orioles buzz

Matthew Taylor: Where O's record is concerned, no apologies necessary

July 18, 2014, 6:21am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Where O's record is concerned, no apologies necessary

Baseball's intermission is over. The second act of the 2014 season is about to get under way. Before we dim the house lights and take in the rest of the show, let's be clear about one thing: Orioles fans don't need to apologize for the team's success. The Orioles have their share of critics despite leading the American League East at the All-Star break for the first time since 1997. I was reminded of that reality by a fellow baseball fan this week when he commented of the O's first-place...

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Matthew Taylor: The hits just keep coming

July 11, 2014, 5:34am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: The hits just keep coming

The Orioles had two batters log five hits in a game within the course of two days this past week. Nelson Cruz went 5-for-5 in a 7-4 win against the Red Sox. Manny Machado then followed suit with a 5-for-6 night at the plate in Monday's 8-2 win against the Nationals. Both players fell one hit short of the team record, which Cal Ripken Jr. established on June 13, 1999 at Atlanta. Had Cruz and Machado been playing at home, they would have matched the team record for most hits in a home game,...

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Yard Talk: Battle of the Beltways

July 10, 2014, 8:03am

Orioles

This season's Battle of the Beltways kicked off on Monday in D.C. A lot of Orioles fans made the trip south to make sure there was a lot of orange at Nationals Park. On Wednesday, the battle made its way up 295 to Camden Yards. While there were Nationals fans in the stands, Baltimore fans represented to keep the Yard orange. We had Kevin Stanfield take a trip to Eutaw Street to find out how much of a rivalry exists between the Nationals and Orioles. Do you think it's a rivalry?

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Zach Wilt: Machado heating up for first-place Orioles

July 10, 2014, 5:44am

Orioles

Make no mistake about it, with the American League East wide open for the taking, I fully expect that the Orioles will be aggressive at the trade deadline. Despite falling 6-2 to the Nationals on Wednesday night, the O's still find themselves in first place in the American League East, 2 1/2 games ahead of the free-falling Toronto Blue Jays, who have lost six of seven games. The defending world champion Boston Red Sox are now 11 games below .500 and in last place, the Tampa Bay Rays appear to...

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Daniel Clark: Bottom of O's lineup providing a spark

July 09, 2014, 5:00am

Orioles

Daniel Clark: Bottom of O's lineup providing a spark

The Orioles have had a successful past nine days, winning seven of eight games and moving themselves into first place in the American League East, 2 1/2 games clear of the Toronto Blue Jays. As with any wining period, there have been a number of elements working well for the Birds and one of them has been the extremely impressive performances from the bottom third of the lineup. Since the start of the Texas series last week, the Orioles' bottom three have hit to a .309 average (29-for-94) and...

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Matthew Taylor: Hearing the call of Orioles Magic

July 04, 2014, 6:40am

Orioles

Baseball in Baltimore doesn't involve near the level of mythology that it does in bigger cities. We don't have ghosts in our stadium and the only curses fans express involve neither the Bambino nor goats. If there's any bit of enduring mystical lore around this team, it's Orioles Magic, which has taken on different forms the past few seasons to be about something other than miraculous victories. Earlier this week, I wrote about Orioles Magic in terms of comeback wins and walk-offs. Those...

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Zach Wilt: A well-rounded approach at the plate

July 03, 2014, 5:03am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: A well-rounded approach at the plate

I'm no meteorologist, but it's getting hot in Baltimore. I don't need my car thermometer, which hit triple digits on Wednesday afternoon, to convince me. All I have to do is look at the balls flying out of Camden Yards. After a slow start to the season, the Orioles' power bats have started producing in a big way. In April, the O's hit just 16 home runs, ranking 25th in Major League Baseball. Last April, they belted twice that total. The Orioles offense just finished June with a major...

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Jon Shepherd: Do minor league players deserve minimum wage salaries?

July 02, 2014, 5:05am

Orioles

Jon Shepherd: Do minor league players deserve minimum wage salaries?

Professional baseball players are pretty lucky. They have been granted amazing talent from genetics and probability. They have taken that talent and applied considerable amounts of hard work. The recent draft will result in about 750 new professional baseball players. Roughly a third of those new hires will have received a signing bonus greater than $100,000 before taxes. The remaining two thirds have a mean signing bonus of $1,000 before taxes. For their three-month first season, the most they...

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Cake competition on July 13 will honor Yankees-Orioles rivalry

June 30, 2014, 9:51am

Orioles

You already know what the rivalry between the Yankees and Orioles looks like on the baseball diamond. But what shape will this heated battle take in the kitchen? Mary Smith from Charm City Cakes and TV's "Ace of Cakes" will host a cake class and competition on Sunday, July 13 at 11 a.m. at its Baltimore headquarters, 2936 Remington Ave. After Smith demonstrates how to properly fondant a cake and shows the different decorating methods she utilizes, student competitiors will use those tips to...

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All-Star voting: Adam Jones within reach of final outfield spot

June 30, 2014, 4:22pm

Orioles

All-Star voting: Adam Jones within reach of final outfield spot

Adam Jones is close. He's real close. With three days left in online All-Star voting, Jones is one of three players vying for the final American League outfield starting spot on July 15. The Orioles outfielder trails the A's Yoenis Cespedes (1,941,553 votes) and the Blue Jays' Melky Cabrera (1,929,506), but currently sits in fifth with 1,853,268 votes. Jones has continued to produce in June, hitting .339/.371/.615 with 37 hits, eight home runs and 19 RBIs. In the most recent balloting, Jones...

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Daniel Clark: Inconsistency and missed opportunities marked O's month of June

July 01, 2014, 4:40am

Orioles

Daniel Clark: Inconsistency and missed opportunities marked O's month of June

The month of June has flown on by and the Orioles walked away with a winning record of 16-12. Despite the wins though, the final week of the month may come back to haunt them later in the season as the Birds missed numerous opportunities against sub-.500 opponents in the White Sox and Rays. This failure to seize the opportunity cost them the chance to overtake the struggling Blue Jays for first in the American League East. The month produced many talking points, with some players dominating...

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Shedding some daylight on "Moonlight" Graham's Baltimore connections

June 30, 2014, 6:58am

Orioles

Shedding some daylight on "Moonlight" Graham's Baltimore connections

Yesterday marked the anniversary of Archibald "Moonlight" Graham's one-game major league career. Back in 1905, he played a half-inning in the outfield for the New York Giants, faded into the obscurity of pre-Internet agate and didn't reappear to a wide audience again until 1989, when "Field of Dreams" introduced him as a baseball-playing spectre who helped save Ray Kinsella's daughter from choking on a hot dog only to lose his ability to take part in the ghostly games on an converted...

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Andrew Stetka: Cruz's Home Run Derby decision not a bad thing

June 30, 2014, 4:44am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: Cruz's Home Run Derby decision not a bad thing

It looks more and more like Nelson Cruz won't be taking part in this year's Home Run Derby at Target Field. Despite an invite from American League team captain Jose Bautista, Cruz said he'd rather not risk taking part in the event and having it alter his swing going into the second half of the season. Despite being tied for the major league lead of 25 homers with Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Abreu, Cruz's decision is a logical one. He participated in the derby in 2009 while with the Texas...

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Win a trip to watch the Orioles take on the Cubs at Wrigley Field

May 28, 2014, 11:34am

Orioles

Baseball fans, don't forget to look for the Orioles scratch-off from the Maryland Lottery. Sure, there's a chance to win cash instantly and a top prize of $60,000. But you could also win a whole lot more! For instance, how would you like to watch the O's take on the Cubs at Wrigley Field? The Lottery is giving away four trips to see the O's play in Wrigley on Saturday August 23 as part of a three-day, two-night trip for two to Chicago - including airfare, hotel accommodations, a pregame...

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Zach Wilt: Digging inside Chris Davis' numbers

June 26, 2014, 5:07am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: Digging inside Chris Davis' numbers

Chris Davis was the hero on Monday night after crushing a three-run walk-off home run against the Chicago White Sox. The moment was so great that Davis decided to rejoin Twitter the next morning. Talk about a win-win for Orioles fans. Prior to that longball, however, Davis had been scuffling at the plate. Coming into that game, he had hit just .130 over his previous 54 at-bats. You know the rest of the story: Orioles manager Buck Showalter gave Davis the night off against White Sox ace Chris...

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Daniel Clark: Managing the workload of a heavily relied-upon bullpen

June 25, 2014, 4:40am

Orioles

Daniel Clark: Managing the workload of a heavily relied-upon bullpen

The long major league season is nearing its halfway point and the Orioles have yet again been heavily reliant upon the bullpen. Since the return to winning ways in 2012, the bullpen has been impressive despite being over-worked - in particular in 2012. The 545 1/3 innings pitched by relievers in 2012 were fourth-highest in the majors, while the 514 innings pitched in 2013 were the 11th-highest. With respect to ERA, the mark of 3.00 in 2012 was the fifth-best in the majors, compared to 3.52 in...

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Jonathan Shepherd: Solving the problem that is Manny Machado

June 23, 2014, 7:42pm

Orioles

Jonathan Shepherd: Solving the problem that is Manny Machado

Some say Manny Machado is in the midst of a slump. That he missed spring training, came into the season cold and proceeded to be off his mark. Before last night's came, that slump has been going on for 199 plate appearances this season with a slash line of .224/.274/.322. If you prefer using a more holistic metric that takes run expectancy for each of his at bats and compares it to the league average, his wRC+ is 66. That is well below league average (100 wRC+), average for a third baseman (97...

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Andrew Stetka: Pearce providing pop for O's

June 23, 2014, 4:24am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: Pearce providing pop for O's

The Orioles are finding some of their best offensive production from the unlikeliest of places through the first three months of the season. Steve Pearce has given the Birds a surprising boost and is forcing Buck Showalter to pencil his name into the lineup more often lately. It's a bit funny to look at the 31-year-old's career numbers and realize that some of the game's best players enjoy those types of spoils in one season. Pearce has 23 home runs and 110 RBIs in his seven big league...

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All-Star voting: Jones a long shot for starting lineup

June 22, 2014, 6:04pm

Orioles

All-Star voting: Jones a long shot for starting lineup

Two Orioles players have consistently led at their respective positions in the 2014 All-Star voting. As for the rest, well, they are running out of time. With less than two weeks remaining in online All-Star voting, Nelson Cruz is still leading at designated hitter, and Matt Wieters stands atop the leaderboard among American League catchers. Cruz is tied for first in the majors with 23 home runs, and has collected 2,457,349 votes. He holds about an 800,000-vote lead over the Red Sox's David...

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Matthew Taylor: Reunited, and it feels so good

June 20, 2014, 5:38am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Reunited, and it feels so good

I reunited with two longtime friends last weekend. We grew up in Baltimore and share a common love for the Orioles. Life has taken us in different directions, but baseball brings us back together. Our summertime reunions have occurred in ballparks across the country. We had one in Cooperstown when Cal Ripken Jr. entered the Hall of Fame. This year, with one of my friends preparing for a cross-country move, we returned home. The trip provided me the opportunity to spend time with another old...