Brian Robert Matusz (born February 11, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball.
Matusz attended the University of San Diego, where he excelled on their baseball team as a starting pitcher. Matusz, Josh Romanski and Matt Couch anchored the Toreros rotation.
Matusz was named to the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year honors and finalist for the Roger Clemens Award.
Drafted fourth overall by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft. Matusz signed a contract with the Orioles on August 15, 2008, the deadline to sign draft picks.
In spring 2009 he was invited to the Orioles spring training. In June 2009, he was promoted from high Single-A (Frederick Keys) to a starting pitcher for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. He struck out 10 batters in his first start for Bowie on June 17, 2009. Matusz was named Baseball America's ninth best overall prospect mid-season in 2009. Before the 2010 season, Baseball America named him the fifth best prospect in all of baseball.
William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III (born May 23, 1956) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) manager for the Baltimore Orioles. He has previously served in a similar capacity with the New York Yankees (1992–1995), Arizona Diamondbacks (1998–2000), and Texas Rangers (2003–2006). He was formerly a professional baseball player and a television analyst for ESPN.
A two-time American League (AL) Manager of the Year, Showalter has earned a reputation for building baseball teams into postseason contenders in short periods of time. He helped the Yankees rise from the bottom half of the AL East to first place before a players' strike prematurely ended the 1994 campaign. Under his watch, the Diamondbacks made their first-ever playoff appearance in only its second year of existence. He would leave both franchises just prior to seasons when they won the World Series.
Showalter, who was born in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, on May 23, 1956, grew up in nearby Century. His father, William Nathaniel II, served 23 years as a teacher and principal at Century High School, from which the younger Showalter eventually graduated. Before becoming a teacher, his father had been a Little All-American fullback in 1940 at Milligan College, and had considered a career in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but chose to become a high school coach and teacher instead.
Thomas James "Tommy" Hunter, CM, O.Ont (born March 20, 1937 in London, Ontario) is a Canadian country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman".
In 1956, he began performing as a rhythm guitarist on the CBC television show, Country Hoedown. The Tommy Hunter Show began as a CBC radio program in 1960 and went on to replace Country Hoedown on CBC television in 1965; Hunter's show was picked up by TNN in 1983 and ran on CBC until 1992. The book Cue the Elephant by Knowlton Nash (1996, McClelland & Stewart) featured some disparaging remarks from the show's make-up artist. "He could sell himself terrifically but there was no love lost between Tommy and the crew. Some of the guys loathed him ... Everybody made snide remarks behind Tommy's back ... people might say he was the biggest jerk in the world. But that was not my experience. For me, I saw a very easy down-to-earth manner. But Tommy does generate anti as well as pro feelings from people ... he didn't trust people around him, he became a monster to some."
Gary Thorne (born June 9, 1948, in Bangor, Maine) is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college football, and the Frozen Four hockey tournament. He is also the television play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles and the Professional Bowler's Association.
After graduating from the University of Maine in 1970, University of Maine School of Law in 1973, and Georgetown Law School in 1976 (while paying tuition as a sportscaster/disc jockey), Thorne became Penobscot County assistant district attorney and joined the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. But eventually, Thorne found courtrooms dull when compared to broadcasting.
Thorne's son-in-law, Damian DiGiulian, is a former assistant coach for the University of Vermont hockey team; Maine (Thorne's alma mater) and Vermont are rivals in the Hockey East conference of Division I hockey. DiGiulian is now a color commentator for ESPNU's college hockey broadcasts.
By 1984, Thorne had enough leverage with baseball's Triple-A Maine Guides to name himself a co-owner.
Kevin Marschall Gregg (born June 20, 1978 in Corvallis, Oregon) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.
Gregg attended Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon, and starred in football, basketball, and baseball.
Gregg was drafted in the 15th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft (435th overall) by the Oakland Athletics. He spent several years in the A's minor league system as a starter up until 2002. On October 15, 2002, he was granted free agency and signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels on November 20, 2002.
Gregg made his major league debut with the Angels on August 9, 2003. Gregg spent his next three seasons with the Angels as a spot-starter and a middle reliever. The Angels depth made Gregg expendable and on November 20, 2006, he found himself being dealt to the Florida Marlins for failed prospect Chris Resop.
Gregg began the 2007 spring training competing for the closer role for the Florida Marlins. By the time spring training was completed, he had been relegated back to a middle reliever role after the team made a trade to bring in Jorge Julio.