Nick Markakis signed a broken civil
War veteran bobblehead last year for me.

So post game now, I’m going to get more random objects signed by guys. I already have their autographs, but feel like I shouldn’t waste opportunities of guys sign.

So today we have…

A water bottle signed by Robert Andino

And…

A drink coupon from the designated driver station signed by Kevin Gregg

Was going to take my shoe off and have it signed by Wayne Kirby, but I just missed him. Darn.

Go O’s.

162-0.

Team iPhone.

The season begins this week and I’m going to be honest…I haven’t “fallen behind” on my blogging…I’ve simply been way too busy to blog.  Props to Erik Jabs on his daily blog posts, and some other MLBlogs that have been keeping up with it this offseason.  I probably won’t make Top 100 this season like I did all of last year because detailed posts are going to be very hard to come by.  This summer I will not only be taking on a schedule where I will try to squeeze 100+ games in (MLB+MiLB), but also working full time as a server at my local BWW and doing writing for Baltimore Sports Report.

I have been managing the Stevenson University baseball team where I am currently at school, mainly because it was too late for me to join the team by the time I transferred, so I may as well be paid to travel with the team now, right?  Next season will be a whole other story.

I am now on Team iPhone, so feel free to always tweet at me @AviMiller621 (for baseball) or @2131andBeyond (for random shenanigans) and I’ll always be tweeting along.  Tweeting to me is like a basic version of blogging.  I can put basic notes of my experiences on there, now easier with pictures and all, without having to spend time on the computer editing down photos and whatnot.

Speaking of, still waiting for a response from MLBlogs as to why there is a photo limit to the blogs.  If they don’t expand it for free, this blog will become quite dull with picture-less additions, especially when MLBlogs doesn’t share revenue with its top writers, so it’s not like I could use the money I make from here (which is equivalent to $0.00) to upgrade the system.

Anyways.

Working on my full season schedule, but will end up taking it month by month mostly, except for out of state trips which will be planned a bit more in advance.

Look for a post later today about my planning of the 2012 season!

I just uploaded this video to Youtube:

Pretty cool, right?  It’s just a preview of a huge project I’m planning on completing during the course of the 2012 season.  So if you see me snapping hundreds/thousands of pictures in random areas at Orioles games…just know it is because eventually an extremely extended version of this movie will be produced.  Boom.

Tweet at me, folks.  Check it out on the right sidebar.

Oh, and h/n to Todd Cook for this idea.  I just plan on taking it to the next level

So today was the deadline for entering into my Caps tickets contest.  And I came back from class and the gym, filmed a whole setup I had for picking the name at random…and of course, the video clips on my iPhone won’t open on iMovie on my computer for me to put together to show here.  Of course that would happen when I try to use two Apple products together (as you can tell, not the biggest fan of Apple, but switched over to a MacBook and iPhone because they work better for the field I am going into supposedly).

So.  Tomorrow I will continue to try to piece that movie together somehow because it’s funny watching me fail time after time to get a name selected.

But for now, I will announce that the winner of the Capitals tickets is JASON FORREST.

Woooooooooohoooooo.

Jason, I’ll be in touch with you by e-mail, or you tweet at me or whatever works best.  To everyone else, sorry it didn’t work out in your favor.  I will be doing more and more giveaways all season long, and as you know if you’ve been following me on Twitter lately, I have a problem with hoarding baseball shenanigans, so definitely have a lot of cool stuff to give away.

Stay tuned!  And follow me on Twitter @2131andbeyond!!!

Woah. I can blog from this WordPress app on my new iPhone. Too bad I hate typing on this thing…

I know the Capitals don’t play baseball and this is a baseball blog.  So what.

I have a pair of Capitals tickets for the game being played on Sunday, March 11 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Verizon Center that I cannot do prior to my commitment to baseball (member of D3 baseball, more on that some other time).  The tickets retail for $140 for the pair, but they’re yours at no cost in this fun little contest.

No need to answer some crazy trivia question or dedicate hours to drawing a portrait of your favorite baseball player.  All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me absolutely anything, and you’re automatically entered.

My orange hockey puck will pick the winner next week.

Questions? Tweet at me. @2131andBeyond. Boom.

While blogs and writing all over the internet allow basically an unlimited word count, Twitter limits people to 140 characters or less in every single message that they send out.

So…after asking many people across the Twitterverse to give me their outlook on the Orioles 2012 season in 140 characters or less, I got some interesting responses:

Orioles Fans:

@beatlefnatic: I’d love to see a .500 season, but my concern is to see the pitching shored up. I’m finding myself becoming more cynical this year.

@MagicOn33rd: Hate to say it, but cellar dwellers again. the Cartoon bird is here and Orioles magic is coming, but not this year. we need pitching.

@B_MoreFanatic: I’m not expecting greatness from the Orioles in 2012. Only for our young players to take that next step and then another. No regressions.

@onshortrest: Orioles 2012 Outlook: Last place in AL East; close to 100 losses; brisk sales of Brown Paper Bag caps. #OriolesTragic

@ProtectThisYard: Hope. Every year. I’m a glass-half full guy. 1st place? No. But I’m hopeful that we’re competitive. Win or Lose, Rain or shine. I’ll support

@MattCLund: The key for the Orioles this season is if the young pitchers can improve and make the progress needed to compete in the AL East.

@JoePappa: The O’s are like golf. You’re not fantastic but you’ll have that 1 round that will surprise you. 2012 is that round for the O’s.

@JoePappa (again…13 hours later): (Another thought…) We’ve got superstars that haven’t shown their full potential. It’s only a matter of time before the show begins.

@marylandgirlie:  Will be interesting with all the international signings. I have a feeling that the wins will be up. I am still worried about pitching though

@SportsNickelTim:  Everything has gotten worse. A lot of player must prove themselves. Hardly 60 W’s.

@margeemateo:  M positive when it comes 2 my team. Although we kindda don’t have d depth, i am hopeful we’d be going 2 July & Sept in decent standings. =)

@mattmgardner:  This will be a losing season. But Duquette seems to be less clueless than MacPhail, so maybe there is hope for the Orioles in this century.

@MasonFanatic:  O’s can finish .500 if a) 2 pitchers not named Guthrie throw 190+ IP b) 2B not a platoon c) Reimold & Davis (or other CI) have breakout year

@MasonFanatic (side note): [I don't expect more than 1 of those 3 to happen, so 93 losses here we come]

@ESHJjaksClayton:  A lot like the movie Major League but without all the winning. Matusz will improve. 5th in the AL East, trade deadline could be fun.

@kt1000:  Orioles 2012: Wake me when it’s over.

@connorguercio:  No playoffs, but 3rd/4th place is possible. Hardy/Markakis/Wieters/Jones Allstars, B-Rob all year, Wada/Chen standout, Reynolds mosts HRs

Orioles fans that failed to follow the whole “140 characters or less” guideline:

@d_flo3r: If our pitching staff and hitting with risp improves then the O’s with probably win 10-15 more games this year, otherwise I think everything will pretty much stay the same wins/stats wise.

@simplyaustin31: The Os ended 2011 on a high note by taking out the pink hat nation, I feel like the Orioles added a lot of international depth that could surprise a lot of people with Chen, Wada… Orioles signed many of veteran players that could bounce back with Ronny Paulino, Pat Neshek, Matt Antonelli, Wilson Betemit. Orioles rotation and bullpen will be the question entering the 2012 season.. Will the young pitching staff step up and startp pitching to their calibar

Orioles fans that lived in the MLB Fan Cave last year:

@rwags614: It will be another rough year wins wise, but O’s fans can look forward to watching the young pitching continue to develop.

Non-Orioles fans:

@Dave_Gershman: Unless things somehow go in the O’s favor they have a chance to trade for some talent in July. The farm also needs to progress like lastyear

@ZK065:  They’ll go as far as their SP will. Offense looks good, wouldn’t be surprised to see them add a DH bat. 75-78 wins is optimistic but doable.

@observebaseball:  Slightly pessimistic. Everyone, whether it be consciously or unconsciously, realizes that last offseason was far better as far as additions

@MadSports8: They’ll be better than the A’s. Brooks Robinson for president.

As we can tell by all of these responses, nobody really expects the Orioles to be too good in 2012.  Though there is some optimism in terms of growing toward the future, 2012 looks to be another building year if these baseball fans are right.

But hey…I can still love me some Orioles baseball.

And by the way, I recommend following all of the tweeps quoted above.  All good people.  Well, maybe not @MadSports8, but we can still show the west coast some respect anyways.

The Rangers are shopping Koji Uehara.  The Cardinals are shopping Kyle McClellan.  The Orioles are window shopping.  As for Roy Oswalt…who knows.

Who would you rather have?

I say Koji.

Why?  Because he has had success in Baltimore, he would get along with the new Asian pitchers, and let’s face it, his sideburns rock.

Nothing against McClellan, but Koji belongs here.