O's Mora moved by Camden Yards salute
"When Cesar Izturis heard "La Vida Es Un Carnaval," by Celia Cruz after the sixth inning Sunday afternoon, the Orioles shortstop admitted sheepishly that his eyes began to water. And that started a chain reaction, because when his friend and teammate, third baseman Melvin Mora, saw Izturis get teary, he started to choke up. Then there was the female fan near the Orioles' dugout who was bawling as Mora stepped onto the field after the sixth, waved to the crowd and touched his heart as Cruz's salsa tune -- the one that is played before Mora's at-bats at Camden Yards -- blared." Yeah, it's a long excerpt, but one worth sharing. Adios, Melmo. - duck
"
Michael Aubrey scored the winning run on
Brandon League's second throwing error in the 11th inning Sunday, giving the
Baltimore Orioles a 5-4 victory over the
Toronto Blue Jays and a three-game sweep." How you screw up a throw to 1B from a bunt TWICE in one inning is beyond me. But I'll take the win.
- duck
"Can't remember the last time I was this eager to get a season over with, and I'm guessing I'm not alone." No, no your not, Peter. - duck
"(Brian) Roberts is a throwback player, with great speed and gap power, so it is fitting that the player he is most similar to is Fred Dunlap, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Their statistics are 92.8 percent similar, according to the Web site, which is amazing considering that Dunlap played from 1880 to 1891." Hey, it only took the NY Times a month to notice. - duck
"How do you not change managers after another disastrous second-half collapse and one of the worst seasons in team history?" Kevin, tell us what you really think. - duck
"Now that the Orioles have exercised manager Dave Trembley's option for 2010, the focus turns to his staff and its future." Might Juan Samuel or someone else be moving along? I'd imagine someone if going to fall on a sword about the lack of fundamentals this team has shown, if it's not going to be Diamond Dave. - duck
"The expectations are about to rise demonstrably at Camden Yards, and Trembley knows that if the Orioles are going to win, he has to be more of a disciplinarian and less of a teacher on the field. "I know what I have to do better," said Trembley of his approach. "I've got to drop the hammer more. I've got to drop it. Because losing does not sit very well with the people around here anymore. And I almost paid the ultimate price for that, and so did a lot of other people. That's it in a nutshell, probably more than a nutshell.... I've had great support from the players. Great, tremendous. But they're in for a little bit different approach in Spring Training." This is good stuff to hear from DD. -zk
New attendance low for Camden Yards
"For the second consecutive season, the Orioles have set a new Camden Yards low in attendance. With an announced 17,969 at the finale Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Orioles drew 1,907,163, in 81 games, a dropoff from the previous low in 2008 (1,950,077), when they had 78 home dates." Everyone who's surprised, raise your hand. Yeah, that's what I thought. - duck
Rise of young O's builds hope -- baltimoresun.com
It's the end of a disappointing season, but the Orioles believe they see the light at the end of the tunnel. -Stacey
"The NCAA Eligibility Center recently distributed a questionnaire to college baseball players that suggests tighter oversight of advisers in the draft. Many agents questioned where the initiative will lead, only seven months after an Ohio judge upheld former Oklahoma State pitcher Andy Oliver's right to representation in the draft." Scott Boras can't become an "adviser" for the 2 years before a junior declares for the draft now? What is this country coming to? - duck
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