Hoiles

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Manager Johnny Oates was saying just the other day that catcher Chris Hoiles would remain the club's No. 8 hitter even if he remains the league's No. 1 hitter. But the collision that took Randy Milligan and Bill Ripken out of action has forced him to juggle the lineup.Hoiles, who was still atop the league hitting ranks when he woke up yesterday, batted fifth last night in the Orioles' revamped batting order."I said that Chris would remain in the eighth spot unless there was a need to move him," Oates said yesterday.

Sports Legends Museum Wilson, Hoiles, Meissner to attend Babe's Birthday Bash The Babe Ruth Museum announced Friday that Ravens cornerback Josh Wilson , former Oriole Chris Hoiles and world figure skating champion Kimmie Meissner will be in attendance for Babe's Birthday Bash on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards. The event will celebrate the 116th anniversary of Ruth's birth in Baltimore on Feb. 6, 1895. The museum will present the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation with the 2011 Babe Ruth Museum Community Service Award.

The Orioles' starting catcher, Chris Hoiles, will miss four to six weeks after suffering a fractured wrist in last night's game against the New York Yankees, prompting the return of Rick Dempsey as an active player.Dempsey, 42, has been serving as an unofficial coach-instructor since the team chose Jeff Tackett as the backup catcher the day before the season began."I hate to see this happen at a time we really needed him," Dempsey said of Hoiles, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Starting in April, former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles will co-host a new afternoon sports talk radio show on Fox Sports 1370 AM. Adam Gladstone , the former director of minor league operations for Ripken Baseball and ex-director of baseball operations for the York Revolution, will join Hoiles in discussion about the Orioles and other baseball news. The show will debut Monday and will air every weekday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., featuring interviews with baseball executives, phone calls from listeners, live remote broadcasts and behind-the-scenes looks at Orioles baseball.

CHICAGO -- Five hours before the first pitch last night at Comiskey Park, the sound of a bat meeting a baseball echoed through a corridor beneath the stands. Crack. Crack. Crack. The sound of Chris Hoiles still trying to get his season started. On the sixth day of July.Alone in a fluorescent-lighted batting cage, dressed in a black jersey and gray pants, Hoiles swung at pitches delivered by a machine, then hit some balls off a batting tee. His teammates still weren't due at the park for another hour when he finished his extra session of batting practice.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Shortstop Cal Ripken hasn't been the only Iron Man up the middle for the Orioles this season.Catcher Chris Hoiles has started all but two of the team's 33 games. After catching six innings last night against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome, he had caught 272 of the team's 294 inings.The Orioles play a day game today after a night game, but manager Johnny Oates said he will not use that as an opportunity to rest Hoiles and give Jeff Tackett some work."When you can go five weeks needing a fifth starter only three times, that tells you you have a lot of days off," Oates said.

After an absence of 51 games, Chris Hoiles returned to the Orioles' lineup last night, and manager Johnny Oates said the catcher would immediately go back to his former role."

Chris Hoiles took batting practice for the second straight time last night and could be ready to return to the lineup tomorrow night."He may be ready by the first of the week," manager Johnny Oates said when asked to assess Hoiles' availability. "He's swinging the bat without any difficulty, but throwing could be a little more of a problem."Hoiles did not report any soreness after Friday night's workout, but wouldn't venture a guess as to when he would return. He hasn't played since Aug. 2, when he strained a muscle in his back while swinging in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

It has been a trying season for catcher Chris Hoiles.And his troubles may or may not have ended last night.Hoiles pulled up rounding first base on what should have been a second-inning double.Instead, Hoiles left the game with what was believed to be a pulled left hamstring. He's hoping, though, that it was just a heat-induced cramp."It didn't feel like a pull," Hoiles said. "It doesn't feel like a pull now, either. Then, with hamstrings, you never know."Team doctors will not know until they examine Hoiles today whether it was a cramp or the same injury that put third baseman Jeff Manto on the 15-day disabled list.

Mike Devereaux and Chris Hoiles underwent successful surgery yesterday, and both are expected to be ready for the start of spring training in February, Orioles vice president and general manager Roland Hemond said.Both players had surgery at Children's Hospital. Dr. Charles Silberstein stabilized the ulna bone fragment in Hoiles' right wrist. The wrist was fractured June 21, when Hoiles was hit by a pitch from Tim Leary of the New York Yankees. Hoiles' wrist will be in a cast for six weeks, and he will then begin an extensive rehabilitation program.

Starting in April, former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles will co-host a new afternoon sports talk radio show on Fox Sports 1370 AM. Adam Gladstone, the former director of minor league operations for Ripken Baseball and ex-director of baseball operations for the York Revolution, will join Hoiles in discussion about the Orioles and other baseball news. The show will debut next Monday and will air every weekday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., featuring interviews with baseball executives, phone calls from listeners, live remote broadcasts and behind-the-scenes looks at Orioles baseball.

I'll never forget the big old buck with a hairy eyeball that used to stare down at me from above the mantel at my great-uncle Walter's fishing and hunting cabin. Or the eggs fried in 30-weight oil and coffee from the Mister Mud Machine that jump-started every morning. Or the copperhead snakes that used to hide in the outhouse or under the rickety dock that hung out over the Susquehanna River. Good thing the bats kept them from getting too comfortable. Memories. I have them. You have them.

Outdoors Bowhunt in Pennsylvania with Hoiles, other former O's If you have $2,900 to spend, former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles has a bowhunting experience for you. Hoiles, who quit as manager of the independent York (Pa.) Revolution baseball team last month, has started a "sporting events management company" that will give amateur sportsmen and women the opportunity to hunt and fish with current and former athletes. The business also will manage youth sports camps. For its first outing, The Hoiles-Gladstone Group has arranged a five-day deer hunting trip next month with Hoiles and former Orioles Will Clark, Ben McDonald and Jamie Walker at the 7,000-acre North Fork Lodge on a Susquehanna River tributary in Pennsylvania.

Citing personal reasons, former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles is stepping down as manager of the York (Pa.) Revolution, a position he has held since before the club's inaugural 2007 season, team officials announced Wednesday. Hoiles, a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame who played in Baltimore from 1989 to 1998, guided York to the independent Atlantic League playoffs last season. "This is one of the toughest decisions I've had to make," Hoiles said in a statement. "I have appreciated the opportunity to join the York community and assist in building the Revolution from the ground up. My family has grown very fond of York and of Revolution fans who supported us during our three seasons here.

Orioles fans looking for a glimpse of the glory days can make a short trip up Interstate 83 this summer and take a peek into the home dugout of the independent York (Pa.) Revolution. The newly formed Atlantic League team announced the coaching staff for its inaugural 2007 season, and it will feature three members of the Orioles' Hall of Fame as well as the answer to a historic trivia question. Former catcher Chris Hoiles, who played his entire 10-year big league career with the Orioles and was inducted last summer into the club's Hall of Fame, will be the first manager of the Revolution.

The Orioles inducted Doug DeCinces, a power-hitting third baseman who succeeded Brooks Robinson, and Chris Hoiles, a tough catcher who helped spearhead the club's last run of excellence, into the organization's Hall of Fame in a ceremony before yesterday's game. The team also honored deceased trainers Ralph Salvon and Eddie Weidner with the Herb Armstrong Award for contributions from non-uniformed personnel. Hoiles said he enjoyed going into the Hall with DeCinces. "It's really kind of special because we've got two generations and two different stadiums and really, two different teams," he said.

This weekend, Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles bypassed treatment on his right shoulder for the first time since the first week of spring training. No need -- his arm's improved. He can feel the difference.And he can see the difference. Hoiles threw out two would-be base stealers yesterday, good, low throws, right to the bag, and he agreed it was the best he's thrown all year."This is definitely the best day I've had, as far as strength and accuracy," said Hoiles, who had thrown out six of 27 runners before yesterday.

The last man to hit a home run with a runner on base against Pedro Martinez would like nothing more than to step into a batter's box again. Instead, former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles sits home in Ohio, out of baseball, in likely need of hip-replacement surgery. It's difficult for him to walk, difficult for him to sleep, difficult for him to play with his two sons. "To have to [retire] because of an injury -- and still to this day not be able to do much of anything -- it's just tough," Hoiles said Wednesday.

Former third baseman Doug DeCinces and catcher Chris Hoiles will be inducted into the Orioles' Hall of Fame before the Aug. 26 game against Tampa Bay. Trainers Eddie Weidner and Ralph Salvon will be honored posthumously as recipients of the Herb Armstrong Award for non-uniformed personnel. DeCinces played with the Orioles from 1973 to 1981. He took over for Brooks Robinson in 1976 -- tough gig -- and didn't really win over fans until hitting a game-winning home run on June 22, 1979 at Memorial Stadium that is widely credited with starting Orioles Magic.