Current Orioles J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall have been teammates before. From 2005-9, they were both members of the Milwaukee Brewers.

That’s not the interesting part though.

What I’ve just learned is that back in ’07, Hardy and Hall were – along with fellow Brew Crew members Jeff Suppan and Chris Capuano – on the soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” And they weren’t just background cameo spots – each member of the team had several lines in the scene.

Check it out below.

So what do you think, O’s fans? Do Hardy and Hall have a future in acting following their MLB careers?

We O’s fans hardly need to hear the first three syllables of the name “Jeffrey Maier” before going into involuntary dry heaves.

Then there was THIS guy during the playoffs last year.

In Tuesday night’s O’s-Yanks contest, another Yanks fan pulled in what should have been an out and made it a home run. At the time, B’More was clinging to a 4-0 lead, and starter Wei-Yin Chen (4-0, 2.45 ERA) was working on a shutout with two outs in the top of the seventh. Curtis Granderson hit a long fly ball to the left field wall, where rookie Xavier Avery appeared to have a bead on it.

Instead, this:

And just like that, the Yanks were back in the game at 4-2. And just like in those previous instances, the umpires were completely silent.

Luckily, Chen would record the final out in the seventh with no more damage done, and the reliable eighth-ninth inning combination of Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson closed out New York without allowing another run. With that, the O’s managed a split of the short two game series with the Bronx Bombers.

More importantly, the O’s just finished their tough 15-game stretch – the one that many expected would prove to be their downfall – with an impressive 9-6 record. Take away the buzzsaw that is the Texas Rangers, and the Birds were 8-3 against the American League East during that stretch. That’s 3-2 against New York, 3-0 against Boston, and 2-1 against Tampa.

Not bad, O’s.

Now the O’s need to prove that they can – unlike their purple NFL companions here in Charm City – beat up on the teams they are “supposed” to beat after beating the best teams in the league. Following up their impressive start to the month of May, Buck’s Birds need strong showings against teams like Kansas City, against whom they play five of their next eleven.

Series against the fellow upstart Washington Nationals, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the revenge-minded Red Sox finish out the month of May for the O’s.

Let’s keep the magic going.

Unlike in Boston on Sunday though, Tampa infielder Sean Rodriguez really tried to bring the lumber, throwing a forearm shiver to Wieters’ facemask.

If Wieters had dropped the ball Sunday, the Red Sox would have won the game on the play. If he’d dropped it last night, Nick Johnson’s 2-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning would have only tied the game, instead of giving the O’s a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish.

Matt Wieters does not drop the ball.

After the play, Buck Showalter and trainer Richie Bancells came out to check on Matt, who was bleeding from his jaw. If it were me, Rodriguez would have heard some chin music in his next at bat. Apparently that’s not something Buck is down with though, as we saw earlier this week with Josh Hamilton.

Anyway, Matt Wieters. Watch it twice below – the first time on Gary Thorne’s MASN call, and the second time with Fred Manfra’s on radio.

Given the way they play against the Orioles, I’m really not sure how the Texas Rangers ever lose a baseball game.

They haven’t scored 30 runs in one game (yet) in this series, but they have put up 24 runs in just two games. In fact, the score over the first two games of the four game series – Houston 24 Baltimore 6 – looks a lot more like a score you’d expect to see in a game where Joe Flacco threw three interceptions and Arian Foster ran roughshod over the Ravens’ defense (let’s hope this scenario never occurs).

On Tuesday night, Texas wasted no time, going up 2-0 in the first inning on a Josh Hamilton home run.

It would be the first of FOUR two-run bombs for Hamilton on the night, making him just the 16th player in MLB history to go deep four times in a single game.

Hamilton, who also homered in his final at bat on Monday night (also a 2-run shot), added a double for good measure. Thus, in his last six AB of the series, he is 6-for-6 with five home runs, one double, and 10 RBI.

Not a bad little stretch.

Of course, if I were managing the O’s, Hamilton wouldn’t have had that many chances on Tuesday; instead, he’d have gotten a baseball right in his ribs the second time he stepped to the plate. He was way too comfortable in there against Jake Arrieta, who he hit his first two HRs and his double off of.

Congratulations to Hamilton on the historic accomplishment.

I still say he needs a ball right in the middle of his back, but I don’t think that’s something you ask Wednesday’s starter, Wei-Yin Chen, to do.

As for the team, the O’s need to manage at least a single win out of this series. While a split is still theoretically possible, it doesn’t look very plausible given the way they’ve appeared so thoroughly outmatched against the Rangers.

Getting swept on the heels of that amazing road trip would be such a pre-2012 O’s thing to do.

And it would remind us all way too much of those pre-2012 years in Birdland.

Come on, Chen, quiet those Texas bats down for a night.

Please?

That one word pretty much sums up that past road trip for the Orioles.

After taking their fourth consecutive L against division rival New York to start the 6 game trip, the frustration of being able to squeak out wins against lesser competition but never really being able to compete against powerhouses such as Boston and New York began to build in the minds of Orioles faithful.

Was this just another great start that they would squander when it was do or die time against two of the annual playoff contenders (well almost annual, sorry Boston) or would they finally rise to the occasion and show these big boy clubs that they mean business?

The Orioles stepped up to the plate and delivered, literally and metaphorically, going 5-1 on the trip including a sweep of the Boston Red Sox. I would have been happy if the Os would have gone 3-3 on this trip. I’m not about to get greedy when this club is playing some amazing baseball after 14 years of losing. Ultimately, 82-80 works for me.

So what happens now?

After watching our bullpen completely exhaust itself in Boston the O’s desperately needed a 6 or 7 inning start from Brian Matusz against the reigning AL champion Texas Rangers to give our relievers a much needed rest. Unfortunately, Matusz couldn’t get past the 6th inning – actually, he couldn’t even get an out in the 6th which would force Buck to bring in reliever Stu Pomeranz, just called up from Norfolk earlier in the day. “Stuuuuuu” as the OPACY crowd quickly came to know him, pitched 3 scoreless innings for the Birds. Things got ugly when Jason Berken came into pitch the final inning for the Orioles as he gave up 7 runs on 6 hits.

Its tough to watch guys like Matusz and Berken get slaughtered as bad as they did. I honestly want both of them to be successful and be a part of this club. Matusz has been one of the more confusing players to watch develop. He got rushed into the majors and found early success but eventually fell of due to a shattered confidence and injury. One inning he will show us he is the the lefty ace we so desperately wanted him to be and then the next inning the wheels come off and he looks like another failed prospect that the team rushed through the farm system.

I’m pulling for this guy. I really am – I want our ball club to be a contender and be successful. In a perfect scenario Matusz is a big part of that happening but right now he just doesn’t have the confidence it seems to bounce back after giving up a run or two which leads to the implosion we have seen far to0 many times for a starter at the major league level.

I’m not about to panic though; why should I?

So arguably one of our weakest starters gets lit up by one of the best teams in baseball, The Rangers aren’t the twice repeating American League Champions for nothing. This season is a marathon not a sprint – the good clubs are the ones who get shelled one night and then bounce back from it and I think this club is more than capable of bouncing back. With the bullpen getting a full day’s rest and Jake Arrieta set to pitch tonight I think we stand a pretty good chance. In a worst case scenario Arrieta can take us deep enough to give our relievers another day off and prevent us from dipping into the bullpen too early.

So stay positive Oriole fans and get out to the yard at some point during the homestand to cheer on our guys, Ill be there and you should too!

What a weekend at Fenway for the Birds.

Not only did they complete their first 3-game sweep in Beantown since way back in 1994, but the way they did it on Sunday afternoon was something that O’s fans will never forget.

It took 17 innings, both teams using position players to pitch, a huge relay throw from J.J. Hardy to Matt Wieters, Wieters subsequently blocking the plate and flashing a “got ya” smile, and a 3-run bomb from Adam Jones in the top of the 17th to get it done, but get it done our Birds did.

As a result of the sweep, the O’s now own the Majors’ best record this morning at 19-9. That’s the exact same start they had to the season back in 2005, though we may not want to remind ourselves of that.

That year, of course, the wheels completely fell off after the All-Star break and the Palmeiro/Tejada steroid/B12 scandal.

O’s fans are extremely excited, yet extremely cautious at the same time. We’ve seen them play well in the early part of the year before, only to fall off during the “dog days” of summer.

And even though the bullpen is ridiculously taxed at the worst possible time – coming into a 9-game homestand against the heavy hitting Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Yankees (combined record 52-33), here in Birdland we can’t help but feel good about our team at the moment.

Expectations coming into the season were as low as they had been in years, yet the O’s just keep on winning. After a 5-1 road trip to New York and Boston – a road trip that was “supposed” to expose them as the frauds they were – the sun just seems to be shining a bit brighter in Charm City this morning.

Hopefully O’s fans will get out to see the team this week, and give them a welcome home worthy of the conquerors they were over the past six games.

Pack the Yard, Baltimore.

The accomplishments ranged from the dubious to the quite impressive.

First, new Oriole Nick Johnson, after starting his O’s career with an abysmal month of April during which he went o-for-26. He was also hitless through his first two at bats Tuesday, extending the streak to o-for-28.

But then, something (sort of) magical happened. With the O’s leading 4-1 in the top of the sixth, and two runners on, Johnson hit what looked to be a routine pop fly to left field. However, it was anything but routine for Yankee left fielder Eduardo Nunez, who was playing the position for just the second time in his career. Nunez misjudged the ball and it fell to the Yankee Stadium earth without ever touching his glove.

Two runs scored, and Johnson ended up standing on second base.

Alas, the scorekeeper at Yankee stadium was feeling none too generous toward the former pinstriper, denying Johnson of his first hit by charging Nunez with the error.

o-for-29 it was.

Undeterred, Johnson stepped to the plate in the eighth inning against Rafael Soriano, and scorched a double into the right field corner. Finally, the streak was over.

In other news, the 7-1 Orioles victory gave starter Brian Matusz his first win since June 6 of last season. Matusz turned in his second quality start, going 6 1/3 giving up just one run on six hits. It was his longest outing since September of 2010.

Finally, the most impressive milestone of the night was for O’s skipper Buck Showalter. The win gave Buck his 1000th as a manager, and it came against the team he was with when earned his first, the Yankees. Buck joins 57 other big league managers in the 1000 club.

Congrats to Buck, Brian, and Nick.

Hopefully the O’s can get Buck his 1001st win today, and take two of three in the Bronx.

Our birds are sitting atop the division with a 14-8 record heading into a six game road trip where they will have a chance to firmly stake their claim atop the AL East against division rivals New York and Boston.

This past week showcased a lot of good baseball that the Orioles are capable of playing all year. During the six game home stand the Os compiled a 5-1 record, sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays and taking the final 2 of 3 from the Oakland Athletics. I was in attendance for the final two games of the home stand and can testify from first hand experience that the magic is coming back.

Those who watched or attended the Saturday night game against the A’s got to experience a great moment in Oriole baseball history when the first of six commemorative statues was unveiled in honor of Frank Robinson.  Despite the less than perfect weather a large amount of Oriole faithful came out to the yard to show respect for the legend himself and man were we rewarded. Maybe it was the fact that Frank was in attendance but something possessed our players that game as they quickly humped out to a 6-0 lead by the third inning. Wei-Yin Chen was on fire the whole night, going 7 strong while allowing only 1 run on a solo homer to Johnny Gomes. The Orioles wouldn’t let up on offense as they walked away 10-1 winners on the night; what an awesome way to wrap up a day in honor of one of the greatest Orioles of all time.

Sunday displayed a completely different type of win. Big Game Hunter was on the mound and a crowd of 31,000 were present in hopes of seeing their team take the series before heading out on a week long road trip. Despite trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth I noticed that virtually no one had left the stadium. I was somewhat surprised as in my experience if this team is down 2 or more with 3 innings to play you start to notice fans calling it quits early and heading for the exits.

Not Sunday.

No, it seemed like everyone almost had a gut feeling that they were gonna pull it out. Maybe it was too many fans drinking the Orange Kool-Aid amidst the great start on the season, or maybe it was the fact that fans wanted to prove their doubts right and see first hand that this team cant come through in the do or die moments.

Well they did, and my God was it awesome.

To see 31,000 fans all stand in unison yelling, clapping, banging on their seats in an effort to cheer on their team in hopes of a late inning comeback was something I have only dreamed of being in attendance for. When all seemed lost in the 9th down by two some “magical”things began to happen.

First Hardy reached on an infield single, giving us a small glimmer of hope as the tying run came to the plate. Next Nick Markakis would go down swinging almost deflating the crowd and any hopes of a win; but the fans kept cheering and we all kept believing that something amazing would happen. Bartolo Colon, who had held the Orioles in check the entire game suddenly made the one error that separates you from being a winner or a loser. In this case Colon would send a throw into the dirt allowing Adam Jones to reach on what should have been a routine play for an out, extending the Orioles for at least a moment.

At this point Matt Wieters was making his way to the plate. The crowd knew what was about to happen. The cheers grew louder as Grant Balfour, who had come into to preserve the win for the A’s, left a pitch just a little to high in the zone for Matt Wieters who proceed to crush the ball all the way off the left field wall, clearing the bases and tying the game.

Oriole Magic?

As Endy Chavez came into the game as a pinch runner for Wieters my friend Timmy turns to me and says “you know Paulino is gonna have to come into catch now right?” I responded with “He wont need to catch”.

I have never been so happy about being right in my life. After an intentional walk to Chris Davis, Wilson Betemit blasted a three run bomb off the top of the right center-field wall to end the game in a dramatic walkoff fashion while every fan in attendance went crazy and began celebrating with everyone around them.

This was an amazing sight to witness and hopefully this win foreshadowed a trend we can all get used to in Baltimore. I believe in this team (you’re gonna get tired of me saying that but its true) and you should believe in them also. Seeing the Yard that full and that excited is something that Baltimore has been missing out on for too long now. I’m gonna keep going to games and keep on cheering I hope to see a lot of you there.

This team has found some magic. Lets hope its here to stay.

Relish is my boy. Hopefully he can hold on throughout the 2012 season.

GO RELISH!

On Sunday, the Orioles looked, for all intents and purposes, to be destined to take a series loss against the Oakland Athletics. After scoring 10 on Saturday to set up the rubber match, A’s hurler Bartolo Colon had effectively silenced the O’s bats through eight innings, and, although Tommy Hunter turned in a strong effort of his own, it appeared as though the two runs he did surrender would be more than enough for Oakland.

If things had indeed transpired that way, it still would have been a relatively successful home stand for the Birds. While losing two of three to the A’s would have been a bit of a let down after sweeping the AL East rival Blue Jays, a 4-2 record over the last six would have been nothing to hang their heads over.

However, the O’s had some magic in their bats on Sunday afternoon – as they have many times so far this young season.

In 2011, the Orioles won only four games when trailing after seven innings.

That’s four games ALL YEAR LONG.

Entering Sunday’s game, they had already matched that total in 2012, through just 21 games. While they can’t hope to keep skating by by the skins of their teeth, the fight that Buck’s bunch has shown here in April is more than a bit exciting for this downtrodden fan base in B’More.

The bottom of the ninth on Sunday started off with two huge hustle plays by the Birds. J.J. Hardy led off the inning and grounded up the middle for what initially appeared to be a sure base hit. However, A’s second baseman Eric Sogard ranged to his right and made a great stop, turned and fired.

A good throw (or scoop) would have gotten Hardy for the first out. Luckily for the O’s, though, first baseman Kila Ka’aihue couldn’t handle the bouncing throw, and Hardy was safe.

Colon then struck out Nick Markakis swinging on a 3-2 pitch, and hope seemed to fade once again.

But Adam Jones was about to show some hustle of his own.

Beating Colon’s 0-1 offering into the dirt in front of home plate, Jones forced the sizable 38-year old pitcher to come up and field his position. By getting on his horse and getting down the first base line, Jones didn’t give Colon any time to set and throw, and Bartolo – like Sogard before him – handcuffed Ka’aihue. This time the ball bounced down the line into foul territory in right field, and Hardy scooted to third, with Jones pulling up at second.

The O’s had the tying runs in scoring position for Matt Wieters, and A’s skipper Bob Melvin went to his closer, Grant Balfour.

Wieters had been scuffling a bit at the plate, going 0-for-6 to that point in the series. However, after taking a questionable strike two to fall behind 1-2 in the count, Wieters jumped all over a Balfour slider and crushed it to left-center.

When the ball left the bat, I was just hoping for it to find some green in the left-centerfield gap. Instead, it continued to carry, and instead found some green at the base of the wall just under the 364 mark.

Jones and Hardy scored easily, and Wieters slid into second base with a double.

The O’s had the winning run in scoring position with one out, and the over 31,000 fans at Camden Yards were on their feet.

After an intentional walk to the red-hot Chris Davis, Wilson Betemit came to the plate.

Betemit made Melvin pay for choosing to pitch to him instead of Davis, taking Balfour’s 3-1 pitch to the top of the grounds crew shed in right center for the walk off home run.

Orioles Magic baby. Feel it happen.

The O’s wouldn’t have been in a position to tie or win the game without some stellar defensive play throughout the day. A much-maligned aspect of their game so far this season (and with good reason – the O’s lead the American League with 22 errors), everything just seemed to come together for the O’s gloves Sunday.

From Nolan Reimold making the most lackadaisical home-run saving catch you’ll ever see (seriously, Nolan, jump next time dude), to Mark Reynolds breaking twitter by making not one, but two great plays, to Adam Jones sliding to take away base hits, to Markakis gunning down runners at second base from right field, to Robert Andino picking up the aforementioned Reynolds when it looked like Oakland might add to their lead in the top of the ninth, it was just an incredible day defensively for the Birds.

As I tweeted during the game, it was like the Baltimore Ravens defense had shown up wearing Orioles uniforms.

Now, of course, the Orioles have had good Aprils before, only to inevitably disappoint us as the season wore on.

Still, after improving to 14-8, the Orioles are six games above .500 for the FIRST TIME since way back in July of 2005 (if I remember correctly, that would have been right before the Rafael Palmeiro B-12 fiasco caused the wheels to completely fall off on that once-promising campaign).

If this 14-8 April mark had been put up in 2011 – after the great finish to the 2010 season under Buck Showalter – we’d be wetting ourselves with excitement. Instead, we force ourselves to remember last year – when a great 6-1 start quickly turned sour again on the way to yet another 90+ loss year.

As cliche’ as it is, doesn’t this year just FEEL different?

The unexpectedly great pitching, from the starters through the bullpen.

The great O’s Magic I talked about before, the “never quit” attitude of the team.

All of it has added up over the first month to make some O’s fans think that maybe – just maybe – this is the year we finally see some games that matter played at OPACY in say, August.

As Orioles fans though, we’ve been beaten down to the point that we’re conditioned to not believe what we’re seeing with our own eyes. While a large segment of the fan base has given up completely on the club, another has taken a very cautious “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” kind of approach.

That second group can be seen and heard saying things like “let’s see where they are in July,” and “get back to me in August, and we’ll talk about the pitching again.” Or even a more short-sighted view, something along the lines of “yeah, this road trip to New York and Boston will reveal their true colors.”

An absolutely understandable mindset, if also quite a bleak and depressing one.

The third group of fans though – and I count myself among these misguided few – still lives and dies with every pitch, and absolutely revels in every bit of excitement the orange and black gives us, regardless of if it may be nothing more than Fool’s Gold.

Games like Sunday’s (and the other four late comeback wins) are the reason we watch not only baseball, but sports in general. There is nothing like that uplifting wave of emotion when a sure loss turns into a victory with one or two swings, before our very eyes.

And that’s why we still watch, and still have hope.

Sure, this time next week the O’s could very well be licking their wounds after another Bronx/Fenway series of beatdowns. We’ve sure seen it enough over the last 14 years to not be surprised.

But maybe – again, MAYBE – they will play their hearts out up north and make us proud, and they’ll keep hope alive for another few weeks or months.

Either way, we’ll be watching. Go O’s.