Sidney Ponson

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Different uniform and different hairstyle. Same old Sidney Ponson. The Prodigal Right-hander was back at Fort Lauderdale Stadium yesterday, happily greeting old teammates, taking jabs at Orioles fans and stiffing the Baltimore media. It was like old times, except he now has a thick dark mullet, wears the Minnesota Twins stripes and hasn't posed for a mug shot in months. OK, so the requisite cheap shot aimed at the Troubled Aruban has been fired. That's the last flippant rip for today.

CLEVELAND -- Another game, another loss and another lesson passed last night in the development of Sidney Ponson. Too confident or too inexperienced, the Orioles' prodigy was administered a strong lesson by the Cleveland Indians in what ended as an 11-6 beating but should have been something better.Ponson threw 75 pitches -- 53 for strikes and two for home runs. When faced with 0-2 counts, the ultimate pitcher's count, Ponson buckled.Ponson surrendered home runs to first baseman Richie Sexson and designated hitter David Justice as the Indians recovered from an early 2-0 deficit for a six-run fourth inning.

At Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay Time TV StartersTonight 7: 05 HTS Ed Yarnall (1-0, 1.42) vs. Sidney Ponson (12-11, 4.54)Tomorrow 7: 05 HTS Roger Clemens (14-9, 4.51) vs. Mike Mussina (17-7, 3.62)Tonight 7: 05 HTS Orlando Hernandez (16-9, 4.12) vs. Matt Riley (0-0, 7.36)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Yankees updateNew York has a magic number of three for clinching its third AL East title in the past four years. The celebration could occur on Baltimore soil, with the usual throng of Yankees fans expected in attendance.

Capping the most productive season of his career, left fielder B. J. Surhoff received 33 of 34 first-place votes to win the Most Valuable Oriole Award.If only he could have enjoyed the honor.Surhoff's enthusiasm was tempered by the Orioles' 78-84 finish, their second losing season in a row after back-to-back appearances in the American League Championship Series."It's something that'll be nice later, maybe a couple years from now or when I'm done playing," he said. "I appreciate the recognition, but it would have been a lot nicer if we were continuing to play.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- For much of this month, the Orioles have complained about being only one hit away from numerous breakout innings.Last night against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they again were one hit away.Against Glen Burnie High alumnus Tony Saunders, the Orioles found themselves only one hit removed from becoming a footnote to history as shortstop Mike Bordick's two-out, eighth-inning single was all that separated the Devil Rays left-hander from pitching the first no-hitter in franchise history.

Doppler Radar - DOWN - The meteorologist's "green mass" didn't engulf Camden Yards until 10 p.m. Wednesday. Too bad crew chief Durwood Merrill called the game on account of rain 2 1/2 hours earlier. Look at the bright side. The Orioles expanded their refund policy, school kids got to bed on time and Joe Torre dined in Little Italy.Injuries - DOWN - Delino DeShields, Cal Ripken, Arthur Rhodes, Doug Johns, Brady Anderson, Scott Erickson and Jason Johnson were either missing or limited in the final week.

At Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay ........................ Time ........................TV ...........................StartersTonight ...................7: 05 ......................54, 50 ..........Paul Abbott (5-2, 3.64) vs......................................... ............................................Doug Linton (1-2, 5.71)Tomorrow................4: 05 ........................45 ..............Freddy Garcia (14-7, 4.28) vs......................................... ..................

At Kingdome, SeattleDay -------------- Time ----- TV ---------- StartersTonight --------- 8 ----------- HTS -------- Sidney Ponson (5-3, 4.20) vs. Jamie Moyer (5-4, 5.50)Tomorrow ----- 10:05 ----- HTS -------- Juan Guzman (2-4, 5.23) vs. Freddy Garcia (6-1, 4.26)Wednesday -- 10:35 ----- HTS -------- Mike Mussina (7-2, 4.21) vs. Jeff Fassero (3-6, 7.34)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Mariners updateSuddenly Seattle is pushing Texas for the AL West lead. Before Tampa Bay's 15-7 rout last night, the Mariners had won four straight and 10 of their last 12 to go two games over .500 for the first time this season.

Yesterday, Sidney Ponson took the best that the Kansas City Royals can give these days. He absorbed it, then shrugged and kept moving in a manner now common for the second-year Oriole from Aruba.During the Orioles' 2-1 win, Ponson made further steps toward designation as the daredevil of his team's pitching staff while recording his third complete game, tops in the American League.In three separate innings, there were starts that spelled doom, but Ponson was still out there throwing on pitch 129 -- in the mid-to-high 90s, no less -- skull-and-crossbones territory in today's baseball.

At Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay, Time, TV, StartersTonight, 7:35, 13, 50, Chad Ogea (2-3, 4.50) vs. Scott Erickson (1-7, 6.75)Tomorrow, 7: 05, 13, 50, Carlton Loewer (2-5, 5.35) vs. Sidney Ponson (5-4, 4.37)Sunday, 1: 35, 54, 50, Robert Person (0-0, 8.38) vs. Juan Guzman (2-4, 5.49)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Phillies updateInterleague play enters its third season with the Orioles facing their designated NL East "rival" for the first part of a delayed home-and-home matchup.

'Beyond Baseball' 8 p.m. [MLB Network] This look at "what some players are doing outside the game" probably does not feature Sidney Ponson (left). But that's just a guess.

More than three years after the Orioles released and terminated the contract of Sidney Ponson after his third arrest in a nine-month span, a grievance arbitrator will finally decide how much money - if any - the organization owes the pitcher. Orioles general counsel Russell Smouse confirmed yesterday that the grievance would start being heard Dec. 17 in Baltimore by arbitrator Shyam Das. The hearing could take several days, and there is no definitive timetable for Das to render a decision.

Observations, opinions and musings from this week in major league baseball. Major League Baseball released its annual report on foreign-born big leaguers, and the Orioles have an above-average number born outside the U.S. on their 25-man roster and disabled list. But don't be fooled, oh critics of the Orioles' woeful international program. Plunge into the numbers and it's evident the Orioles are among the worst in mining foreign talent. Of the 855 major league players on Opening Day rosters and the DL, 239 are foreign born (28 percent, down from 29 percent in 2007)

Can't believe my good fortune. The producers of The Biggest Loser, NBC's hit weight-loss reality show, will be in Pompano Beach today casting for next season. Loser recruits overweight people to go on a weight-loss program and compete for a huge monetary prize, in this case $250,000. The only problem with this casting call is that the show is looking for teams of two to make a combined effort to lose the most weight. I wonder if Sidney Ponson is doing anything today.

When you look at Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera, what do you see - the intimidating 6-foot-9 fireballer who might develop into a right-handed Randy Johnson or the awkward, overgrown kid who's not really a kid anymore? Hall of Famer Jim Palmer looks at Cabrera and sees the whole spectrum. The big-time talent. The so-so athletic ability. The inconsistent mechanics. The incomplete pitch repertoire. The intermittent confidence. Cabrera is one complicated young man. That's why Palmer asked pitching coach Leo Mazzone the other day whether he could help.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Different uniform and different hairstyle. Same old Sidney Ponson. The Prodigal Right-hander was back at Fort Lauderdale Stadium yesterday, happily greeting old teammates, taking jabs at Orioles fans and stiffing the Baltimore media. It was like old times, except he now has a thick dark mullet, wears the Minnesota Twins stripes and hasn't posed for a mug shot in months. OK, so the requisite cheap shot aimed at the Troubled Aruban has been fired. That's the last flippant rip for today.

Deflating experience. Sidney Ponson was nowhere to be seen in Aruba on Friday night, though it's important to point out that I'm referring to the popular nightspot on Fort Lauderdale beach and not the Caribbean island that brought you Sir Sidney and fellow former Orioles Eugene Kingsale, Calvin Maduro and Radhames Dykhoff. It's a fun place. If you're waiting for a table, they give you a balloon on a string with a number written on it so they can find you in the crowd, which I thought was kind of cool until someone in our party suggested that the restaurant could save a balloon by writing the number on my giant head.

The Minnesota Twins appear to be the front-runners for Sidney Ponson, though a handful of other teams are interested. They'd likely try to sign him to a minor league deal. Ponson's grievance hearing still hasn't been rescheduled. Now I'm told it might not take place until spring training, perhaps right before the start of the season. For those of you wondering whether Jay Gibbons will be traded, he's not in great demand right now. I'd keep him and still try to sign Aubrey Huff. Craig Wilson does intrigue me, though, since the Orioles are traditionally inept against left-handed pitching.

It's still November and the Orioles already have bought four relievers for more than the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' projected budget. While other clubs haggled over everyday players and starting pitchers, the Orioles quickly signed Danys Baez, Jamie Walker, Chad Bradford and Scott Williamson. It's simple, albeit expensive, logic: They don't want another haphazard collection of rookies and never-weres backing up a group of young starters. Argue the specifics, but at least the Orioles showed moxie by identifying a weakness and aggressively attacking it. There is a victory in there somewhere.

Good morning --Sidney Ponson--Is it possible those pinstripes will give you a slimmer look?