Peter who?

An interesting piece from Rick Maese in the Baltimore Sun regarding owner Peter Angelos's role with the team. The Orioles owner seems to be very aloof, to a major fault. Orioles star outfielder Nick Markakis barely has a relationship with the man.

Markakis had never met the Orioles owner before this week. In fact, neither had most players in the clubhouse.

"I'd never even seen a picture of him," reliever George Sherrill said.

The Orioles' exciting Opening Day win over the New York Yankees on Monday was packed with drama and at least a couple of onfield shockers. But there were two things that surprised me most, both revelations from the postgame clubhouse:

1. To players, Angelos has been little more than a signature on a paycheck.

2. They wish he was much more.

This is going to sound like heresy in some corners of the Orioles kingdom, but could it be possible Angelos plays too small a role in his empire?

No one's suggesting we revisit the days when important baseball decisions were made by people who learned the game from the backs of baseball cards. But there has been a push to get Angelos more involved with the players. One game into the season, in fact, it's already a successful movement.

That's beyond weird. This can't help team morale.