From today’s b, the paper

While A sweep would’ve been nice, the Orioles battled to the end Sunday in an effort to win all three from the Pittsburgh Pirates at Camden Yards.

Only a diving catch by Pirates center fielder Nate McLouth off a dying liner from the bat of Jay Payton kept the Orioles from tying it in the seventh. Then, in the ninth and down to their last out, Brian Roberts forced extra innings with a two-run, game-tying home run off Pirates reliever Matt Capps.

Sure, they succumbed, 5-4, with a rare bad 10th inning appearance by closer George Sherill, but the team has been exceedingly entertaining so far, even in defeat. They’re playing .500 baseball at this point (34-34), but have shown the heart that reminds the old-timers of the 1979 World Series club, which was honored Friday night despite losing that championship in seven games.

While there’s mainly positive progress on the O’s diamond, Friday’s “throwback jersey” night fell far short anytime a current Bird came to the plate. The uniforms were dapper for sure, but whoever ordered the helmets for the current team wasn’t anyone who had ever seen the real Orioles of 1979 play. The white panels on the helmets were painted incorrectly and caused an “oops” feeling every time a player came to bat. It looked, well, weird to any of us who spent 15 years watching them wear the actual helmets.

The original, solid white panel on those helmets covered half of the hat. Seeing the stunted version of the helmets with that cartoon bird caused some nasty texts on my phone from friends, not to mention the actual memories of Willie Stargell and the Game 7 loss.

Give them an “A” for effort and an “F” for execution. Not to mention the fact that the stadium was more full than we’ve seen it in years without the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees being in town. They had a legitimate sellout for the first time in a long time.

But, at least on the field, the 2008 O’s are showing signs of life and staying true to the song, “Orioles Magic,” which has become a cult re-release now that Kevin Millar has gotten involved.

While the Orioles continue to remain interesting this summer, we’re all awaiting the first whistle of Ravens training camp in Westminster on July 20. The rookies will be working hard over the next few days for what is being dubbed the “Flacco Camp” around Owings Mills. First-round draft pick Joe Flacco, per NFL rules, wasn’t free to participate in the May optional camps because University of Delaware hadn’t graduated its students, so the team moved its main rookie activities to this week to give him a chance to get acquainted. We’ll have a large group of the rookies, including the new quarterback, out to Della Rose’s in White Marsh at 7 p.m. for a live WNST radio show. Feel free to come out.

The most excitement per minute in sports this past week has been the play and action of the Euro 2008 soccer tournament that has taken over my full afternoons on the pitch. The final games of the first round began Sunday and my DVR has been buzzing with action. These daily pair of games are played simultaneously at 2:45 p.m. and the Italy-France matchup tomorrow promises to be a classic, as one of these world powers is going home from the tournament with a loss.

Nestor Aparicio, owner of WNST-AM 1570, writes about sports and more. His column appears Mondays and Fridays. For more, go to wnst.net.

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