Major League

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles optioned third baseman Danny Valencia to Triple-A Norfolk during Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Valencia, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox this offseason for cash considerations, was 10-for-31 this spring. He hit a game-winning solo home run in the Orioles' 8-7 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday in Fort Myers, his only one of the spring. The 28-year-old Valencia entered camp as a possible right-handed designated hitter because of his .316/.359/.472 career batting line against right-handed pitching.

Like most films depicting historic accounts of real-life events, the bio-epic "42" carries the immediate disclaimer that it is based on a true story, leaving room for interpretive analysis and creative license. Consequently, dramatic interpretations are by their nature subject to scrutiny and debate. While the film sticks close to the well-chronicled historic record regarding Jackie Robinson's unique place in time as the first African American to play in the major leagues, its sins are mostly of omission.

Dave Boswell, a former Minnesota Twins pitcher who led the American League in winning percentage in 1966 and ended his career with the Orioles, died of a heart attack Monday at his Joppatowne home. He was 67. Born in Baltimore, he was a 1963 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School. A Baltimore Sun article in 1967 said that in his senior year there, "he was followed by a pack of major league scouts. " According to news accounts, he was whipped into condition by his father, Buck Boswell, a Baltimore steelworker, and an uncle who had played for the International League Orioles.

Karl Marx is credited with saying that religion is "the opium of the people. " But here in the nation's capital, baseball is the drug of choice that rescues political junkies from the unpleasant realities around them. Currently providing relief from the congressional stalemate over the deficit that has produced the "sequester" of spending cuts, job furloughs and general fiscal paralysis is the return of last year's Cinderella baseball team, the Washington Nationals. After rising from traditional doormat to champion of the National League's East Division, the Nats heart-breakingly collapsed in the final game of their first playoff series.

Buck Showalter not only has baseball talents, Baltimore -- he's also quite a believable prankster. The folks at Major League Baseball's Fan Cave just posted a really funny video where Showalter "punks" relief pitcher Darren O'Day. Here's the setup: O'Day thinks he's being interviewed by a Wall Street Journal reporter about his fondness for something called a "Solowheel," a unicycle-type thing that he's apparently getting paid to endorse. In the middle of demonstrating the device, Showalter storms up and asks him what the heck he thinks he's doing.

When Joe Mahoney arrived in Southern California on Thursday to fill the Orioles' empty roster spot created when Chris Tillman was optioned to the minor leagues, he didn't know when - or if - he'd see his first major-league action before the All-Star break. On Saturday, he received his answer. Mahoney made his first major-league start at first base against the Los Angeles Angels and ace right-hander Jered Weaver. "It's pretty special, the first time, and it's against a good pitcher," Mahoney said.

CHICAGO - Nolan Reimold admitted his uneasyness in stepping into the leadoff spot in the Orioles batting order - unsure how he'd be able to adapt in an unfamiliar role -- but over the past few games, he certainly seems more than comfortable there. Over his past four games, the 28-year-old Reimold has sparked the Orioles offense -- hitting home runs in each of those games -- his latest a two-run shot that broke a scoreless tie in the sixth and helped the Orioles to a 3-2 win over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

Top position prospects Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop joined the major leaguers for drills on Wednesday and brought a few smiles to the face of manager Buck Showalter. "It's exciting to see them," Showalter said. "You give them as much as they can take. There are so many coaches here that have been with them. It's fun to watch them. It's as much for us as it is for them. It makes us feel good about the future when you see L.J. (Hoes) and Xavier (Avery) and those two guys and Dylan (Bundy)

Orioles rookie third baseman Manny Machado hit his third homer in his fourth big league game Sunday.  Machado, who hit two homers in his second game Friday, took a 2-2 high sinker from Royals starter Bruce Chen over the right-center field fence to give the Orioles an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. Machado's homer was originally ruled a ground-rule double, but the umpires found that the ball hit off the back of the right-center field fence and over and ruled it a home run. The 20-year-old rookie is now 6-for-13 with five extra-base hits (three homers, one triple, one double)

Here are some quotes from L.J. Hoes, the Mitchellville resident who received his major league call-up on Tuesday. On what he's done since Norfolk's season ended “I was just enjoying my time off. I hadn't had any time off in a while. Good to spend some time with my family. My grandfather passed away a couple weeks ago so it's just been hectic with all that stuff going on. Finally, I was glad to relax and be back with my family a little bit.” On what it means to be in Baltimore “It's great.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been here before, with fans screaming his name and his teammates shaking their heads at his latest incredible power display. Davis, though, also has been on the other side, when things are going terribly and he's sent to the minors and he's not really sure he can play this game. So that's why, after his eighth-inning grand slam in Friday's home opener - which gave the Orioles' a 9-5 win over the Minnesota Twins and Davis a mind-numbing four homers and 16 RBIs in four 2013 games - the extroverted first baseman was rather subdued.

Louis Mortimer Sleater, a standout high school athlete who ended his seven-year major league pitching career with the Baltimore Orioles and was later a steel salesman, died of lung disease Monday at his Timonium home. He was 86. A left-handed knuckleballer, he played for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics, Milwaukee Braves and Detroit Tigers before joining the Orioles in 1958. "He was the epitome of the journeyman left-hand pitcher in the 1950s," said Phil Wood, an MASN broadcaster who lives in Glyndon.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles' clouded roster picture became a lot clearer Wednesday with a couple obvious proclamations, one health setback and a top prospect heading to Double-A. Orioles manager Buck Showalter announced his rotation for the opening series of the regular season at the Tampa Bay Rays next week. There were no surprises. Right-hander Jason Hammel - who emerged as the team's top starter in last year's first half before dealing with a knee issue that eventually required surgery - will make the first Opening Day start of his career Tuesday.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter knows the numbers don't add up. The Orioles were successful in strengthening their depth this offseason, but the glut of outfielders will make it difficult to keep all of them in the organization. “You guys have done the math,” Showalter told reporters Tuesday. Before Tuesday's Grapefruit League game in Fort Myers, the team reassigned outfielder Lew Ford to minor league camp with the hope that he will be in the mix for Triple-A at-bats, but knowing that there are only so many outfield spots in Norfolk.

After throwing 62 pitches over four innings against Orioles minor leaguers Sunday, right-hander Chris Tillman said he could have continued to add to his pitch count, and still thinks he will be ready for the regular season. “It went really good,” Tillman said. “It went well. I got to work on everything. Everything was there. Command was really good. I'm really happy with it. “I feel like I'm ready to go. I asked [Orioles pitching coach] Rick [Adair] if I could get up a time or two more yesterday and he said no, obviously trying to protect me. I would have liked to. I felt good.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles optioned third baseman Danny Valencia to Triple-A Norfolk during Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Valencia, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox this offseason for cash considerations, was 10-for-31 this spring. He hit a game-winning solo home run in the Orioles' 8-7 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday in Fort Myers, his only one of the spring. The 28-year-old Valencia entered camp as a possible right-handed designated hitter because of his .316/.359/.472 career batting line against right-handed pitching.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez kept a black Rawlings glove given to him by an old teammate five years ago tucked away in his bag, waiting for the perfect time to use it. Gonzalez and Nick Adenhart played together through the Los Angeles Angels minor league system for parts of three seasons. Adenhart gave him the glove during major league spring training in 2007. They were good friends, even though their careers went different ways. While Gonzalez's career was derailed by injury, Adenhart became the top pitching prospect in the Angels organization, poised for a bright future under the Southern California sun. Then, Adenhart, who was raised in Western Maryland, was killed in a car accident by a drunken driver after making a start April 9, 2009, at the age of 22 -- a tragedy the Angels organization is still reeling from to this day. On Friday night, Gonzalez took the spotlight at Angel Stadium, making his first major league start and doing it against his former organization.

The Orioles' roster-move revolving door continued before Sunday's 9-8 series-finale loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. As expected, the club purchased the contract of outfielder Xavier Avery from Triple-A Norfok. In two corresponding moves, the Orioles optioned right-handed reliever Stu Pomeranz back to Norfolk to make room on the 25-man roster and also designated Norfolk infielder Matt Antonelli for assignment to clear space on the organization's 40-man roster. The 22-year-old Avery made his major league debut Sunday, batting leadoff and starting in left field.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Dickerson's revelation occurred while playing in the minor leagues, when the outfielder noticed how often his Triple-A teammates used plastic water bottles and - without a thought - tossed them in the trash. "Each guy is going through eight, nine bottles a day," said Dickerson, who was playing with the Cincinnati Reds' Triple-A affiliate in Louisville at the time in 2008. "What I noticed was coming in from [batting practice] that everyone was just tossing bottles in the trash and you'd go in and look in the trash and there's hundreds of plastic bottles in there.

SARASOTA, Fla. - For the second time this spring, Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen went to the team's minor league complex at Twin Lakes Park on Monday's off day to build his innings and work on his pitches. Chen has made just two Grapefruit League starts this spring, partially because Orioles manager Buck Showalter wants to avoid pitching him against American League East competition in big league games. On Monday, he pitched five innings against a Rays Class-A team with no worry that major league hitters could see him there.