Before I start this edition of AtOB, I wanted to mention that Dempsey's Army has been nominated for a Mobbie for best Oriole blog at The Baltimore Sun. Please vote for us in the Oriole blog category if you feel so inclined.
But if you don't, please go vote for one of the other Oriole blogs I link to or that you may enjoy. It's a long suffering group and they all deserve some good recognition. Voting runs through October 9th. Vote early, vote often!
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Stacey at Camden Chat notes something about Brian Roberts' doubles explosion that I hadn't noticed:
Brian Roberts hit his 56th double of the year which is a record for most doubles by a switch hitter. Lance Berkman held the mark before him. It seems like a weird record to me.
In the midst of a 12 game losing streak and 100 losses looming, I'll take weird.
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Patrick Smith of Bugs and Cranks is ambivalent when it comes to Dave Trembley's future:
I’d love to write that I’d be outraged if they fired Trembley after presenting him with a stinkbomb of a team to manage. I really should be stumping for the guy and I’m not sure why I’m not. Numb, I guess, after 12 losing seasons.
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Dan at Camden Crazies examines Brian Matusz in the midst of a sweeping multi-post look back at the Orioles of 2009. He's a good man. And thorough.
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Matt Wieters Facts:
Matt Wieters Doesn't Take Pitches...He Shows Them Mercy.
Matt Wieters Forced Rick Astley To Give You Up, Let You Down, Run Around And Desert You.
Matt Beat Cancer..... Literally With His Bat. There Is No More Cancer.
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Orioles Card 'O' The Day highlights the birth of the Baltimore club and gives a tip of the cap to Bill Veeck.
On a side note, the other owners hated Veeck so much that when they heard he was trying to move the Browns to Milwaukee, they swiped the deal out from under him and allowed the Braves to move there instead in 1953. Baseball owners are and evolved breed, huh?
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Jay Trucker looks at the losing and the manager:
2 ½ years later, the team has played terrible fundamental baseball. The young guys have a chance to grow in 2010. Right now, it looks like the whole team is trudging to the end of the year. One way to start 2010 on a fresh page is to ax Dave Trembley. He hasn’t had a team with which to compete the last 2 ½ years, but he hasn’t taken the club a step forward by working with what he’s had during that time, either.
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It is a cruel mistress but at its root, baseball is still a beautiful game. Anthony at Oriole Post can still remind me of that as he always manages to catch some good action shots during the games at OPACY.
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Right Off Russell takes a look back at the 1989 "Why Not?" Orioles:
It was a year when everything broke right. Players had career years and late inning rallies were commonplace. The ‘89 O’s were a young bunch that scrapped and clawed for everything and almost pulled of an amazing worst to first turn around. And personally, it was truly magical. I had just jumped into sports fandom, sure I was aware of the Orioles, but 1988 was the first year I followed them with a passion. Nice timing, huh? Experiencing the ‘89 season only solidified the Orioles lifelong hold on me.
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If you don't like Roar from 34's Eutaw Street Chronicles, you hate America.
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100 losses? The Loss Column, ironically, says we shouldn't care.
In other words, these last five games of the season mean nothing. Whatever needs to be seen has been seen. Year three of the rebuilding process is already underway.
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The Wayward O is backing the manger. Here's Wayward O with more:
Wayward O is backing manager.
This losing streak (collapse) is because Baltimore is not real Baseball Team capable of playing full season.
It is not because Mr. Dave Trembley is bad manager.
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Weaver's Tantrum salutes the fine effort of Brian Roberts, even if it has been in vain. Regarding his doubles record for switch-hitters:
A lot of the guys on the single season doubles list are Hall of Famers. Brian is in good company. It seems unlikely that B-Rob can get to 60, tying Todd Helton's post-WWII record, but its not impossible. He can be forgiven for some selfish play at this point in the season. Forget about drawing walks or moving runners along, Brian. Go for the record!
Thanks for the link, as well as referring to me with a Big Lebowksi line - truely an honor.
ReplyDeleteIf I wasn't in the same category as you for the Mobbies, you would certainly have my vote. Heck, I might vote for you anyway myself a couple of times. Are you going to be there for the party?
Negative, sir. Can't think of a good way to get north in the middle of the week. Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteGlad you picked up on the Lebowski line. I thought it might be too obscure. Looks like Camden Crazies and Matt Wieters Facts are going to be in line for a win is their respective categories...