Baltimore Sports Then and Now

Photo credit: Charlotte Mace

The Women’s Professional Soccer league (WPS) held the Los Angeles Sol Dispersal Draft with the eight remaining teams via conference call Thursday.

With the seventh pick, the Washington Freedom selected Notre Dame star, Brittany Bock.

“She’s versatile, she can play in multiple positions, and we’re looking forward to seeing her in camp and seeing exactly where she fits in and how she fits in,” said Freedom head coach Jim Gabarra.

Bock fit in nicely with the LA Sol last season, starting 17 of the team’s 18 games. She was part of a solid backline that marked the Sol as the league leader in defense, with a goals against average of 0.5. Read the rest of this entry →

Jeremy Guthrie and the rest of the starting rotation hope to have a great season as a whole.

The Baltimore Orioles are at the bottom when it comes to starting pitching production, but the Orioles hope to improve that with their young arms, and with help from the veteran pitching that is on the ball club and that was acquired this off season should help the Orioles starting pitching to finally turn the corner. Let’s take a look at the Orioles starting rotation for the baseball season up ahead.

In the number one spot Jeremy Guthrie should be at number one, because the Orioles are familiar with him and knows the production he can put up, it’s just matter of him getting the first batter out in the beginning of innings and getting more run production, which should be there with the Orioles revamped line up, so look for Guthrie to have a great season for the Orioles pitching staff.

In the number two spot Brad Bergesen, who was having a great season before he was injured, if he looks at the positives of how great he was pitching before his unlikely shin injury, and then he should be a big part in the Orioles success. Bergesen is in the second spot, because he showed a lot of pitching ability and proved that he can pitch at this level rather easy.

In the number three spot newly acquired veteran Kevin Millwood, he should be a big help for himself and the young pitchers that pitch ahead of his spot and after his spot. Millwood and the Orioles should have a great season, as Millwood is a inning eater, and the Orioles are not used to that, so that should benefit them in the pitching department, mainly including giving the bullpen rest. So Millwood and his veteran presences should help the Orioles young pitchers to get a better understanding of what goes into pitching consistently at this level.

In the number four spot Brian Matusz who got his chance to show his stuff last season, after an injury to one of the Orioles starters. He showed a lot of poise, and surprised the Orioles with his magnificent pitching ability; he should help the Orioles big time in the upcoming season. He should benefit from this spot in the rotation, as he still has a lot to prove to the Orioles and the rest of the major leagues, so in this spot he should be able to relax and improve his pitching.

In the fifth and final spot Chris Tillman who started off his career on a high note with a win against a pretty good Angels team. He started to decline after that, as he only recorded one more win after that. Tillman hopes to take what he learned last season and turn it into something great for the upcoming season. He should have a big season, as he was a rookie in training last season, so he should be more aware of his surroundings in the major leagues and focus on getting better. This spot in the rotation should give Tillman time to watch and learn some pitching techniques from the pitchers that pitch in front of his spot, especially newly acquired Kevin Millwood.

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The Baltimore Orioles lineup going to look better rounded and more productive for the upcoming season. Let’s take a look at how the Orioles starting lineup will look for the season that is ahead of them.

Nick Markakis And Adam Jones Hope To Get The Orioles Line Up Back On Track.

At first base you will mostly see Garrett Atkins with that job, and he will also be a good utility guy.

At second base you will see the most loved player Brian Roberts who brings a lot of production for the Orioles and their lineup.

At shortstop you will have a gold glove caliber player Cesar Izturis, who is coming back for his second season with the Orioles, he should be more of a help for the Orioles this time around, as he has a season under his belt and he is more comfortable with the way the Orioles do things.

At third base (a position that he a has never played) the Orioles will welcome back All-Star player Miguel Tejada, his first go around with the Orioles he showed that he is a power hitter and has great fielding ability with a strong arm. Tejada is coming to the Orioles for his second time and he is going to be playing at a position he has never played before, he should be able to learn the position rather easy, as he is a ball player and will try anything to get in the lineup and shine no matter what position or spot in the lineup.

At catcher Matt Wieters will be more helpful this season, as he got his feet wet in the majors last season. This season Wieters should be more relaxed and ready to prove why he was the number one prospect.

In left field Nolan Reimold will be back for his second season in the majors, he showed a lot of promise last season with his ability to hit and field.

In center field Adam Jones, who won the gold glove for his play in the outfield last season. You will see a break out year from Jones this season, as he has proved that he is improving each time he bats or takes the field.

In right field Nick Markakis another one of the Orioles most prized hitters and has knack for making great plays in the outfield.

With a line up like this the Orioles should be able to do a lot of damage to the elite teams in the Major Leagues.

The Ravens And Patriots Face Off In Round 1 Of The 2009 Playoffs.

In the upcoming Wild Card weekend, the Baltimore Ravens face off with the New England Patriots. This is going to be a great matchup, as the Ravens hard hitting defense goes up against a high powered Patriots offense. The Ravens look to get a little bit of redemption back from the last time they played, which was during the regular season. Last time they played it was a close game all the way down to the final seconds of the game. So look for this game to be a low scoring game, that is going to come down to, which team can out fight the other.

All season long the Ravens have had their ups and downs, but have seemed to still have some will power to get themselves into the playoffs for the second year in a row. The Ravens have showed that they can dominate a game on both defense and offense, but at times have showed that they can get the same treatment handed to them. With the Ravens you do not know what kind of game they could bring Sunday. If the Ravens play like they are capable of and have showed in the past, than they should be in good shape of getting a win and advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

In this game the Ravens need to try to get in charge of the game early, to keep the Patriots off balance and to keep the momentum on their side. The Ravens have struggled in the first half of games this season, they cannot afford to do this in this game or they are going to be in trouble and will get sent home very early in this year’s playoffs. The Ravens have showed that they are a way better second half team, as they are one of the top scoring teams, when it comes to the second half of games. The Ravens need to play strong the entire game, to be able to keep the Patriots in check, and get a win on the road.

The Ravens have played very good in road playoff games, as last year they won two road playoff games before they lost on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and have a great record all-time in road playoff games.  So this should not be a hard task for the Ravens, as they have been in this situation many of times.

Heading into this game the Ravens try to put last year’s playoff run behind them, and start fresh.

The playoffs are a new season, every team starts at 0-0. The two big difference’s with the playoffs than the regular season. One it’s no second chances to rebound from a loss, you lose once you are going home. Two is it means more and it less room for error. Both the Ravens and Patriots are going to put it all on the line, because they know deep down inside how much this game means to them, their city, and their fans.

Some other key parts for the Ravens in this game, is the offense is way better than it has been in years and the running game is still a top part of the Ravens offensive game. The Ravens running game has been very productive this season. With Ray Rice carrying most of the load, he has had a great regular season, so look for Rice to carry his success into the playoffs. Willis McGahee has been the Ravens touchdown maker, he had one of his best games last week, as he ran for 3 touchdowns to help the Ravens get a win and to make the playoffs. Finally Le’ron McClain has made some key third down conversions to keep the Ravens in a rhythm in the offensive game.

This is going to be a great game all around; both teams are going to be ready to fight for their playoff lives this Sunday.

Nolan Reimold is a prime example of the talent that the Orioles entail deep in their organization.

It has been a hard and long road from when the Baltimore Orioles were a force to be reckoned with. It used to be an honor to wear anything that had the Orioles name on it. Ever since the Orioles were taken over by the devil himself Peter Angelos, the Orioles have gone downhill. After all these years of losing, the Orioles look for some major changes to get them back on track. Once they turn around this team, it will be a great sight for many die heart Orioles fans.

It seems when the offseason comes for the Baltimore Orioles, they don’t do what they set out to do. The reason for this is the lack of putting out money and or trying to find the right player for the job, they need to start to accomplish this so that they can get to the next level in getting this team back to winning status. I think this year is going to be different, than the discouraging years before. After many different changes to the Orioles roster last season, that helped to get the future of the Orioles a shot to prove themselves in the major leagues, this should pan out to be a stepping stone for the Orioles future.

Entering the offseason the Orioles had many needs that include starting pitching, first base, third base, and closer. The Orioles handle the starting pitching needs right out of the gate at the winter meetings, when the Orioles traded Chris Ray to the Texas Rangers for veteran pitcher Kevin Millwood, who is going to bring a winning presences to the Orioles team as an whole and will have a big part on the young pitching of the Orioles. The Orioles would fix the closing duties, when they signed free agent Mike Gonzalez, who is going to help a lot in the late innings of games, as he has been in that type of situation many times in his career. Gonzalez is going to be a big part in the Orioles ability to close out games in the upcoming season and in the future. Next the Orioles would handle the third base problem, by signing long time Colorado Rockies player Garrett Atkins off the free agents list, Atkins should help the defense of the Orioles all around. Atkins has had some offensive problems, he looks to rebound with the Orioles and get back to his hitting ability, that he has showed the baseball world in the past. The first base needs are still up in the air, they hope to fix that problem before the start of the upcoming baseball season.

With all the moves the Orioles have made this off season should help to make a big change in the upcoming season and the near future of the Orioles franchise. The Orioles are going to be way better than they were last year, as they have made many changes to the team since last season, so you should see a big difference in the way the Orioles go about winning and the game of baseball. With all the talent the Orioles have on the roster now and on the way, the Orioles are definitely on the verge of breaking loose.