They say you never forget your first, and I never forgot Dave Boswell, the first major leaguer I ever met and talked with at length. Boswell died yesterday of an apparent heart attack at 67, and a tweet from Minnesota Twins president Dave St. Peter, followed by a Facebook post from Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, brought the sad news on an already gloomy morning. I'd spent the past couple of weeks researching Boswell's career - and reminiscing about that long-ago encounter with the...

The Orioles are expected to announce the signings today of between 10 and 12 picks taken last week in the First-Year Player Draft. The Orioles have begun contract negotiations with their second-round pick, University of Virginia right-handed pitcher Branden Kline, who I profiled in this story. They hope to begin talks with their top pick, LSU pitcher Kevin Gausman, by late this week. The most recent picks to come to terms with the club are Lex Rutledge, a left-handed pitcher taken in Round 6...

Several days before the 2012 campaign, I wrote a post at The Nats Blog offering five bold predictions on the impending Nationals season. I said at the time that the week before the season was a wonderful time for bloggers because it marked perhaps the only time all year long that we would have yet to be wrong. Well, it's nearly 60 games into the season now, so I went back to see what my preseason predictions were, and unfortunately, I have not fared well so far. Let's review: 5. Adam...

The last time Brian Roberts took the field with his Orioles teammates for something besides batting practice and infield drills was May 16, 2011 in Boston. I'm expecting to feel a bit nostalgic today when I walk into the clubhouse and glance at the magnetic board across from manager Buck Showalter's office. Roberts should be batting leadoff and starting at second base against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It would be quite a shocker if he's not activated from the 60-day disabled list. The...

Orioles 2010 top draft pick Manny Machado, a player rated by Baseball America as the sport's 11th-best prospect in February, is struggling badly at bat in the last few weeks. On May 21, Machado had a batting average of .279 and an OPS of .810. Now he is batting .234 with 15 doubles, two triples, three homers, 18 RBIs and a .695 OPS. Machado is batting just .134 at 9-for-67 over his past 17 games with no multi-hit games in that stretch. But Machado is the youngest player in the Eastern...

Poor Roger Bernadina. A day after Davey Johnson starts talking about how he's planning on giving Bernadina more playing time, the Nationals outfielder goes out and strains his right hamstring on a hustle play and needs to leave the game. And it happens the day before his birthday. Talk about tough luck. The Nats are hopeful that Bernadina's hamstring is not severely strained and he'll be able to avoid the disabled list, but they'll have to check on him today and see how he recovers from...

Earlier in the season, I wrote about how great the Orioles bullpen was doing and in the weeks since, the relievers have not only kept it up, they have gotten even better. Heading into this evening's game, the Orioles have the best bullpen in baseball in terms of ERA. But what you may not have known is that the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town, and they are bringing the best bullpen in the National League with them, the second best in baseball behind Baltimore. So if you're going to do some...

Outfielder Bryce Harper rested for eight innings Sunday. Back in the lineup Monday, he picked up where he left off with an RBI single in the first inning that scored Steve Lombardozzi. Harper finished 3-4 with two runs, a walk, a stolen base and an RBI, and is now hitting .295. .295? Yes, this rookie is here to stay. There was a recent article in USA Today about how important rookie Mike Trout was to the Angels' turnaround, saying that Trout had more of an impact on his team's play than...

The last time we saw Brian Roberts' name in an Orioles lineup was May 16, 2011 in Boston. I'm expecting to feel a bit nostalgic today when I walked into the clubhouse and glance at the magnetic board across from manager Buck Showalter's office. Roberts should be batting leadoff and starting at second base against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It would be quite a shocker if he's not activated from the 60-day disabled list. The trickle-down effect on the lineup should be minimal. If Robert...

The Nationals' injury list keeps growing. This time it's Roger Bernadina who will spend some time in the trainer's room, this after suffering a strained right hamstring while running from first to third on a wild pitch in the fourth inning of tonight's game. Bernadina slid head-first into third and immediately grimaced while asking the umpire for time. He got to his feet, hunched over at the waist and talked things over with trainer Lee Kuntz. The Nats outfielder started to walk off the...