Mike Bordick

I have been putting off this post for a couple of weeks. It's about Mike Bordick's performance on MASN as an analyst on Orioles games. It started with a colleague, who is usually a keen observer of sports media, casually stopping me in the newsroom to say, "Z, you gotta write about Bordick. " As he said it, he shook his head side to side, winced and gestured with two thumbs down. So, I started watching and listening to the likable former Orioles shortstop. Instead of jumping into print with what I saw after a couple of games though, I also started asking other media types who watch a lot of Orioles baseball about their impressions of him. Representative of what I mainly heard was this: "Geez, Z, you're not going to rip Bordick, are you?

I have been putting off this post for a couple of weeks. It's about Mike Bordick's performance on MASN as an analyst on Orioles games. It started with a colleague, who is usually a keen observer of sports media, casually stopping me in the newsroom to say, "Z, you gotta write about Bordick. " As he said it, he shook his head side to side, winced and gestured with two thumbs down. So, I started watching and listening to the likable former Orioles shortstop. Instead of jumping into print with what I saw after a couple of games though, I also started asking other media types who watch a lot of Orioles baseball about their impressions of him. Representative of what I mainly heard was this: "Geez, Z, you're not going to rip Bordick, are you?

The Orioles have an opening in their broadcast booth for a color commentator, and they are considering popular former shortstop Mike Bordick. Bordick said he has had some conversations with MASN and expects to meet with officials from the Orioles-owned station again Thursday. “I am very interested in a MASN opportunity, and they seem interested, too,” said Bordick, who was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame last year. Bordick, 46, spent six of his 14 seasons in the major leagues with the Orioles and became a fan favorite for his hustle, work ethic and humility, acting as a steadying influence on a terrific 1997 team that was filled with stars.

The Orioles just sent out this release announcing that former Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick will join MASN as a TV color analyst. He will work approximately 80 games this coming season. The Sun reported Wednesday that Bordick had discussions with MASN about the position and planned to meet with them today. Bordick has also been a valued instructor within the organization -- he was the club's coordinator of offensive fundamentals -- and will likely have an expanded role within the organization despite moving to the broadcast booth.

Cal Ripken's 15-season tenure as the Orioles' shortstop ended yesterday, when the team signed free-agent shortstop Mike Bordick to a three-year contract. Ripken, 36, will be moved to third base, with his consecutive-game streak intact at 2,316.Bordick, said Orioles general manager Pat Gillick, "is one of the premier shortstops in the American League, and, with Cal Ripken at third base, he gives us a very strong left side of the infield. I don't think many balls will get between Cal and Mike."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The first week of spring training is supposed to be a pitchers and catchers invitational. Bunting drills, running, sharpening mechanics. So what is Mike Bordick, shortstop, doing at first base on a pickoff drill?And why is he strolling through the clubhouse before tomorrow's official reporting date, only to be razzed for his high-and-tight spring haircut?Bordick's union strongly suggests that only players coming off injuries, such as second baseman Roberto Alomar, arrive early.

The sounds and sights around the Boys' Latin baseball field and the makeshift batting cages are a relentless ping, ping, ping of balls making contact with aluminum bats combined with the image of balls flying through the air or on the ground or trapped against netting. Eventually, though, the eyes and ears are drawn to the sight of a man with flecks of gray hair around where his baseball cap fits on his head, holding a fungo bat, taped heavily around the barrel. And the sound coming from the bat is immediately foreign, but ultimately familiar, that of wood meeting horsehide, probably the way God intended it and certainly the way Mike Bordick has always known the game.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Mike Bordick is coming off the best season of a nine-year career and is in the best shape of his life. So why is the Orioles shortstop experiencing a mid-career crisis? The answer has nothing to do with performance, health or attitude and everything to do with age and his obvious desire to remain with the Orioles beyond the upcoming season. A pending free agent, Bordick senses his future may be most closely tied to the team's near-term success. "Nothing has been discussed or negotiated" with the Orioles, Bordick said without inflection yesterday.

The kid couldn't hit much and didn't have enough speed to steal bases, two compelling reasons to ignore him. But there was something in the way he played that made Oakland Athletics scout J. P. Ricciardi believe the young shortstop might have a future in professional baseball.Twenty-six teams picked a total of 982 players in the June 1986 draft, and the kid was not among them. But, as Ricciardi watched him play a month later in the Cape Cod League, the scout thought that maybe if the kid continued to develop, if he could hit just a bit, he could become a utility infielder in the majors.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- It's going to happen to Brady Anderson. He's going to pick up a ball in the outfield and look for the cutoff man coming out from shortstop and, for a split-second, wonder who that strange guy is where Cal Ripken has always been."

The Orioles have an opening in their broadcast booth for a color commentator, and they are considering popular former shortstop Mike Bordick. Bordick said he has had some conversations with MASN and expects to meet with officials from the Orioles-owned station again Thursday. “I am very interested in a MASN opportunity, and they seem interested, too,” said Bordick, who was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame last year. Bordick, 46, spent six of his 14 seasons in the major leagues with the Orioles and became a fan favorite for his hustle, work ethic and humility, acting as a steadying influence on a terrific 1997 team that was filled with stars.

Orioles officials talked about Manny Machado this spring mostly in measured tones, as if they were trying to keep something that was painfully obvious a secret. But all it took was to watch the 18-year-old shortstop effortlessly glide to his left to field a ground ball, or stand in the batter's box and lace line drives into the gap to reach this conclusion: "Some people just look like they belong on the baseball field. Manny Machado looks like he belongs on a baseball field," said Brian Graham, the Orioles coordinator of minor league instruction.

The man who replaced Cal Ripken Jr. at shortstop in 1997, and had one of the greatest defensive seasons at the position in 2002, will be inducted into the Orioles' Hall of Fame this August. Mike Bordick , who played with the Orioles for parts of six seasons from 1997 to 2002, will receive the honor on Aug. 13 before the team's game against the Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards. Also to be honored that night will be head athletic trainer Richie Bancells , who will receive the Herb Armstrong Award for contributions to the organization from non-uniformed personnel.

Ryan Adams knows no matter what he does this spring, he's likely headed to either Double-A Bowie or Triple-A Norfolk. But the middle infielder also understands how valuable these opportunities are for him to make a positive impression. Seemingly each game, Adams keeps upping his eye-popping stats. On Saturday, he had three hits including an RBI double that gave the Orioles their first run in a 6-4 victory over the Houston Astros. Adams also made a nice play at second base in the third inning, ranging far to his left on a grounder.

Let's be honest. Everybody who is hired to be the manager of the Orioles talks at some point about respecting the storied legacy of the organization and restoring the "Oriole Way. " The difference this time is that Buck Showalter might just succeed. Showalter has put a new emphasis on team-building and organizational pride that started with last week's field trip to a local theater for the homemade motivational video that had new first baseman Derrek Lee "ready to fight [Mike]

In constructing his 2011 coaching staff, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he was looking for committed individuals who would both mesh together easily and serve the needs of the club's young players. What he has built is a group of six men with varied talents and impressive baseball resumes — with all but one having at least six years of major league coaching or managerial experience. What Showalter doesn't have, however, is a primarily Spanish-speaking coach or a former Orioles player, two areas he was hoping to address when the offseason began.

The Orioles just sent out this release announcing that former Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick will join MASN as a TV color analyst. He will work approximately 80 games this coming season. The Sun reported Wednesday that Bordick had discussions with MASN about the position and planned to meet with them today. Bordick has also been a valued instructor within the organization -- he was the club's coordinator of offensive fundamentals -- and will likely have an expanded role within the organization despite moving to the broadcast booth.

Veterans Jeff Conine, Mike Bordick and Scott Erickson are back, but it's the first spring in two decades without Cal Ripken Jr. For the young Orioles of 2002, it's back to basics: bunting, sliding, turning the double play. Fans can only hope all the spring drills pay off in that sweet sound of summer: "Orioles win!"

It's official. Juan Samuel will not be returning to the Orioles' staff in 2011. Samuel has been announced as the new third base coach and outfield instructor for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is moving his old Orioles' boss, Sam Perlozzo, from the third base coaching box to first base. Here's what Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel had to say about adding Samuel, who spent most of his best years as a player with the Phillies. "I feel fortunate that we were able to add someone of Juan's stature to our coaching staff," Manuel said in a news release.

With his contract signed and the realization that he's indeed a professional baseball player, Orioles' 2010 first round draft pick Manny Machado is now looking forward to doing what he loves to do — play baseball. Machado, A Miami high school shortstop who agreed to a $ 5.25 millon deal moments before Monday's midnight deadline, will report to the club's minor league complex in Sarasota , Fla. — joining the Gulf Coast League Orioles. He'll work out with the team on Sunday and likely play in Monday's game.