The Loss Column — Baltimore Sports Blog and Community

First thing: Jamie Walker has been sent to the DL, and Adam Loewen is up to take his place — in the bullpen.

Second: if you missed it (AooR mentioned it in the comments), the O’s have a great promotion running this Sunday. Called “We Win, You Win,” the deal is this that if you buy a ticket for Sunday’s game and the Orioles manage to win, you’ll get a free ticket to any non-prime game left in the season. It’s pretty brilliant, actually. Stay tuned on this one because I might have something for you later in the week.

As for tonight, the less-bad-than-I-expected Kansas City Royals are in town for the start of a four game set. Brian Burres is scheduled to start against Zach Greinke.

Nick Markakis owns Greinke — he’s 1-1 with a homer. Not much else to report other than 3-4 should be very doable here.

In last week’s third installment of the Bmore SMARs, ESPN 1300’s Anita Marks limped around the bases to an impressive 86% “nay” rating (which could change slightly in the next couple of hours before the poll closes). At first I was shocked that the comments on her poll weren’t more active, but I suppose there are only so many ways to say “she’s not that good.”

This week we shift gears to focus on a far more interesting subject: Jim Palmer himself.

Jim Palmer the player was the undisputed man. 3 Cy Youngs, 6 all-star appearances, 4 gold gloves, 2 ERA titles, and he led the American League in victories three times. Indeed, one could make an argument that he’s the greatest player ever to don the black and orange. If he’s not, he’s close.

But our focus here is on Jim Palmer the broadcaster. He’s currently an Orioles color analyst for MASN, and he has been a team broadcaster in some form for 15 seasons. He has also worked for ABC, most notably during the late eighties as part of a team with Al Michaels and Tim McCarver.

Jim’s reputation is as a smart, insightful commentator who isn’t afraid to speak the truth. That’s how I think of him, anyway. I’ve heard folks in the past describe him as a little too smart, in a way that some have derided as arrogant.

Time to settle it once and for all. Cast your “yea” or “nay” vote for Jim in the poll below, then join the discussion in the comments. As always, keep it clean etc etc.

It’s Sunday and as we all know that means the Orioles have no chance at a victory. Just for the hell of it, though, here’s an open thread. It’ll be Quality Start Guthrie against Jason Bergmann.

Fun fact ‘o the day: the Orioles averaged over five runs/game in June.

I’m on record against the whole idea of a DC-Baltimore rivalry. So, for me, the idea of a “Battle of the Beltway” sounds like fun more than anything else. I like the fact that we have a National League team just 45 mins to the south. Spice of life and all.

That said, I of course expect and demand an Orioles sweep every time the two teams play. The quest begins tonight as the DC Cab himself takes on Odalis Perez.

Fun fact: the O’s have reached 40 wins in June for just the second time in the past ten seasons. The last time it happened was in the fabled first half of ‘05. Make of that what you will.

The MLB trade deadline is just over a month away. Between now and then we’re going to find wild speculation nearly inescapable. Indeed, it’s already underway. Pretty much every time I tune in baseball talk on the radio, the topic of which Orioles to trade or not trade is at least mentioned.

At the beginning of the year most of us — I’m guessing — figured on the O’s being ten or fifteen games under .500 and in active “sell” mode by the deadline. I suppose that might still happen, but for purposes of this post I’m going to assume that we’re still hovering around .500. And if we are, the question of what to do becomes way more interesting.

While this is the Lost Season, winning is good. Real good. If we have a realistic shot at posting a winning season then there is no reason to screw with it. Progress is progress and there’s no sense in ignoring it just because it came “too soon” or didn’t take the exact form we thought it would take.

Every offer, then, has to be evaluated not only on the potential return, but also on the potential impact to the team as presently constituted. That’s a problem we didn’t expect to have, but it’s a hell of a thing.

What kind of message would it send to Markakis and Jones and Wieters and Arrieta — and all of our prospects — if AndyMac busted up a good thing because it’s happening too soon?

What we’re trying to do is establish a winning culture that will put us in a position of strength for the next ten years. You don’t do that by short-circuiting a chance at a good thing. If, of course, it’s a realistic chance. I’m well aware that a lot can change in the next five weeks.

That all said, here’s how I see it today.

Huff, Payton, and Sherrill all figure to have value. Of these three, the one I’d be most reluctant to move is Sherrill. He’s more valuable here than what we’d realistically get in return. Plus, he’s FlatBrim.

Roberts will likewise have value, but he’s an Oriole and we need to focus on keeping it that way.

I’m sure we’d all be fine with moving Ramon or Walker or Bradford, but who’s going to want them?

And as far as the DC Cab, he needs to stay because, dammit, we’ve suffered with him for so long that it’d be criminal to let him find his way with another team.

Ultimately it comes down to trusting MacPhail, of course. But it’s important to keep the notion of progress in mind. This team looks like it has a chance to do something special (defined here as “not suck”) and I’d be real, real hesitant to ruin it.

Unless…

Interesting tidbit: the Orioles are a staggering 19-7 in the first games of a series this year. This might seem like a small thing, but I actually think it goes a long way to explaining the surprising start. By getting out ahead of their opponents so often, they create momentum and lessen the need to go on streaks. These are the kinds of things that happen when you focus — as Trembley and the team do — on fundamental principles of success. It bodes very, very well for the future.

That all said, I’m not terribly optimistic about these next two. Brian Burres goes tonight against Ted Lilly, while Radhames Liz throws tomorrow against Jason Marquis (2:20 pm start).

Burres has gone off the rails, and Liz might never get there in the first place. Both clearly have talent, but they are huge question marks every time. Not the guys you want out there against the best team in the majors.

That said, I’ll repeat what I said with the Ungers last night: the Cubs have never seen these dudes before, and odds are one of them will surprise. Whether that’s enough to steal a game remains to be seen, but I expect a rebound of some kind.

Also, for those that missed it in the comments: George Sherrill as Hellboy, courtesy of Tomas/Kona. Awesome.

ed. note: this is the latest in an occasional series of columns by Ryan Boddy on something near and dear to the hearts of many sports fans — beer.

Summer being here, most brewers have entered reverse hibernation, estivation if you will. Most brew clubs don’t convene for “big brews” after May, and any beer that gets brewed tends to be of the lighter variety, in both color and richness.

Let’s face it; few people are interested in slugging down a robust porter in 95 degree heat with the humidity level hovering somewhere between steam bath and pressure cooker. We want beach beers, baseball beers, and back porch BBQ beers. We want beer that is refreshing, and that can be consumed in bulk without winding up passed out behind the push-mower.

Typically, this means light lagers like Pilseners, and American Light lagers. There are plenty of these beers commercially available, which is a good thing for the beginning or intermediate homebrewer because brewing them requires substantial refrigeration. Unless you live in Alaska or the Southern Hemisphere this time of the year, this entails modifying a refrigerator to include precise temperature control and the removal of racks to accommodate fermenters and kegs; obviously not something every brew dood is up for.

But there are other options besides lagers.

(more…)

At 48-28, the Chicago Cubs are the best team in baseball. At 38-36, the Orioles are arguably the most surprising. So while this isn’t exactly a clash of the titans it is, at least, an interesting matchup. Tonight it takes the form of Jeremy “Quality Start” Guthrie opposite lefty Sean Marshall. Game on.

Guthrie has only ever faced 4 Cubs: Blanco (2 for 2), Cedeno (1 for 1), DeRosa (1 for 1), and Ramirez (0 for 2). Only one Oriole has ever faced Marshall, and that (weirdly enough) is Lance Cormier, who’s 0 for 1 with a BB. On the whole I think that gives the O’s a slight advantage in this one.

The Orioles, as we all know, were terrible in interleague play (79-114) before this year. So far, though, they’ve put up a relatively impressive 8-4 mark. I’m thinking that anything other than getting swept will be A-OK for this series.

Note: don’t forget that tonight is radio night for me, as I join the Fighting Ungers from 6:30 (or maybe a little earlier) until 8. Tune in to 1570 AM or go to wnst.net and click on “listen live” (it’s buried at the top near the logo).

Tonight’s a special appearance, too, because I’m bringing my own bumper music. Fugazi, Nation of Ulysses, the National, the Strokes, Secret Machines…should be fun.