O's pick Lou Palmisamo from the Brewers and mlbtraderumors mentions they may try to trade him to HOU.  Trades to HOU worked out well for us last year.  Sweet Lou is a Catcher who graduated community college with a business degree, is single, and enjoys italian food (thanks milb.com) 

Here is Lou's MiLB page.

Unfortunately, even with Lous interests listed this fanpost is not long enough.  But I'm about to go to lunch so hopefully this time it will be. 

OK, so I don't know if it is Bradley or if he is a III but he has been signed to a minor league deal per Roch's bloc per mlbtraderumors.  He is 28 years of age with a career record of 17-23 with a 4.69 ERA.  So there's that...

What do you guys think of Hank Blalock?  I know he's hurt all the time but I think the Rangers will probably get rid of him.  I know they want pitchign and we want pitching but I bet he could be had in some round about way. May be 'spensive though. Just a thought.

http://baseballevolution.com/images/dunnh1.bmp

has reportedly been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for three players.  There isn't a lot of information out there yet abou this one.  I just saw the crawler on cbssportsline. 

I'm positive this isn't 75 words long so I'm reaching. 

If you knew the Orioles were going to pick up two guys off the FA list to be who would you rather have? 

Ohh...that was 73 words long.  I've got it now!!!

I know he was a MFY and all but he was a pretty good dude and a fellow Okie.  I'm sure you've already heard but here's an article. 

I'm positive this fanpost is not long enough but I'm going to try and post it anyway.

I was right.  Not yet long enough.  How about now?

Nope.  Oh...Bobby Murcer and Mickey Mantle were from Oklahoma...as was Joe Carter.  How about now?

Thanks for your help and suggestions for our recent trip to Oriole Park.  Thought I'd list a few things that stuck with me from the games.  We watched the Danny C complete game on Wednesday the 2nd and the loss on Thursday the 3rd.

1. Amber Theoharis is hotter in person than on TV.  I'm not really that big of a fan but she looked decent interviewing Danny after the game. 

2.  Clancy rocks...the guy down the 3B line that pounds his chest and yells while peddling beer...not so much.

3.  I saw the biggest rat ever cross the street by the civic center.  I think they may have stopped traffic for him.

4. Black B-Rob jersey t-shirts in a men/women's small or youth large are virtually impossible to find.  I had to talk my wife off the ledge b/c she wanted an official jersey at that point.

5.  The ushers seemed like hard-asses. 

Can't wait for my next trip. 

6.  I forgot...Joey Gaithright can flat out go get it CF.  It's amazing how much ground he covers.  Too bad for the Royals he can't hit for shit.

My wife and I are flying in tomorrow on a quick two day stop before driving on to PA to visit family.  We will be attending the Wednesday and Thursday games.  I asked a while back and saved most of those suggestions but thought I'd ask again just to make sure.  Any suggestions on places to eat and drink around the ballpark that we need to check out?  Nothing too touristy.  We also thought about heading over to Fells Point one night as well.  We are staying at the Marriott by the ballpark I believe. 

Thanks everyone.

 Jason Botts has asked for his trade or release from the Texas Rangers.  I have to admit, I have a small man crush on him.  I think, given a fair shake to hit, he could put up some decent numbers.  He's 27 and the Rangers have called him up and sent him down 4 different times.  Sign him up and let him hit DH for this club!!!  It's not like it would be a stretch for the Rangers to actually miss on someone.

I'm taking my wife to visit family in PA this summer (July 2nd - 8th) and we are going to be in town for the BAL / KC games on the 2nd and 3rd.  We'll drive on to PA the next morning but we will have a couple of days in town.  I need a little help...I hate being a tourist and doing the normal tourist-y things.  So, I'm open to any and all suggestions...especially accomodations (relativlely close to the ballpark), bars, restaurants, and things to do during the day.  We will be back in town on the 7th and leave the evening of the 8th.  So we basically have half a day on the 2nd, all day the 3rd, and half a day on the 8th. 

Thanks.

Vargas was released today by the Milwaukee Brewers.  Any chance the O's would want to be on the hook for his $3.8mil contract for his services?  I'm not sure how many years are left on it.  It seems he pitched pretty well last year but I didn't pull his career stats.  Trax is stealing $3.0mil and I would think Vargas is better than he is.

By the way, I like the new format.  As computer illiterate as I am I can actually link stuff now!

Third installment of "Ben from Phoenix."  Lucky bastard.  I have trouble convincing my wife that we need MLB Extra Innings.  He convinces his to move 1000 miles away so he can watch spring training.

Today the wife and I journeyed to Maryvale Baseball Park in
Phoenix to see the White Sox and Brewers play on St.
Patrick's Day.  The Brewers were ready for the holiday with
festive green hats while the White Sox did nothing as usual.
Maryvale is a nice stadium, but not as big as the others.
We had our best seats of the spring and really had a good
time at the game.

Brewers' Stars:  Prince Fielder started the game and got in
4 ABs.  He is a presence and the crowd quiets down when he
hits.  He hit laser back up the middle, but Javier Vazquez
knocked it down with his glove.  He is lucky he did not
injure himself.  In the fifth he hit a deep shot, but it was
caught by the OF.  He ended up 0-3 with a HBP.  He was hit
by the old Royal closer Mike McDougal.  It was in the eighth
inning and you could tell Fielder was ready to go home after
getting hurt because the very next pitch he took off
stealing and it was a straight steal because Bill Hall was
taking.  It definitely shocked the White Sox, but they still
hosed him by a couple feet.  He's a solid 300 lbs.  It was
fun to see him though.  Mike Cameron hit a 3 run shot off
Vazquez.  It was an impressive hit.

White Sox' Stars:  Javier Vazquez throws the ball very hard.
I was never sold on him, but he obviously has major league
stuff.  He had a very effective slider and he liked to throw
his curveball when he was behind in counts which wasn't
often.  He cruised through 4 2/3 innings, then Josh Fields
made an error and what could have been the inning got
extended into one more hit and then Cameron's bomb.  Vazquez
gave up 4 runs but only 1 earned and he did not walk anyone
while striking out 6.  He is going to give up a lot of
homeruns this year but not because he is bad but because he
throws so hard.  His ball found Gabe Gross's bat in the
first and the ball flew over the wall.  He changed my
impression of him.  The White Sox were split squad today,
but we did get to see Nick Swisher and Josh Fields.  They
both showed us there talents.  They each had sharply hit
doubles.  Swisher looks ready for a big season.  Fields has
the talent, the power, the quick bat, but there were times
he looked unsure of himself.  In the third he was 2-0 on the
count when he got a fastball down the middle that I think he
was taking all the way.  You could tell he was frustrated
for not swinging because the next two pitches he waved his
bat at both and just looked fooled.  The talent is there.

Surprises:  The Brewers bullpen threw shutout baseball for 5
innings.  Guillermo Mota, David Riske, and Mitch Stetter
shut the White Sox down.  The Brewers had a young shortstop
named Alcides Escobar that went 3-5 and showed a solid glove
as well.  The White Sox' young 2B Danny Richar had some
solid ABs.  He only went 1-4, but looked really comfortable.

Disappointments:  Brewers' starting pitcher Carlos
Villanueva did not have a great outing.  He gave up 7 hits
and 4 runs in five innings, but did strikeout 5 and walk
nobody.  His fastball seemed to have pop, but was hittable.
He threw his curveball for strikes consistently which I
assume is difficult to do.  The good news was that all the
damage came in one inning and he pitched well the other
four.  Bill Hall's defense was a little spotty.  I think
moving him around has made him uncomfortable in the field.
Hopefully he can stay at 3B and just continue to get reps.
One other note of disappointment was Brad Eldred.  I
remember him coming up with the Pirates and being labeled
the next Adam Dunn.  When you see him in person you can
understand.  He is a large human, but what an awful day he
had.  The big guy struckout 4 times.  He looked bad at
everyone of him.  What made matters worse was Jerry
Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams were sitting right beside the
White Sox dugout and the big guy had to see them every time
on his walk back to the dugout.  Wouldn't be surprised if
you hear in the next couple days that he gets sent down.

The Brewers are an exciting young team and I think they are
by far thet team to beat in the Central.  In my Cubbie they
have more talent than us.  I like their rotation if
Villanueva can settle down into the 5th spot and either Dave
Bush or Chris Capuano can rebound to even close to their
promise.  I think Gagne is their biggest question mark, but
who cares about that, he is a closer.  Watchout for them in
'08.  As far as the White Sox are concerned, I hate them.
They are going to hit a lot of homeruns though with Swisher,
Fields, Konerko, Dye, and Thome.  That is a tough lineup.
They are still about 3 starters away from competing again in
the tough AL Central.

Tomorrow we are going to travel to Mesa to see our Cubbies
take on the Royals.  May be a Sellers' market for the
scalpers because I think the game is almost sold out.