Mazzone meets the media

10/25/2005
BALTIMORE -- While the Orioles organization was enduring a turbulent journey in 2005, experiencing wide-ranging turmoil that included a managerial removal, pitching coach Leo Mazzone was rocking back and forth as the Atlanta Braves were in the middle of clinching their 14th consecutive division title.
The Orioles' problems were of no concern to Mazzone. He kept in touch with close friend Sam Perlozzo during the season, but the possibility of the two working together appeared the same as it had been the past 20 years, a fantasy.
That was until Perlozzo was named permanent manager of the Orioles on Oct. 11, and Mazzone was freed to negotiate with other clubs when the Braves were eliminated from the National League Division Series.
In mere days, Mazzone was joining his best friend and former wood-cutting partner on the Orioles staff. And on Tuesday, in Mazzone's public introduction to the media, the two talked about resurrecting the organization and bringing postseason baseball back to Baltimore.
Mazzone, sporting a sleek tan suit and speaking in front of dozens of team employees, family members and media, talked about his experience in Atlanta, which advanced to the playoffs 14 straight years.
"It's been a long time since I have not been in the postseason after a regular baseball season ended, and I don't expect to start now," said Mazzone. "The reason I'm here is Sam Perlozzo. It's time to bring some action and some fun to Camden Yards, and I look forward to being in my home state."
Mazzone and Perlozzo made sure not to refer to 2005 or any of the issues that linger from that 74-88 season.
Mazzone's acquisition is the most significant of the Orioles' plethora of changes since season's end, but he is not the newest addition to the organization.
The team also announced that former Tampa Bay Devil Rays executive Scott Proefrock has been named director of baseball administration. Proefrock, highly regarded in baseball circles, will work mostly behind the scenes with arbitration cases and other contract issues.
Proefrock, who worked for Atlanta before Tampa Bay, said that it will be welcoming to work with a larger budget instead of what he did during his years with the small-market Devil Rays.
"The one thing you have here that I haven't had since I've been in Atlanta is the resources to get the job done," said Proefrock. "You have a situation where you know that you are going to be able to make decisions, do the right thing for the organization. You are not limited by financial constraints. There are good people here, and the resources are here. There's no reason we can't get the job done in the division that we are in."
Mazzone said that it was difficult leaving Atlanta but that the opportunity to work with Perlozzo and the challenge of a new organization desperate to succeed was enticing. The 57-year-old is going to have quite a task in rebuilding the pitching staff.
The Orioles' staff was 10th in the American League with a 5.39 ERA, and Steve Kline, Erik Bedard and Jorge Julio sustained prolonged skids and turned in disappointing seasons.
Mazzone's philosophy is simple. He wants his starting pitchers to throw twice between starts and focus on command.
"You get them on the mound as often as you can and make them realize that pitching is command of a fastball and change of speeds," he said. "If there's any more than that, I don't know what it is. Just ask Greg Maddux, he said there's nothing more to pitching than commanding the fastball and changing speeds. It's not about out-tricking, outfoxing somebody, it's about making a decision, throwing it with conviction, commanding a fastball and change of speeds."
The process of moving and acclimating himself to Maryland has consumed Mazzone in the past week. He said that he will worry about examining the pitching staff once Spring Training approaches, and that he will push aside scouting reports and outside perceptions and let "my eyeballs see what's going on."
Perlozzo is thrilled about his first coaching hire. The two have known each other since their youth baseball days in Cumberland, Md., and talked about working together when both were Minor League players.
"I certainly don't want it to sound like the other pitching coaches didn't do a good job, [but] Leo has a personality and a plan that no one else really has," said Perlozzo. "And he can implement it and it comes out differently and he can get it done. I'm excited that we do have some young kids, and he's able to come in and get [them] on his plan right away."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Loewen on point in Arizona Fall League

10/28/2005
The Surprise Scorpions got to Adam Loewen on Oct. 25. The Scorpions produced more runs and as many hits off the left-hander in that one game as he had given up in three previous AFL starts.
Not to worry, though. Loewen earned the win after allowing two runs -- one earned, the first he has allowed this season -- on three hits in five innings. Loewen is 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA and opposing hitters are batting .115 against him.
Loewen and six other Orioles prospects are playing for the Javelinas. One other Orioles prospect joined the Surprise Scorpions last week. Here's how they fared during the week of Oct. 21-27:
RHP Andy Mitchell -- Mitchell had a big outing on Oct. 21, when he pitched three scoreless innings, allowing the Javelinas to get the tying run against the Saguaros in a game they eventually won, 8-7. He gave up two runs in one inning in his next outing on Oct. 25 against the Scorpions, but his ERA is 3.29 in 13 2/3 innings.
RHP Cory Morris -- Morris was pitching well, with a 3.86 ERA in four relief appearances, but the right-hander hasn't pitched since giving up two runs in two innings against the Saguaros on Oct. 15.
C Ryan Hubele -- After seeing limited time with the Javelinas, Hubele was moved to the Surprise Scorpions after Ryan Budde suffered a knee injury. Hubele was 4-for-9 in four games with the Javelinas and went 5-for-11 with one home run, three RBIs and four runs scored in three games with the Scorpions last week.
SS Brandon Fahey -- Fahey drove in four runs on Oct. 26, but the Javelinas had their seven-game winning streak snapped by the Solar Sox, 8-5. Fahey had a run-scoring single in the third inning and drove in a run with a groundout in the fifth. He added a two-run single in the ninth.
3B Tripper Johnson III -- Johnson had his best game of the AFL season on Oct. 25 in a 12-2 victory over Surprise. He went 3-for-3 with his first home run, a solo shot in the sixth. Johnson had four RBIs and two runs scored. He doubled home a run as part of the seven-run first inning and had a run-scoring single in the second.
OF Val Majewski -- Majewski had hits in his last four games to raise his average to .326, the first time he's been above .300 since Oct. 11. Majewski also cracked his first home run of the season, going 3-for-4 with a solo dinger in an 8-3 victory over Mesa on Oct. 27.
OF Nick Markakis -- Markakis continued to pound the ball last week, extending his hitting streak to nine games while raising his average to .400. Markakis had a perfect day at the plate during a 12-2 victory over Surprise on Oct. 25. He went 3-for-3 with three singles, three runs scored and a walk.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Tejada wins Silver Slugger Award

10/31/2005
Throughout his nine-year career as one of the Major League's most multifaceted talents and threats, Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada has gained respect for his hard work and production.
The high esteem in which he is held by opponents was confirmed anew Monday with his selection as the winner of the Silver Slugger Award among American League shortstops.
Tejada earned his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award, voted by opposing managers and coaches to the player adjudged as the top offensive performer at each position, despite a couple of remarkable developments.
He got the vote even though another shortstop captured the American League batting title. For leading the league with a .331 average, Michael Young of the Rangers will be presented with the Silver Bat, the traditional perk of batting kings.
And Tejada was honored at the end of a down year. Of course, only in the case of someone who had established such lofty standards could a season in which he hit .304, with 26 homers and 98 RBIs, be classified as "down."
Yet, both the homers and RBIs represented six-year lows for the three-time All-Star, who had last missed driving in runs in triple figures in 1999.
However, Tejada's power numbers still led all big league shortstops -- by comparison, NL Silver Slugger-winning shortstop Felipe Lopez had 23 homers and 85 RBIs.
The Silver Slugger Award was created in 1980 as a natural spinoff of the Silver Bat. As in the past, winners of the Silver Slugger Award, presented by the Louisville Slugger company, were determined by a vote of MLB coaches and managers, based on personal impressions and a cross-section of key statistical categories.
Members of the voting board could not cast ballots for players on their own teams.
Presentations of the Silver Slugger awards, always one of the early highlights of the ensuing season, will be conducted in pregame ceremonies by a representative of the Hillerich & Bradsby Co., makers of Louisville Slugger.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Perlozzo, Mazzone inspire small town

11/03/2005
BALTIMORE -- Dick Sterne owns the Original Sports Shoppe in Cumberland, a small town in Western Maryland that's about two hours outside of Baltimore. Sterne also serves as the president of the Dapper Dan Club of Allegany County and helps run the Dapper Dan Little League's winter banquet each year.
Baseball is a hot topic of conversation every spring and summer in Cumberland, but there's no question that many in the area are talking about it this fall. The reason -- the connection of longtime friends and area natives Sam Perlozzo and Leo Mazzone as the Orioles manager and pitching coach.
"They're both still one of us," Sterne said. "It means a lot to the people in Cumberland. I've been friends with Sam since 1962 and with Leo since 1964, and what happened in the past month and a half is the greatest thing in baseball to hit the city of Cumberland. It's the talk of the town."
The 54-year-old Perlozzo is a Cumberland native, and Mazzone, 57, hails from nearby Westernport, a town about 25 miles away. They became close friends as children and maintained that friendship ever since, a big reason why Mazzone walked away from the Atlanta Braves after a 16-year stint to join the Orioles.
But Mazzone's move didn't surprise those who know about the strong friendship between the two.
"I think it was a package deal written long ago," said Sterne. "I guess that their friendship is very important."
Despite the fact that both Perlozzo and Mazzone have been longtime big-league coaches, each has kept a strong tie with the Cumberland area over the years. Perlozzo attended Bishop Walsh, a private school in Cumberland, where he became one of the best baseball players in school history.
Bishop Walsh retired Perlozzo's number 6, and his son, Eric, later played for them before graduating in 2002. But Perlozzo often came back to the school to teach and talk with the young baseball players there.
Bishop Walsh coach Sam Torres said that Perlozzo came back about once a winter to spend a long time with his players when Eric was there. Perlozzo would spend the better part of an afternoon -- about four to six hours -- working with the players and watching everyone get through a turn at the batting cage.
"He'd evaluate all the hitters, and he'd evaluate them fielding also and tell them the skills they needed to work on," Torres said. "He would always bring it back home that you have to be true to yourself and do the right thing."
Mazzone went to now-closed Bruce High near Cumberland, and he had sons who played baseball at nearby Fort Hill High -- one of Bishop Walsh's big rivals. He also comes back in the winter and talks baseball with those in the area.
"Leo is a great communicator and a saltier kind of guy," said Bishop Walsh athletic director Jim Zamagias. "He's a little bit crazier than Sam, and they play off of each other very well. He's a character."
Both Perlozzo and Mazzone have spent lots of time helping the Dapper Dan Little League over the years. They talk to coaches and give all kinds of tips during the winter, and both often find their way to the Dapper Dan banquet before Spring Training.
"I could almost count on them to speak at my dinner every year," Sterne said.
Torres said that watching two people from their own small town -- with a population of about 22,000 -- make it to the Major Leagues together sends a huge message to kids in the area.
"It demonstrates to our kids here in Cumberland that if you have a goal, and you work hard towards it, that you can make it happen," Torres said. "Even out of Cumberland."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

O's prospects have up-and-down week

11/04/2005
Andy Mitchell was more lucky than good in picking up his first win of the season on Nov. 3.
The right-hander allowed two runs in the seventh inning against Grand Canyon, but the Javelinas rallied to score four in the top of the eighth to gain an 8-6 lead in what became a 12-6 victory. Mitchell has been a dependable option out of the bullpen with a 3.44 ERA in 18 1/3 innings.
Mitchell and six other Orioles prospects are playing for the Javelinas, while another is playing for the Scorpions. Here's how they fared during the week of Oct. 28-Nov. 3:
LHP Adam Loewen: Loewen managed to remain the hottest pitcher in the AFL even while taking his first loss of the season. Loewen gave up one run on six hits over five innings but got the loss as the Saguaros defeated the Javelinas, 10-3, on Oct. 31. Loewen also struck out five and walked three. He is 2-1 with a 0.82 ERA in 22 innings.
RHP Cory Morris: Morris, who hadn't pitched since Oct. 15, was shut down on Oct. 28 because of a shoulder injury. No replacement had been named.
C Ryan Hubele: Hubele saw action in two games last week for the Scorpions, going a combined 1-for-7 to drop his batting average to .333. Hubele had a run-scoring single, two walks and a run scored in an 11-4 victory over the Saguaros on Nov. 3.
SS Brandon Fahey: Fahey appeared in only two games this week and went 1-for-7. The hit came in a 10-3 loss to the Desert Dogs on Oct. 31. Fahey also was caught stealing twice in that game.
3B Tripper Johnson III: Johnson continued to swing a hot bat, going 6-for-13 to raise his batting average to .389. The third baseman launched his second home run of the season to account for the Javelinas only runs in a 7-2 loss to the Desert Dogs on Oct. 29. He also went 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored in a 12-6 victory over Grand Canyon on Nov. 3.
OF Nick Markakis: After a torrid stretch that saw Markakis raise his batting average to .400, the right fielder tapered off as he went 4-for-18 during the week. Markakis did smack his first home run of the season, connecting for a solo shot against Beau Dannemiller of the Desert Dogs in a 10-3 loss on Oct. 31.
OF Val Majewski: Majewski continued to rediscover his sweet stroke, raising his batting average to .327 on Nov. 2, the highest it's been since Oct. 11. The left fielder became one half of the Javelinas version of the M & M Boys when he cracked a two-run home run two batters after Markakis homered in the eighth inning against Phoenix.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Six nominated for Stenson Award

11/07/2005
MESA, Ariz. -- The second annual MLB.com AFL Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award will be given out in an on-field ceremony on Wednesday. On Monday, the six finalists were announced.
The manager from each team was asked to nominate one player. The AFL, in conjunction with MLB.com, will select one winner from the six nominees.
This year's finalists are Josh Anderson (Astros), Surprise Scorpions; Chris Denorfia (Reds), Mesa Solar Sox; Andre Ethier (A's), Phoenix Desert Dogs; Brandon Fahey (Orioles), Peoria Javelinas; Garrett Jones (Twins), Grand Canyon Rafters; and Chris Young (White Sox), Peoria Saguaros.
The six were chosen not because of their statistics or on-field performances, but because they best demonstrate the qualities Stenson brought to the ballpark every day: a quiet, hard-nosed attitude, a player who does his job without complaint, who plays the game the way it was meant to be played.
"It's an honor to be put in that category," said Ethier, who won Texas League Player of the Year honors as well as the league's All-Star Game MVP award and Home Run Derby. "A lot of guys here work hard. You kind of have to in order to go here."
"To me, it's one of the greatest honors, greatest compliments you can get, when people appreciate the way you play the game," Denorfia said. "It's the only way I know how to play."
Dernell Stenson played in the AFL as part of the Reds organization in 2003 and was having a terrific season until he was slain in Chandler on Nov. 5, 2003.
"Stenson, I didn't know him very well, but I saw him play a couple of times," Ethier said. "Everything I've heard is that he was climbing up the ladder and was on the doorstep, and he did it the right way the whole time. To be put in those shoes is an honor.
"I'm honored that I was nomininated from our team. We've got a lot of hard workers on the team."
The reasons for choosing the nominees were universally the same -- that these prospects were unselfish, hard-working and that they displayed tremendous leadership, either by example or vocally, or both.
"It's an approach ingrained in me throughout my career, first with my dad and then at Arizona State," Ethier said. "I take pride in it. It's not even something I do consciously. I never want to be complacent.
"Even on a day off, I want to make sure I get my work in and stay sharp. I want to keep that hunger because I don't have the skills some of these other players have. I need to work twice as hard to compete with them."
"Your work ethic always goes back to your father," Denorfria added. "It was reinforced fiercely in college. Then it just continues here. (Getting nominated) is a great compliment to all the guys who have coached me."
The winner will be honored in a special on-field ceremony on Wednesday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. In addition, MLB.com will make a donation to the charity of the winner's choosing.
Funds for the donation, in excess of $500, were raised through an online auction of a Derek Jeter autographed ball. Jeter played in the AFL in 1994 and is enshrined in the Fall League's Hall of Fame.
"Dernell's death was a very difficult situation for the league," said Steve Cobb, AFL executive vice president, at the time of the award's inception. "We suffered a tremendous loss, but we came together as a family (in 2003). At this point, we want to remember the contributions Dernell Stenson made to this league, in his work ethic and his dedication to the game.
"We think this is a fitting way to remember Dernell and we are pleased to work hand-in-hand in MLB.com to make this happen."
Last year, Royals third baseman Mark Teahen became the first recipient of the award as a member of the Phoenix Desert Dogs. The other finalists were Detroit's Curtis Granderson, the Padres' Ben Johnson, the White Sox's Pedro Lopez, Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates and the Brewers' Rickie Weeks. The work ethics and attitudes of those finalists clearly reaped rewards, with all six seeing time in the big leagues during the 2005 season.
"Looking back, the things the managers and coaches noticed in me benefited me," said Teahen, who hit .246 in 447 at-bats as a Royals rookie. "The hard work in the Fall League helped me out in getting to the big leagues and in getting my feet wet.
"I would assume everyone in the Fall League is there for the same prupose, to get better and prepare for a higher level. Whoever wins the award isn't doing it to win an award. They're there to put in that much effort to try to become the best player they can be. When a guy really dedicates himself, sometimes it gets acknowledged."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Elia joins Orioles as bench coach

11/07/2005
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles added longtime coach Lee Elia to their coaching staff Monday, the final move that completed the 2006 on-field staff that will work under manager Sam Perlozzo.
Elia will serve as the team's bench coach, coming to Baltimore after three years as Tampa Bay's hitting coach. He has been a coach or manager in the Major Leagues for 22 seasons and is the team's second new coach. The Orioles recently announced that longtime Perlozzo friend Leo Mazzone would replace Ray Miller as pitching coach.
Tom Trebelhorn had moved from third base to bench coach when Perlozzo was named interim manager on Aug. 4. Trebelhorn now shifts back to third base, and Rick Dempsey, who had gone to third base, becomes bullpen coach. He takes over for Elrod Hendricks and also will be the catching instructor.
Dave Cash took over as first-base coach -- where Dempsey had been -- in August and returns to that job. Terry Crowley comes back for his eighth year as the team's hitting coach. It's going to be his 20th overall season as a hitting coach in the Major Leagues.
Elia and Perlozzo have been together before, working under then-Seattle manager Lou Piniella on the Mariners' coaching staff from 1993-95. The Philadelphia native also coached Toronto, the Yankees, Philadelphia and managed the Phillies (1987-88) and the Cubs (1982-83) for a season-and-a-half apiece, finishing with a 238-300 record.
"I'm excited as heck now," Elia said on Monday. "Being an East Coast guy and having a chance to work with Sammy, it's a great opportunity for me."
Elia said he has seen the talent the Orioles have and is optimistic about what the next few years could bring to the team.
"I don't see them as being too far away," Elia said. "It seems to be a lot closer than the record indicates. Every team has holes that have to be filled. I think the basic ingredients on the club are pretty good and sound, and adding on to what we have could make us a better ballclub."
Elia said he has always been impressed with the Orioles coaching staff and is hoping for good things this season.
"I viewed that staff over there from the other side of the field for several years, and I think it's a great staff," Elia said. "It's great to be working with them."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

O's crew nominated for Frick Award

11/08/2005
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles hit a home run when the nominations for the 2006 Ford C. Frick Award were announced, as all five of their broadcasters earned a chance to get the honor that's given to a broadcaster for his "major contributions to baseball."
Lead radio announcer Joe Angel was nominated, along with Jim Hunter and Fred Manfra, who alternate between working with Angel and serving as the team's main television voice. Jim Palmer and Buck Martinez, who rotate as analysts on the television broadcasts, were also nominated.
Angel is now in his third stint with the Orioles, to whom he returned in 2004. He has broadcast for 25 years with six different teams, and worked with last year's Frick winner, Lon Simmons of San Francisco.
Hunter has been with the Orioles since 1997, working exclusively on radio until adding time on TV when Angel returned in 2004. He has earned several awards and broadcast a variety of major sports, from the Olympics Games to the NFL to Major League Baseball.
Manfra is a Baltimore native who has been with the team since 1993. Like Hunter, he's split time between radio and TV the past two years. He also has a wide range of radio experience that includes the NBA Finals, All-Star Games and the Triple Crown.
Martinez has been an Orioles television analyst for the last three years. He won a Sports Emmy Award in 1995 for his work on ESPN's coverage of Cal Ripken's record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game. Martinez played for 23 years in professional baseball as a catcher and managed the Blue Jays for one-plus seasons.
Palmer is without question the best pitcher in team history. Already in the Hall of Fame for his 268 wins -- all with the Orioles -- Palmer has been with the team as an analyst, like Martinez, for 13 years. He's also done games for ABC, ESPN and FOX.
Online voting has begun for the Frick Award, with fans having the entire month of November to cast votes for up to three baseball broadcasters.
Presented annually since 1978 for excellence in baseball broadcasting, the Ford C. Frick Award is given to an active or retired broadcaster with a minimum of 10 years of continuous Major League broadcast service with a ballclub, network or a combination of the two.
Fans will have the opportunity to vote for up to three of the 182 broadcasters eligible for consideration for the 2006 Frick Award.
Fans are allowed to vote once daily. Results will be announced when voting concludes, though updates will not be provided during the voting. The fan selections, along with the full ballot of 10 candidates, will be announced on Dec. 5.
The final ballot will be comprised of the three fan selections along with seven other candidates, determined by a Hall of Fame staff research team. The Frick electorate includes all living Award winners and six historians appointed by the Hall of Fame.
The voting electorate consists of 20 members, featuring 2005 Frick Award winner Jerry Coleman and the honor's 13 other living winners: Marty Brennaman, Herb Carneal, Joe Garagiola, Curt Gowdy, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, Harry Kalas, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker and Bob Wolff.
Six historians and veteran media members are also part of the electorate, including Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of New York Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian), Curt Smith (historian) and Larry Stewart (Los Angeles Times).
Voters are asked to base their selections on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. Paper ballots will be cast by voting members each January, and the final results will be announced on the Hall of Fame's Web site in February.
Each voter will cast ballots for three candidates, and the broadcaster with the most support will be named the winner and be honored next summer at the annual induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Palmeiro explains failed steroid test

11/09/2005
WASHINGTON -- Rafael Palmeiro gave his first public explanation of his failed drug test Wednesday, on the eve of a congressional report on whether the former Baltimore Orioles slugger lied under oath when he denied using steroids.
In a statement released by his lawyer, Palmeiro acknowledged several facts of his case that already had been reported, including that the anabolic steroid stanozolol was found in his system in May, and that he had raised the possibility that a shot of vitamin B12 he took in April "might have been the cause."
"I have never intentionally taken steroids," Palmeiro said in the statement.
When he testified before the House Government Reform Committee on March 17, alongside Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and others, Palmeiro jabbed a finger in the air and said: "I have never used steroids. Period." On Aug. 1, baseball suspended Palmeiro for 10 days after he tested positive for steroids.
Two days later, Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., said the panel would open an investigation into whether Palmeiro committed perjury. A report on that investigation will be released Thursday, and Davis spokesman Dave Marin wouldn't comment Wednesday on the report's contents or Palmeiro's statement.
Major League Baseball executive vice president Rob Manfred declined comment.
"Nobody is more frustrated and disappointed in me than I am. Throughout my adult life, I have worked very hard on and off the field to live my life in an honorable way. All my accomplishments are now tainted, and many people have been hurt," Palmeiro said.
"I deeply regret the pain I have caused my family, my teammates, my fans and the game of baseball. I am sorry for the distraction that I have caused to the Orioles clubhouse and the league. I remain opposed to the use of steroids by athletes."
Palmeiro's case has been cited as one of the reasons that lawmakers have continued to pursue legislation to mandate tougher rules for steroid testing and harsher penalties for positive tests in baseball and other major professional sports leagues. The Senate appears to be nearing a vote on a bill calling for a half-season ban for a first steroid offense, a full-season ban for a second offense, and a lifetime ban for a third.
"Since I was informed last May that I tested positive for steroids, I have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball and Congress in their respective inquiries into this matter," Palmeiro said. "I have done so because I have nothing to hide."
Palmeiro -- one of four players in Major League history with 3,000 hits and 500 homers -- agreed to let Major League Baseball turn over to Congress information about the failed drug test.
Committee investigators also interviewed some of Palmeiro's current and former teammates and training partners. Those included two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez and Colorado outfielder Jorge Piedra, the second player publicly identified under the sport's new steroid rules when he was banned for 10 days in April.
When Palmeiro rejoined the Orioles after his ban, he said he would not speak about the case until Congress concluded its perjury investigation.
Palmeiro, 40, had just two hits in 26 at-bats after returning from his suspension and was booed by spectators at Baltimore and on the road. He was sent home to Texas to rehabilitate injuries; the Orioles eventually told him not to return to the team.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

O's have free agent shopping list set

11/09/2005
BALTIMORE -- Mike Flanagan knows what his team wants this winter. Now, the Orioles' new executive vice president of baseball operations must figure out how to get it.
Flanagan said the Orioles are looking for starting pitching, some bats with punch that can go in the middle of the lineup and some more defense. But he also said the team will look at any player -- or any combination of players -- it thinks can help the Orioles.
"We haven't eliminated anybody yet in all positions," Flanagan said Monday from the general managers meetings in Indian Wells, Calif. "It's part of the process of going through what other teams' needs are and what your needs are."
The team's first concern might be to try to re-sign closer B.J. Ryan. The left-hander, who had a breakout year in 2005, going 1-4 with 2.43 ERA and 36 saves, filed for free agency.
"We're certainly going to explore a contract with him," Flanagan said. "I think we are optimistic. I think there's a lot of pluses for him to [stay here]."
Flanagan said he's spoken with Ryan's agent, but it's too soon to tell where everything's headed.
"We've expressed our interest," Flanagan said.
The Orioles would like to add another starting pitcher. They spent part of the summer trying to figure out ways to trade for Florida's A.J. Burnett, but the right-hander's likely high price tag in free agency could make the O's turn away.
They also could have a chance at pitchers like Kevin Millwood and Paul Byrd, who've worked under new pitching coach Leo Mazzone in Atlanta. There are a number of other starters the team could look at, but Flanagan also wants to make sure the Orioles continue to develop the younger pitchers that have slowly begun to emerge in the last few years.
Pitchers like Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera have caught the attention of most opponents, but they came up early -- a process the Orioles have used for awhile, but one that Flanagan would rather steer away from.
"We'd like to [have it so] when they're ready, they'll come -- as opposed to on-the-job training," Flanagan said.
The big question surrounds what the team would do if it lost Ryan, who expressed some interest in going to the Yankees late last season. The Orioles are looking at Chris Ray as their closer of the future, but they don't think he's quite ready to take the job yet. That would put them in a position of signing someone for a year or two -- maybe someone like Billy Wagner -- until the hard-throwing right-hander can take over.
The Orioles would like to have a strong bat they could plug into the cleanup spot. They used Rafael Palmeiro there for a big part of last season, but when he stopped playing, Baltimore never really found a consistent batter to protect Miguel Tejada in the No. 3 slot. That's when the Orioles shortstop stopped seeing many good pitches to hit and the offense began to sputter.
Since the team also needs a first baseman, a power hitter like Paul Konerko would fill two roles. But, like Burnett, his cost might be too high for the Orioles to pull him away from the World Series champion Chicago White Sox.
The Orioles also have discussed signing a catcher instead and moving starting backstop Javy Lopez to first base. Flanagan said Lopez hasn't played the position in eight or nine years, having done it some during his long stretch in Atlanta and possibly in winter ball.
That could leave the Orioles interested in players like San Diego's Ramon Hernandez and Bengie Molina of the Angels. Signing one of those two would let Baltimore move Lopez to first base and give the club a strong defensive catcher.
"[Lopez] is confident he can [move to first]," Flanagan said. "That would just create more flexibility."
There are other big names in the free agent market, like Boston's Johnny Damon. However, Scott Boras is his agent, and the Orioles don't often deal with him.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

O's have free agent shopping list set

11/09/2005
BALTIMORE -- Mike Flanagan knows what his team wants this winter. Now, the Orioles' new executive vice president of baseball operations must figure out how to get it.
Flanagan said the Orioles are looking for starting pitching, some bats with punch that can go in the middle of the lineup and some more defense. But he also said the team will look at any player -- or any combination of players -- it thinks can help the Orioles.
"We haven't eliminated anybody yet in all positions," Flanagan said Monday from the general managers meetings in Indian Wells, Calif. "It's part of the process of going through what other teams' needs are and what your needs are."
The team's first concern might be to try to re-sign closer B.J. Ryan. The left-hander, who had a breakout year in 2005, going 1-4 with 2.43 ERA and 36 saves, filed for free agency.
"We're certainly going to explore a contract with him," Flanagan said. "I think we are optimistic. I think there's a lot of pluses for him to [stay here]."
Flanagan said he's spoken with Ryan's agent, but it's too soon to tell where everything's headed.
"We've expressed our interest," Flanagan said.
The Orioles would like to add another starting pitcher. They spent part of the summer trying to figure out ways to trade for Florida's A.J. Burnett, but the right-hander's likely high price tag in free agency could make the O's turn away.
They also could have a chance at pitchers like Kevin Millwood and Paul Byrd, who've worked under new pitching coach Leo Mazzone in Atlanta. There are a number of other starters the team could look at, but Flanagan also wants to make sure the Orioles continue to develop the younger pitchers that have slowly begun to emerge in the last few years.
Pitchers like Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera have caught the attention of most opponents, but they came up early -- a process the Orioles have used for awhile, but one that Flanagan would rather steer away from.
"We'd like to [have it so] when they're ready, they'll come -- as opposed to on-the-job training," Flanagan said.
The big question surrounds what the team would do if it lost Ryan, who expressed some interest in going to the Yankees late last season. The Orioles are looking at Chris Ray as their closer of the future, but they don't think he's quite ready to take the job yet. That would put them in a position of signing someone for a year or two -- maybe someone like Billy Wagner -- until the hard-throwing right-hander can take over.
The Orioles would like to have a strong bat they could plug into the cleanup spot. They used Rafael Palmeiro there for a big part of last season, but when he stopped playing, Baltimore never really found a consistent batter to protect Miguel Tejada in the No. 3 slot. That's when the Orioles shortstop stopped seeing many good pitches to hit and the offense began to sputter.
Since the team also needs a first baseman, a power hitter like Paul Konerko would fill two roles. But, like Burnett, his cost might be too high for the Orioles to pull him away from the World Series champion Chicago White Sox.
The Orioles also have discussed signing a catcher instead and moving starting backstop Javy Lopez to first base. Flanagan said Lopez hasn't played the position in eight or nine years, having done it some during his long stretch in Atlanta and possibly in winter ball.
That could leave the Orioles interested in players like San Diego's Ramon Hernandez and Bengie Molina of the Angels. Signing one of those two would let Baltimore move Lopez to first base and give the club a strong defensive catcher.
"[Lopez] is confident he can [move to first]," Flanagan said. "That would just create more flexibility."
There are other big names in the free agent market, like Boston's Johnny Damon. However, Scott Boras is his agent, and the Orioles don't often deal with him.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Wachter loses battle with cancer

11/11/2005
BALTIMORE -- Photography fascinated Mitchell Layton as a child, a big reason his uncle gave him a camera for his bar mitzvah.
That camera opened a new world for the 13-year old Baltimore native, who grew up to run his own business and handle photography for the Nationals, Wizards, Capitals and Mystics, in addition to shooting for major publications.
Layton's uncle lived across the street from him and let the child hang around and learn the ropes of photography and eventually work with him. His uncle, Jerry Wachter, had been the Orioles' photographer since 1970 and was as well known as some players. Wachter lost a long battle with cancer Thursday, dying at the age of 61.
"He captured everything for decades of a storied franchise, and that's really rare in this business," said Layton. "He taught me how to be really hard on myself. Jerry said, 'To survive you've got to be hard on yourself, because you're only as good as your last picture.'"
Wachter began shooting the Orioles on and off the field starting in 1970, and he kept working despite fighting with Markel cell carcinoma this past season. Layton said he thinks Wachter knew this battle was not one he could win, and the two spent long hours talking over the past few months and grew even closer.
Layton always will remember how Wachter gave him his start and taught him how to do things -- the foundation for his own successful career.
"I used to go to Bullets games with him and just hang out," Layton said. "I started shooting Orioles games when I was in high school in [the late '70s]. I worked with him all the way through college."
Wachter's work was well-known and respected. He was a Topps photographer for 36 years, and his pictures have been used in numerous books and magazines, including 32 covers for Sports Illustrated.
He also covered the NBA, NHL (he was the Washington Capitals' first team photographer when they began in 1974), NFL, PGA Tour and many Olympics. Wachter's work in covering the Capitals and Bullets at the Capital Centre (later renamed USAir Arena) was noted in the industry for his clever use of strobe lighting in the building to make his pictures better.
The strobes were set up in the top of the building at a spot that could only be reached by catwalks. Just clicking a button from the floor gave him that spotlight, something that is now a technique used by photographers everywhere in some form.
But he might be best known for all of his Orioles work. Wachter was a fixture at the games, and his wide variety of pictures is something that those with the team and fans of the club enjoy seeing.
"Jerry was a fixture at Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards, and his photographs captured the rich history of Orioles baseball," Cal Ripken Jr. said in a statement Thursday. "At nearly every moment of my career, I can remember Jerry being there and photographing every moment. He is a member of the Orioles family who will be missed, but his memory will live on through his work."
Wachter is survived by his wife, the former Joanne Cecilia Strohmer, whom he married in 1998. He also has two sons from an earlier marriage, Martin and Scott. Both are successful professional photographers. Scott and his wife, Shawn, live in Arizona.
Services will be held Monday at 10 a.m. ET at Sol Levinson & Brothers Funeral Home, 8900 Reisterstown Road. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the name of Jerry Michael Wachter to the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Palmeiro will not be charged

11/10/2005
A Congressional subcommittee has decided to not seek perjury charges against Rafael Palmeiro following its investigation of the player's Capitol Hill statement that he had not used steroids and subsequent suspension by Major League Baseball for failing a drug test.
The House Government Reform Committee's three-month inquiry, the results of which were released Thursday, led to a 44-page report and the determination that evidence is "insufficient to merit a perjury referral."
In anticipation of the release of the lawmakers' report, Palmeiro on Wednesday had issued a statement in which he apologized for the consequences of his actions but shed little new light on how he came to test positive for stanozolol, maintaining no intent to take the anabolic steroid.
At the end of MLB's exhaustive appeal process, Palmeiro was handed his 10-game suspension on Aug. 1. When the action was traced back to the drug test he had failed in May -- less than two months after his stern denial of steroids use in front of the Committee -- chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) promptly announced the launch of the investigation.
After exploring details of the case log furnished by MLB and interviewing teammates and workout partners, the Committee, according to its report, "did not make further determinations about the accuracy or inaccuracy of assertions by Mr. Palmeiro or others."
"Since I was informed last May that I tested positive for steroids, I have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball and Congress in their respective inquiries into this matter," Palmeiro had said in his statement. "I have done so because I have nothing to hide."
Palmeiro's statement also reiterated the possibility a shot of vitamin B-12 he was given by a teammate "might have been the cause" of the positive drug test.
Since that claim first arose, Miguel Tejada has been identified as the teammate -- and subsequently absolved by MLB's own inquiry into the matter.
In the course of the Congressional investigation, more of Palmeiro's drug-testing history and the depth of the research that followed the positive test research came to light.
According to the player's lawyers, he had tested negative for steroids in both 2003 and 2004. A second test later in May also came up negative.
The lawyers wrote in the report, "Every other item that might be to blame for Rafael's failed test -- from vitamins to protein drinks -- was tested, and no steroids were found. The only item that could not be tested -- and is therefore suspect -- was a vial of liquid, injectable vitamin B-12 which Rafael took in the middle of April 2005."
Two weeks before the announcement of his suspension, Palmeiro collected his 3,000th career hit, becoming the fourth player in history to pair that number with 500-plus home runs.
"Everything I have been working for all my life -- to play the game that I love with dignity and earn the respect and admiration of my colleagues and fans -- has been changed by my suspension," Palmeiro said in his Wednesday statement. "For this, I alone take full responsibility.
"I have never intentionally taken steroids. But I must also acknowledge that stanozolol, a banned substance, was found in my system in May."
Palmeiro added, "Nobody is more frustrated and disappointed in me than I am. ... All my accomplishments are now tainted."
The House Government Reform Committee's alternative would have been to make "a perjury referral to the Department of Justice," a step rarely taken.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

O's prospects have strong campaigns

11/11/2005
Ryan Hubele arrived late in the Arizona Fall League as an injury replacement, but he's the only member of the Orioles organization who will be playing in the championship game Saturday.
Hubele posted his second multi-hit game of the AFL season on Nov. 7, going 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored for the Surprise Scorpions in a 12-10 triumph over the Peoria Saguaros. He was 1-for-2 with another double and two RBIs in the regular-season finale Nov. 10 against the Peoria Javelinas, finishing at .360 with a homer and six RBIs in eight games.
Here's how Baltimore's other prospects fared for the Javelinas in the final week of the season:
SS Brandon Fahey -- Fahey saw no action after Oct. 31. The 24-year-old Texan hit .288 with nine RBIs in 17 games, seeing action at shortstop and second base.
3B Tripper Johnson III -- The 23-year-old corner infielder went 3-for-15 this week as his batting average slid to .333. On Nov. 7 against Grand Canyon, Johnson was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. He ended the campaign with two homers and 13 RBIs in 18 games.
LHP Adam Loewen -- The big Canadian left-hander made his final start of the campaign Nov. 5 against Mesa and gave up three runs on seven hits over four innings. He walked three and matched a season high with six strikeouts. Five days later, Loewen pitched a hitless inning in his lone bullpen appearance of the year. He ended up 2-1 with a stellar 1.67 ERA in seven games.
OF Nick Markakis -- Markakis sandwiched a pair of 0-for-3 performances around a three-game hitting streak this week. The highlight was a 2-for-4 effort in which he drove in two runs Nov. 5 against Mesa. The former member of the Greek Olympic team finished with a .326 average, one homer and 12 RBIs in 26 games. With the help of 11 walks, he ranked seventh in the AFL with a .421 on-base percentage.
OF Val Majewski -- The 24-year-old outfield prospect struggled at home and thrived on the road in the AFL, a trend that continued in the final week of the season. He was 0-for-7 in home games against Grand Canyon and Surprise, but he went 2-for-4 in road contests against the Rafters and Phoenix. Majewski ended up hitting .349 with a homer and four RBIs on the road and .167 with a homer and six RBIs in the friendly confines of the Peoria Sports Complex.
RHP Andy Mitchell -- The 6-foot-3 right-hander ended his AFL season on a high note, making three appearances and tossing four scoreless innings. On Nov. 5 against Mesa, Mitchell allowed one hit and struck out three in two frames to pick up his second straight win. He finished 2-0 with a solid 2.82 ERA in 17 relief outings.
RHP Cory Morris -- Morris was shut down on Oct. 28 due to a shoulder injury. He went 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four relief appearances, yielding five hits and six walks in seven innings with six strikeouts.
LHP David Haehnel -- Haehnel surrendered five runs on three hits and two walks in one inning on Nov. 8 against Grand Canyon. A late addition to the roster of the Solar Sox, the 23-year-old left-hander bounced back in the season finale on Nov. 10 and struck out two in a scoreless frame against the Peoria Saguaros.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Closer Ray automatic for Baysox

11/12/2005
Bowie Baysox right-hander Chris Ray dominated the Eastern League before a promotion to Baltimore, but stuck around long enough to earn MiLB.com's Double-A Relief Pitcher of the Year Award.
Although he was a closer for most of his college career at William & Mary, Ray spent the previous two years in the Baltimore Orioles system as a starter with some success, compiling a 10-6 record and a 3.45 ERA. But Baltimore asked its 2003 third-round draft pick if he could go back into the bullpen, and Ray had no problem complying.
"I actually enjoy being a reliever more," Ray said. "It gives you a chance to go out to the ballyard and play on a more regular basis than being a starter and having to wait around for days."
For Ray, closing was like riding a bike: you never forget how to do it, no matter how long you go between rides. Not only did he did forget, he got better. How much better? Consider this:
This season, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera posted a 1.38 ERA, limited opponents to a .177 average, had a WHIP (walks and hits per inning) of 0.87 and converted 43 of 47 save opportunities. Ray's numbers in the same categories were 0.96, .140, 0.64 and a perfect 18-for-18.
The 23-year-old Tampa native did not allow a run in his final 20 Double-A innings.
Granted, the talent gap between the American League and Eastern League is pretty wide, but the kind of dominance Ray enjoyed is seldom seen. The Orioles took notice and promoted him to the big club June 14.
In 41 games with Baltimore, Ray went 1-3 with a 2.66 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings. Not bad for someone in his third year of pro ball.
Ray has all the makings of a Major League closer, possessing an all-out delivery that fires mid-90s fastballs along with a hard slider and sharp splitter. He also discovered the kind of mind-set one needs to thrive in the ninth inning.
"Right at the beginning of the season, I relearned that you have to go right after the hitters and forget about nibbling. Be aggressive," Ray said. "You also have to have a little bit of arrogance out on the mound. Just go out there and think you're just flat-out better than the guy at the plate."
One of Ray's top priorities in 2006 is to make the Orioles out of camp. And with the looming departure of incumbent closer B.J. Ryan, the young right-hander might find himself in ninth-inning situations. Ray has the weapons and the mind-set. All he needs is his own intro music.
"I haven't really thought about that one just yet," Ray said. "I'll take whatever they give me."

Sourec: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/

Williams arrested after traffic accident

11/17/2005
TAMPA, Fla. -- Baltimore Orioles pitcher Todd Williams was arrested at about 12:35 a.m. ET Wednesday on suspicion of drunken driving after causing a traffic accident, police said.
Williams, 34, who lives in Land O' Lakes, north of Tampa, was arrested after a three-vehicle crash that caused no injuries. He was released later on $500 bond.
A Breathalyzer test showed Williams' blood alcohol content was zero percent, but he was charged with DUI with property damage, police spokesman Joe Durkin said. He also submitted to a urine test, and results will be available in a few weeks.
Williams was driving a 2003 Ford Escape that slammed into the back of two cars that were stopped at a traffic light on a major Tampa thoroughfare, Durkin said.
Officers at the scene "detected the odor of alcohol, some slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes," Durkin said. Williams failed a field sobriety test.
Durkin said Williams admitted to officers that he had had a couple drinks and later told them he had taken a prescription painkiller.
Williams' agent, Tom O'Connell, said the pitcher had not been drinking.
"We feel pretty confident that it's not going to be a DUI. He took his eyes off the road for a second, and there you go," O'Connell said. "For whatever reason, the police felt they had to take him into custody."
O'Connell declined to elaborate. Williams referred questions about the arrest to his agent.
Williams made his Major League debut in 1995. He went 5-5 last season with a 3.30 ERA while recording one save in 76.1 innings pitched.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Sosa, Palmeiro not returning to O's

11/13/2005
BALTIMORE -- Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa won't be with the Orioles in 2006.
The two players were disappointments for the Orioles in 2005 for different reasons, and executive vice president Mike Flanagan confirmed on Sunday what many had believed for a while.
"At this point, we are heading in a different direction," Flanagan told The Baltimore Sun.
The Orioles acquired Sosa in a trade last winter while looking for a bat that would add some more punch to their lineup. Instead, he never got going and hit only .221 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs.
Sosa also missed time with injuries and struggled from start to finish, never finding his way in the American League. He now has 588 home runs and reportedly is interested in trying to reach the 600-homer milestone. Sosa has denied reports that he will play in Japan next year.
Palmeiro had a true up-and-down season. He got his 3,000th hit against Seattle in July, but everything fell apart after that. The first baseman/designated hitter was suspended shortly thereafter for testing positive in a drug test and only played a little after that while gaining national notoriety because he had told a Congressional hearing that he'd never used steroids.
The question now is who might be interested in the two players. Palmeiro might still want to play to end his career on a better note and possibly explain the circumstances of the drug test.
Both would seem to be a solution for a team that needs designated hitters. Palmeiro was supposed to be that for the Orioles, but eventually became the everyday first baseman. Sosa eventually moved into the designated hitter role as the season moved on.

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Flanagan said last week that the Orioles are hopeful to have a season that was more like the first part of last year, when they competed for the American League East title.
"I think we're going into the winter optimistic," Flanagan said. "The club had a lot of distractions, to say the least."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Cash ready for first full year with O's

11/14/2005
BALTIMORE -- Dave Cash had one of the greatest moments of his playing career in Baltimore when his Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Orioles in Game 7 of the dramatic 1971 World Series. Now he's back in the Major Leagues once more -- this time with Baltimore as a coach.
Cash took over as first base coach in August, when Sam Perlozzo became the team's interim manager. Cash was given the job for good when Perlozzo was named the official manager last month, and the former second baseman is looking forward to helping Baltimore become the type of team it's been in years past.
"We've got some work to do," Cash said from his offseason home in Florida, "but I'm looking forward to it. It's a challenge, and I'm looking forward to helping our guys get the job done."
Cash spent 12 years in the Majors with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Montreal and San Diego before starting his Minor League coaching/managing career in 1987 with the Phillies organization. He made it to the top, spending 1996 as the Phillies' first base coach before moving to the Orioles organization the next season.
He spent three years as hitting/infield coach for the Orioles' Triple-A Rochester team, and eventually began managing. He skippered the Class A Frederick team in 2001 and Double-A Bowie for the first part of 2002 before being reassigned. Cash then went to the team's new Triple-A farm club in Ottawa in 2003 as hitting/infield coach, and remained until coming back to Baltimore last summer.
"I've been in the Minors as a coach and manager for 18 years, and [getting to the big leagues] is something I can look back at and tell my grandkids about," he said.
Cash was caught off guard when he got the call from Perlozzo last August to come to Baltimore and join the Orioles -- but he loved it.
"I was really surprised -- it was a shock almost," Cash said. "You're in the Minor Leagues one day and in the Majors [the next]. But baseball is baseball. There's just a different way of doing things."
Cash will work with the Baltimore infielders, handling Miguel Tejada, Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts and whoever the first baseman will be this season.
In addition, Cash will perform the typical first base coach's job -- traffic cop, as he calls it. He'll remind the runner of the number of outs, the situation, things to look for and other pieces of information. Cash said that's hard to do sometimes, because the first baseman is talking to the runner, asking "How's the family?" and stuff like that. Cash just wants to make sure the runners know the right things.
"I'm just directing traffic," he said with a laugh.
Cash certainly knows about the traffic that comes on the baseball field. He played with the four teams and was a three-time All-Star (1974-1976). The 1971 World Series was his only time in the Fall Classic. He went 0-for-4 in the final game, when the Pirates scratched out a 2-1 win over the Orioles.
That tense afternoon remains one of his favorite baseball memories.
"When you're a player, you don't think about being nervous," he said. "You're more nervous after the game. You don't have time to think about being nervous."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

O's add eight players, bring total to 39

11/18/2005
BALTIMORE -- Outfield prospect Nick Markakis was one of eight players the Orioles added to their 40-man roster on Friday.
Markakis was the Orioles' first-round pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft and won the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year Award this past season. The outfielder played most of the year with Class A Frederick before moving up to Double-A Bowie and batted .310 with 15 homers and 92 RBIs.
Markakis has been considered one of the team's top prospects in the outfield, where the Orioles have needed help in recent seasons.
Shortstop Brandon Fahey is the other position player to make the 40-man roster. Fahey spent the year at Bowie and tied for ninth in the Eastern League with a .291 average. He topped the Baysox with 146 hits and tied for first among all Minor Leaguers with 22 sacrifice hits.
The other six players added to the 40-man roster were pitchers, all right-handers who had strong seasons this past year.
Chris Britton had a 6-0 record with six saves and a 1.60 ERA in 46 relief appearances with Frederick. Teammate Brian Finch (10-10) finished second in the Carolina League with a 3.38 ERA. In addition, Finch was 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in the CL playoffs and earned the Mills Cup Most Valuable Player honor as the Keys won the title.
Jim Johnson topped the Keys with 12 victories and earned Organizational and Carolina League Pitcher of the Year honors. Johnson's 168 strikeouts led the Carolina League. Also on the 40-man roster will be Marino Salas, who tied for third in the Carolina League with 16 saves. He posted a 4-2 record and a 3.50 ERA in 50 games.
Ryan Keefer went 7-3 with a 3.20 ERA as a relief pitcher for the Baysox. Sendy Rleal also helped Bowie with a 4-4 record, 16 saves and a 2.04 ERA.
The moves give the Orioles a total of 39 players on their Major League roster.
Pitchers (23): RHP Kurt Ainsworth, LHP Erik Bedard, RHP Chris Britton, LHP Tim Byrdak, RHP Daniel Cabrera, LHP Bruce Chen, LHP Eric DuBose, RHP Brian Finch, RHP Jim Johnson, RHP Jorge Julio, RHP Ryan Keefer, LHP Steve Kline, LHP Adam Loewen, RHP Rodrigo Lopez, RHP John Maine, LHP John Parrish, RHP Hayden Penn, RHP Aaron Rakers, RHP Chris Ray, RHP Sendy Rleal, RHP Eddy Rodriguez, RHP Marino Salas, RHP Todd Williams.
Catchers (3): Geronimo Gil, Javy Lopez, Eli Whiteside.
Infielders (6): Brandon Fahey, Chris Gomez, Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts, Miguel Tejada, Walter Young.
Outfielders (7): Eric Byrnes, Jeff Fiorentino, Jay Gibbons, Val Majewski, Nick Markakis, Luis Matos, David Newhan.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Young off to good start in winter ball

11/18/2005
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles have several of their younger players working on their skills in Winter Leagues this offseason.
First baseman/designated hitter Walter Young, who was impressive with his bat during a brief stint with the Orioles late in the 2005 season, is off to a good start with LaGuaria in the Venezuelan League, hitting .268 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 21 games through Nov. 17.
"Walter got off to a good start, but then they quit throwing him strikes," said David Stockstill, Baltimore's director of Minor League operations. "He's been over-aggressive. He's got to be patient."
Catcher Geronimo Gil, who missed a big chunk of 2005 with a thumb injury, is trying his skills at first base in the Mexican League, playing for Obregon. He's hitting .216 with no homers and six RBIs through his first few games. The Orioles need help at first base, which might explain why Gil is working on that position.
Pitching prospects Chris Britton, Ryan Keefer and Scott Rice are all working for the Tiburones, the team Young is with. Britton was with Class A Frederick last season and is 0-0 with a 6.48 ERA in 10 games so far. He's pitched 8 1/3 innings but has six saves, and the high ERA is because of trouble in his first game.
"He's been very impressive other than that one game," Stockstill said.
Keefer ended last season with Double-A Bowie and has thrown well this winter, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.22 ERA in six starts.
"He's been outstanding," Stockstill said. "He's been starting down there with a pitch-count limit. He's got a 95 mph fastball and a slider."
Rice's numbers are similar to Britton's, as he also had one bad game and has a 1-1 record with a 5.62 ERA. Rice is a situational left-hander who finished the season with Bowie.
Infielder Ed Rogers, who had a brief stint with the Orioles in September, is playing in the Dominican League, along with pitcher Marino Salas.
David Haehnel, one of the Orioles' top pitching prospects, finished the season with Frederick and made his first appearance with the Olympic qualifying team this week, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings in a 5-4 win over Mexico.
"We're very happy with his progress," Stockstill said.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Proefrock finds stable ground with O's

11/21/2005
BALTIMORE -- When asked how his life has been since the baseball season ended, Scott Proefrock laughed a little bit.
"It was sort of a crazy month," he said.
That's sort of an understatement. Proefrock lost his job with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Oct. 5, but landed with the Orioles later in the month as the team's director of baseball administration. Proefrock had been with the Devil Rays since right after the team's birth in 1995, serving as assistant general manager for the last eight years.
"It's been a little bit of an emotional roller coaster," Proefrock said. "To be fired on the 5th and have a job [a few] weeks later, I couldn't have planned it any better."
Proefrock will help with the day-to-day work of the Orioles' baseball operations, including contract negotiations, salary arbitration and player personnel decisions, as well as budgeting and interpreting Major League Baseball's rules and those of the Basic Agreement with the MLB Players Association.
"Scott has a strong reputation within baseball circles and was what we looked for as an administrator to handle many of the day-to-day functions involved in baseball operations," said Mike Flanagan, Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations in a statement the day Proefrock's hiring was announced. "His knowledge and experience with both the personnel side and the administrative side are exactly what we were looking for to add to Jim Duquette, myself and the rest of our baseball operations team."
Proefrock said that he's looking forward to being with a team that doesn't mind spending money to get players who can improve a team.
"It's just a different mind-set, and I think one of the things that my experience in Tampa Bay brings here, too," Proefrock said. "You can spend money, but there's other ways to get good players. You [don't always] have to spend a lot of money. We resurrected players [at Tampa] and ended up finding some guys that did a decent job for us -- those kinds of things can come in handy in any situation."
Proefrock said finding other ways to get talented players is becoming more important for all teams, and that's why searching through international programs and doing whatever is possible to get good talent is something that's needed. Teams can't just rely on signing well-known free agents each winter.
That's what Proefrock is looking forward to doing with the Orioles. He said he wasn't shocked at being let go by the Devil Rays because of the change in ownership, but Proefrock said he was delighted at how fast he hooked up with the Orioles.
Proefrock started his career with the Pirates in 1987, working in scouting and player development. He moved over to Atlanta in 1990 and did similar work until heading to the Devil Rays in 1995. Proefrock was promoted to assistant general manager in early 1997.
The Orioles job worked out even better for Proefrock because he's got connections in the area. His wife went to Loyola College, and he graduated from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Right now, Proefrock's wife and four children are working on shifting to Baltimore and a new life here.
"We couldn't have picked a better location from a family and personal standpoint," Proefrock said. "It's very refreshing to be in a situation where you get to make baseball decisions as opposed to strictly economic decisions."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

O's prospects have strong campaigns

11/11/2005
Ryan Hubele arrived late in the Arizona Fall League as an injury replacement, but he's the only member of the Orioles organization who will be playing in the championship game Saturday.
Hubele posted his second multi-hit game of the AFL season on Nov. 7, going 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored for the Surprise Scorpions in a 12-10 triumph over the Peoria Saguaros. He was 1-for-2 with another double and two RBIs in the regular-season finale Nov. 10 against the Peoria Javelinas, finishing at .360 with a homer and six RBIs in eight games.
Here's how Baltimore's other prospects fared for the Javelinas in the final week of the season:
SS Brandon Fahey -- Fahey saw no action after Oct. 31. The 24-year-old Texan hit .288 with nine RBIs in 17 games, seeing action at shortstop and second base.
3B Tripper Johnson III -- The 23-year-old corner infielder went 3-for-15 this week as his batting average slid to .333. On Nov. 7 against Grand Canyon, Johnson was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. He ended the campaign with two homers and 13 RBIs in 18 games.
LHP Adam Loewen -- The big Canadian left-hander made his final start of the campaign Nov. 5 against Mesa and gave up three runs on seven hits over four innings. He walked three and matched a season high with six strikeouts. Five days later, Loewen pitched a hitless inning in his lone bullpen appearance of the year. He ended up 2-1 with a stellar 1.67 ERA in seven games.
OF Nick Markakis -- Markakis sandwiched a pair of 0-for-3 performances around a three-game hitting streak this week. The highlight was a 2-for-4 effort in which he drove in two runs Nov. 5 against Mesa. The former member of the Greek Olympic team finished with a .326 average, one homer and 12 RBIs in 26 games. With the help of 11 walks, he ranked seventh in the AFL with a .421 on-base percentage.
OF Val Majewski -- The 24-year-old outfield prospect struggled at home and thrived on the road in the AFL, a trend that continued in the final week of the season. He was 0-for-7 in home games against Grand Canyon and Surprise, but he went 2-for-4 in road contests against the Rafters and Phoenix. Majewski ended up hitting .349 with a homer and four RBIs on the road and .167 with a homer and six RBIs in the friendly confines of the Peoria Sports Complex.
RHP Andy Mitchell -- The 6-foot-3 right-hander ended his AFL season on a high note, making three appearances and tossing four scoreless innings. On Nov. 5 against Mesa, Mitchell allowed one hit and struck out three in two frames to pick up his second straight win. He finished 2-0 with a solid 2.82 ERA in 17 relief outings.
RHP Cory Morris -- Morris was shut down on Oct. 28 due to a shoulder injury. He went 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four relief appearances, yielding five hits and six walks in seven innings with six strikeouts.
LHP David Haehnel -- Haehnel surrendered five runs on three hits and two walks in one inning on Nov. 8 against Grand Canyon. A late addition to the roster of the Solar Sox, the 23-year-old left-hander bounced back in the season finale on Nov. 10 and struck out two in a scoreless frame against the Peoria Saguaros.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

AROUND THE HORN: Granderson Tigers' rookie of the year

11/11/2005
NEW YORK - St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter won the National League Cy Young Award on Thursday, capping a comeback from shoulder surgery that jeopardized his career two years ago.After going 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA, Carpenter received 19 of 32 first-place votes and finished with 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He beat out Florida lefty Dontrelle Willis, becoming the first Cardinal to claim the honor since Bob Gibson in 1970."I can't believe I won," Carpenter said. "Two years ago, I didn't know if I was ever going to pitch again."Willis, 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA, was listed first on 11 ballots, second on 18 and finished with 112 points. Houston's Roger Clemens, a seven-time winner, got the other two first-place votes and finished third. Clemens filed for free agency Thursday.Carpenter began his career with Toronto on a late-1990s staff that included three other Cy Young winners: Clemens, Roy Halladay and Pat Hentgen (Fraser).After compiling a 49-50 record in his first six seasons, Carpenter had surgery in September 2002 to repair a tear in his pitching shoulder. He became a free agent and signed with St. Louis before missing the 2003 season."I really felt that there was more in there," Carpenter said. "When I came back last year, I knew I wasn't going to take anything for granted. ... Mentally, I grew up a lot."In 2004, Carpenter went 15-5 with a 3.46 ERA.Carpenter won 13 straight decisions this year from June 14 through Sept. 8, helping the Cardinals to a 100-62 record. He pitched 241 2/3 innings and struck out 213."I was locked in mentally for a very long period of time," Carpenter said.Tigers: Outfielder Curtis Granderson was named the Tigers rookie of the year by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association. Granderson, 24, batted .272 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs in 47 games. He had 131 chances without an error in 45 games in the outfield. ... Infielder John McDonald was sold back to Toronto. Last week, the Tigers sent cash to Toronto to complete a trade July 22 for McDonald. McDonald, 31, hit .277 with 16 RBIs in 68 games last season.Tampa Bay: Centerfielder Rocco Baldelli signed a contract that could be worth more than $32 million over six years. Baldelli, 24, missed last season with knee and elbow injuries. He hit .280 with 16 homers in 2004.Palmeiro avoids perjury charge: Rafael Palmeiro won't be charged with lying to a U.S. congressional committee in March when he said he never used performance-enhancing drugs. "The evidence before the committee is insufficient to merit a perjury referral," said a report from the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform. Palmeiro was suspended from the Baltimore Orioles in August by baseball after testing positive for the drugs.

Source: http://www.wzzm13.com/

Wachter loses battle with cancer

11/11/2005
BALTIMORE -- Photography fascinated Mitchell Layton as a child, a big reason his uncle gave him a camera for his bar mitzvah.
That camera opened a new world for the 13-year old Baltimore native, who grew up to run his own business and handle photography for the Nationals, Wizards, Capitals and Mystics, in addition to shooting for major publications.
Layton's uncle lived across the street from him and let the child hang around and learn the ropes of photography and eventually work with him. His uncle, Jerry Wachter, had been the Orioles' photographer since 1970 and was as well known as some players. Wachter lost a long battle with cancer Thursday, dying at the age of 61.
"He captured everything for decades of a storied franchise, and that's really rare in this business," said Layton. "He taught me how to be really hard on myself. Jerry said, 'To survive you've got to be hard on yourself, because you're only as good as your last picture.'"
Wachter began shooting the Orioles on and off the field starting in 1970, and he kept working despite fighting with Markel cell carcinoma this past season. Layton said he thinks Wachter knew this battle was not one he could win, and the two spent long hours talking over the past few months and grew even closer.
Layton always will remember how Wachter gave him his start and taught him how to do things -- the foundation for his own successful career.
"I used to go to Bullets games with him and just hang out," Layton said. "I started shooting Orioles games when I was in high school in [the late '70s]. I worked with him all the way through college."
Wachter's work was well-known and respected. He was a Topps photographer for 36 years, and his pictures have been used in numerous books and magazines, including 32 covers for Sports Illustrated.
He also covered the NBA, NHL (he was the Washington Capitals' first team photographer when they began in 1974), NFL, PGA Tour and many Olympics. Wachter's work in covering the Capitals and Bullets at the Capital Centre (later renamed USAir Arena) was noted in the industry for his clever use of strobe lighting in the building to make his pictures better.
The strobes were set up in the top of the building at a spot that could only be reached by catwalks. Just clicking a button from the floor gave him that spotlight, something that is now a technique used by photographers everywhere in some form.
But he might be best known for all of his Orioles work. Wachter was a fixture at the games, and his wide variety of pictures is something that those with the team and fans of the club enjoy seeing.
"Jerry was a fixture at Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards, and his photographs captured the rich history of Orioles baseball," Cal Ripken Jr. said in a statement Thursday. "At nearly every moment of my career, I can remember Jerry being there and photographing every moment. He is a member of the Orioles family who will be missed, but his memory will live on through his work."
Wachter is survived by his wife, the former Joanne Cecilia Strohmer, whom he married in 1998. He also has two sons from an earlier marriage, Martin and Scott. Both are successful professional photographers. Scott and his wife, Shawn, live in Arizona.
Services will be held Monday at 10 a.m. ET at Sol Levinson & Brothers Funeral Home, 8900 Reisterstown Road. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the name of Jerry Michael Wachter to the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Beattie relishes interview

Saturday, November 12, 2005
Jim Beattie yesterday became the fourth candidate to interview for the general manager vacancy left behind by Theo Epstein.
Speaking in the same room at Fenway Park from where Epstein bid adieu to the Red Sox 10 days ago, Beattie projected a calm and confident aura after a day spent first with team president and CEO Larry Lucchino and then lunch with special adviser to baseball operations Bill Lajoie.
For the 51-year-old South Portland, Maine, native and Dartmouth graduate, Beattie was not quite coming home, but was close to it.
“Growing up 100 miles north of here, it’s kind of fun to think I have the opportunity to do this,” he said.
Beattie shared the GM duties in Baltimore with another former major league pitcher, Mike Flanagan, before he was let go this fall. Prior to working for the Orioles, Beattie was the general manager for the then-Montreal Expos.
Baltimore’s signing of Miguel Tejada before the 2004 season helped “to turn the face of the organization around,” Beattie said. When asked about the Orioles’ second-half collapse in 2005, Beattie conceded that “things went out of control.” He added that injuries and a tough second-half schedule did not help the team’s cause.
Beattie, who spent two days being interviewed for the Red Sox job three years ago, diplomatically handled the Manny Ramirez trade dilemma.
“That’s something the organization is already taking a look at,” Beattie said. “I think everyone is open to him being traded and he is eligible to be traded, but it comes down to a lot of factors, including who the players are you get in return. I don’t know Manny Ramirez (off the field), so I can’t comment, but on the field he is a force. I know David Ortiz doesn’t want him traded.”
A pair of assistant general managers, Dayton Moore (Atlanta) and Wayne Krivsky (Minnesota), and one current GM, Jim Bowden (Washington), interviewed Wednesday with Lucchino and team chairman Tom Werner at the general managers meetings in Indian Wells, Calif.

Source: http://redsox.bostonherald.com/

Congress Declines to Prosecute Palmeiro for Perjury

Friday, November 11, 2005
Citing a lack of sufficient evidence, the House Government Reform Committee concluded yesterday it it would not recommend perjury charges against former Baltimore Oriole Rafael Palmeiro. But the panel's chairman stopped short of exonerating the first baseman, saying the committee had received evidence that was "confusing and contradictory in many respects" in an investigation that began Aug. 1, when Major League Baseball announced Palmeiro had tested positive for steroids.
Palmeiro's positive result was in direct contrast to his testimony in front of the committee at a hearing in March, when he insisted under oath he had never used steroids during his career and punctuated his comments with a marked point of his finger.
In announcing the panel's decision, Rep. Thomas A Davis III (R-Va.), the committee chairman, did not fully absolve Palmeiro. "We couldn't find any evidence of steroid use prior to his testimony," Davis said. "That's not a finding of innocence, but it's a finding that we could not substantiate perjury."
A report released by the committee raises questions about Palmeiro's testimony that a tainted B-12 shot given to him by teammate Miguel Tejada had caused a positive steroid result. Neither Palmeiro, who in an interview on Wednesday said he is still considering playing next season, nor his attorneys commented on the discrepancies in his testimony.
"I am pleased that after a thorough investigation -- one in which I cooperated fully -- the Committee has decided to drop this matter," Palmeiro said in a statement. "I want to express my gratitude to the Committee for the fairness and professionalism with which they conducted their business."
Perhaps the most damning of the evidence against Palmeiro in the committee's report was an assertion by players association counsel Michael Weiner, who represented Palmeiro in an arbitration hearing, that the B-12 could not have caused the positive test result.
"The players association does not contend that the B-12 shot that Mr. Palmeiro took caused his positive test result," Weiner told the arbitration panel, which was ruling on Palmeiro's grievance against the original test result, in his closing arguments. "We have no evidence to suggest that. As a matter of fact, all of the evidence that exists runs in the other direction."
Palmeiro, when asked about Weiner's statement during the House committee's investigation, said: "I disagree with what he's saying. He is speaking on the players' asociation behalf, but I feel that the B-12 was probably the thing that might have done it."
In that arbitration hearing Weiner presented a polygraph taken by Palmeiro. But Palmeiro was not asked during the test if he had ever used steroids. Instead Palmeiro was asked, "Did you unknowingly receive a B-12 supplement that contained a steroid?" Palmeiro answered, "Yes," which seemingly contradicted an earlier statement that he was unsure what caused the positive result.
Palmeiro's defense in the committee's investigation relied heavily on the possibility that a tainted B-12 shot had caused him to fail a drug test. But the report reveals that three samples of the vitamin, two given by Tejada and the other by an unidentified Orioles player who had gotten the B-12 from the Orioles shortstop, were tested and were not contaminated with stanozolol, the drug found in Palmeiro's system. Also, Tejada passed two drug tests during the 2005 season.
"The Committee obtained no evidence indicating that B-12 has ever been inadvertently contaminated with stanozolol," the report said.
Palmeiro, in his interview on Wednesday, said he only brought up Tejada's name because he was asked to do so under oath. But the report shows that the first baseman willingly, though reluctantly, brought up his former teammate's name in a conversation with Weiner only days after the positive test result was revealed.
Though Tejada is not implicated in any steroid use, his testimony raised some questions. Tejada said he supplied two unnamed Orioles teammates -- identified by the panel as players A and B -- with B-12 during the 2005 season. But his accounts of when the B-12 was given and how much of it was supplied differed in the testimony of the two players. The players testified that each had personally injected Tejada at least 30 times with B-12 since 2004.
"During our investigation the Committee did find substantial inconsistencies between Mr. Tejada's accounts and the accounts of players A and B," Davis said. "While these inconsistencies were curious to us, we did not pursue them further because this was not a material part of the investigation."
Davis said he hoped the committee's findings would help bring scrutiny upon baseball's drug testing policy. During its investigation the committee discovered that players were often unsupervised when providing a urine sample.
Davis said he believes the investigation will add momentum to congressional efforts to establish a uniform drug testing policy for all sports. "There is no question that the positive test by Mr. Palmeiro continues to spark interest in Congress to move steroid legislation," Davis said.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Margate loses to Baltimore in Roy Hobbs World Series

Sunday, November 13, 2005
The Margate Hurricanes where ousted in the playoffs of the Roy Hobbs World Series, held in Ft. Myers, Fla., by the Baltimore Orioles 14-10 in extra innings.Four Baltimore runs in the top of the ninth tied the score at 10 a piece and after Margate failed to score, the Orioles added four more runs and won by the final score of 14-10.Margate's team MVP, Fran Casey, pitched eight innings and left with a lead he helped forge with three doubles and two RBIs at the plate.Other Margate contributors were Gregg Balin, 3 for 3 with two RBIs and Rich Kurtz who had two hits and three RBIs.The Hurricanes will return to Ft. Myers in January to defend their Wagner World Series title.

Source: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/

Perlozzo, Mazzone inspire small town

11/03/2005
BALTIMORE -- Dick Sterne owns the Original Sports Shoppe in Cumberland, a small town in Western Maryland that's about two hours outside of Baltimore. Sterne also serves as the president of the Dapper Dan Club of Allegany County and helps run the Dapper Dan Little League's winter banquet each year.
Baseball is a hot topic of conversation every spring and summer in Cumberland, but there's no question that many in the area are talking about it this fall. The reason -- the connection of longtime friends and area natives Sam Perlozzo and Leo Mazzone as the Orioles manager and pitching coach.
"They're both still one of us," Sterne said. "It means a lot to the people in Cumberland. I've been friends with Sam since 1962 and with Leo since 1964, and what happened in the past month and a half is the greatest thing in baseball to hit the city of Cumberland. It's the talk of the town."
The 54-year-old Perlozzo is a Cumberland native, and Mazzone, 57, hails from nearby Westernport, a town about 25 miles away. They became close friends as children and maintained that friendship ever since, a big reason why Mazzone walked away from the Atlanta Braves after a 16-year stint to join the Orioles.
But Mazzone's move didn't surprise those who know about the strong friendship between the two.
"I think it was a package deal written long ago," said Sterne. "I guess that their friendship is very important."
Despite the fact that both Perlozzo and Mazzone have been longtime big-league coaches, each has kept a strong tie with the Cumberland area over the years. Perlozzo attended Bishop Walsh, a private school in Cumberland, where he became one of the best baseball players in school history.
Bishop Walsh retired Perlozzo's number 6, and his son, Eric, later played for them before graduating in 2002. But Perlozzo often came back to the school to teach and talk with the young baseball players there.
Bishop Walsh coach Sam Torres said that Perlozzo came back about once a winter to spend a long time with his players when Eric was there. Perlozzo would spend the better part of an afternoon -- about four to six hours -- working with the players and watching everyone get through a turn at the batting cage.
"He'd evaluate all the hitters, and he'd evaluate them fielding also and tell them the skills they needed to work on," Torres said. "He would always bring it back home that you have to be true to yourself and do the right thing."
Mazzone went to now-closed Bruce High near Cumberland, and he had sons who played baseball at nearby Fort Hill High -- one of Bishop Walsh's big rivals. He also comes back in the winter and talks baseball with those in the area.
"Leo is a great communicator and a saltier kind of guy," said Bishop Walsh athletic director Jim Zamagias. "He's a little bit crazier than Sam, and they play off of each other very well. He's a character."
Both Perlozzo and Mazzone have spent lots of time helping the Dapper Dan Little League over the years. They talk to coaches and give all kinds of tips during the winter, and both often find their way to the Dapper Dan banquet before Spring Training.
"I could almost count on them to speak at my dinner every year," Sterne said.
Torres said that watching two people from their own small town -- with a population of about 22,000 -- make it to the Major Leagues together sends a huge message to kids in the area.
"It demonstrates to our kids here in Cumberland that if you have a goal, and you work hard towards it, that you can make it happen," Torres said. "Even out of Cumberland."

Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/

Phillies' rivals join pursuit of Wagner

11/04/2005
PHILADELPHIA -- Sales of chips and dip are likely to spike over the next month in Charlottesville, Va., as free agent Billy Wagner prepares to meet with a slew of baseball executives.
The hard-throwing lefty heads the list of available closers that includes Trevor Hoffman, B.J. Ryan, Bob Wickman, Ugueth Urbina, Tom Gordon, Octavio Dotel and Dustin Hermanson. The Mets became the second team to send an entourage to meet with Wagner, having done so on Wednesday.
New York can't talk contract specifics with Wagner until Nov. 10, but expressed their strong interest through a face-to-face meeting.
"It was a very good meeting," said Wagner. "It was a chance to get to know [Mets GM] Omar Minaya and some people in their front office. They answered a lot of questions on where they thought they were heading. I found it really intriguing and had a great time sitting down with them."
New York's traveling group included Minaya, assistant GM John Ricco and special assistant Tony Bernazard. Wagner's camp was represented by Wagner, his wife, Sarah, and his agent Bean Stringfellow. It was Wagner's first face-to-face meeting with the Mets.
The Mets, who have already contacted Stringfellow twice by phone, are expected to be one of as many as 10 teams vying for Wagner. Another is Detroit, who expressed a strong interest and are believed to be setting up a meeting. The Tigers recently hired Jim Leyland and are planning to spend money to bring in key free agents. They brought in Troy Percival last season, but he suffered an injury.
Wagner is also a fan of new Tigers' third base coach Gene Lamont from when the two were together in Houston. Other interest will likely come from Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and both Chicago teams.
But it was all about the Mets this week, who came prepared with everything but a blank check, which could arrive on Nov. 10.
"What impressed me about the Mets was they know exactly what they need and I fe