For those of you heading out the home opener on Friday at Camden Yards...

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Orioles Announce Opening Day Plans

The Orioles have announced plans for the first home game of their 60^th season, this Friday, April 5 at 3:05 p.m. against the Minnesota Twins.

PRE-GAME FUN AROUND THE YARD

To allow fans the opportunity to experience the excitement of Opening Day, the entire ballpark will open at noon on Friday. Each fan will receive a 2013 schedule/car magnet at the gates. Roving musical groups will entertain fans on Eutaw Street and the main concourses, and "The BUCKle Up Birds: An Underdog Story" will air on the centerfield video board beginning at approximately 1:10.

PRE-GAME CEREMONIES

PLAYER INTRODUCTIONS

Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 2:30 p.m., when pre-game ceremonies will begin. MASN personality JIM HUNTER will serve as emcee for the pre-game festivities.

In a continuation of the Opening Day tradition, Orioles players and coaches will be introduced prior to the game. Orioles players will run through the center field gate on an orange carpet and take their places between first and second base. Manager BUCK SHOWALTER, coaches and staff will be introduced from the Orioles dugout. Members of the Twins will be announced and will run from their dugout to line up between second and third base.

OriolesREACH has arranged for 80 youth from KidsPeace to line the orange carpet holding Orioles flags during player introductions. Founded in 1882, KidsPeace is dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, teens and young adults. The national charity provides a variety of foster care and community-based treatment programs to help youth in need overcome challenges and transform their lives.

For the 20^th straight season, one fan will be chosen to represent all Orioles fans as the team's "10^th man". The fan will be introduced as a part of the Orioles starting lineup during the pre-game ceremonies.

NATIONAL ANTHEM & GOD BLESS AMERICA

Nationally acclaimed operatic tenor ROLANDO SANZ will perform the National Anthem and God Bless America. Sanz is a native of Rockville, MD, and he recently made his Carnegie Hall debut singing the role of Kostik in the world premiere of Prokofiev's lost opera Dalëkie Morja (Distant Seas).

During the anthem, a 30'x 42' American flag from Fort McHenry will be unfurled over the batter's eye wall in center field. The flag is a replica of the one that flew over Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote the National Anthem.  

Colors will be presented by the United States Armed Forces Color Guard provided by the Military District of Washington and the combined Honor Guard Team from the Baltimore City Police and Baltimore City Fire Departments.

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS PRESENTATION FOR HARDY, JONES AND WIETERS

Rawlings established the Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 1957 to recognize the best fielders at each position; it has evolved into baseball's greatest measure of defensive excellence. Every year, managers and coaches of each Major League Baseball team select a squad of the best defensemen in their respective leagues, excluding their own teams.

In 2012, shortstop J.J. HARDY, center fielder ADAM JONES and catcher MATT WIETERS were named Gold Glove Award winners at their respective positions. It was the first award for Hardy and the second for both Jones and Wieters. In a pre-game ceremony, a representative from Rawlings will present all three with their Gold Glove Awards.

NEW IN 2013

BALLPARK ENHANCEMENTS

Warning Track: This past off-season, the Orioles replaced the rubberized warning track that had been in place since Oriole Park opened in 1992 with a natural surface composed of crushed stone. The color of the stone was designed to match the brick that appears throughout the ballpark and in the Warehouse. Actual samples of those same Williamsport, Maryland bricks were used in the final material to achieve the proper blend. The new surface covers approximately 20,000 square feet and required 300 tons of material.

Flag Court: With the move of the Houston Astros to the American League West this season, a 15^th flagpole was installed in the Flag Court. There are now three rows of five flagpoles, which feature the daily standings of each division.

NEW FOOD ELEMENTS COMING TO ORIOLE PARK

The Orioles and their concessionaire, Delaware North Sportservice, have made extensive additions to the food offerings at Oriole Park, highlighted by new menu options at both Dempsey's Brew Pub and Restaurant and ballpark concession stands.

Triple Crown Sandwich: ESSKAY hot dog, the popular "bacon on a stick" and pulled pork all on a bun (Jack Daniel's Grill on Eutaw Street)

TAKO-Korean BBQ: Korean beef steak and Korean chicken tacos (available as gluten-free), whole wheat edamame bao (vegetarian) and BBQ pork bao, and pad thai noodle salad (vegetarian and gluten-free) (TAKO stand on the 3^rd base side of the main concourse)

Crab Waffle Fries: waffle fries served with house made Old Bay crab dip (Chicken & Fries stand on the 3^rd base side on the main concourse and Old Bay Seafood on the upper level concourse)

The Walk Off: Old Bay Roma sausage in a pretzel roll topped with house made Old Bay crab dip (Dempsey's)

GLUTEN-FREE OPTIONS

The Orioles and Delaware North Sportservice are pleased to offer several gluten-free concessions options in 2013.

Dempsey's: The Dempsey Salad, Steak Salad, Catcher's Cobb, Baby Arugula Salad, Beer Can Chicken, Bacon on a Stick

Boog's BBQ: (Please request gluten-free roll)

Jack Daniels: Bacon on a Stick, Beer Can Chicken

TAKO-Korean BBQ: Beef Steak and Chicken Takos (please request corn tortilla), Pad Thai Noodle Salad

Das Sausage Haus: (Please request gluten-free roll) Old Bay Sausage, Italian Sausage, ESSKAY Hot Dog

Season's Pizza: Gluten-free Cheese Pizza

Eutaw Market: Go Picnic - Gluten-free meals

All-star Café (Club Level): Boog's BBQ (please request gluten-free roll)

TWEET #BIRDLAND AT THE BALLPARK

This season, fans are encouraged to use social media while at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and share their experiences with friends and followers. By tweeting the hashtag #birdland, fans could have their tweets selected to appear on the Oriole Park video board before and during the game. Fans are also encouraged to visit www.orioles.com/connect and sign up to follow all of the Orioles official social media platforms.

SECURITY MEASURES

The Orioles have one of the most liberal food policies in professional sports. Outside food and beverages may be brought into Oriole Park, subject to the following guidelines:

• No hard-sided coolers, thermoses, glass bottles, cans or alcoholic beverages are permitted into the ballpark. You must leave these items in your vehicle before entering the ballpark.
• Non-alcoholic beverages in plastic bottles are permitted into the park. All items will be checked at the gates and any beverage which has been opened or partially consumed prior to entry is subject to confiscation if it is thought to contain alcohol. In addition, no plastic or paper cups of beverages are permitted into the park at the entry gates.

Other security measures include the following:

• All items permitted into the ballpark will be inspected. No bags or items exceeding the maximum size of 16" x 16" x 8" are allowed into the ballpark. Permitted items must easily fit into a 16" x 16" x 8" container. Bags on wheels are prohibited.
• No containers or unauthorized items can be left at any park entrance. You will be asked to return them to your vehicle.
• No re-entry will be permitted. Once you enter the ballpark, you will not be permitted to leave and re-enter the facility. Please make sure you have everything you need with you before entering the ballpark.
• Only vehicles dropping off or picking up guests with disabilities are permitted to stop curbside at the ballpark. No other vehicles are permitted curbside, nor will people be able to stand and wait with their vehicles.
• The Orioles welcome fan support in the form of handmade banners and signs. To ensure that all fans will have an unobstructed view of the ballgame, the Orioles do not permit the hanging of banners anywhere in the ballpark. Banners may only be displayed before and after the game and between innings. Banners are subject to confiscation if the content is commercial, political, and/or in bad taste according to the Orioles' discretion. The Orioles reserve the right to remove any banner at any time. Banners or signs must be made of a light, flexible material, such as paper or cloth, and cannot be made of wood, metal or other inflexible materials that could be dangerous in a public setting.

ORIOLE PARK IS NOW A SMOKE-FREE FACILITY

Effective March 4, 2013, the Maryland Stadium Authority began the enforcement of a smoking ban at the Camden Yards Sports and Entertainment Complex, which includes Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Code of Maryland Regulations prohibits smoking or carrying lit tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars and pipes) within 25 feet of the stadium, ballpark and warehouse, as well as in the outdoor space along Eutaw Street between gates A and H.  Fans attending Orioles games will be permitted to smoke only in a designated area just outside of Gate E1 on the third base side of the ballpark.

BICYCLE PARKING

New for 2013, the Orioles have added a designated Bicycle Parking Area to accommodate over 100 bicycles located just outside Gate C along the south side of Oriole Park.  While the area will be supervised during games, owners are advised to lock up their bicycles when not in use. 

OPENING DAY TIMING

10:30-11:15: Orioles' Clubhouse open for credentialed media…11:15: Buck Showalter pre-game availability to media in Auxiliary Clubhouse…11:30-12:30: Orioles Batting Practice…Noon: Gates Open…12:30-1:30: Twins Batting Practice…1:10: "The BUCKle Up Birds: An Underdog Story" airing on centerfield video board…1:30-2:30: Field Preparation…2:30: Ceremonies Begin…3:05: Play Ball!

The reports of the Oriole’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Yes there are the stat-sheets and theorems and analyses that say the Orioles will not stand a chance. Baseball Prospectus pegs the Orioles as a 74-win team next year.

SEVENTY-FOUR.

“Hogwash,” I say. “Humbug,” I cry! “Bullfeathers,” I add. The Orioles unlikely rise to the postseason in 2012 completely flipped the narrative on this team in a shockingly abrupt  manner. And what a narrative it was. The Orioles are not supposed to be good. They haven’t been good for more than a decade. They were supposed to make slow-steady baby steps toward contention. They were supposed to trade Adam Jones and consider trading JJ Hardy and Matt Wieters to build a young, hungry Tampa Bay Rays-like team. They weren’t supposed to come out of nowhere, do something that hasn’t been done since the Roosevelt administration (the Teddy Roosevelt administration), and make the postseason. It did not makes sense, it flew in the face of modern baseball analysis and therefore it must be a complete fluke.

All of that is true. 100% true. The Orioles won an exorbitant amount of one-run games. They won way too many extra-inning games. And those wins, which are essentially coin-flips, the Orioles would not have made the playoffs. After all they beat the Pythagorean Win-percentage by more than 10 games, that is an unheard of amount of luck that is extremely unlikely to be replicated.

But that is not why the Orioles of 2012 will resemble the Orioles of 2013. I contend that people are getting too lost in the surface of the numbers. If you scratch the surface a little deeper you see a different narrative. Yes Virginia, the Orioles can compete next year and can go back to the playoffs.

The Essence of Random

The first thing that every 2013-denier points to is the Orioles’ remarkable run of one-run wins. Yes, 29-9 is unlikely to be sustainable and everyone points to that as luck and therefore the team was not as skilled as the win-total showed. It is impossible to argue that, but honestly I think it is a cop-out.  First off, if we are calling the nature of the run lucky devoid of any skill so therefor it was random. But honestly this is what happens in randomized series all the time. If you flip a coin 100 times in five sets and totaled the data you would see shocking runs of “all heads” and “all tails” runs that seem to defy logic because we need to put order to the world. The reality is that the individual coin flip has zero bearing on the next flip.

Of course in baseball the previous game does have some impact on the next. Players are used, different pitchers are faced, bullpens are taxed/ over taxed. But that would imply the Orioles had some sort of control over those wins and, therefore, some sort of skill and that nullifies that random argument. Because if the Orioles did somehow manage their bullpen properly to put themselves in positions to win those games that means that the record could somehow be a semi-repeatable skill and in the current narrative that is impossible.

But to further bust that bubble let me add this. If you comb through the Orioles’ multitude of one-run wins you see many instances where the games were not all that impressive. When you hear the phrase “one-run win” the image that is conjured is a nail-biter down to the last at bat, or a late-inning come-from-behind victory. Many of them just aren’t that. I guess my overall point here is that the fluke of that run last years wasn’t that an untalented team won that many games, but the fact that they ended up that way at all. The team’s lack of talent was not the fluke, the final scores were the fluke.

Put another way, if the Orioles had scored just 10 more runs over the course of those 38 games their record in one-run games would have been 19-9. Still impressive but something that could easily be explained away by a great bullpen and good managing.  So 10 runs in the right situations and the Orioles are no longer on a magical unsustainable run of luck.

The Pythagorean Record Fallacy.

Much has been made of the Orioles’ run differential last season and their astonishing 11-win drubbing of their Pythagorean Record. There is no way they will be able to do that, and the fact they beat it by that much proves they were unbelievably lucky.

But consider this. According to Bill James’ research teams that significantly beat their PR in one year are not automatically destined o come crashing back in the next year. IN fact the opposite is true. Looking at the division era:

Each of the above teams above beat their PR by at least 10 games and the columns illustrate where they finished the subsequent years after the team’s “luck year.” Only the 1970 Reds saw a significant drop the following year, but bounced right back.  All teams, save the Mariners, made the playoffs at least once the following four years.  In fact, all of the non-Mariner teams continued a period of competitive, playoff race baseball for the years that followed. The simple fact that the Orioles significantly beat their pythagorean record means only that – they beat their pythagorean record. As seen above that fact alone is not a significant measure of their future success. Multiple teams were able to build on that success.

The 1972 Mets for example. They beat their PR by 11 games and had a rather high win percentage in one-run games as well. They were 33-15 in those games, good enough for a .688 win percentage. The following year they won the NL. If you don’t like that comparison, due to the presence of a Tom Seaver and Tug McGraw, then pick another team. The fact remains that only two teams in the divisional era that beat their PR by at least 10 games saw a significant drop in their record the next year. And as far as the Mariners are were concerned they were in the middle of a storm of terrible management and personnel decisions.

They Are That Talented

The Orioles really turned it on in the second half, and especially in the last two months of the season. And they weren’t half bad to start the season either. The Orioles fell into a tailspin in the 30 days surrounding the All-Star Break. It was a bleak time and it appeared that the Orioles would not come out of it. However , a couple things happened; Nick Markakis returned to the lineup and Manny Machado would ascend to the majors.

In the final three months of the regular season the Orioles went 38-20 with a run differential of +58, a vast improvement over their opening season run and their dead zone around the All Star Break.  They got better as the year went on.

When Machado came up it he solidified the infield defense pushing Mark Reynolds into a much easier first base position. Reynolds handled first admirably, at least he was much less a liability than he was at third. Nate McLouth was able to handle left field effectively and his bat proved not to be too shabby either. McLouth made his Orioles debut at the beginning of August, once there he batted to a solid .777 OPS.

Other key “additions” came to the Orioles’ rotation. Miguel Gonzalez became a remarkably effective stabilizing force for the rotation when he came up in the middle of the year. Chris Tillman seemed to turn the proverbial corner with flashes of the pitcher that he was supposed to be and the bullpen continued to play simply remarkable ball.

It is a commonly held belief that teams which finish the year stronger than when they start tend to improve the following year and the Orioles definitely finished much stronger than they started.

There are more reasons why the Orioles have a better than even chance to be in the playoff hunt again next year. No player had any unsustainable career-defining year. In fact quite a few players, like JJ Hardy and Mark Reynolds, had down years offensively. The AL East is a much different creature this year with the Yankees looking extremely vulnerable all of the sudden; The Rays took significant hits to the ML roster, and  the Jays were as active in rebuilding their roster as the Red Sox were a couple seasons ago. The ecosystem of the AL East has been stable for more than a decade: The Yanks and Sox on top, the Rays pecking at their heels, The Jays stuck in neutral and the Orioles were the doormat. That all changed in 2012, to me it seems that far too many seem anxious to return to that narrative. The Orioles may have had some fluky things happen to them in 2012, but those fluky things were just that - flukes. It is my belief that those flukes were not the reason for the Orioles’ success but just the random occurances. The pythagorean theorem has been beaten before, it will be beaten again. And this team proved it had the talent to carry it where it did.

The Orioles could easily finish in last place, anything can happen, but sitting here on March 29^th I don’t see any real reason why this team doesn’t have a legitimate shot to be competitive again, to make the playoffs again. Little can be done to convince me of the opposite. 

Sorry for my absence from the blog. I’ve been on work and travel for most of the month, plus, I’ve been having work done on my residence. I’ve had little time to write about things; however, I’m back.

That being said, the season for the Orioles opens up on April 1^st and I’m more excited than ever to see what happens over the course of 162 games.

It’s weird not to see the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox tabbed as favorites to win the American League East this year, and it’s refreshing to perhaps now see some parity in the division.

It looks like the Toronto Blue Jays are the sexy pick to take the division; however, it’s unknown how their new collection of players will mesh together. A lot of the players that they acquired in the off-season came from the Miami Marlins, and you know how their 2012 season turned out. As it is right now, the Jays do have the strongest team on paper in the division.

The Tampa Bay Rays are still very strong, in my opinion, with their young pitching and Joe Maddon as their manager; meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox seem to be in the midst of retooling their organization.

As for the New York Yankees, good lord.

I know they are trying to get under the luxury tax threshold, and that in turn limited their options on the free agent. Well, I still expected them to have a strong roster despite the age of many of their players; however, the injury bug has very much hurt their roster. Derek Jeter has a cranky ankle, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson are on the shelf, and the Yankees are turning to the Travis Hafners and Brennan Boesch’s of the world.

So where does the leave the Baltimore Orioles?

Although they seemed to do little in the offseason aside from re-signing Nate McLouth, the Orioles didn’t do much on the market. Even though, I was not happy with the lack of activity on the part of the front office, you have to give credit to Dan Duquette to showing some restraint and making a move for the sake of making a move.

I’m really not sure where the Orioles will finish at all. The days of losing may be over, but right now, it’s hard to tell where they will finish at the end of 2013. The organization has a lot of depth in their system now and that may be a key to surviving the long season. They did a tremendous job mitigating injuries, filling in spots when players faltered, and using the talent in the various levels of system when needed.

The American League East is now full of parity it may be wide open for anyone. I don’t know if the Orioles are primed for another playoff runs, as some experts believe they can pull it off again; meanwhile, others think that they will not repeat what they did in 2012 and will finish in last place.

There’s one thing we as fans learned last year – sometimes, you can’t predict baseball.

The games begin to count in a little more than a week, and I’m excited for Opening Day.

If anyone out there who reads this has known me for long enough they will most likely be shocked at the words that they are about to read: I am at a loss for words.

I, James Clayton Baker, have run out of things to say. Honestly, it has been difficult to write this winter. Since my last post, which ironically was one of the most popular posts I have ever made, the Orioles had a quiet offseason, spring training has begun, Baltimore experienced a useless un-snowy winter, my life as an educator continued to roll along, and I discovered the importance of the Oxford comma.

More importantly, I just haven't felt compelled to write recently. Yes, life has certainly gotten in the way and duties both personal and professional will always take precedence over that which is essentially a hobby. I never hoped to spin these internet ramblings into any sort paid gig or new career. Of course if the corporate hivemind over at MASN WANTED to give me my own weekly call in show - well I'm all ears. No, I started this on a whim in college and as I typed those words I just realized that was seven years ago. Which is probably the true source of my lack of production; how many times have I written essentially the same article over the last seven years?

Every year about this time I usually jot off some sort of missive defending the Orioles. The article would go on to say while they are most likely to finish in the bottom half of the division things could happen, things could not happen, things could change and the planets could align and the Orioles could do better. Different year, the same article. The names change, the numbers change but it is essentially the same thing.

I was hoping after the Orioles magical 2012 campaign that I might actually be able to write another type of article, I might not actually have to defend the Orioles. But no, of course. No one really believes the Orioles will do it again. And of course, they most likely won't with 29 one-run games. But that does not mean that they won't be a good team. The baseball world still does not believe the Orioles stand a chance. The projections are all awful, the pundits dismiss the team and the sabermetricians line up to pick apart any hope for a solid 2013.

They are all right, all the math work and it is not worth arguing numbers. Numbers always carry a certain amount of truth with them. Sure they can be picked, grouped, and presented in certain ways to advance a desired narrative. That might be cherry picking, that might be annoying, but it doesn't make it entirely untrue. The Orioles will not win that many one-run games; they will not win that many extra-inning games, and the bullpen will most likely not be as historically good as it was last year.

All of these things are undoubtedly true. But that doesn't mean that this team won't be good. I agree with manager Buck Showalter, no team gets that lucky over the course of an entire season. The 2012 Orioles played the game correctly, were managed brilliantly and found a way to win more often than not. And please let us just stop with this harebrained notion that the Orioles got every break. They lost Nick Markakis for 1/3 of the season, including September and all of the playoffs. They had injuries to key members of their starting rotation and Mark Reynolds definitely did not hit the 40 homer runs he was supposed to. So, no Virginia, not everything went perfectly well for the Orioles in 2012.

The Orioles' prospects in 2013 seem pretty solid. The Yankees are old, injured, old, declining, old, filled with holes, and of course old. The Red Sox will likely be better now that human loss-machine Bobby Valentine is gone and the Dodgers did them the single biggest solid in the history of baseball. The Rays will pitch effectively but their offense is going to be in real trouble. Then there are the Jays, the new darlings of the MLB. They have effectively cashed in their minor leagues to bring this team together - and we know how well that has worked out for the Sox, Angels, and Dodgers so far.

The AL East is in a very rare situation where literally every team can be part of a legitimate narrative that puts them in first place in September, at the same time there is a narrative that exists that puts every team in last place in September. If nothing else, the AL East should be quite the brawl all year. Adding to that the fact that there is a very real possibility that both wild cards could be coming out of the AL west due to the fact that the Houston Astros have decided to redefine the notion of futility.

I don't know what the next season will hold for the Orioles, all I do know is that it will prove to be interesting. I am looking forward to spending time at the ballpark again. I am looking forward to cheering for this team. I am looking forward to seeing "Wild Card 2012" stenciled somewhere in the park. I don't care how the Orioles got where they went in 2012, it happened and it can never be taken away. As for 2013, I hope the various organs of the baseball media complex continue to doubt this team I believe it fuels them. 2013 may no compare to 2012 but it will give me something to write about, that is for sure.

The Orioles will be on the MLB Network tonight...

Secaucus, N.J., February 26, 2013 – The Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles (split squad) Spring Training game tomorrow, Wednesday, February 27 at 7:00 PM ET will be available live on MLB Network in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. television markets. Zach Britton is scheduled to pitch for the Orioles against Franklin Morales and former Oriole Koji Uehara.

MLB Network is available in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. on Antietam Cable TV, Comcast, Cox Communications, DirecTV, DISH Network, FAVE, MetroCast, OpenBand, RCN and Verizon FiOS. Local channel listings are available here and MLB Network’s complete Spring Training game schedule is available here.

The Orioles will be featured on "Power Alley" on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio...

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Will host their MLB Network Radio show, “Power Alley,” from Ed Smith Stadium

Feb. 26, 2013 – Sirius XM Radio’s Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin will host their daily talk show from Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, FL, tomorrow, February 27.  “Power Alley” airs live from 2:00-6:00 pm ET on MLB Network Radio (channel 89 on XM and channel 209 on Sirius Premier).

The visit is part of SiriusXM’s annual MLB Spring Training Tour, which runs through March 22 and provides fans nationwide with an in-depth and comprehensive look at all 30 Major League Baseball clubs.  SiriusXM’s 24-hour baseball talk channel, MLB Network Radio, and its all-sports talk channel, Mad Dog Radio, will broadcast live from ballparks in Arizona and Florida and present one-on-one interviews with managers, players and executives from every team.

MLB Network Radio will visit all 30 spring training sites from February 23 through March 22.  Former Mets and Orioles general manager Jim Duquette and co-host Mike Ferrin will cover Florida’s Grapefruit League from Feb. 23-Mar. 2 and Mar. 6-12.  Former Reds and Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and co-host Casey Stern will broadcast from Arizona’s Cactus League ballparks from Mar. 3-7 and Mar. 13-22.    MLB Network Radio airs on channel 89 on XM and channel 209 on Sirius Premier. (siriusxm.com/mlbnetworkradio / @MLBNetworkRadio)

The Orioles will be featured on "Power Alley" on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio...

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Will host their MLB Network Radio show, “Power Alley,” from Ed Smith Stadium

Feb. 26, 2013 – Sirius XM Radio’s Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin will host their daily talk show from Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, FL, tomorrow, February 27.  “Power Alley” airs live from 2:00-6:00 pm ET on MLB Network Radio (channel 89 on XM and channel 209 on Sirius Premier).

The visit is part of SiriusXM’s annual MLB Spring Training Tour, which runs through March 22 and provides fans nationwide with an in-depth and comprehensive look at all 30 Major League Baseball clubs.  SiriusXM’s 24-hour baseball talk channel, MLB Network Radio, and its all-sports talk channel, Mad Dog Radio, will broadcast live from ballparks in Arizona and Florida and present one-on-one interviews with managers, players and executives from every team.

MLB Network Radio will visit all 30 spring training sites from February 23 through March 22.  Former Mets and Orioles general manager Jim Duquette and co-host Mike Ferrin will cover Florida’s Grapefruit League from Feb. 23-Mar. 2 and Mar. 6-12.  Former Reds and Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and co-host Casey Stern will broadcast from Arizona’s Cactus League ballparks from Mar. 3-7 and Mar. 13-22.    MLB Network Radio airs on channel 89 on XM and channel 209 on Sirius Premier. (siriusxm.com/mlbnetworkradio / @MLBNetworkRadio)

It has been quite a journey for Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts for the past several seasons.

Roberts is the longest tenured member of the Orioles, having played his entire 12-year career with the organization; however, he has spent more time as a bystander than on the field.

Now the question for Orioles fans is this: can Roberts still be a productive player heading into the 2013 season, or is he no longer viable for the organization?

Roberts has been a fan favorite and one of the most recognizable faces of the franchise since he debuted with the Orioles in 2001. He has played in two all All-Star games (2005 and 2007) and was for a time considered of the best all-around second baseman in the game.

That success earned Roberts a four-year, $40 million contract extension in 2010. He is currently in the final year of the deal.

At the time, Roberts was a durable player, appearing in at least 138 games in a season since 2003 and fans had applauded the contract extension. In 2009, he had appeared in 159 games and batted .283 with 56 doubles, 30 stolen bases, 16 home runs, 79 RBIs and a 3.5 WAR.

Roberts was in his age-31 season, and most assumed that he would maintain his same level of performance for a couple seasons before his decline phase began.

Sadly, after he signed the extension, Roberts had an extremely hard time staying healthy and on the field.

Over the past three seasons, Roberts has only appeared in 115 games as he suffered through debilitating concussions and back problems. He also had surgery for a torn labrum in his hip that led him to be sidelined for the remainder of the 2012 season and this winter for a sports hernia.

When healthy, Roberts – perhaps even at his advanced age - is potentially one of the better and more patient hitters on the team, a stolen base threat and gets on base at a decent clip.

I cannot think of anyone on the roster who has his tools or that could fill his shoes.

According to various media reports from the Orioles spring training site in Sarasota, Fla., Roberts is  participating in baseball workouts. Roberts recently told the Baltimore Sun's Eduardo A. Encina, "I still feel like, barring anything else, I don't mean any disrespect to anyone, but I still feel like I'm our best option."

He added, "I still feel like I can provide a lot to this team."

Roberts has traditionally batted leadoff during his tenure with the Orioles; however, if he is not ready to go at the start of the 2013 season, outfielder Nick Markakis or Nate McLouth can fill that role.

The worst-case scenario this season is that Roberts is an expensive second baseman and can't stay healthy to play on the diamond.

If Roberts is unable to stay on the field, the Orioles may decide to keep him around, or let Ryan Flaherty and recently acquired Alexi Casilla take over the position.

Despite Roberts’ injury-marred history over the past several seasons, he could still be a productive part of the Baltimore Orioles in 2013.

At this point, he can only help and not hurt Baltimore’s chance for another successful season coming up.

Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens for winning Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans. Now that the big game is over, the baseball season is upon us.

Pitchers and catchers report in only eight days...

Ah, I'll be heading down to Florida next month. There's nothing like watching baseball live in a laif back environment, having the ability to walk on the beach afterwards, looking at the expensive boats on the water along with the boat cranes in Sarasota.

Exciting times are ahead. With the Ravens winning the Super Bowl, perhaps the Orioles can have yet another playoff run in 2013, and perhaps bring another championship to Charm City.

Orioles to hold tryouts for ballgirls and ballboys on Saturday, March 9

The Orioles have announced they will conduct an open tryout to find ballgirls and ballboys for the 2013 season at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Saturday, March 9.The judges will include members of the Orioles' front office, MASN broadcaster JIM HUNTER and former Orioles catcher CHRIS HOILES, as well as REAGAN WARFIELD of MIX 106.5 and GREG CARPENTER of LITE 101.9.

Outgoing and athletic men and women ages 18 and older who are interested in serving as ballboys and ballgirls for the Orioles during the upcoming 2013 season are invited to try out for a position at Oriole Park beginning at noon on March 9.

Those interested should dress casually, bring their own gloves, and use the Home Plate Plaza entrance to Oriole Park on the southwest corner of the ballpark. Resumes are also recommended. Complimentary parking will be available in Lot A.

In addition to being able to handle a glove and field ground balls, interested candidates should be personable, customer-service oriented and available to work the entire 2013 season.