Neck

SARASOTA, Fla. - Nolan Reimold made an amazing transition over the past several months, though he probably didn't even notice. He was out of sight and mostly out of mind while the Orioles were staging their surprising wild-card playoff run last year, recovering from extensive neck surgery and wondering if he would ever regain enough strength in his left shoulder to be the player who seemed to be blooming last April. Now, as the Orioles begin preparing for a new season and a possible playoff encore, Reimold is far from being a forgotten man. He's the guy whose name comes up every time club officials try to explain why they did not acquire another quality hitter to bolster the middle of the lineup.

Capitals Backstrom seeing specialist for neck injury Nicklas Backstrom is visiting a specialist in Michigan after suffering a neck injury while playing in the Kontinental Hockey League during the lockout, a Washington Capitals spokesman confirmed. Backstrom has not played since suffering the injury Dec.26 in a game with Dynamo Moscow. The Swedish center returned to North America on Sunday and was at the Capitals' training facility in Arlington, Va., on Monday, but has since traveled to Michigan.

This season, there are two very worthy candidates for the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Dec. 24 against the Washington Redskins, leads the league in rushing (1,600) and has scored 10 touchdowns. Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who sat out last season after undergoing neck surgery, ranks second in the NFL in completion percentage (68.3) and touchdowns (30)

A Baltimore jury convicted Marcus Satchell Thursday of second degree murder for shooting and killing a man in the Northwest Baltimore in 2010, after he mailed a confession to the victim's family, the State's Attorney's office said. Satchell, 35, picked up his victim - identified in Baltimore Sun records as Javon Perry, 27 - on July 17, 2010 and took him to Park Heights Avenue. They got in a fight and another person gave Satchell a handgun, prosecutors said. He fired four times, hitting Perry in the neck once, prosecutors said.

Kevin Anderson has taken his share of criticism since coming from Army to Maryland 27 months ago. The athletic director got off to a rocky start with Maryland fans - and many in the local media - for the clumsy way he handled the firing of Ralph Friedgen in December 2010 and the subsequent hiring a few days later of Randy Edsall as the school's football coach. And that was before the Terps were a disastrous 2-10 in Edsall's first season. Then there was the cutting of seven sports to help trim a multi-million dollar deficit Anderson inherited from his predecessor, Debbie Yow. Given the timing of the announcement - in the middle of that nightmarish 2011 football season - Anderson became something of an easy target.

A 64-year-old sailor was rescued after he became injured on his boat on the Severn River Saturday. According to the Coast Guard, a crew member aboard a 22-foot sailboat called the Joe Joe Bean called for rescue workers around noon Saturday to help a sailor suffering from head, neck and back injuries aboard the boat, at the mouth of the Severn River near Annapolis. Emergency workers responded from the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

Left fielder Nolan Reimold, who hasn't played since April 30 because of a neck injury that required the removal of a bulging disk June 25, is progressing to the point that he could be released from his supervised rehab program in two weeks. And that means he could go into the offseason and work out the way he normally would. “He's got mostly all of his strength back. That's going well,” Showalter said. “He's got X percentage, I'm not gonna give it out publicly, but his strength is about X percent back, which is well above average, so he is getting there.

Designated hitter Jim Thome , who originally thought he'd be out just a few days with neck spasms, will now be lost at least until September with a herniated disk in his neck. The 41-year-old Thome said doctors told him after an epidural late last week that he won't be able to resume baseball activities for 30 days - which puts his return to the Orioles until after rosters are expanded on Sept. 1. Thome said he'll continue to do his daily exercises for his lower-back issues, and, therefore, will hopefully be ready to start swinging once given the OK. "With injuries, I don't try to put a date because that can always change for the plus and minus sides.

NEW YORK - The Orioles suddenly find themselves with a logjam at second base after they reactivated Robert Andino from the disabled list on Tuesday. Andino, the starter for most of the season, now will compete with Omar Quintanilla for time at the position. And that leaves Ryan Flaherty in limbo. Quintanilla, who got the start at second base Tuesday, has been red hot since joining the club in Andino's absence. In his first 10 games with the Orioles, he batted .429, and he delivered a two-run single with two outs in Tuesday's second inning.

Orioles designated hitter Jim Thome said doctors confirmed Saturday afternoon that the discomfort in his neck is being caused by spasms and he is hopeful within a day or two he'll be back in the lineup. "Basically what I have is a spasm up in my upper neck, trap area," said Thome, who is hitting .261 with two homers in 18 games for the Orioles. "I woke up today and I was just a little more stiff than I have normally been. I came in and it was something that never really changed. So I brought it to (the medical staff's)