Base Hits: 4/15/2008

Is anybody else having as much fun as I am? I got to watch the Baltimore Orioles play the Blue Jays for 1st place in the AL east tonight. And they won. I keep saying it; enjoy it as long as it lasts.

13 hits and only four runs? Not good. Adam Jones looked great last night. So did Matt Albers. Will he force his way into the rotation?

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OK. Brian Burres data:

             AVG   OBP   SLG
1st PA in G   .256  .344  .421
2nd PA in G   .301  .400  .393
3rd+ PA in G  .340  .411  .490

See? First time through the order, he's fine. A nice swingman and long reliever. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

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Desert O of Weaver's Tantrum will be taking a hiatus from the Oriole blogging as he hikes from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail!

Good luck to Desert O on his journey, that is no easy undertaking. You can follow his progress on the trail at his other blog, right here.

Blackbird Rising will be keeping Weaver's Tantrum warm until Desert O's return.

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Welcome back Gabe Kapler! A look at Kapler's improbable success early this season over at FanGraphs.

I was stationed in Jacksonville when Gabe Kapler played for the AA Jacksonville Suns and my wife and I had a lot of fun watching those games. There were a few players on that team who ended up playing in the majors (Matt Anderson, Robert Fick, Dave Borkowski, Willis Roberts, Jose Macias) but only Francisco Cordero and Dave Roberts have gone on to have any careers of note. But I would have sworn that Gabe Kapler was going to be a star. Some Kapler stats from 1998 at the age of 22: 139 games, .322 AVG, 28 HR, 47 doubles, 146 RBI.

I've always pulled for Gabe and he's probably the only Red Sox player I was genuinely happy for when they won the World Series.

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Finally, a nice pull (again) for Anthony over at Oriole Post as he plays five questions with nobody special. Only Brooks Robinson!

Millar photo courtesy of Reuters

Minor Miracles

I am not convinced that he is what he was billed to be (a slick fielding, light hitting shortstop) but Luis Hernandez is starting to win me over a little. His fielding has been great and he's up there at the plate working the count. He's performing in the field and buying into the team philosophy of hitting. He's trying and until we have a better option, he may work out after all.

(edit: It's Sunday now and I'm ready to love this guy again. Walk off singles will do that for your credibility...)

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Matt Wieters homered twice in his debut for the Frederick Keys and Jake Arrietta threw four innings allowing 1 run. Nice start for the 2007 draft class. On the other had, Billy Rowell had to be removed from the game after pulling up lame running to first.

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LaTroy Hawkins, welcome back to the AL East.

       G  IP  H  BB  K  ER    ERA

Hawkins   2   2  8   0  0   7  31.50

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Brooks Robinson's statue was unveiled in York, PA this weekend. I won't go on a rant but if you are the Baltimore Orioles, you don't have a ton of immortals like the Yankees or the Cubs do. It a pretty clear Holy Trinity of 33rd St of Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken. All should be immortalized in bronze out on Eutaw St.

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Sam Perlozzo spoke to reporters on Friday and said that he was put in a "no-win situation" here in Baltimore.

Was he in a no-win situation like Dave Trembley is now? Better or worse?

His sad-sack loser ways seem to be rubbing off on the Mariners...

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After that Opening Day loss to Tampa Bay, who thought this team would be 3 games over .500 at any point during this season? Anyone? Not even me. But I'll enjoy it while I can.

The Orioles have to get some starters going deeper into these games or we'll be looking at 2007 all over again. (edit: They did. Jeremy Guthrie gave them 7 strong.)

And I don't get how anyone can't like Kevin Millar. he's single-handedly bringing back Oriole Magic...

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Picked up some beer from Clipper City today. I couldn't find any of their lighter fare so I picked up a 12 pack of their Heavy Seas series. Kind of heavy beers for baseball season but it's chilly and rainy in Atlanta this weekend so the Winter Storm tasted pretty good watching the Oriole win.

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This is too funny.

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Don't look now, the Baltimore Orioles are in first place.