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Nestor Aparicio

Were you one of the few Orioles fans amidst sea of red this weekend?

Nestor Aparicio

Well, it’s all over. The Orioles were once again swept in Baltimore by the Red Sox. Once again, thousands of New Englanders and supporters raided the city and brought millions of dollars of civic kindess on the metropolis while they continued to point out the biggest crime of Peter Angelos’ tenure as the owner of our baseball team. I ventured to Camden Yards today. Instead of writing about everything I saw and did, I shot a video for you. If you like my radio show, maybe you’ll like my lengthy set of views, observations and comments while I spent my day watching Jason Berken and Orioles pitchers give up 23 hits and 18 runs. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNQtAwg-nGI[/youtube]

As Trembley rolls under the losing orange bus, I’ll defend him…

Nestor Aparicio

Watching the post-game press conference with Dave Trembley today has been illuminating. The Orioles are really reeling. The pitchers gave up 23 hits today. They used six pitchers who gave up a collective 18 runs. Their No. 1 starter in the on the disabled list. Next up, they’re apparently bringing in their No. 1 prospect in the organization, Brian Matusz, for Tuesday night and the manager is taking massive heat. Today they were beaten 18-10 and swept while nearly 100,000 Red Sox fans rolled into Camden Yards this weekend and booed his young players while they floundered. Before the game, his all-but-washed up veteran and emotional third basemen rolled him under the bus in a pre-game tirade that will go down as legendary. Melvin Mora went on and on about “respect.” It was about as bad of a thing as you could possibly do to a manager in the middle of a bad stretch. But I can’t blame this mess on Dave Trembley at this point. As a matter of fact, since I’ve called for some clarity on his situation a few weeks ago I’ve honestly been tremendously impressed with how he’s conducted himself publicly amidst the losing. I almost

Derrick Mason’s return to Ravens was never in doubt at WNST

Nestor Aparicio

In what has not been a surprise to us – if you go back to Monday July 13th’s blog vault you’ll see we can confirm this — Derrick Mason will in fact play for the Ravens this season, ending his temporary “retirement” from the Ravens and the NFL. Three weeks ago, it took us about 45 minutes after Mason announced his “retirement” via his agent’s sports website, to begin predicting that Mason would play in 2009 but somehow it’s a major “news” story today. This was in no way a huge upset/surprise/shocker for anyone using common sense and their “sniffer” for facts. The amount of money at stake, Mason’s lack of true leverage (he would’ve had to refund money to the Ravens if he didn’t play) and the fact that he attended virtually every camp in the offseason and is in world-class shape all were clues that we would be seeing Mason in a purple sweater on Sept. 13 when the Kansas City Chiefs come to town. So, while others may take the credit for “breaking” the story today we’ve felt all along that it would be a major upset if Mason didn’t play in 2009. Just this morning I

What do Peter Angelos, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez have in common?

Nestor Aparicio

I was scanning CNN this morning and saw this headline: “At least 34 private radio stations in Venezuela were closed indefinitely Friday, and 206 more were at risk of being shut down, a government official said.” As I have said many times, Peter Angelos and Fidel Castro must’ve been discussing “freedom of speech” while behind the plate in Havana 10 years ago. And Hugo Chavez is perhaps the latest and greatest example of the mindset of the suppression of free speech. Angelos clearly subscribes to this philsophy. How can I think any differently after being banned from attending Orioles games as a media member after 21 years of having a press pass and a passion and love for Orioles’ baseball? Keep in mind, virtually 98% of my family lives in Venezuela. Freedom is something I take pretty seriously, especially considering many of my direct family members aren’t afforded the same kind of life that I am in America. But as long as the Orioles can dictate (or TRY to dictate) what is said about them in the local media I will never be silent about it as a media voice and a supporter of free speech. I have never lied

Bergesen pitches well before taking nasty liner off knee

Nestor Aparicio

UPDATED 3:20 p.m. — X Rays to Brad Bergesen’s left knee are negative. It certainly is going to hurt for a little while, but apparently Bergesen is going to be OK. The Orioles beat the Royals 7-3 in the finale of a four-game series today and Brad Bergesen was masterful in his seven innings of work. On the last pitch of his brilliant effort, he took a nasty liner off the left knee and jetted off the field in a kangaroo hop. Every Oriole in the lineup got at least one hit today and Aubrey Huff drove in three runs. TODAY’S BOX SCORE HERE

Tillman scuffles but Orioles beat Greinke & Royals 7-3

Nestor Aparicio

For those who chose to attend or watch tonight’s game after the rain delay, it was a different kind of game than what we all bargained for more than four hours ago. In the end, it was a happy night. The Orioles beat the Royals 7-3 with a flurry of late offense and a huge night from Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, who each had 3 RBIs. Matt Albers pitched some key middle relief and Jim Johnson was unhittable at the end. But the real reason this meeting of two last-place teams caught everyone’s attention was the pitching matchup: Cy Young current vs. Cy Young future in Zack Greinke vs. Chris Tillman. It was a bit of a long and tedious game and it wasn’t because of great pitching. The Orioles got to Greinke early when Jones hit a moon shot that just kept going over the left-centerfield wall. Tillman battled but threw 93 long pitches in just 4 2/3 innings and left the game in trouble. Greinke threw a whopping 116 pitches in six innings. Tillman gave up three home runs. In the end, neither factored in the decision. Trembley said in the postgame that the most amount of

Do the White Sox covet George Sherrill?

Nestor Aparicio

We’re getting down to the nitty gritty on the MLB trading deadline. The Cliff Lee deal today and a few other minor deals will have folks buzzing over the next 36 hours. Ken Rosenthal floated some information today that was interesting in regard to George Sherrill at Fox Sports. From Rosenthal: “As many as eight teams are pursuing Orioles closer George Sherrill, and two or three are “actively engaged” with Baltimore in discussions, according to a major-league source. The Orioles expect that the number of teams serious about Sherrill actually might grow once the big-name starting pitchers get traded — or not. The Dodgers have maintained interest in Sherrill, and a number of their prospects appeal to the Orioles. The Angels are “mildly” involved, according to one major-league source. The Phillies are unlikely to act on Sherrill now that they are preparing to trade four prospects for Indians left-hander Cliff Lee.”

Ravens sign Michael Oher to a five-year contract

Nestor Aparicio

The waiting is over! Michael Oher will be in camp tomorrow and will meet with the media. In the end, he missed four workouts. He’ll be on the field Friday morning when the veterans all report for the first time. These eleventh hour signings are all-too-common but are a bit of a necessary evil. There’s a lot of money at stake. It’s a real fistfight on the negotiating side and I never pick sides on these and the Ravens do their best to not get the media or anyone else involved. Of course, agent Jimmy Sexton will be bandying the numbers at some point later tonight and we’ll report the signing bonus and salary. That’s just the way it works. In the end, it always gets done. It will all around the league for the other 26 first-round “holdout” draft picks as well. Every hour over the next few days you’ll be hearing of more signings. From Mike Duffy at the Ravens website: “At approximately 9 p.m. tonight, Michael Oher and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, agreed to a five-year contract with the Ravens. The Ravens are one of the first teams to have all of their draft picks signed this

Death of Eagles Jim Johnson is hitting Harbaugh hard tonight

Nestor Aparicio

I went to Westminster today and hung out for an hour. It’s always great to know that football season is here and the games, tailgates, travel and fun of the NFL campaign is upon us again. (Just to get geared up, I’ve been reading John Steadman’s book, “From Ravens To Colts.” God, I miss Steadman a lot!) I even got to spend some quality time with Lenny Moore. Video is in the vault to the right…I’d embed it here but it’s not the appropriate place for it. About 15 minutes ago my wife called me to tell me that Jim Johnson died. I just Tweeted it and I thought I’d throw a quick note together because I feel like I want to share my “link” to Jim Johnson. And this is sure to get complicated. But let me say that I actually pulled John Harbaugh up after practice today at 10:45 a.m. and specifically asked him about Jim Johnson. And Harbs said: “I’m not hearing anything good. I wish I could say I did.” I didn’t know Jim Johnson. I never met him. But, WOW, do I know a lot of people who do and people who really thought the

Rich Hill talks about tendinitis and sorrow after loss to Royals

Nestor Aparicio

As the pending promotion of man-child Chris Tillman for tomorrow’s game gets closer it appears that the Rich Hill era here in Baltimore is about to come to an end. Monday night’s 5-3 loss to the Royals can’t be pinned solely on Hill, who exited in just 2 1/3 innings after surrendering four hits, three walks and three runs, but it’s apparent that he’s not the answer for the Birds. After the game Hill not only apologized to the fans and his teammates, he also said he’s been hurting. “I have been having some [tendinitis] issues with the shoulder and we have been doing a good job of keeping the fire down a little bit and unfortunately it is just something that I haven’t been able to maintain any consistency with,” Hill told The Baltimore Sun. “Other than that, unfortunately I haven’t been able to give any kind of consistent help to this team. I apologize to the front office and the guys in this clubhouse.” The Orioles have now dropped eight out of 10 games since the All-Star break and are looking at unfavorable pitching matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday before Brad Bergesen takes the hill for the afternoon

An early issue with Biren Ealy…

Nestor Aparicio

Well, it’s only been two hours since they signed this wide receiver kid Biren Ealy and the story about him allegedly exposing himself and urinating in public when the New Orleans Saints cut him three months ago has made the round on the social media circuit. According to the ESPN.com story, “Authorities alleged that they were drunk, urinated in public and then exposed themselves when the women who called authorities came upon them.” Meanwhile his agent, Donald “Chick” Foret defended Ealy and then-teammate and tight end Kolomona Kapanui with this statement: “This is not an obscenity crime,” Foret said. “How many times have you had fraternity kids who are urinating in public? And this is a case where you had two guys together who went out at night. They came home, one of them wanted to change his pants and he was urinating in what he thought was a secluded area and a young lady walked up on him and he overreacted verbally. “But never, ever, ever, did either of these young men threaten, intimidate or expose themselves to anyone.” I’m sure Ozzie Newsome must’ve googled Biren Ealy but feel free to click the link and read the allegations for

The “Drew Bennett era” ends before it begins

Nestor Aparicio

In yet another weird turnabout of July pre-camp events, wide receiver Drew Bennett who signed to become a top option for the Ravens on the edge has decided to retire instead of report to camp on Tuesday in Westminster. Apparently, he has re-injured his knee and has reconsidered his Friday decision to sign a one-year deal with the Ravens. “I’ve been blessed to have the opp to play in NFL for as long as I have but it’s time for me to move on to next chapter in my life,” Bennett said in a statement. “After returning home from Baltimore this weekend, a previous knee injury flared up, making me realizing that I am unable to play another NFL season. Therefore, I have decided to retire from the NFL.” “After an offseason of workouts and rehab, I thought I was ready to play again, but it became apparent over this weekend that while my mind is willing, my body will not be able to make it through another NFL season.” So, just who are the options left on the marketplace? Matt Jones, Reggie Williams, Marvin Harrison, Joe Horn, Plaxico Burress and Ashley Lelie. Not exactly a buyer’s market. There’s a

The morning after: Baltimore is the biggest winner in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over A.C. Milan

Nestor Aparicio

A Friday night in late July with 70,000 sports fans crammed into downtown Baltimore is something to behold. I realize most of you didn’t come down to M&T Bank Stadium for Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over A.C. Milan. Honestly, I realize there’s a large contingent of “real” Baltimore sports fans who “hate” soccer. But none of that really matters after the fact. Here’s the truth about the big friendly soccer match at the Big Crab Cake: it was an unqualified success and was probably the coolest non-Ravens event in our city in a generation. I began my afternoon at Mother’s with several Corona Lights and a full house of soccer fans. Sure, the crowd was mostly male but there were all sorts of jerseys from all over the world and many folks brought their children to the game in a “once in a lifetime” chance to see the likes of Gattuso, Ronaldihno and Pirlo here in Charm City. I walked for 30 minutes through the crowd. I saw ONE Orioles jersey (a Nick Markakis 21 orange giveaway special) and TWO Ravens hats the entire evening. And if you were wondering whether it was a “real” sellout or the “fake” kind the

NFL moves to a Thursday night “Festival” format for 2010 Draft

Nestor Aparicio

It was inevitable. The NFL has discovered that the April draft is the single largest event of their offseason and they’re gonna milk it. (As they should…) It’s a made-for-TV spectacular that captivates virtually every REAL football fan I know. It’s great for discussion. It’s great for drama. It’s MADE for primetime. The best part? We get to have it two days earlier! Primetime fun…big trades, lights…hell they should even bring in some bands and do concerts and songs between picks. (OK. I’m joking about that last part. BUT. It wouldn’t suck, either!) So, what do you think? Is this the worst, crass commercialism or does this make the draft even more fun than it already is. My first gut reaction: this sounds great to me! Here’s the NFL.com press release: The NFL draft will kick off in primetime for the first time in 2010, it was announced Thursday. The first round of the 2010 NFL Draft will start on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the second and third rounds on Friday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by Rounds 4-7 on Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m. ET. The draft will continue to be televised

REPORT: Orioles to ditch Fort Lauderdale for Sarasota in 2010

Nestor Aparicio

Because the Orioles have had many, many “false alarms” over the past 15 years, I’m personally taking this one with a grain of salt but several media outlets are reporting that they’ll finally be moving their spring training facilities from the dump in Fort Lauderdale to Sarasota beginning February 2010. Here are the initial details according to the Herald Tribune of Sarasota: SARASOTA – Sarasota County and the Baltimore Orioles have reached a tentative agreement for the team to do spring training at Ed Smith Stadium for the next 30 years. An agreement that will go before the Sarasota County Commission on Wednesday would bring the team to Sarasota for spring training starting in 2010. The $31.2 million deal will be funded with local tourism tax revenue and more than $7 million in state money. The agreement calls for the Orioles to pay all operating and maintenance costs at Ed Smith for the term of the lease. The county and Orioles will contribute equally to a capital maintenance and repair fund. The deal also includes: A proposed Orioles and Cal Ripken Baseball youth academy at Twin Lakes Park. And promotion of Sarasota County in the Baltimore Washington metro area. “This

Suggs continues his double talk over camp

Nestor Aparicio

Today is the day. Either Terrell Suggs agrees to the deal the Ravens have put forth and becomes a long-term signee or he’ll be franchised at 4 p.m. and will have to suffer with a second year of detainment and a $10.2 million payday in 2009. After telling The Los Angeles Times that training camp is “overrated” two weeks ago, Suggs told Jamison Hensley this in this morning’s fishwrap: “The fans want to see me in training camp on time, and I want to be there on time.” A change of heart? Perhaps…but who can blame him about training camp? Not many are fond of the necessary evil. But here’s the key fact for the day: there’s a contract for about $30 million in guaranteed money sitting on the table awaiting his wet signature. Of course by signing the current multi-year deal the Ravens are offering, it would indeed mean that he’d need to be in Westminster in 12 days. Suggs told the world two weeks ago that the deal was “close” to a long-term agreement. One thing is for sure: the deadline is now close and we’ll know more by the end of the day. Either way, Suggs will

Ploy or legit? Derrick Mason shocks everyone, “retires” on his agent’s website

Nestor Aparicio

UPDATED 9:11 p.m. — In a turn of events that can only be deemed “shocking,” Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason announced his retirement from the NFL via a website called JockLife.net at precisely 5 p.m. tonight. This much is assured: Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens had NO idea this was happening. And privately, they aren’t as concerned about the announcement as the fan base has been over the last few hours. Honestly, it smells more like a negotiating ploy than a legitimate retirement and Mason’s agent has already responded to the initial purple response of “no response.” But, one of two things is happening: 1. Mason’s “retirement” is 100% sincere and the death of Steve McNair has affected his desire to play… or 2. His agent, C. Lamont Smith, who owns the website that “released” the news is angling to get Derrick Mason the final pay day that he cried out for in another story on the same website back in March. See that piece here… “For any player to retire, he has to send a letter to the NFL stating this. Derrick Mason has not done that,” said Kevin Byrne, the Ravens’ senior vice president of public relations. Before

Ray Lewis calls McNair “a king” in eulogy

Nestor Aparicio

Yesterday Ray Lewis had one of the toughest jobs any man can have – burying a friend and trying to put into words the significance of a relationship and a life that ended far too early. Steve McNair’s death – no matter your feelings regarding the situation, circumstances and salacious details of his decisions and subsequent murder – is a tragedy. For his wife. For his kids. For his friends. And for the NFL and the Titans and the city of Nashville. Yesterday, Ray Lewis began his lengthy speech by calling Steve McNair “a king.” In a passionate display, Lewis referred several times to their battles on the football field and said that he and McNair became friends “through fury.” He also implored McNair’s four sons to “walk with your head high.” Below is the unedited, nearly eight-minute version of the speech from Mississippi: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQVxW0kIkYs[/youtube]

The beauty of Earl Weaver in midsummer

Nestor Aparicio

I had a long conversation with an old friend about Earl Weaver earlier today. We talked about the you tube classics — the argument with Tom Haller and the “off the record” Coaches Corner with Tom Marr, which I’ve linked below for a Sunday morning coffee laugh. My old pal and I laughed about the memories of watching Earl rip up rulebooks and kick dirt onto umpires. And how he invented the modern game. And how different baseball was when we were kids. Later this evening, I received a link from a friend to read Tom Verducci’s latest missive regarding The Earl Of Baltimore and how he was the “Copernicus” of the modern game of baseball and sabremetrics and MoneyBall. The story is here…and it’s fabulous! Meanwhile, enjoy some Sunday viewing and laughs and memories below… [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl-4FSRYagc[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YKxf3OkpJc&feature=related[/youtube]

Orioles option Hernandez to Bowie, recall Izturis

Nestor Aparicio

Surprise, surprise! The Orioles have optioned rookie righthander David Hernandez to Double-A Bowie in order to reinstate shortstop Cesar Izturis from the disabled list. While it might seem a little “funky” demoting a kid like Hernandez, who is clearly among their better starters, it makes sense with the All Star break coming and getting him some more “work” in during the down time in the bigs. It also gives them time to move a player in a deal. So, at least the Orioles are “active” in mid July and Andy McPhail is a bulldog. More to come…

Trembley suspended for comedy show in Seattle

Nestor Aparicio

While I thought it was funny — Dave Trembley doing his best Piniella-Weaver tantrum in the first inning on Tuesday night in Seattle — apparently Bud Selig and the boys at the MLB office weren’t laughing. Today, Trembley was given a two-game suspension by the poobahs and will miss tonight and tomorrow night’s games at Camden Yards against Toronto. Bench coach Dave Jauss will serve as acting manager for a few days and those who are “done” with Trembley will get their wish for at least a few days. By the way, it’s kinda crazy they could suspend Trembley when he was RIGHT on the call. But who says MLB is fair? Apparently, the reason he was suspended wasn’t necessarily the outburst as much as admitting to the media afterward that he continued to manage the game from the bench. Aren’t we in a silly era when they still “throw out” managers who we all know are managing by proxy somewhere? Trembley apparently declined an invitation to sit in the press box tonight. I suppose he’ll manage by “text” from somewhere in the owner’s box with a shrimp cocktail, a crab cake on crackers and a tie on next to

Now that we are partners with The Associated Press…

Nestor Aparicio

We can link internally to stories like this one from the NFL link on our toolbar above. This is about the McNair-Kazemi police incident last week when the SUV was pulled over. Hope you check out all that the “new” WNST.net has to offer and please tell your sports friends that WNST is full service on the web.

Kazemi fired the gun that killed Steve McNair

Nestor Aparicio

Per TMZ.com, it’s now been confirmed by a Tennessean medical examiner that Sahel “Jenny” Kazemi fired the gun that killed Steve McNair on Saturday in Nashville. More here… Plus, The Tennessean is reporting that Kazemi listed all of her furniture on the internet the day before the murder-suicide.

It’s official: WNST has become YOUR Baltimore news source

Nestor Aparicio

If you are perusing WNST.net today and say “something looks different” then we’ve done our job here on the World Wide Web. As you can see in the grey bar above, we’ve become a full-service website with AP news, scores, scoreboard, game stories and full information. Over the past year, it’s been no secret of our intention to become YOUR place for daily news, information, observation, feedback and audio, video and text service. As The Sun sets, WNST.net is rising not only on the web in Baltimore but against the competition in Baltimore per www.alexa.com. Our daily ranking today is 116,459 and we’re now ahead of every radio station — AM and FM — in Baltimore and surging toward football season with your readership, feedback and usage of this web platform at WNST.net. And the site will only continue to get better. So, poke around, read all of the AP stats and check out all of the new features WNST.net has to offer. Training camp is two weeks away and we are planning unprecedented live coverage of all things purple beginning July 27th. If you are a Twitter, You Tube or Facebook user, please feel free to friend or recommend

Trembley tossed, Luke Scott muscles up as the “forgotten man”

Nestor Aparicio

On a day when ESPN.com ran a gigantic story about the great future of the Orioles’ outfield of Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Nolan Reimold, it was Luke Scott who looked the present tense in Seattle as he devoured Mariners’ pitching for three hits and seven RBIs last night at Safeco Field in a 12-4 win. Dave Trembley got tossed in the first inning after a Scott double and apparently told Scott “hit one out for me” and Cool Hand Luke answered with the biggest game of his career and the biggest individual effort since Ramon Hernandez’s 7-RBI night in Seattle back in 2006. The video of Trembley’s ejection is here. It almost looks like he was trying to “stir it up” and get thrown out early in this one, even though he was clearly right on the call. After Scott’s double, the throw from the outfield toward the plate nicked the pitcher’s mound and took a wild bounce into the stands at Safeco. The lead runner should’ve been awarded home but wasn’t. Trembley went nuts! Meanwhile, starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie was lifted in the 3rd inning with a bout of dizziness. Here’s the full game story and box score

Orioles had one more hit than you and I last night

Nestor Aparicio

The Orioles lost again last night while you were asleep. Sure, you were probably awake when it started and thought (like I did) that with Brad Bergesen on the hill at least the game stood a chance of getting over before Conan and Letterman. Alas, hasty baseball was played — the game ended in 2:09 — but the game moves a helluva lot quicker when you don’t threaten any offense. Last night in Seattle, Mariners pitcher Jarrod Washburn came about as close as you can get to a perfect game, allowing just one single to Nick Markakis in the fourth inning and cruising to a complete game 5-0 win over the Orioles at Safeco Field. The Orioles got ONE HIT last night. Hard to win like that. “He probably pitched one of the best games in Major League Baseball all season,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. “Give the guy credit. He was on his game, and boy, he certainly pitched a gem.” “Let’s give credit where credit is due,” Trembley said. “Washburn pitched a great game. I mean, come on. … He completely dominated the game. That’s as good of a game as I’ve seen pitched against us all year.”

Orioles update: They’re still in last place

Nestor Aparicio

While we were all busy following the tragic death of Steve McNair over the weekend the Orioles were still busy losing and playing bad baseball. It seems like the franchise goes further into the witness protection program when they play on the West Coast but all of the mistakes and lousy pitching hasn’t been lost on me. I actually watched all of the late-night garbage over the Fourth of July weekend. Where to begin? Well, they’re still in last place at 36-46. They managed to cross the official “midseason” point in the cellar. They still manage to regularly find ways to blow big-early game leads. And, thankfully for me, Jim Palmer is still employed by MASN so I can actually have a few chuckles with my unending yield of losses after midnight. Palmer continually called it “bad baseball” and reinforced his opinions with many facts, observations and criticisms that would qualify as comedy after midnight if it weren’t so sad. I think he’s almost bored with it and was more interested in making funny faces with Gary Thorne than watching the Orioles blow one more game after a decent starting effort. I could itemize the entire weekend and point specific

Real Quick, Name some baseball All Stars?

Nestor Aparicio

The rosters are now out and the fun part of the All-Star Game for me each year is to see the “best and brightest” of the other teams, especially in the NL where I honestly don’t watch a lot of daily games besides the highlights. The Orioles are a full-time investment of time. Congrats to Adam Jones, who really deserves it based on his improvement and numbers. As for the rest of the MLB universe, I get the highlights and the “web gems” but I don’t get a look at the pitching of the NL stars at all, really. So it’s wild when the actual rosters come out and names like Jonathan Broxton, Matt Cain and Heath Bell make the cut. Who? Well, maybe I’m not the only one, but I can’t imagine our readers today are well versed on these fellows. It makes me want to watch the game. That, and the fact that “this one really counts.” I won’t be going to St. Louis this year — I’m taking the MLB Midsummer Classic “off” instead of flying away for three days — but I’ll be watching and enjoying it. For the record, I still think the Home Run

Any memories of Steve McNair?

Nestor Aparicio

Obviously a very sad day here for anyone who cheered for Steve McNair or knew him. Obviously, he made quite a mark with the Baltimore fans just six months ago when he co-hosted our fan party in Nashville. This is a place to post memories. Post below and we’ll get them onto the site… Also, if anyone has any pictures they took from that night we’d love to get them (NASTY@WNST.net) and post them here on the site. Here’s the video from our night with McNair at Limelight in Tennessee back in January: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWIhXSp07UQ[/youtube]

Latest updates on Steve McNair murder here…

Nestor Aparicio

UPDATED 4:54 p.m. — Nashville police have now confirmed Steve McNair’s death was indeed a murder. More at The Tennessean including: “A Sunday morning autopsy revealed that McNair was shot four times – twice in the head, twice in the chest. His girlfriend, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, died of a gunshot wound to the side of the head. A semi-automatic pistol was found on the floor under her body. But it will take many days of interviews with their families and friends and witnesses who saw McNair out on the town Friday night before police will rule whether the deaths were a murder-suicide or a double homicide. “While it is clear McNair’s death is a homicide, the police department is not classifying Kazemi’s death, pending further investigation and interviews with persons who knew her and McNair,” police spokesman Don Aaron said at press conference this afternoon. “We can’t be close-minded,” Aaron said. “All scenarios are on the table.” The autopsy showed the two had died in the early hours of Saturday morning, hours before their bodies were discovered by a friend of McNair’s who had a key to the Second Avenue condominium. Police are still waiting for the results of ballistics

It’s about time for Dave Trembley to go…

Nestor Aparicio

Being on the radio every day over the years I’ve had the sad fortune to listen to more than my fair share of “fire the manager/coach” calls from knee-jerk reactionaries on a mission to be a public “coach killer.” In general, it’s just not my style to call for the firing of a skipper. In fact in my 17 years on the radio – from Johnny Oates to Davey Johnson, from Phil Regan to Sam Perlozzo, from Mike Hargrove to Lee Mazzilli – I’ve never gone on the air in any fashion and said, “Fire the manager.” (Not even for Mazzilli, who was such a freaking train wreck that it was reprehensible.) But, today, I’m strongly toying with the idea that it might be getting close to the time for Dave Trembley to exit. I’ve watched the first three months of the 2009 version of the Orioles. They lack consistency in virtually every aspect of the game. They even lack consistent effort, Tuesday night’s miracle notwithstanding. They’re in dead last place and going nowhere anytime soon. They run the bases like Jeff Stone on certain nights. The mental mistakes and ill-placed errors are maddening at times. But, for me, the

Ohhhhh what a comeback: Oriole Magic percolates at The Yard after the rain…

Nestor Aparicio

It isn’t hype to say that a miracle happened at Camden Yards tonight. It isn’t hyperbole to say that this was truly the greatest comeback in Orioles history. It really was. I’m sure this morning many of you will awake to read this and say what most of the city (or the few who were watching to begin with will say): “They were losing 9-1 when the rain came. How the hell did they win that game?” Well, the box score will tell you all about the comeback — an amazing display of perserverance that saw them get five runs in the 7th inning and five more in the 8th to overcome the Red Sox in an 11-10 win before a stunned contingent of mostly Red Sox fans, who stayed to celebrate what looked to be a rout at 10:45 p.m. after a lengthy and wet rain delay that came in the fifth inning. In the 7th, Aubrey Huff, Nolan Reimold and Luke Scott heroics were all upstaged by Oscar Salazar’s big home run off of Hideki Okajima. In the 8th, it was Nick Markakis’ big two-out shot off the left field wall that highlighted a firestorm offensive display against

Farrah & Michael leave us: What a day…

Nestor Aparicio

As a child of the 1970’s and an adolescent of the 1980’s, tonight has been a somber one in my world and the world of many friends. We all grew up with a Farrah Fawcett poster and a Michael Jackson album in our collections. To think that they both died on the same day — literally bookending my show today, Farrah died at 2 p.m. and Michael died at 6 p.m. — it’s just a tad bit surreal. Farrah was the lead story on every major website in America for four hours and the news cycle and immensity of Jackson’s bizarre death flushed her out pretty quickly. Jackson was the Elvis of my lifetime. Farrah Fawcett was the Marilyn Monroe of my childhood. Sure, they were just superstar entertainers who were rich, beautiful, talented and famous — but they were pure icons of our generation. I did a three-hour “tribute” to Farrah today on AM 1570 and got lots of interesting phone calls. Surely, if you’ve put on a television since 6 p.m., you know that Jackson’s death will be mourned worldwide. He might truly be in the Top 5 of the most famous people in the world and his

Orioles get Philthy in Philly, complete sweep with 2-1 win

Nestor Aparicio

The Orioles are still in last place but completed an inspired weekend of road baseball, finishing a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies in the City of Brotherly Love. Today, it was Jeremy Guthrie’s turn to step up with a big outing and Adam Jones and Brian Roberts driving in the key late-inning runs to beat the Phils 2-1 after a huge comeback on Saturday night on the heels of a great start by Brad Bergesen. Roberts has been the difference maker the past two days, stepping up as a veteran leader for a team trying to dig out of the AL East basement. The Orioles have now won five in a row and take their final Interleague turn of the season south to South Beach and a three-game set meeting with the Marlins on Tuesday night. Complete coverage at WNST.net here…

A funny, memorable night in Philadelphia…

Nestor Aparicio

I’m just getting my sea legs under me on a Sunday afternoon from a long night of rain, baseball, cheese steaks, hideous Philadelphia sports fans and Miller Lite drinking with the Orioles and 50 awesome orange Kool Aid drinkers at Citizen’s Bank Park. We had a blast! (And that was before the fireworks from Gregg Zaun and Brian Roberts…) The video is just about done and I’ll get it up onto wnsTV so you can check out all of the mayhem. It was a funny, funny evening with lots of laughs, twists and turns and an a memorable outcome for the Birds. I had at least 500 Philadelphians “remind” me that they’re the World Champions, many on video. It was as much fun as I’ve had at a ballgame in a long time. The video will tell some of the story… Is that an orange broom in a red ballpark or are you just happy to see me?

Ravens rookies a big hit at The Barn

Nestor Aparicio

Seven of the Ravens rookies for 2009 joined the WNST crew at The Barn last night for a Miller Lite event packed with purple fans and laughs. We’ll be running the audio on AM 1570 over the next few days and the audio vault here at WNST.net and video platform of wnsTV will also have the evidence. We did brief conversations with different sets of guys, most of whom drove together from Owings Mills not knowing what to expect when I accosted them an invited them to Carney for what has become an annual event. Paul Kruger and Jason Phillips did the first segment and admitted to being “lost” from time to time in the early going back in April. Next up with was kicker Graham Gano (who admitted to being nervous because of the “public speaking” angle of live radio) and running back Cedric Peerman, who talked about Al Groh’s pro set offense at Virginia. And finally, the trio of Lardarius Webb, Jason Cook (an undrafted free agent fullback who has been very impressive in OTAs) and Davon Drew joined me to close out the evening with some laughs. Webb provided the best comedy of the evening with some

Bergesen goes distance, emerging as a true ‘Ace’ for Orioles

Nestor Aparicio

It’s still a bit too early to put Brad Bergesen on the Mike Mussina track as the franchise’s first potential “ace” in a decade but yesterday’s effort at Camden Yards has started some buzz about the lanky righthander’s recent work. The complete game, five-hit, 11-2 victory over the Braves yesterday should come as no surprise. The word on Bergesen’s command began in Florida at spring training and has become evident with his work since his call-up from Norfolk. He pitches quickly. He throws strikes. He mixes speeds. And, with much more consistency than most young pitchers of this generation, he finishes games. He’s what the throwbacks would call a “bulldog” or a “gamer.” In an era of starting pitchers who generally feel “victorious” about six decent innings of work and turning the keys over to the bullpen, Bergesen is indeed a Jim Palmer-esque throwback with his psyche and longevity. He won’t be throwing double-digit complete games every year in the bigs like ‘Cakes, but yesterday was an impressive afternoon of pitching. Bergesen, who threw 112 pitches and appeared to be laboring a bit in the 9th inning, has taken a few of his own lumps during his first six weeks

Rain drops Koji: Birds lose to Mariners 6-3

Nestor Aparicio

My new favorite Oriole, Matt Wieters, was the featured Bird tonight but didn’t play. Koji Uehara looked pretty good until the rain came. The Orioles lost again. Mired in an offensive slump, tonight’s Birds lineup was another head-scratcher with Ty Wiggington, Gregg Zaun and Robert Andino at the bottom of the order. To their credit (and perhaps Dave Trembley, who filled out the card) they combined for 3 of the Orioles’ 7 hits tonight in a 6-3 loss. Uehara gave up three runs in the sixth inning and another in the fifth, while Brian Bass pitched 1 2/3 of rocky relief. Uehara looked like he was affected by the rain and Trembley’s postgame indicated that as well. He said the hamstring wasn’t an issue. The Mariners got a big night from Russell Branyan, who hit a home run off Bass further than any ball I can remember, landing the last row of the bleachers below the scoreboard in deep, deep right centerfield. They called it 450-feet. They said it’s the sixth furthest shot in the history of Camden Yards. I don’t believe it. It looked like it was at least 475 and was just amazing. The Orioles had a semi-rally

Bird watching & no hoisting of goblet in Pittsburgh

Nestor Aparicio

10:42 p.m. — Bring on Game 7! The Pittsburgh Penguins have been plenty feisty daing back to Game 7 in Washington, D.C. in what feels like a lifetime ago. It wasn’t the most exciting first period in Stanley Cup history, but the third period tonight at The Igloo was spectacular. Action, back and forth and up and down the ice. The game almost was tied with just 13 seconds remaining on a close one. It was Stanley Cup magic. The Penguins and the city of Pittsburgh are 60 minutes away from a second civic championship in five months. Disgusting! Meanwhile, Brad Bergesen did a nice job tonight against Seattle. The Birds won 3-1. Nolan Reimold hit a big fly. Melvin Mora had one interfered with in the first inning. It was a good, necessary win for the Birds. 8:40 p.m. — I’m in the midst of a typical spring night of wearing out the “previous” on my Comcast remote as I go back and forth between the Orioles-Mariners and Red Wings-Penguins. The sky is a beautiful blood orange over downtown tonight and the Orioles game has been strange and the Red Wings look poised to hoist Lord Stanley’s chalice on

Orioles take Matt Hobgood with No. 5 overall in MLB Draft

Nestor Aparicio

The pick is in for the Orioles (and wow, is the MLB Draft weird on TV, seeing Bud Selig playing the role of commissioner!) and they’ve selected RHP Matt Hobgood, a high schooler from Norco High School in California. Hobgood’s a beast, at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds and was a helluva hitter as well. He’s been compared to a young Goose Gossage by Baseball America. He’re an excerpt from the L.A. Times: “I’m ecstatic,” Hobgood said. “I don’t know what to say. This is about all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears. I’m so happy they pulled the trigger.” Despite hitting 21 home runs, Hobgood said the Orioles have told him he was selected to become a pitcher. He has a 95-mph fastball and, all season, people didn’t know whether he’d be a pitcher or a hitter at the professional level. “Somebody has figured it out,” he said. “I’ll sneak in some batting practice.” As for how long it will take him to sign, Hobgood said, “It shouldn’t take long. I’m ready to sign.” He also won the Gatorade High School Player of The Year. This is a picture from yesterday’s ceremony. Via the power of youtube, we no longer

Any memories of Steve McNair?

Nestor Aparicio

Obviously a very sad day here for anyone who cheered for Steve McNair or knew him. Obviously, he made quite

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