Lots of Tides personnel news this week. First, we want to offer our congratulations and best wishes to Jason Pridie and Jairo Asencio, who will be playing in the AAA All Star Game in Reno! That game will be July 17, so mark your calendars and enjoy the results of your maximum voting. Also, the Tides’ trainer, Mark Shires, will be there too! So, we know the players will be well taken care of.

There have been some personnel changes to report. We lost Jake Arrieta in the trade to the Cubs for Feldman and Clevenger. Of course, we wish him well in his new home. Feldman went to the O’s, so we will enjoy having Danny Valencia back with us for a little while.

The team looked good against Columbus and Gwinnett. Pettit was awesome Wednesday, to say the least. We’re still struggling with Durham. Tonight, if you can tune into the game on 94.1, you’ll get to see if Wada can handle their offense. At the moment, we’re 8.5 back in the IL South. However, there are two months left in this season, and a lot can happen.

The Tides are due back in town on July 12. Fox43 and Coke are sponsoring a nice giveaway that night. Looks like a good-looking black cap.

Have a great weekend! – RR

Hi, everybody. It’s been awhile since I posted, but quite frankly there hasn’t been much to talk about that you’d want to read. It’s been a rather depressing few days. The Tides dropped nine straight games against tough Indianapolis and Louisville teams, and most of the games were close. We saw a series split with Scranton, and now the Tides are coming back home for nine games. The next four games are with Columbus. I was thinking about heading out to the park tonight myself. I was concerned about the weather, but I think it’ll be fine.

I do have to pause for a moment to say, “I told you so.” You had to catch Kevin Gausman during the last homestand, or you missed him. He was recalled to Baltimore yesterday. Freddie Garcia will be rejoining the club. I have to say that I really don’t understand this move, but we can sure use Garcia back in the lineup.

If you do make it to Harbor Park tonight, you’ll be able to catch Brian Roberts starting at second on a rehab assignment. He’ll be batting in the leadoff spot. Stinson will be on the mound. With Garcia coming back to town, I’m not sure exactly what the rotation will look like for the Columbus series, but at least Stinson will go tonight.

Time is running out to vote for the Triple-A All Star Game starters! It’s very easy. Just do the obvious things from norfolktides.com. You can even click on the “Tides” logo when you get to the voting site to highlight our guys on the ballot, in case you’re having trouble keeping our lineups straight these days.

Okay, that’s it for now. I have to wrap things up here to head over to the ballpark. Enjoy the homestand! – RR

Just a quick post before tonight’s game. Ishikawa is not starting again tonight. You’ll see Canzler at first again. So…what’s going on with Ishikawa? I hate to think of it, but I have to wonder if his tenure with the Orioles organization is nearly over. I haven’t heard anything definite, but his absence from the lineup is puzzling. I don’t think he’s too happy about spending so much time in AAA this summer.

I should also say something about the series this past weekend with the Bats, but I don’t want to. 

Let’s look to the future instead. Kevin Gausman, as I said in a previous post, is here in Norfolk now, and he’ll be starting tomorrow night. I don’t think he’ll be here very long so catch him sooner than later at Harbor Park.

Wada is going tonight. He got shelled during his last start, so we hope for a better outcome tonight. Reports from the park are that the weather broke and it’s beautiful now. Have fun tonight! – RR

It’s been a busy week for our Tides. They’ve been on the road playing in Louisville and Indy, and they just made it back home to us in time for a big weekend. Tonight’s game, starting in just a few minutes, is a double-header thanks to last night’s frightening weather. This stand with the Bats is a good time to get a look at one of the Reds’ future starts, Billy Hamilton. He is a base-running machine. In addition, the Bats are starting Corky Miller at catcher, or maybe pitcher, or maybe outfield. Versatile guy. He was fun to watch when he was with Cincinnati. However, you might have a hard time imagining him as a pitcher when you see him. He looks like a catcher and will start in that position tonight.

A couple of our favorite Tides have received some big honors in the past week. Travis Ishikawa was named Topps Player of the Month for minor league baseball, and he truly deserves that honor IMO. Also, Zelous Wheeler was IL Player of the Week.

There were a few notable personnel moves. One of those happened just a couple of hours ago. Arrieta was called back up to Baltimore today. Earlier this week, Gausman was optioned to Norfolk, and Belfiore is back with us.

This weekend is going to be an awesome one for baseball at Harbor Park. You can play catch on the field before the game Sunday afternoon with your dad. There will be fireworks tomorrow night after the game also. The Tides will be in town through the 20^th, so hopefully you can catch a game soon!

Before signing off, I want to remind everybody to go to the Tides’ website (norfolktides.com) and vote for all of the Tides for the MiLB All-Star Game. You can vote more than once too!

Oh, and a quick P.S.: my brother’s former team, the Indiana Hoosiers, is playing in the College World Series in Omaha. Check them out! They’re a fine team. – RR

Wow, our Tides have had some troubled times since my last post, but they did get a big W against the Bats last night. Louisville has a strong team, so this was a fine showing by our guys. There was also some good news this afternoon from Lew Ford. He tweeted this afternoon and said that his surgery went well and that he is not out for the season. “Blowing Out to Left” wishes him the speediest of recoveries. We also learned a few hours ago that Xavier “X-Man” Avery is heading back up to Baltimore. The Tides report that 16 players now have appeared on both teams’ rosters this season. No wonder we had a few rough outings this week with Scranton and Buffalo.

I hope you were lucky enough to catch Trayvon Robinson’s walk-off homer last weekend. That was a fun game to watch. I couldn’t go to the park that night, but happily Sky4 carried the game. I wish they would carry all of the games. It seems like it would be feasible to carry the home games at least.

The lineup for the Tides is looking good this week. Pridie is on a tear, batting .321. Ishikawa is back and batting .319. Wheeler is batting .316, and Navarro is back with .294. Wood continues to impress and is batting .289. I think this means that we are not going to be 3 games behind Durham much longer. We’re about to make a move on the Bulls again.

Oh, I don’t know how I forgot to mention that Jon Rauch has joined the club. He pitched a decent inning two nights ago in Louisville (1 BB and 1 K). Jose Gil was released that day.

Until now, I haven’t given out any homework assignments, but today I am going to do just that. Please go to the norfolktides.com site and vote for our Tides players for the MiLB All Star Game! Just click through the obvious places on the homepage to vote. And, as we say back where I came from, “Vote early, vote often.” (It’s legal in this case though.)

For extra credit, check in on the MLB draft this evening. It’ll be a chance to see some of our future Tides. I expect that the Orioles are going to have a good draft this year.

Stay safe in the storm tomorrow. -RR

I suppose that the fact that our Tides have lost five straight games is not news. However, it does bear some comment. It’s clear that the losses of Ishikawa, Valencia, Navarro, Pridie, and Schoop out of the lineup were too much to absorb. Plus, Canzler’s bat simultaneously has cooled off in the past week or so. All-in-all, this talent drain has left us with only two players in the lineup, Hoes and Wood, batting anywhere near .300 (.296 and .295, respectively). I have to say that I have been very impressed with Wood. I like what I’ve been seeing on defense and at the plate as well. He’s had some clutch hits and will be a versatile infielder for us.

Stinson was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree yesterday. He only went 3.2 innings, giving up six earned runs before being pulled. This included a five-run second inning in which the RailRiders batted around. Meanwhile, SWB held the Tides to two hits.

Now, because the baseball news today is kind of depressing, I’ll post another food commentary. A couple of posts ago, I said I’d report back about the Hits at the Park restaurant. I have eaten there twice in the last week or two, and I have to say that it is vastly improved over the last few years. They are advertising that they have both a buffet and an a la carte menu available. That’s partly true. While the buffet is being sold, the a la carte menu is not available. Later in the game, the buffet is taken up, and the a la carte menu is offered. The buffet has been decent. The selection always includes ballpark staples such as hot dogs and chicken tenders. The tenders are quite good, and they have all of the fixin’s for a good chili dog. There are three salads, a starch of some kind (often mashed potatoes), some steamed vegetables, and several entrees. The entrees include a vegetarian and/or seafood selection, a chicken dish, and at least one red meat. These are each served with a complementary side dish, in addition to the others mentioned before. I recommend going on a night when you can get Cajun meatloaf.

The dessert offerings were acceptable. Mostly they appeared to be formerly frozen cakes, and the ones I tasted were fine. They are sold in addition to the buffet price.

So, if you’re looking for something a little different, or a nice way to get out of the weather, the restaurant is a good option this year.

Back to baseball…

Tonight, the Tides are at home again, and Jurrjens will get the start. I think we’ll win this one. SWB is sending Brett Marshall to the mound, and he has not had a great year. The Tides website reports that his ERA is currently 6.11. It’ll be a great night to head to Harbor Park! – RR

I mentioned in my last post that Jonathan Schoop was seeing a back specialist at Johns Hopkins. There has been buzz on Twitter this afternoon that he’s going to California for a second opinion. Some reports are saying that he may have a stress fracture of his lower back. This would mean six to eight weeks of rest; in other words, a return in mid-July at best. According to Roch Kubatko on Twitter,  “Buck says he hopes 2nd guy disagrees with 1st one. Wouldn’t elaborate.” 

This doesn’t sound good, but I’ll post whatever news becomes available next week after the California specialist weighs in. – RR

Well, last night was a tough loss at home to Durham. The weather miraculously held out for the first game of a two-game micro-homestand. Just a short distance from Harbor Park, my office got shelled with severe thunderstorms right at rush hour, flooding parking lots and causing us to wonder if the Apocalypse had begun. Harbor Park escaped unscathed, though. Considering the two rain-shortened games last weekend, this was atypical. The break in the weather last night at Harbor Park allowed Tsuyoshi Wada to get his second rehab start here in Norfolk after his “Tommy John” surgery. He’s looking pretty good, but he definitely hits a wall at about 80 pitches. I have no doubt that this number will improve over time, though.

I also like what I’m seeing from our newest IF, Brandon Wood. The Tides’ website reports that Wood is hitting .341 with eight ribeye steaks in the nine games he’s played with the Tides. The O’s franchise has made several recent moves that will help the Tides in the short-term. Wood’s arrival in Norfolk was one of them. Also, the “X-Man”, Xavier Avery, is up from Bowie, and IF Ryan Flaherty was optioned from Baltimore. Jair Jurrjens is also back with the Tides after starting Saturday in Baltimore. We did lose Danny Valencia to Baltimore last weekend, though. That’s gonna hurt. Also, the O’s Insider Blog is saying that Jonathan Schoop saw a back specialist at Johns Hopkins yesterday. He’s on the seven-day DL and was scheduled to come off of it tomorrow.

Oh, I don’t want to forget a “shout-out” to Travis Ishikawa, who has hit in 22 of his last 23 games.

I am thinking happy weather thoughts for tonight’s game with Durham. Stinson is supposed to get the start for Norfolk, and he’ll go against Alex Torres. Torres will be tough as usual. However, Norfolk has a lot going on offensively now and a strong bullpen to back up Stinson, so I’m looking for a win out of this one. Hope to see all of you tonight at the game. – RR