Huff Daddy Rollin'; Guthrie Good: O's Down Fish, 4-2

Jeremy Guthrie finally appeared on the mound for the 2009 Baltimore Orioles this spring and had a good afternoon as the Baltimore Orioles downed the Florida Marlins, 4-2. Aubrey Huff was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three runs driven in, and Nick Markakis had two hits, both doubles. Baltimore scored twice in the first and third innings, and they got a lot of help from Jeremy Heremida who allowed two doubles to sail over his head.

Melvin Mora drove in the other run.

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A Review of MLB's "30 Camps In 30 Days" Profile of the Baltimore Orioles...

The MLB Network is nothing short of great, and this late evening, I caught a re-broadcast of “30 Camps In 30 Days” that profiled the Baltimore Orioles.

Well, the broadcast was very comprehensive and needless to say they went over everything under the sun with the Orioles. I sat in bed with laptop in hand and just bulleted the pertinent items.

The review is long, so sit back and be patient.

Panel: Joe Magrane, Harold Reynolds, Jon Hart & Greg Asminger. Trini Kusnierek was onsite in Fort Lauderdale interviewing players.

• All concluded that the pitching will shape the Orioles in 2009, but they like that are following the model of the Rays , and mentioned the role of Andy MacPhail.
• The panel figured that the Orioles are indeed improving; however, it is going to be a long road.

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Uehara Impresses; O's Lose to the Marlins, 3-2

The Baltimore Orioles lost to the Florida Marlins, 3-2, down in Jupiter, Florida; however, the story of the day had nothing to do with the game, but with the amazing work of Koji Uehara in his first appearance on the mound stateside.

Uehara went two solid innings, gave up a hit and struck out three. According to what I heard on the radio broadcast, his control was excellent, and his assortment of pitches kept hitters off track.

This is obviously the first look we have had with Uehara, but if can pitch like this in the regular season, their investment will pay off big time. His start was highly anticipated by fans, the organization and the Japanese media; therefore, one could assume that he made quite a favorable impression.

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Manny Ramirez is Either Greedy, Stupid or Delusional...

Ok, Manny Ramirez is crazy. At this point, the Dodgers should just drop him and move on. Do they need him -- yes -- however, do they want to deal with his demands and petulant nature? No.

I hope he enjoys forced retirement because there's no way in hell a team is going to give him what he wants.

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Koji Debuts on the Mound for Baltimore This Afternoon

In about an hour, Koji Uehara -- the newest Oriole import -- starts on the mound for Baltimore as they take on the Marlins in Jupiter, Florida. I'm sure his start will be eagerly anticipated by the organizational brass, along with some in the Japanese media. It will be interesting to see how he faces off against major leaguers and what stuff he's got on the mound.

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Jim Calhoun Goes Crazy on a Reporter; Should Coaches Get Paid Millions?

Ah, times are tough for everyone and one has to ask why someone should feel sympathetic to a millionaire. This may or may not be case in this instance; however, sometimes some questions should not asked in a particular forum.

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Another Newspaper Bites The Dust

It's time to say goodbye to yet another newspaper -- wow. The times, yes they are changing...

From the Washington Post: Colorado's oldest newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, is shutting down today, and industry analysts say it won't be the last to be pulled under by a rising tide of financial woes.

E.W. Scripps announced yesterday that it is closing the 150-year-old Rocky, which has won four Pulitzer Prizes in the last decade, leaving Denver, like most American cities, a one-newspaper town.

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The Birds of Baltimore Whip the Cards; Quick Hits...

A day after a lackluster Grapefruit League debut, the Baltimore Orioles bats woke up and beat the St. Louis Cardinals down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 11-3.

The star of the game was Scott Moore who was a perfect two-for-two at plate and also hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to pad Baltimore's lead. Youngster Nolan Reimold also went two-for-two with a two-run home run along with four runs driven in, and Brandon Snyder had two hits.

Danys Baez was not good in his first spring outing. He only lasted an inning, walked the bases loaded and gave up two runs.

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Alex Rodriguez Feeling The Heat...

After Alex Rodriguez brought his cousin -- Yuri Sucart -- into the public eye after he mentioned him in a press conference two weeks ago at George Ms. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.

However, the beleaguered slugger decided that his cousin was still good company to keep around. Sucart drove Rodriguez home in a SUV away from a game yesterday; alas, today, the Yankees are asking him to stay away -- from all ballparks.

I guess the-powers-that-be in the Yankees organization are trying to make the smoke go away.

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Danys Baez on the Mound vs. the Cardinals...

This afternoon in Florida, the Baltimore Orioles take on the St. Louis Cardinals in Fort Lauderdale.

The lineups are posted on Roch's blog, and today we'll see much of the projected regular season lineup -- Roberts, Huff, Markakis, Mora, Izturis -- along with guys who will be given a look such as Craig Brazell, Justin Christian, Chad Moeller, and Nolan Reimold.

As well, Danys Baez returns to the mound today after missing all of 2008 due to injury and wanting to be a starter, not a reliever. He spoke about the anticipation of today's start with the Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec:

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Could the Nationals Disaster Be Almost Over?

According to ESPN, the Washington Nationals have decided to fire special assistant Jose Rijo and will shut down the team’s academy in the Dominican Republic as part of a restructuring of the team’s operations in Latin American in the wake of an age-changing scandal involving one of the team’s top prospects -- Esmailyn Gonzalez, who is also known as Carlos Daniel Alvarez Lugo and given a $1.4 million signing bonus.

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The Metropolitians Get The Best of the Birds of Baltimore, 9-3; Maryland vs. Duke

The Birds of Baltimore opened up Grapefruit League Season by losing a laugher to the New York Mets down in Fort Lauderdale, 9-3.

Oriole pitching had some bright spots, while some guys struggled on their first day on the mound.

Brad Hennessey -- who started the game -- took the loss, as he only lasted 1 1/3 innings before leaving because of a sore elbow. Let's hope it's not serious; however, he was shaky as he allowed two runs. Afterwards, Chris Waters got 1 2/3 innings of work and gave up a run on three hits. David Pauley -- who pitched in the fourth inning -- downright awful as he allowed four runs on five hits in only 1/3 of an inning worked.

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Alex Rodriguez's First Spring Training Game...

Interesting reaction to Alex Rodriguez down in Florida. He's booed in his first; however, in his next at bat -- he homers -- and then gets a standing ovation!

Ugh. I guess all that matters is if you deliver and win. I'm sure as long as he hits them out and doesn't struggle at the plate, he'll be embraced by Yankee nation.

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The Birdland Stimulus of 2009...

As times are tough for many out there in today's economy, the Orioles -- much like many other teams -- in the sport baseball are trying to get as many fans into the park for the upcoming season.

Orioles Director of Communications, Greg Bader was kind enough to forward this press release to me about a few fan-friendly programs that may help with offset the cost of attending a ball game in Charm City.

He touched on a few of these programs in a Q&A with the blog a few weeks ago, and some that were mentioned are below, along with a few more offerings.

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Live Baseball for a Change...

The exhibition games kick off in a few minutes and the Orioles take on the Mets in Fort Lauderdale this afternoon to finally start some live baseball. The game will be on MASN, but if you have MLB.tv, there should be a radio feed available; however, there's no video online.

I think 105.7 should also have a stream of the available online, as well as on the radio.

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Live Baseball for a Change...

The exhibition games kick off in a few minutes and the Orioles take on the Mets in Fort Lauderdale this afternoon to finally start some live baseball. The game will be on MLB.tv, there should be a radio feed available; however, there's no video online.

I think 105.7 should also have a stream of the available online, as well as on the radio.

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The Baby Birds Beat Italy; Let The Games Begin; Quick Hits...

The Orioles will kick off exhibition season on Wednesday as they face off against the New York Mets; however, some of the young, future Birds took on Team Italy and beat them in impressive fashion, 4-0.

Roch Kubatko literally had a game running blog along with Peter Schmuck, and kept us all at work -- thanks a lot! -- updated with the latest from the game. It looks like our young pitching -- Matusz (who started), Patton, Bergesen, Tillman, Wilfredo Perez, Arrieta -- looked great and were solid at the plate.

Donnie Murphy and Scott Moore each doubled in a run and Craig Brazell drove in the third run with a single; the final blow was delivered by Adam Donachie's home run in the eighth inning.

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Baseball America Releases Top 100 Prospects; Baltimore's Matt Wieters is Number One...

A lot has been made of the Orioles rebuilding project, and perhaps the fruit of the organization's labors is finally starting to come forth.

This morning, Baseball America released it’s 20th annual Top 100 Prospects with Oriole catcher Matt Wieters leading the way at number one. David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays was second and Colby Rasmus of the St. Louis Cardinals was third.

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A Look at the Orioles from AOL...

This morning, AOL's Andrew Johnson took a look at the Brian Roberts extension and how it would shape the Baltimore Orioles to come. Instead of looking at the deal again -- as frankly, we've talked enough about it -- I decided to focus on the last few paragraphs about the team's future.

From AOL: Crazy as it sounds, Baltimore has a chance, albeit a somewhat remote one, to challenge the big boys in its division very soon. The offensive core is nearly in place. Nick Markakis is young and even more underrated than Roberts. Center fielder Adam Jones has a sky-high ceiling. Highly regarded prospect Matt Wieters could become the best offensive catcher in the game over the next season or two.

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Are the 6-Game Plans Gone? Quick Hits & Around the Blogosphere...

It's cold, it's very cold out up here in Maryland. Well, it's only two more weeks until Florida and I can't wait to head South and out of the cold for a few.

I was scouring some of the blogs, and other media sites this evening and WNST's Drew Forrester along with a few others have found that you cannot find the 6-game plans that have been available on the Orioles website in the past. Well, I took a look at the page and you indeed cannot see them. You can now only find 81, 29, and four 13 game season ticket plans for sale.

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