NFL Europa officially folded today. Darn...
It was a travesty. A sham. A mockery. I'd go as far to say it was a travashamockery. What happened during last night's rain postponed O's/ Yanks game is just further proof that I am not wrong when I say there is definite New York favoritism in all sports.
It was a balmy night in Baltimore. Two teams were battling back and forth. The O's managed to take a 6-4 lead, scoring four runs in the seventh inning, when the rain started. Brandon Fahey was at the plate, with an 0-2 count, and 2 outs. At that point, the umpires stopped the game. No big deal. The delay lasted 18 minutes.
After the delay, Fahey grounded out, and the Orioles' biggest inning of the night ended. The eighth came around, and the Yanks were returning the favor. Then the rain started falling harder than before. Chris Ray is taking his time before pitching to Derek Jeter, in hopes that the massive monsoon will delay the game. The umpires decide that play must continue. Big deal. Huge deal. Jeter singles up middle, two Yankees score, and then play in stopped again, this time with the Yankees ahead.
It all seems so innocent. The umpires didn't stop the game, and the Yankees capitalized. It was not innocent. It was calculated. It was premeditated. It was a friggin' conspiracy. And what's worse, the Orioles knew about it.
Quoth Melvin Mora: "He just tried to make Jeter hit so they can score one run and they can get out of here. That's what I think."
Quoth Chris Ray: "I've never pitched in rain like that before. I was just trying not to throw the ball to the backstop. When they called it in the seventh inning and we had something going and it wasn't raining nearly as hard, and then it's pouring down rain and we're just out there in terrible conditions."
Quoth Dave Trembley: "I think everyone here's smart enough to realize a little bit of what happened here tonight."
Naturally, all three of them are going to get fined (or worse), from the Commissioner's Office for exposing the truth. But now that we know the story and the conspiracy that makes this a story, let's look at the ramifications.
The game will be resumed July 27th, the next time the Yankees are in town. The last inning and a half will be played before the regularly scheduled game. The Orioles cannot use anybody removed from the game, but may use people who are not currently on the roster. Therefore, we are without the services of Daniel Cabrera, Paul Shuey, John Parrish, Kevin Millar, Jay Gibbons, Freddie Bynum, and Melvin Mora. Why no Mora? He was ejected for pointing out the obvious to the umps (he told the third base ump that he couldn't see the ball anymore because of the rain, and the ump went off on him and ejected him. You can read the full recounting of he tale on the Sun's website). So without our usual third baseman, the O's will probably shift Chris Gomez to the spot, and end up using Ramon Hernandez as the first baseman, since Aubrey Huff was already in the game as the DH. To say the least, we're going to be short staffed.
Naturally, all of this occurred after the O's lost the lead. Had the Yankees not been able to take the lead one batter before the game was stopped, it would not be a huge deal. But why was Fahey's at bat stopped mid-count, but Jeter's was allowed to continue? And why did it take so long to stop the game in a downpour when the ball could not be seen, but the game was stopped in a hurry when the rain first started and was still manageable? And why was the third base ump so quick to eject Melvin?
The answer is the conspiracy.
This conspiracy dates back to at least 1978. In the same situation in 1978, the Yanks were ahead at the rain delay, but when the game was called, the rules stated that the game be reverted back to the last completed half of an inning, which put the Orioles ahead. That prompted a rule change that took effect in 1980, since surely the Yankees cannot be given that injustice. The rule was changed to just freeze the game, and that was it. Now the rules mandate that the game be finished, even though that's just silly. Personally, I like the last completed half of an inning thing, but if that was still the case, Chris Ray would have had to pitch until the inning was over, because surely the Yankees would be allowed to finish their inning.
Fast forward to 1996, and the Yankee Conspiracy continued with Jeffrey Maier (that rat bastard). So here we are in 2007, the conspiracy lives on, and it seems like the Orioles will be denied to the opportunity to sweep the Yankees at home. Way to rob from the poor, Major League Baseball.
To be truthful, it wouldn't be that big a deal if it wasn't the Yankees. Seeing as the Evil Empire always gets preferential treatment, this story has the chance to explode. If it was Kansas City or Texas, I wouldn't care that much. But it's the Yankees, and those heartless soul-suckers are going to steal from us, yet again, and this time in our own yard.
Peace.
Showing posts with label Orioles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orioles. Show all posts
Friday, June 29, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Eat Crow-ley
If you haven't read the comments for my last post, you absolutely must. Forget the mindless crap that Keith and I banter about, the real gem is the third post. During the same week that I was entertaining offers from other blog sites, I found out that my humble little blog has an international appeal. The third post is written in what I have determined to be Portuguese. After thorough inspection (and with the help of online translator Babel Fish), it has been determined that the third post says something to the effect of, "Oi, I found your blog for Google well interesting, and I liked this post. When you have time, my blog is on personalized t-shirts, showing step by step how to create a well personalized t-shirt. Until next time." I swear to you I am not making up the translation. If anybody wants to create a "well-personalized" t-shirt, check out Rodrigo's blog; he was even good enough to provide links. God knows how he stumbled upon my blog. On to the rant...
Well, after what seemed like a possible resurgence, the Orioles suck again (oh no!). I can't seem to bring myself to blame Dave Trembley, because he has the team playing hard, and the overall demeanor is definitely different. I can't blame Rockin' Leo, because the starters still pitch pretty well. I can only blame Petey the Greek so many times before he actually dies. That must mean it's old reliable, Terry Crowley.
Anyone who has ever heard my annual Terry Crowley Must Go rants know how this blog will end. This years rants started sometime around April 2nd, when the O's came up absolutely lame against Minnesota in the first game. You see, Crowley is the link, the constant, the mainstay for every year starting in October of 1998. The Orioles haven't had a winning season since 1997, the year before Crowley was brought on board. It's not just a coincidence.
If you may have seen a team under the tutelage of Terry Crowley, but aren't quite sure, ask yourself these questions: Did every player on the team swing at almost every first pitch? Did 90% of contact result in a fly ball out? Did anybody on the team make contact with an inside pitch? Did at least one player strike out swinging at a pitch that was eye level? Did any batter display any sort of patience or pre-meditated approach?
If your answers to the questions were Yes, Yes, No, Yes, and Good God No, then you may have witnessed a Crowley coached team. Seek help by watching other teams, just to see what hitting is really supposed to be like.
Some people have refuted my claims that Crowley is the reason the Oriole offense is consistently inconsistent, saying that it's the players. I again say that Crowley is the only coach with the team since 1998, and every year every hitter is wildly inconsistent. Players for the O's are among the most streaky hitters in baseball. We rarely have more than 3 players hit above .300, and we never know what kind of performance we are going to get on a nightly basis.
Even more, this is Crowley's second stint with the Orioles. When was his first? 1985-1988. Right around the time the team started spiralling into this Depression. Why did he get fired in '88? The team lost the first 21 games and finished with 107 losses. And yet, for some reason unbeknownst to anybody with half a brain, he was rehired ten years later. As my Portuguese readers would say, "porque, meu deus?".
Some credit Crowley with keeping old school traditions alive in the New Era, but it seems to me he is a dinosaur lost in the modern age. For example, Crowley keeps notes on every pitcher on a yellow legal pad. I'm sure if you looked at his files, you could find all you needed to know about Cy Young, Bob Fellar, and Sandy Koufax, but will have a hard time conjuring up any information about Daisuke Matsuzaka and the infamous "gyroball". The simple fact that Crowley can't transfer his records to a computer show that he is afraid to embrace technology and adapt with the times.
Crowley's methods are old and retired, and I wish the same could be said about Crowley. Hopefully, after this year's managerial housecleaning, all the trash will be removed, and Crowley can enjoy retirement. Good night, Portugal.
Peace.
Well, after what seemed like a possible resurgence, the Orioles suck again (oh no!). I can't seem to bring myself to blame Dave Trembley, because he has the team playing hard, and the overall demeanor is definitely different. I can't blame Rockin' Leo, because the starters still pitch pretty well. I can only blame Petey the Greek so many times before he actually dies. That must mean it's old reliable, Terry Crowley.
Anyone who has ever heard my annual Terry Crowley Must Go rants know how this blog will end. This years rants started sometime around April 2nd, when the O's came up absolutely lame against Minnesota in the first game. You see, Crowley is the link, the constant, the mainstay for every year starting in October of 1998. The Orioles haven't had a winning season since 1997, the year before Crowley was brought on board. It's not just a coincidence.
If you may have seen a team under the tutelage of Terry Crowley, but aren't quite sure, ask yourself these questions: Did every player on the team swing at almost every first pitch? Did 90% of contact result in a fly ball out? Did anybody on the team make contact with an inside pitch? Did at least one player strike out swinging at a pitch that was eye level? Did any batter display any sort of patience or pre-meditated approach?
If your answers to the questions were Yes, Yes, No, Yes, and Good God No, then you may have witnessed a Crowley coached team. Seek help by watching other teams, just to see what hitting is really supposed to be like.
Some people have refuted my claims that Crowley is the reason the Oriole offense is consistently inconsistent, saying that it's the players. I again say that Crowley is the only coach with the team since 1998, and every year every hitter is wildly inconsistent. Players for the O's are among the most streaky hitters in baseball. We rarely have more than 3 players hit above .300, and we never know what kind of performance we are going to get on a nightly basis.
Even more, this is Crowley's second stint with the Orioles. When was his first? 1985-1988. Right around the time the team started spiralling into this Depression. Why did he get fired in '88? The team lost the first 21 games and finished with 107 losses. And yet, for some reason unbeknownst to anybody with half a brain, he was rehired ten years later. As my Portuguese readers would say, "porque, meu deus?".
Some credit Crowley with keeping old school traditions alive in the New Era, but it seems to me he is a dinosaur lost in the modern age. For example, Crowley keeps notes on every pitcher on a yellow legal pad. I'm sure if you looked at his files, you could find all you needed to know about Cy Young, Bob Fellar, and Sandy Koufax, but will have a hard time conjuring up any information about Daisuke Matsuzaka and the infamous "gyroball". The simple fact that Crowley can't transfer his records to a computer show that he is afraid to embrace technology and adapt with the times.
Crowley's methods are old and retired, and I wish the same could be said about Crowley. Hopefully, after this year's managerial housecleaning, all the trash will be removed, and Crowley can enjoy retirement. Good night, Portugal.
Peace.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Overhaulin'
I got an interesting email yesterday from the people at ArmchairGM.com, asking me to write my blog on their website, instead of blogspot, claiming that they have increased visibility and more readership. After inspecting their website, and finding out that in order to comment you have to be a member of the website, I decided to stay on blogspot, so all ya'll can still comment anonymously if you so choose. On to the sports...
Now what? That's the question that the Orioles are faced with a day after axing Sammy Perlozzo. So we made a drastic change that has garnered unprecedented media coverage of the Orioles, and now we have to continue on. But what's the right course of action? What do we do now? Do we add, or subtract, or add by subtracting, or subtract by adding, in order to stop the division amongst the team and the fans? The situation is dire, and the organization is officially (and now very, very, very publicly) in shambles.
Last night on SportsCenter, the topic of Perlozzo's firing was sent to John Kruk for analysis. Said the Krukster, "The Baltimore Orioles are a mess!" To shine some light on that, Kruk is a former player who was notoriously overweight, smoked even as a professional athlete, and retired in the middle of a game. And he called us a mess. Oy. To paraphrase the rest of Kruk's comments, he said that if the Orioles called him and asked him to manage (which, he added, has never happened), there would be no amount of money that would entice him to do it. He said there needs to be full scale changes throughout the organization before any manager even has a chance to win with the team. And you know what? He's absolutely right.
In the spirit of John Kruk's expert analysis of the Orioles, I have compiled a list of people that need to go in order for the team to have a chance. Knowing that lead is a poisonous, lethal metal that serves no purpose other than as a weight, I present the 2007 Baltimore Orioles All-Lead Team:
Now what? That's the question that the Orioles are faced with a day after axing Sammy Perlozzo. So we made a drastic change that has garnered unprecedented media coverage of the Orioles, and now we have to continue on. But what's the right course of action? What do we do now? Do we add, or subtract, or add by subtracting, or subtract by adding, in order to stop the division amongst the team and the fans? The situation is dire, and the organization is officially (and now very, very, very publicly) in shambles.
Last night on SportsCenter, the topic of Perlozzo's firing was sent to John Kruk for analysis. Said the Krukster, "The Baltimore Orioles are a mess!" To shine some light on that, Kruk is a former player who was notoriously overweight, smoked even as a professional athlete, and retired in the middle of a game. And he called us a mess. Oy. To paraphrase the rest of Kruk's comments, he said that if the Orioles called him and asked him to manage (which, he added, has never happened), there would be no amount of money that would entice him to do it. He said there needs to be full scale changes throughout the organization before any manager even has a chance to win with the team. And you know what? He's absolutely right.
In the spirit of John Kruk's expert analysis of the Orioles, I have compiled a list of people that need to go in order for the team to have a chance. Knowing that lead is a poisonous, lethal metal that serves no purpose other than as a weight, I present the 2007 Baltimore Orioles All-Lead Team:
- Dave Trembley: Obviously, Trembley isn't long for the managerial position, and he will soon be jettisoned. I know that I'm not even giving him a chance, but let's face it, Trembley is not going to be the answer, so let's just nip this one in the bud.
- Mike Flanagan/ Jim Duquette: The two-headed monster somehow only has half the baseball knowledge of an average fan. When deciding to spend $42 miiiiiiiiillion to overhaul the bullpen, these two clowns go out and sign Danys Baez. Baez was a castoff of the Devil Rays. Folks, when you're a pitcher, and the D-Rays don't want you, consider another career.
- Danys Baez: The aforementioned Baez is the cause of probably half of teams 40 losses. With a delivery that resembles a T-rex trying to throw and the field presence of Hellen Keller, Baez has been nothing but a cancer on the mound, and that's a pretty telling sign on this team.
- Jay Gibbons: After what seems like eternity with the team, I think it's about high time good ol' Clown Feet took his act to another circus. Unfortunately, the contract he signed two years ago has him being paid by the O's for another two years at least (I think), so we need to figure out if the cost he carries by being on the team outweighs the cost of not having him on the team.
- The Bullpen: There's only one person in the 'pen worth keeping, but it's easier to get rid of all of them than to keep Jamie Walker by himself.
- Daniel Cabrera: One of those high and mighty "Prospects". The problem is, you never know if you're gonna get Good Daniel or Bad Daniel, and that is very dangerous. Cabrera can throw in the high nineties, but can't see the strike zone, which is actually very dangerous, since his fastball could probably kill somebody. Plus, for all the potential he has, Dr. Jekyll could probably fetch some good talent in a trade.
- Terry Crowley: The hitters can't hit. He's the hitting coach. He's actually one of the only constants on the team since 1998, which is the year that all this crap started. Nuff said.
- Miguel Tejada: Once the savior, now he's just an old act who has fallen way out of favor with all the fans. Tejada can't field that well, barely runs out any groundball, and is not accepting the leadership role that he should be filling. Tejada can fetch some bones from a contender looking for a doubles hitter for the playoffs, so we can get some more young talent for him at the trade deadline, if it takes that long. It's sad to see Miggy go, because he played well for us for 4 years, but his time is up as an Oriole.
- Peter Angelos: What, did you think the All-Lead team would not have it's anchor? Angelos is the root of all the problems, so the obvious solution is to get rid of Angelos. The problem is that he is the only person in the franchise that we can't just "get rid off". His time with the team will be decided by himself. Unless, of course, we can get a little Divine Intervention. Angelos is 77 years old, which anybody will tell you is no spring chicken. So when you hit your knees tonight, send one up for the Big Man to help us out a little bit and rid us of the problem.
So there you have it, the All-Lead team. That's a lot of holes to fill. I actually have a solution for two of the holes, as well (at no extra charge). To fill Dave Trembley's spot, I said yesterday that Joe Girardi would be a nice fit. To fill the hopefully soon gone-but-not-missed Angelos, I propose two people: Cal Ripken (obviously), or Steve Bisciotti. Think about it: Steve owns the O's and the Ravens. Both become benchmarks for their respective leagues, and Baltimore is the hub of the sports world yet again. Then we can Believe in Steve all year round, instead of just in the fall.
Unfortunately, unless God can answer all of Baltimore's collective prayers, the O's will continue in their downward spiral. Hopefully they can drop Petey the Greek in Hell on the way down, since we're going through it already. I know it seems hopeless, Baltimore, but just remember: it's T minus 40 days until training camp!
Peace.
Monday, June 18, 2007
So Long, Sammy
Oh happy daaaaayy, (oh happy day), when Sammy walked, (when Sammy walked), and he has gone away.... Ohhhhhhh, haaaaaa-ppppppppp-yyyyyyyyy daaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy...
So it's all done but the rejoicing in the streets. The oil painting is finally gone, and things suddenly have a brighter outlook for 2008. Nothing against Sammy as a person, because I used to like him when he was a base coach and a bench coach and whatever else he has been, but he just didn't have the juice to get the job done as a manager. Now that he has been given his walking papers, let me do two things: first, use every euphemism for getting fired that I can think of, and apply it to Sammy, just to make me feel good; second, analyze the immediate and long term effects of this move.
1) Sammy got the gate
2) Sammy got the boot
3) Sammy got whacked
4) Sammy was given the pink slip
5) Sammy got sacked
6) Sammy got canned
7) Sammy got the axe
8) Sammy, don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya
9) Sammy, you ain't got to go home, but you got to get the heck up out of here
10) Sammy, You're FIRED (Donald Trump style)
11) So long Sammy, see ya in Miami.
Coincidentally, Miami is the former place of employment for the man who I firmly back as the O's next coach. Joe Girardi, formerly of the Florida Marlins, would be a near-perfect fit for the Orioles. Girardi is the reigning National League Manger of the Year, but got the Davey Johnson treatment and was let go after the season. Girardi earned Manager of the Year by taking a club of mostly rookies with the Marlins, and almost making the playoffs. He could come to Baltimore, and take a club of underachievers and hopefully make the playoffs, no? Girardi has the credentials, and at this point, the O's are interested.
So that's one possible plan for the long term. But what about right now? We can't go without a manager halfway through the season (though some would argue that we've been manager-less all season anyway). The Orioles, in their infinite wisdom, promoted bullpen coach Dave Trembley to the interim manager spot whilst the team seeks out Girardi. The bullpen coach. The guy who coaches the players who routinely lose the game for us. Oy.
Trembley has had some coaching experience in the minors, but none in the majors. Basically, he is serving to keep the seat warm for a week (hopefully) while the team hammers something out with Girardi or even Davey Johnson. The worst case would be to leave Trembley there for the remainder of the season, and lose what little dignity we still have left. Remember, during the current 8 game losing streak, the bullpen is 0-5 with an ERA over 5. That's atrocious. And we took the guy in charge of that unit, and promoted him to interim coach. That, friends, would be like the Oakland Raiders promoting their offensive coordinator, or Dick Cheney to President. It wouldn't make any sense whatsoever, and yet the O's have done it.
Obviously, the front office, the fans, and probably most of the players have considered this season a total wash, which is pretty sad, since it's only June 17th. However, with some new blood definitely on the horizon, maybe a little spark can be put into the team. Right now, fourth place in the AL East would seem like a major steal, so hopefully Trembley is removed fast enough to bring in either Girardi or Johnson, and the team can at least have a fighting chance for the rest of the season. Worst case scenario: we've already lived it, and we fired the culprit today. Best case scenario: we pull an Amazin' Mets and rebound to go all the way to the World Series. Most likely, it will be somewhere between those two extremes, which is fine by me, because it's almost football season anyway.
Peace.
So it's all done but the rejoicing in the streets. The oil painting is finally gone, and things suddenly have a brighter outlook for 2008. Nothing against Sammy as a person, because I used to like him when he was a base coach and a bench coach and whatever else he has been, but he just didn't have the juice to get the job done as a manager. Now that he has been given his walking papers, let me do two things: first, use every euphemism for getting fired that I can think of, and apply it to Sammy, just to make me feel good; second, analyze the immediate and long term effects of this move.
1) Sammy got the gate
2) Sammy got the boot
3) Sammy got whacked
4) Sammy was given the pink slip
5) Sammy got sacked
6) Sammy got canned
7) Sammy got the axe
8) Sammy, don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya
9) Sammy, you ain't got to go home, but you got to get the heck up out of here
10) Sammy, You're FIRED (Donald Trump style)
11) So long Sammy, see ya in Miami.
Coincidentally, Miami is the former place of employment for the man who I firmly back as the O's next coach. Joe Girardi, formerly of the Florida Marlins, would be a near-perfect fit for the Orioles. Girardi is the reigning National League Manger of the Year, but got the Davey Johnson treatment and was let go after the season. Girardi earned Manager of the Year by taking a club of mostly rookies with the Marlins, and almost making the playoffs. He could come to Baltimore, and take a club of underachievers and hopefully make the playoffs, no? Girardi has the credentials, and at this point, the O's are interested.
So that's one possible plan for the long term. But what about right now? We can't go without a manager halfway through the season (though some would argue that we've been manager-less all season anyway). The Orioles, in their infinite wisdom, promoted bullpen coach Dave Trembley to the interim manager spot whilst the team seeks out Girardi. The bullpen coach. The guy who coaches the players who routinely lose the game for us. Oy.
Trembley has had some coaching experience in the minors, but none in the majors. Basically, he is serving to keep the seat warm for a week (hopefully) while the team hammers something out with Girardi or even Davey Johnson. The worst case would be to leave Trembley there for the remainder of the season, and lose what little dignity we still have left. Remember, during the current 8 game losing streak, the bullpen is 0-5 with an ERA over 5. That's atrocious. And we took the guy in charge of that unit, and promoted him to interim coach. That, friends, would be like the Oakland Raiders promoting their offensive coordinator, or Dick Cheney to President. It wouldn't make any sense whatsoever, and yet the O's have done it.
Obviously, the front office, the fans, and probably most of the players have considered this season a total wash, which is pretty sad, since it's only June 17th. However, with some new blood definitely on the horizon, maybe a little spark can be put into the team. Right now, fourth place in the AL East would seem like a major steal, so hopefully Trembley is removed fast enough to bring in either Girardi or Johnson, and the team can at least have a fighting chance for the rest of the season. Worst case scenario: we've already lived it, and we fired the culprit today. Best case scenario: we pull an Amazin' Mets and rebound to go all the way to the World Series. Most likely, it will be somewhere between those two extremes, which is fine by me, because it's almost football season anyway.
Peace.
Friday, June 15, 2007
A Tale of One City
First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the San Antonio Spurs for winning the NBA Championship. More importantly, I would like to congratulate myself for predicting that the Spurs would win the NBA Championship over one month ago, when they were still hip-checking Steve Nash into the scorer's table. So yay for the Spurs and yay for me. Enough self-promotion, I've got the rest of my life for that. On to more pressing issues...
It's the worst of times, soon it will be the best of times. They're the worst of teams, soon to be replaced by the best of teams. We're the least feared city, soon to be the most feared city. In one short month, Baltimore will go from being a laughingstock of the sports world to a capitol of the sports world. How?
The season will change. Baseball will turn into football, and Baltimore will be defending a division championship rather than fighting to stay out of the cellar. Sure it will be with different teams, but the city will be viewed differently. Teams will fear coming to Baltimore, and fear when Baltimore comes to them. Inconsistent, erratic play will give way to lock-down, beat them up bruisings. The Sun sports section will have positive things to report on, all because one team dominates their sport, and the other is dominated by their sport. So how can Baltimore boast one of the best football teams, while also having to endure arguably the worst baseball team? Let us count the ways the Orioles and the Ravens differ.
First, the Orioles. The older child. Perennial losers. Situated in one of the most beautiful athletic venues in the history of the world, the Orioles are result of 14 years of shoddy ownership. With a penny pinching lawyer at the helm, the O's have fallen from grace and seemingly find a new rock bottom to land on every year. The Orioles lack fan support, and justifiably so. The owner is a jerk, the manager doesn't care, and the players don't try. Some would argue that the ticket prices are reasonable, but they have to be in order to retain the meager 20,000 fans that go to games (I'll be one of them tonight). Even at $6 student night prices, fans feel like they have over spent to see good talent play poorly as a unit.
Not only do O's fans not get enough bang for their buck, but they also cannot access the players they pay to see. O's players are generally cut off from the paying public, with maybe one or two players signing autographs before games. Other than that, Photo Day (always on a weekend, so as to not be giving fans access for bargain/ discount prices) is the only opportunity to really get a chance to meet and greet the players that break your heart on a nightly basis. So the Orioles are a collection of losers, owned by Satan himself, who lack fan support because they cut themselves off to the world, and are easily the laughingstock of the league. It's no wonder they are always out of it by July.
Then there's the Ravens. The prodigal son. Perennial powerhouses. Aptly situated in one of the most daunting venues in sports (there's friggin' gargoyles on the side!), the Ravens continue to thrive year in and year out because of their consistency throughout the organization. It starts at the top. The Ravens are owned by a savvy and smart businessman who built a billion dollar corporation out of his basement. The Ravens are owned by a go-getter who understands the fundamental business concept that you have to spend money to make money. As such, he signs and retains quality players, and does what he has to to keep them happy. As a result, the Ravens enjoy one of the most loyal and dedicated followings in all of football. Maybe because we are a city once burned by a beloved franchise, and we are afraid to lose another, but the Ravens are one of the few teams in the league that get to run their entire training camp in front of thousands of fans.
As a reward for the undying support of the fans, the Ravens keep the players accessible. Not only do the Ravens admit any and all to training camp (for free), they also outfit every player who comes off the field after a hot 3 hour practice with a sharpie, so that the fans may get a chance to be up close to their favorite Raven. To recap, the Ravens are a collection of winners, owned by a godsend, who enjoy the treatment of royalty in the city because they treat the city like a kingdom. The Ravens are a benchmark franchise for the entire NFL both on and off the field, and it's no wonder why come July, Baltimore's weary sports fans come crawling to the Ravens for help.
So now that we understand what each franchise is, we can try to figure out why the franchise is the way it is.
The Orioles are a gang of hapless losers because nobody on the team, from the owner to the bat boy, takes accountability for their own actions. Case in point: after last night's embarrassing loss that resulted in a sweep at the hands of the looooooowly Nationals, O's reliever Chad Bradford was asked to explain what happened that led to him giving up the game losing RBI. Bradford's response? "I don't know what to say. [Things] are just kind of going that way." No, they really aren't, Chad. You are making them go that way. If you want things to go your way, make them go your way. Pitch like your life depends on it. Don't let batters have a chance. Don't let teams have a chance. Take it upon yourself to go out and get a win, instead of sitting back and waiting for the win to come to you. That rings true for the rest of the team as well. The Orioles' website went so far as to say the "bats had an off night". To me, it looked like an on night. An off night is a 16 hit, 10 run night, not that miserable crap we always see. So, instead of saying "woe is us", go out and earn a win. For the prior 20 (!) games before last night's, the Orioles had led in every one, and were an embarrassing 10-10 in those games. For a team to lead every night, and only win half the time, is just sickening. And it's because nobody on the team takes responsibility for what is happening. If everybody were more accountable, and said after a loss "I didn't get the job done, I need to fix myself first", I might not be writing about how sad the O's are every week. Things are kind of just going that way? Only if you let it.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Ravens are coming off a 13-3 campaign and a division championship because they all hold themselves and each other accountable for everything. Case in point: the defense. The Ravens' high risk/ high reward defense is founded on the principle that if all 11 men do their job, then the winning will take care of itself. The Ravens enjoy success because they do what they need to do to secure a win, instead of doing the bare minimum to put themselves in position for a win and letting fate decide the rest. The Ravens believe that everything that comes their way is earned, through practice, hard work, studying, and taking care of yourself. The Ravens held mini-camps the last few weeks where Pro Bowlers (Bart Scott in particular) were participating, even when league norms dictate otherwise. The Ravens are not naive enough to think that practice makes perfect. They know that perfect practice makes perfect (ironic source of the phrase), and as such, are willing to put in the time necessary to make every aspect perfect. And when one person lets down the rest, he's going to know it, and he's going to work that much harder to make sure it doesn't happen again. Earning wins is slowly becoming the "Raven's Way".
It's possible that the natures of the two games account for a vast majority of the differences in the teams. Obviously, the Orioles have to hold spring training in a warm weather climate, so practice isn't open to casual fans. But that doesn't mean the team needs to be so closed door and hush hush the rest of the year. And sure, losing one game of baseball is not as devastating as losing one game of football, but when the losses start piling up the way they do for the Orioles, it becomes a rather slippery slope. Consider this: baseball season is 162 games, football season is 16. That means roughly 10 baseball games equal one football game. At this point, the O's would be approximately 3-4, but fading as fast as they can. Using that logic, the O's have finished 6-10 or 7-9 every year for the last ten years. Just know that if the Ravens did that, they would probably be getting the same treatment from the fans. The catch is, the Ravens as an organization would never have let it get that bad. Here endeth the lesson.
Peace.
It's the worst of times, soon it will be the best of times. They're the worst of teams, soon to be replaced by the best of teams. We're the least feared city, soon to be the most feared city. In one short month, Baltimore will go from being a laughingstock of the sports world to a capitol of the sports world. How?
The season will change. Baseball will turn into football, and Baltimore will be defending a division championship rather than fighting to stay out of the cellar. Sure it will be with different teams, but the city will be viewed differently. Teams will fear coming to Baltimore, and fear when Baltimore comes to them. Inconsistent, erratic play will give way to lock-down, beat them up bruisings. The Sun sports section will have positive things to report on, all because one team dominates their sport, and the other is dominated by their sport. So how can Baltimore boast one of the best football teams, while also having to endure arguably the worst baseball team? Let us count the ways the Orioles and the Ravens differ.
First, the Orioles. The older child. Perennial losers. Situated in one of the most beautiful athletic venues in the history of the world, the Orioles are result of 14 years of shoddy ownership. With a penny pinching lawyer at the helm, the O's have fallen from grace and seemingly find a new rock bottom to land on every year. The Orioles lack fan support, and justifiably so. The owner is a jerk, the manager doesn't care, and the players don't try. Some would argue that the ticket prices are reasonable, but they have to be in order to retain the meager 20,000 fans that go to games (I'll be one of them tonight). Even at $6 student night prices, fans feel like they have over spent to see good talent play poorly as a unit.
Not only do O's fans not get enough bang for their buck, but they also cannot access the players they pay to see. O's players are generally cut off from the paying public, with maybe one or two players signing autographs before games. Other than that, Photo Day (always on a weekend, so as to not be giving fans access for bargain/ discount prices) is the only opportunity to really get a chance to meet and greet the players that break your heart on a nightly basis. So the Orioles are a collection of losers, owned by Satan himself, who lack fan support because they cut themselves off to the world, and are easily the laughingstock of the league. It's no wonder they are always out of it by July.
Then there's the Ravens. The prodigal son. Perennial powerhouses. Aptly situated in one of the most daunting venues in sports (there's friggin' gargoyles on the side!), the Ravens continue to thrive year in and year out because of their consistency throughout the organization. It starts at the top. The Ravens are owned by a savvy and smart businessman who built a billion dollar corporation out of his basement. The Ravens are owned by a go-getter who understands the fundamental business concept that you have to spend money to make money. As such, he signs and retains quality players, and does what he has to to keep them happy. As a result, the Ravens enjoy one of the most loyal and dedicated followings in all of football. Maybe because we are a city once burned by a beloved franchise, and we are afraid to lose another, but the Ravens are one of the few teams in the league that get to run their entire training camp in front of thousands of fans.
As a reward for the undying support of the fans, the Ravens keep the players accessible. Not only do the Ravens admit any and all to training camp (for free), they also outfit every player who comes off the field after a hot 3 hour practice with a sharpie, so that the fans may get a chance to be up close to their favorite Raven. To recap, the Ravens are a collection of winners, owned by a godsend, who enjoy the treatment of royalty in the city because they treat the city like a kingdom. The Ravens are a benchmark franchise for the entire NFL both on and off the field, and it's no wonder why come July, Baltimore's weary sports fans come crawling to the Ravens for help.
So now that we understand what each franchise is, we can try to figure out why the franchise is the way it is.
The Orioles are a gang of hapless losers because nobody on the team, from the owner to the bat boy, takes accountability for their own actions. Case in point: after last night's embarrassing loss that resulted in a sweep at the hands of the looooooowly Nationals, O's reliever Chad Bradford was asked to explain what happened that led to him giving up the game losing RBI. Bradford's response? "I don't know what to say. [Things] are just kind of going that way." No, they really aren't, Chad. You are making them go that way. If you want things to go your way, make them go your way. Pitch like your life depends on it. Don't let batters have a chance. Don't let teams have a chance. Take it upon yourself to go out and get a win, instead of sitting back and waiting for the win to come to you. That rings true for the rest of the team as well. The Orioles' website went so far as to say the "bats had an off night". To me, it looked like an on night. An off night is a 16 hit, 10 run night, not that miserable crap we always see. So, instead of saying "woe is us", go out and earn a win. For the prior 20 (!) games before last night's, the Orioles had led in every one, and were an embarrassing 10-10 in those games. For a team to lead every night, and only win half the time, is just sickening. And it's because nobody on the team takes responsibility for what is happening. If everybody were more accountable, and said after a loss "I didn't get the job done, I need to fix myself first", I might not be writing about how sad the O's are every week. Things are kind of just going that way? Only if you let it.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Ravens are coming off a 13-3 campaign and a division championship because they all hold themselves and each other accountable for everything. Case in point: the defense. The Ravens' high risk/ high reward defense is founded on the principle that if all 11 men do their job, then the winning will take care of itself. The Ravens enjoy success because they do what they need to do to secure a win, instead of doing the bare minimum to put themselves in position for a win and letting fate decide the rest. The Ravens believe that everything that comes their way is earned, through practice, hard work, studying, and taking care of yourself. The Ravens held mini-camps the last few weeks where Pro Bowlers (Bart Scott in particular) were participating, even when league norms dictate otherwise. The Ravens are not naive enough to think that practice makes perfect. They know that perfect practice makes perfect (ironic source of the phrase), and as such, are willing to put in the time necessary to make every aspect perfect. And when one person lets down the rest, he's going to know it, and he's going to work that much harder to make sure it doesn't happen again. Earning wins is slowly becoming the "Raven's Way".
It's possible that the natures of the two games account for a vast majority of the differences in the teams. Obviously, the Orioles have to hold spring training in a warm weather climate, so practice isn't open to casual fans. But that doesn't mean the team needs to be so closed door and hush hush the rest of the year. And sure, losing one game of baseball is not as devastating as losing one game of football, but when the losses start piling up the way they do for the Orioles, it becomes a rather slippery slope. Consider this: baseball season is 162 games, football season is 16. That means roughly 10 baseball games equal one football game. At this point, the O's would be approximately 3-4, but fading as fast as they can. Using that logic, the O's have finished 6-10 or 7-9 every year for the last ten years. Just know that if the Ravens did that, they would probably be getting the same treatment from the fans. The catch is, the Ravens as an organization would never have let it get that bad. Here endeth the lesson.
Peace.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Broken Record
It seems as though whenever I start praising the Orioles during a hot streak, the wheels fall off the wagon. It happened again this past week...
The Orioles managed to string together a six game win streak, and everything was going swimmingly. The hitters were hitting, the offense was balanced, pitchers were getting wins and throwing strikes, the manager let them pitch, and the team clawed it's way back to .500. Then the hitters stopped hitting, the offense was way unbalanced, the pitchers are getting No Decisions and allowing a lot of hits, the manager is pulling them too early, and we've gone back to our comfort zone of five games below .500. It all sounds too familiar. It has happened before, at least once this season, and probably many more times in the coming years. What I don't understand, however, is why?
Why do we (the fans) have to constantly suffer through the inconsistency of this team? Why can't they just win 2 games, lose 1, win 2, lose 1, and finish with a .667 winning percentage (unrealistic even for a good team, I know)? Why is it that every time we finally look legitimate because we're doing things differently, we revert back to the way we were doing them when we sucked and start losing again?
I know what you're thinking: Kurt, you've said all this before, can't you find something new to write about? The answer is no, I can't find something new, because the team is the same old sorry excuse for a baseball team that it has been for 10 years. Every time we look like we might finally be coming out of it (most recently 2005), spiralling back down we go. We've tried everything, literally everything, to try to stop it, short of actually winning games. We tried loading the roster with veterans, and we lost. We released all the veterans, went with all young blood, and we lost. We tried buying a winning team (highest payroll in baseball in 1998) and we lost. We tried using bargain players (Marty Cordova, David Segui), and we lost. We tried hiring a manager from a winning organization (Lee Mazzilli) and we lost. We promoted a manager from within our crappy organization, and we lost. We've replaced GM's, rosters, staffs, waterboys, and hot dog vendors, and sadly nothing has made us win. And why?
Because the Orioles don't listen. To anybody. Period. The Orioles are a rather delusional bunch, and for some reason do not realize the severity of their awful situation. Case in point, Rick Dempsey. The Demper, when he's not "domestically violating" Jay Gibbons, serves as an analyst for O's Xtra. No matter how bad the loss was, or how heartbreaking, or how demoralizing, Dempsey will undoubtedly sugar coat the loss by spouting off the usual Oriole corporate lines: "It's still early"; "They played hard"; "They were undermanned"; "They were overmatched"; "The coaches made the right calls". News flash Rick: It's not that early (All-Star Game, dead ahead), they don't play hard, they have as much talent as you can ask for, the other teams aren't that much better, and the coaches suck (see previous posts for proof of all of the above).
Dempsey is just the tip of the iceberg, however, because he's not even within the organization. The real meat of the organization, like Mike Flanagan, Jim Duquette, and Peter Angelos, are the ones paying Dempsey to sugar coat everything in an attempt to deceive the fans. News Flash for you three clowns: We're not stupid. We've seen the chaos that has become the Orioles. Furthermore, we've tried to prove to you that we aren't stupid, and that we want the team to be a winner, and that you can't sugar coat things from us forever, but you don't listen. Newspaper columnists, radio hosts, TV sportscasters, even casual bloggers have all seemingly come up with more answers than the team. The team is trying to stay the course, ride it out, let it heal itself, but this isn't something that can heal itself. The Orioles need to start paying attention.
It's not just the local fans that get ignored, either. The Orioles also seem to ignore the trends that go on in Major League Baseball. While other teams are cultivating young talent across the board, or tapping foreign markets for players (Milwaukee, Seattle, Anaheim, Boston), the Orioles sign the recycled cast offs from contending teams (Aubrey Huff, Danys Baez). There is clearly a reason why baseball players become unemployed, and it is that they aren't any good. Baseball has no salary cap, so if a player is worth keeping, you can keep him. Instead, the Orioles trade away the young talent they've invested their time and money in, like John Maine or Gary Matthews, resign free agents that have little talent to begin with, like Jay Gibbons, and make no major plays for the foreign superstars that have become en vogue lately in MLB.
One final trend that the Orioles tend to ignore is the trend that correlates winning and revenue. Peter Angelos is famous for two things: suing Bethlehem Steel for workers getting asbestos, and bitching that the Orioles don't make any money for him. What he doesn't realize is that it is infinitely more expensive to lose than it is to win. Sure, to lose all you need is a low payroll and a washed up coach, while winning requires hiring good scouts, tracking trends, an investing time in players. But the payoff is enormous for winning. Winning puts fans in the stands at an average of $25 a ticket. Twenty-five dollars a ticket times the 48,000 seats the stadium holds comes out to $1.2 milllllllllion dollars in just tickets sales. Think about the hot dogs, popcorn, soda, beer, and Boog's Bar-b-que those 48,000 people will consume, plus the hats, jerseys, pennants, foam fingers, and programs they'll buy, and you can almost pay the entire team with that money for an entire season. But in order to reap those benefits, Peter, you have to put in the time to make the team a winner. Everybody knows the Orioles' favorite series are the ones against New York and Boston, because those series fill the seats, albeit with the wrong people. Peter, imagine getting that every night, with those people wearing orange and black. If you win, we will come.
One day, maybe the team will listen. It's not like the fans haven't tried. Last season, "Nasty" Nestor Aparicio of WNST organized a fan walkout during a game. The players noticed, but knew there was nothing they could do about it. The target of the walkout was Mr. Angelos, who simply scoffed and patronized the fans who participated. He said, "They don't know how hard it is to run a team. They don't know anything". We may not, but it seems like you're in the same boat, Pete. The least you can do is give the fans a bone and maybe start to listen to some of our ideas. Listen to the people who pay to sit in the seats amongst all the Yankee and Red Sox fans, and quietly cheer for a team we wish would return to prominence. My readers, I apologize for sounding like a broken record.
Peace.
Cool Note: In order to reach a wider audience, the Long Beach Armada minor league baseball team took the Anaheim Angels' approach to naming the team. The new official name of the team is the Long Beach Armada of Los Angeles of California of the United States of North America Including Barrow, Alaska. Read all about it here.
The Orioles managed to string together a six game win streak, and everything was going swimmingly. The hitters were hitting, the offense was balanced, pitchers were getting wins and throwing strikes, the manager let them pitch, and the team clawed it's way back to .500. Then the hitters stopped hitting, the offense was way unbalanced, the pitchers are getting No Decisions and allowing a lot of hits, the manager is pulling them too early, and we've gone back to our comfort zone of five games below .500. It all sounds too familiar. It has happened before, at least once this season, and probably many more times in the coming years. What I don't understand, however, is why?
Why do we (the fans) have to constantly suffer through the inconsistency of this team? Why can't they just win 2 games, lose 1, win 2, lose 1, and finish with a .667 winning percentage (unrealistic even for a good team, I know)? Why is it that every time we finally look legitimate because we're doing things differently, we revert back to the way we were doing them when we sucked and start losing again?
I know what you're thinking: Kurt, you've said all this before, can't you find something new to write about? The answer is no, I can't find something new, because the team is the same old sorry excuse for a baseball team that it has been for 10 years. Every time we look like we might finally be coming out of it (most recently 2005), spiralling back down we go. We've tried everything, literally everything, to try to stop it, short of actually winning games. We tried loading the roster with veterans, and we lost. We released all the veterans, went with all young blood, and we lost. We tried buying a winning team (highest payroll in baseball in 1998) and we lost. We tried using bargain players (Marty Cordova, David Segui), and we lost. We tried hiring a manager from a winning organization (Lee Mazzilli) and we lost. We promoted a manager from within our crappy organization, and we lost. We've replaced GM's, rosters, staffs, waterboys, and hot dog vendors, and sadly nothing has made us win. And why?
Because the Orioles don't listen. To anybody. Period. The Orioles are a rather delusional bunch, and for some reason do not realize the severity of their awful situation. Case in point, Rick Dempsey. The Demper, when he's not "domestically violating" Jay Gibbons, serves as an analyst for O's Xtra. No matter how bad the loss was, or how heartbreaking, or how demoralizing, Dempsey will undoubtedly sugar coat the loss by spouting off the usual Oriole corporate lines: "It's still early"; "They played hard"; "They were undermanned"; "They were overmatched"; "The coaches made the right calls". News flash Rick: It's not that early (All-Star Game, dead ahead), they don't play hard, they have as much talent as you can ask for, the other teams aren't that much better, and the coaches suck (see previous posts for proof of all of the above).
Dempsey is just the tip of the iceberg, however, because he's not even within the organization. The real meat of the organization, like Mike Flanagan, Jim Duquette, and Peter Angelos, are the ones paying Dempsey to sugar coat everything in an attempt to deceive the fans. News Flash for you three clowns: We're not stupid. We've seen the chaos that has become the Orioles. Furthermore, we've tried to prove to you that we aren't stupid, and that we want the team to be a winner, and that you can't sugar coat things from us forever, but you don't listen. Newspaper columnists, radio hosts, TV sportscasters, even casual bloggers have all seemingly come up with more answers than the team. The team is trying to stay the course, ride it out, let it heal itself, but this isn't something that can heal itself. The Orioles need to start paying attention.
It's not just the local fans that get ignored, either. The Orioles also seem to ignore the trends that go on in Major League Baseball. While other teams are cultivating young talent across the board, or tapping foreign markets for players (Milwaukee, Seattle, Anaheim, Boston), the Orioles sign the recycled cast offs from contending teams (Aubrey Huff, Danys Baez). There is clearly a reason why baseball players become unemployed, and it is that they aren't any good. Baseball has no salary cap, so if a player is worth keeping, you can keep him. Instead, the Orioles trade away the young talent they've invested their time and money in, like John Maine or Gary Matthews, resign free agents that have little talent to begin with, like Jay Gibbons, and make no major plays for the foreign superstars that have become en vogue lately in MLB.
One final trend that the Orioles tend to ignore is the trend that correlates winning and revenue. Peter Angelos is famous for two things: suing Bethlehem Steel for workers getting asbestos, and bitching that the Orioles don't make any money for him. What he doesn't realize is that it is infinitely more expensive to lose than it is to win. Sure, to lose all you need is a low payroll and a washed up coach, while winning requires hiring good scouts, tracking trends, an investing time in players. But the payoff is enormous for winning. Winning puts fans in the stands at an average of $25 a ticket. Twenty-five dollars a ticket times the 48,000 seats the stadium holds comes out to $1.2 milllllllllion dollars in just tickets sales. Think about the hot dogs, popcorn, soda, beer, and Boog's Bar-b-que those 48,000 people will consume, plus the hats, jerseys, pennants, foam fingers, and programs they'll buy, and you can almost pay the entire team with that money for an entire season. But in order to reap those benefits, Peter, you have to put in the time to make the team a winner. Everybody knows the Orioles' favorite series are the ones against New York and Boston, because those series fill the seats, albeit with the wrong people. Peter, imagine getting that every night, with those people wearing orange and black. If you win, we will come.
One day, maybe the team will listen. It's not like the fans haven't tried. Last season, "Nasty" Nestor Aparicio of WNST organized a fan walkout during a game. The players noticed, but knew there was nothing they could do about it. The target of the walkout was Mr. Angelos, who simply scoffed and patronized the fans who participated. He said, "They don't know how hard it is to run a team. They don't know anything". We may not, but it seems like you're in the same boat, Pete. The least you can do is give the fans a bone and maybe start to listen to some of our ideas. Listen to the people who pay to sit in the seats amongst all the Yankee and Red Sox fans, and quietly cheer for a team we wish would return to prominence. My readers, I apologize for sounding like a broken record.
Peace.
Cool Note: In order to reach a wider audience, the Long Beach Armada minor league baseball team took the Anaheim Angels' approach to naming the team. The new official name of the team is the Long Beach Armada of Los Angeles of California of the United States of North America Including Barrow, Alaska. Read all about it here.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Ray of Hope?
It really hurts to do this one...
Chris Ray, I know you are reading this, so listen to me carefully: If you keep blowing saves, I will no longer champion your cause. End of story. If you are being paid the big bucks to pitch, you better pitch like you mean it.
For anyone who turned off yesterday's O's- Angels game before the ninth inning, thinking, "They got it", you should've stuck around. Then you could be sharing the same disbelief and pain that every other O's fan has. It seemed like something I've seen before. Jeremy Guthrie pitched like a master, throws an eight inning, 3 hitter, and leaves with a lead. Ray comes in, and two batters later, the Angels are jumping around and dancing on the plate. To quote Yogi, it was De ja vu all over again, because it wasn't over until it was over.
First, some good things about yesterday: Guthrie, of course. The man can flat out pitch. He's currently 4th in the AL in ERA. That's not too shabby for a rookie (he's technically a rookie because he did not appear in enough games during his Indians stint to qualify as a veteran). Every time he pitches, the Orioles know they're going to get 8 strong innings, and then Guthrie will receive a No Decision when the bullpen blows the game. Another positive from yesterday was a Mr. Melvin Mora. The Original Big Papi (come on, he has 6 kids) blasted a homerun that would have served as the game winner if it wasn't for Ray. He continues to be one of the most consistent players on the team, delivering day in and day out. He also showed some spark yesterday by giving the water cooler a good kick when he left the field after the ninth inning debacle. Thank god another Oriole has reached the breaking point. Now Mora and Jay Payton can start inspiring the rest of the team. Other positives included Brian Roberts continuing his latest hot streak (he's the early leader for Orioles' MVP) and Nick Markakis again delivering a big hit (a close second for OMVP).
Then the wheels fell off the wagon yet again. It would seem like it would be too much of a stretch to ask Major League Baseball to shorten the length of a game to eight innings, wouldn't it? That being the case, we have to do something to find a way to win games in the last inning. One solution would have been to LEAVE GUTHRIE IN! How many times have we said that this year? The poor guy pitches a masterpiece, a one hitter through 7, a three hitter through 8, and we yank him, even though he only had 88 pitches under his belt. Three weeks ago, during the Beatdown in Boston, Guthrie was yanked after 102 pitches to "save his arm". From what? A win? And what was today's excuse, Sammy? He only had 88 pitches. He already went 8 innings. That's 11 pitches per inning. He would have finished with 99 (in theory), which is even one pitch short of that mystical 100 pitch plateau that Perlozzo and Mazzone keep to like it's religious doctrine. He should be leading the league in complete games right now, and have at minimum two more wins. Instead, he can only be found when you look at the American League ERA stats. What's more is that everybody except the management knows that Guthrie could have finished it. Even casual baseball fans like the Mix 106.5 Morning Show knew he should've been left in. Said the DJ's, "If you're going to try and save his arm, pull him in the sixth, not the eighth. His arm is gone anyway by the eighth, at least let him try to finish it, and possibly win the game, or lose it on his terms." If I were Guthrie, I'd be ready to kick a little @$$.
The latest managing gaff wasn't even the worst part, however. Many would argue that going to the closer in the bottom of the ninth whilst clinging to a one run lead is the right thing to do. That is the right thing to in the textbook, but the Orioles are far from a textbook case. Perlozzo should know his team well enough by now to know that treating the Orioles like a textbook scenario can only lead to heartbreak. And it did. Bringing in Ray looked great on paper, and may have stemmed some of the heat from Perlozzo. By bringing in Ray, Perlozzo can again take no responsibility for the loss, which he promptly did. Quoth the oil painting, "We just needed three outs. We played our hearts out until that point. Our closer is supposed to come in and get you three outs. And it didn't happen... If your closer and your eighth-inning guy can't get anybody out, where do you go?" I'll tell you, Sammy: go to someone else. Redefine the roles. Don't worry about one guy racking up saves and another having the lowest ERA. Let the pitcher who is hot (Jamie Walker, Chad Bradford, John Parrish) have a crack at it.
So now we're left with Ray. What do we do with Chris Ray. Last year, he looked like he would be an Oriole forever through the first 4 months of the season. He was a Superman, a man who only knew one thing, and it was how to get those three hard outs. He was invincible. No batter could touch him. As a rookie, in late April, in Yankee Stadium, clinging to a 1 run lead with two outs, he struck out Hideki Matsui with runners on to preserve an Oriole win. He was a Yankee killer, a world beater, and nobody was going to stop him. He was destined for Copperstown. I even let Kim pose with him for a picture during Oriole Photo Day (OK, I was awestruck and let her pose with anybody, including Jon Halama). But then something changed.
I was actually present at Camden Yards during the fateful night that might have been the beginning of the end for Chris Ray. It was a typical warm evening. It was floppy hat night. Everybody was happy. The Orioles went into the ninth with a three run lead. It was Ray time. Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams" blared over the speakers, and in came The Man. I was ready to stand up and take my floppy hat on home. Then a batter got on base. No biggy. Then another. We're OK. Then a third. He's fine, it's Chris Ray. Suddenly, there was a crack of the bat, and the left fielder just didn't have enough space. The ball sailed over the wall. It was what would prove to be a game winning Grand Slam, and the Yard was silent. I wanted to vomit.
I figured that was an isolated incident, and still championed Chris Ray's cause. Then A-Roid did the same damn thing. And it has happened to him four times this year, just not necessarily with a homerun. He has only had 16 save opportunities, and he has blown four of them. That's unacceptable. Think about it: 4/16 is 25%. If he has 32 opportunities (he had 35 last year), that's 8 blown saves. Eight additional losses, which would account for roughly 5% of the O's total games this year. So in theory, at the outset of the year, we would have to say we would like to finish with a .505 win percentage in order to compensate for Chris Ray. This is a team that struggles to make it to .500, and can't stay there when it does. Asking for .505 to account for the closer is just not feasible.
So with that, I bid adieu to my blind faith in Chris Ray. O's fans everywhere have been burned entirely too many times to be naive enough to keep going back to him. The problem then becomes who to use as the closer. On paper, the role would go to Danys Baez, the "set-up man" (I hate that term). The problem is, Baez is worse than Ray. I am now firmly of the camp that we should have a closer by committee, and just let whoever has the hot hand do the closing. Unfortunately, what makes sense and what Sam Perlozzo does are usually two different things.
Peace.
Chris Ray, I know you are reading this, so listen to me carefully: If you keep blowing saves, I will no longer champion your cause. End of story. If you are being paid the big bucks to pitch, you better pitch like you mean it.
For anyone who turned off yesterday's O's- Angels game before the ninth inning, thinking, "They got it", you should've stuck around. Then you could be sharing the same disbelief and pain that every other O's fan has. It seemed like something I've seen before. Jeremy Guthrie pitched like a master, throws an eight inning, 3 hitter, and leaves with a lead. Ray comes in, and two batters later, the Angels are jumping around and dancing on the plate. To quote Yogi, it was De ja vu all over again, because it wasn't over until it was over.
First, some good things about yesterday: Guthrie, of course. The man can flat out pitch. He's currently 4th in the AL in ERA. That's not too shabby for a rookie (he's technically a rookie because he did not appear in enough games during his Indians stint to qualify as a veteran). Every time he pitches, the Orioles know they're going to get 8 strong innings, and then Guthrie will receive a No Decision when the bullpen blows the game. Another positive from yesterday was a Mr. Melvin Mora. The Original Big Papi (come on, he has 6 kids) blasted a homerun that would have served as the game winner if it wasn't for Ray. He continues to be one of the most consistent players on the team, delivering day in and day out. He also showed some spark yesterday by giving the water cooler a good kick when he left the field after the ninth inning debacle. Thank god another Oriole has reached the breaking point. Now Mora and Jay Payton can start inspiring the rest of the team. Other positives included Brian Roberts continuing his latest hot streak (he's the early leader for Orioles' MVP) and Nick Markakis again delivering a big hit (a close second for OMVP).
Then the wheels fell off the wagon yet again. It would seem like it would be too much of a stretch to ask Major League Baseball to shorten the length of a game to eight innings, wouldn't it? That being the case, we have to do something to find a way to win games in the last inning. One solution would have been to LEAVE GUTHRIE IN! How many times have we said that this year? The poor guy pitches a masterpiece, a one hitter through 7, a three hitter through 8, and we yank him, even though he only had 88 pitches under his belt. Three weeks ago, during the Beatdown in Boston, Guthrie was yanked after 102 pitches to "save his arm". From what? A win? And what was today's excuse, Sammy? He only had 88 pitches. He already went 8 innings. That's 11 pitches per inning. He would have finished with 99 (in theory), which is even one pitch short of that mystical 100 pitch plateau that Perlozzo and Mazzone keep to like it's religious doctrine. He should be leading the league in complete games right now, and have at minimum two more wins. Instead, he can only be found when you look at the American League ERA stats. What's more is that everybody except the management knows that Guthrie could have finished it. Even casual baseball fans like the Mix 106.5 Morning Show knew he should've been left in. Said the DJ's, "If you're going to try and save his arm, pull him in the sixth, not the eighth. His arm is gone anyway by the eighth, at least let him try to finish it, and possibly win the game, or lose it on his terms." If I were Guthrie, I'd be ready to kick a little @$$.
The latest managing gaff wasn't even the worst part, however. Many would argue that going to the closer in the bottom of the ninth whilst clinging to a one run lead is the right thing to do. That is the right thing to in the textbook, but the Orioles are far from a textbook case. Perlozzo should know his team well enough by now to know that treating the Orioles like a textbook scenario can only lead to heartbreak. And it did. Bringing in Ray looked great on paper, and may have stemmed some of the heat from Perlozzo. By bringing in Ray, Perlozzo can again take no responsibility for the loss, which he promptly did. Quoth the oil painting, "We just needed three outs. We played our hearts out until that point. Our closer is supposed to come in and get you three outs. And it didn't happen... If your closer and your eighth-inning guy can't get anybody out, where do you go?" I'll tell you, Sammy: go to someone else. Redefine the roles. Don't worry about one guy racking up saves and another having the lowest ERA. Let the pitcher who is hot (Jamie Walker, Chad Bradford, John Parrish) have a crack at it.
So now we're left with Ray. What do we do with Chris Ray. Last year, he looked like he would be an Oriole forever through the first 4 months of the season. He was a Superman, a man who only knew one thing, and it was how to get those three hard outs. He was invincible. No batter could touch him. As a rookie, in late April, in Yankee Stadium, clinging to a 1 run lead with two outs, he struck out Hideki Matsui with runners on to preserve an Oriole win. He was a Yankee killer, a world beater, and nobody was going to stop him. He was destined for Copperstown. I even let Kim pose with him for a picture during Oriole Photo Day (OK, I was awestruck and let her pose with anybody, including Jon Halama). But then something changed.
I was actually present at Camden Yards during the fateful night that might have been the beginning of the end for Chris Ray. It was a typical warm evening. It was floppy hat night. Everybody was happy. The Orioles went into the ninth with a three run lead. It was Ray time. Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams" blared over the speakers, and in came The Man. I was ready to stand up and take my floppy hat on home. Then a batter got on base. No biggy. Then another. We're OK. Then a third. He's fine, it's Chris Ray. Suddenly, there was a crack of the bat, and the left fielder just didn't have enough space. The ball sailed over the wall. It was what would prove to be a game winning Grand Slam, and the Yard was silent. I wanted to vomit.
I figured that was an isolated incident, and still championed Chris Ray's cause. Then A-Roid did the same damn thing. And it has happened to him four times this year, just not necessarily with a homerun. He has only had 16 save opportunities, and he has blown four of them. That's unacceptable. Think about it: 4/16 is 25%. If he has 32 opportunities (he had 35 last year), that's 8 blown saves. Eight additional losses, which would account for roughly 5% of the O's total games this year. So in theory, at the outset of the year, we would have to say we would like to finish with a .505 win percentage in order to compensate for Chris Ray. This is a team that struggles to make it to .500, and can't stay there when it does. Asking for .505 to account for the closer is just not feasible.
So with that, I bid adieu to my blind faith in Chris Ray. O's fans everywhere have been burned entirely too many times to be naive enough to keep going back to him. The problem then becomes who to use as the closer. On paper, the role would go to Danys Baez, the "set-up man" (I hate that term). The problem is, Baez is worse than Ray. I am now firmly of the camp that we should have a closer by committee, and just let whoever has the hot hand do the closing. Unfortunately, what makes sense and what Sam Perlozzo does are usually two different things.
Peace.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Breaking Baseball's Hallowed Records & More
I read an interesting article today about the next record that will be rewritten in baseball's history books, and it's not the one you may think it is...
John Donovan, baseball beat writer extraordinaire for Si.com, wrote a great piece today about the lost art of arguing with umpires. What brings this art to the attention of the national media today? The record is soon to fall. Bobby Cox, who has managed the Braves since the Roosevelt administration, is closing in on his 131st ejection from a major league game. That would tie the record, and 132 will break it. Donovan wanted to investigate the art of the ejection a little bit more, so he went straight to the Picasso of Picking a Fight, the Van Gogh of Getting the Boot, the Da Vinci of Da Gate, none other than Baltimore Oriole legend Earl Weaver.
It came as a shock to me to learn that The Earl of Baltimore did not hold MLB's ejection record of 131. It is actually held by John McGraw, a manager from the turn of the century. Interestingly enough, Cox has technically already broken the record for ejections by a manager, since McGraw was ejected 14 times as a player. But if you're going to break a record and carve your name into baseball's record book, go for the gusto and do it right (Barry Lamar Bonds). The Earl is actually fourth on the all time list with 97. It may just be me, but I would be in favor of rehiring the Earl just long enough so he could be ejected three more times and break 100 (come on, it would only take three games).
To say that Earl wrote the book on getting ejected just doesn't say enough. Earl was the original, the innovator, the creator of the ejection (all this coming from someone who never saw the man coach a game... but his best ejections can be found on YouTube). Before Earl there were none, and after Earl it is just not the same. Earl was a fire ball from start to finish. He was shorter than the average person to begin with, and that made it all better. The fire was more concentrated throughout him and therefore more potent, which led to better arguments and better ejections. Earl would cuss, rant, rave, kick dirt, throw hats, throw dirt, turn the hat around to get closer to the target (read "umpire"), and on one occasion even got ejected before the game started. That's absolute skill, a master of his craft.
The thing that shocks me about Bobby Cox potentially breaking the record is that Cox is so much more mellow than Earl. Cox doesn't have the same emotions on the sleeve fire that Earl did. Cox's arguments rarely get out of hand, and never make SportsCenter. How could an argument truly be an argument if it doesn't even land on SportsCenter. If it's not even good enough for ESPN, it's probably just a tea party with the umpires in which Cox brought Earl Grey tea instead the ump-preferred Green Tea. This is not to take away from Cox's accomplishment, it's just to say that while he will hold the record, nobody did it better than Earl. It's kind of like saying that Bonds will one day hold the record, but nobody hit homeruns like Ruth, except in that situation I take everything away from Bonds.
So what is all the hub-bub about getting ejected? Why is it a good thing to leave your team halfway through a game and strand them manager-less? Because it shows you care. It wasn't too long ago in this space that I wrote about a manager that doesn't care, and how it's reflected by his players. Getting in the face of the umpires to argue what is right shows the team that it can never, ever give up the fight, no matter who it is against, and no matter what the odds. If Sam Perlozzo had the same fire that Earl Weaver had, the Orioles could be in first place right now. Instead, the Orioles' most recent managers (Ray Miller, Mike Hargrove, Lee Mazzilli, and Perlozzo) have all lacked the all important fire. The result? Ten straight losing seasons. Coincidence? I think not. If you give the O's someone like Weaver or Cox or maybe even Lou Piniella, they might not suck. They would show the same emotion that the manager shows, and the team would be full of feisty go-getters like Jay Payton.
To read all of John Donovan's Earl Weaver article/ interview, click here .
In other news this day, May 31st has come and gone, which means the deadline to submit any uniform changes for the 2008 MLB season has come and gone. Why does that matter, Kurt? Because now we must suffer another year of the Orioles' away jerseys reading "Orioles", as opposed to the more customary and less alienating "Baltimore".
Uniform tradition in almost any sport dictates that the home jersey of a franchise read the team name, since the fans will undoubtedly know where the team is from. The away jersey traditionally has the city name, so the opposing fans would know from where the team hails. It most likely dates back to when teams first started to travel, and people in the stands would actually not know where the opposition was from. It would be convenient for them to look down and say, "Oh, they're from [insert city name]". If they were playing the Orioles, however, they would say "Oh, they're from Orioles. That's strange... they're the Orioles Orioles". Now that just sounds stupid.
So now the deadline has come and gone, and we are again stuck pleading to fans of Washington to not abandon us. That's what it all boiled down to. In the 70's, after the Senators left Washington (again!), the owner of the Orioles felt that in order to reach out to the newly orphaned fans, he would remove Baltimore from the away jerseys, so as to give everybody a baseball home. That was great for DC, but a huge slap in the face for the people that actually support and pay for the team. All these years later, the away jerseys are still wrong, even after DC got yet another team. I think the time has come for the Orioles to finally stop alienating the fans of Baltimore, and tell the DC fans to go watch their own team if they can't be loyal because of the city on the uniform.
The problem is, of course, Peter Angelos. Since his normal course of action is to hear what the popular voice is and then do the exact opposite, Angelos keeps stalling Orioles' officials long enough to let the deadline pass. It seems as though Angelos is still under the assumption that DC fans can be kept on our side simply by making the team geographically unaffiliated, but that simply won't work. And if that's the case, why don't we rename the team the United States Orioles in order to attract fans from all over the country; afterall, Hawaii and Alaska are baseball orphans as well. Apparently, Angelos has not talked to his accountant though. If he had, he would have realized by now that changing the uniform means they get to sell new uniforms, and that would just be money in the bank for Angelos and the Orioles.
In the grand scheme of things, adding "Baltimore" to the away jersey is a small change and a small gesture to the city. With the way things are, however, and the Orioles mired in a ten year slump that has seen us become the laughing stock of Major League Baseball, a small gesture could win back a lot of fans who feel alienated by the team. I see it as a no lose situation, and yet still, here we are, wondering why it still says "Orioles" on the away jersey of the Baltimore Orioles.
Peace.
John Donovan, baseball beat writer extraordinaire for Si.com, wrote a great piece today about the lost art of arguing with umpires. What brings this art to the attention of the national media today? The record is soon to fall. Bobby Cox, who has managed the Braves since the Roosevelt administration, is closing in on his 131st ejection from a major league game. That would tie the record, and 132 will break it. Donovan wanted to investigate the art of the ejection a little bit more, so he went straight to the Picasso of Picking a Fight, the Van Gogh of Getting the Boot, the Da Vinci of Da Gate, none other than Baltimore Oriole legend Earl Weaver.
It came as a shock to me to learn that The Earl of Baltimore did not hold MLB's ejection record of 131. It is actually held by John McGraw, a manager from the turn of the century. Interestingly enough, Cox has technically already broken the record for ejections by a manager, since McGraw was ejected 14 times as a player. But if you're going to break a record and carve your name into baseball's record book, go for the gusto and do it right (Barry Lamar Bonds). The Earl is actually fourth on the all time list with 97. It may just be me, but I would be in favor of rehiring the Earl just long enough so he could be ejected three more times and break 100 (come on, it would only take three games).
To say that Earl wrote the book on getting ejected just doesn't say enough. Earl was the original, the innovator, the creator of the ejection (all this coming from someone who never saw the man coach a game... but his best ejections can be found on YouTube). Before Earl there were none, and after Earl it is just not the same. Earl was a fire ball from start to finish. He was shorter than the average person to begin with, and that made it all better. The fire was more concentrated throughout him and therefore more potent, which led to better arguments and better ejections. Earl would cuss, rant, rave, kick dirt, throw hats, throw dirt, turn the hat around to get closer to the target (read "umpire"), and on one occasion even got ejected before the game started. That's absolute skill, a master of his craft.
The thing that shocks me about Bobby Cox potentially breaking the record is that Cox is so much more mellow than Earl. Cox doesn't have the same emotions on the sleeve fire that Earl did. Cox's arguments rarely get out of hand, and never make SportsCenter. How could an argument truly be an argument if it doesn't even land on SportsCenter. If it's not even good enough for ESPN, it's probably just a tea party with the umpires in which Cox brought Earl Grey tea instead the ump-preferred Green Tea. This is not to take away from Cox's accomplishment, it's just to say that while he will hold the record, nobody did it better than Earl. It's kind of like saying that Bonds will one day hold the record, but nobody hit homeruns like Ruth, except in that situation I take everything away from Bonds.
So what is all the hub-bub about getting ejected? Why is it a good thing to leave your team halfway through a game and strand them manager-less? Because it shows you care. It wasn't too long ago in this space that I wrote about a manager that doesn't care, and how it's reflected by his players. Getting in the face of the umpires to argue what is right shows the team that it can never, ever give up the fight, no matter who it is against, and no matter what the odds. If Sam Perlozzo had the same fire that Earl Weaver had, the Orioles could be in first place right now. Instead, the Orioles' most recent managers (Ray Miller, Mike Hargrove, Lee Mazzilli, and Perlozzo) have all lacked the all important fire. The result? Ten straight losing seasons. Coincidence? I think not. If you give the O's someone like Weaver or Cox or maybe even Lou Piniella, they might not suck. They would show the same emotion that the manager shows, and the team would be full of feisty go-getters like Jay Payton.
To read all of John Donovan's Earl Weaver article/ interview, click here .
In other news this day, May 31st has come and gone, which means the deadline to submit any uniform changes for the 2008 MLB season has come and gone. Why does that matter, Kurt? Because now we must suffer another year of the Orioles' away jerseys reading "Orioles", as opposed to the more customary and less alienating "Baltimore".
Uniform tradition in almost any sport dictates that the home jersey of a franchise read the team name, since the fans will undoubtedly know where the team is from. The away jersey traditionally has the city name, so the opposing fans would know from where the team hails. It most likely dates back to when teams first started to travel, and people in the stands would actually not know where the opposition was from. It would be convenient for them to look down and say, "Oh, they're from [insert city name]
So now the deadline has come and gone, and we are again stuck pleading to fans of Washington to not abandon us. That's what it all boiled down to. In the 70's, after the Senators left Washington (again!), the owner of the Orioles felt that in order to reach out to the newly orphaned fans, he would remove Baltimore from the away jerseys, so as to give everybody a baseball home. That was great for DC, but a huge slap in the face for the people that actually support and pay for the team. All these years later, the away jerseys are still wrong, even after DC got yet another team. I think the time has come for the Orioles to finally stop alienating the fans of Baltimore, and tell the DC fans to go watch their own team if they can't be loyal because of the city on the uniform.
The problem is, of course, Peter Angelos. Since his normal course of action is to hear what the popular voice is and then do the exact opposite, Angelos keeps stalling Orioles' officials long enough to let the deadline pass. It seems as though Angelos is still under the assumption that DC fans can be kept on our side simply by making the team geographically unaffiliated, but that simply won't work. And if that's the case, why don't we rename the team the United States Orioles in order to attract fans from all over the country; afterall, Hawaii and Alaska are baseball orphans as well. Apparently, Angelos has not talked to his accountant though. If he had, he would have realized by now that changing the uniform means they get to sell new uniforms, and that would just be money in the bank for Angelos and the Orioles.
In the grand scheme of things, adding "Baltimore" to the away jersey is a small change and a small gesture to the city. With the way things are, however, and the Orioles mired in a ten year slump that has seen us become the laughing stock of Major League Baseball, a small gesture could win back a lot of fans who feel alienated by the team. I see it as a no lose situation, and yet still, here we are, wondering why it still says "Orioles" on the away jersey of the Baltimore Orioles.
Peace.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
O's Rhymes With "Woes"?... You Don't Say
I'm back from my travels (hooray!). I can post with some regularity again (hooray!). I'll kick off my welcome back tour with a post about the Orioles (booooo!).
The only thing more frustrating than watching the Orioles lose a game is listening to the Orioles lose a game. That was the case for me on Sunday. Somewhere in the foothills of Tennessee, I found myself listening to the O's- Red Sox game on an XM Satellite Radio. Things seemed good. The O's were winning, I wasn't missing a pitch, the mountains were barely interrupting the broadcast. Unfortunately, due to XM's agreement with Major League Baseball, the XM broadcast is the broadcast as told by the hometeam's radio crew. I had to listen to the game from the viewpoint of the Red Sox's (Red Sox'? Red Sock?) radio team.
Before I go bird-bashing, let me say that for a franchise that has had as much success in the past couple of years as the Red Sox, I have never heard a broadcast that has so much self pity and as big an inferiority complex as the Boston broadcast. The announcers would constantly defend their team's lackluster performance of a year ago with the caveat that many players were hurt. "The team had injury problems all last year" they would say. Boo-friggin'-hoo. Every team has injury problems. Perhaps the reason your team missed the playoffs is that they weren't that good. With the Sux down 3-0 for the majority of the game, the announcers would wallow in self pity and say that "the wind just hasn't been helping the team out today". They said the reason the Sux hadn't scored any runs was because the wind was blowing hard toward home plate and knocking down any hard hit balls. Then they played the biased mother nature card and said that the wind only blew had toward home plate when the Sox were batting, and not the Orioles. So here they are, getting beat by an admittedly inferior team, and they blame everything but themselves. And I was happy.
Then the wheels fell off the wagon in so many ways my head hurt. First, the XM Radio stopped working. No warning, no wavering, just a nice POOF, and it was done. Apparently, it knew what was lurking in the ninth inning. Once my broadcast was blacked out (with the O's ahead 3-0, I might add), I figured things would work out. Jeremy Guthrie was pitching nicely, the hitters were holding their own, and the Sox were getting shut out. It wasn't until I caught the final score of the game in a hotel room in Bristol, Virginia that my heart was wrenched.
Those who saw the game or the lowlights or just know how the Orioles operate know the rest of the story. It is too painful for me to repeat. It bummed me put for a little while, and I started thinking "Woe are the Orioles. The baseball gods hate us". And then two things hit me: 1) saying that makes me no better than the Red Sox jabberwocky announcers; 2) the Orioles have brought all of this upon themselves, and the real woe is the Oriole fan.
What happened to a franchise that was once so proud? The team that had Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, Earl Weaver, Mark Bellanger, the list goes on and on. The team that went wire to wire in 1997 and looked unbeatable in the playoffs. How did things get this bad? Is it too easy to blame a curse?
The answer is yes, it is entirely too easy to say we're cursed. I've heard rumblings about a Camden Curse or a Davey Johnson Curse, but that's too easy. We haven't done anything in the last ten years to prove the existence of a curse. For example, let's pretend like we have a Camden Curse. Did signing Albert Belle, Marty Cordova, David Segui, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Jaret Wright whilst jettisoning Gary Matthews, John Maine, and B.J. Ryan do anything to break that curse? Did we even put ourselves in position to break any potential curses? Hell no. It's not a curse at this point, because we haven't done anything to prove that it is. If we had a lineup that looked more like the All-Star team and we still weren't winning, then maybe it could be something supernatural. And don't get me wrong, I'd would love for it to be something supernatural, because life would be easier. But the reality is, it's probably more like a cancer than a curse.
The Orioles managed to kill themselves over the last ten years from the inside. Peter Angelos thinks entirely too much in the short term. He's like a little kid who is offered candy if they clean their room, and accept in order to get the candy right away, without realizing that the consequence of taking the candy is cleaning your room. The O's have jumped at so many "big-name" (read big-money) free agents over the years that haven't panned out that all we can do is point the fingers back at ourselves. The consequences of signing the Belles and Cordovas and Palmeiros has been our inability to have any money left over (in our considerably shallow pockets, I might add) to go after a Vladimir Guererro or Alfonso Soriano.
Yet it all seemed like it would be different this year. We have youth throughout the team, we have a likable, home-grown manager, and we have a star in the making to build the future around. And we still suck. They lack heart. When it comes down to it, they are emotionless, playing like zombies with a leather glove on. They win a game with a walk-off homerun, and everybody crowds the plate and congratulates the hitter because they have to, not because they are genuinely excited about winning. The idea of winning draws little excitement amongst the players, because what's the difference? They've lost games for years and no one has cared. Even when they win, nobody is there to see it. The "franchise" down the road stole half the fans. So why bother trying to win? The manager and coaches seem disinterested, and the owner is too busy paying people to count his money, so why try to win? Any Oriole can simply go through the motions just long enough to draw the attention of a winning team, and request a trade or let their contract expire, and then finally play for a winner. So why try winning for the Orioles?
It's that exact attitude that makes the fans of the Orioles the victim in it all. The players aren't the victim. The emotionless oil painting that manages the team isn't the victim. The owner couldn't care much less. The only people who do care are the fans that continually get shafted. Sunday after the game was the first time any of us have ever seen Sam Perlozzo get mad. He has coached the team for almost two whole years, and never once has shown emotion like he did on Sunday. Sure, Sunday's loss hurt, but every loss hurts, because that's all it takes for the fans to say "here we go again". The Orioles (the whole miserable organization) need to start taking losing seriously in order to take winning seriously. Every fan in Baltimore laughs at the prospect of winning because it's absolutely preposterous. Losing is the way it is here (during the summer, anyway) because winning is a punch line.
The situation has gotten so bad that even non-Oriole fans can't take it anymore. Si.com's John Donovan released his new power rankings, and had the Orioles at #20 (too high, to be sure). The comment: "How can you lose a game like Sunday's? It's sickening. A dropped infield popup. A blown toss play to the pitcher covering first. The decision to pull the starter in the first place. Man, the O's are maddening." A little background on Mr. Donovan: he got his start as a journalist in Phoenix, and has worked prior to Si.com in Guam, Florida, Kentucky, and Ohio. He seemingly has no vested interest in the Orioles, and yet even he is "sickened" and "maddened". It has gotten so bad that people who don't even care about the Orioles care more than the Orioles.
The only comforts for Baltimore nowadays: Raven's minicamp starts in like a month; the Ravens drafted very well, as usual; the Orioles will be mathematically eliminated by the All-Star break, and losses like Sunday's and even Monday's won't matter, yet again. The only comfort for me nowadays? The XM radio stopped working and I didn't have to hear the end of Sunday's debacle through the sounds of Red Sox nation.
Peace.
The only thing more frustrating than watching the Orioles lose a game is listening to the Orioles lose a game. That was the case for me on Sunday. Somewhere in the foothills of Tennessee, I found myself listening to the O's- Red Sox game on an XM Satellite Radio. Things seemed good. The O's were winning, I wasn't missing a pitch, the mountains were barely interrupting the broadcast. Unfortunately, due to XM's agreement with Major League Baseball, the XM broadcast is the broadcast as told by the hometeam's radio crew. I had to listen to the game from the viewpoint of the Red Sox's (Red Sox'? Red Sock?) radio team.
Before I go bird-bashing, let me say that for a franchise that has had as much success in the past couple of years as the Red Sox, I have never heard a broadcast that has so much self pity and as big an inferiority complex as the Boston broadcast. The announcers would constantly defend their team's lackluster performance of a year ago with the caveat that many players were hurt. "The team had injury problems all last year" they would say. Boo-friggin'-hoo. Every team has injury problems. Perhaps the reason your team missed the playoffs is that they weren't that good. With the Sux down 3-0 for the majority of the game, the announcers would wallow in self pity and say that "the wind just hasn't been helping the team out today". They said the reason the Sux hadn't scored any runs was because the wind was blowing hard toward home plate and knocking down any hard hit balls. Then they played the biased mother nature card and said that the wind only blew had toward home plate when the Sox were batting, and not the Orioles. So here they are, getting beat by an admittedly inferior team, and they blame everything but themselves. And I was happy.
Then the wheels fell off the wagon in so many ways my head hurt. First, the XM Radio stopped working. No warning, no wavering, just a nice POOF, and it was done. Apparently, it knew what was lurking in the ninth inning. Once my broadcast was blacked out (with the O's ahead 3-0, I might add), I figured things would work out. Jeremy Guthrie was pitching nicely, the hitters were holding their own, and the Sox were getting shut out. It wasn't until I caught the final score of the game in a hotel room in Bristol, Virginia that my heart was wrenched.
Those who saw the game or the lowlights or just know how the Orioles operate know the rest of the story. It is too painful for me to repeat. It bummed me put for a little while, and I started thinking "Woe are the Orioles. The baseball gods hate us". And then two things hit me: 1) saying that makes me no better than the Red Sox jabberwocky announcers; 2) the Orioles have brought all of this upon themselves, and the real woe is the Oriole fan.
What happened to a franchise that was once so proud? The team that had Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, Earl Weaver, Mark Bellanger, the list goes on and on. The team that went wire to wire in 1997 and looked unbeatable in the playoffs. How did things get this bad? Is it too easy to blame a curse?
The answer is yes, it is entirely too easy to say we're cursed. I've heard rumblings about a Camden Curse or a Davey Johnson Curse, but that's too easy. We haven't done anything in the last ten years to prove the existence of a curse. For example, let's pretend like we have a Camden Curse. Did signing Albert Belle, Marty Cordova, David Segui, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Jaret Wright whilst jettisoning Gary Matthews, John Maine, and B.J. Ryan do anything to break that curse? Did we even put ourselves in position to break any potential curses? Hell no. It's not a curse at this point, because we haven't done anything to prove that it is. If we had a lineup that looked more like the All-Star team and we still weren't winning, then maybe it could be something supernatural. And don't get me wrong, I'd would love for it to be something supernatural, because life would be easier. But the reality is, it's probably more like a cancer than a curse.
The Orioles managed to kill themselves over the last ten years from the inside. Peter Angelos thinks entirely too much in the short term. He's like a little kid who is offered candy if they clean their room, and accept in order to get the candy right away, without realizing that the consequence of taking the candy is cleaning your room. The O's have jumped at so many "big-name" (read big-money) free agents over the years that haven't panned out that all we can do is point the fingers back at ourselves. The consequences of signing the Belles and Cordovas and Palmeiros has been our inability to have any money left over (in our considerably shallow pockets, I might add) to go after a Vladimir Guererro or Alfonso Soriano.
Yet it all seemed like it would be different this year. We have youth throughout the team, we have a likable, home-grown manager, and we have a star in the making to build the future around. And we still suck. They lack heart. When it comes down to it, they are emotionless, playing like zombies with a leather glove on. They win a game with a walk-off homerun, and everybody crowds the plate and congratulates the hitter because they have to, not because they are genuinely excited about winning. The idea of winning draws little excitement amongst the players, because what's the difference? They've lost games for years and no one has cared. Even when they win, nobody is there to see it. The "franchise" down the road stole half the fans. So why bother trying to win? The manager and coaches seem disinterested, and the owner is too busy paying people to count his money, so why try to win? Any Oriole can simply go through the motions just long enough to draw the attention of a winning team, and request a trade or let their contract expire, and then finally play for a winner. So why try winning for the Orioles?
It's that exact attitude that makes the fans of the Orioles the victim in it all. The players aren't the victim. The emotionless oil painting that manages the team isn't the victim. The owner couldn't care much less. The only people who do care are the fans that continually get shafted. Sunday after the game was the first time any of us have ever seen Sam Perlozzo get mad. He has coached the team for almost two whole years, and never once has shown emotion like he did on Sunday. Sure, Sunday's loss hurt, but every loss hurts, because that's all it takes for the fans to say "here we go again". The Orioles (the whole miserable organization) need to start taking losing seriously in order to take winning seriously. Every fan in Baltimore laughs at the prospect of winning because it's absolutely preposterous. Losing is the way it is here (during the summer, anyway) because winning is a punch line.
The situation has gotten so bad that even non-Oriole fans can't take it anymore. Si.com's John Donovan released his new power rankings, and had the Orioles at #20 (too high, to be sure). The comment: "How can you lose a game like Sunday's? It's sickening. A dropped infield popup. A blown toss play to the pitcher covering first. The decision to pull the starter in the first place. Man, the O's are maddening." A little background on Mr. Donovan: he got his start as a journalist in Phoenix, and has worked prior to Si.com in Guam, Florida, Kentucky, and Ohio. He seemingly has no vested interest in the Orioles, and yet even he is "sickened" and "maddened". It has gotten so bad that people who don't even care about the Orioles care more than the Orioles.
The only comforts for Baltimore nowadays: Raven's minicamp starts in like a month; the Ravens drafted very well, as usual; the Orioles will be mathematically eliminated by the All-Star break, and losses like Sunday's and even Monday's won't matter, yet again. The only comfort for me nowadays? The XM radio stopped working and I didn't have to hear the end of Sunday's debacle through the sounds of Red Sox nation.
Peace.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Put a Bloody Sock In It
Nothing makes me happier than when someone challenges the misguided beliefs of millions, except, of course, when the challenger represents one my favorite sports teams. Allow me to explain...
In 2004, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling had experimental surgery on his ankle during the playoffs. Instead of giving his ankle ample time to heal, he rushed back to the mound so as to not miss his start against the hated Yankees. Schilling pitched well (as usual), but the "stuff of legend" was made by some wily cameramen. During the game, a camera noticed some red splotches on Schillings sock, right around that same surgically repaired ankle. Everyone assumed that the ankle was bleeding while Schilling was pitching, and that he is not mortal, for surely mortals cannot pitch with a bloody ankle.
Schilling won the game, the Sox won the series, and eventually the World Series. This performance was lauded (means praised), and the bloody sock was sent to the Hall of Fame and placed on display (ewww). Tales of Schilling's gutsy performance were canonized by baseball pundits, and have gone unchallenged.
Enter Gary Thorne. Thorne is the freshman play-by-play man for the Orioles this season, and possesses both a good announcer voice and a firm grasp of the minute details that occur within a game. This past Wednesday during a broadcast of the Orioles/Red Sox contest, Thorne started a rather nice conspiracy, saying that Schilling's ankle was not bleeding, the sock was painted red (ironic), and the stories were just the stuff of lore like Babe Ruth calling his shot. Most Oriole fans probably shrugged their shoulders and said "Yeah, maybe". Boston, on the other hand, was just about ready to declare war on the City of Baltimore, and the media was serving as the back up.
Unbeknownst to Thorne at the time, the statement he made was in fact sacrilege of the highest degree, a blasphemy worse than that of which the Romans convicted Jesus Christ. Thorne offered the other side to the coin (raising a skeptical eye is good), and good lord is he going to pay, maybe Don Imus style. This story has been the top headline on both Si.com and ESPN.com for at least 4 hours. It has been on Baseball Tonight, Sportscenter, and I think CSPAN. The Food Network has gone off the air in respect to those affected by this tragedy, and the President has declared a state of emergency. I, for once, got my wish, as the national media has descended upon Baltimore to cover this story of high treason (careful what you wish for).
I am somewhat offended, not by the comment by any means (I'm a believer in Thorne... more on that), but by the response this has garnered. On ESPN's "Outside the Lines with Bob Ley", Ley was quoted as saying that the comment was of, and I quote, "monumental proportions". That sounds vaguely familiar, as if I had heard it before somewhere recently. Oh, that's right, those were the EXACT WORDS used by Virginia Tech President Charles Steger to describe the shooting massacre that took place on campus. According to Bob Ley, Gary Thorne questioning Schilling's ankle is the same as 32 people losing their lives in an environment of academia. Bob Ley should suddenly be the one on trial, not Gary Thorne. The problem is, we live in an ass backwards society, so lets crucify Gary Thorne first, and let Bob Ley slide. Just know that Ley's comment was tasteless, classless, and disrespectful, and represents a sad day in editing when trash like that can make it to the air waves. In my mind, Bob Ley is no better (possibly worse) than Don Imus, and deserves the spot in the unemployment line directly behind Imus. With that, I announce that I will never, ever, watch Outside the Lines again.
Back to the story. Red Sox nation, the media, and the Hall of Fame have all come out in support of Schilling, all saying there is no possible way Thorne's comments are true. But lets check some sources, shall we? Thorne says he was told that the blood was fake from Schilling's catcher that night, Doug Mirabelli. When the comment was brought to his attention, Mirabelli called Thorne's comment a "straight lie", with the same vigor as President Bill Clinton denying the Monica Lewinski scandal and Rafael Palmeiro denying steroid use. It was hard to tell from the article, but I got the impression that Mirabelli was pointing his finger at the interviewer when he said "straight lie" (by the way, aren't lies, by definition inherently crooked? Wouldn't a straight lie be a truth?).
What people are forgetting here is that Thorne didn't question Schilling's performance that night. He did not say "Curt Schilling used a stand in that night, and did not pitch against the Yankees, but still took credit for it". The only thing he questioned was the substance that was on the sock. The Hall of Fame has come out in support of Schilling, saying the stain has since turned brown (ewww), which is the natural tendency of blood. I propose this question: how do we know the blood wasn't applied after the game? How do we know that Curt Schilling didn't paint the sock for the game, then apply blood later, knowing it would one day come under scrutiny? Red Sox manager Terry Francona has also come out in support of Schilling, saying that the pitcher's performance was just short of heroic (again, our priorities as a society are way out of order when a pitcher in a GAME is heroic, but cops, firefighters, and teachers still live paycheck to paycheck). The Red Sox nation (of which the national media is a card carrying member) has definitely come out to support Schilling in his moment of need, but what does the pitcher have to say for himself?
Schilling, naturally and as expected, has denied Thorne's claim, saying he has the scar to prove it. He went as far to say that Gary Thorne is a "bad man". Apparently, Schilling knows things about Thorne that the rest of us do not. In Schilling's mind, "Bad Man" Thorne made the challenging comment whilst lighting his crack pipe, selling military secrets to Al Quaida, kicking a puppy, ripping off senior citizens, stealing candy from a baby, and parking in a handicap space. These comments do not make Thorne a bad man, because he didn't call Schilling a "nappy headed ho" or anything derogatory. He simply questioned the sock that Schilling wore that night. What I would like to know is if Schilling is so vehement that the sock was bloodied during the game, why can't he let Thorne's comment roll right off his back? Why does he have to create such public backlash over the issue, and take such a defensive stance? The same goes for Mirabelli as well. If they are so sure that they are right, why bother fighting?
While most of the Western Hemisphere has Schilling's back, who is carrying Thorne's banner? Well, there's me (though I be but small, I am mighty), and hopefully my readers (I know where you live), and that's about it. Not even the network that broadcast the game has Thorne's back. MASN (my favorite network ever) re aired the game today, and left Thorne's comment out of the broadcast as if it never even happened. The network has left Thorne hanging out to dry, which really should be MASN's motto. "MASN: Hanging people out to dry on two networks for over 2 months!"
In all seriousness, the media is blowing this entirely out of proportion. Thorne simply offered a second explanation of what actually happened that night, and he has gotten nothing but the third degree since. The man is entitled to his opinion, and people like it better when there are two sides to an issue. Yes, it's a controversial stance, and yes, it creates a conspiracy, but who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory? Maybe Schilling brainwashed Mirabelli into retracting the comment, and paid off the media to keep it hush-hush. Who knows? All I know is that putting Gary Thorne on trial for making this comment is not worth the trouble. He didn't question Schilling's performance that night, and in the end, the performance was all that mattered.
Peace.
FOLLOW UP:
Hours after I made this post, Gary Thorne retracted his statements, saying he talked to Doug Mirabelli and they cleared the whole thing up. The real reason is that he's spineless, was afraid to stand up for himself, and was terrified of the media.
In 2004, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling had experimental surgery on his ankle during the playoffs. Instead of giving his ankle ample time to heal, he rushed back to the mound so as to not miss his start against the hated Yankees. Schilling pitched well (as usual), but the "stuff of legend" was made by some wily cameramen. During the game, a camera noticed some red splotches on Schillings sock, right around that same surgically repaired ankle. Everyone assumed that the ankle was bleeding while Schilling was pitching, and that he is not mortal, for surely mortals cannot pitch with a bloody ankle.
Schilling won the game, the Sox won the series, and eventually the World Series. This performance was lauded (means praised), and the bloody sock was sent to the Hall of Fame and placed on display (ewww). Tales of Schilling's gutsy performance were canonized by baseball pundits, and have gone unchallenged.
Enter Gary Thorne. Thorne is the freshman play-by-play man for the Orioles this season, and possesses both a good announcer voice and a firm grasp of the minute details that occur within a game. This past Wednesday during a broadcast of the Orioles/Red Sox contest, Thorne started a rather nice conspiracy, saying that Schilling's ankle was not bleeding, the sock was painted red (ironic), and the stories were just the stuff of lore like Babe Ruth calling his shot. Most Oriole fans probably shrugged their shoulders and said "Yeah, maybe". Boston, on the other hand, was just about ready to declare war on the City of Baltimore, and the media was serving as the back up.
Unbeknownst to Thorne at the time, the statement he made was in fact sacrilege of the highest degree, a blasphemy worse than that of which the Romans convicted Jesus Christ. Thorne offered the other side to the coin (raising a skeptical eye is good), and good lord is he going to pay, maybe Don Imus style. This story has been the top headline on both Si.com and ESPN.com for at least 4 hours. It has been on Baseball Tonight, Sportscenter, and I think CSPAN. The Food Network has gone off the air in respect to those affected by this tragedy, and the President has declared a state of emergency. I, for once, got my wish, as the national media has descended upon Baltimore to cover this story of high treason (careful what you wish for).
I am somewhat offended, not by the comment by any means (I'm a believer in Thorne... more on that), but by the response this has garnered. On ESPN's "Outside the Lines with Bob Ley", Ley was quoted as saying that the comment was of, and I quote, "monumental proportions". That sounds vaguely familiar, as if I had heard it before somewhere recently. Oh, that's right, those were the EXACT WORDS used by Virginia Tech President Charles Steger to describe the shooting massacre that took place on campus. According to Bob Ley, Gary Thorne questioning Schilling's ankle is the same as 32 people losing their lives in an environment of academia. Bob Ley should suddenly be the one on trial, not Gary Thorne. The problem is, we live in an ass backwards society, so lets crucify Gary Thorne first, and let Bob Ley slide. Just know that Ley's comment was tasteless, classless, and disrespectful, and represents a sad day in editing when trash like that can make it to the air waves. In my mind, Bob Ley is no better (possibly worse) than Don Imus, and deserves the spot in the unemployment line directly behind Imus. With that, I announce that I will never, ever, watch Outside the Lines again.
Back to the story. Red Sox nation, the media, and the Hall of Fame have all come out in support of Schilling, all saying there is no possible way Thorne's comments are true. But lets check some sources, shall we? Thorne says he was told that the blood was fake from Schilling's catcher that night, Doug Mirabelli. When the comment was brought to his attention, Mirabelli called Thorne's comment a "straight lie", with the same vigor as President Bill Clinton denying the Monica Lewinski scandal and Rafael Palmeiro denying steroid use. It was hard to tell from the article, but I got the impression that Mirabelli was pointing his finger at the interviewer when he said "straight lie" (by the way, aren't lies, by definition inherently crooked? Wouldn't a straight lie be a truth?).
What people are forgetting here is that Thorne didn't question Schilling's performance that night. He did not say "Curt Schilling used a stand in that night, and did not pitch against the Yankees, but still took credit for it". The only thing he questioned was the substance that was on the sock. The Hall of Fame has come out in support of Schilling, saying the stain has since turned brown (ewww), which is the natural tendency of blood. I propose this question: how do we know the blood wasn't applied after the game? How do we know that Curt Schilling didn't paint the sock for the game, then apply blood later, knowing it would one day come under scrutiny? Red Sox manager Terry Francona has also come out in support of Schilling, saying that the pitcher's performance was just short of heroic (again, our priorities as a society are way out of order when a pitcher in a GAME is heroic, but cops, firefighters, and teachers still live paycheck to paycheck). The Red Sox nation (of which the national media is a card carrying member) has definitely come out to support Schilling in his moment of need, but what does the pitcher have to say for himself?
Schilling, naturally and as expected, has denied Thorne's claim, saying he has the scar to prove it. He went as far to say that Gary Thorne is a "bad man". Apparently, Schilling knows things about Thorne that the rest of us do not. In Schilling's mind, "Bad Man" Thorne made the challenging comment whilst lighting his crack pipe, selling military secrets to Al Quaida, kicking a puppy, ripping off senior citizens, stealing candy from a baby, and parking in a handicap space. These comments do not make Thorne a bad man, because he didn't call Schilling a "nappy headed ho" or anything derogatory. He simply questioned the sock that Schilling wore that night. What I would like to know is if Schilling is so vehement that the sock was bloodied during the game, why can't he let Thorne's comment roll right off his back? Why does he have to create such public backlash over the issue, and take such a defensive stance? The same goes for Mirabelli as well. If they are so sure that they are right, why bother fighting?
While most of the Western Hemisphere has Schilling's back, who is carrying Thorne's banner? Well, there's me (though I be but small, I am mighty), and hopefully my readers (I know where you live), and that's about it. Not even the network that broadcast the game has Thorne's back. MASN (my favorite network ever) re aired the game today, and left Thorne's comment out of the broadcast as if it never even happened. The network has left Thorne hanging out to dry, which really should be MASN's motto. "MASN: Hanging people out to dry on two networks for over 2 months!"
In all seriousness, the media is blowing this entirely out of proportion. Thorne simply offered a second explanation of what actually happened that night, and he has gotten nothing but the third degree since. The man is entitled to his opinion, and people like it better when there are two sides to an issue. Yes, it's a controversial stance, and yes, it creates a conspiracy, but who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory? Maybe Schilling brainwashed Mirabelli into retracting the comment, and paid off the media to keep it hush-hush. Who knows? All I know is that putting Gary Thorne on trial for making this comment is not worth the trouble. He didn't question Schilling's performance that night, and in the end, the performance was all that mattered.
Peace.
FOLLOW UP:
Hours after I made this post, Gary Thorne retracted his statements, saying he talked to Doug Mirabelli and they cleared the whole thing up. The real reason is that he's spineless, was afraid to stand up for himself, and was terrified of the media.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Two for the Price of One
It's your lucky day, two rants in the same space as one, and each of the same high quality that keeps you coming back for more (that and the fact that you're all family and friends, and I know where you live)...
As much as I wish I didn't have to, I would be absolutely remissed if I didn't comment on the Red Sox- Yankee game from last night. More correctly, the Red Sox and Yankees took batting practice against each other. There were 6 (count 'em) homeruns hit in the game, including two by Mike Lowell, and 4 in A FRIGGIN' ROW from the Red Sox. The question I ask is, where the hell was the pitching? Aren't these two teams supposed to be the powerhouses of Major League Baseball? Don't powerhouses usually have people who don't throw meatballs when the count is better than 3-0? Even the immortal, sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer Dice-K Matsuzaka (I contest that he deserves 100% of the votes) had a less than stellar outing, plunking both A-Roid and Derek Jeter (if you're gonna do it, do it right). Pitching is the definite mark of a playoff team, and right now, neither one of these teams has any, as evidenced by the home run derby last night.
When I heard that Boston teed off four times in a row, it made me wonder, "When was the last time that happened, because that's pretty hard to do?" Well, it turns out that the last time it happened was in '06... 2006. Somehow, the media managed to slip the Dodger's four homerun night last summer by me, even though I spend half of my waking hours scouring the web for sports related news. I cannot put it any better than Si.com's Peter McEntegart, however, so I will let him finish my point:
One strange connection between the Dodgers four homerun feat and Bostons turning Fenway Park into a driving range is the presence of JD Drew on both teams. Not only that, Drew homered for both teams during the onslaught, meaning he obviously must have some sort of mystical powers. Lets hope he limits his powers to one night a year, unless he dons Black and Orange one day.
Speaking of the Black and Orange, it almost looked as though my prowess in the sports-media world had finally taken hold. One day after ranting about the lack of coverage the surging Orioles were receiving, I found this headline on Si.com's baseball page: Orioles winning, Blue Jays ailing. I was about one second from doing a Chandler Dance in victory for using my considerably squeaky wheel to get some oil for the O's, but alas, I was misled by the tantalizing creativity of the headline editors. When I actually read the article, it became appalling apparent that the purpose of the article was not to exalt the Orioles, but rather to point out that the Orioles' winning streak has been against the likes of Kansas City, Tampa Bay, and Toronto. The writer (a Cliff Corcoran... who is now On Notice) credited the Orioles' winning to the other teams losing, and Toronto falling to pieces because of the injury bug. After the Orioles got some mention in the first paragraph, Mr. Corcoran writes about the Jays woes, then slips back into the norm of writing about the Sox and Yankees (how cliche). Thankfully, he was writing a blog, and the sports world (O's fans and non-O's fans alike) were wise enough to rip him a new one. Click the link to view both the poorly written article, and stick around and read the comments that question his writing ability and his credit as a sports journalist.
After reading the unbearable filth that Mr. Corcoran felt was Internet worthy (it was a slap in the face to blog writers everywhere), I figured I could lick my wounds by reading a credible journalist, the honorable John Donovan, the Power Ranker for baseball on Si.com. John does the right thing by ranking the Orioles 7th overall (probably a little high... he must've been hanging out with Ricky Williams), but then falls flat by backhanding the crap out the Orioles when he thought no one was reading (I read everything, John Donovan). For the comment next to the #17 Blue Jays, Donovan says "The Jays tumble down the PRs courtesy of a five-game skid, the last three losses to a team (the O's) that shouldn't be beating them." Jerk can go to hell. I'm done with him.
I'd like to end on a happy note, and nothing makes me happier than the misery that is the Washington Nationals. Go here http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/multimedia/tp_archive.jsp?c_id=was
and scroll down to April 21. Click on "Chico's Wild Pitch", and watch the worst wild pitch since the Mayor of Cincinnati on Opening Day. I'd even go as far to say that this may be the worst display of professional athleticism in the history of sport. The announcer is dead on when he quotes Bob Uecker... this one was "Juuuuuuuuust a bit outside" (outside in this case meaning OVER THE FIRST BASE DUGOUT!!!!). Watch the video, and smile knowing that the Orioles cannot possibly be as bad as the Nats.
Peace.
As much as I wish I didn't have to, I would be absolutely remissed if I didn't comment on the Red Sox- Yankee game from last night. More correctly, the Red Sox and Yankees took batting practice against each other. There were 6 (count 'em) homeruns hit in the game, including two by Mike Lowell, and 4 in A FRIGGIN' ROW from the Red Sox. The question I ask is, where the hell was the pitching? Aren't these two teams supposed to be the powerhouses of Major League Baseball? Don't powerhouses usually have people who don't throw meatballs when the count is better than 3-0? Even the immortal, sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer Dice-K Matsuzaka (I contest that he deserves 100% of the votes) had a less than stellar outing, plunking both A-Roid and Derek Jeter (if you're gonna do it, do it right). Pitching is the definite mark of a playoff team, and right now, neither one of these teams has any, as evidenced by the home run derby last night.
When I heard that Boston teed off four times in a row, it made me wonder, "When was the last time that happened, because that's pretty hard to do?" Well, it turns out that the last time it happened was in '06... 2006. Somehow, the media managed to slip the Dodger's four homerun night last summer by me, even though I spend half of my waking hours scouring the web for sports related news. I cannot put it any better than Si.com's Peter McEntegart, however, so I will let him finish my point:
"The Red Sox set a new major league record by hittingYou have to love when words carry that much truth.
back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in Sunday's 7-6 win over the Yankees to
sweep the series. Well, teams have technically hit four consecutive homers
before, but those don't really count because it wasn't Yankees-Red Sox."
One strange connection between the Dodgers four homerun feat and Bostons turning Fenway Park into a driving range is the presence of JD Drew on both teams. Not only that, Drew homered for both teams during the onslaught, meaning he obviously must have some sort of mystical powers. Lets hope he limits his powers to one night a year, unless he dons Black and Orange one day.
Speaking of the Black and Orange, it almost looked as though my prowess in the sports-media world had finally taken hold. One day after ranting about the lack of coverage the surging Orioles were receiving, I found this headline on Si.com's baseball page: Orioles winning, Blue Jays ailing. I was about one second from doing a Chandler Dance in victory for using my considerably squeaky wheel to get some oil for the O's, but alas, I was misled by the tantalizing creativity of the headline editors. When I actually read the article, it became appalling apparent that the purpose of the article was not to exalt the Orioles, but rather to point out that the Orioles' winning streak has been against the likes of Kansas City, Tampa Bay, and Toronto. The writer (a Cliff Corcoran... who is now On Notice) credited the Orioles' winning to the other teams losing, and Toronto falling to pieces because of the injury bug. After the Orioles got some mention in the first paragraph, Mr. Corcoran writes about the Jays woes, then slips back into the norm of writing about the Sox and Yankees (how cliche). Thankfully, he was writing a blog, and the sports world (O's fans and non-O's fans alike) were wise enough to rip him a new one. Click the link to view both the poorly written article, and stick around and read the comments that question his writing ability and his credit as a sports journalist.
After reading the unbearable filth that Mr. Corcoran felt was Internet worthy (it was a slap in the face to blog writers everywhere), I figured I could lick my wounds by reading a credible journalist, the honorable John Donovan, the Power Ranker for baseball on Si.com. John does the right thing by ranking the Orioles 7th overall (probably a little high... he must've been hanging out with Ricky Williams), but then falls flat by backhanding the crap out the Orioles when he thought no one was reading (I read everything, John Donovan). For the comment next to the #17 Blue Jays, Donovan says "The Jays tumble down the PRs courtesy of a five-game skid, the last three losses to a team (the O's) that shouldn't be beating them." Jerk can go to hell. I'm done with him.
I'd like to end on a happy note, and nothing makes me happier than the misery that is the Washington Nationals. Go here http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/multimedia/tp_archive.jsp?c_id=was
and scroll down to April 21. Click on "Chico's Wild Pitch", and watch the worst wild pitch since the Mayor of Cincinnati on Opening Day. I'd even go as far to say that this may be the worst display of professional athleticism in the history of sport. The announcer is dead on when he quotes Bob Uecker... this one was "Juuuuuuuuust a bit outside" (outside in this case meaning OVER THE FIRST BASE DUGOUT!!!!). Watch the video, and smile knowing that the Orioles cannot possibly be as bad as the Nats.
Peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
