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...

In the end, even very late in a series where the Orioles hit so little, they still had a chance. In that eighth inning, with the season hanging in the balance and the outlook not looking so good, they were still just one hit away. So close. Still, losing yesterday - even to the Yankees - beats what the past 14 Octobers felt like. The Orioles took us on an amazing ride this season and provided memories to last a lifetime. I loved this quote from this column by ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. "I...

Thoughts as the League Championship Series get started: * The Orioles need a big-game, season-saving pitcher, ala the Yankees' CC Sabathia. The Orioles' pitching depth is nice, but a Sabathia-type pitcher would be ideal. Sabathia beat the Orioles twice in the Division Series, once with 120 pitches and another with 121. This offseason, the Orioles should sign Nate McLouth and renegotiate with Mark Reynolds - maybe two years and $11 million instead of picking up the one-year option. The...

I just got home from Nationals Park a few minutes ago, and wanted to post some quotes from Nats general manager Mike Rizzo before hitting the pillow for the next 3 1/2 weeks. Before I share Rizzo's postgame comments, though, I wanted to say thank you to all of you who read my work here on MASNsports.com, commented, interacted with me on Twitter or in any way helped make this season so fun for me. I joined the Nationals beat a couple weeks into spring training this year and had to play a bit...

Adam LaRoche has a $10 million mutual option for next season, which he's sure to decline in search of a more lucrative deal. Edwin Jackson is set to become a free agent yet again. The Nationals' 2012 season just ended, and ended in stunning fashion. But general manager Mike Rizzo and his staff have been preparing for the offseason for about three or four weeks, and soon enough, they'll need to decide how to proceed with both LaRoche and Jackson. LaRoche says he hopes to be back with the...

Drew Storen stood in front of his locker wearing his grey undershirt with red sleeves. He looked at the floor, paced around the Nationals clubhouse a bit, then came back to his locker. Veteran infielder Mark DeRosa walked over and gave Storen a hug and a few words of encouragement. Starter Gio Gonzalez followed, as did general manager Mike Rizzo. Storen stared at the ground a bit more, playing at the carpet with his toes. Plastic sheets were pulled up above the lockers towards the ceiling. A...

As the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated the most improbable of comebacks in the Nationals Park infield, outfielder Jayson Werth knelt on the top step of the home dugout, his head bent in a cross between disappointment and disbelief. Behind him, stunned fans watched a celebration they never expected to see unfold, their plans to whoop it up after reaching the National League Division Series short-circuited. For the seconds immediately following the Cardinals' 9-7 win over the Nationals early...