Major League Baseball

As a Baltimore native, Orioles spring training season ticket holder and longtime Jeremy Guthrie fan, I'm saddened that my favorite pitcher was traded to the Rockies ("Orioles' spring version of the show: 'As the Rotation Turns,'" Feb. 8). But the recent acquisition of relief pitcher Pat Neshek - the only known vegan player in the Majors - definitely softens the blow. I'll cheer for a vegan pitcher any day - even if he blows more than eight saves. Anyone who spares animals, helps save the environment and promotes healthy living is a champion in my book.

Don't penalize honesty Bill Shaikin Los Angeles Times Intent can be notoriously difficult to determine — unless, that is, a pitcher admits his intent, as Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels did. "Come see our headhunting pitchers" is not the best advertisement for baseball, so Hamels, like any other pitcher admitting intent, should have been suspended. The league already suspends pitchers deemed to throw at batters with intent, no matter what the pitcher says.

If you run into Walt Wagner, don't be surprised if he tells you right away, that his son — HIS SON!! — is one of two guys Major League Baseball is paying — PAYING!! — to hole up and watch every last inning of every last ball game. His boy, born in Baltimore and raised on the Orioles, beat out 10,000 people for the chance to "eat, sleep and live baseball" for the entire season — albeit behind glass in a Manhattan storefront. "I still get the shakes when I talk about it," gushes Wagner, a retired city cop. "That's my son. " Ryan Wagner, who's 25, is spending the next seven months with fellow winner Mike O'Hara, lazing on a sofa, sipping Budweisers and fixing his attention on what will turn out to be 2,430 games — a head-spinning number of pitches, countless fly balls, who knows how many stolen bases.

An old Sun scribe, Ken Rosenthal, says that sources are telling him that Major League Baseball will decide how much MASN owes the Nationals for rights fees. The Orioles, of course, own a majority of the network that televises both team's games. Orioles owner Peter Angelos brokered that deal by arguing that the arrival of the Nationals in D.C. would cut into the Orioles' profits. In the beginning, he owned 90 percent of the network, and his percentage is dropping slowly and will bottom out at 67 percent.

Late Orioles game: Last night's game between the Orioles and Chicago Cubs at Camden Yards was delayed by raln in the ninth inning and ended too late to be included in this edition. A complete report can be found in later editions or on the Internet at http://www. sunspot.net. CHICAGO -- Sammy Sosa didn't have much to say after Major League Baseball heard the appeal of his suspension. He added no new information and declined to take questions. Yet Sosa wanted to say one more time that he was sorry --or the Chicago Cubs wanted him to, anyway -- so they trotted him out before the assembled media in Baltimore on Tuesday.

This year, millions of people will watch the Orioles at Camden Yards or on TV. We can't know whether the O's will win or lose, but there's at least one thing every baseball fan can be sure of witnessing: spit tobacco use. Baseball has always been a numbers game. Fans everywhere know their favorite players' batting averages and earned run averages. Here in Baltimore, the number 2,632 — Cal Ripken's record for consecutive games played — is etched in many minds. Well, how about these numbers?

Major League Baseball's desire to test players for human growth hormone got a boost Monday from an unlikely source: British rugby player Terry Newton , who became the first athlete suspended after a positive blood test for the performance-enhancing drug. The New York Times reported MLB would rush a blood-testing program into use at the minor league level during the 2010 season. But that appears unlikely according to a highly placed source, who spoke Friday after baseball officials spent the week discussing the legalities and logistics of the situation.

September 29, 1953: Baltimore was awarded the St. Louis Browns, bringing major-league baseball back to the city.

Baseball Seasons 8 p.m. [MLB Network] The program looks back at 1968 - the Year of the Pitcher. Bob Gibson (left) and Denny McLain were among the dominant performers. Carl Yastrzemski won the American League batting title with a .301 average. The next season, Major League Baseball lowered the mound.

I applaud Major League Baseball for taking another step toward making its draft an event for fans. I look forward to seeing the qualities of Dustin Ackley and Aaron Crow debated in prime time. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/toydept)

At the recent marathon baseball game against the dreaded Yankees, it seemed cruel to put Orioles fans through the torture of playing all those innings in the freezing cold ("Late-night letdown for O's," April 11). It appeared that most of the fans had not brought enough clothes to weather the extra innings. Why can't Major League Baseball get creative and come up with something that fans could look forward to when games go into extra innings - something that could wrap the game up early enough to accommodate those who must get up the next day to go to work or school?

Major League Baseball has delivered on its pledge to formulate a policy for players' social media use, as Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports points out . I'm not going to delve into all the details of the policy (Calcaterra does a nice job outlining them in his post), but much of what you'd expect to be in it is there. A lot of it as common sense - don't condone steroid use in a tweet, for example - but as we've seen all too many times, common sense takes a back seat when some athletes get their hands on a smartphone.

Major League Baseball has ruled it will not approve the Orioles' contract with 17-year-old South Korean Kim Seong-min, a move that caused much controversy in the pitcher's home country. The action comes five days after the Orioles apologized for an "unintentional breach of protocol" in signing Kim, regarded as the country's top left-handed high school pitcher. MLB did not approve Kim's deal because the Orioles failed to conduct a proper "status check" of his eligibility status, according to an industry source.

As a Baltimore native, Orioles spring training season ticket holder and longtime Jeremy Guthrie fan, I'm saddened that my favorite pitcher was traded to the Rockies ("Orioles' spring version of the show: 'As the Rotation Turns,'" Feb. 8). But the recent acquisition of relief pitcher Pat Neshek - the only known vegan player in the Majors - definitely softens the blow. I'll cheer for a vegan pitcher any day - even if he blows more than eight saves. Anyone who spares animals, helps save the environment and promotes healthy living is a champion in my book.

Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette has released a statement through the team acknowledging the club failed to adhere to protocol in their signing of 17-year-old South Korean pitcher Kim Seong-min: "On behalf of the Orioles organization, I offer a sincere apology to the Korea Baseball Organization and the Korea Baseball Association for the club's unintentional breach of protocol in failing to tender a...

The Orioles' signing of a 17-year-old high school sophomore from South Korea has drawn the ire of the Korean Baseball Organization, which is threatening to petition Major League Baseball for what it deems the fleecing of its young talent. The Orioles announced the signing of Kim Seong-min, South Korea's top left-handed high school pitching prospect, to a minor league contract Monday. While signing players out of South Korea -- including ones in high school -- is customary, Kim is just the second high school sophomore to be signed by a major league club and the first since 1997, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette has released a statement through the team acknowledging the club failed to adhere to protocol in their signing of 17-year-old South Korean pitcher Kim Seong-min: "On behalf of the Orioles organization, I offer a sincere apology to the Korea Baseball Organization and the Korea Baseball Association for the club's unintentional breach of protocol in failing to tender a...

Orioles reliever Mark Hendrickson's signing of a one-year, $1.2 million deal likely will not be officially announced until Monday. He completed his physical Friday and there weren't thought to be any problems. Transactions are not made official on weekends because Major League Baseball's offices are closed. - Dan Connolly

The bidding war for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is about to begin. The 26-year-old Cuban defector was granted free agency Wednesday by Major League Baseball, meaning teams can begin contract negotiations. This week, Cespedes established Dominican residency, which was the major hurdle for him to become a free agent. The Orioles are one of six teams -- along with the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Tigers, and Indians -- that Cespedes recently said have shown the most interest in him. Baltimore is indeed interested.

There's never been a major league baseball player to come out of New Zealand. And despite reports from the country that 17-year-old first baseman Pita Rona has signed a seven-year "major league" contract with the Orioles, it's actually far from that. The Orioles have signed the 6-foot-5, 175-pound Rona to a minor-league deal and he will report to Major League Baseball's developmental academy in Australia. Rona, who has played for the New Zealand men's national softball team (commonly referred to as the Black Sox)