Another Opening Day has come and gone, and the Orioles won. It’s been a good one.

I’m a little more dedicated to this sport than the average human. Today, though, I took a new leap – I did the most delinquent, naughty thing I’ve ever done in my life.

I watched the Orioles game in class.

I wasn’t going to miss Opening Day for the Orioles – that’s a very important game to watch, after all. Unfortunately, one of my graduate school classes starts at 3:30 every Tuesday and lets me out at 5:50. The Orioles started playing today at 3:00. I have MLB At Bat on my phone, so I sidled into class, plugged my phone into the wall to keep it charging, and started watching the game on mute.

Without further ado, I present my notes from my Introduction to Information Professions course. I hope Cooperstown needs a new archivist soon.

I even drew baseball enthusiasts Buster Keaton and Joe E. Brown in my notes. But my stupid Comedian Heaven project isn’t the point here.

This was a wonderful day. For the first time, I had to suppress my reactions to a three-run homer (that was for you, Earl Weaver, I’m sure of it) in a public place where I shouldn’t have been watching a sporting event. I was living the dream. Best 1.13 GB of data I’ve ever used.

Your basic scoring summary is this:

• Matt Wieters 2-run homer in the 1st after an Adam Jones double
• Ben Zobrist solo shot in the 4th
• Rays string together some hits and tie things up in the 6th, then take the lead 3-2
• Orioles come roaring back in the 7th; Jones doubles in Roberts and Markakis, and after Wieters is walked Chris Davis hits the aforementioned three-run homer (in honor of Earl, let’s say)
• Matt Wieters actually doesn’t throw someone out at second; the error leads to a fourth run scoring for the Rays

Jason Hammel looked pretty good in his first start of the year, although he did run into trouble and allow the two runs that allowed the Rays to temporarily take the lead. Fortunately for him, the team was very offensively strong today and bailed him out. Jim Johnson was old reliable in the 9th, so no worries there. The rest of the bullpen also looked delightful, so they’re still a strength.

Actually, today the entire team looked really, really good. I’m excited.

I just can’t imagine my professor would be if she knew what I was actually taking notes on during her PowerPoint presentation.

Casilla with the Twins, via Wikipedia.

The Orioles are having a fairly busy off-season already. First they picked up Ayala’s option whilst declining Reynolds’s, and now they’ve claimed Alexi Casilla off waivers from the Twins.

Casilla is 28 years old and primarily a second baseman, but he’s played some shortstop and third, as well, and is a good boost to the Orioles’ infield. He’ll probably compete for second base with Robert Andino and Ryan Flaherty, as well as the returning Brian Roberts. Should make for an interesting Spring Training, that’s for sure!

The Orioles made some other announcements today, as well, via Dan Connolly:

On Saturday, players who have filed for free agency can begin to talk with other teams. The Orioles have some interest in retaining pitcher Joe Saunders, outfielder Nate McLouth and designated hitter Jim Thome, but no agreement was reached during the exclusive negotiating period, meaning the three will be able to discuss contracts with all interested parties starting Saturday.

Also Friday, the Orioles announced they have outrighted outfielder Lew Ford, infielder Steve Tolleson and lefty Zach Phillips to Triple-A Norfolk and reinstated right-handers Oliver Drake and Stu Pomeranz, lefty Tsuyoshi Wada, infielder Brian Roberts and outfielder Nolan Reimold from the 60-day disabled list.

So there you have it – busy off-season already, huh?

Badass. (Image from Wikipedia.)

We reversed the score of last night’s game! Wa-hey!

We did it in pretty nifty fashion, too – Wei-Yin Chen struck out twelve batters in 5 2/3 innings, setting a record for Taiwanese pitchers in MLB (take that, Chien-Ming Wang!), and Matt Wieters hit a three-run homer in his return today after he took a day or two off. I think that’s pretty good for going up against the hottest team in baseball.

Of course, nobody cares or is going to notice because the Olympics are going on, so there you go. I’m impressed, at least. It’s a big deal for me since I watched him pitch in the NPB for a few years.

Now, a couple of other stories you probably missed because you, like me, were watching the Olympics:

• Brian Roberts is undergoing season-ending surgery on his hip. Yeah, that’s really not cool, but that unfortunately happens. I feel terrible for him – he just can’t catch a break.
• We called up Lew Ford from Norfolk and let him start his first MLB game in five years. Watch him throw out Cespedes – it’s pretty awesome.

Look, it's a home run on its way to the plate!

Hey, didn’t we see this last night?

No, really, we did. The players were different, but the result was the same – the Mets beat the Orioles five runs to none. Also the same: I’m happy either way because I’m a fan of both teams.

But I bet none of you are happy, because this team is really not doing very well in Queens. Today, the problem was that even though we were playing in a larger ballpark, Tommy Hunter was the starting pitcher so we all knew a ball was going over the wall at some point anyway. Today’s Hunter Homer came off the bat of Lucas Duda with one man on, so if you guessed that it would be a two-run homer in the sixth inning today, you’re a winner!

I should make this a game or something: predict the number of runs scored for a homer off Tommy Hunter and guess the correct inning in which he gives it up and you get a free cartoon. Seriously.

Oh, and Brian Roberts was picked off. Yeah.

To top it off, Johan Santana, who was struggling in the starts after his no-hitter, righted the ship tonight against the Orioles. He got into jams, sure, but he also got out of them, much to everyone in Baltimore’s chagrin.

The Orioles and the Mets finish their series tomorrow night, which means I have to go back to watching the games on MLB.tv on Friday. Booooo. I’d rather the Mets and Orioles keep reliving 1969 on my TV forever.

I was at a wedding tonight and I missed a one-hitter? Drat.

To be fair, I’d be that idiot who misses her own wedding because a no-hitter is going on, but this was an incredible performance from Jason Hammel tonight – he had that no-hitter until there were two outs in the seventh inning and only allowed Jason Heyward to reach on a double. (There were two walks to Dan Uggla, but walks aren’t hits, so that one-hitter thing stands, yo.)

That was it.

On the offensive side for the Orioles, Mark Reynolds drove in two of the five runs with a bases-loaded single and the other three RBI went to newly-returned Brian Roberts. I like that fellow. “He’s the old guy,” those MASN commercials would say. C’mon, MASN, old people are good at sports, too – look at Ryan Giggs!

I’ll stop before this turns into a rant, but you get the idea: Brian Roberts is still good despite being concussed for a while and being “the old guy.” And I’m glad his return hasn’t disrupted the team’s flow, too.

Happy early Fathers’ Day, everyone! Enjoy spending time with your families!

This is probably the only time I'll ever use a racehorse as a synonym for baseball. (Image from Wikipedia.)

The Orioles came right out of the gate on this one, and I couldn’t be happier – especially since all four runs they plated in the first inning scored with two outs. After a great battle in which Chris Davis ended up walking, Matt Wieters singled, driving in Brian Roberts from second base, and Mark Reynolds followed it up with a double, which was enough to get Davis in. Steve Pearce then smacked a double of his own, bringing Weets and Reynolds home.

That’s the kind of offense I really like – as much as I adore watching a team really gut it out and squeak through runs in the later innings of a well-fought pitchers duel, watching the Orioles burst out of the gate like Secretariat is exciting and encouraging. The team strung together hits – and a walk – and was able to push across a ton of runs all with two outs. Not only did they not give up when they had two outs ahead of them, but they absolutely dominated and kept piling on the offense, providing run support for Tommy Hunter, who last won a game the day before my birthday. (I turned 23 on April 25th.)

The scoring didn’t stop there, though. In the third, Matt Wieters knocked a ground-rule double, driving in another run to make the score 5-0. Then he drove in two more runs in the fourth, putting the Orioles up 7-0 and increasing his RBI total to three. Reynolds added a double (his second) in the fourth, as well, and Pearce hammered the nail into the coffin with an absolutely gigantic homer to left field. 10-0 Orioles after only four innings.

Tommy Hunter began to struggle in the fifth, allowing a bloop hit and a single before recording two consecutive outs. Then Tommy did what he does best – he gave up a home run to Rod Barajas, and the Pirates were suddenly on the board. After one more single, he escaped the inning, but that home run issue remains, and it’s making me – and surely others, as well – somewhat nervous. It’s the seventeenth homer Hunter’s given up already this season. That’s not a pretty statistic.

Two more runs scored for the Pirates in the top of the sixth, but the Orioles immediately answered with two consecutive doubles from Adam Jones and Matt Wieters, which added a run.

Darren O’Day took over the pitching for Hunter in the seventh, recording three outs without doing that whole ‘give up a home run’ thing that Hunter seems to do an awful lot. Dana Eveland followed in the eighth, and although he recorded two outs he managed to get himself into a position where he ended up with two men on before recording the third one on a flyout to Adam Jones.

The bottom of the eighth made me change the title again: now it’s the Wieters, Pearce and Reynolds Show, as the latter hit a bomb out to left field, the crowning achievement on his four-hit night.

A run came across in the top of the ninth, but at this point, it was pretty much irrelevant…because…

…tonight was a good night offensively:

• Mark Reynolds: 4 hits
• God Matt Wieters: 4 RBI
• Steve Pearce: 5 RBI

I like winning. I think it’s time to go and try that in the city where they make my favorite soda.*

*My terminal addiction to Coca-Cola should be copied or praised by absolutely nobody.

We missed you!

I honestly forgot what it was like to have Brian Roberts in a game. He reminded me by going 3-for-4 tonight and driving in a run, so I guess that clears that little issue up!

Steve Tolleson was optioned back down to Norfolk and Nolan Reimold was moved to the 60-day DL, but at least we have one of the cornerstones of the organization back. (Also, Matusz didn’t break his nose – it’s just bruised. Phew!)

For the most part, this game went pretty well – Roberts returned, Wei-Yin Chen returned to consistency (he scattered four runs over 6.1 innings, with two of those runs scoring at the end in the seventh), and Kevin Gregg got to try to close the game out and gave up a two-run homer to make the score 8-6. Buck had to bring in Jim Johnson because it became a save situation. Fortunately, Jim Johnson closed it out with ease, swiftly eliminating two opposing batters.

To be honest, if we didn’t beat the Pirates, I would have been a little sad since this is a great test for the Orioles – an opponent on their own level. With the teams sporting almost-identical records before the game, I thought that this series would be well-matched, but I was naturally hoping the Orioles would win just so that they could continue to convince the fanbase that they’re going to be a consistently good team this season. So far, they’ve done that except for Kevin Gregg, who is pretty consistently bad, but we don’t have to use him that much.

I rather like the way the Orioles looked tonight – they were able to soundly outperform a team with a record similar to theirs, which boosts my confidence in them even more. I’m still not entirely used to this success, but it’s starting to become something I expect out of them more and more, and I’m finding myself disappointed instead of complacent when they lose. That’s the number one reason I wanted them to especially win tonight, with the return of Brian Roberts – I wanted to see them win for him, for us, and for themselves and know that they could do it.

It’s June 12th. They’re a game out of first place behind the Yankees (and tied with the Rays – thanks, Mets!). I think I officially believe in this team.

People are in camp, guys. That’s pretty awesome.

The Orioles actually made quite a few waves this offseason, and at some point this week I’m going to try to sit down and write a full offseason retrospective. Since it’s February break and my elementary school librarian mother – and my kid brother – are home from school for the week, that task has become monumentally easier.

Right now, though, let’s take a quick look at what stories are starting to emerge from camp.

• Brian Roberts is alive. He worked out today – he threw with J.J. Hardy and took swings in the batting cages. He’s also been getting in work at the Minor League complex, apparently.
• Lots of people are at camp. Also, Tsuyoshi Wada wants to be a starter. Also also, Mark Reynolds lost 20 pounds. (Click that link – Britt Ghiroli posted lots of pictures. One is a Jake Arrieta ass shot. You’re welcome.)
• Zach Britton’s getting better. He threw roughly 60 pitches at 100 feet today, including 15 in his full windup, which is a plus. He’s been able to find his arm slot – good news. Now let’s see if he can throw on consecutive days when he tries to throw tomorrow.

You know what my favorite part of this post is? I get to tag a bunch of players in it. That means that a bunch of players are here. Just being able to write that makes me smile so, so big.

Stay tuned – I’ll have a post coming up within the next few days showing you all how to draw everyone’s favorite mascot, the Oriole Bird!

At least this is almost back again.

On Friday, my computer died. It really wasn’t very funny. My data should be fine – it’s the booting component on my hard drive that needs to be replaced – but it’s limited my ability to cover the Orioles for the past few days. I’ll be out of a laptop for about a week, which depresses me more than it should.

Fortunately for me, the Orioles haven’t done very much except continue to sign Pacific Rim pitchers. I’ll do more in-depth analysis of this once my computer returns to my loving arms – I need statistics. However, the fact that Dan Duquette is scouting and drafting suspiciously like me makes me wonder if we were separated at birth (ignore the part where I only turn 23 in April).

The bigger uproar is that Brian Roberts probably won’t be at FanFest – at the request of his doctor. His doctor works on Sidney Crosby, too, so this fellow obviously knows his stuff when it comes to concussions. If he’s unable to make it, a replacement player will fill in for him at autograph sessions, but the fanbase’s uproar will be significant. To be honest, fanbase, take a step back on this one. Once you’ve had a concussion and realize it can take even years to heal properly, then you’ve earned the right to be critical – and yet you probably won’t be.

I can’t wait until I have my laptop back and I can explain that one more in depth, too.

Until the next time I successfully update from my phone, see you, Birdland!

Antonelli with the Padres in 2010.

Whilst running around and preparing for Thanksgiving, Matt Antonelli flew under my radar and onto the roster. We’ve signed him, so he’ll be competing for a place on the roster out of Spring Training.

Antonelli was the 17th overall pick of the San Diego Padres back in 2006. He hasn’t been in the Majors since 2008, but considering that the Orioles are a fairly young club (Antonelli will be 27 on April 8th) and that we’ve had some issues in the infield – namely with finding consistency – he might have a shot here.

Of course, it depends on how strong Brian Roberts, Chris Davis, and some of the prospects come on in Spring Training. We’ll have to keep an eye on what could potentially be an interesting battle for the infield. Unfortunately for us, we have to wait until February. Waiting for baseball to come back sucks. There’s just no other way to say it. It sucks.

Shut up, Barnaby. I know you’re a fan of Brian Roberts’ dog Rocky, but sometimes change has to happen.

As I write this, Barnaby here is running around barking wildly.

With Roberts and Davis both being infield questions, there’s actually a chance for Antonelli to make the roster. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.