Camden Chat - A Baltimore Orioles Blog and Fan Community

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Meet the Team

Stacey - Editor-In-Chief and Team Mom. Don't make her turn this blog around.

zknower - Camden Chat elder statesman, west coast correspondent, and the brains to duck's brawn.

duck - Newsbreaker and mod extraordinaire; the Luke Scott of the Eastern Shore.

Jonny Pops - Camden Chat Ombudsman and defender of the common man.

SC - The Godfather of Camden Chat. It's like the Godfather of Soul, but cooler.

2632 - Part-time Camden Chat contributor, full-time world saver.

RoarFrom34 - He's not the official Orioles historian, but he should be.

Baltimo, birdman, NawlinsOriole, dayzd toe - The Game Day Gang. They're touring the facility and picking up slack.

...and the rest of the community (feel free to add your own!)

Sunday Bird Droppings

by Camden Chat on Nov 22, 2009 7:00 AM EST in Open Threads Comment 28 comments

by ROBERTO BOREA - ASSOCIATED PRESS

Your Off-Season O of the Day: Roberto Alomar. (AP Photo/Roberto Borea)

View full size photo »

It is seriously a slow day for Orioles news. I know it's early and that Andy "Slowsky" MacPhail doesn't rush, but I'm getting antsy for some stuff to start happening. Here's are the few O's stories I could find for you:

Joe Jordan on the top 5 picks
Jordan gives insight on Matt Hobgood, Mychal Givens, Tyler Townsend. Randy Henry, and Ashur Tolliver. -Stacey

Rough Day for Perrault
He gave up 2 run HR in the bottom of the 8th which sent the Phoenix Desert Dogs to their first championship loss in six years. Matt Angle was 2-4 with a triple. I saw a replay of the triple and that kid can fly. -Stacey

Orioles Card "O" the Day: Tito Landrum,
Kevin was so intrigued by Tito Landrum: Male Model that he posted one of Tito's baseball cards. Seriously? A male model?? -Stacey

Around the division:

An Interview with Tampa Bay Rays Director of Pro Scouting Matt Arnold
DRaysBay interviewed the Rays' new Director of Pro Scouting about his background, advanced stats vs traditional scouting, and more. -Stacey

Terry Francona Wants A Pitcher: How About Chris Capuano?
Over The Monster thinks Chris Capuano could be a good fit for the Red Sox in 2010. -Stacey

The Importance of Pettitte
Pinstripe Alley looks at Andy Pettitte's value to the Yankees. Isn't that guy ever going to get old and retire? -Stacey

Who Could Be Put on to the Prospects List? Dunedin Edition
Bluebird Banter takes a look at the prospects in Blue Jays' A ball, including the turncoat Adam Loewen. More importantly, who do you guys think would win in a fight, the Bluebird Banter Blue Jay or the Camden Chat Oriole? Both are pretty fierce, but I think we have the edge. The Oriole definitely looks angrier. -Stacey

Look, Open Thread. This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don't go into yours, you don't go into mine. You gotta hold the frame.

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Random Weekend Question: Favorite/Least Favorite Non-O

by Stacey on Nov 21, 2009 12:00 PM EST in Fun and Games Comment 62 comments

I saw this question posed as a FanPost on another site and thought it was a pretty good idea for a slow, pre-Thanskgiving weekend. So who's your favorite baseball player that's not an Oriole? Least favorite non-O? Why?

Some of my favorites:

Matt Garza - He seems a little bit insane, and I feel like he's going to be crazy good.
Roy Halladay - I just love everything about him. I saw a rumor the Dodgers are trying to trade for him. That'd be nice because, you know.
Joe Nathan - Once when the Orioles were playing the Twins, Nathan wasn't available because his wife was having a baby. He got to the stadium just as the game was ending and while the Twins were shaking hands on the field he was out on the field in his street clothes handing out cigars and I thought it was the best.
Curtis Granderson - Probably my favorite non-Oriole. I love the way he plays CF, I love how involved he is in the community, I love that he writes a column on Yahoo sports, I love his tall socks, I love it all.

Some Least Favorites:

Ian Kinsler - I feel like he steals Brian Roberts' thunder. And his face bugs me.
Khalil Greene - Remember when people would talk periodically about the Orioles trading for this guy? I never understood it at all and I think started to resent him a little because of it. Why would the Orioles want this guy?
Aaron Rowand - He's not even good! He dives all over the place, so what?
Mark Teixeira - You know why.

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Saturday Bird Droppings - Orioles News from Around the Web

by Camden Chat on Nov 21, 2009 7:00 AM EST in Open Threads Comment 32 comments

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

Your Off-Season O of the Day: George Sherrill. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Browse more photos »

Unbroken Spirit - SI Vault (03/16/98)
From the SI archives, the amazing story of Eric Davis. It's not in this story because it would happen later, but the saddest thing to me about Eric Davis is how much he wanted to return to Baltimore in 1999 but the Orioles didn't have any interest. And don't talk to me about he wasn't very good after 1998, because I'm irrational. -Stacey

O's expected to take deliberate approach
Andy MacPhail? Deliberate? Surely you jest. -Stacey

MSA performs maintenance on OPACY
An update on what exactly is being renovated at Camden Yards. Also can I say that I'm pretty sure I'm totally jealous of Kate Wheeler. -Stacey

Brewers taking a look at Halama
Does it seem bizarre to anyone else that there is someone out there who still writes an entire article about John Halama? -Stacey

Comparing Third Basemen
Dempsey's Army takes a look at the options and determines that Ty Wigginton or Scott Moore would be preferable alternatives to any of the FA options for 3B. -Stacey

Markakis takes 21 kid patients to Ravens practice
How much do I love Nick Markakis? -Stacey

The Red Sox LUV Scott Boras
They've inquired about Matt Holliday, Adrian Beltre, Mike Gonzalez, and Rick Ankiel. -Stacey

They may take our lives, but they'll never take our Open Thread!

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Friday Bird Droppings - Orioles News and Links

by Camden Chat on Nov 20, 2009 7:00 AM EST in Open Threads Comment 101 comments

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

Your Off-Season O of the Day: Oscar Salazar. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Browse more photos »

Knocking Their Sox Off - SI Vault (10/17/83)
Real Orioles don't pout. Real Orioles don't gloat. Real Orioles just win. -Stacey

"That's when they started baseball, so everybody was debuting." - Matt Wieters on Baltimore having five rookie pitchers win their big league debuts in 2009, the most in a season since the 1888 Chicago White Stockings had six. Is that a personality I'm seeing, Mr. Wieters? -Stacey

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | A look at the Arizona Fall League Championship Game - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia
Jonathan Mayo goes Around The Minors, talking about the Arizona Fall League Championship Game. Stephen Strasburg, despite a stiff neck, is expected to start for the Devil Dogs and go about five innings. It's video from MLB, so have headphones ready at work or school. -duck

Shocker! Brandon Erbe is glad to be on the 40-man roster!
"Even though he has a splint on his right pinky finger that ended his time in the Arizona Fall League early, Wednesday was a good day for pitcher Brandon Erbe. The Baltimorean and life-long O's fan from McDonogh High made the Orioles' 40-man roster for the first time." Well, being that this was the first year the O's had to protect him, I guess it would be the first time he'd be happy about being on the 40-man. -duck

Seattle Times -Baltimore possibly targeting Bedard as FA
"Also, Jeff Zrebiac of the Baltimore Sun, who is one of the best beat writers around, lists Erik Bedard as a free agent likely to be targeted by the Orioles. Wouldn't that be the final dagger, for the Orioles to get Adam Jones, an All-Star year from George Sherrill and then a trade package for him, Chris Tillman, et al -- and then potentially reap the benefits of a healthy Bedard. Ouch." Sorry, but this just makes me all happy inside. -duck

10 free agents O's may target
"Baseball's free-agent signing period begins Friday, and the Orioles have money to spend and holes to fill. Here are some free agents that they will consider." And guess who's first - our favorite French-Canadian left-handed pitcher. Yeah, this is the article the Seattle guy links to. -duck

O's will wait on Hendrickson negotiations
"While the Orioles remain interested in re-signing pitcher Mark Hendrickson, a deal will not get done during the team's exclusive negotiating window." Sure, just carry out the suspense even longer! Won't someone think of the children? -duck

O's positioned to be buyers in free agency
"With a down economy, multiple teams crying poor and little money invested in future payrolls, the Orioles are arguably in a better financial position this offseason than they have been in more than a decade." In a year with the worst FA class in a decade, too. Oh, goody. -duck

Santa is coming to Salisbury at Shorebirds' stadium
"The Delmarva Shorebirds would like to announce that Santa will be at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium on Saturday, December 5, 2009 from 10 AM-12 PM as part of the Cookies with Claus event." Great event, but that team needs a new PR writer. -duck

The Open Thread for the alternates is down in the ladies room.

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Two bits of news:

1) I'm very happy to announce that Matt Taylor, the voice behind Roar From 34, will be joining the Camden Chat team as a part-time contributor. If you've read Matt's work you know that he has a real talent for writing about the Orioles and I look forward to him sharing some of that with us.

2) In more minor site news, you may have noticed a new item on the sidebar titled "Meet The Team." With the recent re-design there was about five miles of white space on the sidebars before getting to the bottom where our contributors names were listed. I thought that was ugly, so created the Meet The Team widget instead. The last link goes to the Who's Who at Camden Chat post. If you're new to the site or never wrote up an intro, click the link and tell us about yourself.

Camden Chat Site News

3 days ago Stacey 15 comments 0 recs

Thursday Bird Droppings - Orioles News and Links

by duck on Nov 19, 2009 6:59 AM EST in Open Threads Comment 67 comments

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Your Off-Season O of the Day: Jason Berken (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Browse more photos »

In Baseball, Money Loads the Bases - WSJ.com

One reader offers his reasons for frustration with baseball's economic model. -duck

Report: Jauss to be Mets' bench coach | MLB.com: News

Dave Jauss, a former bench coach for the Orioles and Dodgers, will be hired to fill the same position by the Mets, FoxSports.com, citing Major League sources, reported on Tuesday. -duck

The Schmuck Stops Here: Orioles: Making sense of today's roster moves

That leaves a few recognizable players exposed to the Rule 5 Draft -- including shortstop Blake Davis and recently acquired pitcher Steve Johnson -- and leaves room to question why certain journeyman-type players are still on the 40-man. The Orioles kept pitcher Chris Waters, for instance, even though he didn't seem to be on the radar when the Orioles needed help at several points last season. -duck

Nationals name ex-Orioles manager D. Johnson advisor

Davey Johnson, the Orioles' former All-Star second baseman who was the last manager to lead the club to a winning season, has taken a job with the Washington Nationals. Johnson, 66, will be a senior advisor to general manager Mike Rizzo. -duck

Arizona Fall League recap -- Nov. 18

Pretty good night for the O's in the AFL. -Stacey

Remembering Corey Patterson’s Bright Spot

Corey Patterson used to be looked on fondly, doncha know. -Stacey

Mike Scioscia and Jim Tracy Are Managers of the Year - NYTimes.com

This year’s managers of the year were runaway winners: Jim Tracy of the Colorado Rockies and Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels. -Stacey

Frankly, my dear, I don't give an Open Thread.

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The Orioles have added six players to their 40-man roster: pitchers Brandon Erbe and Luis Lebron, and infielders Josh Bell, Pedro Florimon, Rhyne Hughes and Brandon Snyder. The roster is at its capacity. Teams must submit their rosters to the MLB office by Friday afternoon.

Roch Kubatko - MASNsports.com
That means Steve Johnson is unprotected. Roch has confirmed he is subject to the Rule V Draft in December.

4 days ago duck 9 comments 0 recs

Discovering an Oriole Great: Boog Powell

by Stacey on Nov 18, 2009 3:00 PM EST in O's History Comment 13 comments

I'm not going to lie, I just never knew much about Boog Powell. I've known that he's a giant hulking dude, that he played first base, that he opened up Boog's BBQ, and that he's one of the friendliest ex-players I've ever interacted with. I figured he was good, being that he wouldn't have been on the team if he wasn't. But I never really knew anything about him statistically until I did a little research on some of the best Orioles' seasons. SC did name him the #6 Oriole of All Time, though, so maybe if I paid better attention I'd have known of his awesomeness that much sooner (an aside about the top 40 O's...it might need updated as it's over three years old and Brian Roberts is nowhere to be seen).

Did you know that Boog Powell has the 4th highest single season OPS+ of any Oriole? In 1964, at just 22 years old, Powell had an OPS+ or 176, a year when he played LF. The only players to have an OPS+ higher in a season were Frank Robinson (198 in '66, 187 in '67) and Jim Gentile (187 in '61). In fact, in the top 20 OPS+ seasons of the Orioles, Boog Powell's name appears four times, which is tied for most with Eddie Murray and Frank Robinson. Not bad company.

Boog Powell hit over 300 HR as an Oriole and is currently 83rd on the all time HR list in baseball. 5th most games as an Oriole, 5th highest SLG, 5th most hits. Top 5 in most things, top 10 in everything else.

I wonder why I never heard more about Boog growing up? Makes me feel like I'm not a good enough Orioles fan.

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