Baltimore Orioles

It seemed every seat was filled during the Baltimore Orioles' exciting playoff run last season except the one that belonged to Matt Hersl. Friends say the rangy, baldheaded Orioles regular never sat during games but ran around Camden Yards, laughing with season ticket holders, keeping an eye on the batter to make sure he had the best vantage point to snag an errant fly ball or a home run souvenir. Hersl was a vigilant "ballhawk," and brought the same sharp eye and enthusiasm to his Little Italy community, where he served as the neighborhood watch leader.

Fresh off two wins over the New York Yankees, center fielder Adam Jones and the Orioles decided to have a little fun with fashion for their late-night trip to Canada, where they play the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. Before catching a plane after Wednesday night's 6-3 win, Jones and several Orioles players, including Manny Machado, Tommy Hunter and Brian Matusz, donned denim-on-denim outfits and posed for a couple pictures . If you have ever seen the fine film “ Super Troopers ,” the all-Levi look is jokingly called a “Canadian Tuxedo.” If you want to rock the same look, here is a helpful denim guide . Of course, the Orioles are no strangers when it comes to having fun with their wardrobes on the road (and they are certainly not the only team to play dress-up )

The funeral procession for Matthew Hersl crawled through the tight streets of Southeast Baltimore, moving past the Milan restaurant, the Inner Harbor Travel agency and the Little Italy parking garage. Steve Hersl, Matt's brother, blared his car horn as he inched along. A blue passenger van with a Baltimore Orioles hat resting on the dashboard led the convoy through the 45-year-old city finance supervisor's neighborhood. As the procession passed his home, Steve leaned out his black Hyundai and yelled, "I love you, Matt!"

Each Wednesday, blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Orioles. three -- straight blown saves for Orioles closer Jim Johnson on the team's current homestand. Every Orioles fan knows that Johnson has blown three straight saves. It has definitely been out of the norm for Johnson, who was unsuccessful in just three save situations in 2012. But what makes it really unusual is that the three blown saves in 2013 came after a stretch where Johnson had converted a club-record 35 save opportunities over the past two seasons.

Each Wednesday, blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Orioles. five -- consecutive quality starts for Chris Tillman. Right-hander Chris Tillman pitched seven strong innings Tuesday night, allowing four hits and one earned run to give the Orioles his fifth straight quality start (closer Jim Johnson could not secure the win for him, though). Over Tillman's past five starts, he has a 1.87 ERA and opponents are batting .195 against him. He recorded three wins and the Orioles won four of those five games.

Fresh off two wins over the New York Yankees, center fielder Adam Jones and the Orioles decided to have a little fun with fashion for their late-night trip to Canada, where they play the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. Before catching a plane after Wednesday night's 6-3 win, Jones and several Orioles players, including Manny Machado, Tommy Hunter and Brian Matusz, donned denim-on-denim outfits and posed for a couple pictures . If you have ever seen the fine film “ Super Troopers ,” the all-Levi look is jokingly called a “Canadian Tuxedo.” If you want to rock the same look, here is a helpful denim guide . Of course, the Orioles are no strangers when it comes to having fun with their wardrobes on the road (and they are certainly not the only team to play dress-up )

Duckpin bowling and Oriole baseball are as Baltimore as it gets, coursing through the life of the city the way the Falls rushes into the harbor after a hard summer rain.But how many people know that it was a couple of Baltimore Orioles who invented duckpin bowling on Howard Street? Michael Gibbons does, and if the chief of the Babe Ruth Birthplace museum has his way, everyone who finds his or her way to Camden Yards will know it.Gibbons is a guiding force behind a $10 million baseball spectacular planned for 1998 at Camden Station, the now-empty former rail station from the Civil War era standing within spitting distance of Oriole Park.

Another day, another inquiring mind wanting to know what it's like to be baseball's next big thing. Manny Machado is ushered into the large conference room at the Orioles' Ed Smith Stadium training complex, his attention quickly drawn to the portraits on the far wall. Brooks Robinson. Frank Robinson. Boog Powell. Cal Ripken. All in a row. "Someday," he says almost sheepishly, "I want to be up on that wall. " Someday, he probably will, but first things first. There is the small matter of living up to the advance billing and Machado instinctively knows that he won't be able to do that if he takes his eye off the ball.

The Annapolis-based law firm Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC has acquired and is merging with the Law Offices of Arnold M. Weiner, located in Baltimore. The merger will go into effect on July 1, according to a statement from the firms released Wednesday. After the merger, the firm will be called Rifkin, Weiner, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC. Alan M. Rifkin, managing partner of the firm, said that Rifkin, Livingston has been looking to re-establish a Baltimore office and this merger offered the right opportunity.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Each week, I hope to chat with one of them in a regular feature called Blogger on Blogger. This week, I exchanged emails with Amanda Redman, who blogs about the Orioles for the Birds Watcher blog . MV: The Orioles entered Monday night's AL East showdown with the New York Yankees with five straight losses, all at home. I know there is still a long way and many, many games between now and late September, but are you concerned that these Orioles might be finally falling back to Earth?

The Annapolis-based law firm Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC has acquired and is merging with the Law Offices of Arnold M. Weiner, located in Baltimore. The merger will go into effect on July 1, according to a statement from the firms released Wednesday. After the merger, the firm will be called Rifkin, Weiner, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC. Alan M. Rifkin, managing partner of the firm, said that Rifkin, Livingston has been looking to re-establish a Baltimore office and this merger offered the right opportunity.

A couple of hours after it was announced that Roberto Alomar would be inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame, the former Orioles second baseman hopped on a conference call at noon Wednesday to talk about the honor. I was curious to see what he had to say about this current bunch of Orioles, who are third in the American League East this season and who in 2012 made the playoffs for the first time since 1997, the second of Alomar's seasons here. Alomar says he pays attention to every Major League Baseball team because he currently works as a special advisor for the Toronto Blue Jays, but he does try to keep tabs on the teams that he used to play for, including the Orioles.

Few people were walking around downtown Laurel Tuesday evening, but at Main Street Sports Grill, nearly every seat at the bar was taken for happy hour. Since April marks the start of Major League Baseball play, the multiple flat-screen televisions behind the bar were showing ESPN's highlights from games across the nation. However, come 7 p.m., ESPN would be replaced by coverage of two games, one featuring the Baltimore Orioles, and the other the Washington Nationals. Laurel is sandwiched between Baltimore and Washington, about a half-hour drive away from either city, and at Main Street Sports Grill, baseball loyalties were divided between the two teams.