Quick Hits: O's News...

The Baltimore Orioles once again played the Washington Nationals, this time in Norfolk, Va, home the triple-A affiliate of the team.

The O’s won the game 6-5, and Chris Ray along with the bullpen held onto save the game. Jaret Wright struggled mightily in his start, and threw a lot of pitches in only a short time. However, Millar came through big with a double to help the Orioles win.

Jorge Arangure & Dave Shenin have an awesome baseball 2007 preview on the Washington Post website. They preview every team, and there’s a comprehensive look at the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles.

As we all know, the Orioles have had nine losing seasons. Matt Palmer of the Baltimore Examiner looks at the current image of the Orioles and steps they are taking to improve it. The team has a lot of work to do in my own eyes, as Baltimore is a proud sports city, but the onus of the consecutive losing seasons as led to fan apathy.

Well, fan apathy is a very dangerous thing. If something does not happen soon, a generation of fans could perhaps be lost. I think some of that has gone on around where I live in and Washington.

The combination of the bad teams, the perception of Peter Angelos, the constant beating the organization takes in the media, plus the steroid allegations have left a bad taste in the mouth of many.

It’s needless to say, the team needs to improve its fortunes and finishing above .500 would be the first step. As well, good baseball by the team will go a long way to erasing memories of nine losing seasons.

Simply put, the O's need to compete.

Matt Palmer once again has another great article in the Examiner, this time looking at Brian Roberts. Well, Roberts is now the face of the organization, as he is popular with both the fans and the media. For the most part, Brian has done everything right in Baltimore and has done a lot of great work in the community.

As one of the best second baseman in baseball, he’s a big key in the future success of the Baltimore Orioles.

Although I was kind of puzzled when the deal with was not made with Atlanta Braves for Adam LaRoche and Marcus Giles in which he and Hayden Pen would have been traded, Roberts has too many intangibles that are great for the Orioles.

All in all, you get a sense he loves playing in Baltimore, and wants to help the team win.

Ok, Mr. Palmer is on a roll today. He’s got yet another article in the Examiner, this time looking pitching staff, notably who I call the Big Three (Erik Bedard, Adam Loewen, & Daniel Cabrera). Everything starts with pitching in baseball, and if the Orioles are to make a dent in the standings, the rotation needs to step up.

Another article from the Examiner looks at Miguel Tejada and his outlook into 2007. He’s excited, rearing to go.

Spencer Fordin has a Q&A with Sam Perlozzo.

The Orioles are readying for the season, and the Orioles.com has a preview of the opener against the Minnesota Twins and Johan Santana. Also, there's a preview of the roster.

As well, there’s a piece on Aubrey Huff, the team’s main acquisition, by David Ginsburg.