New York Yankees

Against anyone else, it would have seemed preposterous when the 12-year-old boy's hand reached into the field of play to change the course of the Orioles' 1996 playoff run. Against the New York Yankees? Jeffrey Maier was just another chapter in a long story. The Yankees have almost always been the measuring stick for their divisional rivals 200 miles down Interstate 95. And pardon Orioles fans if they've always felt the game was a little bit rigged, whether by baseball economics or by the dark magic of an adolescent fan. The Bronx Bombers of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were still the big boys on the block when the Orioles first got good in the early 1960s.

After going 4-for-4 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's series clincher against the New York Yankees , Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is officially hot again. Davis had come back to earth slightly after a molten start to the season. But since May 9, he's hitting .375 with five home runs and 13 RBIs. That doesn't quite equal the pace Davis set when he drove in 16 runs in the season's first four games. It's awfully good for any mortal, however. The funny thing is that Davis said he felt awful in batting practice before Wednesday's game.

After going 4-for-4 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's series clincher against the New York Yankees , Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is officially hot again. Davis had come back to earth slightly after a molten start to the season. But since May 9, he's hitting .375 with five home runs and 13 RBIs. That doesn't quite equal the pace Davis set when he drove in 16 runs in the season's first four games. It's awfully good for any mortal, however. The funny thing is that Davis said he felt awful in batting practice before Wednesday's game.

On occasion, Orioles manager Buck Showalter will wax poetic about certain baseball subjects as if he were sitting on a country porch, telling stories and sipping lemonade. Thursday afternoon was one of those times - when Showalter was asked about managing this weekend against Los Angeles Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly, whom Showalter played with in the minors, managed in the majors and has remained close to over the years. "You know how people say friends are people that know all about you and still like you?

NEW YORK - It wasn't as crucial as the missed call that defined both the 1996 American League Championship Series and the uneven relationship between the mighty New York Yankees and the Orioles. It certainly wasn't as clear cut. Nevertheless, a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees in Friday's Game 5 of the AL Division Series that ended the Orioles' wild ride of a season included another controversial call in right field at Yankee Stadium (though it is a new building). With two outs in the top of the sixth inning and the Orioles trailing the Yankees and their ace CC Sabathia 1-0, Nate McLouth hit a towering fly ball down the right field line.

Bob Turley, a hard-throwing right-hander who won the Orioles' first home game, died of liver cancer early Saturday morning, according to his son Terry Turley. He was 82. Turley pitched one season for the Orioles in 1954, their first in Baltimore, and he started the first big league game at Memorial Stadium. He was traded to the New York Yankees, with whom he won the Cy Young Award in 1958. The April 15, 1954 opener at Memorial Stadium was a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox played in front of 46,354 fans.

The most despised child in the history of Baltimore sports is all grown up. And, if his beloved New York Yankees falter, he'd like to see the Orioles win the 2012 World Series. Yes, Baltimore - 16 years later, Jeffrey Maier soon could be in your corner. "I'm a baseball fan first, and I still love the Yankees. But if the Orioles get past the Yankees, I'd love to see a Capital-area World Series with the Nats and the Orioles playing each other," said Maier, 28, who now goes by Jeff.

The Orioles moved at least one runner to second base in each of the first five innings yesterday against the New York Yankees. But in a display of abysmal clutch hitting, they drove exactly one of those runners home. Orioles@Blue Jays Today, 1:07 p.m., no TV, 1090 AM Starters: Orioles' Russ Ortiz (0-2, 11.57) vs. Blue Jays' Ted Lilly (9-10, 4.20)

Here is the Orioles' schedule for the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees: Game 1 (Sunday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m., TBS): Yankees at Orioles Game 2 (Monday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m., TBS): Yankees at Orioles Game 3 (Wednesday, Oct. 10 at TBA, TBS): Orioles at Yankees Game 4* (Thursday, Oct. 11 at TBA, TBS): Orioles at Yankees Game 5* (Friday, Oct. 12 at TBA, TBS): Orioles at Yankees * if necessary

NEW YORK - Reality and Mike Mussina reintroduced themselves to the Orioles and 40,433 witnesses last night at Yankee Stadium. No more Tampa Bay Devil Rays, No more forgiveness for slipshod starting pitching. Instead, No. 35 and the New York Yankees dealt the Orioles a familiar fate in a 14-5 beating that left the visitors with their seventh loss in nine games. Jumping rookie starter Willis Roberts for five first-inning runs and nine earned runs before he could get his 10th out, the Yankees rid the game of suspense before Mussina even broke a sweat.

Bob Turley, a hard-throwing right-hander who won the Orioles' first home game, died of liver cancer early Saturday morning, according to his son Terry Turley. He was 82. Turley pitched one season for the Orioles in 1954, their first in Baltimore, and he started the first big league game at Memorial Stadium. He was traded to the New York Yankees, with whom he won the Cy Young Award in 1958. The April 15, 1954 opener at Memorial Stadium was a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox played in front of 46,354 fans.

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' goal in the last few games of spring training is to get out of Sarasota healthy. In an 11-8 loss to the New York Yankees, the Orioles saw two players - both likely headed to the minors - leave the game with injuries. Right-hander Jair Jurrjens left in the second inning after getting hit in the right side by a liner off the bat of designated hitter Thomas Neal . Jurrjens was diagnosed with a right rib bruise and will have an X-Ray on Thursday morning.

Here's another subplot in the build-up to what should be a free-for-all in the AL East this summer: Almost every team in the division can play the nobody-believed-in-us card. With the exception of maybe the Blue Jays, who generated the most offseason hype this winter, the teams in baseball's deepest division might all enter the season with a chip on their shoulder. Case in point: Yankees first baseman (and Mount St. Joe alum) Mark Teixeira suggesting that his $200 million team is embracing an underdog role this season.

ESPN released its Sunday Night Baseball schedule for the first half of the season Tuesday, confirming that the Orioles will make their first appearance in the weekly national showcase since 2008. The Orioles' April 14 game at the New York Yankees will begin at 8:05 p.m. and will be called by the team of Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and John Kruk. Former Baltimore Sun writer Buster Olney is ESPN's Sunday Night reporter. The last time the Orioles were on Sunday Night Baseball was Sept.

The Detroit Tigers did what most Baltimore baseball fans wished for - they utterly dismantled the Evil Empire, the New York Yankees. Congratulations to the city of Detroit and the Tigers organization for a job well done. I do believe that our Baltimore baseball team deserves a small thank-you in return. The Orioles did not win their ALDS playoffs versus the New Yorkers, but they were prepping the Yankees for their demise by playing hard-fought games that sent the Yankees into their series with the Tigers an exhausted team.

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.

Our columnist Peter Schmuck wrote today that the Orioles continue to defy the odds -- literally. Oddmakers, most of whom predicted the Orioles to be one of the worst teams in baseball, continue to see the O's as a playoff longshot. According to offshore online sportsbook Bovada, the Orioles opened the season with 150-to-1 odds to win the World Series, the second-largest odds among all MLB teams only to the 200-to-1 Houston Astros, who actually turned out to be pretty bad. But as teams have dwindled out of competition, the Orioles' odds have become more favorable.

Orioles fans are chortling this morning after the Detroit Tigers routed the New York Yankees 8-1 Thursday for a four-game sweep of the American League Championship Series. This was an unbelievably humiliating series for the Yankees, which always plays well here. It's been fun watching the notorious New York media savage the home team, too. The Yankees seemed intent in mailing this one in from the beginning. It didn't help that Yankees' ace  C.C. Sabathia, who surrendered 11 hits and six runs, appeared to be throwing batting practice to the Tigers yesterday.

NEW YORK - Minutes after the Orioles lost to the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the American League Division Series to end their wild and unexpected 2012 season, club managing partner Peter G. Angelos hugged center fielder Adam Jones and made a prognostication. “In another year, I predict you are going to be ahead of [the Yankees],” Angelos told Jones. Angelos, who rarely makes appearances, entered the clubhouse for the second time this series after making his first visit after the Orioles' Game 2 win at home on Monday.