Sharing all info: June 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

MASN to Televise Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate All Star Game

MASN to Televise Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate All Star Game

Special Mid-Atlantic Classic Coverage in HD on July 15 at 7 p.m.

(Washington D.C.) -- MASN, the local leader in live sports entertainment, will broadcast the Mid-Atlantic Classic live on July 15th at 7 p.m. on MASN and MASN HD from the Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, MD, home of the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

The game, which will pit a team of 28 Valley League Stars against a team of 28 Ripken, Sr. League Stars, will air in high definition during MLB's All-Star break. In addition to the game, a Home Run Derby between the two leagues will precede the contest at 5:30 p.m.

Legendary broadcaster Johnny Holliday and former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dave Johnson will handle play-by-play and color duties for the Classic, just as they did during MASN's broadcast of the Cal Ripken League All-Star Game in 2007.

"As the home of two Major League Baseballl teams, MASN is excited to showcase the best amateur talent in the Baltimore-Washington region throughout MASN's seven state territory," said MASN spokesman Todd Webster.

About the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League:

The mission of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League is to promote, promulgate, and perpetuate collegiate wooden-bat baseball in Maryland and the District of Columbia. By creating community-based summer collegiate baseball teams, the League seeks to promote amateur and youth baseball and softball in the area through the improvement of existing fields and facilities and fostering spirited competition with an emphasis on sportsmanship, teamwork, honesty, and fair play. The backbone of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League is the investment in and partnership with local communities.

About MASN

MASN is the television home of the Nationals and the Orioles. The network carries over 600 live sporting events every year including more than 275 NCAA Division I football, basketball, and lacrosse games. MASN is currently carried on 23 cable and satellite providers throughout a seven-state region.

Base Hits: 6/29/2009

A rambling version of Base Hits on this Monday. A lot to talk about...

Some good news from Birdland this weekend. Firstly, they won the series with the Nationals 2-1.
Secondly, The Warehouse came to terms with 2009 1st round pick Matt Hobgood. Here's the video from The Baltimore Sun's website.

The kid sure says all the right things. I imagine he'll end up in Bluefield with the rest of the high school signees.

Also a couple of nice articles about Orioles players from the national media. Marc Hulett writes about the Oriole acquisition of Cleveland farmhand Michael Aubrey this week for FanGraphs.com:

The 27-year-old former Tulane University start has below-average power for a MLB first baseman, but he can hit for a solid batting average with gap power and he is an above-average fielder. It's a very nice low-risk, medium-reward move by an organization that is getting better by the season.

I know nothing about Michael Aubrey in particular but organizational depth at the corner infield positions is something the O's really need and Aubrey can't hurt.

Also at FanGraphs.com, Dave Cameron takes a look at underrated rookie pitcher Brad Bergesen.
When you can command a sinking fastball and have an off-speed pitch to keep opposite handed hitters at bay, you can be an effective major league starter. Bergesen doesn’t have the same potential as some of the more hyped arms in the Orioles system, but don’t discount his strengths and write him off as a no-stuff guy who belongs in the bullpen. Command, sinker, and change-up - it’s the recipe for a solid back-end starting pitcher.

Bergesen takes a lot of criticism from many analysts due to his anemic strikeout rate in the majors. It's a fair criticism but you also have to consider a couple of other stats too.

Ground Ball percentage among AL starters:


                   GB%
Rick Porcello     56.9%
Roy Halladay      56.3%
Brad Bergesen     54.0%
Felix Hernandez   51.3%

If Bergesen can keep inducing grounders at this rate, he's going to hang around awhile. Interesting to see fellow rookie Rick Porcello on this list. Halladay and Hernandez strike out a ton of batters but Porcello doesn't have that kind of stuff. Let's take a closer look.


            GB%   K/9   BB/9   K/BB
Porcello   56.9%  5.03  3.09   1.63
Bergesen   54.0%  4.30  2.04   2.11

Odd that Porcello is touted for Rookie of the Year and gets none of the criticism that Bergesen gets. He only strikes out one extra batter per nine and walks an extra batter per nine.

If Bergesen keeps the walks and the ball down, he's going to have some success in this league. If he can edge his strikeout rate closer to 6 K/9, he could be a great one.

Shysterball had a funny post regarding Sindney Ponson's positive test for a stimulant during the WBC.

It includes the killer line, "The only non-natural substances in Ponson's pee-pee are Yoo-Hoo and failure."

Well played, sir.

Speaking of Shysterball, he also has a post up about Matt Wieters at the NBC baseball blog, Circling The Bases questioning the divinity of the Oriole's rookie catcher.

But a funny thing happened on the way to immortality: Wieters has proved human.

Twenty-one games into his big league career he's at .243/.300/.405. Yesterday he dropped a ball at home plate, turning a sure out into a run for the Nationals. Overall, he's thrown out just two of 15 base stealers and has committed three errors in less than a month.

Now, this post is mostly tongue in cheek but I wonder about Dan Connolly:

Sunday, though, it was back to work at the old ballpark. And let’s just say my Saturday was a whole lot better than Orioles catcher Matt Wieters' Sunday.

The phenom went hitless in three at-bats, made his third throwing error in four games and dropped a ball to wipe out what would have been a sure out at the plate.

Afterward, Wieters was typically calm -- saying he’s working on his defense, and he’s not worried about a bad game...

But, here’s the funny thing: The way things are going right now, Wieters (.234 average, two homers, six RBIs) is not the Orioles’ best candidate for Rookie of the Year. Outfielder Nolan Reimold (.286, 9 homers, 20 RBIs) is, with pitcher Brad Bergesen (5-2, 3.76 ERA) also ahead of the backstop.

Look, it's not even June yet. It's certainly fun to dream on Matt Wieters but who really thought he was going to show up and start dominating right away? Wieters dominated High A immediately, struggled for a couple weeks in AA before taking off and was overmatched his first month in Norfolk before beginning to bludgeon opposing pitching.

Based on that, you had to figure for an adjustment time of at least 2 months in the majors. And you have to forget his cumulative numbers at this point; even with his recent struggles he is OPSing .786 the last two weeks. It's in fits and starts...but he's coming.

Besides, Jesus wandered in the desert for 40 days before showing up in Galilee and dropping miracles on everybody? We'll call Wieters first 40 games his "desert period".

Koji Uehara goes on the DL and David Hernandez gets recalled from Norfolk. One has to wonder if Uehara's future on this team is as a reliever. He can't go more than 5 innings, at least not while staying healthy. Of course, the prospect of Hernandez and Jason Berken going up against the lineups in the AL East for the rest of the season is frightening.

Speaking of pitching, Braves 22-year-old rookie pitcher Tommy Hanson continues to dominate all comers. On Sunday, he shut out the Red Sox for six innings and Atlanta eventually won 2-1.

I bring this up to compare and contrast Hanson against Chris Tillman. Both started the season in the International League.


           IP     K   BB  WHIP  ERA
Hanson    66.1   90   17  .859  1.48
Tillman   72.2   75   21 1.142  2.97

Not quite as dominant but he's still striking out more than 1 batter per inning. And look at the tiny walk rate of 2.6 per nine. The concern about Tillman was always his control but he seems to be addressing it. How long until he shows up in Baltimore?

Adam Dunn launched a monster shot off of David Hernandez on Sunday, way out on Eutaw Street. At first, I thought he had actually hit the warehouse on the fly but it wasn't even the longest shot in Eutaw Street history. For more, we go to Eutaw Street expert, Roar from 34:

Adam Dunn stroked a 442-foot home run in the second inning of Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Nationals that one-hopped the warehouse. Dunn's blast was the second-longest Eutaw Street home run during game action, missing Henry Rodriguez's 443-foot shot on June 17, 1997, by just a foot.

I never saw the Henry Rodriguez shot but Adam Dunn's shot was an absolute monster. The biggest Eutaw shot I've ever seen..by a lot!

A plug now for Roar From 34:

Roar from 34's Eutaw Street Week

Monday, June 29 through Sunday, July 5 will be "Eutaw Street Week" on Roar from 34. All content posted during the week will have a Eutaw Street theme or connection, including additional entries to The Eutaw Street Chronicles and an interview with Greg Bader, director of communications for the Orioles, about the new 2110 Eutaw Street promotion.

I'm a big fan of The Eutaw Street Chronicles so some good stuff to look forward to this week.

While I'm beating the drum for marginal players (Oscar Salazar...), I've got to say some nice things about RP Matt Albers. He's really been pitching well since his latest callup. A 1.29 ERA over 14 innings for the month of June. If only he could cut down on the walks. A nice 7-8-9 inning combo would be Albers-Johnson-Sherrill (at least as long as Sherrill's here...).

Tough week as the Orioles return to the AL. Boston in for three at the Yard and then another road trip west to take on the Angels. Can they manage .500? Eh...

Numbering Comments In Blogger

Hi friends,you would have seen for sure in blogger from a long time that,comments the readers do in some blog are numbered starting from count 1 to number of comments on that post page.As i think many bloggers dont like this hack because they don't find any use to it in there blogger but according to me its a great hack to make your blog look different from others and i have made this too simple and beautiful to implement it very easily.

And the second advantage is it makes very easy for readers to find any comment and differentiate between the comments and without numbering,it becomes difficult to find comment if there are lot comments on post,even sometimes i find this problem in wordpress blogs as even they dont use this hack but you should use it for sure.

Before proceding to the tutorial you should have embed comment form in blogger and and back up your template for sure.

Now this is how in picture below the numbering will look like while using my codes.As you can also see this live in my present template i am using in my blog.

And thanx to fernando from quiterandom to make it possible for us to make this numbering possible.

Now login to blogger GO To Layout > Edit/Html > Check Mark Expand Widgets > Press Ctrl+F and search for below codes in your template and add the red lines in between them like i have shown below.

<dl id='comments-block'>

<script type='text/javascript'>var CommentsCounter=0;</script>

<b:loop values='data:post.comments' var='comment'>

<div class='' expr:id='data:comment.id'>

<dt expr:class='"comment-author " + data:comment.authorClass' expr:id='data:comment.anchorName'>
<a expr:name='data:comment.anchorName'/>
<b:if cond='data:comment.authorUrl'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl'><data:comment.author/></a>
<b:else/>
<data:comment.author/>
</b:if>
<data:commentPostedByMsg/>

<span class='comment-number'>
<a expr:href='"#comment-" + data:comment.id' title='Comment Link'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
CommentsCounter=CommentsCounter+1;
document.write(CommentsCounter)
</script>
</a>
</span>

</dt>
<dd class='comment-body'>
<b:if cond='data:comment.isDeleted'>
<span class='deleted-comment'><data:comment.body/></span>
<b:else/>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
</b:if>
</dd>
<dd class='comment-footer'>
<span class='comment-timestamp'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.url' title='comment permalink'>
<data:comment.timestamp/>
</a>
<b:include data='comment' name='commentDeleteIcon'/>
</span>
</dd>

</div>

</b:loop>
</dl>

And now i need some css part to make look the counter of comments to look beautiful so you just add these below css codes before the ]]></b:skin> tag.

.comment-number {
float: right;
background: url(http://i40.tinypic.com/14tmp9e.jpg) no-repeat;
width:50px;
height:50px;
margin-right: 15px;
margin-top: -35px; /*comments-counter position*/
text-align: center;
font-family: 'Century Gothic','Lucida Grande',Arial,Helvetica,Sans-Serif;
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: bold;
}

/*since the numbers are actually links, we need to force the color properties*/

.comment-number a:link, .comment-number a:visited {
color: #445566 !important;
text-decoration: none !important;
}
.comment-number a:hover, .comment-number a:active {
color: #FF9933 !important;
text-decoration: none !important;
}

Now in above codes red link is the background to counter image you can change it with yours.And if you change image correct its width and height option in above css with the size of your image.

One problem you can face after making the css work can be the position of counter in comments.So just edit below lines in above css to make it align to proper postion in your blog if not working at perfect position for you.

margin-right: 15px;
margin-top: -35px;

Now i hope you will love his hack for sure and will use it for sure.One more thing,i insist you to use this hack for sure if you are not using it and don't forget to implement highlight blog author comment for sure as this is what makes you different from your blog readers as i can't live without these hacks.

Numbering Comments In Blogger

And now i need some css part to make look the counter of comments to look beautiful so you just add these below css codes before the ]]></b:skin> tag.

Numbering Comments In Blogger

And now i need some css part to make look the counter of comments to look beautiful so you just add these below css codes before the ]]></b:skin> tag.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Ways To Access Blocked Websites

Hi friends today i am back with you with some internet tips not with the usual tips of my blogging.As you would have seen while accessing some sites you are blocked from opening them,if you surfing them from your school ,college or from an office if you are employed.While when i was in college we were blocked from using social media sites like orkut and in offices you will be blocked from using many sites like these to get surf.So we got to use proxies at that time to access them but it may not work always,so i am sharing many ways to get access these websites and implement it according to your need to make it work.You may also find an important tip on how to make slower internet connection browse faster.

1) Using IP Instead of URL

This depends on the software/application used. Sometimes blocked sites are stored as a list of URLs (eg. www.yahoo.com, www.donwload.com,etc) and typing the IP instead of the URL might sometimes work. In a local computer, doing a ping domain.com command in Command Prompt (Mac users use Terminal) will return you the IP address. You can also do it online via www.whatsmyip.org.

2) Redirection with Short URL service

Sometimes the URL you intend to browse might be ban, but converting them to another a shorter URL with short URL services might just help you to bypass the settings.

Here’s 2 Short URL service you can use – MooURL, SnipURL

3) Google Cache

Search engines like Google and Yahoo cache webpages and these cached pages are stored in search engines themselves, which likely will be added to the blocked list. Click on the ‘cache’ will bring you to a cache version of the page, as updated as how Google caches it.

4) Internet Archive – Wayback Machine

Wayback Machine is a internet service that periodically keeps a copy of almost all websites in the Internet way from the date they’re started. Clicking on the latest copy of what Wayback Machine have should be somewhat similar to the real site. Another way to access blocked sites via caches.

5) Anonymous Surfing

Some site allows you to take advantage of their proxy or domain to surf other sites as anonymous. Just search proxy websites on google and you get a list of them.

6) Use Proxy in Browsers

There are tons of sites out there that distributes free proxies of almost any country. Here’s an example. Check out the following methods on how/where to insert proxies in your web browsers.

Proxy Surfing – Firefox

Under Advanced tab, select Network tab, then click inside Connection Settings. Select Manual proxy configuration, put proxy under HTTP proxy.

Proxy Surfing – Internet Explorer

Go to Tools -> Internet Options. Select Connections tab. Click into LAN Settings, check Proxy Server. Insert your proxy URL inside Address.

7) Bypass with Translations services

Online translation services like AltaVista BabelFish, Google Translate allows you to translate a website from one language to another and display the translated results on their own page.The trick here is to enter the URL (website you’re blocked), retranslate it even if you don’t need to and let Google or AltaVista fetch you the content.

8) Subscribe to RSS Feed

This might not work for all sites, but if the site you intended to visit provides RSS feeds, you can subscribe and read it with a RSS reader, or have it regularly send the contents to your email.

9) Retrieve web pages via Email

Web2Mail is a free service that sends websites you want to read right into your inbox. All you need to do is send an email to www@web2mail.com with the URL as subject title.

Source of Article From hongkiat a blog for online tips.

Ways To Access Blocked Websites

Friday, June 26, 2009

Sell, Sell, Sell!

I was looking over some stats for Baltimore as we approach the halfway point of the season when something struck me...The Warehouse has go to trade anybody on this team that is beyond their arbitration years.

The Orioles team ERA is 5.10, last in the American League next to the 5.26 ERA of the Indians. Terrible. We need help and more help than even our promising farm system can provide.

The O's offense is mustering 4.57 runs per game. That's below the AL average of 4.82. What's so great about all these hitters we have? Sell and sell now!

Aubrey Huff? Ship him out. Cesar Izturis? Robert Andino has made him redundant. See if someone wants him. Ty Wigginton will cetainly be useful to some contender. Out!Melvin Mora? Nobody will want him but we can try. Danys Baez and George Sherrill? Outen zie!

Even Luke Scott. He's the best bat we have and teams should pay dearly but it has to be an option.

The Orioles need to be listening to any and all offers.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Base Hits: 6/24/2009

You don't hear a lot in the Oriole blogosphere/chat rooms/article comments these days about the lack of a "fan-friendly atmosphere" at Camden Yards these days. I expect that it is due to the emphasis the MacPhail regime has put on this aspect of the OPACY experience.

But while we were plenty ready to criticize, we haven't always done a good job at pointing out the efforts the Baltimore Orioles are making now. Like this promotion:

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is located at 333 West Camden Street, but this summer Orioles fans will have the option to reside at 2110 Eutaw Street by taking advantage of a new ticket offer. The Orioles have combined the uniform numbers of two of their best young outfielders, NICK MARKAKIS and ADAM JONES, to re-identify an area of the Eutaw Street Bleachers and give fans the opportunity to take part in a unique promotion.

For a number of pre-selected games beginning with the game on Sunday, July 12 vs. Toronto, fans can purchase a Eutaw Street bleacher seat and a limited edition "I Live at 2110 Eutaw Street" t-shirt for only $21. In addition, Markakis and Jones will toss baseballs into the stands throughout the game, and for every home run hit by Markakis or Jones in that day's game, one lucky fan in the section will receive a bat autographed by the player who hit the homer.

It's fan friendly, community and brand building, creative, gets the players directly involved and may help to sell a few more tickets in the process. This is good and should be encouraged...

*****

I'm going to keep beating this drum...Last night in Miami, Oscar Salazar gets off the bench in the 8th and gets a hit in the middle of a 2-run rally, then gets up in the 9th with 2 out and 2 on and singles in the tying run.

Give him a shot, Dave!

*****

Notable minor league stuff: In Aberdeen, SS Tyler Kelly, the 13th round draft selection in the 2009 draft is hitting .333/.333/.389 in his first four games. Of Steven Bumbry is only 1 for 8 but his lone hit was a home run.

Japanese import RP Ryohei Tanaka now has pitched 6 innings for Bowie posting an 0.00 ERA striking out 9 and walking just 1. Interesting guy to watch.

Brandon Snyder has struggled since his promotion to Norfolk. He's only posting a .118/.238/.118 line through five games. He'll be fine but perish any thought of him coming to Baltimore this season.

Chris Tillman: 66.0 IP, 70 Ks, 18 BB, 1.17 WHIP and a 2.59 ERA for Norfolk. Dude's only 21. This guy gets no hype compared to 21-year old Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson but he's doing much the same as Hanson did in the same league.

*****

I enjoy playing around with Twitter; there's some good Oriole stuff over there. But even if you don't want to Twitter yourself, you have to check out UnPeterAngelos.

*****

Frost King has moved over to Camden Crazies on the Fanball.com Sports Network. Good luck Dan and congrats on getting your work noticed.

*****

I've got to stick up for my blog's namesake, Rick Dempsey. Seems that Dempsey took some heat for something he wrote in his blog over at MASN.com.

3.) Brian Roberts: He is a quality position player who could draw a lot of attention from a contender and be worth a few good young prospects. Now the only reason I suggest B-Rob is because he has probably missed his window of opportunity to win with the O's and now that the nucleus is becoming much younger, having to wait two more years to contend may take Brian out of his prime and out of his value. I would hate to see him go, but it might be the best overall for the Orioles for the future.

Absolutely correct. I would like to see Roberts stay but for the right package, I'm OK with the club trading him for the reasons Rick stated. This hardly seems a controversial statement but speaks volumes about the near-Ripken level of popularity that Roberts enjoys in this town.

Outside of Wieters, Markakis and Jones (and perhaps Reimold) everybody on the big club should be available...for the right price.

*****

The Orioles have made a trade involving a guy named Aubrey! Not Huff though. They traded for AAA first baseman Michael Aubrey from the Indians organization.

Images Slider i.e carousels For Blogger

Carousels For Blogger what it is,it ia an type of images slider horizontally or vertically for your images with an link to desired post or website you want to link.In some carousels you can add title and description of posts also with an link to post.These image sliders are nowadays highly used by our blogger platforms to attract visitors to there content or show of there latest or best content.Every body use it of at different places in blog with different purposes.So why not you try and use it your blog.

You would have seen my last post peel add for blogger for attracting your visitors to subscribe your blog or show of your advertiser or show of some other important stuff.Some hacks like these i previously wrote were image hover effect,images reflection in blogger posts and zoom your images in blogger posts,which might also help you a lot.

Now lets carry on with an important tutorial of how to add the image slider to your blog.

Just see it at top below the blog header.

Download this Zip file and get two javascript files from it for backup.

Now after getting these two scripts you can upload them to your own server,if you want else dont know where to upload check my this post on where to upload .js files.

Now Just login to your blogger account Then Go To > Layout > Edit/Html > Press Ctrl+ F

Now search for </head> and place the below javascript codes before this tag.

In the above codes you will see red coloured lines just replace them with the link of your file which you downloaded and uploaded to your server, if dont want then also you can use my above links.

Now Search for this code ]]></b:skin> and add the below css above it.

#myslides{

background:#000 url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULFj2W-KTBqQf12WQTXAI-fnyjnEuy-58GYzjTrYaF0K9RxlOkEQN7Y95EEo_5XbnQT85WaTIPWsLf5pz3kRH6YrO78VC0WX1-t0oTSQFhkZFjoIvBl4K-gNXaf2LTZsIUcBf7CKEdw/s1600/mslid.jpg) repeat-x;
width: 650px;
height:165px;
margin-bottom:5px;
}

.stepcarousel{
position: relative; /*leave this value alone*/
overflow: scroll; /*leave this value alone*/
width: 554px; /*Width of Carousel Viewer itself*/
height: 160px; /*Height should enough to fit largest content's height*/
margin: 0px 48px 5px 48px;

}

.stepcarousel .belt{
position: absolute; /*leave this value alone*/
left: 0;
top: 0;
}

.stepcarousel .panel{
float: left; /*leave this value alone*/
overflow: hidden; /*clip content that go outside dimensions of holding panel DIV*/
margin: 20px 10px ; /*margin around each panel*/
width:170px; /*Width of each panel holding each content. If removed, widths should be individually defined on each content DIV then. */
background:#0e1829;
height:120px;
border:1px solid #1d2c44;

}
.stepcarousel .panel p{
text-align: left; /*leave this value alone*/
overflow: hidden; /*clip content that go outside dimensions of holding panel DIV*/
margin: 5px 5px ; /*margin around each panel*/

}

.stepcarousel .panel h2{
text-align: left; /*leave this value alone*/
height:20px;
overflow: hidden; /*clip content that go outside dimensions of holding panel DIV*/
margin: 2px 5px ; /*margin around each panel*/
font-size:16px;
font-weight:bold;
text-align:center;
font-family:Georgia,century gothic,Arial,verdana, sans-serif;
}

.stepcarousel .panel img{
float: left; /*leave this value alone*/
background:#0E1829; /*clip content that go outside dimensions of holding panel DIV*/
margin: 5px 5px 5px 5px; /*margin around each panel*/
padding:0px 0px;
}

Above in code is red line with url of background image of slider,you can also change it to adjust your blog.

Special Step

Just Find for /head tag and place the below script above it.

The green lines are the images of side arrows to make it scroll left and right you can make and add your also to make it look different.And in pink are number to control speed of slider and no of images to be shown at once in slider,so make it adjust acc. to you.If you increase images to be shown from 3 to any number then you have to increase the size of it also in slider css which is written below.

Now Save Your Template.All the coding part is finished,now just how to add images to slider.

Just go to Layout > Page Elements > Add A Gadget > Html/Javascript

And add the below links of images and posts in it,in the format i am writing below.

Just change the links and images url with yours and also there titles.Just keep on adding links to in this format to any number you want as you can add hundreds of images and posts in this format no limit to it.

Images Slider i.e carousels For Blogger

Just see it at top below the blog header.

Download this Zip file and get two javascript files from it for backup.

Above in code is red line with url of background image of slider,you can also change it to adjust your blog.

Special Step

Just Find for /head tag and place the below script above it.

Images Slider i.e carousels For Blogger

Just see it at top below the blog header.

Download this Zip file and get two javascript files from it for backup.

Above in code is red line with url of background image of slider,you can also change it to adjust your blog.

Special Step

Just Find for /head tag and place the below script above it.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Couple of Links Around the Oriole Blogosphere

A little late on this but Zach at Baltimore Sports Report has started a campaign to get out the vote for the Orioles for the All-Star game with some cool banners to boot. Spread the word and go Vote O!

Right of Russell has the latest installment in their continuing video interviews with Bowie Baysox players. This time, recent Japanese import, RP Ryohei Tanaka.

Welcome new Orioles blog Eutaw Street Hooligans. I am a proponent of injecting a little more rowdiness at OPACY and these guys seem to be on the same page...and then some.

Trade Monitors: The Overhaul, The Update

I am updating and changing up the Oriole Trade Monitor and will switching over to WAR instead of Win Shares for measurement of trade value. There are two reasons for this:

1) Win Shares are no longer being updated at The Hardball Times
2) WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is readily available on FanGraphs.com and is probably a better metric and easier to understand. It also allows for negative numbers which I think makes sense for these comparisons.

So, on with the switch, starting with the oldest trades first, in terms of WAR.

SP Kris Benson from the Mets for RP Jorge Julio and SP John Maine

Benson - 0.8 WAR

Julio - 0.0 WAR
Maine - 5.0 WAR

Benson was decent for one year, then got hurt. The principle player the Orioles gave up (Julio) was merely average for the Mets. John Maine, a throw in, has been basically an average NL starter which makes this trade a landslide for the Mets.

SP Rodrigo Lopez to the Rockies for RP Jim Miller and RP Jason Burch

Lopez - 1.1

Miller - 0.1
Burch - 0.0

At the time, the return for Lopez didn't look like much. But Lopez wasn't much himself. He pitched OK for Colorado when he wasn't hurt but was hurt a lot and only pitched one year for them.

Jim Miller on the other hand has shown flashes on the majors and AAA that he may be a serviceable big league reliever. He currently has a 1.73 ERA and 14 saves over 26 appearances for Norfolk. Jason Burch is no longer with the organization.

SS Miguel Tejada to the Astros for OF Luke Scott, RP Dennis Sarfate, RP Matt Albers, SP Troy Patton, 3B Mike Costanzo

Tejada - 4.5

Scott - 3.3
Sarfate - -0.1
Albers - 0.5
Patton - 0
Costanzo - 0

Tejada is not the player he used to be but he provides good offense at a premium defensive position (where his glove is still OK) thus nice WAR number.

Based on his decline and contract, getting anything for Tejada at the time he was traded was a bonus. Getting Luke Scott and giving him a chance to play turned out to be a genius move. Scott has played well in LF (at least last season), been a productive slugger and is a fan favorite to boot. Matt Albers is inconsistent but has been good overall. I think Albers is going to be a pretty good reliever. Dennis Sarfate has a great arm but needs work on his control. Troy Patton has recovered from shoulder surgery and has made it back to AAA. Mike Costanzo got sent back to Bowie earlier in the year. Nice glove, bad bat.

SP Erik Bedard to the Mariners for CF Adam Jones, SP Chris Tillman, RP George Sherrill, RP Kam Mickolio, RP Tony Butler

Bedard - 2.7

Jones - 3.8
Sherrill - 0.8
Tillman - 0
Mickolio - 0
Butler - 0

Bedard was having a nice season but is on the DL yet again.

Adam Jones continues to widen the gap. If MacPhail had traded Bedard for Jones straight up this deal would look like a heist. But they also got George Sherrill and turned him into a serviceable closer and Chris Tillman is the best pitching prospect in the Oriole system. Tillman is a heartbeat away from Baltimore, dominating AAA lineups at the age of 22. Mickolio is doing well at Norfolk posting a 3.81 ERA in 21 games. Tony Butler pitched in low A last season and is currently injured.

C Ramon Hernandez to the Reds for UT Ryan Freel, 3B Brandon Waring and 2B/SS Justin Turner

Hernandez - -0.1

Freel - -0.2
Waring - 0
Turner - 0

Addition by subtraction with Hernandez but Freel did plenty of damage during his short Oriole tenure. I thought Hernandez might hit a little in Cincinnati but hasn't and hasn't even been the primary catcher for the team reducing his value even more.

Brandon Waring is posting a .262/.345/.485 line in Frederick but is a little old for the league. Justin Turner has posted a .301/.356/.374 line in Norfolk, OK for a middle infielder. I've seen him play short twice and he looks pretty good in the field. He may turn out to be a nice utility man in a couple years.

SP Garrett Olson, RP Henry Williamson to the Cubs for OF Felix Pie

Olson - -0.3
Williamson - 0

Pie - 0

The Cubs shipped Olson almost immediately to Seattle for Aaron Heilman (who has been mediocre at best) and Olson has bounced between Seattle and AAA Tacoma this season. He's been a bit below average in the majors. Henry Williamson is doing well for A+ Daytona but he is a bit old for the league too.

Pie has had limited opportunities but his defense had offset the bad bat to provide replacement level production.

SP Hayden Penn to the Marlins for UT Robert Andino

Penn - -0.2

Andino - 0.3

I didn't like this trade at the time but Penn stunk in Florida and continues to stink for New Orleans. Andino's glove at short more than offsets the anemic bat and has given the Orioles good value so far.

UT Ryan Freel to the Cubs for OF Joey Gathright

Freel - -0.2

Gathright - 0

Freel has continued to suck for the Cubs. Joey Gathright will probably never contribute anything to the major league club but Baltimore still wins this trade by subtraction alone.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Could The Orioles Switch Leagues? Please?

Isolated in the mountains of north Georgia all weekend, there is little better than coming back to civilization to find a Oriole sweep of the world champion Phillies waiting for me.

You know, I didn't see any of the games but can we get Oscar Salazar some more at bats? Every time he gets a shot to play, he gets a hit. OK, while Aubrey Huff is still here you can't cut into his playing time but Salazar can play third and Melvin Mora's bat stinks.

Mora's OPS by month:


          OPS
April    .940
May      .647
June     .583

I'm not a Mora basher but he's 37, he's in decline and the club is not going to exercise his option for 2010. Time to give Salazar some of his at bats (and Ty Wigginton too, since we're discussing it...).

Big weekend for Brian Roberts:


                     AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS   RBI
Roberts at Philly   .385  .400  .693 1.092    5

Where's those people who want to trade him now? Look at our shortstops. Nice gloves but no offense. It's a real luxury to have a good bat at one of the middle infield positions.

Nolan Reimold: another home run, OPSing 1.016 last week and .973 for the month of June.

Jeremy Guthrie gives up another home run but managed to outduel Cole Hamels on Sunday. That's 17 homers surrendered by Guthrie in 15 games and he is on pace to shatter the Oriole record.

Most home runs surrendered by a Baltimore pitcher in a season:


                 HR   GS
Sidney Ponson    35   32
Scott McGregor   35   33
Robin Roberts    35   35
Scott McGregor   34   34
Mike Cuellar     34   40
Kris Benson      33   30
Bruce Chen       33   32
Ken Dixon        33   33

I was surprised to see Scott McGregor on this list twice. Not really surprised by anyone else (Cuellar had to make 40 starts to make this list.) If Guthrie stays healthy, he should make 33 starts which puts him on pace for 38 homers surrendered.

(I probably don't plug this enough but I compiled this list using the fantastic BaseballReference.com Play Index. Subscribe or sponsor a page today! I use the site nearly everyday and use the Play Index for blog posts all the time...)

But Peter Angleos should lobby Bud Seling to switch leagues; The Orioles would go to the NL East and the Nats would come AL East. Baltimore would actually contend!

Anyway, more NL East play to come, down to Miami for three against the Marlins and back home this weekend for three with the Nats. Enjoy the wins while they last!