The NFL Draft is over and of course there is much to be said about the whole damn thing. As expected of the 2 local teams, the Ravens look to have done alright while the Redskins look like they just don't get it.
Redskins - LaRon Landry looks to be a great player. He seems to have a great attitude to go along with his physical skills. His brother is also Dawan Landry from the Ravens, so he will have a good idea of what to expect coming into the League. But this pick really wasn't necessary at all. The Skins already have 5 safeties on the roster after trading Adam Archuletta. Do you really need to go 3 deep at each safety spot? And although Landry has better athleticism than Archuletta does, especially comparing their ages, he seems to be in the same mold of a player as Taylor and Archuletta. He is a headhunter. He loves to hit. We saw what happened last season when you play 2 safeties who love to get up and make plays but can't seem to get back into coverage adequately. Maybe Landry can cover deep and make plays near the line, but he will be forced to do that with the Redskins defense as it is right now.
The rest of the 'Skins picks were on the second day. Not much high impact probability, but a great chance to add depth to a team that desperately needs it. With their 4 picks the team took 2 LBs, a QB, and a TE. I understand taking 2 LBs. It is a position with starters filled in, but injuries happen and you need depth as well as special teamers on a roster. The TE and QB choice just don't fit what this team needs. Gibbs loves his TEs. He can't get enough of the friggin' H-Back type of guys on his team, and this seems like a pick made to appease the offense after giving Gregg Williams his choice to get Landry. The QB choice is the worst though. This team already has 3 QBs on the roster. Jordan Palmer might be a decent late round pick, but not for this team.
The Skins biggest problem on their roster was the D-line. The team only had 19 sacks in 16 games last year. That is atrocious. How do they justify drafting a 4th quarterback who won't see any game time even if he makes the team, while not trying to find somebody to help their D-line. Maybe the 'Skins made all the right moves, but I don't see it that way right now. I'm frustrated as a fan, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Ravens - Now on to the draft kings. The Ravens seem to always draft contributors to their team. While their 2007 draft looks boring without any big names besides Troy Smith, it looks like they did a solid job of filling needs on an already talented team.
Ben Grubbs was supposedly the best guard in the draft. Although the Ravens drafted 29th, they got maybe one of the best players in the draft, because OG is such an underappreciated position. With Edwin Mulitalo cut by the team this offseason, drafting an impact guard seems to be a smart move. They also added more depth to the O-line with their 3rd round choice of Marshall Yanda.
Yamon Figurs was their other 3rd round choice. While I know nothing about him, I heard he had the fastest time at the draft, so that isn't that bad.
The Ravens other choice were a FB(a position needing depth), 2 OLBs(good choices to help counter the loss of Adalius Thomas), and Troy Smith at QB(good pick for Ravens with only 2 QBs on roster last season).
So the Ravens addressed their needs. With a talented roster coming back, the depth at critical positions will be great for this team. Although there aren't any highlight reel players like Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, or Todd Heap in this draft class, it looks like it can still be a great success.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Losing Streak
Have the Orioles coming crashing down to Earth this early? It seems the Orioles are always raising hopes early in the spring, only to crumble as the season goes on. Just last Sunday the Orioles were 11-7. 4 games over .500 and even ESPN was praising the birds on Baseball Tonight. Well 4 days later the O's are back to 11-11 and 3.5 games out of 1st. What is the lesson from all of this? Baseball is too long of a season to pay any mind to the standings until after the All Star break. Remember how the O's led the AL East into June of 2004. Palmeiro was chasing 3,000 and the O's were winning. It felt like '97 again for a few months. Than the ship sank. The Orioles started losing...Palmeiro tested positive for an illegal supplement, Roberts got injured, and the Orioles lost a whole lot more. That will be remembered as an awful year for the O's, but early on it looked great.
Remember that year when you judge the current team at this point in the season. I still check the scores every day to see if the Orioles win or lose, but their record won't matter for another couple of months.
Quick Pros and Cons from the most recent game.
Pro - Adam Loewen has a 3.20 era. Other teams have a lot of difficulty scoring off of him.
Con - Loewen is walking a ton of guys. He isn't letting those guys score, but it knocks him out of the game way too early.
Pro - Ramon Hernandez - Dude had a good debut with 2 hits and a walk. The O's finally played a game with their full contingent of players tonight.
Con - Chris Ray - Only been scored on twice this year, but both times were Grand Slams that blew a save and lost a game for the O's. To AL East rivals no less.
Wizards Note...They can't hang with the Cavs. Should be a lot of seats available at the Phone Booth.
Nats Note...Tied for the worst record in the league with KC. Atleast the stadium project seems to be coming along nicely.
Draft Note...Mel Kiper and other experts predict the 'Skins will take LaRon Landry from LSU. I think the Redskins need more help on the D-line than in the secondary. Okoye from Louisville is amazing. Just 19 years old and already graduated college. Not only is he a sick player, but he seems to be an even more incredible person. The type of person you want on your team. Not much excitement for the Skins after that first pick.
I don't know where the Ravens will go with their picks, but Ozzie Newsome never screws up the draft. Baltimore always finds impact players on draft day...no worries there.
Remember that year when you judge the current team at this point in the season. I still check the scores every day to see if the Orioles win or lose, but their record won't matter for another couple of months.
Quick Pros and Cons from the most recent game.
Pro - Adam Loewen has a 3.20 era. Other teams have a lot of difficulty scoring off of him.
Con - Loewen is walking a ton of guys. He isn't letting those guys score, but it knocks him out of the game way too early.
Pro - Ramon Hernandez - Dude had a good debut with 2 hits and a walk. The O's finally played a game with their full contingent of players tonight.
Con - Chris Ray - Only been scored on twice this year, but both times were Grand Slams that blew a save and lost a game for the O's. To AL East rivals no less.
Wizards Note...They can't hang with the Cavs. Should be a lot of seats available at the Phone Booth.
Nats Note...Tied for the worst record in the league with KC. Atleast the stadium project seems to be coming along nicely.
Draft Note...Mel Kiper and other experts predict the 'Skins will take LaRon Landry from LSU. I think the Redskins need more help on the D-line than in the secondary. Okoye from Louisville is amazing. Just 19 years old and already graduated college. Not only is he a sick player, but he seems to be an even more incredible person. The type of person you want on your team. Not much excitement for the Skins after that first pick.
I don't know where the Ravens will go with their picks, but Ozzie Newsome never screws up the draft. Baltimore always finds impact players on draft day...no worries there.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Wizards down 1-0 and the Orioles lose
So the Orioles have been tearing things up lately. That is always a good thing for this lifelong O's fan. Not only are the O's in 2nd place in the AL East, and third in the AL, but they have done it against 3 out of the 4 playoff teams from last year, NY, Min, and Detroit. This weekend they just swept the Blue Jays who were the 2nd place team in the AL East last year. While I expect the O's to beat the Royals and D-Rays, they have also done exceptionally against some great teams if you ignore their first series against the Twins.
Today was a promising game with Erik Bedard on the mound. He looked great through the first three innings. However, after pitching a perfect game through the first third of the game, he stunk in the 4th. The A's scored 5 of their 6 runs in that inning. Dan Haren is a tough pitcher, so I was pretty frustrated thinking that the O's were going to stop their win streak at 4 games. During my frustration I took a break to grill some chicken for dinner with my wife. After a good meal I cam back to the TV to see the O's still down 5-1. However, a big homerun by Aubrey Huff put them back in the game going into the ninth.
Nick Swisher's homerun in the top of the ninth proved to be a big pain in the ass. The difference between one run and two was enough for the O's to lose this game. The 9th started out well with Payton drawing a walk and continuing his hot start in his second game of the year. Corey Patterson's double to put runners at first and third with no outs seemed to atleast guarantee an extra inning game. However, the O's made 2 dumb mistakes. First Corey Patterson hesitates on the basepaths and is held up at third after a Brian Roberts single. Last time I checked Nick Swisher isn't really known for his arm, so its a shame that Patterson actually headed back towards 2nd before breaking for third. The fastest guy on your team should score from 2nd on a hit to CF.
Things were still good for the O's at this point though. They had 1 out but a runner on 3rd with their best RBI guy coming up. Melvin Mora has been great at producing runs this year, but he made some sort of mistake when he bunted the ball back to the pitcher and kept Patterson at 3rd, instead of working the count for a walk or a sac fly. After a Markakis intentional walk it all came down to Miguel Tejada. He took a good swing in his at bat, but unfortunately the ball headed right towards Mark Ellis at 2nd base. Ball game over.
The good news from tonight is that the Red Sox and Yankees both lost. The O's didn't lose ground in the AL East, and are still safe in 2nd for a few more days atleast. I hope the O's have a good outing against some kid for Oakland making his Major League debut. It will also be exciting to see what Jeremy Guthrie can do in his first start for the Orioles.
Quickly...on to the Wizards. I watched bits and pieces of their opening playoff game. It was hard to stay tuned with how the game was going. Cleveland doesn't strike me as a dominating team, but the Wizards are not the same team they were a month ago. They stunk...as expected. Cleveland can afford to F around, and still win this series easily. I expect the Cavs to struggle in their next series, because I don't think they are being tested by the Wizards.
Today was a promising game with Erik Bedard on the mound. He looked great through the first three innings. However, after pitching a perfect game through the first third of the game, he stunk in the 4th. The A's scored 5 of their 6 runs in that inning. Dan Haren is a tough pitcher, so I was pretty frustrated thinking that the O's were going to stop their win streak at 4 games. During my frustration I took a break to grill some chicken for dinner with my wife. After a good meal I cam back to the TV to see the O's still down 5-1. However, a big homerun by Aubrey Huff put them back in the game going into the ninth.
Nick Swisher's homerun in the top of the ninth proved to be a big pain in the ass. The difference between one run and two was enough for the O's to lose this game. The 9th started out well with Payton drawing a walk and continuing his hot start in his second game of the year. Corey Patterson's double to put runners at first and third with no outs seemed to atleast guarantee an extra inning game. However, the O's made 2 dumb mistakes. First Corey Patterson hesitates on the basepaths and is held up at third after a Brian Roberts single. Last time I checked Nick Swisher isn't really known for his arm, so its a shame that Patterson actually headed back towards 2nd before breaking for third. The fastest guy on your team should score from 2nd on a hit to CF.
Things were still good for the O's at this point though. They had 1 out but a runner on 3rd with their best RBI guy coming up. Melvin Mora has been great at producing runs this year, but he made some sort of mistake when he bunted the ball back to the pitcher and kept Patterson at 3rd, instead of working the count for a walk or a sac fly. After a Markakis intentional walk it all came down to Miguel Tejada. He took a good swing in his at bat, but unfortunately the ball headed right towards Mark Ellis at 2nd base. Ball game over.
The good news from tonight is that the Red Sox and Yankees both lost. The O's didn't lose ground in the AL East, and are still safe in 2nd for a few more days atleast. I hope the O's have a good outing against some kid for Oakland making his Major League debut. It will also be exciting to see what Jeremy Guthrie can do in his first start for the Orioles.
Quickly...on to the Wizards. I watched bits and pieces of their opening playoff game. It was hard to stay tuned with how the game was going. Cleveland doesn't strike me as a dominating team, but the Wizards are not the same team they were a month ago. They stunk...as expected. Cleveland can afford to F around, and still win this series easily. I expect the Cavs to struggle in their next series, because I don't think they are being tested by the Wizards.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
4/12/07
Alright...the O's and Nats won games on the same night. How often do you think that will happen this season. Especially when both teams only score 2 runs each. The Nats are amazingly bad so far, and the Orioles are currently in 4th place in the AL East...that sounds familiar.
Jaret Wright lasted all of 2 starts before hurting himself. Atleast he has a better track record of health than Mark Prior.
Meanwhile the Wizards clinched a playoff spot last night on a night when they lose their sixth game in a row. Talk about backing into the playoffs. Has there ever been a team with less excitement over a playoff berth than the '07 Wizards. Would anybody in their right mind put money on this team right now?
Jaret Wright lasted all of 2 starts before hurting himself. Atleast he has a better track record of health than Mark Prior.
Meanwhile the Wizards clinched a playoff spot last night on a night when they lose their sixth game in a row. Talk about backing into the playoffs. Has there ever been a team with less excitement over a playoff berth than the '07 Wizards. Would anybody in their right mind put money on this team right now?
Monday, April 9, 2007
Orioles Winning!
Nationals Update...They have yet to lead going into an at bat this season!
Their only win came on a walk off hit, and they have not led at any other time this season. Remember how bad the Tigers were several years ago. The Nationals might be ten times worse!
On to the Orioles...It was a very exciting weekend watching them play baseball. If not for a very forgetable 2 innings on Saturday they would be ahead in the win column right now.
After their disastrous series in Minnesota, the Orioles got things going in NY. Loewen, Bedard, and Trachsel were excellent, which is huge for the Orioles. Offensively the O's also got great production by scoring 6,7, and 6 runs over the weekend. While winning 2 at Yankee Stadium certainly is exciting, the loss on Saturday was like a kick to the nuts.
After a poor spring training, it was a great feeling to see Steve Trachsel shut down the Yanks going into the 7th inning. With 7 runs on the board against Igawa, it really seemed like the O's had the Yanks on this day. All they had to do was send it to their revamped 2007 bullpen for the win. I couldn't believe the way they lost.
The Yanks truly didn't beat the Orioles. Thats what pissed me off. Walking two batters and letting Jason Giambi hit a 3 run homerun was ridiculous. Danyz Baez had to friggin' pitch to Abreu and Rodriguez. I'd rather give up a solo homerun to one of them than walk them and set up Giambi for a 3 run shot.
Chris Ray was no better in the 9th. He got 2 outs and looked to be on the way to another save. The hit to Cano is understandable...The guy is a good hitter. Walking Jeter is stupid...make him put the ball in play! And hitting Abreu was awful as well. Now up comes the 25 million dollar man, and he steals a win from the O's and gives the whole NY fan base an orgasm as they realized he finally came through in the clutch. Ok...ARod won the game for the Yanks. But the O's never should have let him hit in that situation. The game should have long been over.
Following that game I felt awful. My wife the Yankees fan had to rub it in after I was giving her crap all day. My sister in law called about a minute later, and her cousin's boyfriend had to comment about it at Easter dinner on Sunday. I saw a kid in an Orioles hat later on Saturday and it drove me into a quick depression.
Thankfully the O's have come back over the last 2 days to help me forget about ARod debacle. Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera both looked like the players O's fans expect them to be. If Cabrera can manage to pitch without giving up walks like he did today, he will be just plain silly.
Kevin Millar also woke up and hit a couple of homeruns in that many days. I'm happy about him contributing in some way, but I'm not sure what to make of his Ray Lewis impersonation.
Their only win came on a walk off hit, and they have not led at any other time this season. Remember how bad the Tigers were several years ago. The Nationals might be ten times worse!
On to the Orioles...It was a very exciting weekend watching them play baseball. If not for a very forgetable 2 innings on Saturday they would be ahead in the win column right now.
After their disastrous series in Minnesota, the Orioles got things going in NY. Loewen, Bedard, and Trachsel were excellent, which is huge for the Orioles. Offensively the O's also got great production by scoring 6,7, and 6 runs over the weekend. While winning 2 at Yankee Stadium certainly is exciting, the loss on Saturday was like a kick to the nuts.
After a poor spring training, it was a great feeling to see Steve Trachsel shut down the Yanks going into the 7th inning. With 7 runs on the board against Igawa, it really seemed like the O's had the Yanks on this day. All they had to do was send it to their revamped 2007 bullpen for the win. I couldn't believe the way they lost.
The Yanks truly didn't beat the Orioles. Thats what pissed me off. Walking two batters and letting Jason Giambi hit a 3 run homerun was ridiculous. Danyz Baez had to friggin' pitch to Abreu and Rodriguez. I'd rather give up a solo homerun to one of them than walk them and set up Giambi for a 3 run shot.
Chris Ray was no better in the 9th. He got 2 outs and looked to be on the way to another save. The hit to Cano is understandable...The guy is a good hitter. Walking Jeter is stupid...make him put the ball in play! And hitting Abreu was awful as well. Now up comes the 25 million dollar man, and he steals a win from the O's and gives the whole NY fan base an orgasm as they realized he finally came through in the clutch. Ok...ARod won the game for the Yanks. But the O's never should have let him hit in that situation. The game should have long been over.
Following that game I felt awful. My wife the Yankees fan had to rub it in after I was giving her crap all day. My sister in law called about a minute later, and her cousin's boyfriend had to comment about it at Easter dinner on Sunday. I saw a kid in an Orioles hat later on Saturday and it drove me into a quick depression.
Thankfully the O's have come back over the last 2 days to help me forget about ARod debacle. Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera both looked like the players O's fans expect them to be. If Cabrera can manage to pitch without giving up walks like he did today, he will be just plain silly.
Kevin Millar also woke up and hit a couple of homeruns in that many days. I'm happy about him contributing in some way, but I'm not sure what to make of his Ray Lewis impersonation.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Curse of the Wizards
It has become apparent that the Washington Wizards are not just an awful franchise, but they have been cursed for the last 25 years. When the curse was placed on the franchise, its originator played the cruelest of tricks. Not only were the Wizards made eternally awful, but they were allowed a 2 and a half year period of hope before everything was dramatically pulled away. How else can you explain the events surrounding the Wizards in the last week?
The Bullets/Wizards have been an awful team as long as I've lived. It was always so hard to get behind them because they just didn't win a lot of games. They also never had any marketable stars in the area. Good players never seemed to last long in DC, and being a fan of the team was tough. Then a couple of years ago the Wizards started making good moves. First it was Gilbert Arenas, a rising star who had yet to enter his prime, then Antawn Jamison, a proven scorer, and finally Caron Butler, an aggressive slasher who is also an offensive force.
Not only did this team continue to get better over the last few years, but they were fun to watch. Sure...they didn't play great defense and didn't have a quality big man. But this is the Eastern Conference!!! They don't need those things. Winning the Southeastern division and having home court and a good matchup are what fans want to see. We don't expect a Championship team yet, but we were making progress towards that type of team.
Now the Wizards are a playoff team again for the third year in a row. They were battling the Heat for their divison lead, and things were looking well. DC fans finally think they have a great team, but then the curse's twist kicks in. Caron Butler break his hand. DAGGER! ok... we can live with that...it will be hard but the Wizards can succeed. DAGGER!!! Gilbert Arenas tears his meniscus.
Crap! The Wizards just lost their two best players with just a few weeks before the playoffs start. Antawn Jamison is still a good player, but he can't create his own shot like Caron and Gilbert. He doesn't play as well on his own as the other 2 guys would. The Wizards lost the 2 most important pieces on their team, and will struggle the rest of the way. Can anybody else remember another team losing their 2 best players this late in a playoff year? Its so bizarre to see that happen in a sport where most injuries leave a guy out for just a few games. This isn't football, where season ending injuries are more common.
I'll still be rooting for the Wizards to win, just like always. However, my hopes have vanished. I don't see the team being competitive in the playoffs, and its already time to start looking towards next year.
This truly must be a curse.
The Bullets/Wizards have been an awful team as long as I've lived. It was always so hard to get behind them because they just didn't win a lot of games. They also never had any marketable stars in the area. Good players never seemed to last long in DC, and being a fan of the team was tough. Then a couple of years ago the Wizards started making good moves. First it was Gilbert Arenas, a rising star who had yet to enter his prime, then Antawn Jamison, a proven scorer, and finally Caron Butler, an aggressive slasher who is also an offensive force.
Not only did this team continue to get better over the last few years, but they were fun to watch. Sure...they didn't play great defense and didn't have a quality big man. But this is the Eastern Conference!!! They don't need those things. Winning the Southeastern division and having home court and a good matchup are what fans want to see. We don't expect a Championship team yet, but we were making progress towards that type of team.
Now the Wizards are a playoff team again for the third year in a row. They were battling the Heat for their divison lead, and things were looking well. DC fans finally think they have a great team, but then the curse's twist kicks in. Caron Butler break his hand. DAGGER! ok... we can live with that...it will be hard but the Wizards can succeed. DAGGER!!! Gilbert Arenas tears his meniscus.
Crap! The Wizards just lost their two best players with just a few weeks before the playoffs start. Antawn Jamison is still a good player, but he can't create his own shot like Caron and Gilbert. He doesn't play as well on his own as the other 2 guys would. The Wizards lost the 2 most important pieces on their team, and will struggle the rest of the way. Can anybody else remember another team losing their 2 best players this late in a playoff year? Its so bizarre to see that happen in a sport where most injuries leave a guy out for just a few games. This isn't football, where season ending injuries are more common.
I'll still be rooting for the Wizards to win, just like always. However, my hopes have vanished. I don't see the team being competitive in the playoffs, and its already time to start looking towards next year.
This truly must be a curse.
Orioles Suck!
Wow...What a disappointing first series for the Orioles. I wasn't expecting perfection from the O's coming out of Minnesota, but a single win would have been nice. However, its not just the losses that are frustrating, but how they have lost.
The O's weren't shut out in any game, but only scored 8 runs in 3 games. The Orioles team batting average through 3 games is .192. The team is below the Mendoza line to start the season! Thats awful. Less then 3 runs a game won't win a lot of games.
The bright spots seem to be Miguel Tejada and Aubrey Huff. Thats a great sign to have your 4 and 5 hitters knocking the crap out of the ball. Next step for the O's would be getting their 1-3 players on the bases. I have faith that this will happen, but it doesn't look good to go into the weekend against the Yankees without any positive results so far.
My comments on some other Orioles.
Kevin Millar - 0-8 to start the year after just 3 hits in Spring Training. 2 games without a hit is nothing to worry about, but after such an awful spring it is hard to ignore Kevin Millar's production. I wonder how long he will be allowed to struggle before the Orioles make a change.
Chris Gomez - Gomez should be the O's starting first baseman with Millar struggling. Do people forget that Gomez hit .341 last year. Of course he had less than 200 at bats, but the bottom line was that he was productive when he was on the field. He also hit .279 and .282 in 2004 and 2005, so he has handled the bat well as he has gone later into his career. How about rewarding a guy that does things well, instead of marking Millar's spot in ink just because he made headlines in Boston several years ago.
Daniel Cabrera - Great start to the season on Tuesday. I know the criticism is coming in that he let the Twins steal at will, and that he still throws too many balls. However, he should be winning games when holding a team like the Twins to 3 runs. I will be very satisfied if he can give the O's 7 innings with 3 or 4 runs all year long.
Jaret Wright - I know the Orioles didn't give up much to acquire him, so you can't blame management too much for this decision. However, its frustrating to know that this guy can't go more than 6 innings max. Most likely he will be a 4 or 5 inning guy, and I don't know how long that can last on this team. Like Millar he is in his spot because of his name and not because of his recent performance. His 5.79 era in the spring is pathetic and shouldn't have earned him a spot in the rotation. Hopefully Hayden Penn will be in this spot before too long.
The O's weren't shut out in any game, but only scored 8 runs in 3 games. The Orioles team batting average through 3 games is .192. The team is below the Mendoza line to start the season! Thats awful. Less then 3 runs a game won't win a lot of games.
The bright spots seem to be Miguel Tejada and Aubrey Huff. Thats a great sign to have your 4 and 5 hitters knocking the crap out of the ball. Next step for the O's would be getting their 1-3 players on the bases. I have faith that this will happen, but it doesn't look good to go into the weekend against the Yankees without any positive results so far.
My comments on some other Orioles.
Kevin Millar - 0-8 to start the year after just 3 hits in Spring Training. 2 games without a hit is nothing to worry about, but after such an awful spring it is hard to ignore Kevin Millar's production. I wonder how long he will be allowed to struggle before the Orioles make a change.
Chris Gomez - Gomez should be the O's starting first baseman with Millar struggling. Do people forget that Gomez hit .341 last year. Of course he had less than 200 at bats, but the bottom line was that he was productive when he was on the field. He also hit .279 and .282 in 2004 and 2005, so he has handled the bat well as he has gone later into his career. How about rewarding a guy that does things well, instead of marking Millar's spot in ink just because he made headlines in Boston several years ago.
Daniel Cabrera - Great start to the season on Tuesday. I know the criticism is coming in that he let the Twins steal at will, and that he still throws too many balls. However, he should be winning games when holding a team like the Twins to 3 runs. I will be very satisfied if he can give the O's 7 innings with 3 or 4 runs all year long.
Jaret Wright - I know the Orioles didn't give up much to acquire him, so you can't blame management too much for this decision. However, its frustrating to know that this guy can't go more than 6 innings max. Most likely he will be a 4 or 5 inning guy, and I don't know how long that can last on this team. Like Millar he is in his spot because of his name and not because of his recent performance. His 5.79 era in the spring is pathetic and shouldn't have earned him a spot in the rotation. Hopefully Hayden Penn will be in this spot before too long.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Lousy Opening Day
I had a lot of excitement going in to today's Opening Day of baseball. I work 2 jobs but am lucky enough to have off for both of them today. So that meant I was able to watch baseball throughout the whole day. My wife is a big baseball fan, and was excited as well. She also gets a little excited wishing that she was at a ballpark somewhere, so she had me pick up hotdogs for lunch as the afternoon games started.
So the hotdogs were consumed as the pre game shows were ending. I went with MASN for the Nationals pre game coverage for a bit, and MASN has room for a lot of improvement. The graphics, camera work, and on-air personalities are all below par. I guess that fits well with the Nationals stadium and roster.
The highlight of the Nationals game for me was seeing the 2 F-18s flyover the stadium on TV, and then heading outside to watch them fly over head a minute later. Living right up the Anacostia River I was pretty sure I would get to see them before they headed back to the airfield they came from. After that the game really wasn't worth watching. John Patterson, who is supposed to be the only decent starter for the Nats, was awful. Dontrelle Willis, who is fun to watch just like Ken Griffey Jr. was 15 years ago, pitched well for the Marlins. Throw in some great hitting from Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera, and this game soon became boring. I'm watching the Angels-Rangers game right now, and the commentators were commenting about how they can't imagine how many games the Nats could lose. Its exciting to have baseball back in DC, but ownership better make a huge effort to build a competitive team next offseason or the effect of having a new ballpark won't last long.
With a boring game on MASN, I watched a lot more of the D-Rays - Yankees game on ESPN. I was hoping Scott Kazmir would upstage Carl Pavano, but he just didn't have it today. The Yankees starting Pavano on opening day is a joke, but they still manage to pull out a win. I've been sick of the Yankees winning ways for a long time, but they are going on 9 years as AL East Champions. The last time anybody else finished in first place was 1997 when the O's went wire to wire. That has been way too long, and it pisses me off that they are so much weaker than before yet still better than anybody else in the division.
The focus of my day though was definitely the Orioles playing the Twins at 7. I didn't have high expectations for a win with Santana on the mound, but I was hoping for an upset. 4 runs in 6 innings against Santana was a great result for the offense, but unfortunately Erik Bedard let the O's down with a turly disappointing start. I know he will get it things together and have a great year, but its a downer not to have a good result on Opening Day. One of the great things about baseball though is that there isn't a lot of time to get down. There is usually a game the next day to give you new hope, and I'm hopeful that Daniel Cabrera will have a better day tommorow night than Boof Bonser. BOOF! This guy must not take anything seriously with a name like that.
So the hotdogs were consumed as the pre game shows were ending. I went with MASN for the Nationals pre game coverage for a bit, and MASN has room for a lot of improvement. The graphics, camera work, and on-air personalities are all below par. I guess that fits well with the Nationals stadium and roster.
The highlight of the Nationals game for me was seeing the 2 F-18s flyover the stadium on TV, and then heading outside to watch them fly over head a minute later. Living right up the Anacostia River I was pretty sure I would get to see them before they headed back to the airfield they came from. After that the game really wasn't worth watching. John Patterson, who is supposed to be the only decent starter for the Nats, was awful. Dontrelle Willis, who is fun to watch just like Ken Griffey Jr. was 15 years ago, pitched well for the Marlins. Throw in some great hitting from Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera, and this game soon became boring. I'm watching the Angels-Rangers game right now, and the commentators were commenting about how they can't imagine how many games the Nats could lose. Its exciting to have baseball back in DC, but ownership better make a huge effort to build a competitive team next offseason or the effect of having a new ballpark won't last long.
With a boring game on MASN, I watched a lot more of the D-Rays - Yankees game on ESPN. I was hoping Scott Kazmir would upstage Carl Pavano, but he just didn't have it today. The Yankees starting Pavano on opening day is a joke, but they still manage to pull out a win. I've been sick of the Yankees winning ways for a long time, but they are going on 9 years as AL East Champions. The last time anybody else finished in first place was 1997 when the O's went wire to wire. That has been way too long, and it pisses me off that they are so much weaker than before yet still better than anybody else in the division.
The focus of my day though was definitely the Orioles playing the Twins at 7. I didn't have high expectations for a win with Santana on the mound, but I was hoping for an upset. 4 runs in 6 innings against Santana was a great result for the offense, but unfortunately Erik Bedard let the O's down with a turly disappointing start. I know he will get it things together and have a great year, but its a downer not to have a good result on Opening Day. One of the great things about baseball though is that there isn't a lot of time to get down. There is usually a game the next day to give you new hope, and I'm hopeful that Daniel Cabrera will have a better day tommorow night than Boof Bonser. BOOF! This guy must not take anything seriously with a name like that.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Opening Day
Opening Day is tommorow for the O's and the Nats, and its still strange to have 2 teams in the area. It will be an adjustment trying to catch the O's on MASN, but atleast the Nats will consistently be on TV now as well. I don't get the chance to make it out to the games as much as I'd like, but by following the games on TV it is possible to really get a feel for the players. I've never really gotten into the Nats yet because they were never really on TV. It will be interesting to see if people start to connect to the team a little more now that they have a good TV deal in place.
I'm not quite sure how to feel about the Orioles this season. They made some improvements since last season by adding Bradford, Williamson, Baez, and Walker to the bullpen. They also added some talent to the lineup with Jay Payton and Aubrey Huff. (Note to self...Don't name your next son Aubrey.) However, when you look at the team as a whole its hard to see them being much better than last year. Will the bullpen help really lead to more wins? Its hard to judge that.
I think the most important thing for the Orioles will be how Adam Loewen and Daniel Cabrera will perform. Each had great outings last year that really made them look like potential difference makers. However, both of them could also be counted on for some off days, especially Cabrera. I think Loewen will do very well after making his debut last year. Hopefully he got a taste of what to expect, and can be trusted to go deeper into games.
Jarret Wright and Steve Trachsel are veteran newcomers, that have looked shaky in spring training. However, I have faith that they can't do worse than Rodrigo Lopez and Bruce Chen pitched last year. Hell...if either of them wins a game he will have done better than Chen!
So...the pitching looks to have improved. Huff and Payton came in to bolster the lineup, while you didn't lose much production from last year with your core guys coming back. I think a full year of Nick Markakis in RF is extremely exciting. He could challenge Miguel Tejada as the best hitter on the club in 2007. Overall the O's should be a better team. The question in my mind is how much better can they be. Will they be a more respectable 4th place club in the AL East, or can they possibly catch NY, Boston, or Toronto? I really can't tell at this point, but I'm definitely excited for the season to get started on Monday night.
I'm not quite sure how to feel about the Orioles this season. They made some improvements since last season by adding Bradford, Williamson, Baez, and Walker to the bullpen. They also added some talent to the lineup with Jay Payton and Aubrey Huff. (Note to self...Don't name your next son Aubrey.) However, when you look at the team as a whole its hard to see them being much better than last year. Will the bullpen help really lead to more wins? Its hard to judge that.
I think the most important thing for the Orioles will be how Adam Loewen and Daniel Cabrera will perform. Each had great outings last year that really made them look like potential difference makers. However, both of them could also be counted on for some off days, especially Cabrera. I think Loewen will do very well after making his debut last year. Hopefully he got a taste of what to expect, and can be trusted to go deeper into games.
Jarret Wright and Steve Trachsel are veteran newcomers, that have looked shaky in spring training. However, I have faith that they can't do worse than Rodrigo Lopez and Bruce Chen pitched last year. Hell...if either of them wins a game he will have done better than Chen!
So...the pitching looks to have improved. Huff and Payton came in to bolster the lineup, while you didn't lose much production from last year with your core guys coming back. I think a full year of Nick Markakis in RF is extremely exciting. He could challenge Miguel Tejada as the best hitter on the club in 2007. Overall the O's should be a better team. The question in my mind is how much better can they be. Will they be a more respectable 4th place club in the AL East, or can they possibly catch NY, Boston, or Toronto? I really can't tell at this point, but I'm definitely excited for the season to get started on Monday night.
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