Base Hits: 11/30/2007

I guess I need to applaud the organization when they do something right, like invest in a baseball complex in the Dominican Republic. This will help the Orioles increase their scouting presence in Latin America (which was pratically nil) and is a good step in the right direction. It's stating the obvious but the farm system really needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. This should be the first step in a long process.

*****

There had been talk (to my shock and horror) that the Orioles might sign SS Cesar Izturis instead of letting Luis Hernandez learn on the job next season. It's a great relief to know that the Cardinals signed him to replace David Eckstein at short. Why?

"We definitely value his defense," general manager John Mozeliak said on Friday afternoon. "We also think that offensively there could be more in there. Speaking with our staff, we felt that we could probably tap into a little bit more there, as well."

Let's make one thing clear. Izturis is no longer even an above average defensive shortstop and hasn't been since 2005. This is the same kind of crap you heard from Oriole brass about Paul Bako even though his defensive skills had long since eroded. These guys get a rep and they never seem to lose it. Eckstein's range was actually better than Izturis the last two seasons and Izturis fielding percentage is only marginally better. I don't get these GM's sometimes.

OK, now I'll say something nice about Izturis. He signed a baseball for my son at Dodgertown a couple of years ago. There.

*****

A sculptor named Bill Rains is sculpting a statue of Dave McNally for a new ballpark in Billings, Montana.

I will now tell the story of the time my father faced Dave McNally. Gather round children.

My father was a pretty good ballplayer and his team faced McNally's team for the Montana state championship. Dad was pretty good and played with boys a couple years older than he was so he was only 13 when he faced off against the 18 year old McNally. Dad went in to pinch hit at some point and said the first pitch was a sweeping curveball that looked like it was heading for his head so he bailed out only to have the ball break sharply back over the plate for strike one.

My father thought to himself that he was ready for that pitch and he would hang in there and wait for the break this time. This time however, the pitch didn't break and drilled Dad right between the shoulder blades. He caught his breath, tried not to cry and trotted down to first.

After the game (which McNally won), McNally walked off the field and met with the Oriole scout and signed his first professional contract.

(Paul Harvey voice) And now you know....the rest of the story.

Don't Look Back In Anger

With a lull in the offseason action before the winter meetings, a look back at some items from the past season...

John Maine

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth was heard from some Baltimore fans about the O's trading away John Maine as an afterthought in the Kris Benson deal. Even my faith was shaken a bit early this season as Maine was looking like the real deal, pitcher's park and lack of DHs to face aside. The more I predicted his demise, the better he seemed to pitch. Well, at season's end it looks like Maine is beginning to come down to earth.

After a 10-4, 2.71 ERA first half, Maine posted a 4-6 record with a 5.53 ERA after the All-Star break. Pitching in a pitcher's park. In front of arguably the best defense in the NL. I'll say it again, no way a flyball pitcher like Maine succeeds in the AL, certainly not at Oriole Park. I expect his 3.91 ERA will be about the kind of pitcher he is, at least when he is under the best of circumstances.

Rodrigo Lopez

I thought it was a mistake to let Lopez go since I prophetically guessed that there would be injuries in the rotation this season. But Lopez got hurt out in Colorado and missed most of the season anyway so it all became a moot point.

But we did get a couple of minor league relievers that can strike batters out and keep the ball in the park. Jason Burch was hurt for most of the season but came back to pitch well for Frederick this year. Jim Miller excelled in Bowie and got called up to Norfolk before season's end. Both are young and miss bats so they may provide some inexpensive relief options for the O's in a couple of years. In retrospect, the trade wasn't so bad after all and I'm not even taking into consideration that Lopez had become a malcontent.

The Great Bullpen Experiment

The O's made news last offseason by quickly signing some free agent relievers to the tune of $42 million. How'd that work out?

Chad Bradford was overworked by Sam Perlozzo in my opinion but Dave Trembley nipped that in the bud and got him into a more reasonable 78 games when he was once on a pace for 90+. Bradford was forced to pitch in situations that he was not suited for due to injuries but still posted a very good 3.34 ERA and had 6 Win Shares out of the bullpen. Worth every penny.

Jamie Walker was also overworked a bit by the former manager but still posted a 3.23 ERA over 81 games and contributed 7 Win Shares out of the bullpen. Again, worth every penny.

Danys Baez sucked and as it turned out, he was hurt anyway. Baez got the biggest contract of the free agent relievers which was ironic because he had the most questionable credentials. He's had Tommy John surgery and who knows when he'll be back. Disaster.

Scott Williamson was signed for $900,000 to see if he could recapture that lightning that once resided in his right arm. He couldn't and was released after 16 appearances. But for the price of a Paul Bako, he was worth a flier. This one's a push.

The free agent relievers weren't the disaster they were portrayed to be but when your bullpen is still horrific with help from competent veterans, it doesn't help your case.

Jay Payton

Giving Payton $4.5 million per year was a questionable call made all the more so because the version we fans were treated to was not very Payton-y. However, the Orioles were desperate to find somebody to help out in leftfield so you can forgive them for reaching. Payton responded by posting the worst season of his career. (I'm beginning to think leftfield at Camden Yards is cursed. Curse of Conine? Or Surhoff?)

The last time Payton was so bad with the bat was 2002 and he responded the next year with the best year of his career. Hopefully, this is the case in 2008 and we can trade him to a contender for prospects during the season.

Base Hits: 11/28/2007

After engaging in a little double speak about changing positions earlier this offseason, Melvin Mora will reportedly play winter ball in Venezuela and split time between third base and the outfield. Less than a month ago Mora stated the following about moving off of third base:

"I don't want to play those games," he said. "I'm one of the best third basemen in the American League and in baseball. If you are going to move me, you have to make the team more competitive."

I guess someone forgot to tell him at the time that moving to left would make the O's more competitive. You know, filling a gaping hole in left and allowing better production at third (Tejada) as well as improving defense and perhaps a steady bat at short (Hernandez). Nice to see that he finally got the message...

***

I never weighed in on the Aubrey Huff nonsense but since Andy McPhail is still pondering punishment, I'll beat this dead horse a little more.

I have Sirius radio and although I don't listen to Bubba the Love Sponge, I do listen to Howard Stern and have an idea of what goes down on Bubba's show. Imagine the uncensored Howard Stern program...only rawer and more profane. That pretty much sums it up.

I don't think anything Aubrey talked about on Bubba's show was in bad taste. OK, it was in really bad taste but I don't think I was surprised at the activities Aubrey described. I was in the Navy and when hanging out with a bunch of single guys of the ages of 18-30, I'd say about 75% of us were involved in at least one of the activities Huff spoke about. Chasing women? Watching porn? Drinking? Hanging out with strippers and porn stars? Is anyone really shocked that single professional ballplayers engage in such activities? I'm not. I would imagine the 75% rule applies to them too.

His comments about Baltimore seemed to stem from questions about the nightlife and on that point, Aubrey's absolutely correct. Fell's Point is great but it's not Ybor City by a long shot.

That being said, maybe Aubrey needs to familiarize himself more with the batting cages and less with the watering holes and meat markets next season...

***

Former Oriole player and manager Davey Johnson will be up for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager, not a player.

***

Talks between the Dodgers and Orioles have stalled as Baltimore would rather sign Erik Bedard long term than trade him. I don't spend much time speculating on trades but Matt Kemp would be a wonderful addition if Bedard cannot be signed.

Out of Commission

I've been laid out by a fairly serious infection for most of the last few weeks but decided now is the time to get back to blogging.



The fall leagues are wrapping up and since I haven't seen it talked about anywhere else, I thought I'd highlight the Oriole prospects in Arizona and Hawaii.



Arizona Fall League



The O's prospects helped the Phoenix Desertdogs to the AFL title as they beat the Surprise Rafters in the championship game 7-2. OF Nolan Reimold went 2-5 and scored a run while RP Bob McCrory struck out two as he pitched a scoreless 9th.



But the real story for the O's is Arizona was the debut of Jake Arrietta as he dominated the cream of the crop of minor league batters in his first professional games. Check this out: 14 games, 16 IP, 16K, 7 BB, 0.94 WHIP and a record of 1-0. Oh, let's not forget the 0.00 ERA. That's an impressive start for Arrieta against professionals of any level but he did it against the best minor league hitters in baseball. You still have to think he'll start in Bowie this spring but he might rise a lot faster than anyone imagined.



RP Bob McCrory led the league in saves with 5 and posted a 1.50 ERA while striking out 11 in 12 IP.



Every other player of note was a good news/bad news situation.



Hayden Penn

Good News: He led the league in strikeouts with 27 in only 21.1 innings

Bad News: He also posted a 6.45 ERA with only one win



Nolan Reimold

Good News: He led the league in homers (6) and RBI (23)

Bad News: He only hit .245 and struck out 33 times in 29 games.



Look for Penn and Reimold to both start in AAA and spend most of the season there.



When I actually watch the championship game I may have a couple more observations.



Hawaii Winter League



The Honolulu Sharks lost the division race on the last day of the regular schedule and will not be playing in today's championship game.



What the Sharks were able to do is to showcase some Oriole prospects who can flat out hit.



IF Brandon Snyder took the league batting title hitting .378 and slugging .544. Snyder hit 2 hoeruns but showed he can rack up all kinds of basehits including two triples. C Matt Wieters had a successful professional debut hitting .284 with 9 doubles and a homerun in 30 games played. Almost as impressive was the fact that he struck out only 15 times and walked 12 times. That's pretty good control of the strike zone for a green player like Wieters. Coming on strong later in the season, 2B Miguel Abreu posted very impressive power/speed numbers, hitting .297 hitting 2 homers and stealing 8 SB in 34 games. He's not too patient (only 1 walk) but I'd keep an eye on him at high A Frederick next season.



Chad Thall and Brett Bordes pitched well out of the bullpen, both striking out around a batter an inning.



More to come, lots to catch up on!

Base Hits: 10/29/2007

LaTroy Hawkins had some not so nice things to say about playing for Baltimore in 2006. He didn't really balst the organization, just addressed the general feeling of negativity that permeated the club.

Speaking of Hawkins, he's a big, tall righty that tried but failed at being a starter. Once he turned 27, the Twins turned him into a reliever and he flourished. Daniel Cabrera is a big, tall righty who just turned 27. Just sayin'...

*****

Thank god the World Series is over. No more Tim McCarver until spring...

Joe Torre is gone and now A-Rod has opted out of his contract. The Yankees are weaker and that only helps the Orioles. Whether they can take advantage of it is another issue.

*****

Brandon Snyder is still tearing up the Hawaiian League is hitting .379 and OPSing .992. Snyder has two triples which surprised me but he had four in Delmarva last year. Pretty impressive baserunning for a former catcher.

Matt Wieters is hitting .302 and hit his first professional homerun this week. He is OPSing .876.

Base Hits: 10/25/2007

First a question: Would any O's fans be interested in bringing back Mike Mussina next season? Would he be able to fill in as a 4th starter so that some of the young guys could continue to develop in the minors? Just asking.

*****

Andy Etchebarren, manager of the Aberdeen Ironbirds, was dismissed yesterday. He joins Bowie manager Bien Figueroa, minor league pitching coordinator Doc Watson and roving infield instructor Tom Lawless on the scrapheap. I'm all for this, the problems within the organization are multifold and you need to purge the minor leagues and start building from the bottom up.

I can't neglect to give Etchebarren his proper send-off from the organization. He was an old-time Oriole catcher from the mid-60's to mid-70's. He wasn't a great offensive threat but he was a Yankee killer, hitting .270 and hit 10 of his 58 career homers against New York. He also single handedly beat the Tigers once in 1970 by launching a homer and driving in 6 in a 10-2 win.

So maybe he wasn't much of a coach but he was a heck of a player in his day.

*****

Hayden Penn pitched three innings last night for the Phoenix Devil Dogs gave up two runs but only walked 1 and struck out 6. Only one ball was sharply hit so most of the damage came on bunts and bloop singles. It was an encouraging start for Penn who has been rocked thus far in the AFL. Over 6 innings in relief, the Dogs pen could only strike out 2 more batters so it wasn't like this was a free swinging bunch. The 6 K's were very impressive against what was essentially a minor league all-star team.

*****

Note to Dave Trembley: Given the inability of the Orioles to attract free agents and the lack of talent in the minors, consider looking back to Earl Weaver and finding some players to platoon in some positions. LF, CF, 1B and maybe 3B would all be candidates. I'll be thinking of some options...

Umm...There Are Still Some Orioles Playing Ball...

...you know, the future of the organization. So if everyone can lighten up about Kevin Millar and his supposed "slap in the face" to Baltimore Oriole fans everywhere (sarcasm) maybe we can start talking about on the field performances. Great.

Hawaiian Winter League

Remember all the drama over whether Matt Wieters would get signed? Well now he's playing his first professional games and the Oriole blogosphere seems not to notice. (OK, OK, I'll get off my soapbox...) Wieters is playing for the Honolulu Sharks along with a few other young Orioles this winter and has been for almost three weeks now. For those of you not familiar with the Hawaiian League, it's where major league franchises are sending some of their top low-level talent for seasoning. Nobody there has played above A-ball. So how is everyone doing?

Matt Wieters - Matt's not exactly tearing the cover off the ball yet but is hitting a very respectable .298 and OPS'ing 829. No homers yet but he does have 6 doubles and is being very patient at the plate (8BB to 5K's so far) which is always encouraging for a young hitter.

Brandon Snyder - The O's former catcher-of-the-future has distinguished himself so far (an understatement) by hitting .378 (good for third in the league) and slugging .568 so far. Only 1 homer through 12 games but has rapped 2 doubles and a triple for the Sharks. I guess he's really gotten over his injuries?

Others of note: A couple of lefty pitchers are shining in relief as Brett Bordes has posted a 2.70 ERA and Chad Thall has a 2.13 ERA. Thall has 10 K's and 5 BB to boot...Reliever Ryan Ouellette has struck out 11 over 12.1 innings but is sporting a rough 7.30 ERA as well...IF/OF Miguel Abreu is hitting a mere .200 but is among the league leaders in steals with 5 and has yet to be caught.

Arizona Fall League

There is less to look at here since most of the Oriole's upper level prospects are perhaps not really very good but there are a couple bright spots. The AFL features top prospects from various organizations who are usually at the AA or AAA level.

Jake Arrieta - 2007 draftee has been pitching well in relief (although I think the O's envision him as a starter) for the Phoenix Desert Dogs. Over 8 innings Arrieta has a 0.00 ERA, 6 K's and 3 walks. It speaks volumes that Baltimore sent him to Arizona and it will speak volumes more if he continues to find success against the best players in the minors. He could be in Baltimore sooner than anyone realizes.

Nolan Reimold - He's only hitting .206 at the moment but is slugging .500 with 3 HR in just 11 games. Reimold is a long shot to be on the big club for sure but in 2009 he could be the answer in leftfield...if he stays healthy.

Jim Johnson - I can't figure out if I'm just selling this guy short but he continues to have success at almost every level he pitches. (Well, relative success for expectations...) Another Oriole starter being deployed in relief, Johnson is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in 5 appearances for Phoenix.

Others of Note: Hayden Penn has been lit up in two starts (that only lasted 3.0 innings total) and is stuck with a 21.00 ERA...Jeff Fiorentino is hitting just .100 and a weak one at that...Bob McCrory has gathered 4 saves in the early going and has posted a 1.93 ERA

It's certainly no consolation but O's fans still have something to root for! The Phoenix Desert Dogs are leading their division with an 8-3 record and Honolulu is 10-8 and leading the East division in Hawaii. It's not much but it's still more constructive that griping about Kevin Millar.

Keys To The Season Revisited: Final

1. The O's lower their ERA by a full run this season



The team ERA last year was 5.35 so the target was 4.35. While that looked attainable for most of the year, the team finished at 5.19 and Leo Mazzone got fired. The pitching staff still has a long, long way to go and improvement was going to be the biggest key to a winning 2007. Instead, it imploded and the Baltimore Orioles lost nearly 100 games.



2. Markakis hits 25



Markakis only hit 23 but 25 was only a quick reference to imporved slugging for the young rightfielder. Markakis hit 43 doubles in addition to leading the team in homers and slugged near .500 (.485). Mission accomplished, Nick has arrived as the best all-around hitter on the team.



3. Increased production from LF



Orioles leftfielders OPS'ed .631 in 2007...down from the historically bad number of .681 set in 2006. Centerfield (mainly Corey Patterson) production regressed as well. Bad stuff in the outfield if you're not named Markakis. Putrid.



4. Melvin Mora circa 2004....or at least 2005



OK, 2004 was right out the window. And so was 2005. Although he wasn't as bad as as he was in 2006, he wasn't much better in 2007. Outside of much improved glovework at the hot corner, Melvin brought little to the table in 2007. Failed.



5. Health



Ramon Hernandez was played injured most of the year. Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora went down for awhile. Bedard and Gutherie missed significant time and Kris Benson, Adam Loewen and Jaret Wright never got started. No dice.



1 out of 5 equals 69 wins.

And Don't Forget About Rick Kranitz

I can't believe I left him out of the last post. The ERA+ for the Florida Marlins (Kranitz's old team) for the two years Kranitz was pitching coach and the two years prior to his tenure:

2004 100
2005 95
2006 99
2007 87

I mean, obviously he did a good job in 2006 after the departure of Josh Beckett and A. J. Burnett but last year the staff for the Marlins didn't perform anywhere near to expectations. Well, he's ours now so we'll see what happens.

Tim McCarver is a Douchebag...

...sorry, just had to get it out of my system.

Just saw Kevin Millar throw out the first pitch in Boston and give Boston's starting lineup. There's my Baltimore tie-in for the ALCS.

OK, so who had Leo Mazzone getting fired and Terry Crowley keeping his job?

First, I love the fact that Dave Trembley is cleaning house. It certainly appears that the club has given him great sway in choosing his staff (even some people in the minor league organization) and the firing of Mazzone bears that out. Statistically speaking, as I posted at the end of September, the pitching staff under Mazzone has actually regressed:



Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2004 and 2005: 101 and 106 respectively
Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2006 and 2007: 84 and 88 respectively

Was it all his fault? No. The material was very weak to begin with but Mazzone had issues helping out bullpen pitchers in Atlanta too. Maybe Trembley decided they needed someone a bit more well-rounded?

Jim Duquette is gone now and Mike Flanagan's role will, it seems, be greatly reduced if he remains in the organization.

First base coach Sam Treijas resigned and bench coach Tom Trebelhorn was fired.

But against all odds, Terry Crowley remains! Evidently, Nick Markakis speaks highly of him. You can't get a better endorsement in Baltimore than that. Personally, I find the role of a major league hitting coach pretty overrated. Once you get to majors, a player who can hit already knows how to hit. The hitting coach with the big club isn't goin to do much but help marginal hitters get better. Corey Patterson got appreciably better once he showed up but obviously the hitters in general did not under Crowley's tutelage. I guess we'll see.

I love the fact that the Orioles are getting infused with new blood. God knows the old guard wasn't doing much to promote success in the organization.

Some Preseason Predictions Revisited

Ah, December 2006. A more innocent time when I actually had hope of improvement for the 2007 version of the Baltimore Orioles. As I was just starting to blog about the O's, I started laying out some preseason predictions for various players which I now thought would be amusing to revisit.

December 27th, 2006:

Regarding a proposed Brian Roberts/Hayden Penn for Adam LaRoche/Marcus Giles trade:

"I like Brian Roberts a lot but in all honesty, Marcus Giles probably would have replaced his offensive numbers and defense and they are both the same age."

Oh, that's rich.

Roberts: .809 OPS
M. Giles: .621 OPS

A stinker of a prediction. That doesn't even take into account the 50 to 10 edge in stolen bases (with Roberts stealing at an 87% success rate...). Scuttling that deal may be the best thing Peter Angelos has ever done for this club.

Regarding Kevin Millar:

"I don't like him as a primary option at first base but for $2.75 million for one year, he will give you better production for less money than some of the free agents listed below."

One of the fee agents listed below was Aubrey Huff:

Millar: .785 OPS
Huff: .779 OPS

You wouldn't want to live on the difference but Millar did outperform the highly paid free agent at about 1/3 the salary. I'll stand by that statement. However...

Regarding Carlos Pena coming to the Orioles:

"Another one I don't get unless you can get him signed to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Maybe Terry Crowley can work some magic and turn him into a poor man's Richie Sexson but that's a real long shot at this point in his career."

I was clearly wrong about not wanting to give this guy a shot. The Devil Rays were able to turn him into a poor man's Richie Sexson. In fact, Richie Sexson's never had a season as good as Pena posted this year. In fact, if Pena had played for a winning team, he probably would get some serious MVP consideration. Baltimore could've had him...

December 29th, 2006

Re: David Newhan being let go.

"I liked Newhan as a utility man but even Jay Payton will be quite an upgrade in left."

Newhan: .573 OPS
Payton: .668 OPS

That's for 2007 and, yeah, Payton was an upgrade from what Newhan did for the Mets this year. But do you know what Newhan posted in 2006 for the O's? A .668 OPS. Andd to that the fact that Payton was more expensive and can't play the infield...maybe he would've been a better option for the Orioles.

Decemnber 30th, 2006

RE: Corey Patterson

"...he should be able to maintain his batting average in the .265-.275 range...I expect Patterson to at least approach his offensive numbers and continue to play a fantastic centerfield."

Patterson hit .269 for the year so I had that one right. However, even with his late season surge his offensive numbers were significantly down (OPS declined form .757 to .690) and his defense seems to have slipped a bit too. His Fielding Percentage was a bit higher but he didn't get to as many balls this year.

I hope the O's don't overpay for Patterson. He is a really interesting player to watch but he's really inconsistent and he'll never get much better than he is right now which means he will be an average centerfielder at best.

Picking Up The Pieces

It's been real busy at work these last two weeks and quite frankly, I wasn't seeing much worth writing about on the field so apologies for the lack of posts this month. With only four games to go, it's time to start sifting through the wreckage so I'll start with some stats.

I stated at the beginning of the month that some Oriole hitter would have to go on a tear to reach 20 homers this year and wouldn't you know that Nick Markakis did it. He hit 6 in August and has continued that pace with 6 more in September. He now sits at 22 homeruns, not to shabby for a 23 year old rightfielder.

Nick also has accumulated 110 RBI so far. Quick, name last Oriole who drove in 110 RBI in a season by the age of 23? Give up? Well, there was no last one. No Oriole had done that before Markakis (Cal drove in 102 during his age 22 season). So hats of to Nick for a record-breaking season.

+++++

Does anybody realize how long it's been since we had a good regular leftfielder? The last guy who manned that position well was B.J. Surhoff! More on leftfield later...

+++++

Brian Roberts is quickly setting the standard for Oriole secondbasemen for years to come. If he can manage two more doubles this year he will own the top three spots for 2B by a secondbagger in Oriole history. If he can steal two more bases, he will join Roberto Alomar as the only two secondbasemen in history to hit 40+ doubles and steal 50+ bases. Enjoy him folks, he's a special player.

+++++

Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2004 and 2005: 101 and 106 respectively
Baltimore Orioles' ERA+ in 2006 and 2007: 84 and 88 respectively

I know he hasn't had much to work with but the Oriole staff has actually gotten statistically worse since Leo Mazzone's arrival.

+++++

Forget the wins. There are only three Oriole pitchers who have come on the scene in their rookie year with such positive results: Mike Boddicker, Mike Mussina and *mumble*rodrigo lopez*mumble*. Well, two outta three ain't bad...

Catch Up

Wow, so much for my sunny optimism...

A couple of weeks ago I was confident that the O's could finish somewhat strong (maybe just a hair below .500 for the month of September) but now, let the stinkfest continue! The Orioles were somewhat respectable until the Warehouse officially hired Dave Trembley and since they have gone in the toilet. 30-3. No-hit by a rookie. Routinely bludgeoned by the Devil Rays. Add it all up and it's looking like a dismal end to the season.

Bright side: The Baltimore Orioles are now sporting the third worst record in baseball. We may as well go for it and lose out to garner the number 1 pick in the 2008 amateur draft.

The two reasons to watch the O's this season, Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts, are no longer worth watching. Bedard is now injured and his season is over. (He holds the Oriole record for K's in a season but I was looking forward to seeing him break the record for the franchise. It was easily within his reach.) Roberts is still playing but has been mired in a terrible slump and is now hitting less than .300.

Add to this Jeremy Guthrie's strained oblique and the starting pitching looks scarier and scarier. A weird hodge-podge of rookies and scrapheap guys. Victor Zambrano?

The curse of Wild Bill Hagy?

In the midst of all this, Jay Gibbons is linked to the HGH investigation. Has there been a team with more players linked to steroids with less success to show for it? The Baltimore Orioles are the poster child for not using steroids!

Bright sides: (There are very few.) Looks like Millar will be back next season, a good veteran presence and until we get better talent, one of the more useful members of our lineup. Nick Markakis is putting up great numbers. A bunch of kids are going to get some valuable playing time over the next three weeks. And as the season wraps up, I'll have some really gnarly numbers to look at as we sift through the wreckage. Ugh.

Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo

Anybody get the reference?

So lets look at the good, the bad and the ugly from this past week.

30-3. Odd how most diehard Orioles fans laughed this off but many dopes in the national sports media actually read something into this. As if 30-3 is really indicative of what this team is about. (The Orioles are not a great team but we surely aren't Devil Rays bad...). Which is worse? 30-3 or 12-0 and 16-0 over two games (I'm looking at you guys in pinstripes...) It was a perfect storm and now it's over.

0-7 against the Twins? Sure, when Johann Santana's on the mound they're one of the best teams in baseball but without him are they really that much better? 0-7. And 2-4 against the Rangers. 30-3 doesn't bother me nearly as much as dropping that series.

The Baltimore Orioles' record now stands at 58-71 meaning they have to go 24-11 to close the season to hit .500. Guess what true believers? That ain't happenin'. So play the kids with abandon and keep the bullpen audition rolling.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
- Arab Proverb

Using this axiom, it is difficult for me to hate the Red Sox that much. I would rather anyone win the division than the Yankees and it's nice to see them finally falling off the pace and AL East title has officially slipped away from them. Now if Seattle (Or Detroit) can snatch the wild card away too...

Erik Bedard did not have a great outing but did finally take over the top spot for most strikeouts in Baltimore Oriole history on Sunday. He is now third in franchise history:

               Ks     Year
Rube Wadell   232     1908
Bobo Newsom   226     1938
Erik Bedard   221     2007
Mike Mussina  218     1997

With an average outing, Bedard should pass Bobo Newsom on Friday.

Congratulations to Kevin Millar for setting the club record for consecutive games reaching base that ended on Sunday. 52 games is pretty impressive, I don't care how you do it. His combination of patience and modest power has made him at least the third best Oriole at the plate this season.

The good news? Tampa Bay is up next.

There's a lot of talk about the Orioles' annual September swoon. This team is not going to go 4-32 to close the season. No way. But I don't think there's a lot of wins to be had when Garrett Olson and/or various AAA pitchers are getting a crack at teams. That's just the way it is.

An interesting article over at The HardballTimes about great platoons of the 60's and 70's. No surprise that Hank Bauer and Earl Weaver are featured as putting together some very effective platoons overt the years.

Barring a September tear by somebody, no Oriole will hit 20 homers this year, the first time that will have happened since 2001. What is so shocking to me is that when I looked up and down the lineup in Spring Training, there was no pure 30+ HR slugger but a bunch of guys who could have reasonably hit 20:

Miguel Tejada
Melvin Mora
Nick Markakis
Aubrey Huff
Ramon Hernandez
(a healthy) Jay Gibbons
Brian Roberts

Hell, you even figured Millar and Patterson to be good bets to hit at least 15 if they got enough at bats. Guess you never know...

Nestor Takes Aim At Our Ace

Nestor Aparicio has a blog. Perhaps you've seen it.



From Nestor Aparicio's blog entry 8/18:



Your Orioles Cy Young candidate at work ...



Erik Bedard has made few friends within the local media, which has now led to a new "national" perspective on his churlish behavior en route to a possible Cy Young Award this fall.



You know that little saying about not learning history and being doomed to repeat it? May I invoke the name of Eddie Murray here? Nestor is not alone in criticizing Bedard's lack of grace with the media but I think everyone needs to remember one name: Eddie Murray.



Yes, it's a joy watching him pitch, but



Allow me to use the wayback machine here. "Yes it's a joy watching Eddie switch hit with power not witnessed since the days of Mickey Mantle but..."



apparently he has become a real pain in the ass to deal with for everyone.



"...apparently Eddie is a real pain in the ass so lets ship him to L.A. for Juan Bell, Brian Holton and Ken Howell." My God, people! Am I the only one who sees the parallels here? (Now Nestor has me raving like a lunatic...)



In this story on ESPN.com, the cat is out of the bag on his asinine behavior toward the media, fans and the like.



First, the story primarily focuses on Erik Bedard's breakout season. Second, there is not one mention of him being rude to the fans. Not one. In my lone interaction with Bedard, he was nothing if not polite even if he wasn't particularly chatty. So rudeness to the media automatically means he is antagonistic to the Baltimore Oriole fans? According to Nestor, yes.



But of course, when your owner is an ass, insulting the fans again and again and encourages his employees to do the same...I suppose your star Cy Young candidate can treat people like garbage as well.



Not people Nestor, just the media! I keed, I keed...



Bedard is a Cy Young candidate, but I don't see the stands filling up on nights when he pitches.



To their detriment. Fans don't know what they're missing. The team is losing so I blame no one for staying away but it's one of the finest performances by an Oriole pitcher in the history of the franchise. No, really.



Funny, too, is that when I PREVIOUSLY had a press pass --



Hoo boy, here we go again. He's kind of like a crazy but harmless uncle...



-- one of the 18 years when I had a pass before Peter Angelos went Fidel Castro on me -- Bedard was always pretty cool to me. Seemed like a quiet guy, but he was certainly NOT impolite in any way. I always got along fine with him.



So...you never had an issue with him when you were part of the media but because you hear he's difficult you write this little hatchet piece about how rude he is?



Gee, I can't imagine why Bedard would be distrustful of the media. They're so evenhanded and logical...



Guess I'm not missing much there these days ...Just what I need -- one MORE person in the organization treating me like crap and making up lies about me!



OK, Crazy Uncle Nestor needs to take his medicine now kids. Good night!



Nestor just implied that a man who has been criticized for not being talkative would make up lies about him. Why? To amuse himself? It wouldn't be to spread to the media now would it? This is forgetting the fact that Bedard would have no motive to make up lies about Nestor Aparicio. Oh wait, I missed this quote in the ESPN article: "Nestor Aparicio likes to dress up goats in women's clothing," remarked Bedard, "Why would I want to grant him an interview?"



Lies! Damn lies!



(In case there are some of you who don't get jokes, Bedard did not say anything of the sort...see the irony?)



Think about this kids. Nestor now is so paranoid (with delusions of grandeur) that he believes the ace pitcher of the Baltimore Orioles is out to get him. Really, take a few minutes and ponder what that means...



The biggest joke is on the Orioles, themselves. They think winning is ALL that matters. And here they have the best pitcher in baseball and NO ONE in town really cares enough to spend a few bucks and come downtown to watch him work.



Let's walk through this.



They think winning is ALL that matters.



They're right. They haven't done that in 9 years so they are really bad at it but WINNING IS ALL THAT MATTERS! You couldn't even get Free The Birds 2 off the ground when the O's had a winning month! If this team started to compete, all would be forgiven by the casual (and 99% of the hardcore) fans.



And here they have the best pitcher in baseball and NO ONE in town really cares enough to spend a few bucks and come downtown to watch him work.



Because...(bangs head on desk)...this is a losing team! They've lost for going on ten years now. You have stated this yourself ad nauseum. If this team was winning Bedard's season would be of more interest. Because they lose, it isn't. Thank you and good night!



And everybody leave Erik Bedard alone. I'll take a surly Cy Young candidate over a cheerful 4-15 hurler anyday.

Odds And Ends

Trembley's Solid

Dave Trembley will be announced today as the manager of the Baltimore Orioles which I think is a pretty good thing. Rick Maese is conflicted and seems to think some big names may be available in the offseason. Ozzie Guillen? Won a series on the strength of and amazing pitching staff but seems to be losing his players only a year or two removed from World Champion glory. Joe Torre? Knows how to manage superior talent which the Oriole do not have. Tony LaRussa? I don't believe he would ever come to Baltimore. I'm guessing that Andy McPhail now believes that he has no chance or luring Joe Girardi (the next Yankee manager?) so we mught as well stick with the guy we have, who has shown some modest success since taking over. In my first post referencing Trembley, I referred to him as "that bullpen guy". He has certainly been making people notice ever since. Sometimes the guy just keeping the bench warm turns out to be the best man for the job.

More Help Off The Waiver Wire

The O's have signed RP Fernando Cabrera who the Indians put on waivers last week. This is a perfect signing for Baltimore as Cabrera is the prototypical low risk-high upside type of guy that Leo Mazzone was famous for straightening out in Atlanta. With the probable loss of Chris Ray for the 2008 season (an issue I haven't addressed here but will later) Cabrera could add some much needed depth and he'll be cheap to boot. Who knows? With his stuff and Mazzone's tutelage, he could be an important factor for Baltimore in 2008. It's certainly worked OK for Jeremy Gutherie, Brain Burres and to a lesser extent, Rob Bell.

The Answer in Left?

Tike Redman, huh? Although his career averages in production would surpass the production the Oriole shave trotted out the last two years, that doesn't make him a good player. He's ultimately no better with the bat then Jay Payton and although he's fast he isn't a very good basestealer. I'd rather see Freddie Bynum get the reps out in left than Redman. If Redman's anything other than a 4th outfielder on this team in 2008 I'll be very disappointed.

O's Unlucky?

Bill Ordine's O By The Way blog has pointed out quite correctly that the Orioles record is not as good as it should be according to the Pythagorean Winning Percentage. This formula predicts a win-loss record based on runs scored and runs allowed and is typically accurate within 3 or 4 games. This year the O's have a 58-65 record but an expected record of 63-60, a swing of five games in the wrong direction.

What has the Baltimore Orioles underachieving? Their putrid 10-24 record in one-run games. Now some of that is luck but I believe that bad management leads to a lot of close losses too. (It's no surprise that the last two seasons where the formula expected a winning ballclub and got a losing one was in 1998 and 1999, the Ray Miller years.) I blamed Sam Perlozzo for losing the close ones but has Dave Trembley fared any better?

Taking the Pythagorean Winning Percentage (PWP) using runs scored and runs allowed since Trembley took over versus the True Wining Percentage (TWP):

PWP - .543 - 29-25
TWP - .543 - 29-25

So what is apparent to the eye seems to hold true by the numbers. While Perlozzo had the team underperforming relative to production, Trembley has them right where they should be. That's good news for next season...

Erik Bedard is Masterful...Again

Erik Bedard was dominant against the Rangers last night, striking out 11 and moving himself up in the Oriole record book.

Rube Wadell  238  1908
Bobo Newsom  226  1938
Erik Bedard  218  2007
Mike Mussina 218  2000
Mike Mussina 210  1996
 
 

How about that? Bedard struck out Adam Melheuse in the 4th to pull into 2nd in Oriole history and struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia to tie the record in the 7th.

Now Bedard is chasing ghosts and has the all-time franchise record in his sights. And nobody seems to care.

Kevin Millar extended his streak of getting on base to 47 games. He has now pulled ahead of Cal Ripken for second and is just behind Ken Singleton (49) in club history. Not too shabby.

It's a great day for baseball. Let's play two!

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.

Meet The Neighbors

Erik Bedard is in rarefied Oriole air this season as he closes in on the Oriole record for strikeouts in a season. He has already passed the likes of Jim Palmer and Dave McNally and has only Mike Mussina to beat for the record. But there are more impressive goals that Bedard can meet this season. Remember, this franchise was the old St. Louis Browns whose history goes back to the turn of the last century and Baltimore's lefty ace has a very good shot at becoming the franchise leader in strikeouts as well. Here's the top five strikeout performances in franchise history:

                Ks     Year



Rube Wadell    232     1908



Bobo Newsom    226     1938



Mike Mussina   218     1997



Mike Mussina   210     2000



Erik Bedard    207     2007






 

Bedard is all but assured of passing Mussina's seasons (barring injury, don't want to jinx it) and with more than a month left in the season has a very good shot at taking the top spot as well.

So who are these guys? Any fan of Baltimore (or baseball in general) of the last 20 years knows Mike Mussina's story so I'm gonna skip him. Let's meet the rest of the company shall we?

Bobo Newsom (1929-1953)

Bobo had one of the most unusual careers (and nicknames) you will ever find in baseball. He was the classic journeyman but was able to parlay modest successes into an unusually long career. He played for 9 different teams over the course of his career and made multiple stops at most of them including 5 different stints for the Washington Senators and 3 different stops as a St. Louis Brown. He started his career in Brooklyn in 1929 playing for manager Wilbert "Uncle Robbie" Robinson. This gives Newsom yet another Baltimore connection as Robinson was the great catcher for the champion NL Baltimore Orioles of the 1890's.

Bobo was an eccentric character and pioneered the art of referring to oneself in the third person 40 years before it was popularized by Moses Malone and Rickey Henderson. Bobo pitched opening day during one of his games for the Senators and President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in attendance. An errant throw by his own third baseman fractured Bob's jaw but he continued to pitch and finished the game. When asked why he stayed in the game he replied, "When the president comes to see Bobo pitch, Ol' Bobo ain't a-gonna disappoint him."

The highlight of his career was in 1940 when he won two games for the Detroit Tigers in the World Series and pitched a masterful game in a losing effort in Game 7 as they dropped the series to the Cincinatti Reds.

In 1938, Newsom went 20-16 despite his 5.08 ERA. He struck out 226 in 329.7 innings (!). He has held second place on the franchise list for 69 years.

Rube Waddell (1897-1910)

Waddell was a pitching star at the turn of the last century and is in the Hall of Fame. Oddly enough, he too was quite an eccentric character although in slightly more frightening ways.

Waddell liked to drink but had some eccentric quirks besides. He used to chase fire engines, wrestle alligators and had to be escorted by teammates to ensure he would make it to the games. There's more, a lot more here.

However, his pitching prowess was never in question. At his peak with the Philadelphia A's he led the league in strikeouts for six straight seasons, set an AL record with 349 strikeouts in a season that would stand for 70 years (broken by Nolan Ryan) and recorded 50 shutouts for his career. Rube was famous for going out for the final inning of exhibition games and telling his outfielders and infielders to stay on the bench and then striking out the side. His fastball was only rivaled by the great Walter Johnson.

The Athletics sent him to the St. Louis Browns after the 1907 season due to perceived declining skills. He put together one last great season in 1908 going 19-14 with a 1.81 ERA. His 232 strikeouts that season were second most in the AL. The first time he faced his former Philadelphia teammates, he struck out 16 of them.

If and when Erik Bedard passes him, he will break a franchise record that has stood for 99 years.

Meanwhile, On the Field of Play...

...the Orioles struck a blow for all that is right in the world by beating the Yankees in extras and taking the series in the Bronx. Winning series against the Red Sox and the Yankees back to back...that's very sweet.

I feel bad that Bedard did not get the win but it was almost sweeter to come back and win it in extras.

Have I mentioned how much I hate Shelley Duncan? He hits that fluky three-run homer and gave me a heart attack. With a name like his he should be playing Peter Pan or something, not playing major league baseball. And I hate how he jumps up and down like a friggin' 8 year old everytime on of the Yankees hits a homerun. Sit down and act like you belong in the major leagues. Stupid little forearm bashes. He makes me sick...

Anyway, a win is a win. Jeter got plunked, Jeter made an error, Jeter went 0-4 with two strikeouts, all good things.

Trembley gets some heat for how he's using the bullpen but, hey, he's only using wht he's got. With injuries and bad free agent signings (Mr. Reluctant...I'm looking at you), he's done a pretty good job at juggling guys around. If it doesn't work, he's not afraid to change it and try something else. I like that about this manager.

So it's off to Toronto and then the Rangers, Twins and Rays come to Baltimore. Hopefully, the momentum will continue...