guess. If someone was stranded in a cave without TV or the Internet for the last six months,...