Get ready for this because it is surely coming. A theme for columns and stories about the 2013 Orioles is going to be how they can't possibly duplicate the 2012 squad in wins in close games. So how will the 2013 Birds overcome that? The Orioles went 29-9 in one-run games in the regular season. Their .763 win percentage is the highest in major league history. In the AL this year, Cleveland was second at .667 (24-12). Every other AL East team played under .500 ball in one-run games: .468 -...

I wasn't at M&T Bank Stadium yesterday, but I heard that Orioles manager Buck Showalter received a huge ovation while walking to midfield as the Ravens' honorary captain. He stood on their sideline for the anthem, though the FOX announcers didn't seem to notice. Showalter was positioned in plain view beside coach John Harbaugh. You couldn't miss him. Ravens and Orioles. It's always nice when birds collide. One of the unfortunate developments in the American League Division Series...

One of the moments from the postgame scene after Friday's loss that I won't forget for quite a while was catcher Kurt Suzuki, who had just finished talking to a group of reporters, slowly walking away from his locker. Suzuki seemed unsure of where to go or what exactly to do. He turned to infielder Chad Tracy and quietly said what everyone in the Nationals' clubhouse was probably thinking. "I'm not ready to be done playing," Suzuki said. The Nats will have a while to think about their...

Nolan Reimold began the 2012 season as the Orioles' left fielder and had a big month of April. Nate McLouth ended the 2012 season as the Orioles' left fielder and had a big month of September - and then went 7-for-22 in the American League Division Series. He had five RBIs in six postseason games. Reimold seemed to carry the Orioles at times early in the season. He played in just 16 games batting .313 with five homers, 10 RBIs and with an OPS of .960. It looked like he might be on his way to...

I checked the comments on this blog throughout the day and night, and I'm so appreciative of the many kind words. Please don't think for a minute that they went ignored. They meant a lot to me. I plan on watching football today and perhaps consuming a drink that includes an olive or two. There could be a cigar in my future. But I wanted to revisit a few of manager Buck Showalter's comments from yesterday. I spoke to Showalter toward the end of the season about his contract and whether...

Nine games. Nine wins. That is how close the Nationals were to a World Series title. Twice they were down to one strike from dethroning the current world champions. The St. Louis Cardinals celebrated. The Nationals headed home. The Cardinals were sweating the Nationals, a team that eight years ago deployed a pretty much decimated minor league system. A team that was pretty much orphaned by Major League Baseball. They had 59 wins in 2008, 59 wins in 2009 and 100 wins in 2012. In 2008 and...

Now that the Orioles are done playing in 2012, manager Buck Showalter will undergo surgery Wednesday on a right knee that's required treatment all season and often left him limping or using a fungo bat for support. Less painful was the time he spent chatting with reporters in the home dugout this afternoon. On whether it felt weird to wake up this morning without a game to play: "Weird? Not yet. At some point, your body kind of goes, 'OK, that abuse, I'm getting ready to pay you back.'...

The Orioles estimated that about 500 fans waited to greet them at Camden Yards early this morning when they arrived from New York at 12:50 a.m. The crowd formed a human tunnel and cheered as players, coaches and manager Buck Showalter walked through it. Executive vice president Dan Duquette signed autographs again this afternoon before making it inside the Orioles' clubhouse, where a few players packed up their belongings for the winter. The roll call included Wei-Yin Chen, Troy Patton,...

A number of Mark DeRosa's teammates have said he'd make a great manager one day. DeRosa is a baseball man through and through, can relate to players regardless of their age or position and has a sense of humor which allows him to bring levity to tough situations. But DeRosa doesn't think he's ready to stop playing just yet. The 37-year-old hit just .188 in 85 at-bats during yet another injury-riddled campaign. An oblique injury cost him much of the season and the death of his father made...

With two outs in the top of the ninth, Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma delivered back-to-back RBI singles and ending the Nationals' magical season. One day after earning the Game 4 win, Drew Storen served up four runs in the ninth to allow the Cardinals beat the Nationals in the most heartbreaking way possible, to win the National Legaue Division Series. St. Louis will now face San Francisco in the National League Championship Series. Here's a roundup of what other media outlets are saying...