When you list the men that have helped escalate salaries in baseball over the years like Marvin Miller, Don Fehr and Scott Boras, don't leave out the name Tom Hicks. He was the owner of the Texas Rangers who gave Alex Rodriguez a 10-year, $252 million dollar contract in December of 2000. Hicks now agrees that was a dumb move. Well, duh. Most of the baseball world knew it was a dumb move then. I don't remember every detail and won't try to rewrite history here. But, by my recollection,...

It wasn't my birthday, but I received a nice surprise a few minutes ago. Jim Palmer submitted a comment to the blog that I wanted to post here, in case anyone missed it. As I always say, you never know who's reading. Roch, thanks for the kind words and birthday wishes. Please thank all your Oriole blogger fans for their gracious comments. Your blog and the fans response were a wonderful birthday present, even if my birthday made me the same age as the speed limit on the beltway! No...

There were so many ways to statistically quantify how dramatic the turnaround was for the Orioles under Buck Showalter. You can look at the starting pitching stats or the hitting with runners in scoring position stats. You could also look at how the O's did when playing the Beasts of the AL East. Before Showalter took over, the club won just one of 15 series vs. the East. Then, under Buck, they won five of nine. They were 10-35 before Buck and 14-13 vs. the East with Buck. Here is what...

The Orioles were well-represented last night in the Arizona Fall League. Xavier Avery, leading off and playing center field, went 4-for-5 with a walk, stolen base and three runs scored in Scottsdale's 11-4 victory over Phoenix. I'm told that Avery is widely considered the fastest player in the AFL. Ryan Adams, starting again at third base, went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Catcher Caleb Joseph was 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Oliver Drake got the win after allowing two runs and...

After a full year of injuries and plate inconsistency, Nationals catcher Derek Norris made an emphatic debut in his first two games this week in the Arizona Fall League with a two-run homer, a couple of walks and another safety for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Norris hopes the minor adjustments he made to his swing at instructs will make the difference throughout the next month of Fall ball. Nationals hitting coordinator Rick Schu monitored Norris' progress in Viera and says it is no surprise...

On November 9th, the Smithsonian will host New York Times bestselling author Jane Leavy to discuss her new book, "The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood." Former Senators slugger Frank Howard will be among the special guests invited to speak about Mantle at Baird Auditorium in the National Museum of Natural History at 7 p.m. on that Tuesday evening. He will be joined by former Mantle teammates Jim Bouton and Phil Linz. Phil Hochberg, former Washington Senators and...

Recently, Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg were named as finalists for Washington D.C.'s Power 30 Under 30 Awards. The Power 30 Under 30 Awards honor outstanding individuals under the age of 30 who have achieved extraordinary success. Young leaders are recognized in Arts, Entertainment, & Media, Business, Community Service, Politics, Science & Technology and Sports. Both Zimmerman, 26, and Strasburg, 22, were nominated in the Sports category, along with Alexander Ovechkin, Devon...

Now through December 3rd, Nats fans can show support for Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Nyjer Morgan by voting in the annual This Year in Baseball Awards. You watch your Gold Glove third baseman make sparking defensive plays night after night at Nationals Park and on MASN. Make sure he gets selected as "Defensive Player of the Year" by voting here. Stephen Strasburg is also up for two awards -- Performance of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Rookie is tough, both because he only...

Jim Palmer is 65 today. How is this happening? If he's 65, that means we're all growing older, and that's not possible. I didn't sign any papers allowing it. I'll hire a Dream Team of lawyers and fight it in court. They can't do this to us. I'll always feel a certain connection to "Cakes" because he pitched in the first game I ever attended with my father at Memorial Stadium. Home games were rarely televised, so seeing the Orioles in their crisp white uniforms made my eyes bulge...

The O's may not be battling their way through postseason play this October, but for O's fans abroad this time of year, the voice of the postseason might start to feel familiar. Gary Thorne, your very own O's play-by-play announcer on MASN, was recently given the same role to play in the international broadcasts of the 2010 ALCS and World Series. Starting today, Thorne will work together with Cy Young Award-winner Rick Sutcliffe to bring baseball fans from 219 countries and territories and...