MVN: Most Valuable Network

It looks like Koji Uehara will be on the shelf for a while, as he's going on the disabled list with a partly torn elbow tendon. It's too bad what he's had to go through in his transition from the Japanese professional league to the majors, but he seems to have not been in the best of physical condition at all whatsoever.

Hopefully, Uehara can get the injury bug out of him and contribute late in the year, but again I'll say, maybe he should go in the bullpen as it doesn't look like he's anything more than a five inning starter.


Over the past few days, Orioles manager Dave Trembley has taken a lot of flack on sports talk radio for his decision to not have Brad Bergesen start the ninth inning in the loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday. Well, hindsight is 20/20. As much as I have come to appreciate Bergesen and wish he could gotten a complete game, Johnson and Sherrill were pretty good in relief in the past month before the implosion yesterday.

Could Brad have gone into the ninth inning, yes; however, I don't begrudge Trembley at all for making the decision he did. Simply put, if our relievers had thrown strikes and Varitek didn't get lucky with a favorable call, we would not be lamenting the result.

Stuff happens; it was just a horrible loss for Baltimore yesterday.

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Finally, let's give props to Nolan Reimold for earning the American League Rookie of the month for June. Honestly, he along with Lou Montanez should have been rightfully on the big league roster to start off with when the season began, but it's good to see how easily Nolan has been able to show his talents in Baltimore.

What a fun, draining and disappointing day. The Baltimore Orioles had the Red Sox where they wanted them -- down 5-1 in the top of the ninth inning; however, the Red Sox decided to flip the script and show that they could do a comeback as well. Not only would the Orioles blow a four-run lead, thanks to four walks by the relief corps -- mainly, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill -- plus a two-run shot by Kevin Youkilis and giving up bases load single to ex-Ray Rocco Baldelli to the the game. The pesky Red Sox would decide the game in the 11th as Julio Lugo plated in the winning run off reliever Danys Baez, and they would steal one from the Orioles, 6-5. Amazingly, Sherrill struck out two Boston batters -- Jason Bay and David Ortiz -- for two outs in the frame; however, after giving up a... Read more

I was so busy this morning with car repairs and other stuff, that I didn't even get to the amazing comeback last night against the Red Sox. Pretty much we all know what happened, Nick Markakis had the go-ahead, two-RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth inning, the bullpen delivered, and Jonathan Papelbon blew his first save ever against Baltimore. We won in a crazy game, 11-10, which might as well have been two games in one with a rain delays, Boston taking what was an insurmountable lead at one point, hits, a great rally by Baltimore, and more ups and downs than we can count.John Smoltz was good in a a solid start, but I'd love to know what was running through his head as the action unfolded at the Yard. Yes, and one must still wonder if Rich Hill is indeed on borrowed time as an Oriole...... Read more

There's been a lot of talk about Wieters -- well, one could say the lack of offense that he's brought to the team so far, plus the ghastly display behind the plate on Sunday. Honestly, the fans have to let him develop at this level and see if he improves gradually. I was one of the thousands who felt he should have been brought up when was, and so far he's playing like a rookie. Right now, he's currently batting .235 with 2 homers and 6 RBI's -- granted, he's not putting up numbers like Nolan Reimold -- but he's doing decent work behind the plate and has shown some ability with the bat. We want him to become the next Johnny Bench, but he'll develop at his own pace as he's only played professional for about a little less than two years now. Remember, Nick Markakis started slow, as... Read more

The Orioles maddening season continued yesterday with a sloppy loss to the Nationals.  The Orioles did pile up a 11-7 record through interleague play, but it should have been better.  The three-game sweep to the Marlins was a killer.Sweep the Phillies, get swept by the Marlins, take two from the Nats.  Orioles bats need to wake up this series in front of the "home" crowd.  I say this because much like everywhere else the fashionable Sox play the Nation takes over.  Now, I can handle many things as an Orioles fan.  I can handle MANY things.  I can handle being out-cheered, I can handle being out-numbered that was never the issue.No, it is the breed of Sox fan that makes their way to Camden.  It is not the civilized, gentile New Englander.  No, it is the drunk, loud, obnoxious alternate color-pre-distressed, O.A.R. jello-shooting, keg-standing, tribal arm-band having troglodyte that makes... Read more

Well, the Orioles got swept in Florida by the upstart Marlins in three straight games. While the opening game was thrilling, the next two contests -- um, not so much. I'm most know what happened in the next two games, but there's been a lot of ire focused on two players, both incidentally former Cubs. Rich Hill and Felix Pie. While the offense has come not through in the last two games, the attention on Wednesday was focused on Felix Pie's perhaps inadvertent delay in throwing the ball back to the infield that allowed speedy Emilio Bonifacio to basically score from second after an attempted throw by Matt Wieters sailed into the outfield. Well, the next day, there was nothing short of a firestorm on local talk radio about the incident and pretty much every call wanted Pie excommunicated from the team. Ok, I know a lot of players make... Read more

The Baltimore Orioles extended their win-streak to five with a 2-1 sweep over the World Series Champion Phillies.  It was the Orioles first sweep of a road team since a four-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals in 2007.  This is the Orioles second five-game win streak of the year.George Sherrill recorded two saves in the series; running his current save streak to 11 straight.  Jim Johnson continues to be absolutely filthy and Matt Wieters has been batting .367 over his last eight games.  Markakis has broken out of his funk, Huff seems to be coming around as well.  Robert Andino put on a defensive clinic and came through with some clutch hits.There really is nothing more to say.  Orioles can credit some very timely hitting, most notably from Brian Roberts and some really solid starting pitching for the sweep in the city of Brotherly Love.The Orioles have six games... Read more

The Orioles continued their unlikely run through interleague play last night snatching a win from the jaws of defeat off of Brian Roberts' two-strike, two-out, two-run homerun.  George Sherrill came on in the bottom of the inning and retired the side, in order, to secure his 14th save and satisfying, if not thrilling, win for the Birds. The Orioles should have walked away with last night's game, they collected 11 hits off of starter AJ Happ by the sixth inning.  But the Orioles were unable to get the key hit and stranded 13 men on base. In the sixth, up 3-0, it all came unglued.  Orioles rookie starter Brad Bergesen was shutting out the Phils and had only allowed a single hit, but he got hit around a bit and left the inning with two on, one out and a 3-2 lead.  On comes the normally reliable Danys Baez to... Read more

As Summer descends on Baltimore it means that baseball should be the number one thing on everyone's mind.  Unfortunately over the last decade or so Orioles losses seem to pile up faster as the mercury rises.  Not tonight!  Said Aubrey Huff as he came through in the clutch for the second night in a row driving in the game winning bases-loaded single to cap off a wonderful ninth inning rally off one of the game's premiere closers.Orioles starter Jason Berken pitched admirably racking up eight strike outs on the way to a no-decision as the Met bats got to him in the seventh.  Manager Dave Trembley, dubbed "Captain Hook" by IDIOTS, showed a lot of confidence in the rookie pitcher to send him back out there to get through the seventh with the game tied at two.  A two out rally would short-circuit Berken's night.  He would leave the game... Read more

It was poor out, and the weather sucked, but the Orioles got their fourth win in the last thirteeen games as they beat the New York Mets, 6-4 at the Yard. Nick Markakis went 4-for-4 and Aubrey Huff had a go-ahead homer that made the difference -- a two-run shot -- but the talk yesterday was of Matt Wieters. Well, unless you've been under a rock, Matt Wieters hit his first major league homer and drove in his first runs last night off Met starter Tim Redding. While driving around on business, it seems that the big issue -- or non issue of the day--  of the day (perhaps talk radio was bored) centered around souvenirs. Notably what one should do with a home run ball -- speficially, the first one by Matt Wieters. This is courtesy of Peter Schmuck's blog from the Baltimore Sun: It seemed like a simple... Read more

With the loss on Tuesday against the New York Mets, the Orioles are 27-37, ten game under .500, and miles away from contending in the AL East race. At this point, do we as fans look forward to trading some guys for prospects and for some younger faces in the organization? Do we look to trade Luke Scott - who is being paid a fairly modest salary, has power, and is a favorite? How about Huff, in the last year of his deal? I'm surprised he was not traded last year (not sure if it was for the lack of interest, or the O's not getting what they wanted), but one must imagine he might be swapped. What about Izturis, with the emergence of Andino as a capable shortstop? Maybe our lefty closer Sherrill? Or last night's starter Guthrie - who is still affordable - but is heading into arbitration... Read more