Typical NY Yankees Self-Aggrandizing

Joe Girardi is "upset" and "frustrated" that Jorge Posada was plunked by Jeremy Guthrie with the first pitch of the second inning yesterday. See here.

What a joke.

Both Posada and Girardi admit they don't think it was purposeful (and why would it have been?). But Girardi claims Guts "hits lots of people," and "[wishes] he had better command."

For the record:
Guthrie 2009: 9 Hit batsmen in 200 IP, 2.7 BB/9
CC Sabathia 2009: 9 Hit batsmen in 230 IP, 2.6 BB/9
Joba Chamberlain 2009: 12 hit batsmen in 157 IP (league leader), 4.3 BB/9
AJ Burnett 2009: 10 hit batsmen in 207 IP, 4.2 BB/9

Think Joe has a problem with his guys "pitching inside?" Think Joe has a problem with CC intimidating batters?

The Yankees always feel that they should be treated to a different standard - by opposing teams, by umpires, by the league. Their star player has no respect for anyone else and only thinks of himself as he's shown many times. Read A-Roid story here.

Bottom line is this: Girardi should apologize for his comments about Guthrie.

Another Reason the Yankees Win, the-e-e-e Yankees Win

Through 9 innings tonight, the Yankees 5-9 batters (Cano, Posada/Cervelli, Granderson, Swisher, Gardner) were 11-for-24 with 5 runs scored, 4 RBI, 1 3B, 1 HR and 2 2-out RBI.

That lineup has no real holes. Curtis Granderson, who bats 7th or 8th often, hit 30 HR last year. Nick Swisher, batting 8th tonight, hit 29 last year. You get through Jeter, Teixeira and A-Rod, and you still have proven Major League hitters with which to deal.

The O's, on the other hand, have one player who even hit 20 dingers last year (Luke Scott with 25).

Meanwhile, Nick Markakis is on pace for 8 HR now after his first HR of the year ... beats the pace he had coming into the game.

Luke Turns the Tide

Some game tonight.

Two-out hits, clutch relief pitching, good baserunning, some good small-ball. And then of course it almost all falls apart on yet another hard to believe error by Cesar Izturis. (Even the game-ending groundout by A-Roid was almost flipped away by Lugo. And was surprised to see Rodriguez first-pitch swinging.)

But there were plenty of stars tonight.

Rhyne Hughes continues to get huge hits and look good at first. I think Trembley would be crazy to sit him tomorrow night, even against the lefty Sabathia. Go with the hot hand. This kid seems to be sparking the offense.

Izturis finally showed some life with the stick, with 3 ribbies.

Reimold had a big hit.

Wiggy found his way on base a bunch of times and scored the go-ahead run.

Lugo stole a big base and advanced to third on Posada's errant throw, eventually scoring the much-needed 5th run.

Castillo continued to look fantastic, JJ was back to himself in his more comfortable 8th (although he still doesn't look the same), and Simon was electric in the closer's role on his first day back in the bigs.

But I'd like to be the first (I think) to bring up the fact that Luke Scott had a tremendous at bat in the 6th inning. He was down 0-2 in the count and worked a tough walk off of Logan who was brought in to face him. Seemed trivial at the time with two outs, but then the gates opened up and the O's scored three times for the 4-2 lead.

I think that Scott's walk was the turning point in the game. It would have been quite easy for Luke, who's now batting .217, to be swinging for the fences - down by one run and trying to protect the plate.

Give him credit where it's due on a night of many heroes.

Another Millwood No-Hitter in the Offing?

On this date in 2003, Kevin Millwood (of the Philadelphia Phillies) threw a no-hitter against the S.F. Giants.

Millwood will be opposed tonight by Phil Hughes, who had his no-hitter broken up in the 8th inning of his last start against Oakland.

In fact, throughout baseball history, April 27th leads (actually is tied with two other dates) all dates in no-hitters thrown with six.

Notably, Tom Phoebus of the Baltimore Orioles threw one of them in 1968 vs. the Boston Red Sox.

It has been almost 19 years since the last (and 5th) no-hitter in Baltimore history, thrown by Bob Milacki (who was taken out in the 7th after being hit by a line-drive), Mike Flanagan (a starter at the time), Mark Williamson and the great Gregg Olson. At the time, it tied a record for most pitchers used in a no-hitter.

Only three franchises have no no-no's in their history. Tampa Bay (only in the league since '98), San Diego ('69), and the New York Mets (1962). The Mets have played over 7700 games without a no-hitter.

Baby Steps

Greg Calcaterra of "Hardball Talk" on NBC Sports has the Orioles ranked 29th in his recent power rankings, ahead of another perennial loser, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

(1) That's reason enough for me to celebrate. The O's are out of last in someone's opinion.

(2) How Calcaterra ranks a 3-16 team ahead of a 7-11 team is beyond me, even if the Pirates did lose a three-game set to the Brewers last week by a combined score of 36-1 (including an ugly 20-0 loss).  Fact is, they have more than twice the wins the O's do.

(3) Can this be a sign of things to come? Dare we dream? Ranked 28th by June? You never know.

Anyone Want this Job?

Perhaps Dave Trembley lengthened his stay with the O's with the nail-biter win over the Sox yesterday. Maybe the front office ain't gonna stick a new manager in front of 9 more games with the Yankees (6 games) and the Red Sox (3 more), but you've gotta believe Trembley is on a very short leash. I mean, in a season that was supposed to be about "wins and losses," how do you keep a guy that's managed his way to 3 wins and has certainly managed his way to 16 losses?

But here's the thing. Who would take this job? Who wants to get tagged with a potential 100-loss season?

Obviously guys with no experience would be happy to have the job, a la Rick Dempsey, or any of the league's bench coaches.

But if they'd want to hire a bigger name, would they even accept the job?

That could be what has influenced the club to sit tight with Trembley through this miserable start to the 2010 season.

But things might have been much different.

I still think that had Angelos opened the purse a lot wider, Girardi would be the manager here. The O's offered 3 million/3 years. Should have been more like 9 million over 3 years.

And don't believe Girardi was sitting and waiting for Steinbrenner to call.

The lesson here - and with other lost "free agents" is that when you have this much failure, you need to overpay for the real talent. (See Guerrero, Vlad and Teixeira, Mark.)

A Look at Some Former O's and How They're Faring

It's always interesting to see how these guys do after they leave the organization.

Here are some selected players and their stats through yesterday:

(A tip of the cap to Jeff Zrebiec on the idea.)


Kris Benson: (ARIZONA 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER

Russ Ortiz: (LA DODGERS) 0-1, 10.29 ERA, 7 IP, 10 H, 8 ER

Rodrigo Lopez: (ARIZONA) 1-0, 3.50 ERA, 18 IP, 24 H, 7 ER. (Looks pretty good, but he has a dreadful 1.667 WHIP)

Brian Burres: (PITTSBURGH) 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 8 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 1.875 WHIP (Actually not far off his career number of 1.685!)

Luis Hernandez: (NY METS MINOR LEAGUE AFFIL.) 46 AB, .304 AVG, 1 HR, 1 SB, 3 CS, 5 BB, 5K

That's just some recent players who popped out to me - here are some others from Jeff's posting earlier today, focusing on the "memorable" O's of 2009:

Hitters

Aubrey Huff (S.F. Giants): .268 avg., 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 11 runs, 7 BBs
Chad Moeller (Scranton/W.B., Yankees’ Triple-A): .182 avg. (2-for-11), 0 HR, 0 RBIs, 1 BB, 3 K
Melvin Mora (Colorado Rockies): .273 avg. (6-for-22), 0 HRs, 2 RBIs
Oscar Salazar (San Diego Padres): .000 avg. (0-for-10), 1 run, 1 BB
Gregg Zaun (Milwaukee Brewers): .133 avg. (6-for-45) 0 HRs, 2 RBIs, 2 BBs

Pitchers

Danys Baez (Philadelphia Phillies): 0-1, 6.35 ERA (5 2/3 IP), 4 ER, 4 hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks
Brian Bass (Indy, Pirates’ Triple-A): 0-1, 4.05 ERA (13 1/3 IP), 6 ER, 15 hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks
Sean Henn (Las Vegas, Blue Jays’ Triple-A): 1-0, 0.00 ERA (7 2/3 IP), 5 hits, 6 BBs, 7 Ks
Rich Hill (Memphis, Cards’ Triple-A): 1-1, 4.08 ERA (17 2/3 IP), 8 ER, 14 hits, 13 BBs, 15 Ks
Radhames Liz (Portland, Padres’ Triple-A): 2-0, 2.57 ERA (14 IP), 4 ER, 10 hits, 6 BBs, 22 Ks
John Parrish (Kansas City Royals): 1-1, 1.50 (6 IP), 1 ER, 3 hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks
Chris Ray (Texas Rangers): 0-0, 3.00 ERA (6 IP), 2 ER, 4 hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks
George Sherrill (L.A. Dodgers): 0-1, 10.13 ERA (5 1/3 IP), 6 ERs, 7 hits, 9 BBs, 4 Ks
Chris Waters (Nash., Brewers’ Triple-A): 2-0, 3.78 ERA (16 2/3 IP), 7 ERs, 15 hits, 5 BB, 14 Ks

Amazing some of these guys still have careers ...

Why Darnell? Why Tonight?

At the start of the evening last night, one small thing an O's fan could take solace in was the fact that the smug fans of the Boston Red Sox had to look at the standings, too, and see their beloved team sitting at 4-9. I happened to glance at the scores at some point last night to see the Sox losing once again, 6-4 in the 8th inning to the Texas Rangers. Maybe I'm a small man, but that made me feel a little better.

You can imagine how much it pained me, as I'm sitting there watching another O's lifeless defeat, to see that the Red Sox came back to win the game, 7-6.

Then to learn how they did it was yet another dagger in a painful season.

Darnell McDonald, former 1st round pick of the Orioles in 1997, and one of many busts for the organization over the last 20 years (Beau Hale, Mike Paradis, Chris Smith, Richard Stahl, Mark Smith, and the list goes on and on ...), tied the game with a pinch-hit 2-run-HR in the bottom of the 8th and then won the game with a single off the Green Monster in the bottom of the 9th.

Now, I'm under no impression that this is a case of the O's giving up too soon on a guy. Far from it. They obviously made a mistake even drafting the guy. (This is his 6th club over the course of an almost non-existent career.)

But to see the also struggling Sox get an emotional walk-off win spurred not once, but twice, by another example of why the Orioles organization has been a disaster for oh-so-many-years is yet another indignity suffered. All while watching a passionless, emotionless, apathetic Orioles club meekly lose again.

We get Boston Red Sox cast-off Julio Lugo not running out ground balls.

They get game-saving heroics from Darnell McDonald.

And who thought things couldn't get worse?

Now pitching for the New York Yankees, Adam Loewen ...

That's an 0-for-3 for Bergy

Brad Bergesen's 2010 totals:

3 Starts

10.1 Innings Pitched

21 Hits

20 Runs

14 Earned Runs

6 BB

5 K

4 HR

1 Trip to the Minors??

Unfortunately for Bergy, he's been the recipient of some bad defense, most notably Ty Wigginton's botched double play ball in the 3rd inning tonight with one down and the bases jammed. As we all know, that only counts as one error, but the inning should have been over with the O's down 1-0. Instead, as "luck" would have it for the 2010 O's, things ballooned and before you knew it, 7-0 Seattle. Hey, what do you expect when you have all kinds of players out of their natural positions?

Berken's looked great again out of the pen and has done a great job in what is becoming the role of Bergy's mop-up man. I'm sure it will be tempting to replace Bergesen with Berken in the rotation, but why tinker with success? Some guys are just suited for the bullpen (see Hendrickson, Mark).


Meanwhile, who knows what to make of Brad Bergesen. The guy who was the Orioles most consistently good pitcher in 2009 and was such a pleasant surprise is seeing his star sinking fast. I'll ask again ... is he possibly still harboring a shoulder injury from the infamous off-season commercial shoot?

Philadelphia: The City Of Thuggerly Love

It never ceases to amaze me how low the sports fans of Philadelphia can get. On one hand, you've gotta admire their passion. On the other, it's reviling. The city that is known for booing Santa Claus off the field at an Eagles game in 1968, pelting JD Drew with D batteries, trying to run their legendary quarterback (McNabb) out of town, and worst of all, cheering wildly as Dallas Cowboys wide receiver lay motionless on the field after landing awkwardly on his head, and cheering even more wildly as he was carted off the field on a stretcher, can add one more revolting incident to its list.

This past week, a man named Matthew Clemmens, of neighboring Cherry Hill, NJ, induced himself to vomit on an off-duty police officer, Capt. Michael Vangelo, and his 11-year-old daughter. As the officer was shielding his daughter, Clemmens punched Vangelo in the face. Vangelo had been sitting with his daughters in front of Clemmens and a friend while the pair were acting loud, cursing, spitting and being obscene. Vangelo complained to an usher and Clemmens' friend was ejected from the building, leading to the incident.

With all the stories surrounding the recent disinterest in attending games at Orioles Park at Camden Yards, you've gotta wonder what's  worse. Apathy or thuggery?

On a related note, Orioles baseball continues to make fans vomit in involuntary fashion.

Ripken Manipulating the Media?

There's been much ado about reports that Orioles' despised principle owner, Peter Angelos has rebuffed local legend Cal Ripken, Jr.'s attempts to rejoin the organization in a front office capacity or perhaps mentoring the team's young talent.

Ken Rosenthal wrote here yesterday that he had three sources saying Angelos "did not want Ripken to receive credit once the team returned to prominence."

Question #1

Would Angelos be that delusional to seriously think the Orioles will ever return to prominence?

Today, Angelos dispelled any notion of truthfulness to this story, saying Ripken did not make this offer and that it would be foolish to think Cal Ripken would ever want to accept a job of secondary importance when he could be a GM anywhere. Read the story here.

Question #2

How could Ken Rosenthal have three sources telling him something so inaccurate? Someone's obviously lying.

Ripken has been unavailable for comment today. Interesting.

Question #3

Would Cal Ripken's presence even be good for this team?

Last time I checked, Cal was part of some pretty bad teams himself, particularly toward the end of his career, and became known as a prima donna of sorts, often traveling and staying alone, apart from his teammates. And perhaps the Michael Jordan experiment in Washington running the basketball operations has soured me on retired divas. Either way, Cal is as best just a bump to enhance PR. He was no "teacher" when he played for the team, showed no interest for some years now being involved with the team, and this seems like a weird time to want to rejoin this organization.

This new story is either another terrible PR failure for Angelos, or perhaps Cal's working the media and the city into a frenzy to build up continued support for his supposed quest to own the Baltimore Orioles.

I'm guessing it's the latter. Angelos would have to be a complete moron on TWO fronts to turn Ripken down in this capacity. (1) It's great PR for the team to have Cal involved mentoring younger players (and God knows how bad this organization needs any boost to its image), and (2) Would Angelos really allow the firestorm that's sure to rain down on him for rebuffing one of Baltimore's sacred sons? Remember, Angelos is a lawyer. And he's no moron, say what you will.

Now, you should know, I'm no Angelos fan. Quite the opposite. I curse the man for running some of my favorites out of town, as I've mentioned in other posts, starting with one Davey Johnson. But this is clearly something else.

Phil Garner Waiting in the Wings?

There's talk of Phil Garner being a possible candidate for the soon-to-be vacant Baltimore Orioles managerial position. Here's why I like the idea:

Garner's nickname as a player was "Scrap Iron." One thing the O's have lacked over the last several years ... hell, maybe the last 25 years ... has been grit. Think of any recent roster and who stands out in your mind as a gritty player? Eric Byrnes, maybe?

Orioles players, for the longest time have seemed lackadaisical, almost passive about the game. Some of the biggest O's stars in recent years have been known for being quieter or have "led by example," starting with the biggest star of all, Cal Ripken, Jr. Even now, players such as Nick Markakis or Kevin Millwood or Brian Roberts are not "kick in the pants" style leaders. That might work when there's a winning tradition and a team is full of vets that have "been there before."

But the Orioles seriously need someone to ignite them. Dave Trembley, for all his positives ... or for any positives ... is not that kind of manager. The last fire-breathing manager here was the legendary (in my eyes) Davey Johnson (who as you can imagine would be my choice to bring back, if just to remove the curse hanging over this organization since Peter Angelos ran him outta town in 1997). And guess what? Who was the last manager to have success in Baltimore?

Davey Johnson.

Now, clearly, Davey Johnson had a different type of roster with which to deal, but his style worked on a team that needed it. I contend that this team needs it even more so.

Garner was known as manager of the Brewers for an aggressive, running style that led his team to a successful record that year. He later took over for Jimy Williams in Houston mid-season (so he's no stranger to the mid-season start) and turned the team around.

Garner has experience, just enough fire (but probably not too much that will get him entangled with Angelos) and the "grit" necessary to potentially light a fire under this organization.

The last 3 managers - Trembley, Perlozzo and Mazzilli have all had no experience and were all generally easy-going (and certainly likeable) guys who were long-time "baseball men." Angelos should have learned by now that this route won't work for this team. Granted, it's never about the manager solely, and probably in the most extreme of circumstances the manager might only make a 5-10 game difference, but that might be the difference between a 70-win and 90-win season.

Regardless, at this point, Trembley's days seem numbered.

What's up with Bergy?

Is it possible Bergesen never really healed from the freak injury that occurred this past winter while filming a spot for the Orioles (seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCxxd8MVwTA) ? He apparently injured the capsule in his throwing shoulder, one of the all-time weirdest injuries.

He looked OK in the spring, but a closer look at the numbers reveals he was still getting hit pretty hard without his normal control. In 19 innings this spring, he allowed 4 HR and walked 9. In 123 innings last year, he allowed only 11 HR and walked 32.

Ratios:

2009 Regular Season:

1 HR every 11.18 innings

1 BB every 3.84 innings

2010 Spring:

1 HR every 4.75 innings

1 BB every 2.11 innings

This is not including his 2010 regular season, where he has looked completely hittable and has allowed 15 hits and 3 walks while giving up 3 HR in only 7 2/3 innings.

Will we soon get another "sudden" injury from a supposed important part of the 2010 Baltimore Orioles roster? This follows Brian Roberts' herniated disc that never was ok, and Michael Gonzales' apparently sudden shoulder injury, which according to everyone who saw him throw this spring is an injury he had from the get-go.

I think O's fans all have a collective pie in our face right now.

12 Plus Years Cumulatively

The O's record since Davey Johnson was fired:

856-1095 = 0.439 winning percentage

In other words, to give themselves a .500 record since 1997, they'd need to win 239 straight games.

Or, another way of looking at it is they'd need to finish 101-61 for the next SIX years.

Or 91-71 (a fine record) for TWELVE straight seasons (the same number of losing seasons in a row).

Time to bring back Davey?

One Thing That's Been Missing Thus Far

Well, the O's are rounding out the rest of the options as losing goes. One thing they still hadn't done was get blown out. It's now 9-1 Rays in the 8th. Which begs the question - would you have felt worse had they lost another one-run game or would you rather see them lose 9-1? Personally, I think it's better for the psyche to not see the wheels fall off the wagon in the late innings yet again. Plus the added bonus of a day game means the blood pressure doesn't get all worked up right before bedtime. And who doesn't love daytime baseball?

The Morning After

So after a night stewing over the latest, most recent O's disaster, I feel no better. Hard to feel better about this mess with the news I just read on Pete Schmuck's blog http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/schmuck/2010/04/is_gonzalez_hurt.html about Michael Gonzalez now being hurt. Just another dagger.

And I honestly don't care about this because it is such a loss to the team (which theoretically it is when you lose your closer), but because it's just another disastrous free-agent signing that really made no sense to begin with. Gonzo was 10-17 in save situations last year, which is terrible (I believe Jim Johnson was 10-16, I'd have to look that up, and by all accounts was not cut out for the closer role), and yet the O's go and give THIS guy $12 million and the keys to the 9th inning. Was he hurt when he was signed? Seems like something was going on, since as Schmuck pointed out on numerous occasions he seemed to be pitching hurt from day one of spring training.

It's just the continual stories like this that have dogged Baltimore for so many years now. For every small success through free agency or via a trade, you have massive failures in the draft, in free agency and even when signing our own to extensions (which I'm worried might happen with Brian Roberts).

And It Still Gets Worse ...

Wow. Who woulda thunk a 3-0 masterpiece in the 8th would descend to that mess? Gotta feel bad for the O's right now. And particularly for Matusz, who pitched a hell of a game. Couple cheap singles (one probably misplayed by Wiggy and the other a pop fly single) and the wheels come off. Should DT have gone to the bullpen right then? It's easy to say that now, but the bottom line is this ... this bullpen really stinks. I don't blame Trembley for (a) letting Matusz try to get out of it - guy's gotta learn somewhere and his pitch count was still low and (b) not relying on a bullpen that can't get anyone out. How tantalizing was it that Johnson came in and got the huge 2nd out only to blow it?

Things don't look great right now, but 2 silver linings in a season that desperately needs something positive:

1. Matusz didn't get stuck with a loss he didn't deserve.

2. Can it get any worse? It's got to get better.

Sad there's no Lefty Closer

Albers is pitching to Carlos Pena with 2 on and none out. For those of you that don't know, Pena is a lefty. Michael Gonzales is a lefty. Too bad he's been exiled from the closer's role. Still thought DT would go to him in this position.

St. Luke

Luke Scott may have just saved the city from burning tonight. OK, maybe the fans aren't THAT passionate, but that was a hell of an at-bar for a pinch-hit. Trembley may get credit in the press for that, but had he not made the move of pinch-hitting Scott for Izturis, he should've been fired by the end of the inning.

Hate the ERA rules

Isn't it a crime that Will Ohman comes in, gives up a single, double and then gets a groundout to end the inning, allows his inherited runners to score and comes out with his 0.00 ERA intact? What a joke. Another stat should be more widely used that incorporates inherited runners scored into ERAs.

Incredible Meltdown

In almost unbelievable fashion, the O's have yet again totally unraveled. Maybe Wiggy's 'un-play' on that grounder was the decisive factor that turned things? But did anyone not see this coming once Matusz was taken out?

And the season get's even more painful ...

Anything short of a tremendous come-from-behind performance will have this city enraged.

Miracle Matt/Matusz

Matusz has been unbelievable tonight. Two hits through 7 (one of them a perfect bunt by Ben Zobrist). 7 K's, only one walk. Even after a 1-6 start, that's GOTTA give the tired O's fan some hope.

Additionally, love Trembley's decision (don't think I've ever said that before) to putt Matt Wieters in the 4-slot. Guy's probably the best hitter with the most potential pop on the team. I like him even 3rd since he's a switch-hitter, but I'll take it.

Orioles 1-6 Start

Well, my first ever blog post. As a former college newspaper editor, I'm surprised it took me this long. Well, anyway, some thoughts on the O's disastrous 1-6 start:

We all know Gonzo's 2 blown saves (and close 3rd) are a big reason the team's record stands at 1-6, but seriously, how nice would Teixeira have looked in the 4-hole instead of Miggy? The lack of a big bat is something that will clearly need to change in the next couple of years if this team will ever have a chance. Maybe Wieters is said big bat? Could be.

Either way, at least you've got to be happy how Matusz and Hernandez have thrown thus far. Honestly, who cares about Millwood. He's just a stopgap guy to eat up innings. Doesn't seem to be the type of guy that wants to teach youngsters, but I'm just basing that on the few interviews I've seen with the guy. Still it's a lot nicer seeing him out there rather than other "vets" the O's have brought in, e.g. Steve Traschel. Bergy will be fine too. Additionally, it's great to see Guthrie at least looking like a version of himself prior to 2009.

You must believe this team is not as bad as its 1-6 record looks. I'm still thinking dem O's will muster up enough energy/talent to win 75-80 games this year. I'm sure everyone in town right now is thinking 100+ losses yet again, but it's SEVEN games. If the team were 3-4, everyone would be pretty blah, not in this great state of panic.

I think the most troubling thing about the organization right now is how it still continues to treat the fans. Why raise ticket prices at all when you've lost for 12 straight seasons? Even slightly? Why charge a premium for walk-up fans? Why take so many years to put "Baltimore" on the road jerseys? We all know the answers to these questions, but there's a reason the announced paid attendance last night (a comfortable night against a good team) was just above 9,200, the lowest figure in Camden Yards history. That's the response of a city that's tired and possibly even worse - apathetic.

Let's hear your thoughts ...