Wild Card

I died and went to heaven. No wait, it's just Camden Yards, easily mistaken Thursday night as the place where all good Orioles fans who have spent the last 15 years in purgatory go to get their just rewards. The O's were not just back in town, they were back in the chase. Against none other than the Yankees. In a nearly full house that was swathed largely in orange and not the blue pinstripes of fans who had usurped our park as their sixth borough. Someone pinch me. No, don't.

Cal Ripken Jr. just talked before first pitch about his newly unveiled sculpture (and other things). Here are a few quick quotes for you: On the ceremony: “It's a totally different experience (than the other unveilings). I missed Frank's, then I've come to every one since. They're a little bit nerve-wracking, a little bit emotional. Many of the ones have mentioned my dad; Jim mentioned him, Eddie mentioned him and it starts to get you thinking. So today I thought by preparing a speech and practicing it about 100 times I could get the emotion out of the speech, but sure enough at the moment of truth, it hits you, which I guess is a really good thing.” On the timing of the unveiling and the Orioles' current run: “I think it is really symbolic of the connection to Orioles' history and the Orioles' past.

I'm not sure when was the last time the words were uttered by a free agent baseball player about Baltimore -- probably 15 years or so ago. Veteran left-hander Randy Wolf, who agreed to terms with the Orioles on Thursday and will be activated and available to pitch for the club Friday in New York, seemed sincere when he said it Thursday just inside the home clubhouse. "With the teams that I talked to, I was excited with the Orioles' possibilities of winning," Wolf said Thursday afternoon in the Orioles' clubhouse.

Newly acquired Orioles left-hander Joe Saunders spoke with the Arizona Republic earlier today after this morning's trade was completed. Here's a transcript of the interview: Thoughts on trade? “I was excited to get traded to a contending team. They're in the hunt right now so it's going to be exciting. My family is from there so it's going to be a trip home for me.” Where in the area is your family? “I grew up in Northern Virginia so about an hour and a half south of there.

Let's start with the local disappointment: Spencer Horsman, brought back by Howard for the wildcard round, who escaped from a vest of locks while wet cement tumbled down on him, was eliminated along with ballsy balancing act Cristin Sandu. Hacky ventriloquist Todd Oliver and his dog/puppet Irving stays winning somehow. Horsman going home for a second time was unfortunate, but it was par for the course in a night that found the show's more middling acts moving on. Part of this must be placed on the judges, who temporarily turned the show into "The Voice" by celebrating their acts and only their acts, and as a result, never doing all that much judging which does indeed, guide the viewers at home.

Baltimore escape artist Spencer Horsman returned to "America's Got Talent" last night to try and convince voters he's worth a wildcard spot. Horsman, one of Howard Stern's picks, was first up. Horsman, in a steampunk-like metal vest with eight padlocks, dropped himself into a booth that filled with 150 gallons of wet cement. "If I fail, I'll be buried alive," he announced in the pre-performance video. A big part of an escape artist's act is selling the drama and making the audience freak out over the fact that hey, they might die up there.

Here's my quick, five-cent take on new Maryland quarterback starter Perry Hills during Saturday's open scrimmage : Hills is bulky, pretty unflappable, and athletic enough to be a serious running threat. And his passing? Too soon to tell. For sheer accuracy, backup Caleb Rowe - who is also about 6-foot-3 but slighter than Hills - may have done more to impress on Saturday. But the offense during these scrimmages is pretty scaled-down, so we really haven't seen how well Hills can throw.

Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds refused to call his two-homer game against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday his first step to redemption. He'd rather footnote it as one good night. Reynolds, who had struggled with his power stroke all year, is beginning to heat up at the plate, as his manager and teammates predicted would eventually happen during the course of the season. Reynolds, who averaged 37 homers the last three seasons, had built up too strong a power-hitting resume to remain in a season-long funk, they argued.

After a three-week hiatus during the Olympic games, or as I like to call them, "Planet Earth's Got Talent," the seventh season of "America's Got Talent" returns tonight. From here on out, I will be your recapper. And who am I? Well, I'm a Baltimore-based writer who mostly writes about rap music for SPIN , and I've also contributed to places like Pitchfork, The Village Voice , as well as b and City Paper . I'm also a pretty big Howard Stern fan and Howard joining judges Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel, is what got me watching.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he doesn't pay attention to the standings until August. For the past 14 seasons, Orioles fans haven't had the need to either, their team usually already long out of contention by this time of year. "I haven't looked at them today," Showalter said before Wednesday's series finale in New York against the Yankees, holding back a smirk, "but I have an idea. " With two months to play, the Orioles find themselves in a tight playoff race. The addition of a second wild-card spot in each league makes it even more interesting.