Earl Weaver Rules

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.

Alright, the Orioles are done at Camden Yards this year.  While the Orioles didn’t play great at home, fans at least had a 50/50 chance of coming to the ball park and seeing a win.  That’s not a bad thing for having such a bad team.

Brian Roberts put on a show for the home fans on Sunday.  He went three for five with a homerun, three RBIs and three runs in the 7-3 win.  Danny Cabrera struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings and Nick Markakis had two hits and two RBIs in the final home win of the season for the O’s.

Things got back to normal yesterday.  Erik Bedard was shelled and even though the Orioles put five runs on the board, they walked away with a loss.  Corey Patterson had three hits, a stolen base and two runs in the 8-5 loss.

The Twins doubled up the Orioles today.  Adam Loewen struck out eight but he gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk in six innings of work.  Miguel Tejada hit two solo homeruns and Corey Patterson went yard as well in the 6-3 loss.

The Orioles hit the road and play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium this week.  Man, it’d be nice to take a game or two against the might Yankees.

Alright, it’s never bad to go out a winner.  The Orioles took the finale against the Tigers this past weekend and then took the first two against the Devil Rays.  You can’t win them all though and the Devil Rays took the final game of the season against the Orioles.

On Monday, Erik Bedard was very good.  He gave up one unearned run on four hits and a walk with ten strikeouts over seven innings.  That’s five straight solid starts for Bedard and he hit the double figure strikeout mark for the second time this season.  Corey Patterson was pretty much the offense.  He drove in three of the Orioles four runs with hit fifteenth homerun.

Adam Loewen got off to a shaky start yesterday but recovered nicely to pick up the win.  He gave up three runs in the second inning but by the fifth inning, the Orioles had the lead for good.  Jay Gibbons went four for five with a run and an RBI in the 5-4 win.

Seth McClung held the Orioles in check today and Corey Patterson scored both of the Orioles runs in the 4-2 loss.  Hayden Penn finally put together his first decent start.  He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

The rest of the Orioles schedule is pretty tough.  They play the Tigers for one game.  Then they have three game series against the Twins, Yankees and Red Sox.

Right now, the Orioles stand at 21st in attendance with four home games left.  If they keep up their pace of 26,874 a game, they’ll finish just short of 2,200,000.  The last time they had an attendance below even 2.4 million was 1988 and you all know what happened that year.  While some people blame the fact that the Orioles haven’t had a winning record since 1997 as a reason people aren’t coming out to the ball park, the affect that the Washington Nationals have had has also been signficant.

Now, it was announced that the Orioles are closing up shop in Washington, D.C.  Their outlet store, located in Farragut Square, is going to be closed when the lease expires in December.  It looks like Orioles merchandise or tickets are no longer in demand in Washington, D.C.  Heck, they’re no longer in demand in Baltimore.

Ironically, the Nationals are 20th in attendance, less then 100 fans per game more the the Orioles.  That’s a pretty sharp decline from last year when they were 11th in the league in their inaugural season.

The season drags on.  The Orioles had a chance to make an impact on the playoff picture, but as has been the par recently, they managed to lose another series.

Friday’s game was simply ugly.  Hayden Penn was shelled again and each of the four guys that relieved him gave up at least a run as well.  On offense, Nick Markakis and David Newhan hit solo homeruns in the 17-2 beatdown.

Saturday was the antithesis of Friday.  The Orioles were held to six hits and while Kris Benson threw a very nice game, he would have had to be near perfect to have won this one. 

Finally, the Orioles won on Sunday in a crazy game.  The Orioles jumped out to 5-1 lead only have it disappear in a three walk, five run fourth inning.  Chris Ray gave up a two run shot in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, which went then went into extra innings.  The Orioles then tagged the Tigers for four runs in the tenth to win it.  Ramon Hernandez had a nice game.  He went four for four with four runs and an RBI.

It’s the battle of the bottom feeders this week.  Tampa Bay hosts the Orioles in a series which be unlikely to draw 30,000 fans over the three games.

Please let this season end.

The Orioles lost their 81st game on Monday.  Not that it comes as a huge surprise, but it’s another losing season for Baltimore. 

Erik Bedard finally won a game in the series opener on Friday.  It was the only game the Orioles won in the series and it was the first win for Bedard since July 23rd.  He gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in six innings.  Melvin Mora, Jay Gibbons and David Newhan all went yard in the 9-4 win and Gibbons drove in three runs.

It went down hill from there.  On Saturday, Adam Loewen was outdueled by Chien-Ming Wang.  Loewen gave up only two runs in seven innings of work but all the Orioles could manage was two runs and one of those came late.  Kevin Millar hit his twelth homerun in the 3-2 loss.

Hayden Penn was knocked around again on Sunday.  He gave up seven runs in only three innings and dropped to 0-2.  Ramon Hernandez had a big day at the plate.  He went three for four with two homeruns and two RBIs in the 9-4 loss.

The Orioles scored a couple of more runs yesterday but the Yankees put nine more on the board to finish up the series.  Rodrigo Lopez had a solid start but the pen, namely James Hoey, blew the game.  Hoey gave up six runs in 2/3 of an inning and took the loss.  Ramon Hernandez went yard again with number 19 and Melvin Mora drove in two runs in the 9-6 loss.

Next up is three against Boston.

It’s a good thing the Orioles aren’t really playing for anything.  They won’t lose a 100 games so there’s no need to avoid that.  The Devil Rays are six games back so the Orioles probably won’t finish in last place.  So the Orioles can be mediocre like they have all season and it won’t mean a darn thing.

Rodrigo Lopez was robbed by his own offense on Monday.  He gave up a single run on five hits in seven innings of work yet he took the loss because Jered Weaver and company combined for a shutout.  Kevin Millar and Miguel Tejada each had two hits in the game.

The Orioles actually made it close yesterday.  Kris Benson threw eight solid innings but the Orioles once again couldn’t get the bats going.  Then in the tenth, Julio Manon gave up three hits, including a homerun, and the game was done.  Brian Roberts went four for six in the game and Nick Markakis had two hits and an RBI.

Today, the Orioles got the hitting but no pitching.  Danny Cabrera was bounced around in five innings of work and three relievers also gave up runs in the 8-4 loss.  Brian Roberts went yard twice and Kevin Millar hit a homerun.  All three dingers were solo shots.

Next up is four against the Yankees.  Maybe that six game lead over the Devil Rays isn’t as safe as I thought.

At least it’ll be the final month for most teams.  And most teams means the Orioles at least in most years.  As always, there’s always next year.

Erik Bedard was a little more mediocre then Joe Blanton was on Friday.  Bedard did strike out six in six innings but he gave up three runs on six hits and four walks.  Todd Williams ended up taking the loss because he gave up the game winner in the seventh.  Melvin Mora hit homerun number 14 and he finished with three hits and two RBIs.

The Orioles actually picked up a win on Saturday.  Chris Ray held off a late inning rally by the A’s and Chris Gomez and Miguel Tejada each drove in two runs in the 6-5 win.  Adam Loewen picked up the win and he improved to 5-4 despite some pretty rough peripherals.

As has been the case this year, the Orioles couldn’t take that final game and lost another series.  Hayden pen was shelled in his 2006 debut and he was credited with eight earned runs despite getting only two outs the entire game.  Miguel Tejada went three for three and he drove in his 90th run of the season in the 10-1 loss.

Next up is three against the Angels as the Orioles head west.

The Orioles are right in that middle ground.  They’re not bad enough to where they’re going to lose a 100 games.  In fact, at this point it looks like even 90 losses isn’t in their future.  And while they’re not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, everyone knew back in July that the Orioles really had no chance.  The good thing is, it looks like the team might have something to build if they can keep this winning going.

Danny Cabrera really got the job done on Friday.  He and two relievers combined for a seven hit shutout. Cabrera struck out seven.  Ramon Hernandez had two hits and he scored two runs while Corey Patterson singled, doubled and scored a run.

Ramon Hernandez’s walk off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth was the difference in the Saturday’s game.  Nick Markakis and Jeff Conine (who was traded to the Phillies Sunday) both homered and Erik Bedard had a nice start.  He gave up two runs on eleven hits with six strikeouts in seven innings.  Chris Ray picked up his fourth win.

Yesterday’s game was a nice comeback.  Jeff Conine drove in tying run in the eighth and then Miguel Tejada had the walk off RBI single in the ninth to win it.  Adam Loewen was good but not great and Latroy Hawkins picked up the win.

The season rolls into it’s final month.  The Tigers locked up a winning season so I think that makes the Orioles stretch without the longest in the American League.  The Orioles roll into Texas starting on Tuesday.

You have to hand it to rookie Nick Markakis.  He was called up and since doing so has put up some nice numbers for a kid his age.  I like to hope this guy will be in an Orioles uniform for a long, long time.

Tuesday was his day.  He hit three solo homeruns to bring his season total up to eleven.  Combine that with a great start by Adam Loewen and it made for a 6-3 win over the Wild Card contending Twins.  Brian Roberts and Corey Patterson each went yard in the 6-3 win.

Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.  Rookie Matt Garza held the Orioles bats in check and while Rodrigo Lopez was okay, it wasn’t good enough.  Lopez dropped to 9-13 and Markakis drove in the only Orioles run of the game in the 4-1 loss.

Yesterday’s game was a beat down.  Kris Benson was gone before the end of the fourth and he took the loss.  Roberto Hernandez did go deep for the Orioles and he drove in the only two runs for them in the 11-2 loss.

Next up is about as unmeaningful of a series as you can get.  The Orioles play the Devil Rays.  It’ll be interesting to see what kind of draw they get at Camden Yards this weekend.

Just to show you how bad the Orioles have been this year, they were the very last team in all of baseball to have a four game winning streak.  Not the hapless Royals or Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Our Orioles just finished their first four game winning streak in mid-August.

Kris Benson has been pretty sharp since coming off of the DL and Friday was no exception.  He gave up two runs on only six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.  He’s now 10-9 on the season.  Melvin Mora hit his 13th homerun of the season and he drove in four runs in the 7-2 win.  Nick Markakis had three hits and he scored twice.

Yesterday was a nice game.  Danny Cabrera pitched a five hit shutout in which he struck out ten batters.  More importantly, he walked only two guys.  In the meantime, the Orioles ran up the score on Shaun Marcum.  The Orioles set the stage with seven runs in the first and never looked back.  Final was 15-0.  Markakis, Miguel Tejada and Brian Roberts all homered in the win.  Kevin Millar drove in five runs and seven Orioles scored two runs a piece.

All good things come to an end though, and today our wall was Roy Halladay.  Miguel Tejada hit a solo homerun and Markakis drove in a run on a ground out to account for the only runs for the Orioles.  In the meantime, Erik Bedard was roughed up and he gave up seven runs (five earned) on seven hits in five innings.

Next up is three against the Twins.  While the Orioles may not be in the mix, they can definitely play spoiler and the Twins are just a game back of Wild Card. 

This was nice.  Wins mean little right now for the Orioles, but wins over the Yankees mean something just a little bit more.

Things didn’t start well though.  Latroy Hawkins blew a nice start by Erik Bedard in the 6-3 loss.  Kevin Millar hit homerun number ten for the Orioles and Brian Roberts and Millar each had two hits.

Loewen had a really nice start on Wednesday.  He gave up two runs on four hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings.  Ramon Hernandez had two hits and an RBI and Nick Markasis went yard in the 3-2 win.

Yesterday’s game was the most fun.  Rodrigo Lopez threw a solid game and the Orioles bats really took it to the Yankees.  Brian Roberts, Nick Markasis and Fernando Tatis all homered in the 12-2 win.  Markasis drove in four runs.

The season rolls on and it’s the battle of the birds.  The Blue Jays are pretty much out of it and that’s who we play next.  Nice meaningful series.

This might be rock bottom.  The Orioles dropped three straight games to the Red Sox and they’ve won only two of their last ten games.  Baltimore now stands only four games ahead of the last place Devil Rays.  While moving up in the draft is a good thing, this is getting ridiculous.

A seven run third inning put Friday’s game out of reach very early.  Six of those were credited to Adam Loewen, who now sports a 6.41 ERA.  Brian Roberts went three for five with an RBI and Corey Patterson hit his eleventh homerun of the season in the 9-2 loss.

Yesterday’s game was the closest although the Orioles blew a big lead.  They were up 5-1 and then 7-3 but the Red Sox scored four in the sixth to tie the game up.  Then in the tenth, Bruce Chen lost the game when he gave up a single to Manny Ramirez and Brandon Fahey misplayed it, allowing the go ahead run to score.  Brian Roberts and Chris Widger both had two RBIs in the 8-7 loss. 

It’s sad when you score nine runs yet still lose.  Danny Cabrera gave up seven runs in only four innings.  The Orioles clawed their way back but finished two runs short in the 11-9 loss. Each of the three Orioles relievers who came into the game gave up at least one run on top of the seven Cabrera gave up.  Patterson, Roberts and Kevin Millar all homered for the Orioles.

Next up is three against the Yankees.  I guess it can get worse.

This was a pretty meaningful series.  The Orioles have been out of the race for quite some time, and while the Jays are on the fringe, I really don’t like their chances. 

Monday’s afternoon game was a blowout.  Ortiz was smoked for six runs in three innings and all the Orioles could muster was a single run on two hits against some people I’ve never heard of.  The lone run came on Fernando Tatis’ RBI single in the third inning.

Danny Cabrera had a nice start in the lone Orioles win.  He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over seven innings.  He’s now 5-7 on the season.  Melvin Mora drove in three runs with a double in the seventh that capped off a four run inning and Nick Maraksis hit a three run shot in the eighth.  Miguel Tejada hit his 20th homerun of the season in the 8-4 win.

The rubber game was close, but the Orioles came up short.  They went down 4-0 early and crept back into it with two in the fourth and one in the fifth.  Their rally came up short though.  Erik Bedard gave up four runs on seven hits over seven innings as he was outdueled by Roy Halladay.  Markasis had another good game and he had two hits and a run.

Next up is three games against Boston.  At least the Orioles have a chance to leave their mark in the playoff picture. Kris Benson is still listed as Saturday’s starter, but he’s been put on the DL.

This is the part of the season that’s really tough.  Seems like 20 other teams are in the hunt for the playoffs, except for yours.  It’s always exciting when the Yankees roll into town though, and while the Orioles only took one game, that was one really good game.

Chris Ray dropped his fourth game on Friday.  He gave up a solo homerun that broke a 4-4 tie.  Bruce Chen was decent in his start.  He gave up three runs on nine hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings.  Fernando Tatis hit his first major league homerun since 2003 in the 5-4 loss and Miguel Tejada and Jeff Conine  both had two hits.

Saturday was Adam Loewen’s time to shine.  After a rough rookie year, Loewen threw 5 1/3 innings on one hit ball.  He and two relievers combined to hold the Yankees to a one hit shutout.  Brian Roberts drove in two runs and Miguel Tejada had three hits and two runs in the 5-0 win.

Jaret Wright shut down the Orioles yesterday.  In all, the Orioles managed only one run on six hits.  The lone run scored on Nick Markasis’ RBI single in the fourth inning.  By then, the score was already 4-1.  Rodrigo Lopez dropped to 8-12 with the 6-1 loss.

Next up is three with the struggling Blue Jays.  This series doesn’t mean very much unless you’re a Jays or Orioles fan.  Wednesday’s matchup of Roy Halladay vs. Erik Bedard should be a good one.

It’s going to take a very good stretch for the Orioles to finish .500.  With the two losses so far this week, they’re now 11 games below that threshold and at this point, they don’t have a whole lot else to play for.

Monday was pretty ugly.  The Orioles carried a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning when the flood gates opened.  Over the final four innings, the Mariners racked up ten runs and it ended up being a 10-5 final.  Rookie starter Adam Loewen gave up five of those runs and reliever Eddy Rodriguez gave up the other five.  The Orioles did hit three homeruns though.  Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora and Nick Markasis all went yard.

Rodrigo Lopez was en fuego yesterday.  He threw 7 2/3 shutout innings and he and two relievers combined for the shutout.  Melvin Mora singled home a run in the first and Markasis doubled home a run in the seventh for the offense on either side, and it was good enough for the win.

Erik Bedard got the job done today, but the bats didn’t provide him with anything.  He gave up two first inning runs and that was all Felix Hernandez and the Mariners would need.  The only run for the Orioles came on Josh Gibbons’ RBI single in the sixth.

Next up is the Yankees, so if you’re a Red Sox fan, the Orioles are your second favorite team this weekend.  Bruce Chen goes up against a very human Randy Johnson in the series opener on Friday.

It’s been a weird year for the Orioles. Last year, they got off to that good start and equally bad collapse.  This year, they’ve been pretty mediocre.  They’re ten games below .500 and that’s in one of the toughest divisions in baseball.  They have flashes of looking like a solid team at times, but they just don’t win.  This weekend series sort of highlights this.

On Friday, the Orioles were cruising.  Eric Bedard had a very nice start and then rookie Chris Britton had a solid eighth inning.  The Orioles took a two run lead into the ninth inning and the normally reliable Chris Ray came in to finish off the White Sox.  Obviously, the Sox aren’t the defending champs for nothing.  They loaded the bases on Ray and then Ross Gload took Ray deep for a grand slam.  It was only the second blown save of the season for Ray and in the process, his ERA shot up nearly a full point.

Yesterday’s game was just as bizarre.  The White Sox jumped out to an 8-3 lead after three and then it was 10-4 after four.  The Orioles didn’t give up though and they put up eleven runs on nineteen hits in total.  Jim Johnson had a flat out ugly line in his first career start and Russ Ortiz didn’t fare much better.  Miguel Tejada hit his nineteenth homerun and he both drove in three and scored three.  Melvin Mora had three hits and three runs and Nick Markasis had four hits and two runs.

Today’s game was wild and crazy as well.  Baltimore scored three in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead, then they added a run in the seventh to pad their lead.  Then Jermaine Dye took Todd Williams deep for a three run shot in the eighth and just like that, the White Sox had the lead back.  The Orioles had only won two games when down heading into the ninth, but they made it number three today.  Jeff Conine and Javy Lopez both had RBI singles, and the one by Lopez was of the walk off variety.  Jay Gibbons had four hits, including a solo homerun.

The Orioles are way out of the race for both the Wild Card and AL East, but as of right now, Miguel Tejada is still an Oriole.  If I had to guess, he goes to the Angels but as always, we’ll see.  It’s time to start thinking about next year.