Spen

He is 25 years old and the deal takes him to when he is 30. 30 is a bit old for a RB, but there are numerous cases where a RB can still be effective (sometimes very good) at that age. If it was until he was 32 or 33 I might have doubts, but as is I do not. You always seem to want to get rid of players in their prime to 'plan for the future'. If every move you make is for the future you will never achieve success in the present. And there is absolutely no reason to plan for the future at the expense of signing a 25 year old star player like Ray Rice.

Great deal, good for both the team and the player. It was a no brainer to resign him.

I like Ed and have no problem with him or any other player holding out. If a team does not think a player is worth it they can end the contract at any time so I have no problem if the player does the same thing. Its no worse than when the team does it. Its not like 20 years ago when players and teams actually had intentions of honoring the contracts and a player held out.

Well they scored 8 on Saturday, that may be their allotment for the next few day. And the Twins have 4 now, no way the Orioles can score that.

A win is a win, but boy did they suck at key times today.

I have that pillowcase. The white one, its not really that soft. But as it keeps me awake at night with its scratchiness it fills me with team pride.

Congrats DC! Its a big but good step. Enjoy

You're correct it doesn't endorse that, its just what happened. The book was a gift and I did not think I'd like it, but it was more interesting than depressing. Some of the funny stuff are how and where some of the people built their meth labs. From Publishers Weekly Using what he calls a "live-in reporting strategy," Reding's chronicle of a small-town crystal meth epidemic-about "the death of a way of life as much as... about the birth of a drug"-revolves around tiny Oelwein, Iowa, a 6,000-resident farming town nearly destroyed by the one-two punch of Big Agriculture modernization and skyrocketing meth production. Reding's wide cast of characters includes a family doctor, the man "in the best possible position from which to observe the meth phenomenon"; an addict who blew up his mother's house while cooking the stuff; and Lori Arnold (sister of actor Tom Arnold) who, as a teenager, built an extensive and wildly profitable crank empire in Ottumwa, Iowa (not once, but twice). Reding is at his best relating the bizarre, violent and disturbing stories from four years of research; heftier topics like big business and globalization, although fascinating, seem just out of Reding's weight class. A fascinating read for those with the stomach for it, Reding's unflinching look at a drug's rampage through the heartland stands out in an increasingly crowded field.

I just finished a good book called 'Methland'. Its about the rise of meth production and usage in small town America. It has good and sad stuff in it about how legislation that would have help slow down the rise, and the rise of the very violent Mexican cartel, repeatedly got watered down by lobbyists. As much as the book was about drugs it was also about the death of small town America due to job loss and other economic factors. Two of the towns profiled in the book had local factories that were sold and the very first day under new ownership (Tyson, Gillette) the unions were not recognized and salaries were cut from $18 an hour to $6. Overnight. Don't like it? Don't work here. Oh and no benefits. That just killed the town. Later, Tyson was caught advertising for jobs in Tijuana offering 2 months rent for Mexicans who made it to Olwein IA. The company was sued but won by using a 'how are we supposed to know if our workers are legal or not?' defense. The new Mexican workers were usually paid less than $5 an hour. Along the way different debates would come up about what the companies and/or the government could or should do to help the town and other like it. Usually nothing was done and the normal reasons of 'its a capitalistic society' and 'free market' would be thrown around. The funny part about that was that in years passed the economy of many small particularly agriculture towns were based on the free market. A farmer or rancher would grow or raise his crops then shop around and sell them the buy who gave him the best deal. The competing buyers set the price. Those days are gone. Cargill and other agricultural giants grew tired of competition and would buy up the town, its grain elevators, its slaughterhouses, and even the railroads in a small town. Then they would tell the farmers and ranchers what they would pay. Being the only company buying in that town they set the price. From an economic standpoint, the small towns like this have economies that are closer to resembling communism than a capitalistic one. Its a great book, sad but very interesting. Funny at times too.

My next car would be a hybrid if I could afford it. For now the cost is just too much for me to consider. I will admit I am not a "car guy", I don't get excited by cars. It just transportation to me. I look at reliability, comfort, and safety at an affordable cost.

I agree. My first car was a Chevette that was previously my mothers. There was a lot not to like but it ran forever.

Shocker for you to be so negative. So unlike you. And your Oriole predictions are usually so dead on. From predicting the team will be folded or moved (that should have happened by now according to your prediction) to none of the team's younger talent resigning here (after they do you just change your prediction to one that 'they will be sorry and want out"), to no established manager would come here (similar prediction change to player resignings). Uncanny how accurate you are. You continue to sing the same song, predict negative things - and in sports negative things happen far more often then not, then post "I told you so" type posts, and then get upset if people point out that you are acting like an ass.

I do not see any way this is a pennant winning team or close too it. I just want to finish the season consistently and hopefully above 500 even if its just a game. I like what I have seen so far, but there are so many dead spots in the lineup. I like what I have seen of Betemit, but I do not think he is an everyday player. I like what I have seen of Davis. I like Avery, is he thought to be a legit major leaguer or is he just on the team for now? He has a good eye and good speed, something the team needs. I do not know much about the farm system. I have no problem with bringing Machado up this season. Why not? it will generate excitement and its not we have great players there now. Like many, poor defense drives me crazy, but I wouldnt mind it so much if some of the offenders were hitting better. Who knows, maybe when Markakis comes even just the addition of one good bat might make a difference. Pretty much, unless something horrible happens, I think the team has taken a big step forward this season.

Whew, close one. Before the series started I would have been satisfied with one win, happy with two. Good win tonight. Gonzalez was great.

He was a cool guy. A very smart person often judged less than so because of the characters her portrayed. Some of his comedy routines were very good too.

Chen was awesome tonight. Its a shame he got a no decision. The defense is annoying because the poor defensive players do not hit. Its ok to suck or be average in the field if you have a lively bat. Our players do not. Offense is the majority of the problem IMO. I am not worried about buying or selling yet, I think its far too soon to plan either. I will say I am not sold on buying unless its a possiblilty the team can go deep which I do not see happening with the Orioles. On the flip side I think its important for this team to finish as well as it can so I hope its not a wholesale.

I want one of those

I got lucky, no damage to my house but a few houses down they lost a tree. Luckily its just a mess in their yard - it fell away from their house. My mother is without power, they told her for two days. That's no fun in this heat. I went to dinner tonight and the waitress told me their credit card service was still down. Maybe more storms tonight.....

The last two weeks have been really bad.

No offense this weekend but the pitching was there. The bats need to wake op. Fast. My wife does not follow baseball and she seriously asked me if Walgreens owned the Bats.

That was a good win, maybe even an important win but c'mon offense, wake up.

Whoo hoo! Not no hit!

That site looks great. Love the shirt in your link.

Here is some weirdness. I had the Kindle set for desktop view but tried mobile view and it worked. I prefer desktop view so I switched back and now that's working for me too. Thanks guys.

What a great effort from Hammel tonight. Roberts with a good night too. I need to get an orange Orioles shirt, I think I will get a Jones one. I have a Lopez jersey, which of course I never wear now. Normally I do not like orange and rarely wear it, but I kind of like the orange Oriole shirts.