Hearing from the Earl of Baltimore

Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver threw out the first pitch before today's game. He was asked what he thought about that and gave a real honest answer. "I don't want my performance to interfere and I certainly don't want to jinx them. We've gotta get a win today," he said. Weaver said he's impressed with the work of current skipper Buck Showalter. "Unreal. He's going to be a favorite here for a long, long time. Whoever invented the phrase 'Buck's Birds,' that should stick," Weaver said. Weaver was asked about a call he got from Showalter last year. Buck called Weaver before he took over as Orioles manager. "He didn't have to reach out to me," Weaver said. "I think he wanted to know if I had any thoughts on the ballclub, which I didn't. When they were going bad, I was kind of disappointed. But they are still my favorite team and the first boxscore I look at in the morning. Now with them winning, it's exciting for me. "They won more games, I think, from the middle of the season on last year. That's going to pick you up a lot. That happened in 1968. I hate to bring up the old days, but from the All-Star game on, we had the biggest winning percentage. Now, it looks like Andy has put together some players that can play baseball. Buck's had success before."