Arizona Fall League

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Still wearing a purple-and-red remnant from Sunday's line drive incident at Camden Yards, Orioles ace Mike Mussina confirmed yesterday that he will miss at least tomorrow's start against the Detroit Tigers and is not guaranteed of returning for his next turn as well.The concession further complicates Mussina's pursuit of his first 20-win season, a quest he says isn't worth jeopardizing his bruised right shoulder or his pitching mechanics.Mussina is waiting for residual tightness in his right deltoid muscle to ease.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Still wearing a purple-and-red remnant from Sunday's line drive incident at Camden Yards, Orioles ace Mike Mussina confirmed yesterday that he will miss at least tomorrow's start against the Detroit Tigers and is not guaranteed of returning for his next turn as well.The concession all but ends Mussina's pursuit of his first 20-win season, a quest he says isn't worth jeopardizing his bruised right shoulder or his pitching mechanics. The Orioles have yet to decide who will make Mussina's start, and the man who had been the favorite, long reliever Doug Johns, pitched last night.

Eddie Murray UP Orioles bench coach will manage in the Arizona Fall League this October with the Scottsdale Scorpions. League president Frank Robinson calls it a "showcase" league rather than a developmental loop.Ricky Bones DOWN Previously invisible, Bones inherited Juan Guzman's spot in the rotation and struggled last weekend in a 12-2 loss. Improvement is needed to avert another disappearance.Jr. DOWN Closing on 39, Cal Ripken speaks of experiencing "two careers." The most recent has forced him to miss 42 games, put him on the disabled list twice and causes him to confront the "surgery" word.

BaseballAngels: Activated IF Norberto Martin. Placed IF Craig Shipley (strained left hamstring) on 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 20.Braves: Recalled P Mark Wohlers from Triple-A Richmond and placed him on 15-day DL before returning him to Richmond for rehab stint. Activated P Russ Springer from 15-day DL. Optioned P Adam Butler to Richmond.Cardinals: Assigned 1B J. D. Drew to Peoria of Arizona Fall League. Recalled P Manny Aybar from Triple-A Memphis. Optioned P Rich Croushore to Memphis.

Brad Pennington, OriolesWho has the best-looking uniforms and caps, and why?Cincinnati's got the best, with their sleeveless. First off, they were my favorite team when I was growing up, and they look awesome. They've got the red outlining and the white pinstripe in the front. That's just a great look to me.I like the Yankees, because they've pretty much been the same since Day 1. They've got a lot of history to them. They never put the names on their shirts. They've never changed, and it's still a nice-looking uniform after all these years.

Snowbird alert: With spring training in jeopardy, the best chance to catch some rays and some baseball might be in the Arizona Fall League.The regular-season schedule runs from Oct. 6 to Dec. 1. All 28 clubs send six top prospects to participate in the league. There has been some talk the AFL would be a victim of strike-related cost-cutting measures, but league official Steve Gilbert said he expects the league to start on schedule."We haven't been told anything different," Gilbert said.Six Orioles prospects desperately hope Gilbert's information is accurate.

Two years ago, the Orioles hired Davey Lopes to improve their base running.It didn't work.So now, with Lopes a leading candidate to manage the Houston Astros, are the Orioles secretly rooting for him to get the job?Nope, they're openly rooting for him to stay.Johnny Oates says if he remains manager, he'd "love" for his first-base coach to return. The players, meanwhile, are virtually unanimous in their support of Lopes."Davey's the best," second baseman Harold Reynolds says. "You can only tell guys so much -- they've got to make their own decisions on the field.

The first full week of play in the Puerto Rican winter league was mixed for Orioles players.Outfielder Damon Buford and pitcher Brad Pennington struggled mightily, and third baseman Leo Gomez showed signs of bouncing back from his late-season wrist injury.Buford, who spent most of the year on the Orioles' major-league roster without getting a lot of playing time, exhibited some signs of rust, managing just four hits in 30 at-bats in eight games for Santurce.Gomez, a teammate of Buford's with Santurce, was 9-for-27 with one homer and six RBIs in his first eight games.

Though the winter baseball season is just beginning in earnest, players and coaches in the Orioles' system have wasted no time making an impact, particularly in Arizona.Orioles first-base coach Davey Lopes has guided the Tucson Javelinas to the best record in the Arizona Fall League, a developmental league, with a 20-6 mark through Thursday's games.Lopes, who has interviewed for the managerial opening with the Houston Astros, has a team mostly composed of Houston prospects, and the Javelinas are one of two clubs in the league with a winning record.

Hitters from the Orioles organization continued a general hot streak through last week's play in the winter leagues, while pitchers improved their ERAs, if not their won-lost records.Orioles hitters were batting a combined .292, led by first baseman Paul Carey, who is hitting .398 through 29 games for Tucson in the Arizona Fall League, with five homers and 25 RBIs.Meanwhile, only one pitcher, right-hander Mike Cook (1-0, 1.86), who is pitching for Santurce in the Puerto Rican League, has a winning record, though three other pitchers -- Kevin Ryan of Honolulu (2.79)

Capitals 4, Flyers 2 Semin, Ovechkin lead Caps to fifth consecutive victory Alexander Semin returned from a two-game absence with a tiebreaking goal and an assist, Jose Theodore stopped Darroll Powe's penalty shot later in the third period, and the host Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2, on Tuesday night. Alex Ovechkin scored two goals - including an empty-netter in the final minute - and Nicklas Backstrom had four points for the Capitals. The Southeast Division leaders rallied from a 2-0 deficit to stretch their winning streak to five games.

Soccer Crystal Palace FC calls up Harada from Baltimore club Crystal Palace Baltimore's Shintaro Harada has been called up to train with sister club Crystal Palace FC in London. Harada, a center back and central midfielder, was named to the All-League first team of the United Soccer League's Second Division. "He's probably been our most consistent performer since our inception three years ago," CP Baltimore president Pete Medd said. D.C. United:: The Major League Soccer club has acquired midfielder Tiyiselani Shipalane on loan from the Harrisburg City Islanders of USL-2.

There are no excuses in major league baseball. No matter how good you might be, no matter how highly touted or how well you've done at other levels, you must consistently produce on the field. Those are the rules in this elite fraternity. Still, Alex Gordon, the Kansas City Royals uber-prospect who was selected second overall in the 2005 amateur draft, deserves a little slack for the rough beginning to his major league career. In his first 33 at-bats, he had just three hits and 13 strikeouts.

I don't believe for a second that the Ravens lost Saturday because of all the media-driven hype and the nostalgia concerning the old Colts. That would be a weak excuse. The players largely ignored it. It meant nothing to them. I talked to enough people in the organization to know they were treating the game as exactly what it was, nothing else. They lost because of four turnovers and a vanilla offense that didn't take enough chances. They lost because the Colts suddenly have remembered how to play defense.

Forget the thought about one of the Orioles' prime prospects moving to the outfield. Jayson Werth is a catcher, period. "Don't even think about a shift," said his manager at Bowie and current catching mentor, Andy Etchebarren. "No one has given up on him becoming a big-league catcher. I don't ever think he'll throw to second in 1.9 [seconds). But he'll be around 2.0 and that's good enough if he 's accurate with his throws." Said Werth: "A catcher is what I've always wanted to be. If I keep on progressing, I should be able to do it. I've only played in the outfield seven games in my whole life.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Still wearing a purple-and-red remnant from Sunday's line drive incident at Camden Yards, Orioles ace Mike Mussina confirmed yesterday that he will miss at least tomorrow's start against the Detroit Tigers and is not guaranteed of returning for his next turn as well.The concession further complicates Mussina's pursuit of his first 20-win season, a quest he says isn't worth jeopardizing his bruised right shoulder or his pitching mechanics.Mussina is waiting for residual tightness in his right deltoid muscle to ease.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Still wearing a purple-and-red remnant from Sunday's line drive incident at Camden Yards, Orioles ace Mike Mussina confirmed yesterday that he will miss at least tomorrow's start against the Detroit Tigers and is not guaranteed of returning for his next turn as well.The concession all but ends Mussina's pursuit of his first 20-win season, a quest he says isn't worth jeopardizing his bruised right shoulder or his pitching mechanics. The Orioles have yet to decide who will make Mussina's start, and the man who had been the favorite, long reliever Doug Johns, pitched last night.

Eddie Murray UP Orioles bench coach will manage in the Arizona Fall League this October with the Scottsdale Scorpions. League president Frank Robinson calls it a "showcase" league rather than a developmental loop.Ricky Bones DOWN Previously invisible, Bones inherited Juan Guzman's spot in the rotation and struggled last weekend in a 12-2 loss. Improvement is needed to avert another disappearance.Jr. DOWN Closing on 39, Cal Ripken speaks of experiencing "two careers." The most recent has forced him to miss 42 games, put him on the disabled list twice and causes him to confront the "surgery" word.

BaseballAngels: Activated IF Norberto Martin. Placed IF Craig Shipley (strained left hamstring) on 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 20.Braves: Recalled P Mark Wohlers from Triple-A Richmond and placed him on 15-day DL before returning him to Richmond for rehab stint. Activated P Russ Springer from 15-day DL. Optioned P Adam Butler to Richmond.Cardinals: Assigned 1B J. D. Drew to Peoria of Arizona Fall League. Recalled P Manny Aybar from Triple-A Memphis. Optioned P Rich Croushore to Memphis.

Brad Pennington, OriolesWho has the best-looking uniforms and caps, and why?Cincinnati's got the best, with their sleeveless. First off, they were my favorite team when I was growing up, and they look awesome. They've got the red outlining and the white pinstripe in the front. That's just a great look to me.I like the Yankees, because they've pretty much been the same since Day 1. They've got a lot of history to them. They never put the names on their shirts. They've never changed, and it's still a nice-looking uniform after all these years.