I hijacked duck's "O of the day" pic late last night because I was feeling absolutely giddy about the goings on just south of me. Sorry, duck. Ty will forgive you.

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More fun (and not-so-fun) facts from the season
"The Orioles' 25 road wins marked the third-lowest road victory total in franchise history. The 1988 team went 20-61 and the 1954 team went 22-55. The Orioles went 7-29 on the road against the AL East (3-6 at Tampa Bay, 2-7 at New York, and 1-8 at Boston and Toronto). They were 24-48 overall against the East." -duck

Scott Venci column: Despite lumps, Berken never doubted | Green Bay Press-Gazette
The learning curve is over for Jason Berken. That's what the right-hander will tell anybody who asks about his 6-12 record and 6.54 earned-run average during his rookie season with the Baltimore Orioles in 2009, even though he cringes at using inexperience as an excuse. -zk

Orioles Top Prospects: No. 25 Steve Johnson
"Johnson turned in quite an impressive performance in his debut with the organization, which desperately needed arms after promoting five of its top pitchers to the Major League level." -duck

Orioles Top Prospect No. 26: Brett Jacobson
"Reliever Brett Jacobson came to the Orioles via a trade with the Detroit Tigers earlier this season as the centerpiece (and only piece) of the Aubrey Huff deal. And while he didn't necessarily enhance his reputation as "inconsistent," he still provides the Orioles with one of the most talented relieving prospects in the system." -duck

More downs than ups for Guthrie in '09 | DailyTidings.com
Jeremy Guthrie stood outside the Orioles clubhouse in spring training eight months ago, talking about his excitement of getting to pitch for the U.S. team in the World Baseball Classic. Guthrie left the Orioles for a few days to pitch for the red, white and blue, and even though he struggled he returned to beat the Yankees on Opening Day here in April. But after that it would be a season of change, with more downs than ups, for the Ashland High graduate and Roseburg native. -zk

What's next for Billy Rowell? - MASNsports.com
The trials and tribulations of the young first round draft pick continue -Stacey

Right Off Russell » Bowie Baysox Season Wrap-Up
Tom Sedlacek, Communications Director for the Bowie Baysox, spoke to Sadler at Right Off Russell about the 2009 season. My favorite quote of the interview, "Brian Matusz had no business being in AA." Very good stuff. -Stacey

Baseball Prospectus | Future Shock: AFL Preview, Part Two
Kevin Goldstein previews the AFL, including reports on Brandon Waring (Waring is a pure slugging first baseman with little athleticism and a ton of strikeouts, but he has more raw power than anyone in the Baltimore system), Josh Bell (He might compete for a big-league job as early as this coming spring, and he's the best position-playing prospect in the system by a wide margin), and Brandon Snyder (.248/.316/.355 line during the second half at Triple-A almost complete killed any goodwill from his fantastic first half (.343/.421/.597) in the Eastern League. First-base prospects have to completely mash to be good, and Snyder isn't in that category.) -Stacey

Ten Finalists Chosen for Hutch Award
Nick Markakis is one of ten major league players who are in the running for the 2009 Hutch Award, named for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. -zk

Don't you see? We don't have to run away anymore! We no longer have to hide our love for each other. I am more powerful than the Chancellor, I... I can overthrow him! And together, you and I can rule the Open Thread!