Kuzul

Opening Day baseball is only a week away.Let that sink in for a minute: There's only seven days until we can watch our beloved Baltimore Orioles play meaningful baseball games once again.When the Orioles open the season in Tampa Bay next Tuesday, I'll be there. My dad and I are planning on making the drive from Orlando to attend our first Opening Day baseball game.Of course, I'd much rather see an Opening Day at Camden Yards, being that it's the best ballpark in baseball, but beggars can't be choosers. When it comes down to it, attending a ballgame featuring your favorite team is one of the greatest things a fan can experience, regardless of the venue and the opponent.Jason Hammel versus David Price. Needless to say, I'm assuming here, but that's the safe bet for the starting pitching matchups at Tropicana Field on April 2nd. It should be a well-pitched ...

It seems as though the Baltimore Orioles 2013 roster will be nearly identical to the roster they had to end the 2012 season with.Orioles' brass appears to want to keep the team that won 93 games largely intact, and understandably so. With many key pieces in place, the Orioles are a team who needs only one or two additions to be pushed over the edge.There's no sense in messing with something that worked, and though the team does have some holes to fill, they have a strong foundation for success for years to come.With that in mind, many of these players should be in the minds of Orioles fans, either for the contributions they could make to the team at the start of the year or as late-season call-ups.O's fans, remember these names for 2013.Begin Slideshow

After having the worst defense in baseball through the first half-plus of the baseball season in 2012, the Baltimore Orioles rebounded nicely to have the best defense in baseball for the final two months of the season.Many things can contribute to the reasoning of the defensive turnaround for the O's. But ultimately, it comes down to the players, and some of them came to be very impressive.Good defense is necessary to winning. The Orioles understand this, and that's why they're going to make sure that they can make their good August and September play stretch through the whole year in 2013.It's not out of the realm of possibility that the O's can have the best defense in baseball next season. They figure to enter 2013 with the same (or least a very similar) defense they had this past August and September.The O's will have a great defense in 2013. And ...

There's been a constant general discussion among baseball fans nearly all season about one team in particular:How are the Baltimore Orioles doing it?Going into the beginning of the season, the Orioles, on paper, appeared to be headed for a season in which they would struggle to win more than 62 games.Fast-forward to present day: The Birds are two wins from 90, leading the AL wild-card race and giving the New York Yankees a run for their money at staking a claim as the beast of the AL East.No one could have called it. It defies logic. But it's happening.Here comes the next question: Are the Orioles actually a good team, or has it just been one of those years for them where EVERYTHING goes their way?I believe they're a good team. I believe they've turned the corner as a franchise. And here's why.Begin Slideshow

This just disgusts me.In a close game. In a meaningful game for the AL wild-card standings. The umps do yet again what they've been so good at doing for the last two and a half seasons:Screw up royally.It was the bottom of the fifth inning at Comerica Park. The Baltimore Orioles against the Detroit Tigers. And, well, this video will give you a better description of what happened. It'll save me from butchering what actually happened with my naturally and genetically poor storytelling.This whole incident to me is ridiculous. And for multiple reasons.First baseman Mark Reynolds should never have been ejected.The home-plate umpire shouldn't have had the final ruling on a play at first base.The runner should have been out.In real time, from the standard camera angle from which every station shoots infield plays, it looked like Reynolds' foot left the bag before he made that great play on third ...

The Baltimore Orioles are having a nice surprise season right now, and, considering how many of their players are performing thus far, it's justifiable to wonder just how on Earth they're doing it.For the Orioles, it would be greatly beneficial to have these guys break out and perform like they're capable of. It would almost be as if the O's did make a significant deadline deal to boost their team.Plenty of guys on the team are deserving of making this list—which is strange to say, considering this team is a half game out of a wild-card spot—but I'm going to name those who are most important to the team at this point and/or are in a free-agent season and could use it for themselves, as well.If any of these key cogs in the Orioles machine can step up their game over the final two months of the season, then the ...

As of right now, the Baltimore Orioles are falling, and falling fast.While they haven't moved in the standings, they've been continuing to increase the distance between them and the first-place New York Yankees. And after last night's horrible loss, the O's lost their wild-card spot for the time being.The rapid fall of the Birds can be attributed to, in part, the offense. Frankly, the offense has just been offensive over the last few weeks. Guys aren't hitting, guys aren't getting on base, guys aren't showing the same pop they did earlier in the season. Basically, guys are striking out.Still, the offense isn't as much of a worry as the defense, the starting pitching or the overworking of the bullpen. But I digress...Because of all the slumping, there are some players who are bound to break out in the second half of the season—and break out big.Want to know who is ...

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Jake Arrieta has thrown just one good game over the course of the last month and a week.Considering that Arrieta was the Orioles' Opening Day starter, and that the young man was supposed to step up and take on the role of being the club's ace this year, that's pretty pathetic.It's getting to the point where Arrieta goes out there and even the fans expect him to get shelled. Heck, he may even expect that of himself right now.I like Arrieta. He's got great stuff, and I honestly believe he can turn into a great pitcher. And because I like him so much, I want to see him go down to Triple-A.Staying in the majors is doing him absolutely no good right now. Over the course of his last three outings, he's thrown 13 innings and given up a whopping 19 earned runs. During that time, ...

Former professional hitter Manny Ramirez is trying to make a comeback after abruptly retiring a few games into the 2011 season due to a second positive PED test and subsequent suspension.Originally, it was thought that the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland A's and Toronto Blue Jays were the final three in on Manny. O's GM Dan Duquette would never commit one way or another when asked by reporters, saying things like "Manny is an interesting player," or "we're looking to at opportunities to add more bats" or other statements of the like.However, yesterday Duquette finally quieted those rumors with these remarks to Baltimore reporters yesterday, courtesy of Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports:"I don't think there's going to be a fit for Manny," Duquette said. "We've looked at that all winter and I'm not sure there's a fit there for the Orioles. I wish Manny a lot of luck, but I ...

Just as it was last year, the Baltimore Orioles have everything riding on the shoulders of one very fragile piece of the team:The young pitching.We all saw how that turned out last season. But again, we look towards a season with our team banking everything on the young arms in the system—Jake Arrieta, Zach Britton, Brian Matusz and Chis Tillman.Arrieta and Britton pretty much have starting jobs to lose in spring training. Matusz will need to prove he's healthy and in shape after an historically bad season in 2011. Tillman, well... The O's would be lucky to get even a serviceable starter out of him at this point.Even if Arrieta and Britton secure their big league rotation spots, they still need to take steps forward. And Matusz needs to return to the form he showed in late 2010, after Buck Showalter took over as manager of the team.If those things ...