A weekend at Camden Yards (+ my Big First Opening Day)

Because I'm such a passionate Orioles fan, I secured tickets to not only Opening Day, but also to Opening Night (aka the Saturday night game following the Friday day game). And because everyone probably knows that the Orioles lost both of these games, I'm going to talk more about my experience at Camden Yards, focusing less on what happened in the games (honestly, when I go to the Yard, I pay less attention to the baseball and more attention to the atmosphere).

Opening Day (Friday, April 9):

My friend and I got to Camden Yards right at noon, when the gates were opening. We went into the park right by Pickles Pub, which was absolutely mobbed. The very first thing I did was get me a Boog's (owned by renowned O's first baseman Boog Powell) pit beef sandwich, because they're delicious and I've missed them in the off-season (although Chap's pit beef on Pulaski Highway is just as good, if not better).



Photo courtesy of themarinara.com

I ate my Boog's while watching batting practice. It was Friday that I discovered I could never get standing room only tickets because I am too short to see over the wall there (in the very left of the picture below).




Photo courtesy of snaggingbaseballs.mlblogs.com

A lot of times the ball park doesn't open early enough to watch Orioles BP, so it was interesting. My favorite part, though, was watching RHP Jeremy Guthrie (who will start in tomorrow night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays) run around the warning track. He wasn't pitching, but I've noticed from spring training footage that the man loves to run.

Eventually we made our way up to our seats, which were in the upper deck just to the left of home plate.



We watched as the grounds crew and their awesome boss (because she's a woman and that's awesome) set up for the traditional introductions that happen on Opening Day. This was my first Opening Day, so it was all new to me. What happens is they roll out a giant orange carpet from the bullpen area all the way down center field toward second base. Then little kids in orange uniforms and holding orange flags line the carpet on both sides to greet the players as they run out and are introduced.



There was a dual first pitch, thrown out by Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell, which was really awesome. Then O, Canada was sung, since we were playing Toronto, of course followed by the National Anthem, all capped off by a flyover from the 175th Wing Guard. The flyover was my favorite part. I'm not sure why; I just find them really exciting and it gave me a lot of pride (both national and O's pride). It was a great way to kick off our first home game.

That said, the game was a heartbreaker, with the O's falling to the Jays 6-7. We were all tied up 5-5 and then the O's pulled ahead 6-5 in the eighth. However, in the top of the ninth, "closer" Michael Gonzalez was brought in. Gonzalez subsequently surrendered two runs, more or less single-handedly losing the O's their home opener. And needless to say, Gonzalez did not see action in Saturday or Sunday's game as a result.

Opening Night (Saturday, April 10):

I had really great seats for this game. They were in section 28, which is right next to the O's dugout.




My friend and I talked extensively with a woman sitting in front of us, who with her husband and son. They were from New Jersey and traveling around to lots of baseball stadiums for her son's spring break. And the kicker is, they were Yankees fans, but she was so friendly and nice, I hardly noticed. Like I've heard from many people, this family thought Camden Yards was the most beautiful park they had seen. The moral of the story is, even though the O's might play terribly, there are still the people that come to see our stadium, which is great. Especially when they're friendly Yanks fans and not obnoxious ones.

One of the coolest thing about going to Saturday's game was seeing Adam Jones get his Rawlings Gold Glove. Former O's center fielder and eight-time Gold Glove winner Paul Blair was on hand to help present Jones with the honor.


From the left: Lots of media, ball girl, O's coach John "T Bone" Shelby, Paul Blair, a Rawlings rep, Adam Jones (no. 10) and The Bird.

I also discovered that the pretzel stand at the Yard has had its second name change in two seasons. In 2008, the stand was Uncle Teddy's pretzels and it had the most delicious cinnamon- sugar soft pretzels ever. There were always tons of people lined up just for these pretzels. But last year, it changed to Noah's and I was so upset; they were dry and yucky. This year, however, it's called NJ's Pretzels and there were vendors selling them in the seating bowl. I had a plain salted one and it was really good, so next time I will have to go back and try a cinnamon-sugar version of theirs. I hope it's more like the Uncle Teddy's one.

Also, in addition to the ever-popular Guess The Year, Old Bay Crab Shuffle, Covergirl Kiss Cam, O's Fan of the Game and Hot Dog Race (featuring Ketchup, Mustard and Relish), they added two new videos/graphics/fan participation elements to play on the Jumbotron: Name That TV Tune and Get to Know Your O's with Jeremy Guthrie. For the TV Tune, only a few players knew Home Improvement (most insisted the show was called Tool Time) and I Dream of Jeannie. And Guthrie so far interviewed Matt Wieters and unfortunately, I forget who was featured Friday.

But I digress. The O's fell again to the Rays 0-3 on Saturday and lost 2-5 Sunday.

Here are some juicy (or perhaps sour) numbers about how the O's are playing (not very well). They allowed 27 runs in their first six games and are 9 for 54 (.167) with runners in scoring position. Against Toronto (who, for the record, sweeped us this weekend; UNacceptable), the O's went 3 for 22 with runners in scoring position and went 1 for 8 during Sunday's loss.

In Sunday's game, Kevin Millwood performed well, only allowing one run until he gave up a couple of homers in the eighth inning. But the O's bullpen is a hot mess, namely Gonzalez, who cost the team at least two wins.

So now the O's stand at 1-5 and will face off against the Rays tomorrow at 7 p.m. with Guthrie at the mound.

And just for funzies, here are a few more photos from Saturday's game:


The ball boy holding Adam Jones' Gold Glove.


Jeremy Guthrie peeking out of the dugout. Fellow members of the rotation Brad Bergesen and Brian Matusz appeared later, but that's on a different camera.


Baltimore's Golden Boy, catcher Matt Wieters. Ya know, much like Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, I thought I hadn't caught the Wieters bug. But I really felt myself cheering for him, so I guess that went out the window.

From Friday's game:



Camden Yards really is beautiful. This is my favorite picture of the weekend.

First Series Reflections

Not all of these are terribly useful for fantasy baseball purposes, but in constantly watching Yahoo!'s StatTracker update and seeing where my teams are (1st and 3rd currently), I had some thoughts regarding the first series of the year that I have deemed appropriate for this site. You know what this means...more bullets!

• The season this year goes from April 4 to October 3. It's 162 games per team, it takes a loooooooong time. In fact, the reason many fewer people play fantasy baseball is because it's such a grind and it's hard to maintain interest long enough to win a league (which requires season-long vigilance). I know this (I've been playing the game for seven years now), but this doesn't mean I don't get incredibly excited when my team's in first place after three days. Granderson's hit two homers, Rickie Weeks is setting himself up to once again break my heart, and Matt Garza spun a gem in his first game. Add in the Jason Heyward love-a-palooza and Michael Cuddyer's .500+ OBP, things are looking up for "The Loney Bones"
• Speaking of The Loney Bones, it has been a longstanding tradition to name my teams puns involving the name of a player on my team. This year it's James Loney. My first and most successful was in 2006, winning my league under the strength of "Hock a Lugo" to go with a ridiculous lineup of Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Cantu and Jhonny Peralta in their breakout years, and a whole bunch of other things that went right and cemented puns as a viable strategic naming method. Some are obviously too easy (Jason Bay comes to mind) but a great pun usually means a great team. Quote that.
• I had no idea Colby Rasmus was this strong. The guy destroyed that pitch. I definitely undervalued him this year...he's a 30-homer candidate.
• Great pitching performances so far: Lincecum on Opening Day, Matt Garza last night (8 IP, 1 run, 9 Ks), Dallas Braden (7 innings, one run, 10 Ks), Mark Buehrle (7 shutout innings), and Roy Halladay (7 innings, one run, 9 Ks).

And finally a new segment for the blog, five guys to watch in the upcoming week make their case for fantasy relevance:

1. Chris Young, SP Padres - This guy has long been a guy I've never been able to get my hands on , but have always resented those who've had him. He's very injury prone, but when he's healthy there are few better values for a fantasy roster. And he's healthy now. Pitching in the pitcher's park to end all pitcher's park (seriously the place is like the freaking Grand Canyon), he's one of the active career leaders in opponents' batting average (career: .221) and he's enormous (6-10) and a Princeton man. If he's healthy, he's an absolute steal for whoever owns him.
2. Garrett Jones, 1B/OF Pirates - Proud member of my bench right now, and I'm kicking myself because I didn't start him. Jones is apparently a late bloomer, because the dude has been around the minors forever (great piece by Yahoo's Steve Henson on him here), and started the season by hitting three homers in two games (on my bench), piling on to his 21-homer, 10-steal 2009 in only 314 at-bats (a full season is anywhere from 550 up). If he were five years younger, he would have been a second or third rounder. Everyone thinks he's a total fluke though, which means he's a steal. If anyone of you out there actually plays fantasy baseball, go pick him up. NOW. Trade for him, do what you can, because I'm guessing he hits 30 homers with 15 steals and a .280-ish average, which can be had for sooooo cheap.
3. Vernon Wells, OF Blue Jays - People who have been following baseball for a while know this guy. He's the guy who signed this contract and has disappeared since. Until this Spring, where he's come out of the gate hotter than anyone. In three games thus far, his line is absurd: .600-4 HR-7 RBI-6 R. Leading the majors in homers, and not far off in the other categories, it would appear that he's experiencing a renaissance. Already he has almost a third of his homer total from last year. He's still in his prime at 31, and has a chance for a major bounce-back year if he can keep slugging.
4. Ian Kennedy, SP Diamondbacks - God it pains me to write this. The Yankees essentially gave up on this guy because he's been injured so much and ineffective in the miniscule sample size he's had in the majors. While it's true they have no room in their rotation for him (or for Joba Chamberlain), it still sucks to see him potentially flourish elsewhere, which is exactly what I think will happen this year. His first performance was promising, striking out eight batters in five innings, but he did give up three runs (all on a three-run homer). Probably the most encouraging sign to me is his utter lack of walks. Zip, zilch, nada. He's a former first round pick who was ridiculously good at USC (pitching against top college competition) and great at every level in the minors. He's not a can't-miss, but that doesn't mean he'll miss. I think he's a good bet for 10-13 wins, 150 Ks and a low-4 ERA. Nothing stellar, but promising for the one who got away.
5. Rickie Weeks, 2B Brewers - Every year. Every bleeping year I torture myself with Weeks. Why? If it's literally torture (waterboarding would be preferable)? Maybe it's that he was the #2 overall pick. Maybe it's that he is still just 27. Maybe it's that he's hitting leadoff in front of Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. Yes, those all contribute, but the fact is he's really freaking talented. He's so injury prone that it's comical, but when he's on the field, he produces. He has a great eye (already has three walks in three games) has an elite combination of power and speed and is at a crazy shallow position. Invariably I avoid him in drafts and auctions alike. Then the position scarcity at 2B rears its ugly head and I wind up with Asdrubal Cabrera as my starter and need a serviceable backup. There's Rickie, sitting on free agency, beckoning me like a siren before he ensnares me in his trap of upside and unfulfilled potential. Every year I tell myself the same thing I'm telling you: this is the year. He's 27 (the traditional year for a huge leap in stats), he's finally healthy (for now), but most of all, the pressure's off. No one expects anything from him. Not after so many disappointments. This is why I expect something from him. Something like a .270 AVG but a .370 OBP (I own him in my OBP league), 18 homer, 16 steals, 100 runs, 60 RBI, and the freakin' steal of the year. I hope.

Moeller goes to The Enemy

I know no one else cares about this except for me, but I like being a goof, so here's the news: Chad Moeller not only didn't want to play in our minor league system, but he thumbed his nose at us by signing with Enemy No. 1: the New York Yankees.

Caps sweep Pens

So what have we learned in the last few days? After a three-game slump, the Capitals have rebounded with four straight victories. More importantly, two of their last five wins have come over Pittsburgh. With Tuesday's win, for the first time ever, they've swept the season series with the Penguins.

The other three games against the Penguins have been come-from-behind affairs, with two games going into extra time and one going to a shootout. But the Capitals led from wire to wire in Tuesday's game on their way to a convincing 6-3 thrashing of the defending champs.

With the season nearly over, the Capitals have locked up the highest point total in the league. Chicago, the team's closest competitor, is 9 points behind. Washington has the most wins and fewest regulation losses of any team. But after being bounced from the playoffs in a seven-game second-round classic last year, the team's success against Pittsburgh has got to be the most exciting development for Capitals fans as the playoffs loom.

Of course, it's important not to get too excited. The Penguins haven't exactly been lighting it up recently, having won just 11 of 23 games since Feb. 1.

And, as Coach Bruce Boudreau pointed out after the game, regular season records are just that: regular season records. The playoffs are an entirely different beast.

“It's nice that we did it, and I'm happy that we did it but I don't think it would mean a hill of beans if we met them in the playoffs,” he said of sweeping the regular season series.

Recent history says he's right. Last season, the Capitals won three of four games against the Penguins before losing in the playoffs.

Still, sweeping the regular season series has got to be better than not sweeping the regular season series, if only for the confidence boost it provides. It's hard to argue the Capitals aren't the most talented team in the league. But after the way last season ended, a few losses to the Penguins this year could have shaken Washington's psyche.


Instead, with the season series in hand, the Capitals are ending the season on a high note, confident they can beat the Penguins – or anyone else they face – come playoff time.

Lockouts take on an international flavor

We know about the lingering labor issues in the NBA and NFL. We know about the since-fixed labor issues in MLS.

But today, news from our neighbors to the north shows that the threat of work stoppages isn't an American specialty.

According to The Montreal Gazette, the Canadian Football League's players' union is advising players to prepare for the possibility of a work stoppage in June. The league, ominously enough, begins in July.

The league's CBA expires June 5 -- one day before the start of training camp -- and according to the players' union president, "It continues to be the opinion of the executive committee that a CFL management lockout of the players is a very real possibility."

Like we saw with MLS early in its own process, talks between players and management thus far have been relatively icy. The CFL Players' Association (CFLPA) and the Players Relations Committee (PRC) haven't sat down at the negotiating table since late last October.

As far as labor issues go, the list of unresolved matters is about as eclectic as you'll find: using replacement players, teams' operations even during a strike, minimum roster limits for natural-born Canadians. Not exactly the standard fare you'd expect to see percolating during an NBA strike.

On the surface, this potential lockout seems equally about individual salaries as it is about general profit sharing. The CFLPA wants the minimum salary bumped up $1,000 annually, as well as improved bonuses for participants in the Grey Cup, the league's Super Bowl. It also wants to maintain at least a 56 percent share of the league's revenue. If that means a higher salary cap, the CFLPA seems ready to handle that.

According to Gazette colmunist Rob Vanstone, the league's owners and management would be unwise to paint themselves as the victims of a money-hungry cadre of athletic stars:

As it stands, the CFL’s cap number is dwarfed by the wages of dozens of NHL players — many of whom are marginal. The Edmonton Oilers, for example, are paying 12-goal scorer Shawn Horcoff an absurd $5.5 million per annum.

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray does not make even one-10th of Horcoff’s salary. The CFL’s peak wages are reserved for quarterbacks such as Ray, Anthony Calvillo (Montreal Alouettes) and Henry Burris (Calgary Stampeders), all of whom receive in excess of $400,000 per year. As marquee players who attract fans and TSN viewers, they deserve every cent.

The salary of commissioner Mark Cohon is also well into six figures — with the difference being that nobody pays to see him work. If Cohon allows a lockout to occur under his watch, it will be to his discredit.

And under my watchful eye!

Keep checking in for more good stuff.

Orioles season begins with tough last-minute loss to Rays

With presumed backup catcher Chad Moeller gone in favor of the inexperienced Craig Tatum and two players (pitcher Chris Tillman and infielder Robert Andino) who many thought would make the Orioles' 25-man roster designated for assignment, the O's management have certainly raised some eyebrows as spring training ends and the long baseball season begins.

The news of Andino's reassignment is the most recent. Three days ago, Andino, who was regarded as somewhat of shoo-in as one of the O's utility infielders (he and Ty Wigginton routinely subbed for injured or overplayed infielders last season), was ousted in favor of infielder Julio Lugo, who was traded to the O's from the St. Louis Cardinals. "I'll be honest, I'm a little irritated," Andino said, according to MLB.com. As of right now, it doesn't look like there's any news about whether Andino has cleared waivers. If he does, he'll be back in Triple-A Norfolk soon.

But back to Opening Day. Here is the starting lineup for tonight's game, the Baltimore Orioles at the Tampa Bay Rays, which is currently in progress, but will probably be over by the time I publish this post.

2B Brian Roberts
CF Adam Jones
RF Nick Markakis
3B Miguel Tejada
DH Luke Scott
C Matt Wieters
LF Felix Pie
1B Garrett Atkins
SS Cesar Izturis

There really aren't many surprises there. It will be interesting to see Tejada develop into that third-base spot, which used to belong to his good friend Melvin Mora. The one that some people are having problems with is the choice of Pie over sometimes-left-fielder Nolan Reimold. Reimold, however, did have Achilles surgery in the off-season, which is a big contributing factor to the choice of Pie. The big debate here is that Reimold, though a rookie last season, offers both good offense and defense. Pie, though he proved himself a little bit by upping his average toward the end of last season (including a game in which he batted for the cycle), still struggles defensively (e.g. a slightly-off throw to home that allowed a Tampa RBI in the fifth). Hopefully, Reimold will get some playing time soon and one of these two young guys will emerge as the starting left fielder.

Game highlights:

The Orioles have proven they have the bats, with three single homers by Jones, Scott and Wieters. Every player in the lineup, except Roberts and Tejada, had at least one hit, with 11 hits total. Jones was 3 for 5 with the homer, a single and a double. Wieters was 2 for 4 with the homer and a single. Izturis was also 2 for 4 with two singles. Also impressive was Markakis' throw to home, which ended the fifth inning and protected the O's one-run lead at the time. However, the O's struggled where they always seem to struggle most and that is in the left-on-base department. This team would kick so much ass, pardon my French, if they did not continually strand men on the bases (obviously there are several other issues, but this is one of them--not scoring enough runs). The O's ultimately left 10 men on base, I believe seven of those in scoring position. Any one of those seven could have been converted to RBIs to give the O's some extra insurance runs.

Millwood, the pitcher who the O's acquired in hopes of bringing a veteran presence to the team, did pretty well for his first official outing as an Oriole. He pitched five innings, allowed nine hits and two earned runs (including a homer by Evan Longoria), but struck out five.

Also lending a hand were bullpen members Matt Albers (who seriously always makes me nervous when they bring him in, but he pitched 1.1 scoreless innings), new meat Will Ohman, Jim Johnson and Michael Gonzalez. Gonzalez almost gave up a two-run homer in the ninth with one out, which would have given the Rays the game, but the O's held on for another batter. Following an intentional pass, Carl Crawford then came in with bases loaded and hit a line drive to right field that allowed two RBIs. The O's, who led until these final seconds, fell 4-3 in their season opener. What a freaking bummer.

Oilers eying both top draft prospects? Vancouver's made that move before

There’s been a lot of excitement in the hockey community about Canadian junior stars Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall, the consensus top NHL 2010 draft-eligible prospects.

Hall is currently the top ranked prospect, but the final rankings from NHL Central Scouting come out on Wednesday.

The last-place Edmonton Oilers are guaranteed one of the top two picks, but word on the street is they actually want the No. 1 and 2 picks.

As crazy as that sounds, a team has actually maneuvered it’s way to owning consecutive top picks in the draft before.

In 1999, then Vancouver Canucks General Manager Brian Burke decided he wanted to draft Swedish teammates and identical twin brothers Henrik and Daniel Sedin. The problem was, they were the top ranked European players in the draft and Burke only had the third pick in the draft, and both players would definitely be off the board by the draft’s fifth pick.

But Burke somehow managed to get his twins. Here’s how he did it:

Step 1: Burke traded defenseman Bryan McCabe and Vancouver's No. 1 pick in 2000 or 2001 to Chicago for the No. 4 overall pick. Vancouver now had the third and fourth overall picks.

Step 2: Burke traded two third-round picks and the No. 4 overall pick for the No. 1 overall pick from Tampa Bay.Vancouver now had the No. 1 and No. 3 overall picks.

Step 3: Burke traded the first overall pick and a 2000 third-round pick to Atlanta for the second overall pick. Vancouver now had the No. 2 and No. 3 overall picks.

After Atlanta took the guy they coveted, Czech center Patrik Stefan (who has been a complete bust in the NHL), Vancouver immediately took the Sedin twins back-to-back.

How has all that fuss over on-ice brotherly love paid off for Vancouver?

Pretty damn well.

Henrik Sedin currently leads the NHL with 106 points, and Daniel has 78 points in 60 games to give both players an average of approximately 1.3 points per game.

The Sedins, 29, have both scored more than 70 points in each of the past five seasons. Playing together, their cycling ability and truly remarkable chemistry have anchored Vancouver’s top scoring line.

The Canucks, by the way, have clinched the Northwest division and the third playoff seed in the West in what has been an outstanding campaign, despite an epic record-setting 14 game road trip the team had to endure because of the Olympics.

So should the Oilers go all-in to draft both Hall and Seguin?

I say sure. They really can’t get much worse and securing the services of a pair of young, stud players who can achieve highs and lows together has rapidly reversed the fortunes of a few formely struggling franchises. The Penguins (Crosby/Malkin) and Blackhawks (Kane/Toews) both struck gold at the top of the draft in consecutive years and now looked primed to be contenders for a very long time.

While the NHL draft is definitely a crapshoot and plenty of prospects take a long time to develop, top-four picks (e.g. Tavares, Duchene, Stamkos, Doughty, Myers) have done a pretty good job of stepping in and immediately carrying their teams in recent years.

Stay tuned on this one folks. And FYI, Seguin and Hall are currently dueling each other in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, with Hall’s team holding a 3-0 series lead.