Cal Ripken

Any resemblance would be hard for all but the most die-hard Orioles fans to notice. But it's there. The new Aberdeen IronBirds logo, unveiled Monday, was inspired by a furious, bat-wielding Orioles bird mascot introduced after the 1967 season. Billy Ripken, who turned 3 years old that year, remembered it well when he began thinking about refreshing the IronBirds logo. "He was mean-looking," Ripken said. "He had a bat in his hand and a had a little lean forward. " That bird's menacing look combined with inspiration from the recent Iron Man movies - since Ripken and his brother Cal, baseball's ironman, run the team together - form a slick new character that the duo hopes will continue to draw young baseball fans to games.

This is the kind of thing they used to teach in journalism school and I wish they still did: The way one careless mistake can diminish an otherwise strong performance and bring embarrassment instead of praise. That's the story of TBS's coverage of the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers in a one-game wildcard showdown Friday. The mistake: a graphic identifying analyst Cal Ripken, Jr. as "Carl Ripken, Jr. " as seen in the screenshot accompanying this review. At playoff time, as the announcers and analysts on TBS told viewers over and over Friday, everybody raises their games.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Cal Ripken Jr. was in the TBS broadcast booth for Friday night's American League wild-card game, alongside former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz and play-by-play man Ernie Johnson . Ripken had previously been a postseason studio analyst, but he only recently started working from the booth. And this is the first time, of course, that he has played this role as a broadcaster for an Orioles playoff game. "I'm enjoying being here," Ripken said before the game.

Cable channel TBS Thursday announced that Cal Ripken will be in the booth Friday night as an analyst when the Baltimore Orioles take on the Texas Rangers in a one-game wild-card showdown in Texas. He will be joined by Ernie Johnson (play-by-play) and John Smoltz (analyst), with Craig Sager on the field. The telecast is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. Here's the release from TBS with the playoff lineups: TBS's coverage of the 2012 MLB Postseason will begin with the exclusive presentation of the first-ever, single-elimination Wild Card presented by Budweiser on Friday, Oct. 5, a doubleheader featuring the Atlanta Braves hosting the St. Louis Cardinals at 5 p.m. ET and the Baltimore Orioles visiting the Texas Rangers at 8:30 p.m.  Brian Anderson will provide play-by-play commentary for Cardinals/Braves with analysts Ron Darling and Joe Simpson and reporter Tom Verducci.  Ernie Johnson will call Orioles/Rangers with analysts John Smoltz and Cal Ripken, Jr., and reporter Craig Sager.

Sept. 18, 2005: The Ravens rush for 14 total yards - a franchise low - and quarterback Anthony Wright is sacked six times in Baltimore's 25-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans. "There's no explaining it," coach Brian Billick says of his 0-2 team's inept play. "We will find the answers within ourselves. " Sept. 20, 1998: "Don't be sad. Be happy," third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. tells the media after scratching his name from the Orioles' starting lineup and ending his consecutive-games streak at a major league record 2,632.

Adam Jones often wondered just how deafening Camden Yards got back when the Orioles were competing for division titles years ago. The Orioles center fielder usually turned to head trainer Richie Bancells, who has been with the team for nearly three decades, and asked, “How loud can this place get?” In the eighth inning of a tie game Thursday night - in front of a sellout crowd of 46,298 at Camden Yards - Jones hit the biggest home run of his career, a shot to left that led the Orioles to an another resilient, 10-6, win over the New York Yankees.

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones has a short and a long-term goal when it comes to getting in the lineup: He expects to play in all 162 this year. And he wants to chase down Cal Ripken Jr.'s streak. OK, he's kidding about one of them. "I'm gonna play 162. I have no choice. That's what they signed me for," said Jones, who signed an $85.5 million, six-year contract extension in May and has played in all 138 games this season. Jones pointed out that fellow outfielder, Nick Markakis, missed just five games in the first three seasons of his contract extension (before being sidelined for nearly six weeks this year due to wrist surgery)

Some notes from Buck Showalter's news conference this afternoon: Showalter said Chris Tillman will see Dr. John Wilckens today to have his right elbow re-examined. A MRI showed an inflamed ulnar nerve, but no ligament damage. Tillman said he has had no pain in the elbow since Sunday night; he was taken out of Sunday's game for precautionary reasons. If Wilckens clears Tillman, the right-hander will play catch either today or Friday, Showalter said. His regular start has been skipped, but Showalter, at this point, did not rule out Tillman pitching in the four-game Yankee series.

TORONTO -- There was no solemness in the Orioles clubhouse following their 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night, unless you counted one player bemoaning one of his fantasy football wide receivers laying an egg on the first night of the NFL season. Nope, these Orioles are still relaxed. Yes, they were knocked out of first place with the loss and the Yankees' win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday. But this is a team that battled back from being 10 games behind seven weeks ago. One game isn't going to get them down.