Scottsdale Scorpions catcher Derek Norris' bat has made a lot of noise in the Arizona Fall League, with coaches, scouts and media noticing across the nation. Considered one of the Nationals' top catching prospects for a few seasons now, Norris hit just .210 during the season at Double-A Harrisburg. But Norris said he realized he was freezing up a bit in the batters' box this summer but now is swinging "free and easy" in Arizona. The results have been very impressive. Norris is tied with...

DAY DATE TIME TEAMS Wed 10/26/11 7:00 PM Pikeville College @ Louisville (L) Thu 11/03/11 7:00 PM Bellarmine @ Louisville (L) Fri 11/11/11 7:00 PM Tennessee-Martin @ Louisville (L) Fri 11/11/11 9:00 PM Mt. St. Mary's @ Marquette (L) Sat 11/12/11 4:00 PM Fordham @ Syracuse (L) Sat 11/12/11 7:00 PM St. Francis (NY) @ Seton Hall (L) Sun 11/13/11 7:00 PM Alabama St @...

MASN, the local leader in live sports entertainment, will broadcast up to 200 college baseball games this season, offering viewers a lineup of everything from local college games to contests featuring Top 25 teams. The regional sports network's extensive hoops schedule includes regional favorites from Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, covering 12 conferences and major tournaments, including the BB&T Classic and the Great Alaska Shootout. For the sixth...

One of the first key hires for new Orioles vice president Dan Duquette will be a new scouting director to replace Joe Jordan, who left to take a job with the Phillies. Duquette said yesterday he would consider internal candidates for any openings and the Orioles have a man on the staff now that is interested in the scouting director job. That is Ron Hopkins, who from 2004 through 2009 was the Texas Rangers' scouting director and he joined the Orioles before the 2011 season as a national...

Now that Dan Duquette has joined the Orioles' front office as executive vice president of baseball operations, he needs to decide how many changes will accompany his arrival. It's pretty clear that Duquette values the information coming from director of baseball operations Matt Klentak. Duquette made reference yesterday to some of the impressive young executives in the front office, and Klentak will join him in Milwaukee next week for the GM meetings. "Matt is a bright kid," Duquette...

Pitcher Chris Jakubauskas has signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jakubauskas broke the news on his Twitter account earlier today. "Have new home for 2012. Heading back west to the Valley of the Sun. Looking forward to meeting new teammates and improving on 2011." Jakubauskas also tweeted: "I want to also thank The Orioles and the city of B-More. I enjoyed my time there and wish them great success in the years to come." The Orioles outrighted Jakubauskas after the...

Cal Ripken Jr. has arrived in Japan, where he's participating in a diplomatic mission from through Nov. 16. Ripken, who serves as a U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy, was feted at a reception at the U.S. Embassy, where he learned more about Tomodachi, a joint initiative between the United States and Japan to help the victims of March's earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In Japanese, Tomodachi means "friend." You can read Ripken's written blog here. Here's a video segment detailing Ripken's...

If you haven't gotten your fill of Dan Duquette today, here are more quotes from today's press conference. On competing in the American League East: "That's the challenge of the job. The way we're going to be competitive is we're going bring in some players and build from the ground up." "It can be done. I learned in a small market, I applied my skills in a small market to put together a top quality team and also worked from a major market perspective. In some respects, if you just...

Beginning at midnight on Wednesday, November 9, Washington Nationals fans are encouraged to visit http://give2max.razoo.com/story/Washington-Nationals-Dream-Foundation to donate money to the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation as part of "Give to the Max Day: Greater Washington," a one-day regional online fundraiser to help raise money for D.C.-area nonprofit organizations. The Dream Foundation is calling on the support of Nationals fans across the region to donate money during the 24...

The man who used to pretend he was Brooks Robinson as a kid and who later delivered newspapers to the Massachusetts home of Mark Belanger made his way into the MASNsports.com studios today for a one-on-one video interview. I had a chance to ask new Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette about getting back into the game, his initial top priorities, working with manager Buck Showalter and more.