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?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
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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