The 100-100 Club

Just like the last 10 years, I struggle to look for something to root for at the end of the season. Coming into the month, I was rooting for 70 wins. But stuck on 67 in the midst of an 8 game losing streak, the chances of winning three of the next four is slim. (The bright side: the Orioles will get at least the 6th pick in the draft next year...good news for a team that seems willing to do something useful with those picks.)

So what's left? I'm rooting for Nick Markakis to walk once more time in the next four games and become the first Oriole to join the 100-100 club in 18 years.

What's the 100-100 club? Long before I knew what the Three True Outcomes were, I was a big fan of players who could draw 100 walks while striking out 100 times in a season. Don't ask me why, there was just something about a guy who demonstrated a great eye at the plate but wasn't afraid to swing away and fail either. Mickey Tettleton was my favorite player in this regard and had 100-100 seasons multiple times, though only once with the Orioles.

Nick could become only the third player in Oriole history to reach those milestones in the same season. The others:

Player           Year   BB   K   AVG   HR
Ken Singleton    1977   107 101 .328   24
Ken Singleton    1979   109 118 .295   35
Mickey Tettleton 1990   106 160 .256   15
 

Walk, Nick, Walk!

Five Big Disappointments of 2008

1. Adam Loewen as a Pitcher

Loewen's career as a pitcher is over. He will attempt to come back as a hitter but his value to the organization is greatly diminished and perhaps is now nil. A guy who was thought to finally develop into a solid big league pitcher in 2008 is now lost for good.

2. Nobody Could Play Shortstop

I was suspect of Luis Hernandez before the season but even I didn't imagine he would fail so spectacularly with his bat and with his glove. Brandon Fahey gave no relief. The Warehouse ran out of patience with Freddie Bynum. By the end of the year, an old defensive specialist (Juan Castro) and a utility infielder with a shaky glove and an average (at best) bat (Alex Cintron) were splitting time at short.

Add to this that there are no prospects ready to step up and that the free agent pool for shortstops is very shallow, it looks like more of the same in 2009.

3. Nobody Could Help Jeremy Guthrie in the Rotation

Loewen went down. Neither Olson nor Liz was able to step up to be a serviceable starter. Ditto for Brian Burress. The cupboard is nearly bare as far as the rotation is concerned.

4. AAA Prospects

Few of the advanced prospects from Norfolk contributed to the big club. Jim Johnson and Jim Miller were notable exceptions.

Scott Moore and Mike Constanzo had down years. Hayden Penn continued his struggles and got injured again.

Again, the upper tier of our farm system offers little hope.

5. Matt Albers Injury

Out of all the candidates at the time, Matt Albers looked like he was best equipped to take over for Steve Trachsel in the O's rotation. Unfortunately, he got injured right about that time and we'll have to wait until at least Spring Training to see if he's capable of grabbing a starting role in 2009.

Dishonorable Mentions -

Troy Patton Injury

Before the season, he was a dark horse candidate for the rotation. We'll have to see if he ever returns to form after shoulder surgery.

Brian Burres -

While I thought he was better suited to a relief role, he did not perform well while starting or coming out of the pen.

Ramon Hernandez -

He came to Spring Training in shape and with a new focus. He never broke out of his early season slump and had a very mediocre year. Disappointment tempered by impending arrival of Matt Wieters.

Five Pleasant Surprises from 2008

1. The Melvin Mora Renaissance - .284/.344/.488, 23 HR, 101 RBI, 117 OPS+

It's almost as if Melvin Mora invented the time machine during the offseason, went back to 2005 and sent that version of himself back to play for the Orioles of 2008. Mora had been given up for dead as far as being a productive major league bat. Outside of A-Rod, he's the most productive third baseman in the American League. The only thing negative to be said about Mora this year is that his play in the field has regressed after two straight seasons of above average glove work.

2. Luke Scott as a Regular - .270/.351/.499, 23 HR, 122 OPS+

The Orioles have been desperate for a respectable leftfielder for years and when they traded Miguel Tejada to the Astros one of the players they got back was a 30 year old platoon player and promptly handed him the starting job. Scott still doesn't hit lefties well but turned in the most productive year of his career and the best season from an Oriole leftfielder since the prime of B. J. Surhoff. A diamond in the rough turned up by Andy Macphail.

3. The Oriole Offense - 5th in Runs, 4th in OPS, 4th in HR

The Oriole offense, as a whole, put on a good show this season. When you consider how impotent the O's bats were in 2007, they put up some surprisingly good numbers in 2008.

4. Aubrey Huff Breaks Out - .314/.371/.576, 32 HR, 106 RBI, 146 OPS+

After three very average years and some offseason controversy, Huff exploded out of the gate in April and has had the best season of his career. Huff provided the offensive spark that fans were hoping for in 2007 and he would make attractive trade bait in the offseason.

5. Jim Johnson Emerges - 68.7 IP, 38 K, 2.23 ERA, 198 ERA+

A starter in the minors, Johnson was called up from Norfolk and placed in the bullpen. He became one of the better setup men in the league and a symbol of the rejuvenated Oriole relief corp.

Honorable Mentions -

George Sherrill - an afterthought in the Erik Bedard trade, George had an up and down year but he made the All-Star team and showed that he can close in this league even if he's not among the elite closers in baseball.

Luis Montanez - the late-bloomer made his major league debut and has hit .310 during his stint with the big club. Perhaps a fourth outfielder/platoon partner for Luke Scott in 2009?

Adam Jones - The Truth was up and down during the season but on the whole played a great centerfield and showed a solid bat for a player that green. Good signs for the future.

Later, Five Big Disappointments from 2008. Those will be much easier to find unfortunately...

Base Hits: 9/17/2008

I should know better than to get worked up by message board posts but I just had to get this off my chest...

Lots of talk on Oriole messages boards about how this team has quit. They've given up. Mailing it in. 

I'll admit, it's quite difficult to watch the games these days. But the people saying this team has quit are obviously not watching the games. Kevin Millar has not quit. Nick Markakis has not quit. Adam Jones has not quit. Chris Waters has not quit. Melvin Mora, Jeremy Guthrie, Luke Scott and Brian Roberts have not quit. To suggest that the O's have bailed on this season is a complete misreading of the situation. The team is not very good. But they certainly have not quit.

Before the season, when many were predicting 100 losses, I said that I thought this team would be no worse than last year. They have to win three more games to exceed last year's win total. Hardly a slam dunk but I'm still rooting that they make it.

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Although I have been quite against it (and Andy MacPhail says this is against his philosophy as well), I think it is now unavoidable. The O's need to go after a couple of free agent pitchers in the offseason. I'm not saying that The Warehouse should break the bank chasing after C.C. Sabathia or Ben Sheets but a top free agent pitcher flanked by a journeyman would look good for 2009. John Lackey and Paul Byrd. Or Derek Lowe and Jon Garland. Just a couple of guys who can help Guthrie round out the rotation until any of the young arms develop into legitimate starters. We can't go through another season of inflicting emotional damage on pitchers who aren't ready for the big club yet. Just a thought.

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Matt Wieters was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year. No big surprise. The beast slouches toward Baltimore to be born...

Wieters will play this in the Arizona Fall League

 starting next month. Nolan Reimold will make his third straight appearance in the AFL. SS Blake Davis will join them and he will be intriguing to watch. Top pick of the 2008 draft Brian Matusz will make his professional debut in for the Surprise Rafters.

Lots of good baseball going on this fall and winter...

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Grimace of the Week comes from Nick Blackburn:

You'd be grimacing too if you lost to Radhames Liz...

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I should be blogging a bit more regularly now. Look for season wrap-ups and such in the coming weeks.

Base Hits: 8/6/2008

One of the many great things about baseball is that you never know what you might see on a given night. When the Orioles threw LHP Chris Waters to the wolves last night, you wouldn't have expected that their desperation would yield a baseball rarity.

Waters made his major league debut, threw 8 innings of 1 hit ball and won the game. Before Waters, you could literally count the number of times that happened on one hand. At least since 1960. Other notables on the list include Bob Milacki and Juan Marichal.

But only Waters did it at so advanced an age. And only Waters was a veteran of 9 minor league seasons. Totally unexpected and utterly wonderful to watch.

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Speaking of unexpected pitching performances, Matt has a great post examining Jeremy Guthrie at Roar from 34.

I took a look at Guthrie before the season and could only find three other pitchers that came out of nowhere and had the success that Guthrie did. Guthrie is the only one of them that improved during his sophomore season.

Not bad for a guy who looked like AAA filler when the Orioles picked him up.

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Adam Jones goes on the DL.

The biggest drag about this is that Jones misses two months of development against major league pitching. Hopefully, this doesn't slow his ascent to stardom.

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I talked in my last post about the tough August the Orioles had to face but Buck Showalter on Baseball Tonight had a more positive take on it last night. Out of nowhere, Showalter said that the Orioles would have a lot to say about who wins the division and the wild card because they are better than people give them credit for.

So that's a positive spin on the next two months. Let's play spoiler for somebody. Hopefully the Yankees.

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Time for a Grimace of the Day. Jarrod Washburn from over the weekend wishing he was a Yankee:

Base Hits: 7/22/2008

Just to catch up on a few items here...


First, I am bummed that Freddie Bynum is no longer a Baltimore Oriole. Especially to make room for a player the caliber of Juan Castro.


The stathead side of me knows that Bynum is not helping the cause at all. The rabid baseball fan in me says that one day, if he just gets a chance, he just might be a good player.


Dempsey's Army bids Bynum a fond farewell and wishes him the best of luck.


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Speaking of good luck, Jay Gibbons is reportedly close to signing a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.


First, I wish Gibbons good luck. I always thought he was a good guy. Second, if this is true Gibbons is incredibly lucky. I thought he'd have to hit better than .280 in independant baseball to get a sniff from a major league club.


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More good luck wishes go out to Adam Loewen who will be abandoning his career as a pitcher and pick up a bat.


Very sad to see Loewen's career end up like this. I know that he may come back as a good hitter since scouts were split on wether he was a hitting or pitching prospect coming out of college.


But there's a reason a story like Rick Ankiel is a story. It rarely happens. Hell, even a failed hitter like Brooks Kieschnick becoming a modestly successful relief pitcher was a novelty.


I hope he comes back but realistically, his big league career is over.


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I will take a split with the Tigers coming out of the All-Star break any day...


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You know, everyone talks about the Orioles' poor 1-15 ecord on Sundays but what about their great 10-4 record on Tuesdays? Do you think Shawn Marcum is shaking in his boots?


You also don't want to face the Orioles on Fridays (11-4), Saturdays (10-6) or Mondays (5-2). Maybe the O's could start a TGIF promotion for Fridays?

Base Hits: 7/14/2008

Finally, I am back in town. I will be home through the rest of the regular season, so I hope to get back to posting more regularly.

If the Orioles were going to start losing in miserable and painful ways, at least I was in southwest Florida where:

A) I didn't have any time (or access) to watch the games and

B) Beaches, fresh seafood and a general laid back atmosphere made me not care as much.

The bright side to this recent losing streak is that now The Warehouse can look to unload some of these veterans without much objection from Peter Angleos and/or the fans. There is (at the moment) no winning team to break up!

This is not to say that this team as currently constructed could not be a winning team. The Baseball Gods giveth and they taketh away. Baltimore has won a lot of close games this season and the pendulum does seem to swinging the other way at this point. But .500 should not be the ultimate goal here. The eye still needs to be toward the future with this team.

Who gets traded?

Aubrey Huff - Huff is having his best year since 2003 and given his tendency to hit better after the All-Star break, he may be on his way to a career year. His trade value has never been nor will ever be higher. Trade him. Ironically, Tampa Bay could use some offense and need a first baseman. Depending on David Ortiz's health, Boston could use him too. Let's get what we can.

Brian Roberts - I won't be upset if the O's keep Roberts but, again, the head says it's time to get maximum value. Trade him.

George Sherrill - Lots of contenders need relief help for playoff runs. Trade him now.

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Speaking of Sherrill, a few weeks ago I looked at "The Nailbiters", the Oriole closers who would strike fear into the hearts of the O's faithful when they took the mound. Back then, I determined that George was not even in the top ten. No longer. With a WHIP of 1.412, Sherrill now makes the list. Solidly. To paraphrase John Cusak in "High Fidelity", "Congratulations George. You're now #6 in my top Nailbiters of all time. With a bullet."

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O's blogger Desert O (aka Appalachian Trail thru-hiker "Vegas") has made it past the halfway point to Maine and is solidly into Pennsylvania. Way to go and good luck!

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After posting a .323/.349/.455 line in June, The Truth is hitting .341/.400/.545 in July.

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Even with their recent losing ways, the Orioles managed to elicit a good grimace from Clay Bucholz on Friday night:

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Yes, it's only 17 games but...

Matt Wieters. In Bowie, he's put up a .350/.426/.600 which is virtually identical to the .345/.448/.576 line he put up at Frederick. There has been no adjustment needed.

You never want to rush a prospect and in Baltimore's case there's really no need. But I expect we will now see Wieters in Baltimore on Opening Day 2009.

O's Keep Surprising

Ronny Cedeno's face says it all...

The Orioles continue to shock the world.

Last night was such a feel-good game I had to write something this morning. Nick Markakis flashing the leather. Four double plays turned. Two triples (Luke Scott and Brian Roberts). Sherrill striking out the side to get the save. Jeremy Guthrie getting a rare but well-deserved win. Good stuff.

What you have to love about this team is that they compete. They go on the road to face the best team in the National League and just handle them.

This team is 15-11 since being "mired" in last place on Memorial Day.

After the O's leave Wrigley, the play the Nationals, Royals, Rangers and Toronto in succession. Keeping their heads above .500 looks pretty good for the foreseeable future.

Burres vs Lilly tonight. Give Jay Payton a start!

Let's go O's!

Spreading The Magic

I looked for this last night but leave it to someone from the Oriole Magic blog (in this case, Heathir Irvin) to find it first.

I'm posting it here because the magic needs spreading:



Bring on the NATS! Bring 'em on! I smell blood!

The Nats are really terrible. If they weren't in the NL with a bunch of other terrible teams...they might be on their way to losing 100 games.

Their pitching staff is third worst in the NL in runs allowed, they only hit .235 and OPS .668 as a team. That's like having whole team of Brendan Harris' batting for you. Hardly imposing.

Feel The Thrill...Orioles!

Hey LaTroy Hawkins! How do you like the Orioles organization now!

I wasn't going to post this weekend but...how great is this?

Markakis hustling to second on a Giambi error and then gunning down Bobby Abreu at the plate later in the game on Friday. When are these opposing baserunners going to learn? Our rightfielder is deadly with his arm. And from the looks of it, maybe out leftfielder is too.

Give up some love for Daniel Cabrera! Nice game! Just keep the ball in the yard as all these homers you are giving up are making me nervous.

Brian Burres proving me wrong, shutting down the Yankees lineup for 5.7 innings. They shut out the Yankees!

Raise your hand if you still think this team is going to lose 100 games.

I keep saying I'm going to enjoy this as long as it lasts but it just keeps going...I'm beginning to take this team seriously.

April Fool's Damn It...

Well, you saw a genuine reaction there. I completely fell for it.

In my defense so seemingly did The Hardball Times. Anyway...

I have kept this blog really Oriole-centric over the first year plus that I've been pecking away at the keyboard. I'm changing the focus just a little or at least adding a few things over the next couple weeks and see how they go. It won't be a free-for-all but just a couple things to distract from the seemingly horrible season we Orioles fans are about to endure. Don't worry , it's more of additions vs. a change of focus like some other Oriole blogs over the years. (2632...come back to us!) I need to indulge my passion for baseball history in general a bit more...

Nice self-indulgent post, huh? Moving on...

He Has Got To Go

There is now officially someone who deserves a spot on this roster less than Jay Gibbons. That man is Luis Hernandez.

Another error today bringing his spring total to 6. Unacceptable. His glove was supposed to be his calling card. Instead, it's is albatross. He's actually making Brandon Fahey look like a great choice by comparison.

The Warehouse needs to make the right decision on this one. Unlike Gibbons, there is no bad contract to eat. Hernandez needs to go back to Norfolk until he gets his groove back.

Lots of roster decisions to be made today. We'll wait and see what happens.

Base Hits: 3/26/2008

The thing I love most about the list of Oriole blogs I present to the left of your computer screen is that nearly all of them write far better than I do. ("All of them actually write far better than you do.", I'm sure at least some of you are thinking...) Case in point, Enchanting Sunshine's post reminiscing about Opening Day in Baltimore from the unique perspective of growing up quite literally in the shadow of Memorial Stadium. It's nostalgic, beautiful and a must-read. And she even has the good sense to pair Sam Adams with that Esskay frank. Lovely.

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My head tells me to ignore Spring Training stats, at least as a rule. My heart has me wondering if Melvin Mora is about to have a revivial of his largely dormant skills at the plate.

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ESPN's Rob Neyer has put together a list of the top 50 players over the next 5 years. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones both made the list.

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I really hope that Roch is reading this wrong but it certainly appears that Jay Gibbons is going to bump somebody off of this team (perhaps Scott Moore) that really belongs here far more than he does.

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The Orioles need to go out and sign Alex Cintron and cut Luis Hernandez loose. Cintron has elected to become a free agent instead of accepting a minor league reassignment after not making the Cubs roster out of Spring Training. Cintron can still field well, plays SS, 2B and 3B and has a fair bat. He's an upgrade at short for now and can serve as a utility man once a better option is found.

Chinks in the Armor

The season kicks off early tomorrow morning as the Red Sox and A's square off in Japan.

Before the season starts, let's get an update on our division rivals.

Tampa Bay Rays

Along with staff ace Scott Kazmir and projected RF Rocco Baldelli, utility man Ben Zobrist is expected to start the year on the DL. Also, in an act of ultimate cheapness, Evan Longoria was reassigned to minor league camp.

Kazmir has a strained elbow and there is no timetable for his return. The staff (Shields, Garza, Sonnastine, Jackson, Hammel) hardly looks as promising with Kazmir out of the picture.

RF will be manned by old man Cliff Floyd who will be lucky to be a league average hitter before he gets injured and Eric Hinske had to take over.

With Longoria gone, third will be manned by the sorry Willy Aybar who didn't play at all last season and is a headcase to say the least. (Tampa shipped out Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes because of their personality flaws but at least they had talent! Aybar is a marginal major leaguer and a problem child...) Aybar us injured and so is Zobrist so your guess is as good as mine who will open the season at the hot corner.

Toronto Blue Jays

It was only a matter of time but even I didn't expect Scott Rolen to go down this fast. Marco Scutaro, a downgrade both offensively and defensively, will play third. Rolen is expected to be out at least a few of weeks.

The Jays great bullpen is showing some cracks as B. J. Ryan's comeback has hit some bumps in the road and their best reliever from 2007, Casey Janssen, is gone for the season.

A.J. Burnett is battling a broken fingernail on his throwing hand. Expect his struggles to continue.

New York Yankees

Andy Pettite is battling back spasms. That's a big deal for a team whose rotation is a bit thin after the number 2 hurler but other than this news it's situation normal for the Yanks.

Boston Red Sox

Schilling's down. Josh Beckett is battling injuries. Mike Timlin has an injury to his right ring finger.

It would be nice if Beckett's injury lingered...

Base Hits: 2/12/2008

The Orioles have signed Steve Trachsel to a minor league deal. I don't mind this signing, especially since it's only a minor league contract. I like the idea of bringing in a veteran starter as insurance so you don't have to rush your young arms but I was not thrilled with the prospect of signing a guy like Josh Fogg to major league money to do it. A good low risk move that could prove to be a godsend come April.

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I was reading this story in the Sporting News and it mentioned something I've heard a lot lately. The conventional wisdom has the Orioles on their way to losing 100 games in 2008. I don't buy it. The Nationals were written off in this manner before 2007 and they didn't even lose 90. It won't be pretty but I don't think this team will be appreciably worse than last year. More on that later...

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J.R. House is reporting to Spring Training with the Houston Astros. I still don't think we gave this guy a fair shot.

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Quite a detailed look at the Erik Bedard trade at The Hardball Times. The bottom line is most thought Seattle gave up too much for him which, by reflexive property, means that we got the better of the deal on paper.

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Finally, a look at the Bedard trade from Baseball America. There's not much new here except for the detailed look at the prospects (besides Adam Jones) who Baltimore acquired in the deal.