Orioles History

In recent years, the Orioles have become accustomed to going down to the wire before signing a deal with their top draft pick. The drama really heightened on Friday afternoon, though, when the Orioles and LSU right-hander Kevin Gausman agreed to a $4.32 million signing bonus just before the 5 p.m. deadline. “It was seconds [to spare],” first-year Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich said. The bonus - $120,000 higher than major league baseball's suggested slot for the fourth overall pick - is the third largest in Orioles history behind the $6 million given to catcher Matt Wieters in 2007 and the $5.25 million received by shortstop Manny Machado in 2011.

In 1978, the Orioles used their second-round draft pick on an infielder that most teams had projected as a pitcher. They weren't going to let the son of Cal Ripken Sr. elude their grasp. Thirty four years later, the Orioles dipped back into that gene pool, drafting Ryan Ripken - son of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. - with the 612th overall selection in the 20th round of baseball's amateur draft. The 6-foot-6, left-handed first baseman - once best known for squirming around his father during some of the most memorable moments in Orioles history - batted .377 with 25 RBIs in his senior season at Gilman.

* Adam Jones' six-year, $85.5 million deal -- which will be formally announced this morning -- is the largest in Orioles history. It breaks down this way: He'll get $2M signing bonus; $8.5M in 2013; $13M in 2014 and 2015; $16M in 2016 and 2017; and $17M in 2018. With escalators, it could reach $91.5 million. Regardless, it is the second-largest total-value contract for a center fielder behind the Los Angeles Dodgers' Matt Kemp's ($160M).   He is ahead of Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen ($51.5M)

After Wednesday's game at Camden Yards was postponed -- forcing a doubleheader Thursday -- the Orioles needed both games against the Rangers, and quality starting pitching, to salvage a series tie. And the Baltimore bats were ready to partake in a slugfest early, while making history in the process. The Orioles hit home runs in their first three at-bats of the game -- getting solo shots from Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis -- as part of a five-homer game in a 6-5 win in Game 1. It marked the first time in AL history that a team opened with three consecutive homers and the fourth time overall, the previous time coming when the Milwaukee Brewers did it Sept.

Chris Davis hadn't thrown a pitch in nearly six years, dating to his days as a draft hopeful playing at a small junior college in Corsicana, Texas. But more than five hours - and 15 innings - into the Orioles' series finale with the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon-turned-evening, manager Buck Showalter turned to Davis, the club's everyday first baseman, in the visiting dugout and directed him toward the bullpen to warm up. The Orioles had exhausted all other relief options - eight relievers combined to allowed one run over seven innings - in a game tied at 6. Davis shrugged.

I wanted to see where Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta's performance Friday ranked among the top Opening Day starts in club history and the good people at Elias Sports Bureau gave me an interesting stat. Arrieta's start against the Twins marked the first time in Orioles history that a starting pitcher threw at least seven shutout innings and allowed two or fewer hits on Opening Day. Very impressive indeed, and while it ranked up there with the best Opening Day starts in Orioles history, it was far from the best.

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The Orioles' new starting pitcher, Tsuyoshi Wada, likely won't make his Camden Yards debut until the first full week of April, and it won't be known for several months how well he'll make the transition from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball to major league baseball. But the first impression of the 30-year-old, soft-tossing left-hander is that he'll work to assimilate - as evidenced by his opening statement Thursday at his introductory news conference at Camden Yards, which he delivered in English.

Mark Reynolds is making the Orioles' pending decision this offseason on whether he'll play first or third base in 2012 an easy one. After excelling defensively the past couple of weeks as the regular first baseman, Reynolds returned to third Sunday and made two errors in the Orioles' 8-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Reynolds, making his first start at third since Aug. 14, booted Brandon Guyer 's two-out ground ball with the bases loaded in the Rays' four-run third inning.

September 3, 1980: Against the Mariners, Steve Stone picked up the 100th win of his career.