Young Players

Thinking backon his efforts as an ambassador of baseball, Cal Ripken Jr. recalled howthe teens he worked with in Nicaragua were so excited it was impossible to corral them into groups, while the kids in China were so reserved it was hard to get them out on their own. But one of the things both sets of young players shared, he said Tuesday, was a love of the game. That's part of the reason why the Hall of Fame shortstop isn't intimidated by his latest diplomatic assignment from the U.S. Department of State: Hosting 16 teenagers from Japan who were profoundly affected by the earthquake and tsunami in March.

When Sean Rush and Santino Quaranta met in 1992, they were 7- and 8-year-old soccer players with big dreams and bigger potential. Almost 20 years later, Rush, who attended Dulaney High School, has played professionally in the United States, Italy and Brazil, and is still under contract with Ribeirao, a Portuguese club. Quaranta, who went to Archbishop Curley, has played for three Major League Soccer teams, including his current squad, D.C. United, since he was 16 years old. He has also appeared for the U.S. national team in 15 games.

Twelve -year-old Connor Sullivan has anger-management problems. How he grapples with his temper drives the plot of "Hothead," an entertaining first young-adult novel by legendary Orioles infielder and Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and Baltimore Sun columnist Kevin Cowherd . With its conflict-driven plot, the story is a page-turner. Add concrete details and strong verbs (Cowherd's signature touch), and the story will engage even kids who might have more interest in baseball than in reading.

With the ongoing renovations at Ed Smith Stadium and Twin Lakes Park, the Orioles are looking to move their instructional league a lot closer to home. Team officials are planning a scaled-down version of the instructional program for next month at Camden Yards. While the logistics are still being worked out, the plan is for several of the organization's young minor leaguers, including this year's first-round pick, shortstop Manny Machado , to spend two weeks going through hitting and fielding drills and working with Orioles coaches.

A week after publicly questioning the team's direction and its offensive approach, Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis met with principal owner Peter Angelos Thursday afternoon to air those concerns. The meeting, which lasted about an hour and a half at a Little Italy restaurant, was requested by Markakis, who during his eight years in the organization hadn't had an extensive conversation with the owner. "I wanted to give him my input and tell him the things I thought we lacked and needed, and what we needed to change," said Markakis, 26, the team's highest-paid player and the second-longest-tenured member of the club behind injured second baseman Brian Roberts.

The epiphany hit Aubrey Huff hard this past offseason, when the San Francisco Giants were the only team to offer him a major league contract, when several other accomplished hitters had to accept minor league deals or didn't get a deal at all. "I knew if I didn't have a good season this year, it's over," said Huff, seated in the Giants' clubhouse before their 10-2 victory over the Orioles in Monday's series opener. "I looked at the offseason free-agent market this year, and Hank Blalock couldn't get a job, Jermaine Dye still doesn't have a job. I knew if I didn't produce this year, it's conceivable that it could be it for me. I want that one playoff series.

This was supposed to be a season in which the Orioles got better. But rocked by the second-worst start in team history, the Orioles fired manager Dave Trembley on Friday, a move that might placate a frustrated fan base but does little to address other organizational concerns. Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail begins the search for a long-term manager for the team with the major leagues' worst record, which has seen some of its young core players regress and attendance dwindle at one of baseball's most revered ballparks.

Dave Trembley reminds you of a guy in a knife fight and all he has to defend himself is a swizzle stick. Sure, it's unfair to judge the Orioles manager solely by the team's cataclysmic collapse since the All-Star break. Key players (George Sherrill, Aubrey Huff) were traded from under him. Others (Adam Jones, Nolan Reimold, Brad Bergesen) were hurt. The starting rotation was shaky, even before they shut down a couple of promising youngsters to save their arms. The bullpen was one giant mushroom cloud day after day. None of that was Trembley's fault.

Melvin Mora was not in the starting lineup for the first game of the four-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, and you have to wonder whether he succeeded in talking himself off the team with his verbal attack on manager Dave Trembley on Sunday morning. Guess we'll find out today, when the club has to make room for heralded pitching prospect Brian Matusz. That would be sad. Mora has been a fixture in the Orioles' lineup for most of this decade and has conducted himself honorably and charitably in the community throughout his career here.