What the Birds really need to do to get back to October

I agree with pretty much everything in this Tom Verducci piece. But I was struck, while watching last night's game, by some numbers thrown out there by Gary Thorne: Baltimore is 20-7 in games that Chris Tillman starts. They're currently 71-61  on the season. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they need better starters to complement Tillman. Or Buck and Dan need to figure out how to clone him and run four more copies of him out there. They'd be 98-34 right now if they had a whole year of an all-Tillman staff! That's how stats work, right?

The Wisdom of Buck

I know it's only three games into his tenure and they're still the worst team in MLB by a healthy margin, but so far I really dig Mr. Showalter's style, man. Not only are the O's 3-0, but we get post-game quotes like this:

"Part of playing, not only in the big leagues, but in the American League [is] big, strong, hairy guys here. They hit it where the grass doesn't grow. And that's part of playing in this division, this league. That's part of it. We've got some big guys, too. Maybe not as hairy."

Is Nothing In This City Sacred?!?

Four young geniuses were arrested downtown last night after they were seen driving around in a pickup truck with the large #8 statue last seen on Eutaw Street, outside of Camden Yards. 

Did they really think that they could get away with it?

Will Defense & Baserunning Get Their Due?

Maybe, thanks to this very cool technology. Although limiting release of data to the public because of teams' "competitive concerns" is just plain dumb. Trust me, MLB franchises; if your shortstop sucks, the fans (especially the stat geeks) will already know it. This system will just act as confirmation.

Still, no matter how quickly technology progresses, the best fielding still has to be seen to be believed.

The Obnoxious Factor

Dan Connolly is completely correct in his latest blog entry (and so far, his readers agree); for the past four years, the Red Sox have not only had more on-field success than the NYY, but their fans that infest Camden Yards nine times per season have definitely surpassed New York fans in obnoxious behavior. It's almost pleasant to go to an O's-Yanks game these days, if only because it ensures than no critical mass of Boston fans will be at the ballpark. How times have changed...

O's Pull Off a Decent Trade

In trading Erik Bedard, Baltimore actually gets real value back in return, and according to the "experts" pulled off a great trade. Bedard wasn't going to sign a new contract with the Orioles, and they get a nice young outfielder in Adam Jones, a serviceable lefty reliever in George Sherrill, a pitching prospect who's on the cusp of top-100 prospect lists (Chris Tillman), and a couple more big young pitchers with some upside (lefty Tony Butler is 6'7", Kameron Mickolio is 6'9"). Now all they need to do is trade Brian Roberts to the Cubs for a few more pitchers, and resist the urge to start adding free agents in '09 (bad Peter! No!). This team won't be ready to compete for anything until 2010 at the earliest, but after ten straight losing seasons, what's two or three more?

All you need to know about the Mitchell Report

You know you've fucked up ("you" being the commish, players, GMs, etc.) when Pete Rose accuses you of making a mockery of the sport.

[full disclosure: I'm a Pete Rose fan, even though he's a liar, jerk, and probably an all-around not-so-great human, who still belongs in the HOF]

Half-Assed MLB Playoff Predictions

In 2007 I've seen less baseball than in any year since I started seriously following the sport (in high school), so take these "predicitons" as seriously as that warrants:

Indians v. NYY: I can't claim impartiality on this one, the Yanks remain public enemy #2 in my baseball universe (after Angelos). Cleveland in four.

Red Sox v. Angels: This one's a toss-up in my book. While I certainly have no love for the Sox either (public enemy #3, mainly due to their obnoxious fans at Camden Yards the past few years - hey we won one title in the last 80 years, we must be the greatest franchise ever!!!), I think they have the slight edge due to home field and pitching, but it would hardly be surprising to see the Angels advance. Sox in five.

Diamondbacks v. Cubs: Wow, could there be a trendier pick than the Cubs? Maybe I'm just being contrary, but they're still the Cubs, and even though they're clearly the better team on paper...Arizona in five.

Rockies v. Phillies: Two hottest teams, blah blah blah. Two killer offenses, but the Phils have better pitching (I think). Phillies in four.

ALCS: Cleveland over Red Sox. Don't ask me why, it's probably not the smartest pick. Too bad!

NLCS: Phillies over Arizona. Because Arizona's pitching isn't good enough to hold down that lineup.

WS: Indians over Phillies. Because Cleveland has two very good SP, and since there are seemingly four days between each World Series game, this allows them to go with a two-man rotation.

It All Started When We Washed Our Cars...

That happened this past Saturday. Something we don't do too often, and since they're both black cars, they looked really scummy. So we washed them, quickly (and badly). The next day, it rained. And kept raining, on and off, for the next few days. Great, because we needed it. But last weekend also saw:

• problems with our new Dish Network service, which a technician thought he had fixed on Sunday. Turns out he managed to make the problem worse.
• Marty developing some problem with her GI system, and needing to wake us up multiple times in the middle of the night on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
• our Verizon DSL, 100% problem-free for close to a year, all of a sudden experiencing intermittent connection problems.
• one of our window blinds randomly breaking and almost falling on a dozing Maya.
• the home team having a historically bad night.

But it the cosmic scheme of things, all small matters. I tend to react poorly when something goes wrong that I have little-to-no control over, especially if it's a technology-based problem, but I think I'm getting better [you'd have to ask Jenny for confirmation though]. And a little perspective is always helpful. We have food, electricity, clean water, and lots of alcohol. All things we take for granted every day, but that billions of people go without. Just need to take a deep breath occasionally, look around, and realize how fortunate I am.

Besides, all these things will work out in the end. Our local, friendly satellite TV technician returns tomorrow to give it another shot. Verizon is sending a tech to take a look at our phone lines and modem next week (and thanks to dslreports.com, I didn't have to beg them to do so, or even get on the phone with customer service!). Marty's poop has returned to normal consistency, and she's in a much better mood. I should be able to repair the window blind so it's like-new. And we go to the Orioles game tonight - my first baseball game of any kind this season! - where thing's can't possibly be as bad as last night (Right?!?).

Nothing Is Easier Than Blaming the Manager

Sam Perlozzo is supposedly out as O's manager. Not surprising, but it certainly wasn't Sam who decided to throw all that free agent money at the most inconsistent performers in baseball, middle relievers. Peter Angelos obviously needs to sell the team, but barring that gift to Baltimore fans, Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette need to be shown the door. Only then will a manager ever had a chance to succeed with the O's.

And if these clowns do decide to hire a high-rpofile manager, please let it be Davey Johnson and not Joe Girardi. The last thing this team needs is another Yankee coming in and telling them how Joe Torre does things up in the Bronx. Didn't work for Mazilli, won't work for Girardi either.

Throwback Baseball

What I dig so far about this season's playoffs - all the old dudes getting the job done:

• Tommy Lasorda's ad spots for ESPN. Corny, yes. But also sincere and funny. Who doesn't like Tommy?
• Ernie Harwell hanging out with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the TV booth tonight during the middle innings of the Detroit-NY game. 88 years old, and still sounds terrific - smart, quick-witted, and solid play-by-play during the fourth. Ernie was the original radio voice of the Orioles when they came back to Baltimore in 1954.
  
• The Tigers being up two games to one against the Yankees , after tonight's 6-0 victory. Kenny Rogers pitched an awesome game for Detroit, facing a NY lineup that came into the game hitting .391 against him - he obviously didn't care much for those numbers, since he shut them out for seven and two-thirds innings. Kenny Rogers?!? Didn't see that performance coming, at least not in the postseason.

What I'm not so crazy about: 3 one-sided series (thus far), with one of those already over. Kinda boring.

Hey, if the NYY end up losing this series, what are the odds that A-Rod gets traded this winter?

Battery Powered

I'm not sure what possessed me to tune in to the Baltimore-NY game last night. Masochism? After all, they had lost the night before by the humbling final of 16-5. Loyalty to the team? Maybe, but I haven't watched even parts of 20 games since the All-Star break, and have only been to 3 games this year. How many times have I mentioned them in this space all season? I think this may be the first.

But something made me flip the channel at 9:00, in time to catch Daniel Cabrera overcome a sixth inning error, his no-hitter still intact and nine outs away from reality. Did it happen? Nope. He was unperturbed by two errors and two passed balls in the seventh that gave NY a run, but with two outs to go in the ninth, an opposite-field single by Cano broke it up. What a game to watch though. Ramon "Javy Lopez, isn't he retired?" Hernandez had two homers and drove in four of the seven O's runs (hence this post's title), but it was really all about Cabrera, a pitcher who can be so dominating at times that it makes his inconsistency that much more maddening. A microcosm of the Orioles, a team with plenty of talent and potential, yet to be harnessed en masse.

Patio: The Saga Ends

After jackhammering, sledgehammering, hauling 6+ tons of concrete, close-quarters stone delivery, tamping, leveing, stone cutting, and more leveling, it's finally finished. Thanks once again to Barry (aka Dad) for all his help - honestly this would have happened in this calendar year without him - and to Jenny, for her moral and logistic support. Now all we need is some patio furniture and we'll be all set. Not sure if I'm that patient though; eventually we may just have a BYOC (bringyourownchair) cookout with what we have now, and worry about a table-and-chairs set, and finished flowerbeds, later. Before and after pics are below.

A Bizarre Draft Option for the Orioles

I'm not sure what I found more shocking in this article, that the Orioles are actually contemplating drafting Jeffrey Maier, or that Scott Erickson is still pitching in the majors.

Baseball Is Back

Another season begins, and Peter Angelos is still an ass when it comes to player negotiations. What a shocker!

An Early April Fool's?

Call me crazy, but this story about the apparently impending divorce of Orioles new starter Kris Benson from his model/"actress" wife Anna, sure seems suspicious. It's March 31st, it's right before the season begins, and Anna has never been shy about self-promotion. April Fool's, anyone?

I'm down in South Carolina, and am running in the Cooper River Bridge Run tomorrow - there are currently over 45,000 runners registered for this 10K race!!! That's an insanely big 10K race field, but according to Em & Dave this is a big Charleston area tradition. It should be fun, it will just be a crowded bridge, that's all.

I'm using Em's brand new laptop to write this entry. It's shiny.

And You Thought Baseball Games Are Slow Now! Plus, the Senate to the Rescue

Wow, that title is way too long.

As you've probably heard recently, MLB upped its penalties for positive steroid tests - big-time. I won't link to the numerous articles covering this news item; if you care at all about this issue, you've already read them, if not you've stopped reading this blog entry by now. Anyway, I have a couple of observations:

1. The new testing agreement calls for testing of amphetamines in addition to steroids. Now supposedly baseball players dig amphetamines like Kate Moss digs coke, or like I dig Cheez-Its, and it's been a problem for decades now. I'm ignorant about their use in other sports, but I'd be kinda shocked if it weren't problematic in basketball and football as well. Now, if the MLB testing program is actually rigorous enough, are we going to see a huge drop in performance on the field? Are there really that many players that can hit a 95-mph fastball during the first game of a West-Coast road trip after an overnight flight from back East? And how do some of these fielders stay alert out there during 5 or 6-run innings? We may start finding out with the 2006 season.

2. Thank God for the U.S. Senate, coming to rescue MLB from itself, protecting the country's children from the tempting evils of steroids! They successfully pushed for a ban of substances that have been scientifically proven to cause harm to those who take them, and can even harm those who don't take them (see: 'roid rage). It's comforting to know that we have such an august governing body, protecting the nation's kids from such dangers. It's a good thing, though, that steroids aren't legal, and easily available to the general public at thousands of commercial establishments. It's also quite a relief that steroid manufacturers don't have lobbyists in Washington, fighting for the rights of shareholders, and contributing to political campaigns. Imagine if steroids were sold in packs of 20, or in cartons! Thankfully, we don't live in that world. So thanks again, U.S. Senate, for taking up your taxpayer-paid time to stand up as beacons of morality for the unwashed masses! We know that you did it all for the children, and we sincerely appreciate it.

Leo Mazzone, Pitching Genius?

It's been a long-standing question in baseball; during all those years of Atlanta Braves pitching dominance, how much credit did pitching coach Mazzone deserve for all of the Cy Youngs, the 20-game winners, and the top-five staff ERAs almost every season? We may know the answer to that question starting next season. If Leo signs on with his good friend Sam Perlozzo and miraculously turns the putrid Baltimore staff around, then there can no longer be any doubt that he's the real deal.

One Down, One to Go

I think we should all send out a big thank-you to the Chicago White Sox, who spared us another postseason of Red Sox vs. Yankees. I admit, last year's seven-game series was the most exciting playoff series I've ever seen, and it sure didn't hurt that the Yankees lost. But all the hype - the idea that the entire country is riveted by two East Coast teams battling it out, the selling of this as a storied sports rivalry even though historically the Red Sox get their asses handed to them ninety-percent of the time, the deification of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Curt Schilling by the morons at Fox - is a bit much to bear. Hopefully the Angels can finish off the Yanks this weekend, and we won't have to hear about either A.L. East team anymore this postseason.

Now, how about those White Sox? Looking at the matchup from a mascot perspective, which Jenny likes to do, it's somewhat counter-intuitive to expect the White Sox to vanquish the Red Sox so easily. Throw them in the wash together, and a red sock will usually exert its colorful will on a white sock; that white sock is coming out of the washer as a pink sock, which is definitely not a suitable mascot. Maybe if you washed them on cold, and put them in the dryer right after the final spin cycle, the white sock stands a fighting chance. But probably not.

So here's hoping the White Sox go all the way this year. They've got the pitching, they're an exciting team to watch, and they're a new face in playoffs that have featured the same six to ten teams for the past three or four years. And from a mascot perspective, they're a team that everyone should be able to get behind. What's more populist than a white sock? Go ahead, look in your sock drawer. Any red socks in there? Maybe. But I'm willing to bet that everyone, no matter your age, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, or sports affiliation, has at least one pair of white tube socks. How can southerners get behind the Yankees? But I bet they put on some white socks before they head out to the NASCAR race. How do Native Americans get behind the Braves? It's just another sports team appropriating a racist mascot, and besides they never win it all. The Cardinals? Most people have dogs and cats as pets, birds aren't nearly as popular. I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Go Tube Sox! Make Chicago, and the rest of us, proud.

Good Luck to Sam Perlozzo

Things can't get too much worse for the hometown team these days, so here's hoping that Sam, a Cumberland native and lifetime O's fan, does well as manager. So far, so good.

Should Mazilli have been fired? I can only give my opinion, but this item from the Sun article about his firing qualifies as a fireable offense in my book:

"Players were irritated last season by Mazzilli's constant references to the Yankees"

Win or lose, at least they won't have to put up with that kind of talk around the clubhouse. Nobody deserves that (not even Palmeiro).