In Defense (Sort of) of Rick Dempsey

OK, given the name of this blog, I feel like I have to comment on this...

"I think it is probably the biggest mistake made here in a long time, and I'm not talking just today, I mean over the years," Dempsey said. "Not being given an opportunity to manage this ballclub. Every organization in baseball would like to have someone who has won, who has played in the World Series for the organization, who has learned to manage from A ball up and come back here. I think with the relationship I have had with the fans and this city, I should have been a slam-dunk years ago. Someone dropped the ball a long time ago."


This comment led to these reactions:


It’s time for Rick to take it like a man and walk away with a shred of dignity intact. He’s had a four interviews for the Orioles managerial position and has come up empty. The latest interview only came after Rick openly campaigned publicly for the position. Rick, they’re just not that into you.


Or this:



These days, Dempsey is an “analyst” on the pre and postgame shows on the MidAtlantic Sports Network. He offers little insight and allows his cohost to smooch his arse for a half hour before and after every game.

But here’s the bad news for Demper: MASN is owned by the Orioles. Thus, when Dempsey whined to the paper in the middle of the happiest day at Camden Yards in a long time, he crapped all over his bosses. Where I come from, that’s enough to get you canned.

Or this:

Jesus, Rick, just shut up already. You've just demonstrated once again why you shouldn't be hired.


First, we can't wait for athletes (former or current) to speak candidly. But when they do, what are they told? Shut up! We can't have it both ways. Dempsey is being as real as a guy can get about a situation where he feels wronged. He said it, for better or for worse. I don't want the guy to pipe down because of that.


Secondly, he not totally wrong here. Would Dempsey have been a worse choice than Lee Mazzili, Sam Perlozzo or Dave Trembley? Probably not. If Dempsey ever had a shot, (or should have been given a shot) it was when Dave Trembley was named interim manager in 2007. That would not have been a bad time to give Dempsey the interim tag and let him show what he could do. However, Dempsey probably would have lost just like Trembley and been bitter when he was fired. At least he's still in the family now but I can understand the disappointment.


Thirdly, I don't think I can call out Rick. I don't come into this unbiased and I understand this. Is Rick wrong about getting passed over this time around? Yes. Absolutely. Buck Showalter is far more qualified and Dempsey, from a logical point of view, doesn't really have a leg to stand on here.


But this is Rick Dempsey. A member of the Oriole Hall of Fame. One of my childhood idols. The 1983 World Series MVP. A man who was once described by The Sporting News as "indestructible". And in the few encounters I've had with him, he's been a prince of a guy.


I'm not calling out John Rikard. All is forgiven. I just hope Rick can move on from this; it's not becoming of him to beg.
  

Random Thoughts About the Week...

Rick Dempsey to be Interviewed for Oriole Manager

This is kind of sad to me. Andy MacPhail does not take Rick seriously for this position. And arguably, he shouldn't. Dempsey hasn't managed in years. But he wants it so bad, he'll put up with this indignity and try to convince the Oriole brass otherwise.

Brad Bergesen and Koji Uehara To Return, Garrett Atkins Likely Roster Casualty

The fragile Uehara is coming back...but for how long is uncertain. He's pretty good when he's on the mound and he will help the bullpen but obviously we can't count on him being healthy.

Bergey...I don't know. I just wish they'd leave him in one spot and let him work things out in Baltimore.

Years ago, Henry Rollins put forth an idea for a performance art piece called "Edie Brickell Still Lives" where he would sit in a chair on a stage covered with cinder blocks, nails and razor wire, a PA announcer would say "Edie Brickell still lives!" at which point, Rollins would hurl himself onto the stage, beating his body against all the bricks and nails and razors until he collapsed into a bloody, sweaty heap on the stage. Then the PA announcer would shout, "But she still lives!", which would cause Rollins to pick himself up off the stage and do it all over again.

Call this piece "Garret Atkins Retains a Roster Spot" and I could do it myself.

Nick Markakis Meets With Peter Angelos

I think Nick has finally figured that he is chained to this team for another 4 and a half years...he'd better do something!

I love that Nick seems to be taking a more active leadership role on the team, even if it is motivated by self-interest. It's clear that he expected better this season and can't bear the thought of the Orioles flailing about for the next fours seasons until he becomes a free agent.

Matt Wieters Bunt!

Juan Samuel does NOT want to stay with the organization. Period.

According to Fangraphs.com, that botched bunt cost the Orioles .114 of WPA...more than any non-run scoring play the Marlins managed. Juan Samuel may as well have been playing for the other team.

Matt Angle is an On Base Machine

All Matt Angle does is get on base and steal second....THAT"S ALL HE DOES!!!

I didn't include Angle in my high-minors review earlier this week but he deserves a mention. The Orioles haven't done him any favors. After playing last season at high-A Frederick, he started the season on the DL, got a total of 14 games in Bowie and was then rushed up to Norfolk due to organizational need.

Angle has held his own, relatively speaking. He's only hitting .264/.338/.282 in Norfolk...but forget the OPS. You heard me, forget the OPS.

Angle does not hit for power and he may never do so...but his career OBP in the minors is .386, his career walk rate is 12.2% and he has stolen 124 bases at an 80.5% clip. There is room for a guy like that as a leadoff hitter in the majors.

As we have seen, having guys with lousy on base skills can sap a struggling offense. A guy like Angle should be seen as a real prospect if he can improve on his numbers in Norfolk. Don't let the fact that he was thrown into the deep end of the pool fool you.

Orioles to Interview Bobby Valentine Today?

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles will interview Bobby Valentine for the manager job, perhaps as early as today.

The article also mentions former Indians manager Eric Wedge. I liked the idea of Wedge managing in Baltimore but I seem to be the only one. Cleveland fans thought his teams underachieved and others see him as the same type of personality as Dave Trembley, too nice and laid back for this team.

For a fan who blogs, Bobby Valentine would be a great choice. He's a colorful personality and will probably give me plenty to write about. He has had success in the majors and in Japan and his players seem to like him a lot.

Perhaps even better for this particular blog would be the prospect of Rick Dempsey taking the helm. And he really, really wants it

"I think if I don't do something now with this organization, it's never happening," said Dempsey, in his fourth year as a MASN broadcaster after five seasons as an Orioles coach. "If the next guy comes in and he lasts two or three years, by then I'll be so far removed from being down on the field that it probably would take an act of God to actually make it happen."


The sad fact is that Dempsey is a long shot to even get an interview and he seems to know it. His public campaigning is acknowledgment of this.
 
Who would be the best choice? I don't know. I don't think Dempsey could be any worse than the Lee Mazzilis and Sam Perlozzos of the world. But I think the Orioles need a new voice and a fresh face and that should probably come from outside of the organization this time.

Rick Dempsey talks with Brian Matusz

via MASN.

I really enjoyed this. Matusz talks breaking pitches, pickoff moves and his relationship with Matt Wieters. Hopefully, we'll look back on this video fondly in about 10 years...





BTW Camden Depot tweeted that Mark Viviano is reporting that Dave Trembley will be fired after today's game in New York and Juan Samuel will take over. We shall see..

Around the Oriole Blog-O-Sphere: Trembley Watch Edition

Dave McNeill of Weaver's Tantrum ponders what's to be done with Oriole CF Adam Jones. And he does it while pinch-hitting for Rob Neyer. Way to go, Dave!

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Daniel Moroz takes a detailed look at Nick Markakis' lack of power this season and comes to a some interesting conclusions.

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Chris Stoner of Baltimore Sports and Life thinks something good happened while the Orioles were losing the series to the Indians this past weekend but it didn't happen in Baltimore.

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The Baltimore Chop thinks Rick Dempsey's wardrobe is uglier than the Orioles' record this season and offers some pointers. It comes from a place of love.

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Some good pics of the Matt Wieters' Q&A at the ESPN Zone from The Oriole Post. Special lenses were needed to cut down on the nimbus that shines from Wieters head.

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Eutaw Street Hooligans go full Ernie on us and discuss the things that make them happy and sad about the Orioles' season thus far.

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Baltimore Sports Report's Zach Wilt drops some sobering news (at least to me)...this is as good as Nick Markakis will ever be.

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Down on the farm, Crawdaddy takes a closer look at the Frederick Keys and, specifically, LJ Hoes.

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Two things form Roar from 34...Matt takes a look at the career of former Oriole pitcher Mark Brown and also finds the one stat the Orioles' lead the league in.

MASN's 2nd Annual Oriole Bloggers Day

If the Delmarva Shorebirds games in Greenville and Greensboro were the slices of bread, MASN's Oriole Blogger Day in Baltimore this past Sunday was the pulled pork on my BBQ sandwich.

Metaphors aside, the second edition of this event was, once again, a chance to meet my fellow bloggers face to face, watch the O's play and get a rare crab cake (remember, I live in Atlanta) up in the MASN suite.

We met up with Todd Webster outside of the home plate plaza and he took us up to the MASN suite to hang out for a bit before the game and pretty soon we were taken up to the MASN booth to chat with Gary Thorne and Mike Flanagan. I asked Mike Flanagan specifically if he had seen any issues with fellow lefty Mike Gonzalez's delivery...well, I could recap but God bless Anthony and James over at Oriole Post who recorded the entire Q&A with Mike and Gary. The video can be seen here with my question and much more.

After that, it was back to the suite to watch the game and chat with my fellow bloggers about all things baseball. Jim Hunter stopped by to shake hands and speak with us all, as well as MASN's Steve Melewski and Oriole PR Monica Pence, who I specifically thanked for getting me some good information for the Unofficial Baltimore Oriole Spring Training Visitor's Guide.

In a nice surprise, Andy MacPhail came down to the suite for a quick Q&A and hung around for almost 10 minutes. Again, thanks to Oriole Post, you can listen to the audio here.

Last year, I marveled at Rick Dempsey's color coded score keeping system and had to ask him about it this year. Rick was nice enough to explain what his markers meant:

Orange - all hits for either team are coded with Oriole orange
Green - walks. Because once you walk you're "ready to go" on the basepaths
Blue - strikeouts. Because "when you strike out, you're blue"
Purple - hit by a pitch. Because "when you get hit by a pitch, you get a big purple mark on you"
Red - RBI

And again, Todd Webster took us down to the MASN truck so we can see where all the magic happens. I still have no idea how they keep track of all those screens on the fly.

The game? Well, the O's hung around until late and then surrendered some runs in the 8th to lose 5-2 to the Blue Jays. But what I'll remember most is chatting with Anthony from Oriole Post, talking about mid-coast Maine with Todd Webster, discussing the relative worth of Garrett Atkins with Dan from Camden Crazies or picking Matt Sadler's (from Baltimore Sports Report) brain about getting minor league press credentials.

Again, an enjoyable time and a real treat, especially for writers like me who reside in the Oriole diaspora.

Other recaps and/or blogs represented:

Anthony and James from Oriole Post (http://oriolepost.com/)
Stacy and Duck from Camden Chat (http://www.camdenchat.com/)
Chris from Baltimore Sports and Life (http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/)
Pete from The Wayward Oriole (http://www.thewaywardoriole.com/)
Matt and Clark from Baltimore Sports Report (http://baltimoresportsreport.com/)
Dan from Camden Crazies (http://camdencrazies.com/)
Kevin from Oriole Card "O" The Day (http://oriolescards.blogspot.com/)
Michael from Bird's Watcher (http://birdswatcher.com/)




Apologies if I missed anybody...

Base Hits: Toxic Fields, Undeserved Awards and Rick Dempsey's Christmas Album

Oriole players may want to request hazardous duty pay when they report to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, their new Spring Training complex:

At one time the neighborhood ballpark was a landfill so city commissioners requested a thorough environmental check before teaming up with the Orioles.

Recently, the group obtained a 117-page report, commissioned by the city, which shows a plume of vinyl chloride contamination, along with a series of heavy metals and organic compounds that far exceed safe EPA levels.

Wow.

In a related story, the Orioles have unveiled new black and orange DEVO suits.

Since there are plans to renovate or demolish Ed Smith Stadium after 2010, local residents are concerned about what toxins may be kicked up into the air during construction, as well as what pollutants exist, literally, in their backyards.

You would have to think that there are contingencies to clean up the site if need be. If not, do the Orioles balk and go elsewhere?

The full report has not been released to the public. I'm sure there is more to come.

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The "This Year in Baseball Awards" at MLB.com feature few Oriole nominees. In fact, they only feature two, both in the defense category. The first is Adam Jones who had a bit of a down year in center but did have 9 outfield assists in 118 games. OK.

The second was Melvin Mora. Melvin Mora! Mora?!?!?

There are 10 nominees from all of baseball. Anyone who watched the O's this season knows that Mora was struggling in the field this year and that he was not one of the top ten defenders in baseball. In terms of UZR, he ranked 11th among third basemen alone. I don't understand the selection at all.

In related news, Drew Silva at FanGraphs.com thinks Mora could be a nice utility player next season.

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This article on delmarvanow.com details the up and down career of current Phillie outfielder and former Oriole first round pick, Jayson Werth. I would say that former Oriole manager (and current Phillies third base coach) Sam Perlozzo took a cheap shot at the Orioles organization but he does qualify his remark:

"They saw him as a (career) backup," said Sam Perlozzo, an Orioles coach in those days and now the Phillies' third base coach. "To be fair, he wasn't the player he is now. He's gotten bigger, stronger."

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This was kind of a forgone conclusion but Spencer Fordin reports that the Orioles have decided that Koji Uehara will definitely be a reliever next season.

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On MLB.com, vote for The All-Time 9 for the Baltimore Orioles. Even though I consider myself something of a baseball historian, I do not like the inclusion of St. Louis Browns in the ballot. Down with Baby Doll Jacobsen and Moose Solters! And where's Rick Dempsey? Not even a mention?

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Speaking of Rick Dempsey, Rick will be playing live with the Deanna Bogart Band on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at Serafino's in Ellicot City. I was not even aware that Rick was a musician.

I also did not know that Rick Dempsey has released a holiday CD called Home Run Holiday. I'm getting that. I'm not kidding.

Base Hits: Draft News, Rick Dempsey, His Nephew and the Blog Days of Summer

According to MASN's Steve Melewski, the Orioles have withdrawn their contract offer to 2009 2nd round pick Mychael Givens.

Oriole scouting director Joe Jordan:

"This is all on me," Jordan said. "This is my call. I just don't feel good about this and we are moving on to Plan B. We were working on info from the weeks leading up to the draft and some of that changed draft day.

"It was never my intention to meet that number (that Givens advisor mentioned on draft day). But I think some things will come out in the next few days that will ease our pain over this."

Wow.

If the Orioles don't sign Givens, they will receive an extra 2nd round pick so they have a bit of protection. However, I have been and remain a strong advocate of teams (especially teams like the Orioles) signing their top ten draft picks and getting that talent into the farm system. Every year, you'll have an 8th or 9th round guy who will opt for college instead but as a rule, you need to sign that top talent if you want to compete in the American League. With that in mind, not signing your 2nd round pick is inexcusable.

Even if you get an extra pick in 2010, you've still lost a year of development. The Orioles blew this pick big time if they end up not signing him. You've got to sign the talent you draft. Especially in the first two rounds!

Tempering my irritation is the fact that the Orioles have drafted guys this year who are talented but dropped due to signability issues or health concerns. These are risky picks but the O's need to make those risky picks from time to time to increase the talent in the farm system. If Jordan is able to sign some of those guys , it will ease my concern a bit.

But make no mistake, this is a failure.

Or this is all just a playing hardball and calling Givens' bluff. We shall see on August 17th...

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Speaking of draft signings, the Orioles have signed 22nd round draft pick and high school lefthander Cameron Coffey for $990,000.

The Baseball America link gives you all the background you need on Coffey and this is the kind of signing that takes the sting out of the Givens situation.

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In the department of "too weird to make up", Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company has purchased a script based on an incident in the life of former Oriole, current MASN analyst and this blog namesake, Rick Dempsey.

What's it about?

Variety says the script was written with input from Dempsey, the scrappy ballplayer who was named MVP of the 1983 World Series.

"Our pitch was, it's 'Catch Me if You Can' meets 'Bad News Bears' with a touch of 'Bad Santa,'" (script writer Johnathan) Schaech said.

Dempsey's coach, John Jennings, steered the team to a Little League World Championship in 1963, did time for his crimes and died of cancer after his release from prison.

So Rick Dempsey contributed to a screenplay about a team that wins the Little League World Series led by a bank robbing coach? I'm not sure which is crazier, the plot or the source of the screenplay.

If the film ever sees the light of day, it would be my professional (amateurish) responsibility to go see it...

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By the way, Rick Dempsey believes and I suppose Dempsey's Army had better fall in line.

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Also, Rick Dempsey's nephew is now with the Rays and our team is weaker for it. Hopefully Baltimore gets back a useful player to be named...

Good luck Gregg. It was great to have you back, even for a short time.

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Forget the dog days of summer, for myself and the other Orioles faithful who type into the ether, these are the blog days of summer.

The O's are 7-19 since the All-Star break, an anemic 3-9 in August. It looks to get no better. And this is not new. The annual summer swoon is expected by Oriole fans in these dark days. Twelve consecutive losing season will do that to you.

This is only the third season I've been writing this blog but I feel like an old-timer. I have seen Orioles blogs come and I've seen them go.

Long gone are 2632 , Earl Weaver Rules and The Orioles Warehouse. I've seen some promising blogs pop up every year, including a couple this season, that wither away once the calendar turns to July. Hell, even Roar From 34 used to be three guys and is now just a very prolific one.

Sure, there are other blogs that cover Baltimore sports in general. The Ravens pick them up out of the summer heat, giving them hope and renewed vigor. But if you are writing a blog strictly about the Baltimore Orioles, there is no respite. You suck it up, keep writing about the losing or fade away.

So when I look at my brethren in the Oriole blogosphere, I pull for every one of them. This is no picnic and there's no bandwagon. If you're cranking out an Oriole blog, you must really LOVE this team. Or you hate yourself. Or both.

But October is right around the corner. The offseason, the fall leagues, Spring Training in Sarasota. Hope will spring anew.

And we'll keep writing.

Base Hits: 6/24/2009

You don't hear a lot in the Oriole blogosphere/chat rooms/article comments these days about the lack of a "fan-friendly atmosphere" at Camden Yards these days. I expect that it is due to the emphasis the MacPhail regime has put on this aspect of the OPACY experience.

But while we were plenty ready to criticize, we haven't always done a good job at pointing out the efforts the Baltimore Orioles are making now. Like this promotion:

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is located at 333 West Camden Street, but this summer Orioles fans will have the option to reside at 2110 Eutaw Street by taking advantage of a new ticket offer. The Orioles have combined the uniform numbers of two of their best young outfielders, NICK MARKAKIS and ADAM JONES, to re-identify an area of the Eutaw Street Bleachers and give fans the opportunity to take part in a unique promotion.

For a number of pre-selected games beginning with the game on Sunday, July 12 vs. Toronto, fans can purchase a Eutaw Street bleacher seat and a limited edition "I Live at 2110 Eutaw Street" t-shirt for only $21. In addition, Markakis and Jones will toss baseballs into the stands throughout the game, and for every home run hit by Markakis or Jones in that day's game, one lucky fan in the section will receive a bat autographed by the player who hit the homer.

It's fan friendly, community and brand building, creative, gets the players directly involved and may help to sell a few more tickets in the process. This is good and should be encouraged...

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I'm going to keep beating this drum...Last night in Miami, Oscar Salazar gets off the bench in the 8th and gets a hit in the middle of a 2-run rally, then gets up in the 9th with 2 out and 2 on and singles in the tying run.

Give him a shot, Dave!

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Notable minor league stuff: In Aberdeen, SS Tyler Kelly, the 13th round draft selection in the 2009 draft is hitting .333/.333/.389 in his first four games. Of Steven Bumbry is only 1 for 8 but his lone hit was a home run.

Japanese import RP Ryohei Tanaka now has pitched 6 innings for Bowie posting an 0.00 ERA striking out 9 and walking just 1. Interesting guy to watch.

Brandon Snyder has struggled since his promotion to Norfolk. He's only posting a .118/.238/.118 line through five games. He'll be fine but perish any thought of him coming to Baltimore this season.

Chris Tillman: 66.0 IP, 70 Ks, 18 BB, 1.17 WHIP and a 2.59 ERA for Norfolk. Dude's only 21. This guy gets no hype compared to 21-year old Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson but he's doing much the same as Hanson did in the same league.

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I enjoy playing around with Twitter; there's some good Oriole stuff over there. But even if you don't want to Twitter yourself, you have to check out UnPeterAngelos.

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Frost King has moved over to Camden Crazies on the Fanball.com Sports Network. Good luck Dan and congrats on getting your work noticed.

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I've got to stick up for my blog's namesake, Rick Dempsey. Seems that Dempsey took some heat for something he wrote in his blog over at MASN.com.

3.) Brian Roberts: He is a quality position player who could draw a lot of attention from a contender and be worth a few good young prospects. Now the only reason I suggest B-Rob is because he has probably missed his window of opportunity to win with the O's and now that the nucleus is becoming much younger, having to wait two more years to contend may take Brian out of his prime and out of his value. I would hate to see him go, but it might be the best overall for the Orioles for the future.

Absolutely correct. I would like to see Roberts stay but for the right package, I'm OK with the club trading him for the reasons Rick stated. This hardly seems a controversial statement but speaks volumes about the near-Ripken level of popularity that Roberts enjoys in this town.

Outside of Wieters, Markakis and Jones (and perhaps Reimold) everybody on the big club should be available...for the right price.

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The Orioles have made a trade involving a guy named Aubrey! Not Huff though. They traded for AAA first baseman Michael Aubrey from the Indians organization.

Base Hits: 6/12/2009

I am taking down my little "Value Over Daniel Cabrera" widget from the left hand side of the blog. The final results in terms of ERA:

Daniel Cabrera 2008 - 5.25
Daniel Cabrera 2009 - 5.85
Adam Eaton - 8.56
Mark Hendrickson - 5.53
Alfredo Simon - 9.95
Rich Hill - 5.24
Koji Uehara - 4.37

The whole point of the exercise was to decipher what The Warehouse was thinking in regards to the rotation this year. It seemed they were looking for stiffs to eat innings and buy time for the kids in the minors. But then they let go a "proven stiff" in Daniel Cabrera. Cabrera had proven that he was just that kind of pitcher and had proven it in the AL East. It was kind of ironic that they let Cabrera go just at the time he had proven he was forever to be mediocrity but an innings eater. Cabrera was, for the first time in his career, a perfect fit for the Baltimore Orioles and they cut him loose!

Now, you can certainly disagree with me about Cabrera in specific but you have to admit that nobody they brought in has done a better job that D-Cab, save for Koji Uehara. Certainly the trio of stiffs that were in the rotation on Opening Day (Hendrickson, Eaton, Simon) were a downgrade.

I don't have many criticisms of Andy MacPhail so far but his assemblage (or lack thereof) of a starting rotation for the 2009 Orioles has been a glaring and abject failure.

Anyway, it's hardly fair to compare the rotation anymore now that some kids are starting to fill those roles. I've made my argument.

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Want the human interest stories behind the 2009 Oriole draftees? Matt at Roar From 34 has compiled them all.

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I'm not sure that I've said it before (and he certainly doesn't need the traffic from me!) but the Matt Wieters Facts site (put together by Frost King) is still quite entertaining to me.

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I love me some Old Bay. And I love me some Orioles.

I don't reprint press releases very often but if I was in Baltimore on Saturday, I would be at Camden Yards for this promotion:

OLD BAY SPICES UP CAMDEN YARDS

The Orioles and Charm City Cakes help celebrate the 70th BIRTHDAY of a Baltimore icon.

What:

Cake creator extraordinaire Duff Goldman of Baltimore’s Charm City Cakes will help celebrate the 70th birthday of Baltimore’s own OLD BAY Seasoning prior to the Orioles-Braves game with the unveiling of a larger-than-life cake that replicates the iconic yellow and blue can with the red lid. Duff will also be throwing out the first pitch and the first 10,000 attendees age 15 and over will receive an OLD BAY mallet

When: Saturday, June 13th
Presentation begins at 6:30pm

Where: Baltimore Orioles vs. Atlanta Braves Game
Camden Yards


Background:

For 70 years, this distinctive blend of twelve herbs and spices has been a time-honored taste of summer. Just as the recipe hasn’t changed, neither has the iconic yellow and blue can. Once only enjoyed by a lucky few along the Chesapeake Bay, OLD BAY® Seasoning has gained fans all across the country. Best known as THE seasoning for shrimp, salmon, crab and other seafood dishes, these days, OLD BAY is used to flavor hamburgers, chicken, pizza, pasta, vegetable dishes and more. For information visit www.oldbay.com

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I like Melvin Mora. I have enjoyed watching him through out his Oriole career. But he's done. The Orioles should not pick up his option for the 2010 season. I'll probably harp on that fact as the season goes on but Mora is doing a pretty good job of sealing that fate himself.

Mora is OPSing .653 which puts his bat within shouting distance of Cesar Izturis (.620) and even Felix Pie (.595). But Mora is no longer a great glove or a kid. It's probably going to get worse. Month by month, his OPS has dropped from .940 in April (over 7 games) to .647 in May and a meager .417 in June.

He'll probably play out the year since the Orioles don't have many internal options but 2009 should be his Oriole swansong.

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Some sage words form Rick Dempsey about Jeremy Guthrie:

Usually it is pretty easy for me to watch a pitcher and see what he is doing right or wrong. A lot of times all you have to do is watch the flight and spin of the ball, and it can tell you exactly what you want to know....

From what I've seen, its not just one thing. There's a lot going on right now that nobody can figure out except Jeremy.

Obviously, I don't see every pitch of every game like Rick does (and based on the copious notes and score keeping I saw him taking during the MASN Oriole Blogger Night last month, he's certainly paying close attention) but I was working on a post about Jeremy Guthrie and trying to figure out why he was giving up so many homers this year. After pouring over Pitch F/X data, pitch types, pitch sequence, the counts , his velocity, the types of hitters he's facing...everything I could think of. But there's no common denominator! They're launching home runs off of every kind of pitch he throw without discrimination. It doesn't happen when he's behind in the count. He velocity and control (at least, his walk rates and amount of strikes he throws) are consistent with his first two seasons.

So I've got to go with Rick on this one. It not just one thing...but you would like to think Guthrie can solve it sooner than later.

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It's been a rough week for the Orioles but the Braves have been having trouble scoring runs too. Could this weekend be the remedy for the Baltimore win column?

Let's go O's!

Santa Dempsey

From the Oriole Buzz blog on MASN:


While they're most at home delivering pitches from the mound at Camden Yards, a few O's hurlers will spend this Thursday afternoon delivering gifts to kindergarten children at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Orioles pitchers Dennis Sarfate, Chris Ray, Jim Miller and Brian Burres, along with former O's Rick Dempsey, Dave Johnson, Scott McGregor, Larry Sheets and Bill Swaggerty will spend this Thursday afternoon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with 90 kindergarten students from Graceland Park Elementary School....

Rick Dempsey will make an appearance as Santa Claus and deliver gifts courtesy of OriolesREACH to each child.

(Update: Rick Dempsey just stopped in the MASN web studio to say hello. He said he flew in from California this morning for this week's festivities. He was on his way back to try on his Santa suit and practice the Christmas songs they'll apparently be singing at the party this week--songs, you ask? They'll be singing? That's what I said. I can't help but think, this should be good...)

Larry Sheets and Rick Dempsey in the same room? Dempsey as Santa Claus? Songs!?!?!?!

Oh, to be a kid again...

BHI: Palmiero, Dempsey and Surhoff

What's BHI? Look here...

Rafael Palmeiro - 223 Oriole Career Homers

Although the steroid scandal tends to overshadow his Oriole career, Rafael Palmeiro was signed in 1994 with Miguel Tejada-like hype and largely lived up to it during his Oriole career, at least the first stint. Less than 25% of his homers came during "garbage time" and less than 47% of his homers came with nobody on base. (The major league average is about 58%...) More than half his total home runs wither put the O's ahead or tied the game and there were 4 walk-offs. His BHI puts him on-par with the Oriole immortals.

BHI - 469

Rick Dempsey - 65 Oriole Career Homers

I almost hated to do this to the namesake of my blog. Even though Dempsey had a lot of big hits in the postseason, I didn't think he would acquit himself well in this survey of regular season home runs.

But he fares OK for a guy with only 65 career homers for Baltimore. Although he hit a ton of solo shots, very few came during "garbage time" (less than 25%) and nearly half of his homers were game tying or go ahead shots. The lack of walk-off homers renders him fairly average.

BHI - 136

B.J. Surhoff - 120 Oriole Career Homers

Shockingly, B.J. Surhoff is now the reigning Oriole king of the Garbage Homer.

Why? Just over 62% of his homers were solo shots and only 32% of his homers either tied the game and put Baltimore ahead. But the killer was that more than a third of all his homers came during "garbage time", mostly when the Orioles were either up or down by 4 runs or more.

I didn't even know this was possible but Surhoff gets a BHI that is negative.

BHI - -64

BHI Leaders - Oriole Career
Brooks Robinson - 495
Eddie Murray - 469
Rafael Palmeiro - 469
Larry Sheets - 266
Chris Hoiles - 240
Brian Roberts - 224
Cal Ripken - 197
Brady Anderson - 138
Rick Dempsey - 136
Jay Gibbons - 42
B.J. Surhoff - -64

Baltimore Oriole All-Geezer Team: The Lineup

You've seen the pitchers, now meet the hitters of the Baltimore Oriole All-Geezer Team!


The Starting 9

RF - Frank Robinson - '71 - Age 35

Frank's final season in Baltimore and he was still up to the task. He hit .281 with 28 homers and only struck out 63 times that year. He led the first place Orioles in slugging and helped power them to the World Series.


CF - Brady Anderson - '99 - Age 35

By this time, Anderson had developed into a really good leadoff hitter. He got on base at a .404 clip and stole 36 bases at an 83% success rate. Very impressive for an old guy. He hit 24 homers just to top it all off.


LF - Eric Davis - '98 - Age 36

Out of nowhere, Davis put up one of the finest offensive seasons in Oriole history and of his career. He batted .327 with 28 homers, slugged nearly .600 and OPS'ed .970. Although he played RF and a little CF, on this team he's in left.


DH - Harold Baines - '95 - Age 35

Harold hit .299 with 24 homers. Yawn. He only did it every year. One of the best clutch hitters ever, Baines can be valuable off the bench on his days off.


1B - Jeff Conine - '01 - Age 35

Conine was the lone offensive bright spot in 2001 hitting .311 with 14 homers. Conine is the starting firstbaseman but can play the corner outfield positions as well.


2B - Rick Burleson - '87 - Age 36

Oriole secondbasemen who qualify for Geezer status are a rare breed indeed. You can tell that by our starter. Rick Burleson came over from the Angels to play his final season for a bad Orioles club. Burleson hit .209 but still had a little pop with 2 homers and 14 doubles. He gets the nod here, however, because he was still a great fielder, even at 36. Burleson will split time with bench players on this team.


SS - Cal Ripken - '96 - Age 35

It was Cal's last year at shortstop but he was still playing better defensively than Derek Jeter ever has! (How is it possible that Jeter has three Gold Gloves while Cal only has two? It's an atrocity. It's a great example of why you have to critically examine some of these awards when they are handed out...) Anyway, stellar defense, a .278 average 40 doubles and 26 homers from Cal.


3B - Brooks Robinson - '74 - Age 37

Duh. Brooks hit .288 with 7 homers and would have his last truly great year with the glove.


C - Rick Dempsey - '85 - Age 35

Oh yeah. Admittedly, Geezer catchers were hard to come by but Dempsey's .254 average with 12 homers is not bad from the catcher spot.


The Batting Order


1. Brady Anderson
2. Brooks Robinson
3. Cal Ripken, Jr.
4. Frank Robinson
5. Eric Davis
6. Harold Baines
7. Jeff Conine
8. Rick Dempsey
9. Rick Burleson


The Bench


With this many old codgers, you're going to need a good bench to help spell them.


OF - John Lowenstein - '82 - Age 35

A bench player in name only, Lowenstein is going to be first on the field when there's no lefty on the mound. .320 with 24 homers is only 322 AB? Are you kidding me? That's sick.


2B - Chris Gomez - '07 - Age 36

Gomez is obviously capable of playing nearly any position in the infield but will primarily split time with Burleson at second. Burleson offsets Gomez' questionable glove and Gomez offsets Burleson's questionable bat.


C - Javy Lopez - '06 - Age 35

He would be a big stretch as a starter but as a backup, he'll do fine. That and the fact that there are very few other options get Javy on the team.


1B/DH - Rafael Palmiero - '04 - Age 39

The Geeziest hitter, Palmiero will serve as a backup 1B/DH, as well as giving us another power bat to pinch-hit. .268 with 28 homers in '04.


OF - Al Bumbry - '83 - Age 36

At 36, Bumbry could still run quite well. He's the pinch runner and defensive replacement outfielder on this team. Hit .275, stole 12 bases in limited action and can play all the OF spots.

Utility IF - Mark Belanger - '80 - Age 36

He wasn't really good enough for regular duty in 1980 but he will serve this team well spelling Cal from time to time, spot starting at 2B and as a defensive specialist. Hit .228 and stole 6 bases.

Name          AVG   OBP   SLG   HR   RBI   SB
F. Robinson  .281  .384  .510   28    99    3
Anderson     .282  .404  .487   24    81   36
Davis        .327  .388  .582   28    89    7
Baines       .299  .403  .540   24    63    0
Conine       .311  .386  .411   14    97   12
Burleson     .209  .279  .316    2    14    0
Ripken       .278  .341  .466   26   102    1
B. Robinson  .288  .353  .374    7    59    2
Dempsey      .254  .345  .406   14    52    0
  
  

Lowenstein   .320  .415  .602   24    66    7
Gomez        .302  .339  .391    1    16    1
Lopez        .251  .297  .386    8    35    0
Palmiero     .258  .359  .436   23    88    2
Bumbry       .275  .328  .357    3    31   12
Belanger     .228  .261  .276    0    22    6
  
  

Did I miss anybody?

Tributes to a Legend

Wild Bill Hagy has passed on yesterday at the age of 68. The guys at Roar From 34 have a tribute to their namesake.

I typically don't have many nice things to say about Nestor Aparicio but he writes a nice tribute to Wild Bill in his blog.

James Baker wrote a nice tribute to Hagy over at Oriole Magic.

Anthony at Oriole Post has a remembrance along with a photo and video of Wild Bill.

Rick Dempsey remembers Wild Bill along with some classic Wild Bill Hagy video.
(edit: My original link didn't work. Try the link now and scroll down to the video clip...)

Here's the story from the Sun. The team also planned a moment of silence before Monday night's game and a video tribute to Bill. I assume those gestures will occur tomorrow due to the rainout.

I won't get too much into Will Bill Hagy, others have done it better than I could have. But his passing does bring to mind the differences between Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards. Memorial Stadium had a much more working class feel to it, grittier, rougher and more down to earth. As fine a stadium as Camden Yards is, when it opened it immediately had a much more corporate, much more yuppie feel to it. In the early nineties it was actually difficult to get tickets (hard to imagine now, but true) but I always wondered how many people were buying up the seats because it was the hot ticket in town and how many were the diehard Oriole fans. That's why I used to see a lot of games against the Milwaukee Brewers - I couldn't get tickets to the premier matchups. Wild Bill Hagy was a link back to the days of Memorial Stadium, Natty Bo, and cartoon Orioles on the caps.

No Girardi...Now What?

Before I get started with this, Dave Trembley put Miggy in the starting lineup, let him bunt Brian Roberts over to second and immediately put Chris Gomez in as a pinch runner. His consecutive games streak intact, Tejada probably has some very good feelings about Mr. Trembley today...

Joe Girardi has turned down the job with the O's, not the biggest of surprises considering he is a hot commodity right now. The only chance the O's had was his relationship with Andy McPhail and the fact that the O's may offer him a lot of cash. But no dice. What's next? The other candidates:

Rick Dempsey: I'll start with Rick since my blog is dedicated to him but he probably has no chance in hell. In Rick's favor, I think the players would like him a lot and he is kind of an enthusiastic loose cannon in the Ozzie Guillen mode who could possibly jumpstart the team to short-term success. However, as you see in Guillen's case, that method only works for awhile. Like Girardi, he was a major league catcher.

Don Baylor: Don's going to get a call if for no other reason than he will fulfill the minority interview requirement. Baylor has had success, his Colorado teams overachieved at times but his Cub teams tended to underachieve. In Chicago, he managed Joe Girardi.

Davey Johnson: Peter Angelos could achieve the Steinbrenner dream by rehiring a successful manager he has previously fired. Davey has no recent track record, he last managed the Dodgers into second place in 2000 with 86 wins. He is the only manager on this list with a winning record throughout his career. Johnson managed the Orioles the 1996 ALCS against the Yankees, featuring Joe Girardi.

Jerry Manuel: The anti-Dempsey. He's boring. But he got results, he's a winning manager, if not a great manager. Not sure this is the kind of guy Baltimore needs right now though. He lived in Chicago at the same time as Joe Girardi.

That Bullpen Guy: The current manager needs to go on a tear, win 9 out of 10 while the managerial search continues to have a prayer of getting the job permanently but I do like some of the lineup changes he is trying. If he gets the job, he will really owe Joe Girardi.

Random O's Notes

I haven't seen a lot of talk about this during the season so I will try to drive this point home again: Melvin Mora has been a defensive whiz in 2007. He's a whirling dervish, a Hoover vacuum with a laserbeam arm. Outside of Joe Crede and Ryan Zimmerman, he's been the best defensive thirdbaseman in the league. Tuesday night's game highlighted that fact but he's been doing it night in and night out better than other AL defensive stalwarts A-Rod and Eric Chavez. I never thought I'd see the day when Melvin would be this good with the glove but so far I'm loving it.

Aubrey Huff's homer in the 10th was big. You don't need a graph to know this but it's still fun to look at:

(Courtesy of FanGraphs. Lots more about this game and others over there...)



John Maine? I'm still not buying it. If I am wrong about this guy, it will be the wrongest I have ever been. I don't believe he's going to continue to strike out NL batters at the rate that he has or that he will continue to exhibit the before unseen control that he has for much of the first six weeks of the season. He may be a useful pitcher in the NL, in a pitcher's park with one of the best infield defenses I've seen in awhile but his current level of pitching prowess will not last. Mark my words.


Is anybody still upset B.J. Ryan left? The Jays have paid $47 million for one stellar year. Ryan may come back full strength after Tommy John surgery but that's a real crapshoot, especially since he's over 30. Tough for an old dog to learn a new way to pitch.


Rick Dempsey has apologized for his comments during a weekend game when he cracked domestic violence jokes...repeatedly. This was discussed over at Oriole Magic earlier in the week and while I defend Rick's irreverent tone in the booth, (I genuinely enjoy his humor generally) his comments to Jay Gibbon's wife, Laura Giuliani, were not funny, indefensible and were very uncomfortable to watch. I was glad to see him apologize and hopefully he has learned from the experience.

With the troubles the Blue Jays have been having, is there any reason to believe that the O's couldn't finish above .500 and be in third place? The Jays have more problems and injuries than I care to list here and while Tampa has some good young bats, their rotation and bullpen isn't going to keep them close enough to win consistently. Even the Yanks are deeply flawed when it comes to pitching (Clemens returning or not). Third place should be the lowest expectation at this point.

Obviously, Erik Bedard pitched great last night but Jeremy Guthrie is the story here. To pitch that well on Tuesday night was quite a feat considering some of the dangerous hitters in that Tampa lineup. He was dominant. I had thought that Guthrie might be the kind of pitcher who gets solved the second or third time through a lineup but he has shown no sign of that yet and in fact it appears to be the opposite. Batters are hitting .365 against him the first time through the order but only .192 the second time through the lineup. Maybe Jeremy is the one figuring the batters out?