OK, something needs to be done about this team.
I know it's still only April, as the O's Kool-Aid drinkers on Orioles Hangout would say, but the offense has been dreadful for a majority of the season so far. They're still impatient. They still struggle against LHP. They still shut down late in games. They still leave too many players on base. And it's 2007. We knew all this stuff back in 2002.
No one thought that the Orioles offense would lead the league in slugging or on base percentage. But no on expected them to be this bad, either. They currently have a .713 team OPS.
Pathetic.
I know that the Orioles have always had a streaky offense because they don't draw a lot of walks, so 6 out of the 9 guys in the line-up need to be hot for this offense to score runs on any given night. This team definitely isn't the Red Sox, who could score 3 runs just by drawing walks alone. But that is no excuse. This team has had problems with patience for years. And the only guy who has been here over that time span is hitting coach Terry Crowley.
To Crowley's credit, it's been said that he's helped players like Corey Patterson and Nick Markakis. But let's be real. Patterson is still a free swinging strikeout machine and Markakis would be a solid hitter even if I was his hitting coach. But if anything, working with Crowley has made Markakis a less patient hitter, something he definitely was not in the minor leagues.
If Kevin Youkilis was the "Greek God of walks", then Nick Markakis was his younger brother.
Not anymore.
It goes much deeper than just Terry Crowley too. It's Perlozzo, Trebblehorn, and Dempsey, or as I like to call it, the Good Old Boy Network. They are like the bulletproof lackeys at million-dollar corporations. No matter how shitty a job they do, the boss pats them on their head and gives them a promotion when they should be fired. But all this Good Old Boy Network has done consistently, is lose. And other than Angelos, who let's face it, isn't going anywhere, the GOBN is the one constant that has been here since the O's took their 9 year long nosedive in 1998.
Players, managers, and GM's may have come and gone since then, but the GOBN has remained. It's not all their fault, but I do believe they are a big part of the problem. After all, how are a bunch of coaches who have never won squat supposed to teach a team that has never won squat, how to win?
If Angelos really wanted to try and win without spending a lot of money, he wouldn't keep the GOBN around. He would fire them all, hire a manager outside of the organization, and allow that manager to hire his own staff, which hasn't been allowed since Davey Johnson was made manager in 1996.
But, Angelos feels comfortable around these guys, feels they will do what he tells them to do and won't ask many questions. After all, Angelos doesn't care about winning, he just wants to give families an affordable good time out on the town. Little does he know, that if the Orioles were winning, and still playing in Memorial Stadium, the place would be close to full every night and fans would be having the time of their lives.
Angelos doesn't need to spend a lot to win like the Yankees or Red Sox. But he does need to spend in the right places. And hiring the right people is the first step to doing it. But the people Angelos currently have in place deserve to be fired.
Hell, they all deserved to be fired 5 years ago.
So it's no wonder this team is following the same pattern they've held for the last few years. Jump out to a good start in April, then go on an extended losing streak, and then struggle to get back to .500 for the rest of the season, ultimately finishing 20 games out of first place.
The same people are running it.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Comfortably Numb
I had to go back and edit my entry after the loss to the Yankees in the 5th game of the year a few days after I posted it. You know the one that ended eerily similar to tonight's loss?
I was ashamed to read what I had written.
So you should expect me to be dropping F-bombs and saying the "O's suck" but what is the point? I already knew that. And after your favorite team loses 3 games by giving up grand slams in 3 weeks, you kind of get used to it after a while. Yeah, I am pissed off right now, but it's not the "throw your remote control through the TV screen" kind of pissed.
It's more like the "crying like Darryl Hunt because you don't know what else to do" kind of pissed. Pure frustration. It's the kind of thing where you just shrug and shake your head and then turn the channel even though deep down you are screaming for help, for someone to hold you and whisper into your ear, "everything will be alright, baby."
But unless you have a wife that cares about how much emotion you invest in the Orioles, you are likely to look for comfort on message forums and call-in radio shows. But there are others like us out there. The numbers are getting fewer and fewer, as has-been fans turn to lawn care and other hobbies to spend the spring and summertime nights. I don't blame them. Shooting Round-Up at the weeds growing from the cracks in the sidewalks is much more fun than watching this team play right now. It's more productive too.
The bottom line is this. The Orioles baseball limbo is not going away anytime soon. Had the O's improved from last year, like we're prone to believe each April, they wouldn't have followed up an impressive 4 game winning streak (and winning 5 out of 6) with an equally unimpressive 4 game losing streak. They would have found a way to keep the momentum going. To stay above .500 for just one more day.
They would have found a way to beat good, tough teams like the A's and Red Sox at home. But no. Same old Orioles. On the road or at home, they just can't seem to get anything going. To show the big dogs that they aren't going to be their doormats anymore.
After tonight's loss puts us at 11-11, it's likely that the O's are below .500 by the weekend as they travel to Cleveland and Detroit. And then they might not make it over .500 again for the rest of the season. Let's see, it's almost May so that feels about right.
I'll still tune in from time to time, but with every heartbreaking, infuriating, frustrating loss, my patience grows thinner and thinner, and the weeds growing through the sidewalk are only growing thicker and thicker. Plus I saw a nice basket of pansies that would look great in my front yard. But where will I plant the hygrangas?
And that is how most people in Maryland spend their summer nights these days.
I was ashamed to read what I had written.
So you should expect me to be dropping F-bombs and saying the "O's suck" but what is the point? I already knew that. And after your favorite team loses 3 games by giving up grand slams in 3 weeks, you kind of get used to it after a while. Yeah, I am pissed off right now, but it's not the "throw your remote control through the TV screen" kind of pissed.
It's more like the "crying like Darryl Hunt because you don't know what else to do" kind of pissed. Pure frustration. It's the kind of thing where you just shrug and shake your head and then turn the channel even though deep down you are screaming for help, for someone to hold you and whisper into your ear, "everything will be alright, baby."
But unless you have a wife that cares about how much emotion you invest in the Orioles, you are likely to look for comfort on message forums and call-in radio shows. But there are others like us out there. The numbers are getting fewer and fewer, as has-been fans turn to lawn care and other hobbies to spend the spring and summertime nights. I don't blame them. Shooting Round-Up at the weeds growing from the cracks in the sidewalks is much more fun than watching this team play right now. It's more productive too.
The bottom line is this. The Orioles baseball limbo is not going away anytime soon. Had the O's improved from last year, like we're prone to believe each April, they wouldn't have followed up an impressive 4 game winning streak (and winning 5 out of 6) with an equally unimpressive 4 game losing streak. They would have found a way to keep the momentum going. To stay above .500 for just one more day.
They would have found a way to beat good, tough teams like the A's and Red Sox at home. But no. Same old Orioles. On the road or at home, they just can't seem to get anything going. To show the big dogs that they aren't going to be their doormats anymore.
After tonight's loss puts us at 11-11, it's likely that the O's are below .500 by the weekend as they travel to Cleveland and Detroit. And then they might not make it over .500 again for the rest of the season. Let's see, it's almost May so that feels about right.
I'll still tune in from time to time, but with every heartbreaking, infuriating, frustrating loss, my patience grows thinner and thinner, and the weeds growing through the sidewalk are only growing thicker and thicker. Plus I saw a nice basket of pansies that would look great in my front yard. But where will I plant the hygrangas?
And that is how most people in Maryland spend their summer nights these days.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Reality setting in...
Since I was completely wrong about Melvin Mora starting in my previous post, let me get back to things I am absolutely sure of.
The Orioles are not a good team.
We've fooled ourselves in the past when we said that the Orioles were a mediocre team. Mediocre to me means going 81-81, or something close to that. But in the last 9 years the Orioles have rarely come close to going .500, so mediocre need not apply. Let's call a spade a spade, these past 9 years the Orioles have been downright horrible.
This year's team is mediocre.
We've seen that they can score runs over the last week or so, right up until the A's series earlier this week. We've also seen that those runs come in bunches, and usually against middle to lower-tier pitchers. Throw into the mix that the Orioles consistently falter against LHP and you've got yourself another season of struggling to get to the 81 win mark.
This team has problems, lots of them, even though we didn't want to see them as the O's took 2 of 3 from the Devil Rays and then swept the Blue Jays. Most of these problems have to do with the offense and the roster management, which I've talked about ad nauseam. There are only so many posts I can make about Jon Knott before people think I have a man crush on him. But the fact remains: Freddie freaking Bynum currently holds his roster spot. Then there are the mental errors, which always seem to happen at just the right time to cost this team a win or 2.
So there's not much else to say. This team just isn't good enough yet to challenge for the division, the Wild Card or maybe even .500.
That isn't to say that this season won't be interesting, or occasionally fun. The starting pitching will be better, although Erik Bedard is struggling to regain last year's form. The bullpen is still strong, even though they remind us time and time again that they aren't perfect. But the offense and the roster management are costing this team games plain and simple. And those games eventually add up.
Just like they say that every new day is a gift, so it goes with the O's. Every day above .500 is a miracle when you're a Baltimore Orioles fan. Enjoy it while you can. It probably won't last long.
The Orioles are not a good team.
We've fooled ourselves in the past when we said that the Orioles were a mediocre team. Mediocre to me means going 81-81, or something close to that. But in the last 9 years the Orioles have rarely come close to going .500, so mediocre need not apply. Let's call a spade a spade, these past 9 years the Orioles have been downright horrible.
This year's team is mediocre.
We've seen that they can score runs over the last week or so, right up until the A's series earlier this week. We've also seen that those runs come in bunches, and usually against middle to lower-tier pitchers. Throw into the mix that the Orioles consistently falter against LHP and you've got yourself another season of struggling to get to the 81 win mark.
This team has problems, lots of them, even though we didn't want to see them as the O's took 2 of 3 from the Devil Rays and then swept the Blue Jays. Most of these problems have to do with the offense and the roster management, which I've talked about ad nauseam. There are only so many posts I can make about Jon Knott before people think I have a man crush on him. But the fact remains: Freddie freaking Bynum currently holds his roster spot. Then there are the mental errors, which always seem to happen at just the right time to cost this team a win or 2.
So there's not much else to say. This team just isn't good enough yet to challenge for the division, the Wild Card or maybe even .500.
That isn't to say that this season won't be interesting, or occasionally fun. The starting pitching will be better, although Erik Bedard is struggling to regain last year's form. The bullpen is still strong, even though they remind us time and time again that they aren't perfect. But the offense and the roster management are costing this team games plain and simple. And those games eventually add up.
Just like they say that every new day is a gift, so it goes with the O's. Every day above .500 is a miracle when you're a Baltimore Orioles fan. Enjoy it while you can. It probably won't last long.
Mental Mora
Remember when calling someone “mental” meant that you were saying they’re retarded? Well, the O’s are mental. At least they have been during the last 2 games.
Monday night, The Orioles were able to chip their way back into a game in which they trailed the A’s 5-0. With 2 runners on base in the bottom of the 9th, Corey Patterson failed to run on a weak single up the middle that would have scored the tying run. Then, later in that same inning, Melvin Mora got cute and tried to bunt Corey Patterson in from 3rd base, only to bunt the ball directly to Huston Street, ending the game.
The next day, Mora made 2 errors in a row even though only one of them will show up in the boxscore. Mora failed to cover 3rd base after a ground ball had gone between his legs allowing the runners to advance uncontested. The Orioles went on to lose 4-2.
One would think that Sam Perlozzo would use these errors and a mini-slump to justify benching Mora against Curt Schilling and the Boston Red Sox. But, as sure as Amber Theoharis hot, Mora will no doubt be in the starting line-up tonight.
And that’s the problem with the O’s right now. There is little to no accountability, and there hasn’t been for years. Do you think Earl Weaver, Cal Ripken, Sr. or Davey Johnson would have put up with these mental blunders? Hell, even mild-mannered Johnny Oates probably would have pulled Mora aside and given him the hard truth.
But not Perlozzo. Not these Orioles.
Peter Angelos once said he cared more about making a night at the Yard affordable for families than fielding a competitive team. And the little things add up to support that statement.
These Orioles wouldn’t bench one of their “star players” even if they brought a pillow out to their position and took a nap during an inning or two. No way! There are kids in Laurel who have lived all 7 years of their lives to see Melvin Mora play baseball, and Peter G. Angelos would be damned if he was going to deprive an innocent child of his dream.
After all, it’s why Brian Roberts was not traded during the offseason. It’s why Jay Gibbons was signed to an extension. It’s why Melvin Mora was given a no-trade clause. And it’s why Miguel Tejada will probably play out the remainder of his contract in an Orioles uniform, no matter how good or bad the Orioles are over that stretch.
But I digress. Spend too much time talking about the Orioles off the field and you are bound to get depressed quickly. But the Orioles could come back tonight and tomorrow, take 2 from the Red Sox and make us all forget about this disastrous Oakland series. But that A’s series planted some seeds of doubt into the heads of the fans. The O’s were finding new ways to lose again.
Will it do the same to the players? It’ll be interesting to see how the O’s respond against the powerful Red Sox, whom they beat only 3 times in 18 games last season. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see this team end up at 11-11 by Friday.
But one would just think that a team heading into a decade of losing would care more about playing hard than upsetting the egos of its players or catering to what they think fans want.
And for the record, the Orioles are 18-46 against the A’s since 2000.
Monday night, The Orioles were able to chip their way back into a game in which they trailed the A’s 5-0. With 2 runners on base in the bottom of the 9th, Corey Patterson failed to run on a weak single up the middle that would have scored the tying run. Then, later in that same inning, Melvin Mora got cute and tried to bunt Corey Patterson in from 3rd base, only to bunt the ball directly to Huston Street, ending the game.
The next day, Mora made 2 errors in a row even though only one of them will show up in the boxscore. Mora failed to cover 3rd base after a ground ball had gone between his legs allowing the runners to advance uncontested. The Orioles went on to lose 4-2.
One would think that Sam Perlozzo would use these errors and a mini-slump to justify benching Mora against Curt Schilling and the Boston Red Sox. But, as sure as Amber Theoharis hot, Mora will no doubt be in the starting line-up tonight.
And that’s the problem with the O’s right now. There is little to no accountability, and there hasn’t been for years. Do you think Earl Weaver, Cal Ripken, Sr. or Davey Johnson would have put up with these mental blunders? Hell, even mild-mannered Johnny Oates probably would have pulled Mora aside and given him the hard truth.
But not Perlozzo. Not these Orioles.
Peter Angelos once said he cared more about making a night at the Yard affordable for families than fielding a competitive team. And the little things add up to support that statement.
These Orioles wouldn’t bench one of their “star players” even if they brought a pillow out to their position and took a nap during an inning or two. No way! There are kids in Laurel who have lived all 7 years of their lives to see Melvin Mora play baseball, and Peter G. Angelos would be damned if he was going to deprive an innocent child of his dream.
After all, it’s why Brian Roberts was not traded during the offseason. It’s why Jay Gibbons was signed to an extension. It’s why Melvin Mora was given a no-trade clause. And it’s why Miguel Tejada will probably play out the remainder of his contract in an Orioles uniform, no matter how good or bad the Orioles are over that stretch.
But I digress. Spend too much time talking about the Orioles off the field and you are bound to get depressed quickly. But the Orioles could come back tonight and tomorrow, take 2 from the Red Sox and make us all forget about this disastrous Oakland series. But that A’s series planted some seeds of doubt into the heads of the fans. The O’s were finding new ways to lose again.
Will it do the same to the players? It’ll be interesting to see how the O’s respond against the powerful Red Sox, whom they beat only 3 times in 18 games last season. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see this team end up at 11-11 by Friday.
But one would just think that a team heading into a decade of losing would care more about playing hard than upsetting the egos of its players or catering to what they think fans want.
And for the record, the Orioles are 18-46 against the A’s since 2000.
Monday, April 23, 2007
O's on a roll...
So the O's just swept the Blue Jays in a 3 game series at home for the first time since 1994. That almost makes you forget that the O's did exactly what we all knew they would, and sent down Jon Knott when Jay Payton came off the DL.
Not that losing Knott hurt the O's this weekend, but it could hurt them in the future.
Teams battling for first place, even in April, can't have benches consisting of Chris Gomez, Freddie Bynum, and one of Paul Bako or Alberto Castillo. Yes, getting Jay Payton back will mean that either he, Jay Gibbons or Kevin Millar will also be on the bench on any given night, but imagine what this bench could do:
Payton/Gibbons/Millar
Knott
Gomez
Bako/Castillo (when Ramon comes back one of them will be gone)
That looks pretty good to me. And with the pitching match-ups the O's will have over the next week, the O's are going to need every extra run they can muster.
OK, enough about Knott. There is plenty else to be excited about.
1. The pitching. While the starting pitching has been good, the bullpen has been excellent. The starters are keeping us in games that our offense can squeak out late in the game (like Friday night) when our bullpen takes over. The starters do need to go deeper into games, but with our bullpen, and the amount of pitchers we have in it, taking the starters out a batter or two earlier than normal might not be such a bad thing.
2. The offense. They seem to be a bit more patient, although they are not the Boston Red Sox quite yet. They've made pitchers work and are being more selective in the past. Let's just hope that keeps up when we face Haren, Schilling and Beckett later this week. Nick Markakis is turning into a clutch player right before our eyes. He was huge the entire weekend.
3. Chemistry. The team is never letting themselves get down, allowing them to always be in the game. Win or lose, they've been in almost every game they've played and with this bullpen, that is going to translate into wins.
After 2005, I'm still going to be worried about the bottom falling out, but at least this team has a good foundation of pitching going for it, which is something the 2005 team never had. Our starters are coming into their own and our bullpen is on shutdown mode.
Let's see if it holds up.
Not that losing Knott hurt the O's this weekend, but it could hurt them in the future.
Teams battling for first place, even in April, can't have benches consisting of Chris Gomez, Freddie Bynum, and one of Paul Bako or Alberto Castillo. Yes, getting Jay Payton back will mean that either he, Jay Gibbons or Kevin Millar will also be on the bench on any given night, but imagine what this bench could do:
Payton/Gibbons/Millar
Knott
Gomez
Bako/Castillo (when Ramon comes back one of them will be gone)
That looks pretty good to me. And with the pitching match-ups the O's will have over the next week, the O's are going to need every extra run they can muster.
OK, enough about Knott. There is plenty else to be excited about.
1. The pitching. While the starting pitching has been good, the bullpen has been excellent. The starters are keeping us in games that our offense can squeak out late in the game (like Friday night) when our bullpen takes over. The starters do need to go deeper into games, but with our bullpen, and the amount of pitchers we have in it, taking the starters out a batter or two earlier than normal might not be such a bad thing.
2. The offense. They seem to be a bit more patient, although they are not the Boston Red Sox quite yet. They've made pitchers work and are being more selective in the past. Let's just hope that keeps up when we face Haren, Schilling and Beckett later this week. Nick Markakis is turning into a clutch player right before our eyes. He was huge the entire weekend.
3. Chemistry. The team is never letting themselves get down, allowing them to always be in the game. Win or lose, they've been in almost every game they've played and with this bullpen, that is going to translate into wins.
After 2005, I'm still going to be worried about the bottom falling out, but at least this team has a good foundation of pitching going for it, which is something the 2005 team never had. Our starters are coming into their own and our bullpen is on shutdown mode.
Let's see if it holds up.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Getting Knott here is half the battle
Jon Knott has been huge since he was called up from AAA Norfolk earlier this week. In that time, Knott has gone 3-4 with 1 HR, 3 RBI,
3 R, and 1 BB.
Now he needs to make it past the ominous roster move that will happen when Jay Payton comes off the DL soon. And anyone familiar with the Orioles knows that Knott is in danger of being sent back down to Norfolk so Freddie Bynum can stick around in Baltimore to bunt and play the OF in the 8th and 9th inning.
Oh, the horror.
Now compare Knott's numbers to Bynum's: 3-13 with 1 HR and 4 RBI since the beginning of the season.
Essentially, Jon Knott has equalled Bynum's production in only 5 plate appearances. But this should come as no surprise. Knott's .901 OPS in the minor leagues translates into production at the MLB level, it's just uncertain how much production that will mean. But you can be absolutely certain it will mean more production than Bynum.
And with Jay Payton coming off the DL any day now, the question remains: Who will stay and who will go?
This should be a no-brainer, but come on. This is the Orioles we're talking about.
While Bynum hasn't been as awful as expected, he is still a one-dimensional light-hitting speedster, and left-handed at that. And in a line-up that has consistently struggled against LHP and already has too many LH hitters in the line-up, Bynum just doesn't fit. He's basically a faster but worse hitting version of Corey Patterson.
Jon Knott can crush LHP and in only 5 plate appearances, he's already proven that he deserves to stay over Bynum. Knott might not be Willie Mays in the OF, but he is no worse than Jay Gibbons or Kevin Millar, who have both seen playing time in LF this season.
Bynum's speed and defense will be missed, but his weak hitting will not be. It's time we improve this team against LHP, or else we'll be hard-pressed to get above .500 for the first time in 10 years.
Are you hearing this Sam?
3 R, and 1 BB.
Now he needs to make it past the ominous roster move that will happen when Jay Payton comes off the DL soon. And anyone familiar with the Orioles knows that Knott is in danger of being sent back down to Norfolk so Freddie Bynum can stick around in Baltimore to bunt and play the OF in the 8th and 9th inning.
Oh, the horror.
Now compare Knott's numbers to Bynum's: 3-13 with 1 HR and 4 RBI since the beginning of the season.
Essentially, Jon Knott has equalled Bynum's production in only 5 plate appearances. But this should come as no surprise. Knott's .901 OPS in the minor leagues translates into production at the MLB level, it's just uncertain how much production that will mean. But you can be absolutely certain it will mean more production than Bynum.
And with Jay Payton coming off the DL any day now, the question remains: Who will stay and who will go?
This should be a no-brainer, but come on. This is the Orioles we're talking about.
While Bynum hasn't been as awful as expected, he is still a one-dimensional light-hitting speedster, and left-handed at that. And in a line-up that has consistently struggled against LHP and already has too many LH hitters in the line-up, Bynum just doesn't fit. He's basically a faster but worse hitting version of Corey Patterson.
Jon Knott can crush LHP and in only 5 plate appearances, he's already proven that he deserves to stay over Bynum. Knott might not be Willie Mays in the OF, but he is no worse than Jay Gibbons or Kevin Millar, who have both seen playing time in LF this season.
Bynum's speed and defense will be missed, but his weak hitting will not be. It's time we improve this team against LHP, or else we'll be hard-pressed to get above .500 for the first time in 10 years.
Are you hearing this Sam?
Monday, April 16, 2007
Silent but deadly
That's what it's like playing the Devil Rays in Tampa Bay. You think you're gonna go down there and sweep them, at least take 2 out of 3, and then the next thing you know, the Rays are handing you your ass on your way to the airport after taking 2 out of 3 from you.
I know the Devil Rays are a perennial doormat for the rest of the league, but for the Orioles, a perennial doormat themselves as much as fans don't want to admit it, the Rays are a formidable rival. And that shouldn't change anytime soon.
The Rays are finally reaping the benefits of finishing in last place for 9 straight seasons. They used their many first round draft picks to stock their farm system and it's finally paying off. They've got a young and speedy offense that should give Alberto Castillo and Paul Bako fits on the base path this series. It's still unclear whether Ramon Hernandez will play at all this series.
The Rays are still trying to find the young pitching to go along with their hitting, but as long as they throw a couple of LHP's against the O's, they should do pretty well, and the Rays have LHP's in Casey Fossum and Scott Kazmir going in the series, which doesn't bode well for the O's.
On top of that, Rays always play the O's tough, at least in their own backyard. They're like a Venus fly trap, slowly closing around its prey. The crowd noise (or lack of) lulls the O's to sleep. And when the O's are leading in a 3-1 or 3-2 game, suddenly other shoe drops and then BAM! -- they've lost the game.
Thankfully, the Rays no longer have Aubrey Huff and the O's no longer have Jorge Julio, who routinely served up meatballs for Huff to drill over the fence in the 9th inning for a win. Huff is now an Oriole, although O's fans may not want to admit it. Huff is struggling to find his groove and currently has a .707 OPS. But if there ever was a time for Huff to heat up, it's in his old stomping grounds.
The O's are also said be calling up RH OF John Knott for the series, but it's still unclear whether it will be Knott, who deserves to start against all LHP, or another scrubby speedster like Adam Stern or Ruddy Yan, who can run, but not much else.
If I weren't an Oriole fan, it would almost be comical, to sit back and watch as O's fans prepare to pad their record against the lowly Devil Rays in Tampa Bay, only to be surprised when the Rays have stolen 2 games from them in a 3 game series.
But it's not funny. In fact, it's downright pathetic. The Rays have routinely been the worst team in baseball since they entered the league in 1998, topping out at only 70 wins.
But then reality sets in.
While the Rays have been dreadful, so have the O's. And it appears that the Rays have found their rival, although the O's, and their fans, don't want to admit it.
I know the Devil Rays are a perennial doormat for the rest of the league, but for the Orioles, a perennial doormat themselves as much as fans don't want to admit it, the Rays are a formidable rival. And that shouldn't change anytime soon.
The Rays are finally reaping the benefits of finishing in last place for 9 straight seasons. They used their many first round draft picks to stock their farm system and it's finally paying off. They've got a young and speedy offense that should give Alberto Castillo and Paul Bako fits on the base path this series. It's still unclear whether Ramon Hernandez will play at all this series.
The Rays are still trying to find the young pitching to go along with their hitting, but as long as they throw a couple of LHP's against the O's, they should do pretty well, and the Rays have LHP's in Casey Fossum and Scott Kazmir going in the series, which doesn't bode well for the O's.
On top of that, Rays always play the O's tough, at least in their own backyard. They're like a Venus fly trap, slowly closing around its prey. The crowd noise (or lack of) lulls the O's to sleep. And when the O's are leading in a 3-1 or 3-2 game, suddenly other shoe drops and then BAM! -- they've lost the game.
Thankfully, the Rays no longer have Aubrey Huff and the O's no longer have Jorge Julio, who routinely served up meatballs for Huff to drill over the fence in the 9th inning for a win. Huff is now an Oriole, although O's fans may not want to admit it. Huff is struggling to find his groove and currently has a .707 OPS. But if there ever was a time for Huff to heat up, it's in his old stomping grounds.
The O's are also said be calling up RH OF John Knott for the series, but it's still unclear whether it will be Knott, who deserves to start against all LHP, or another scrubby speedster like Adam Stern or Ruddy Yan, who can run, but not much else.
If I weren't an Oriole fan, it would almost be comical, to sit back and watch as O's fans prepare to pad their record against the lowly Devil Rays in Tampa Bay, only to be surprised when the Rays have stolen 2 games from them in a 3 game series.
But it's not funny. In fact, it's downright pathetic. The Rays have routinely been the worst team in baseball since they entered the league in 1998, topping out at only 70 wins.
But then reality sets in.
While the Rays have been dreadful, so have the O's. And it appears that the Rays have found their rival, although the O's, and their fans, don't want to admit it.
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