Hammel almost makes history in O's debut

April 9, 2012

By David Driver
Used with permission

Kitsap Sun (Seattle)

BALTIMORE — Jason Hammel almost made history in his first start for the Orioles on Sunday. But he came away with the victory over the Minnesota Twins in what the local product called the best outing of his pro career.

The 29-year-old graduate of South Kitsap High, armed with a two-seam fastball that he was clocked at 94-95 mph, did not give up a hit until Justin Morneau led off the top of the eighth with a double off the scoreboard in right on the first pitch of the frame from the Oriole starter. Hammel got a nice round of applause from the crowd of 14,738 on a sunny, windy day at Camden Yards.

Josh Willingham then followed with a double to left to score Morneau and cut the Baltimore lead to 3-1.

Hammel then fanned Ryan Doumit for the first out and walked Sean Burroughs to put runners on first and second with one out. He struck out Luke Hughes and got pinch-hitter Chris Parmelee to fly out to right field to end the inning. Closer Jim Johnson set down the Twins in the ninth and Hammel got the win, 3-1.

"I have not been much better than that," said Hammel, who got 14 groundouts in his 97-pitch outing.

The 6-foot-6, right-hander was asked if it was the best outing of his big-league career.

"For sure," he said. "I will take this any day of the week."

He feels being back in the American League will work to his advantage.

"Experience is on my side now," said Hammel, who pitched three years with Tampa Bay before spending his last three years with Colorado. "Then I was a young pup. I have learned some things and figured some good things out as a pitcher."

The Orioles have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter in the 20-year history of Orioles Park at Camden Yards. The last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the first game with his new team was Hideo Nomo with Boston on April 4, 2001 at Baltimore.

"I thought he had a good shot at," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "He had all four pitches going. That was fun to watch. He had good velocity today. It was not just his sinker though" that made the difference.

Hammel threw 97 pitches with 60 strikes and allowed just two hits and one earned run with five strikeouts and three walks as the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota.

"He was able to locate his fastball on both sides of the plate," said Matt Wieters, the Orioles' All-Star catcher.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo homer to left by J.J. Hardy. Wilson Betemit added a two-run double in the sixth. That stood up for Hammel, who was 7-13 with an ERA of 4.76 in 32 games (27 starts) for the Rockies last year but he did pitch very well in September. He entered Sunday with a lifetime mark of 35-45, 4.99 in the majors. He was 7-15 in the American League with Tampa Bay.

For several years Jeremy Guthrie, who is from Oregon, was a mainstay in the starting rotation of the Baltimore Orioles. Hammel was included in the trade that sent Guthrie to the Rockies. Hammel said he hopes to fill some of the void left by Guthrie, who pitched deep into games while mentoring younger pitchers such as Friday's Opening Day starter Jake Arrieta and Brian Matusz.

"I would love to take on all of that," Hammel, 29, said Thursday before the season began. "I am at the stage of my career where I have learned something and I am still learning, too. Guthrie was an innings-eater. I want to stay in ballgames and eat up innings."

Hammel and his family are living in the Inner Harbor, just minutes from Camden Yards. "Staying close to the stadium is really nice. These guys have welcomed me with open arms and made my transition as easy as it could be," he said.

Hammel, who played at Treasure Valley Community College in Oregon, made his pro debut in the Tampa Bay system in 2002. He made it to the big leagues with the Devil Rays (now Rays) in 2006 and was traded to the Rockies early in the 2009 season. He was surprised to be traded by Colorado to the Orioles.

"It was something that crossed my mind earlier in the offseason. As the off-season progressed and nothing had happened, I thought maybe (a trade) was not going to happen," he said. "Then all of a sudden we were going to Baltimore."

His wife, Elissa, is from Rhode Island and they live in the off-season in Rehoboth, Mass. They have a son, Beckett Williams, who shares the same birthday (born Sept. 2, 2011) as his father. Elissa was in the stands for Sunday's game.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, who came to Baltimore in trade with Texas last July, faced Hammel when the right-hander was with the Rockies.

"He has a good breaking ball. When he keeps the ball down he has a good chance to be successful," Davis said. "He is definitely a guy we are looking for to have a good year. He can go out there and give you quality innings. Hopefully he will be a force in our rotation."

David Driver is a free-lance writer from Maryland has covered the Orioles for nearly 20 years. He can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com

Lombo makes Nats' Opening Day roster

By David Driver, The Potomac News

April 6, 2012

By David Driver
For the The Potomac News
Used with permission

WASHINGTON – Steve Lombardozzi spent all of the 2008 season, his first in pro ball, with the Nationals team in the Gulf Coast League. And he was in Hagerstown in the low Class A South Atlantic League in 2009, when he hit .296 with 26 doubles and 16 steals with the Suns.

But it was in 2010 when Lombardozzi, the son of a former big league second baseman by the same name, stepped up his progress in the Washington minor league system. He began that year with the Potomac Nationals in the high Class A Carolina League but for the first time in his career he was promoted in the middle of the season.

A switch-hitter, he hit .293 in 110 games with the P-Nats and scored 71 runs, with 30 doubles, nine triples and 38 RBIs. He was then promoted to Class AA Harrisburg of the Eastern League, where he hit .295 in 27 games to end the year.

Lombardozzi made his big league debut with the Nationals at the end of the 2011 season and after a strong spring training this year he was with the big league club for the season opener on Thursday in Chicago against the Cubs.

Lombardozzi, who can play second, short and third and was used in left field in spring training, was born in Minnesota when his father played for the Twins. The family moved to Fulton, Md. (in Howard County) in the 1990s and the younger Lombo went to Atholton High School in Columbia. “I wanted to play in the big leagues (while at Atholton). To be so close to home (with the Nats) is surreal,” he said.

“He is a great hitter and he works hard. He can definitely play some second base,” said Brad Peacock, a former Nationals’ pitcher who was traded to Oakland before this season. Peacock pitched for Potomac in 2009 and 2010. Lombo figures to back up shortstop Ian Desmond and second baseman Danny Espinosa, both of whom played for the P-Nats. Lombo, at 23, was the youngest player in big league camp this spring with the Nats.

JOHNSON ON ZIMMERMAN

Davey Johnson, the Nationals’ manager, was asked about the leadership of former University of Virginia star Ryan Zimmerman prior to his team’s 8-7 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday at Nationals Park in the last exhibition game of the year. “He leads by example. You could not have a better leader on this ballclub than Ryan Zimmerman. He is a great leader,” Johnson said. “He does not need motivation from me. He is probably in the best shape of his life.”

Last season Zimmerman altered his throwing motion while on a rehab assignment in the minor leagues. The instructor who helped him with the new motion was Jeff Garber, a former standout infielder at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. Garber is a former manager with Wilmington (Royals) in the Carolina League.

RENDON AT THIRD FOR P-NATS

One of the top prospects this year for the P-Nats is Anthony Rendon. He was with the big league club early in spring training and was then sent to minor league camp. “Rendon will play third base. He swung the ball very throughout camp,” Doug Harris, the director of player development, said in an e-mail late Wednesday. Extended spring training will begin Sunday in Florida and that is where pitcher Matt Purke will be. There is no timeframe for when he will join a full-season team, according to Harris, a former JMU pitcher.

JOHNSON AS A PLAYER

Long-time baseball fans from the region may remember when Davey Johnson was a second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles from 1965-72. He hit 10 homers in 1970 as the Orioles won the World Series and worked a strong double play combination with shortstop Mark Belanger.

Johnson was asked Tuesday about the intensity of his starting pitchers as they made the transition from spring training to the regular-season. So Johnson responded by talking about Mike Cuellar, the late left-handed pitcher for the Orioles during the glory days of the 1970s. “He was happy go lucky except for the days that he pitched. On days that he pitched he was crazy horse,” Johnson said.

Cuellar was born in Cuba and died on April 2, 2010 in Orlando, Fla., where Johnson was born. Cuellar won 24 games for the Orioles in 1970.

OCHOA NO STRANGER TO CAROLINA LEAGUE

Alex Ochoa is in his first season as the first-base coach for the Red Sox, who won 8-7 over the Nationals on Tuesday in Washington. Carolina League fans may remember Ochoa as the strong-armed right fielder for the Frederick Keys. Ochoa came up through the Oriole farm system before making his big league debut with the Mets in 1995. He played under manager Bobby Valentine, now the skipper of the Red Sox, while with the Mets and both of them spent time in Japan. Ochoa was a coach last year in the Carolina League with Salem, a farm team of the Red Sox. “It is great,” Ochoa said of being promoted to the big league club in 2012.

STRASBURG ON THE OPENER

Stephen Strasburg got the nod to be the starting pitcher for the Nationals on Thursday in Chicago against the Cubs. It was the first Opening Day assignment for the former first-round draft pick. “It is an honor. But it is not what you play for. You play for games in October,” Strasburg said Tuesday. Strasburg said he has spoken to John Lannan, who was 6-0 in eight starts for the P-Nats in 2007, about pitching the opener. “He said Opening Day is awesome,” Strasburg said. Lannan, the one-time ace of the Nationals, was sent to Syracuse on Tuesday.

WOUNDED WARRIORS

The Nationals hosted the second annual Wounded Warrior Amputee Celebrity softball game in the outfield at Nationals Park on Tuesday following the exhibition game with the Red Sox. The Wounded Warriors easily beat a team of local media and sports celebrities, 17-4. The celebrity team included former Redskins’ star and Hall of Famer Darrell Green and Curtis Pride, who played college basketball at William and Mary and in the Major Leagues for several teams. Pride is now the head baseball coach at Division III Gallaudet in Washington.

Editor’s note: David Driver is a Virginia native and free-lance writer who has covered the Nationals’ minor league system for several years. He can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com