Coffee Companion -- 7/19: O's pitchers get shelled by Red Sox

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:

The Red Sox found yet another way to humiliate the Orioles on Monday night, breaking a tie with an eight-run eighth inning on their way to a 15-10 win. ... Andy MacPhail said he received "legitimate interest" from clubs about J.J. Hardy, but he felt the Orioles should keep Hardy instead of dealing him away for prospects. ... Alfredo Simon was headed back to the United States on Monday night after attending a legal hearing in the Dominican Republic and could return to the team by Tuesday. ... Kevin Gregg is still miffed about his suspension. ... Ravens running back Ray Rice said he never intended to disrespect Hines Ward when he commented about the Steelers wide receiver's DUI arrest a week ago, but he still stands by his remarks.

Hitting the links:

1. Do you trade Koji Uehara at the deadline? [Orioles Insider]

2. Sayonara, Koji? Not so fast [PressBox]

3. Are the Tigers looking at Jeremy Guthrie? [SB Nation]

4. Fixing the Orioles in six steps [Baltimore Sun]

5. Nick Markakis was the AL Player of the Week [MLB.com]

6. The unwritten rules of baseball and how they relate to the Orioles-Sox brawl [Artie Donovan's Workout Partner]

7. The AFC North is a two-team race unless young squads in Cincinnati and Cleveland step up [NFL.com]

8. Will players be returning to work Saturday? [Ravens Insider]

9. Marc Bulger might not want to play in Arizona [Ravens Insider]

10. Matt Bracken chatted with Terps coach Mark Turgeon about his first few months at Maryland [Recruiting Report]

11. Greivis Vasquez is "definitely" considering going overseas to play ball during the NBA lockout [CSN Baltimore]

12. Alex Ovechkin "was shocked" -- in a good way -- by the Capitals’ flurry of offseason moves [Capitals Insider]

You said it:  

"This is a great sports town and I think people are starved to watch a winner; a team folks feel they can pull for. After the depressing reality of another O's season gone into the crapper, folks were excited about the possibility of world cup championship. I think that was reflected in the size of the viewing crowd around town." -- reader johnthebodiless2000 gives his take on why Baltimore had the best ratings in the U.S. during the Women's World Cup final

Video of the morning: 

This backwards penalty kick was entertaining, but I have no idea how it actually worked [Via Dirty Tackle]

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.