Coffee Companion -- 6/29: O's lose and Flacco gets hitched

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine. 

Running it back:

Prized left-hander Zach Britton allowed four earned runs in five-plus innings Tuesday night and remained with just one victory since May 1 as the Orioles lost to the Cardinals, 6-2. ... Orioles manager Buck Showalter acknowledged that he has some concern about Vladimir Guerrero, who has struggled to drive in runs as the club's cleanup hitter. ... The Bowie Baysox placed Billy Rowell, the Orioles' 2006 first-rounder, on the disabled list with a sprained ankle. ... Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco married his longtime girlfriend on Saturday in a low-key ceremony in Philadelphia. ... Brooks Laich signed a six-year, $27 million deal to stay with the Capitals.

Hitting the links:

1. Think Vlad is bad? Check out this list of the worst seasons for a designated hitter in baseball history [Big Lead]

2. One powerful sentence on Vlad [Eutaw Street Hooligans]

3. It's gone wrong for Guerrero [MASN]

4. Who should bat cleanup for the O's? [Orioles Insider]

5. Time to modernize the Orioles [Camden Chat]

6. Will Nick Markakis prove his critics wrong? [MASN]

7. Zach Britton was third on Tom Verducci's ballot for AL Rookie of the Year in his midseason awards [SI]

8. Here are people talking about how awesome Orioles first-rounder Dylan Bundy is [Baseball America]

9. Meet the Orioles as the crossroads [CSN Baltimore]

10. Joe Flacco has the best arm in the AFC North [ESPN]

11. This one should have been easy to answer: Who was the best linebacker of the past decade? [NFL.com]

12. Billy Cundiff and two other dudes talk about what it's like to be a kicker [Washington Post]

13. Terps recruit A.J. Liddell has "big upside" [Recruiting Report]

You said it:  

"You could also send a gift because it might net you an autograph in the form of a thank you card." -- reader 20_something makes a good point about sending Joe Flacco a wedding gift

Video of the morning: 

There's something mesmerizing about college kids dunking on a beer pong table [via Hot Clicks]

Send me your funny and/or interesting links, photos, YouTube videos, blogs, Tweets, comments, emails, ideas, etc. If I deem them to be worthy for the blog, I’ll give you a plug. You can reach me at [e-mail] and twitter.com/mattvensel.