Tillman gets another start, and more memories

Chris Tillman is back in the Orioles rotation. For at least one day.

Tillman gets the call this afternoon as the Orioles close out the series, his first start since Aug. 3. He's 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA and 1.102 WHIP in five career starts versus the Angels over 32 2/3 innings.

Luis Valbuena, who homered twice off Kevin Gausman last night, is 3-for-10 with two doubles and a home run against Tillman.

Parker Bridwell gets another shot at his former team. He's 7-1 with a 2.88 ERA and 1.167 WHIP in 12 games (11 starts) with the Angels and he held the Orioles to one run over seven innings on Aug. 8.

Bridwell has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts, and one run or fewer in four.

Who's up for another stroll down 25th anniversary memory lane?

Cal Ripken Jr. doesn't recall a big adjustment going from Memorial Stadium to Camden Yards.

"It seemed like the field conditions at Memorial Stadium were great," he said. "We always had one of the best groundskeepers in the league. And when we came over here it was just a continuation of that surface.

"It was exciting as all get-out to play in front of a packed house every single night. Maybe that was sort of the adjustment, to calm your own excitement level down. In order to compete and play, some of that adrenaline can be good, but too much of it can actually take you out of your game a little bit. To me, just getting settled in that sort of environment, that was the difference here.

"It felt like baseball had been played here before, and that's what we were so worried about, that the rich history of baseball would be lost when you went to a new place. But this place, the design of it, it felt like baseball had been played here before. So, it was sort of a continuation and it didn't take long to really get comfortable that this was our home. But I just remember the fan excitement and trying to suppress some of the excitement on a daily basis so you can get in a normal routine."

Mike Devereaux played 155 games in center field in 1992. Brady Anderson played 148 games in left field, seven in center - his favorite position - and three in right.

I asked if there was center field competition between them.

"I don't think there was competition in the sense of that, but I think there's competition in the sense to where we, and I'm just speaking for the outfield, we didn't want balls to drop and that was our goal," Devereaux said.

"Nobody was going to get a hit off us, no matter what. We'd play in to challenge them. Nothing was going to drop in. And we'd go back and get them, no matter what. We enjoyed watching each other make good plays. So yeah, there's competition in the sense of who's going to make the best plays because nobody wanted anything to drop. And we really worked hard during practice and we'd take that into the game."

OK, Mr. Anderson, you have the floor.

"There was never dissention behind me not playing center," he said. "I loved center field. I liked playing left.

"Devo and I, it was weird. I never had a teammate where we had a real unique rapport in the outfield where we could just look at each other and motion and we'd know which guy was going to take a certain angle. There's a play over at Memorial Stadium, he was playing right, actually, and I was playing center, and we both dove for the same ball and I ended up catching it. It looks like he was tossed out of a car. It looks really dangerous, but it's really not. We knew the exact angle where we could run full speed and not hit each other. I always knew if I was going to go in front of him or behind him before the ball was hit. It was just something that we were obsessed with.

"The most fun part of the day was when we'd have (bullpen catcher) Sam Snider hit balls over the fence and we'd see if we could rob home runs in BP. It was just what we liked to do. We loved to play defense, we loved to make great plays. It was fun."

Mike Mussina doesn't make many visits to Camden Yards, but he enjoys returning with his family.

"It hasn't changed much," he said. "It was a great place to play when we were here and it's still a great place for a ballgame.

"I get down once or twice a summer with my kids. We catch a game. It's the same atmosphere. When it was brand new it was just crazy, but it's still a great place to come to a game. The fans are extremely fortunate that they have this place to come to.

"My kids are old enough now that we get to our seats and sit down and start watching the game and they disappear and I'll see them three innings later and they'll come back and ask for more money, and then I'll see them again when they come back and they'll have some crab dog thing out in center field. Whatever.

"You can't get a bad seat in the place. You can see from everywhere. People are on top of you. You're in the game, you're there and you're part of it. It's nice to be able to come back and have the organization get us a place to stay and get us some tickets. Have me downstairs once in a while. I get to see Richie and those guys. Richie Bancells is still the trainer here after 304 years or however long he's been doing it. And so it's just nice to have an organization that works that way with you and a stadium you can come to where you can enjoy the game and let my kids go do what they're going to do. It's great."

Mussina spent his first 10 seasons in Baltimore, going 147-81 with a 3.53 ERA. He pitched eight seasons with the Yankees and went 123-72 with a 3.88 ERA. His only 20-win season came in his final year.

What if he had been able to work out an agreement to stay with the Orioles rather than leave as a free agent?

"I don't really think about that too much," he said. "I made the decision I made and that's just kind of the way it had to be for me at the time. I had a really good career in New York, too. And it was tough coming back. Going in the other clubhouse and coming out of the other dugout and warming up in the other bullpen, and knowing that there's people up there who aren't happy with me. But that's part of the job sometimes.

"I played 18 years, so fortunate to be able to do that, and play 10 of them here and eight of them in New York. I can't say one over the other. I've got two teams and that's the way I look at it. I'm not going to choose one over the other. They were both great for similar reasons and for different reasons."