Earl Weaver Rules

MLB.com beatwriter Spencer Fordin answered his email in a recent column.  He discusses the Kris Benson trade, who the Orioles backup catcher will be and James Hoey’s chances of making the big league club next year.  Good stuff as always.

I kind of wished I had started this blog last offseason.  I would have done something similar to what the Tom Seaver Fan Club did for the 1986 Mets but for the 1966 Orioles.

Anyway, the Orioles commemorated the 1966 Orioles’ team this week.  Here’s a great story on what went down.

I’ve never really followed the fall leagues, although they definitely give me something to write about in October.  The Orioles not only have players in the Arizona Fall League, which is now in it’s fifteenth year, but they also sent some players to the Hawaii Winter Baseball League.  You can check out this MLB.com column on who’s who in the Orioles system that’s playing this fall.  The more prospects who get some time in the better.

Because of the rain on Sunday, the Orioles season almost just ended.  They wouldn’t have made up the game, and as it was, they only played five innings.  So the Orioles finished the season with an even 70 wins.  That’s probably right around where I would have predicted had I had this blog going at the beginning of the year.

The lone win was a good one. Kevin Millar came through with a big two run single in the ninth to win it.  Chris Gomez also drove in three runs with two hits.

The Orioles do have some hope though.  Nick Markakis showed he can be a good player at the big league level.  Ramon Hernandez had a career year and Miguel Tejada led the team in just about everything.  It’s that 5.35 ERA that has to come down if the Orioles are going to compete.   They do have some parts, like Danny Cabrera and Erik Bedard, but you have to hope that Leo Mazzone gets things going for the Orioles before he gets frustrated and leaves (or his boss and friend gets fired).

I’ll be starting up my Jim Palmer retrospective here soon and I also plan on taking a look back at some better times, which I’ll call the Earl Weaver Years.  And of course I’ll have some tidbits on the playoffs and the usual offseason stuff.  So stop back when you get a chance.