Buck Showalter on Frank Robinson

The grounds crew is peeling the tarp off the field. I guess that's a good sign, though the forecast is pretty bad, from what I've been told. One of the loudest ovations during today's ceremony for the unveiling of Frank Robinson's statue came when the Hall of Famer proclaimed that "The Oriole Way was the correct way." You don't have to convince manager Buck Showalter, who has long admired Robinson and stays in contact with him. Showalter attended today's ceremony, along with first base coach Wayne Kirby and center fielder Adam Jones, among others. "It's an honor for us," Showalter said earlier in the day. "Not much more important than us being there. I don't care if it's snowing. We're going. I'm looking forward to it. "I bounce some things off him now and then. He's a voice of wisdom for us, and he's done so many things well in baseball, obviously as a player and manager and as an executive. Frank is a competitive man and I always liked the compassion in his eyes when he's talking about baseball. I can only imagine what he must have been like as a player. "It's a start of a great celebration of some of the great players in baseball. And obviously it's not cheap, but it's something Mr. Angelos and his family really wanted to do." A few more notes: Along with having a sore intercostal muscle, Endy Chavez also is battling a bad cold. Just like a bunch of his teammates. Mark Reynolds never has gone the entire month of April without a home run, but he's running out of time this season. And he's not in the lineup tonight. Reynolds hit seven April homers in 2008, five in 2009, seven in 2010 and two in 2011. Reynolds has not homered in 67 at-bats since taking Justin Verlander deep on Sept. 24, 2011 in Detroit. That's the third-longest homerless stretch of his career. On the other hand, Reynolds is on pace to walk 81 times, two short of his career high set in 2010. The Orioles' bullpen has posted a 2.00 ERA in 63 innings, the lowest in the majors. Nolan Reimold's four home runs in the seventh inning or later lead the majors. His five road homers are tied with Billy Butler, Matt Kemp and Josh Hamilton for second behind Mike Napoli's six. Tommy Hunter, who starts tomorrow, is 5-0 with a 4.28 ERA in eight career games (six starts) vs. Oakland. His teams have won all eight games.