Fall League

Joe Jordan, the Orioles' director of scouting, recently watched fifth-round draft pick Jacob Arrieta pitch in the Arizona Fall League. "We've seen a good curveball, slider, changeup. We've seen him really pitch," Jordan told me Tuesday night. "He's got a workhorse body, an Andy Benes type of guy. I was really encouraged. It was similar to what I saw his sophomore year at TCU. Delivery-wise, it looks like he's got some things ironed out. He's very confident. Facing wooden bats, he's a different guy. He really attacks with the fastball.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Orioles had another early arrival at the Fort Lauderdale Stadium complex yesterday. Though only pitchers and catchers are required to be here until tomorrow, third baseman Ryan Minor showed up in the morning and exchanged greetings with teammates before slipping on his uniform and taking the field.The past season had been unforgettable for Minor, but not for all the right reasons. He struggled after making the jump from lower Single-A Delmarva to Double-A Bowie, hitting .250 with 152 strikeouts, and was unimpressive in the Arizona Fall League.

Norfolk outfielder L.J. Hoes highlights the list of Orioles farmhands that have been chosen to play in the 2012 Arizona Fall League, considered the top venue for young prospects. The others are all on Bowie's roster: left-handed pitchers Chris Petrini and Mike Belfiore, right-handers Mike Wright and Clay Schrader and infielder Jonathan Schoop. All will play for the Mesa Solar Sox. Catcher Brian Ward is on Mesa's taxi squad, meaning he will be eligible to play on Wednesdays and Saturdays only.

Without overpowering stuff, Rick Bauer must make his living by thinking positively and keeping his emotions under control. He has done both well this season.Despite a lofty ERA, Bauer has pitched longer and more successfully than any other starter on a no-name Frederick staff that helped keep the Keys in Single-A Carolina League playoff contention until the final week. He is the team's biggest winner and most used pitcher."I have to work down in the zone, get ahead and think more," Bauer said.

BOWIE -- The announced attendance at Prince George's Stadium was 1,118, but the in-house count was probably in the neighborhood of 500.Still, Peter Kirk, chief executive of Maryland Baseball Limited Partnership, was not deterred by the slender turnout for the Maryland Fall Baseball League opener last night."

If David Crouthers expects any perks after making the Double-A Eastern League's All-Star team, being chosen its Player of the Week and combining with two relievers on a no-hitter, he'll have to find them in the bullpen. When the Orioles send Crouthers to the Arizona Fall League, they want him pitching in relief to limit his innings and become accustomed to a possible change in roles. Though he could join Triple-A Ottawa's rotation next season, Crouthers is projected as a late-inning specialist.

Alex Ramsay grew up just 30 miles away from College Park in Millersville, but the Severna Park star catcher never saw himself playing baseball at Maryland. The No. 2-ranked player in the state, Ramsay always thought he'd attend college in the South. Miami, the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion, was a possibility. Or maybe he would play in the Southeastern Conference for the Auburn Tigers, who finished in first place last season in the conference's Western Division.

Professional baseball is coming to Maryland and Delaware this autumn.A four-team league composed of Double-A and Single-A players from all 30 major-league organizations is scheduled to launch play Sept. 22 and engage in a 42-game schedule through Nov. 1.The sites will be the home parks of the Bowie Baysox, Frederick Keys, Delmarva Shorebirds and Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks.The plan has been approved by the major-league farm directors and baseball's Executive Council and awaits only the formation of written contracts.

MEN'S BASKETBALL, as we reported last winter, is alive and thriving in Howard County. Never been healthier, with the reigning Maryland men's titlist playing here. But Title IX's impact on the sport in girls leagues, schools and colleges notwithstanding, for grown women, there've been no teams, no league, apparently ever, locally. That is about to change, Mark Pendleton, a sports coordinator for the Department of Recreation and Parks, reported last week. The county's first women's basketball league is scheduled to start in early January.

NFL Former Terp Merriman's run with Chargers to end on IR The San Diego Chargers put outside linebacker Shawne Merriman , once one of the most feared players in the NFL, on the injured reserve list with a calf injury and a "minor-injury designation," meaning the former Maryland standout must be released once he's healthy. Technically, the Chargers could re-sign the controversial player. That almost certainly won't happen, though, because general manager A.J. Smith hasn't been a fan of Merriman's celebrity-leaning lifestyle.

Alex Ramsay grew up just 30 miles away from College Park in Millersville, but the Severna Park star catcher never saw himself playing baseball at Maryland. The No. 2-ranked player in the state, Ramsay always thought he'd attend college in the South. Miami, the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion, was a possibility. Or maybe he would play in the Southeastern Conference for the Auburn Tigers, who finished in first place last season in the conference's Western Division.

Shaquille O'Neal kissed Caron Butler on the head, got a technical for hanging on the rim and thumped Andray Blatche into a knee-buckling injury. He also scored 29 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Of course, a 36-year-old center playing back-to-back games at the end of a long road trip isn't much of a problem when the opponent is the new worst team in basketball. O'Neal and the Phoenix Suns wrapped up a six-game East Coast swing last night with a 103-87 win over the Washington Wizards, who suffered the indignity of falling behind the Oklahoma City Thunder to take sole possession of the NBA cellar.

The Orioles finally came to terms with Brian Matusz yesterday afternoon, and don't think it was a coincidence that the deal was made - and the 6 p.m. news conference scheduled - so we could all be in front of the television when Michael Phelps goes for gold in the 100-meter butterfly later tonight. OK, it probably was a coincidence, but what fun would that be? Everybody's got Phelps Phever, so why not Andy MacPhail and agent Marc Agar. Matusz reportedly got a $3.2 million signing bonus, which means he'll be the coolest kid in the Arizona Fall League ... or the Hawaiian Winter League.

Frederick Keys ace right-hander Jake Arrieta took a long, hard look at his glowing statistics this season and said of his chances of being promoted to Baltimore next year: "I think it's going to be hard for them [the Orioles] to keep me in the minor leagues if I keep pitching this well." Arrieta, 6 feet 4 and 225 pounds, is on a roll these days and had every right to be confident after he had shut down the Salem Avalanche on two hits and no runs over seven innings Thursday night. He struck out six and walked three in an 8-0 victory for the Keys.

A bases-clearing double by Dominic Fratantuono and a two-run double by Robbie Harris highlighted an eight-run fourth inning that propelled host and No. 11 Cardinal Gibbons to an 11-7 upset of the top-ranked Calvert Hall baseball team. Cardinal Gibbons unleashed 15 hits to end Calvert Hall's 31-game winning streak in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference that began in 2006. Ryan Staton (5-3) went all the way for the Crusaders (11-5, 3-4 MIAA A Conference) on eight hits with five strikeouts and as many walks.

The return of injured Orioles Leo Gomez and Jeffrey Hammonds appears within sight. Gomez will start an injury rehabilitation assignment with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings tomorrow and Hammonds will join the Double-A Bowie Baysox on Saturday in Albany, N.Y.Normally, a rehab assignment could last weeks, but the minor-league season will end in little more than a week. So it appears likely both players will be back in action at the major-league level soon after the roster limit rises to 40 on Sept.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The competition for jobs in the Orioles outfield appears to be limited to right-field candidates Luis Mercedes, Chito Martinez and Rule V draftee Sherman Obando, but manager Johnny Oates has a caveat.Don't count out Triple-A player Jack Voigt.Voigt, who made a brief visit to the major leagues last year, does not figure to compete for the starting right-field job, but he is the kind of player Oates would like to have around when he needs to spell Brady Anderson in left.Oates doesn't know Voigt that well, but he has been impressed with what he has seen and heard of him during the first few days of camp.

Joe Jordan, the Orioles' director of scouting, recently watched fifth-round draft pick Jacob Arrieta pitch in the Arizona Fall League. "We've seen a good curveball, slider, changeup. We've seen him really pitch," Jordan told me Tuesday night. "He's got a workhorse body, an Andy Benes type of guy. I was really encouraged. It was similar to what I saw his sophomore year at TCU. Delivery-wise, it looks like he's got some things ironed out. He's very confident. Facing wooden bats, he's a different guy. He really attacks with the fastball.