“The Advantage of Facing the Orioles”
Listen here, unsigned “staff” writer from bostonherald.com: I demand satisfaction!
Smoltz, of course, has the advantage of facing the Orioles, a team the Sox have dominated of late. The Sox have held the O’s to just two runs over the last three games and are 5-0 against them this season. In fact, the Sox have won their last seven games against the Orioles and 11 of their last 12.
Facing the O’s is an “advantage”? Those are fightin’ words, right? Right…?
We’ll see what Rich Hill has to say about it.
Also, you may have noticed via Camden Chat that Matt Wieters likes country and Nickelback.
I still love the kid but did he just publicly admit to liking Nickelback? That’s like giving an interview where they ask your favorite foods and you say “a lot of spaghetti and a lot of moldy fish.” I mean, have at it but probably better to keep the info in house.
But, seriously, I love the kid. It’s just…Nickelback. Damn.
I’m feeling light-hearted today. Better than light-headed.
@Andrew – Clearly they won’t finish with more than 80 wins, but I think you’re out of your mind to claim that this game doesn’t mean anything. That’s a slap to anyone who just experienced it and felt — maybe for the first time in years — just how great baseball can be.
I don’t mean that as an insult, but you need to rethink your definition (at least in this case) of what something can mean. Maybe it doesn’t materially change the fortunes of the team, but on a human level this game meant a whole hell of a lot.
What’s gonna really suck is me trying to explain how epic of a game this was to watch live to my buddies who are asleep. I know. Their fault, but still
Ok. I’m gonna try to go sleep now.
I’m still not sure this even happened.
Just wow.
The Bandwagon probably needs to be put on suicide watch.
@neal s – Yeah, I know. I mean, there are many games from the past ten years that I hold absolutely dear to me even though in the end, the whole era gets washed over with the bursh of “bad baseball”. That one time Brian Roberts walked off against Mike Stanton and the Yankees on one pitch (leading Stanton to get DFAed the next morning) in 2005 jumps out.
But there’s a hell of a lot more to saying “remember the Camden Yards Comeback? It was the worst game I ever saw, and then the best game I ever saw. And it started the avalanche that brought the Orioles out of their 12 consecutive losing seasons, and that really, really meant a LOT to the Baltimore fans” than saying “Remember the time we beat the shit out of the Red Sox to come back from down 9 runs!?”
That said, holy fuck guys – we just beat the living shit out of the Red Sox. I’m not sure my brain can really comprehend this.
This is, I guess the problem with my Computer Scientist brain. I can’t sleep, I’m literally shaking with energy after what I just saw…but I can’t stop myself from pondering the overall significance of one huge, huge comeback win.
I have never, ever once felt ashamed or sorry to be so stats oriented, but I sure do feel awkward and sorry to be such a big picture thinker right now.
Holy shit. I think my brain is going to explode, I really do.
check this video on espn.com. some things i took note of:
1) i never thought the orioles would be the highlight of the night…although we all know it’s only because its against the red sox
2) i never thought i would hear a sports center guy make mention of Natty Boh (nice work)
3) unfortunately his baltimore accent is HORRRRIBLE
*chuckle *
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290630101
I’m going to sleep now only so i can wake up and catch the rerun of the game tomorrow morning just to make sure it was all real.
Totally not even kidding.
what time is that replay?
This could be the greatest day of my life.
uh. i just woke up. what the f*@&??
Come on guys.
Julio Lugo batted leadoff.
Jeff Bailey was on 1st, with Lowell on DL.
Rocco Baldelli was in the OF.
Not to spike your coffee with piss, but you should realize and admit openly the O’s beat the Sox JV Team, with an assist from a Rain Delay.
Gotta love afternoon games though!
@Joe the Guy – Papelbon is JV? Youklis? the reigning MVP? They are in 1st place Joe the Dumbass. They are the Red Sox. Now go eat some chowda, stupid. And DON’T READ THE PAPER!!! O’S 11, RED SOX abomiNATION 10!!!
@ryan97ou – It’s on right now, and the bottom of the 7th just started.
Oh yeah…
@ryan97ou –
Scott Van Pelt is awesome.. And I think his accent is spot on if you’ve met the right people .. lol
I find my lack of faith to be most disturbing…
I CAN’T BELIEVE I WENT TO BED BEFORE THE RAIN DELAY ENDED.
EXAGGERATED CHARLIE BROWN SCREAM.
Alright, time for the Berger Cookie to be the stopper.
Take two out of three from the BoSox. That would be MIGHTY satisfying.
@Miles – Just remember, if the O’s are down AND there’s a rain delay, they’re coming back.
These birds love the rain!
I never thought I’d get over the Mother’s Day massacre. I’m over it now.
Good morning, gentlemen. What a pleasure it was reading all those comments – TLC keeps it real.
I was practicing with my band last night during the game and ran out to my car every now and then to check the score and I’d come back to the practice space in a foul mood and thinking, “Man, you just knew Smoltz would regain his form against us.”
Then it’s 10:50 and I’m driving home and it’s post Salazar home run on 105.7. With every mile, I am getting more and more excited, starting to believe a little bit more with each call from Fred. I get home in time to catch the bottom of the 8th and my girlfriend is asleep on the couch and I’m silently screaming my nuts off and fist-pumping and.. oh man, what a game.
Can’t add much more than everyone already added, but as an O’s fan, this is one of the single most glorious wins in recent memory. THE RED SOX. Completely beating us into the ground. Making fools of us in our own stadium. 0-5 on the year against them.
And then… some rain. But chasing Smoltz wouldn’t mean much with the best bullpen in the league, would it?
Ah, but the Red Sox angered the baseball gods by forgetting how many outs there were. They sealed their fate with that sin and it all went to shit after that. The Red Sox are human after all… the O’s might make baserunning blunders, but they never do that shit.
Credit to Pie for the throw and Wieters for hanging onto the ball this time – that run turned out to be a huge one.
The 9th inning was great. Sherrill sweating bullets and staring wide-eyed at the plate. Batters stepping out, George stepping off the rubber. That crazy snap pick-off move that he does.
Fuck, all you can do is bask in the glory of such a win. There’s nothing else to say. It’s an actual victory and a moral victory.
Go get ‘em, BB.
So here’s an interesting thought for you all:
When Cesar Izturis comes back, it will make the Orioles worse.
Consider Robert Andino, since Cesar went down in Oakland: .266 OBP, .333 SLG, .599 OPS, .259 wOBA
Cesar Izturis, on the year: .293 OBP, .327 SLG, .620 OPS, .265 wOBA
These are basically identical players, as they can both play good defense (they have identical fielding percentages, similar range factors, and a similar number of errors), neither can hit – 6 points in wOBA is pretty neglible, and Andino is only about 30 PA behind Izturis. Except Andino is younger than Izturis, and at least should get a little bit better with age and experience.
Why do we need – or even want – two identical all-field, no-hit shortstops? We’ve seen Wigginton hilariously filling in in a pinch at short, and he hasn’t blown any games (yet), and there’s no way you’re using either Izturis or Andino off the bench in a pinch-hitting situation. The only way both get into the same game is if you pinch hit for the starter with, say, Wigginton (the only pinch hitter when Salazar gets sent back down) and then the other goes in as a defensive replacement.
Ugh. Instead we’ll lose a pinch hitting option from the bench in Salazar, because frankly there aren’t any other options except to DFA Izturis.
Also, Defining Moment, anyone?
You guys are missing the bigger picture here…Brim threw the baseball at Youkilis and hit him with it.
This win is nice and all but it’s just one more meaningless notch in the futile fight for .500
Causing pain (and god willing) possible injury to one of the biggest douchebags on the planet is reason for tears of jubilation.
@Andrew – Yeah I brought this up about a week ago, I think, mostly in regards to Salazar. Salazar is such an asset to this team because he can actually pinch hit with success. And after last night, you know MacPhail is racking his brain trying to figure out how to keep this guy on the roster. Barring a trade, it can’t happen. Using Wigginton as a backup SS can work, and it would get him extra ABs as well, which he needs. Having an extra right handed bat with pop in Salazar is also good considering our record against lefties.
It’s going to be real interesting, provided the O’s aren’t just resigned to waiving Salazar. But what other options are there?
OK, so I was there last night. Hands down the most magical sporting event I have ever been to in person. Some notes:
- The innings before the rain delay were probably the worst I have ever seen live at an O’s game. Hill was infuriating. Slow between pitches, teasing around the edges of the plate, throwing little league batting practice strikes (when in that rare instance he threw a strike). And the O’s hitters just looked dazed. Swinging at anything and grounding out or popping up meekly. Jones went out on that HR to center by Youkilis. Then Pie came in and kind of began the whole magical night by driving in a run with a line shot double. Pie was kind of a hero on the night actually.
Throughout this time, Sox fans were just in jolly celebration mode and it was basically pure torture.
-Then came the rain delay. Tons of O’s fans left, of course, as it was 9-1, but plenty stayed. My whole group came from out of town (except me and few others) so we were all staying no matter what. So then the fifth and sixth innings went by with no hope, no change. Then came the seventh. The absolute key to the inning, obviously, was Salazar’s pinch-hit homer, which was really totally unexpected. That began a weird, abrupt vibe change where everyone suddenly began to suspect the O’s might actually be able to come back in this game.
-The top of the eighth was also critical. Two outs, two men on, and a single to center. Pie charges and unleashes a perfect one-hop laser to home plate to nail the runner. A totally necessary play to preserve any hope of winning this.
-Then the totally magical bottom of the eighth. A series of completely clutch hits where you just knew the hitters would come through. I’ve never seen a situation like that where everyone knew, even against quality pitchers, that each and every hitter would come through. Huge at-bats by Wieters and Roberts in particular. Then Pie comes up with another chance to be a true hero and gets totally overmatched by Papelbon. It’s down to Markakis. First pitch, I believe, drilled to left center. Honestly, I was shaking. One of the most amazing sports moments I’ve ever witnessed live, easily. Just insane.
- Then of course the top of the ninth, Sherrill doing his regular tightrope walk but ultimately getting it done. Nail-biting.
I know it was just a regular season game in a losing season, but I cannot tell you how incredible an experience that game was. It had literally everything. Every reason why I love baseball and why it’s like no other sport, right there on display. Magic.
@Chris – I’m glad that when the Orioles become good, it won’t be a team full of douchebags like Boston.
I mean…Youkilis, Pedroia, Papelbon, Beckett… I know I’m forgetting someone.
@dan the man – Actually I feel like the Red Sox have gotten staid quickly.
Also, com’on. If any of those guys were Orioles you would think they were awesome and shit.
I’ll give you Papelbon, though. Guy sweats douchebaggery.
@Andrew – Dead on re: Andino/Izturis.
I’d rather move Izturis via trade (if possible, even if only for a PTBNL) and leave Salazar on the bench.
Andino was a keen pickup by Andy Mac. Cost us nothing (with apologies to any Hayden Penn fans on the board). He’s young enough to improve, providing the same production as the higher-priced and much older Izturis.
Oscar Salazar would make a lovely modern-day Kenny Singleton, wouldn’t he?
@Miles – Eh. It’s not like I’m a big believer in Andino or Salazar. Neither of them can smell the jocks of guys like Singleton. They are what they are – an all-field, no-hit shortstop (which isn’t very valuable) and a bench guy with some pop, but not much else (which isn’t very valuable, either).
But picking Izturis over Salazar just seems foolish, and I hope something happens so that that decision isn’t made.
@Andrew – I’ll gently disagree with you insomuch as they both lack in value.
Andino’s value lies in the fact that he (at this point, and I’ll grant you any sample size concerns you want to raise) provides the same production as Izturis at a fraction of the cost. If the Orioles want to sign that big bat to plug up a hole at third base, that’s valuable money to have.
Salazar does provide pop off the bench. When was the last time we had that? Remember the halcyon days of 2006 when Brenden Fahey was playing left field? Or 2002, with the immorta Jose Leon as your Designated Hitter?
Looks like Koji is out for at least 2 months, according to Roch.
Now what? Hernandez and Berken both just got a little more time. Hill, too, maybe. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Tillman replace one of Hill or Berken. Preferably Hill since Berken at least has a fastball worth a damn.
@Miles – I didn’t say they were worthless. They clearly are not. In fact, Andino’s worth will be high as long as he doesn’t get paid much (which is kind of a catch-22 for him).
Which is my point – these guys are valuable because they don’t cost anything. Their value is as a cost-benefit win for the Orioles. They’re bench guys. And that’s great – I like Andino a lot in that role, or even as a starter (provided the rest of the offense can make up for him), but they are not particularly valuable, because these kind of guys come a dime a dozen.
Just because the O’s haven’t had one of these guys in a while doesn’t make their value go up.
Dan…I think this means we’re stuck with both of those dudes until at least the end of the month, probably. So buckle in.
when i got on here last night in the 7th, there were 12 comments…now this post might go down in TLC history. in september, when i’m hating baseball-life, i am gonna go back to this post and re-read it.
@Andrew – The point I’m trying to make is that the Orioles haven’t had bench guys in recent seasons who come at league minimum. Worse yet, they’ve been paying the Deivi Cruzs and Kevin Millars of the world decent coin to start when they are not even worth that kind of money as bench players (witness Millar in Toronto this season).
In any case, Salazar had posted a 1.050 OPS down at Norfolk. I’ll take that on my bench any day of the week. Could be a Melvin Mora-esque late bloomer.