The Loss Column — Baltimore Sports Blog and Community

I got an email a week or so ago from a fellow named Sean, who works for Da Capo Press. Sean wanted to see if I’d be interested in checking out a copy of the Baseball Field Guide, to which I naturally responded with “absolutely.” He dropped it in the mail, it arrived today.

Originally I figured I’d take a look and maybe mention it in the comments or as a tack-on to the next Open Thread. Now that I’ve seen it, though, it deserves a post of its own.

Essentially, the Guide is the baseball rulebook. But saying that doesn’t really do it justice. Authors Dan Formosa and Paul Hamburger have taken what should be rather dense and tedious material — useful for reference only — and turned it into something enjoyable to read in its own right.

Utilizing crisp typography (FF Din, I believe) and a wealth of gorgeous infographics — all anchored to a strong, grid-based layout — they’ve taken the rules and made them engaging and surprisingly satisfying.

The end result is the kind of book I love to have around, one I can just pick up anytime, open to a random page, and enjoy for a few minutes. But that doesn’t mean it’s somehow watered down — it isn’t. The level of detail is frightening, and I’ve already learned (then quickly forgotten) quite a bit.

My only complaint is that it refers to the “league presidents” several times. In fact, Bud Selig removed the league presidents in 1999 and consolidated decision-making power in the Commissioner’s office.

That’s a small quibble, though, because overall the book is quite satisfying. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending that you pick up a copy for yourself.

Which is a relief, for sure, because if the book had sucked I would have felt really bad telling Sean that I wasn’t going to mention it.

In case you missed it, a little bit of “news” came out of Ravens camp over the weekend. I’ll let David Ginsburg at the AP tell the story:

Nearly all 85 players in camp were involved in a squabble Saturday that began when offensive tackle Oniel Cousins and defensive tackle Amon Gordon threw punches after running back Allen Patrick was taken down hard on a burst up the middle. All the players surged toward the middle of the field, and it was nearly two minutes before peace was restored.

Later during practice, which was held indoors because of rain, defensive backs Corey Ivy and Frank Walker came to blows during a blocking drill.

My first reaction to this was, “here they go again.” Maybe the clubhouse problems weren’t all Brian Billick’s fault after all? But after thinking about it a little more, I think this might actually be a good thing. For a team with as much to prove as the Ravens this year it’s probably a net positive for them to be showing this much passion this early. There’s something to be said for forging an identity through fire.

John Harbaugh had better be careful, though. Real careful.

Hard to believe but it’s been almost a year since the Mother’s Day Massacre — the game that cost Sam Perlozzo his job.

Now that we’ve had some time to reflect, though, it was also the game that indirectly kickstarted our much-needed rebuilding process, ushering in the Andy MacPhail era and giving birth to the Lost Season. Had the Orioles not blown that five-run, ninth inning lead then who knows where we’d be? Maybe Sam keeps his job, maybe 30-3 never happens, maybe MacPhail never mounts his white horse.

So…maybe that game was a good thing. Maybe, one year on, that game was the best thing that could have happened to the Baltimore Orioles. It works that way sometimes.

Let’s just hope it never, ever happens again.

Meanwhile, the O’s go for the four game sweep of the Royals today, with Brian Burres taking the hill against Brian Bannister. Should the Birds pull it out, they’ll have gone 5-5 on the second leg of their mammoth road trip and will sit at 20-18. Even a loss means 19-19, which is .500 at the conclusion of the epic run.

Not bad, eh? I don’t care if the record is padded by the likes of the Royals and M’s. We all said .500 after this road trip would be just fine by us and, damn it, it is.

A win today? That much better.

We couldn’t buy a three-run homer to start the season, but we got another one today courtesy of Kevin Millar in the first. It came off Brett Tomko, who’s opposing Garrett Olson. Floor’s open…

Sad as it may be, Steve Trachsel has a very important job to do. The Orioles, having just snapped their losing streak, are 2-5 on the current road trip. Three games remain this weekend against the Royals before they return home to face Boston.

So tonight’s a must-win? Not exactly, but we can hardly afford to backslide. We have to take three of four from Kansas City. It has to start tonight.

Lucky for us, we’ve beaten KC ten straight times, the first team we’ve done that against since Detroit in 96-97.

Stat of the night that will surprise nobody: in 17 wins, the O’s have scored 5.8 runs per game. In 18 losses? 2.4 runs per game.

Thanks for putting up with the lack of front-page posts for the past couple of days. You guys make the site what it is — no ifs/ands/buts. Much appreciated.

Tonight’s game was as big as any game against the Royals in early May could possibly be. The fact that we rode the DC Cab to a complete game, 4-1 victory would be sweet on any night. The fact that it happened when we needed it most — in order to avert a six-game losing streak, which I count as a meltdown — is just…unspeakably awesome.

Could it be the Bynum Effect?

“I can do anything and everything you want to do on a baseball field,” Bynum said. “If you want me to run the catcher over, I can run him over. If you want me to drop-kick somebody, I’ll drop-kick them. I am ready. I am ready to play ball.”

Quotes like that make me all tingly, and I can’t help but think that an infusion of that kind of attitude might have been just what this team needed. What’s more, DT says that Freddie is the starter, and that’s that. Torres is back from whence he came, and Luis will slot into the utility role for which he’s probably not yet ready.

That’s Trembley showing his team two extremely important things: leadership, and the ability to be firm but fair.

To put this all another way, today was proof that we’re not watching last year’s team. Wins and losses aside, this group — from AndyMac down — is doing things a better way. If that keeps up all season then we will have much to celebrate, indeed.

Bring on game two…

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

More west coast night baseball on tap tonight as the O’s seek to end a three-game skid on the back of Brian Burres. Standing in their way is Justin Duchsherer, who’s 1-0 with a 2.87 in his career against the Birds.

So this is our first chance to dip below .500, and I’m not digging it. Let’s be clear about how we got here. Our hitting isn’t just below average, it’s well below our own already low expectations. Roberts at .266? Millar at .210? Ramon at — can this even be real? — .189??

Preposterous.

I think it’s time we had the Terry Crowley conversation. The one that’s been overdue for, I don’t know, five years or so.

***
I’m not sure I’m going to have a chance to put up another post before the 3:35 start on Wednesday, so this’ll be an open thread for that as well. That one will feature Jeremy “Quality Start” Guthrie against Joe Blanton.

In fact, I’m kind of unsure whether or not I’ll have a chance to post anything — save for maybe some comments — before Thursday night. If that happens, please keep the conversation going here through the first Kansas City game (scheduled for now as Daniel Cabrera vs. Luke Hochevar).

Thanks, folks.

The good news: Steve Trachsel just pitched so it’s at least four more games until we see him again.

The bad news: all three pitchers the A’s are sending up have ERAs under 4.

Tonight, we’ll send Garrett Olson up against Dana Eveland, who struggled in his last start. Vive l’O’s!