Baltimore Orioles News Blog @newzblogz.com

Sammy Sosa doesn't want to look back at his time in Chicago just yet. He's too busy preparing for the season with the Texas Rangers.

Sosa got some boos and cheers in his return to the Cubs' spring training home Wednesday. He went 1-for-3, and the Cubs beat the Rangers 11-7 on Daryle Ward's grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"Chicago, I played so many years. But I got to step away and focus here in Texas. This is the team that gave me the opportunity," he said in Mesa, Ariz.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Texas Rangers' Sammy Sosa (21) beats out a throw as hicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee scoops the ball out of the dirt, during the third inning of their spring training baseball game, Wednesday, March 21, 2007, in Mesa, Ariz.(AP Photo/Roy Dabner)

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

? Rock out at the annual RiverFest, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, U.S. 1., Hobe Sound. Featuring live bands, environmental exhibits and shows, animal calls competition and more. Free. (561) 747-5700.

? Get cultured at the Latin American Concert: 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Halpatiokee Park, Stuart. Featuring La Nueva Herencia Latina Orchestra, food, refreshments, crafts and more. Free. (772) 219-4955.

Advertisement

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- Sammy Sosa got some boos. Cheers, too. An old teammate, Carlos Zambrano, greeted him. So did general manager Jim Hendry, who traded the former star away from the Chicago Cubs. Looking fit and familiar with the No. 21 on his back, Sosa didn't seem moved either way by the mixed greeting Wednesday from a large crowd of 11,674 at HoHoKam Park, where he spent so many spring afternoons during his 13 seasons with the Cubs. "You know, regardless, no matter where I play, my heart ...

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The public address system at Hammond Stadium, where the palms quake in a stiff March breeze, snaps on during a spring-training game between the Baltimore Orioles and the home-standing Minnesota Twins.

The announcer describes an automobile in the sandy parking lot, reads its license number. The PA booms: "Your car is still on!"

The message might have been aimed at Barlow High School graduate Brian Burres, who is warming up in the Orioles bullpen. The 25-year-old left-hander claims he doesn't fit the role of the flaky left-hander, but his teammates in the visiting clubhouse have another view: "Yes, you do," they crack.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Ted Lilly has produced just about as advertised for the Cubs this spring. Unfortunately for the Cubs on Tuesday, that meant deep counts, a walk to the pitcher, a four-run inning and 83 pitches to get through five innings of work.

''We're going to see if we can get him a little more aggressive,'' manager Lou Piniella said after Lilly's so-so start against the Colorado Rockies in a 4-2 loss at Hi Corbett Field. ''When men are on base, he throws it a little better. I don't know if he coasts a little bit to start the inning and then turns it on a little bit, but from a starting pitcher, what you'd like to see is go at it as hard as you can as long as you can, and then we'll go get you.''

RELATED STORIES

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Sammy Sosa, slumped in front of his visiting locker at Maryvale Baseball Park, puts his bats into a Texas Rangers duffel bag. He summons clubhouse manager Zack Minasian and tells him to watch the bag carefully.

"Don't let the bag out of your sight," Sosa says. "I don't want anyone to touch my bats."

Minasian has a perplexed look. He thinks Sosa is joking, but there is no smile.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Near the end of a recent edition of ABC's "World News With Charles Gibson," the slightly-worn-around-the-edges-looking anchor gazed out into TV land and, without introductory fanfare or snazzy graphics, launched into a story about Dr. Seuss.

For the next 24 seconds, Gibson recounted classroom events marking the birthday of the beloved children's author, who died in 1991, and the 50th anniversary of the publication of "The Cat in the Hat" ?- entirely in rhyme.

When it was over, Gibson, 63, flashed a sheepish grin at the camera and confessed, "I've been worried about getting that out right all day long."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Comeback stories are popping up all over in spring training camps across Arizona and Florida, but none more dramatic than pitcher Rich Harden of the Oakland Athletics.

Harden, 25, limited to nine starts last season because of a strained side muscle and elbow ligament, has struck out 25 of the 53 batters he's faced this spring, including seven in five innings in Oakland's 5-3 win Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox in Phoenix.

"I feel great," says Harden, who has a 1.32 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. "I always get asked that question, but hopefully when the season starts, it'll back off. Maybe it won't until I put in a full season."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

It looked a little like a day at the beach at PNC Field on Tuesday.

Soft, white sand covered much of the playing field — where the snow had melted, anyway — and dunes of rich brown dirt had cropped up elsewhere. All those earth tones are the stuff of which diamonds are made. Baseball diamonds.

The sand, known as the root layer, will anchor the natural grass on which Northeastern Pennsylvania’s boys in pinstripes will be playing in a few weeks. Workers were also toiling Tuesday to build up the pitcher’s mound.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

PORT ST. LUCIE — If final roster cuts were determined purely by spring statistics, some of the Mets' top sluggers would be sweating out the final week-and-a-half of camp.

"I should never make the team," joked left fielder Moises Alou, who is hitting .171 in his first spring with the Mets.

Alou went 0-for-2 in Tuesday night's 6-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Tradition Field.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Staff writer Joe Capozzi spoke with Baltimore Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar about his new ride.

Your wife bought you Porsche?

I'd told her one day way back when that Todd Zeile, after he played 10 years, he bought himself a Porsche. So this is my 10th season and she obviously remembered. We hadn't really talked about it much. Then on Dec. 8. we go to eat sushi at a restaurant in Arizona.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

It looked a little like a day at the beach at PNC Field on Tuesday.

Soft, white sand covered much of the playing field — where the snow had melted, anyway — and dunes of rich brown dirt had cropped up elsewhere. All those earth tones are the stuff of which diamonds are made. Baseball diamonds.

The sand, known as the root layer, will anchor the natural grass on which Northeastern Pennsylvania’s boys in pinstripes will be playing in a few weeks. Workers were also toiling Tuesday to build up the pitcher’s mound.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Spring training is in full swing. To predict the season would be foolish.

Where are you when we need you, big ?Bullet Bob? Turley?

A 90-minute parade through Baltimore City ending at the incomplete brick fa?ade of Memorial Stadium launched opening day, April 15, 1954. In a renovated ?chair seat? facing the Gunther Beer scoreboard, the majesty of American League Baseball overwhelmed me. At long last we were a Major League City, and we adored those former St. Louis Browns, renamed The Baltimore Orioles.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

ST. PETERSBURG - Tuesday morning's announcement seemed more like placing a check next to a box then any real news. Scott Kazmir will be the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' Opening Day starter.

But Rays manager Joe Maddon made it official anyway, even summoned Kazmir to his office around noon to tell him what each already knew.

"Me and Joe actually talked about it before this, so it wasn't a complete surprise," Kazmir said. "I'm just happy that everything is going OK. I'm healthy, and I'm looking forward to Opening Day."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

SPRING TRAINING: Baltimore Orioles at St. Louis Cardinals, Roger Dean Stadium, 1:05 p.m.

Advertisement

BASEBALL: Jupiter Christian School at Jacksonville-Terry Parker High Spring Break Tournament, through Saturday; Jensen Beach High at South Fork High, 7 p.m.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -Mike Pelfrey is comfortable facing major league hitters, putting himself in position to earn a spot in the New York Mets' starting rotation.

Pelfrey allowed one run in five innings Tuesday night in a 6-1 win against the Baltimore Orioles

``Last year, when I came in here, I was kind of raw,'' he said. ``I was worried about making perfect pitches. Now I'm feeling more comfortable, more relaxed. I guess you could say I trust my stuff a little more.''

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Opening day of Major League Baseball is approaching, and as always publishers indulge fans' spring fever with new titles. Heading the list this year is "The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed" by J.C. Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University.

Bradbury uses economic and statistical analyses to assess the most valuable players, the strongest organizations and other endlessly debated topics. He peppers the text with language from Econ 101: Managers who argue with umps, for instance, exhibit "rent-seeking behavior"; players considering steroids face "a prisoner's dilemma." Bradbury even shows how a "multiple regression analysis," as intimidating as it sounds, makes data simpler to understand.

Readers of Bradbury's popular blog, www.sabernomics.com, will be familiar with his stance on Leo Mazzone, the Braves' former pitching coach who now rocks back and forth in the Baltimore Orioles dugout. For a pitching coach to get into the Hall of Fame would be unprecedented, but Bradbury shows why Mazzone belongs there: He trims 0.64 runs from a game, or "about the same as Coors field in the opposite direction," Bradbury writes.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Like many boys, Devin Hiestand dreamed of being a major league baseball player.

He went with his father, Dale Hiestand, to see the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles play.

The dream of wearing a big-league uniform took root as Devin watched softball games as a boy at a neighborhood sandlot known as "Hiestand Field."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

"The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed." By J.C. Bradbury. Dutton. $24.95. 336 pages.

Verdict: A little too much like homework.

Opening day of Major League Baseball is approaching, and as always publishers indulge fans' spring fever with new titles. Heading the list this year is "The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed" by J.C. Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Around the horn ... - Dave Schrage, the former Univerity of Evansville baseball coach, will be bringing his Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Braun Stadium - but not for a couple of more years.

Notre Dame has agreed to play in the Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic in March of 2009. The Irish will play three games in the three-day, four-team tourney, including one against the Aces. Purdue also will participate, with the final team yet to be determined, UE coach David Seifert said on Monday.

Seifert became UE's head coach last summer when Schrage left for Notre Dame after four seasons with the Aces.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

TAMPA, Fla. - Once considered a rising star with the Baltimore Orioles, Luis Matos is trying to get his career back on track with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Matos spent all or parts of six seasons with the Orioles from 2001-06 and was their primary center fielder from 2003-05.

However, after being released by both the Orioles and Washington Nationals last season, Matos is trying to win a bench job with the Pirates. He was signed as a minor league free agent in January.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

TAMPA, Fla. - Once considered a rising star with the Baltimore Orioles, Luis Matos is trying to get his career back on track with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Matos spent all or parts of six seasons with the Orioles from 2001-06 and was their primary center fielder from 2003-05.

However, after being released by both the Orioles and Washington Nationals last season, Matos is trying to win a bench job with the Pirates. He was signed as a minor league free agent in January.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

/* body, tr, td, p, li { font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; } */

hr { color: #336699; height : 1px; }

/* a {color: black; } */

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Barry Bonds went home for a three-day spring break in the middle of spring training.

Bonds will return from his excused absence Tuesday, the day after the San Francisco Giants' only scheduled day off of the spring.

Nearly all of the players who did not make the trip to Tucson on Saturday were given the day off. With the entire team off today, manager Bruce Bochy gave the slugger Sunday's game against the Kansas City Royals off as well.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

More bird species in the United States are ranging farther north and even staying there for the winter in a possible sign of adaptation to global warming, ornithologists and conservation groups say.

Some signs come from last month's Great Backyard Bird Count, which found more swallows, orioles and other common birds in uncommon locations.

Advertisement

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- With owner Peter G. Angelos watching, Daniel Cabrera and the Baltimore Orioles struggled against the Boston Red Sox.

Cabrera pitched 4 1-3 innings of no-hit ball but had problems with overthrowing in a 2-1 loss to the Red Sox on Sunday.

"A little erratic in his command," said Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo. "What we want Daniel to do is continue to use the same effort when he's pitching, even when he's struggling a little bit -- not to sacrifice his stuff for just trying to get the ball over the plate. ... His command just wasn't there today."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

The Minnesota Twins announced Wednesday that the team has sold more than one million total tickets for the 2007 regular season.

In January, the Business Journal reported that the Twins were on track to sell more season tickets than in any year since 1993, with most of the new sales coming from local businesses.

In a statement, the team said, this is the earliest the Twins have surpassed the one million ticket milestone since 1993. It is also is the third consecutive year that the Twins have exceeded the one million mark before the start of the regular season.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

After an opening party over the weekend that featured appearances by Deborah Gibson, Tiffany and Danny Bonaduce, the new Stratosphere nightclub Polly Esther's will have to stand on its own - in platform shoes.

The multifaceted 30,000-square-foot club is an adventurous trip through time, but seems a bit short on decor and personality. Only one of the four themed sub-clubs, the namesake Polly Esther's with its happy 1970s motif, seemed finished during Friday night's opening party. The room offers a vintage lighted dance floor, mirrored disco ball, dozens of 1970s-era photos (including a shot of Reggie Jackson in a Baltimore Orioles uniform, which is rare in that he played just one season for...

But the three other venues are relatively tame. Culture Club, the '80s room, seems barren. Looming above Club 2000, the contemporary-themed club, is a vast black-painted wall that's looking for someone, maybe Las Vegas artist Dray, to provide some visual flair. A white Ford Bronco is the centerpiece of the lacking-in-character 1990s room NerveAna (as a companion noted, were we that superficial in the '90s?). One sighting in that room: Las Vegas City Councilman Gary Reese, who looked healthy after his recent bout with pneumonia but opted not to dance.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Park walked the first two batters of the game and allowed seven runs in three innings as a New York split squad lost 13-1 to the Washington Nationals.

"Today Park had trouble locating, was all over the place," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "He had (six) strikeouts and showed that when he’s in the zone, he can be effective."

Chris Snelling homered twice and finished with four RBIs for the Nationals, who had 18 hits. Ryan Church went 3-for-6 with four RBIs.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

JUPITER -- Dontrelle Willis' sore right thumb kept him from hitting Saturday. The big left-hander felt just fine on the mound.

Willis allowed three runs in five innings in the Florida Marlins' 7-3 loss to a Baltimore Orioles split squad but he was most satisfied with keeping extra runners off base.

Willis allowed just one walk, his second over 13 innings in five starts this spring. He issued a career-high 83 walks in 2231/3 innings last year.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

We know there aren't many of you who even want to think about the NBA right now, much less hear about it smack dab in the middle of March Madness.

Well, we're going to stick up for the much-maligned pro game anyway.

For those of you who missed it, the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns played one of the most wildly entertaining games in years last Wednesday in Dallas, with the Suns pulling out a 129-127 victory in overtime.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Ask Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire if the team plans to start the season with Glen Perkins in the bullpen and he'll dismiss it out of hand.

But that doesn't mean that Gardenhire can't dream.

Perkins continued to tantalize Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson on Thursday, throwing two perfect innings of relief, with three strikeouts, in a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

JUPITER, Fla. - Dontrelle Willis' sore right thumb kept him from hitting Saturday. The big left-hander felt just fine on the mound.

Willis allowed three runs in five innings in the Florida Marlins' 7-3 loss to a Baltimore Orioles split squad but he was most satisfied with keeping extra runners off base.

Willis allowed just one walk, his second over 13 innings in five starts this spring. He issued a career-high 83 walks in 223 1-3 innings last year.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Dontrelle Willis' sore right thumb kept him from hitting Saturday. The big left-hander felt just fine on the mound.

Willis allowed three runs in five innings in the Florida Marlins' 7-3 loss to a Baltimore Orioles split squad but he was most satisfied with keeping extra runners off base.

Willis allowed just one walk, his second over 13 innings in five starts this spring. He issued a career-high 83 walks in 223 1-3 innings last year.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

JUPITER – It was just a number until he opened the envelope last April. Dontrelle Willis looked at his first pay stub and it shocked him.

His salary had increased from $378,500 to $4.35 million. It was roughly $331,000 more in gross earnings per pay period than the previous season.

LocalLinks

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Tommy Harper and Deacon Jones are baseball lifers, men who have combined for nearly 100 years in the game. Both played in the majors in the 1960s with Harper playing into the 1970s. Harper, 66, is a player development consultant for the Boston Red Sox. Jones, 72, scouts for the Baltimore Orioles.

They know tobacco is as much a part of baseball history as Cracker Jacks. Jones signed his first pro contract in 1955 and remembers the culture shock of beginning his career.

"I was brought up in a household not to drink or smoke or do any of that," Jones said recently, sitting in the press box at the Lee County Sports Complex. "So, in baseball I saw beer. It blew my mind. There was beer in the clubhouse. There was tobacco. I remember, Hollywood, Fla, spring training one day we had a doubleheader and guys were saying, 'Deacon, you got to chew some tobacco.' I said, 'OK.' I did.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Everyone I talk to who feeds birds is excited about how heavily birds are feeding this year. They are seeing greater numbers of birds and more species.

Our primary feeder is filled with a premium blend of black oil sunflower, safflower seed and sunflower chips (already hulled). These seeds are readily eaten by northern cardinals, tufted titmice, Carolina chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches. The sunflower chips have drawn in several pretty yellow pine warblers and Carolina wrens. Neither bird has the right kind of beak to open a sunflower seed, so they take advantage of the hulled sunflowers when this blend is offered.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Sidney Ponson took a step toward earning a job on Minnesota's pitching staff by pitching well against him former team.

Ponson allowed three hits and an unearned run in four innings Friday during a 16-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that was called with one out in the top of the eighth due to rain.

A non-roster invitee, Ponson was pitching for the first time since March 9, when he allowed four runs and seven hits in two innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Against the Orioles, he struck out two and walked one.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Sammy Sosa's comeback took another step forward when he was told he would be added to the Texas Rangers' 40-man roster.

The 38-year-old slugger, fifth on the career home run list, has a hit in all 10 spring training games in which he's played.

He has three home runs, including a massive solo shot off Arizona's Edgar Gonzalez onto the left-field walkway at Tucson Electric Park.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ramon Ortiz was an afterthought this winter in a whirlwind free-agent market, but the right-hander has been plenty reliable this spring for the Minnesota Twins.

Ortiz struck out four and gave up two unearned runs in four innings Thursday, pitching the Twins past the Baltimore Orioles 4-2.

Signed to a one-year, $3.1 million contract in late January, Ortiz has been solidifying his spot behind Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana in a rotation that is still unsettled.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Veteran outfielder Michael Ryan is living a childhood dream this spring - and carrying a hot bat, too.

Ryan, who spent parts of the 2002-05 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, is in spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates after signing a minor-league contract as a free agent.

Ryan grew up a Pirates fan in Indiana, Pa., and remembers well the first major-league game he ever attended: Pirates outfielder Mike Easler hit for the cycle at Three Rivers Stadium in 1980.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - A baseball-mad couple has pitched an idea to build a baseball and softball facility under what they said would be the largest air structure sports dome in North America.

Tammie Duran and her husband, Christian, are looking for a 20- to 25-acre site for the proposed complex known as "Baseball Heaven," along with investments and partnerships. The project may cost up to $15 million and could initially create as many as 110 jobs, she said.

In a meeting Thursday in Bellefonte with state legislators, Duran said she was eyeing Centre County because of a lack of facilities in the area, and because of the county's strength in tourism and sports.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ask Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire if the team plans to start the season with Glen Perkins in the bullpen and he'll dismiss it out of hand.

But that doesn't mean Gardenhire can't dream.

Perkins continued to tantalize Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson on Thursday, throwing two perfect innings of relief with three strikeouts in a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

I hate the New York Yankees. Each and every year, they find a way into the playoffs. Similarly, each time they play my Orioles, it seems they find a way to adjust, shift players, and steal many games from Baltimore that in the fifth inning appeared to be hopeless for the Bronx Bombers. They shift tactics, personnel, and plans, but their goal is always the same-winning.

Baseball is the sport of pure capitalists. No salary caps, wild trades for September pushes into the playoffs, and no time limit to the games. Indeed, I shudder to think of the games that Baltimore's middle relievers have blown after building a comfortable lead. You see, baseball is not about home runs, strikeouts, or walks. It's about twenty-seven outs, period. Many games have been lost after successfully leading through 26 brilliant outs, only to let one pitch get up in the strike zone. Each i...

Like baseball, war is the aggregate of multiple battles, with the only statistic that really matters being the final outcome. Sure, tragedies of each encounter will leave their mark. And winning ugly is never the goal. But the main goal-the only goal that matters-is winning.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Two pitchers, one of them a veteran, the other an up-and-coming prospect, have taken spring training by storm this season.

They faced one another Thursday in front of a sellout crowd of 8,122 fans at Hammond Stadium.

Minnesota right-hander Ramon Ortiz, 33, lowered his spring-training ERA to 0.75 as the Twins defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-2. Minnesota backup outfielder Garrett Jones hit a two-RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning in securing the victory.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Williams was also unhappy about the way he started because he was looking to pitch several innings after starting just one other game this spring due to tendinitis in his pitching elbow.

"I wasn't real pleased," he said. "The way it was going, it was going to be a short outing and I didn't want that to happen. I needed to get some work in and luckily the hitters started hitting balls to our infielders."

Williams allowed two earned runs and six hits in five innings. He threw 44 of his 66 pitches for strikes.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

The typical big-league third baseman stands 6-foot-2, weighs 220 pounds and launches 20-to-30 home runs each season while playing stellar defense at a spot known as the "hot corner."

Meanwhile, Nick Punto stands 5-9, weighs 186 pounds and has slugged 17 home runs in nine years with just eight of them coming in the big leagues.

The starting third baseman for the Minnesota Twins aspired his entire life to be a big-league starting shortstop, a position more suited to his stature and style of hitting.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Llwyd Ecclestone, owner of the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, is about to sign a six-year deal with the PGA tour to host the Honda Classic pro golf tournament. The event wraps up a four-year contract next month at Mirasol, which is across the street from PGA National. The spilt hasn't been a pleasant one. Mirasol officials were angered when their entire tournament staff was given the pink slip and the charitable foundation connected with the tournament was disbanded by PGA tour brass. Dave Feder, former head of the Boca Raton Resort & Club, runs PGA National for Ecclestone.

The Florida Bar has nailed area attorneys with sanctions. Boca Raton lawyer Joe Ferrara was suspended 30 days for unprofessional conduct, and Stan Hyman of Delray Beach had his licensed yanked permanently for using confidential client information to the detriment of the client.

Federal bank regulators have issued cease and desist orders against New York-based Israel Discount Bank, which has a branch office in Boca Raton. The Feds claim the bank violated the nation's bank secrecy act, which is designed to prevent money laundering produced by terrorist activities, political corruption and drug trafficking. The bank has neither admitted nor denied any allegations and wouldn't comment further on the federal order.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Over the years, the businessman trying to bring a minor league baseball team to York has seen the city?s baseball stadium proposed, fought over, moved, shot down and resurrected.

This was just a cost overrun.

Indeed, the missing money came together quickly after construction bids came in $3 million above projections, raising the total project cost to $32.5 million.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

PHOENIX — Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane must feel like a college coach who has to replace graduating players every year.

This offseason, staff ace Barry Zito, designated hitter Frank Thomas and outfielder Jay Payton became the latest A's to graduate to higher-paying jobs.

In addition, Beane had to find a manager after firing Ken Macha on the heels of an American League West title and the club's first playoff-series win since 1990.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Sammy Sosa's comeback took another step forward when he was told he would be added to the Texas Rangers' 40-man roster.

Sosa, 38, has at least one hit in all 10 spring training games in which he's played. He has three homers, including a massive solo shot off Arizona's Edgar Gonzalez on Thursday.

After a year away from the game, Sosa also has a triple and two doubles with seven RBI in Cactus League play. He is hitting .452 in 31 at-bats after reporting to camp on a minor league contract.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

BELLEFONTE -- A Huntingdon County couple who love baseball say they want to bring their concept for Baseball Heaven -- a patented 300,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor baseball and softball facility -- to Centre County.

The facility, which Tammie and Christian Duran say would be the largest air structure sports dome in North America, could also be transformed to accommodate other sports, such as volleyball, lacrosse and indoor soccer, Tammie Duran said.

"We found out Centre County is in desperate need for a sports facility," she said. "We feel that with Baseball Heaven we can fill that need."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Sammy Sosa's comeback took another step forward Thursday when he was told he would be added to the Texas Rangers' 40-man roster.

The 38-year-old slugger, fifth on the career home-run list, has a hit in all 10 spring-training games in which he has played. He has three home runs, including a massive solo shot off the Arizona Diamondbacks' Edgar Gonzalez onto the left-field walkway at Tucson Electric Park on Thursday.

Following a year away from the game, Sosa also has a triple and two doubles with seven RBI. He is hitting .452 in 31 at-bats after coming to camp on a minor-league contract.

Link to full article