President Of Operations

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail wanted to make a larger point about risk and about baseball's financial imbalance Thursday during a question-and-answer session with a group of Baltimore School of Law students. So at one point, after taking questions for more than 40 minutes, MacPhail decided to throw out a query of his own. "Who is the worst free agent signing in baseball history?" MacPhail asked. "I invite all of you to think about this for two minutes. " The answers shouted back at MacPhail were varied.

When it came time for Stephanie Blatchley and her husband, Tyler, to buy their first house, the young couple knew exactly what they wanted. Having grown up in western Howard County, she was most comfortable in a country setting. Both of them wanted to be near family and friends. And the idea of easy access to major thoroughfares was appealing. They also knew what they did not want: a formal dining room. "We lived in an apartment for two years, and although we enjoyed that lifestyle, we wanted to buy a house of our own," Blatchley explained.

Brady Anderson is carving a small block of time out of his packed training schedule to demonstrate the true purpose of the athletic life, which is not about money or women or fame or even fun. It's about beating you. The field of play - in this case - is a pingpong table in the middle of the Orioles' spring clubhouse at the Ed Smith Stadium Complex, where the team is preparing - with Anderson's help - for the 2012 baseball season. But it could just as well be a tennis court or a flag football field or the running track.

Greyhound Lines Inc. will discontinue bus service at one of two Baltimore terminals Tuesday, when the Baltimore Travel Plaza will close to make way for new amenities at the adjacent hotel. The bus line will continue to offer Baltimore service from its terminal on Haines Street, off Russell Street, south of M&T Bank Stadium. Many of the 41 daily departures and arrivals at the travel plaza to be shut in East Baltimore also made stops at the Haines Street station. Greyhound plans to add scheduled trips through the Haines Street station in the coming weeks, said spokeswoman Bonnie Bastian.

Just minutes after the gates opened at Camden Yards, the new Roof Deck had its first customer -- Romeo Santos of Pigtown. "My goal was to be the first one up on this deck and grab a beer. " Roof Deck is open to Oriole Park ticket-holders at every game, a fact that seemed to impress even a Baltimore City police officer, who was overhead expressing his approval of the covered center-field bar and viewing platform. Variations of the Roof Deck have become popular mixing areas in other stadiums, especially for restless fans who want to keep half an eye on the game as they move around the park.

In the "On The Move" feature of yesterday's Business section, the photographs of E. James Frack of Walpert, Smullian & Blumenthal and James E. Frantz of Agency Services Inc. were transposed.The Baltimore Sun regrets the errors.New positions* Agency Services Inc. in Baltimore named James M. Schafle executive fice president; James E. Frantz, vice president of operations; and Nicolaus Sakiewicz, vice president of sales and marketing. * Walpert, Smullian & Blumenthal, a regional accounting/management consulting firm, named E. James Frack principal.

Partnership offering physical fitness programs Will Maier, owner and founder of Fitness Plus Inc./Martial Arts America, and George Tyler, owner of Top Shape Fitness, have joined forces to offer physical fitness programs. Both businesses are in the Oakland Building, 9042 Old Annapolis Road (Route 108). Sykesville company names VP for operations Erik Puskar has joined Business Integrated Technology Solutions Inc. of Sykesville as vice president of operations and marketing.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Before Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball" hit the best sellers list and before Brad Pitt brought Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane to the big screen in the Academy Award-nominated film of the same name, the concept of building a small-market club through shrewd acquisitions, farm system strengthening and an obsession with on-base percentage had already been featured north of the border. Arguably, the first incarnation of the Moneyball concept occurred in Montreal in the early 1990s.

Once the Orioles claimed second baseman Alexi Casilla off waivers from the Minnesota Twins earlier this month, it appeared that Robert Andino's days in an Orioles uniform were numbered. Instead of facing the decision of whether to non-tender Andino by the Nov. 30, the Orioles dealt the veteran infielder to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday in exchange for outfielder Trayvon Robinson. The 25-year-old Robinson adds to the Orioles' outfield depth, and he will likely compete for a fourth outfielder spot this spring.

Chris Davis was one of the hottest hitters in baseball in the first week of the season, though he has cooled off over the past couple of games. Still, his historic four-game start to the season probably prompted casual sports fans across the country to ask themselves, “Who is this Chris Davis guy and where did he come from?” Well, everyone here in Baltimore knows that the Orioles acquired him from the Texans Rangers before the trade deadline in 2011. But Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has shared some interesting details from the deal . As it turns out, the Orioles more or less bought the slugging first baseman from the Rangers for $2 million.