It’s been King’s Age since Blog of Team wrote about Team! But Blog of Team has been busier that a squirrel at a nut convention. Also it’s wise anyway, with Team, to wait until Team touches on West Coast before making any judgments about Team’s ability to play baseball.

Six wins out of ten on West Coast, with game 11 coming today, suggest Team — again this year — has ability to keep losing streaks at bay on road. That’s good sign and suggests Team will be in mix long after your Blue Jays, White Sox, Angels and like have mentally packed it in for year.

When do Orioles play Astros? Allegedly fancy Boston Red Sox have beaten them four times.

Team has dropped series against two inferior opponents already this year — Twins in Baltimore and Mariners last week in Seattle. While Seattle series isn’t probably cause for alarm, Blog hopes Team, going forward, doesn’t continue to let up when it should be feasting.

It is very important for Team to finish ahead of Red Sox. Red Sox are a contemptible lot of cheating cheaters and justice (again) must be served. Nice to watch Boston getting knocked around by Texas this weekend, by the way. And here’s best take Blog of Team has seen so far on the Clay Buchholz foul-ointment rubbing matter.

He regularly rakes his right index and middle fingers across his left forearm, being careful to keep his other fingers raised.

Also, can’t baseball do something about pitchers dumping water on their heads before going on field? That’s obviously part of some cheaty cheating cheat scheme.

Of course, Boston’s NESN and other sundry toadies all have exonerated Clay. Surprisingly, Boston Globe cites comments made by Red Sox catcher David Ross as all you need to know. Wow! Thanks for that refreshing take, Boston Globe! Guess when it comes to chicken in clubhouse, you’re a pack of muckraking dogs but now that fun’s over you want a winning team again?

Not to say that Team of Blog is perfect, either. We have GM who treats players like meat and, quite frankly, ill-uses them (all mostly within baseball’s rules of course but nevertheless.) That wouldn’t be so bad except that said GM is convinced he’s a genius, which is an exceedingly dumb attitude to express publicly.

Hey, man rules are rules. And as along as you’re not outside of them, do what you do.

We’ll see how Team looks when destinies of MacPhail-era talent are decided (thankfully Adam Jones has been locked up so maybe our allegedly brilliant chief exec will do same with Matt Wieters and Manny Machado, who aside from Nick Markakis are core of Team and whose presences in Baltimore have not a a whit to do with Duquette.)

For now what we have is a solid, well-coached Team — a group managed by a guy who won’t let players quit, which has good chance of rolling dice in October’s wild random-fest known as playoffs for next couple of years.

PS. Hey, Jonesie, catch the f*ckin ball.

Name: Unknown
Status: Possible Orioles fan. Confoundingly, however, he wore a Yankees cap. But the NY was orange. He seemed conflicted in his allegiances
Gear of choice: Cart with flavored ice, Orange home Orioles logo tee with Ol’ No. 8 on the back

Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Wayward O Says: A man selling ice creaaaaammmmm

Jake was shaky. But he’s still awesome though. Don’t worry about it.

Nice day for a ballgame.
Many people appear
to have had the same idea.

Know what’s not shaky? Camden Yards. Camden Yards is not shaky.

Local star
irradiates field
at game time.

Speaking of the heavens, Chris Davis was otherworldly. So good, in fact, his performance led Blog of Team to resort to profanity. Sorry about that, kids. Don’t use bad words!

Flacco? Obama? Ray Ray? Nope!
Nobody threw out the first pitch.
It was a fitting tribute to No. 4.

Buck said it was “one of those ‘I really want us to deliver’ days of the year.” (His comment, incidentally, was a copy editor’s quote-marking dream.)

Didn’t get a triple peanut this year.
Had to settle for the next-best thing.

The Nats gave up a 15-spot in Cincy. LoL Nats!

This is why people hate America.
Because we’re free to double dog dip.
Just try and stop us, Freedom Haters!

Team’s defense was good in spots. Lengthy discussions ensued in stands about how MLB infielders make tough plays look routine.

The whole time, I had this feeling
that somebody was watching me.

A profusion of Manny love was expressed.

He’s hitting a buck sixty seven though.

Great men, gone and departed, were remembered.

Earl. Brooks. Aubrey.

There was some lingering sadness about Brian Roberts not being in the lineup. But at least the prognosis isn’t completely bleak.

This kid tried hard
to win Fan of Game honors.
Next time, kid.

Afterwards, happy fans chose to put off fretting about Pedro Strop’s control until another day.

High fives and low fives.

Somebody had to lose.

The Hulk before the Hulk.

And all was well in Baltimore…

Clean up in aisle four please.

Another perfect Opening Day.

Many of us simply could not express our full optimism, after the last few years, that Brian Roberts would just be part of Team again. But the spring was good. And things had been going so well, until …

Image via Sun Sports

Guess the final word isn’t in yet on how bad the injury to the back of B-Rob’s knee and/or hamstring is. But that simply didn’t look good. Said Roberts:

I don’t have a whole lot of words for it right now. Frustrated, but we’ll get the results and hopefully move forward.

I wouldn’t have a lot of words either, not if I were him. Not after everything else.