jess blumberg's Baltimore Orioles fan blog

I read about this before yesterday's game. Besides the fact that playing baseball in 90-degree weather in a thong is probably one of the most uncomfortable things ever, I think it's awesome. And no not because I want to get my hands on the undergarments of Brian Roberts or Nick Markakis. But, because it builds morale.

Ever since Millar signed with the Orioles in 2006, he has been boosting the mood in the clubhouse. From dying his hair crazy colors to playing lead singer in the Orioles Magic video, Millar has always tried to pull more tricks out of his sleeve. Maybe it's coming from a World Series championship team, but he has become the unofficial leader and, more importantly, motivator. 

Continue reading "thong song"

We all know that in every ballpark there are certain foul ball danger zones. But soon there might have to be shattered bat ones, too. 

Major League Baseball instructed all 30 teams to save broken bats since July 2, a span of 260 games that has produced 257 broken bats, or nearly one per game. The MLB is consulting with a wood research institute at the University of Wisconsin, a statistician at Harvard and Forest Products Laboratory to understand why so many bats break during games.

It's been suggested that the bats are shattering becuase of inferior wood, players shaving their bat handles or the needs for stricter qualifications for companies to be approved to make bats. The study is also surveying more than 30 manufacturers to try to solve the mystery.

Continue reading "bat-breaking work"

Some people out there are saying that yesterday's post-game celebration was a little over-the-top. Yes, we are still in last place in the American League, our pitching is completely unreliable and even our (almost) all-star Brian Roberts sat out because of a recent slump. So some might say it was excessive when the Camden Yards crowd went wild, the word "FINALLY!" was broadcast on the bottom of the MASN screen and Dave Trembley showed up to the post-game press conference puffing on a cigar.

All I say is that it's obvious what the Orioles are (and aren't) going to do this season. But that doesn't mean we should not be able to celebrate a winning game, especially against a starting pitcher who's 11-5 on a team that had scored 31 runs in its previous three games. If we don't have excitement for the Orioles, we don't have much. 

Continue reading "sunday surprise"

(Garrett Olson, AP Photo/Gail Burton)

When I walked into Camden Yards yesterday, I had a good feeling. I didn't want to vocalize it to my father, as not to jinx it. After all, the Orioles had lost their past 15 Sunday games, not winning on the day of rest since April 6 against Seattle. Not to mention the fact that today was my dad's birthday, so he had high hopes that everything would come together just for him.

And come together it did! Starting pitcher Garrett Olson retired the Angels in order to start off the first inning, no small feat for this team. Then Nick Markakis hit an RBI double and Carlos Santana hit Luke Scott in the shin with a pitch (he walked it off for five minutes with trainer Richie Bancells) with the bases loaded to force in a run. Then Jay Payton didn’t deliver and Quiroz struck out. But we were wining 2-0 after the first.

Continue reading "so long, streak!"