Just making it official
The Orioles announced earlier today that they purchased reliever Kam Mickolio's contract from Triple-A Norfolk and transferred Matt Albers to the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster.
For you numbers freaks out there, Mickolio will wear No. 31.
Who's your favorite No. 31 in Orioles' history?
Can you name three guys who wore it?
Mickolio, 24, had two saves and a 1.50 ERA (three earned runs in 18 innings) in 15 games at Norfolk, with seven walks and 20 strikeouts. At Double-A Bowie, he was 2-1 with a 4.70 ERA and one save in 28 games.
By the way, it's pronounced Mick-uh-LIE-oh. Not Mick-OH-lee-OH.
Cory Doyne was added to Norfolk's roster from Single-A Frederick.
I'm heading down to the clubhouse in exactly 35 minutes. You can time me.
Definitely George Bamberger.
Favorite #31: Ray Miller (pitching coach stints 1 & 2). Least favorite: Ray Miller (Manager).
Other 31's off the top of my head: Jay Gibbons, George Bamberger, Harry Breechen, Brad Havens (?), Jose Mercedes.
For the first 31+ seasons (isn't that ironic?) of the Orioles existence the only 3 men to wear #31 were the only pitching coaches the O's had during those years: Breechen, Bamberger, and Miller. Ken Rowe broke the tradition by switching to #42 and I believe Havens took 31, although I could be wrong on Havens (I'm going purely off memory).
Looks like your successor disagrees on the pronunciation...Go to your neutral corners...
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I checked it in spring training. And the Norfolk game notes that were e-mailed today have it pronounced the way I wrote it. - Roch
MV 31s:
Harry the Cat
Bamby
Ray Miller (as P coach)
Least fave:
Jose Mercedes
Shrug:
JGibbons
Roch, would one of these players wearing #31 be a former Oriole who promised us time and time again that his statuesque physique was solely the product of an incredible work ethic???
31 used to be the number reserved for the Orioles' pitching coach. So, Bamberger, then Miller wore it. They obviously stopped that practice, but I don't know when.
Iowa
Any chance they could move all the Nationals blogs to masnsports2.com?
harry "the cat" breechen, george bamberger & ray miller (did ken rowe also wear 31?)
I'm going to the Frederick Keys game tonight to see Chris Ray and Greg Aquino pitch.
Ex-Yankees Irabu arrested for alleged assault
TOKYO (AP) -- Former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu was arrested Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a bartender after drinking 20 mugs of beer, a police official said.
Irabu, 39, became angered after his credit card was rejected. He then allegedly pushed the bartender against the wall, pulled his hair and smashed at least nine liquor bottles at a bar in Osaka, western Japan, a police official said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
Okay Roch, now you're in my wheelhouse. My favorite #31 is Ray Miller. Do coaches count? Other 31s include everyone's favorite Duck Jay Gibbons and washed-up relievers Doug Jones and Roger McDowell. Oh, and let's not forget Izzy Molina.
Someone else posted earlier about voting for Wieters in the USA Today minor league POTY, here is the direct link to vote:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/minors/2008-08-19-player-of-year-voting_N.htm
Finally they make this move. 1 out of 2 on my wish list for roster moves.
I think you know who's my second roster move. It's.... Brad Bergesen.
We'll see what they do about that. It sounds like Mickolio was effective at Norfolk. Let's see if he can translate that to the Orioles. I sure hope he does because he sounds like a great guy and a good reliever so far. But then again, so was all of the other pitchers we all thought would turn out great.