1 Corinthians 6:18

4. Will the Oriole fans stay faithful?

There are those who say that the Oriole fan base has dwindle down to a very few people. Those who say this are idiots. If the Orioles are even just at .500 come the all-star break Camden Yards will start selling out. Baltimore is first and foremost a baseball town. Now, I understand the Ravens are pretty good and Ozzie runs a good organization, but let’s be honest if you asked most people from Baltimore if they would rather have a World Series ring or a Super Bowl ring, I think we could agree on how they would answer. In fact, I don’t think I’m weird in saying I would rather see the Orioles win one World Series than see the Ravens win 10 Super Bowls. Can I get an Amen?
However, for the first time Oriole fans will have an attractive alternative…

Since most of my readers are men (the only woman I know that has read my blog is my wife and that is only because I made her) I would like to use an analogy us guys can appreciate. If we rated the Orioles like we rate women 1-10. We will refer to 10 as the hottest of sports babes, Anita Marks and 1 will be the ugliest of sports babes, The Fabulous Sports Babe. So in is this analogy the Orioles are The Fabulous Sports Babe. Still with me? Oriole fans would love to have an affair but we have no options; believe it or not there is no one more attractive for us than The Fabulous Sports Babe. But uh oh look out for the Nats who were looking like The Fabulous Sports Babe. are now looking more and more like Anita. Let’s give the Nats a 7 on the hotness scale, which we’ll call Brittany Ghiroli. Now are you telling me that you fellas are gonna stay faithful to the sports babe when Brittany starts giving you the eye. Especially come the summer months when it gets hot and the only reason you even go to the stadium is to see the crab shuffle and hot dog race, and all the while there is Brittany right down the street enticing you with meaningful baseball in August? Who could resist?

As for me, despite my man crush on Strasburg, I will remain faithful to my O’s because, though she needs a little work, when she finally gets it, she’s gonna be a homerun.

If knowledge is power than the Orioles are stupid.

Hello again Boys and Girls,

The Orioles are faced with a lot more questions than answers this year (I could have opened with this line the past 14 years).   Now, I do know the answer to who my favorite late-inning defensive replacement is (Section 336′s favorite late-inning defensive replacement)

However, there are lot more answers that we do not have.  Over the next 5 days I will be telling you the 5 biggest questions facing the Orioles this year.  If the Orioles are able to provide positive answers to all 5 of these questions I will be writing this blog well into October.  If not, well, you know the drill.  

5. WHERE WILL THE POWER COME FROM?

I wished we had Prince Fielder.  There I said it.  It would have been on the back of my mind the entire time I wrote this entry, so it’s cathartic for me just to get that out in the open.  Wow, I feel better now.   Everyone agrees we would be a completely different team with him, but, alas, we did not get him so the question is where will the power come from for the Orioles this year. 

Bad reporters in the media (I really don’t know of any ‘bad’ reporters but I like to say it, and I think it makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about) are constantly asking Buck whose is going to be hitting lead off.  Buck has responded from day 1 that he is more concerned with who is batting cleanup, and I couldn’t agree more. 

Last year, J.J. Hardy hit 30 homeruns; I’m not sure we can count on the same power coming from him this year (the year before this he hit 6).  If J.J. hits 25 it would be a bonus.  The Sherriff has power, but he strikes out way too much to (in my humble opinion) even be a major league baseball player.  Adam Jones power has increased over the past couple years, but is he really a clean up hitter?  Good teams have good power hitters who also hit for average and drive in runs.  Are leading RBI guy last year was Reynolds with 86.  That’s not gonna cut it.  Last year the Yankees had 3 guys with 110+ RBIs. 

For the Orioles to win this year they need someone to hit .260+ with 30+ homeruns and 110+ RBIs.  Who’s it going to be?  Wieters, Reynolds, Jones, Hardy, Markakis, Reimold? 

March=Optimism, June=Depression, August=Boredom, September=Hope

Hello again Boys and Girls,

I took a year off from the blog in an effort to gain some perspective.  At some point it just hits you that one’s happiness, purpose, and identity cannot be found in being a fan of the Baltimore Orioles.  Maybe if the O’s would contend every now and then, but as it is, one must seek for the meaning of life somewhere other than in Oriole fanaticism.  So, last year I went to Africa and found a land free of baseball, and therefore free of the miseries that have accompanied Oriole fans for the last 14 years.  In its place, there was soccer.  That’s right boys and girls I replaced my baseball zeal for the apathy of soccer.  Away from baseball I felt free.  Gone were the days of ninth inning blown saves; gone were the days of witnessing the hostile takeover of Camden Yards from those hooligans up north; gone were the days of being excited in April depressed in June and then tricked in September.  In its place there were kids kicking balls back and forth; there were 2-hour games when no one scored, and there was a lot of picking weeds to pass the time.  I know what you are thinking, and yes I agree.  Soccer does suck, (and if they are going to classify waterboarding as torture then soccer must also fall under the torture umbrella).  Yet to be free at last from the misery of the Orioles was a sweet release.  Yet this sweet release was short-lived.

I blame my father.  I blame Cal Ripken.  I blame Mickey Tettleton.  I blame Jon Miller.  I blame Rex Barney.  I blame Mike Mussina.  I blame Matt Wieters.  I blame whoever designed Camden Yards.  I blame these people for implanting in my subconscious this deep, undeniable, irresistible love for the O’s.  I hate that I can’t stop loving the Orioles.  And a year in Africa without them is enough to realize how much I needed them.  (Now I know how J-Lo felt in Enough, but unlike J-Lo, I will never leave or fight back against my abusive partner).  I can’t not love the O’s, so even if the O’s lose for another decade and even if Brian Roberts never plays again and even if Dylan Bundy ends up being a bust and even if Peter Angelos remains the owner for the next fifty years (yes, I’m aware of his age, but I wouldn’t put it past him), and even if they leave me disappointed for the next 100 years.  I will still love my Orioles.

SO here’s to the 2012 season and all the miseries, the pains, the blown leads, and the disappointments that are bound to happen.  Yet, it is March, and somehow I find myself optimistic about the 2012 season.  This year will be different.  This year the magic will come back…

The Anti-Wayne

In the midst of injuries, bullpen ineptitude and hitting woes, it can be hard to find anything positive in the Baltimore Orioles season so far.  However, if you want to read about how bad the Orioles are you can read Wayne’s comments on Shmuck’s blog.   The purpose of this post is to point out five positive things we can take from the O’s season so far.

5. Our starting pitching is better than expected

Millwood is pitching like an ace.  Guthrie is better than everyone thought he’d be, and Matusz appears to be the stud we all thought he would be.  So we have three solid starters (two more than I though we would have).

4.  I got a job working nights.

When I found out I had to work the 3:30PM-12:00AM shift, I was pissed because of all the O’s games I would miss.  I’m not pissed anymore.

3.  Trembley is who many people thought he was.

It would have been unfortunate for the O’s to be a great team, just be held back by incompetent manager.  Now, since the Orioles are terrible, we can be sure to have a talented manager for when the O’s are competitive again.

2.  Mustard is still very competitive.

No matter how irrelevant the O’s become, the hotdog race they do on the jumbotron in the fifth inning (I think it’s the fifth) will always remain exciting and highly contested.  If mustard starts to get blown out every night, I may have to stop going to games.

1.  The Orioles are in prime position for the number pick in next year’s draft.

In the last ten years players like Bryan Bullington, Matt Bush, and Luke Hochevar were drafted with the number one pick.  If only we can get a guy like this it could turn our franchise around.  Sure we have to wait another four years before he could make an impact.  But O’s fans have proven to be very patient.

Ravens, Terps, O’s… 2010 off to a rough start

Hello again boys and girls!  Let’s hop into the hot tub time machine and go back to Jan. 16^th, a Saturday night.  Like most other Maryland sports fans, I found myself surrounded by other Baltimore Ravens fans watching our Ravens take on the football team from Indianapolis.  And, like all other Maryland fans, the night of Jan. 16^th ended with anger and frustration.  Not just that we got beat, but that we got beat by the team from Indianapolis.  Moreover, to rub salt in the wound, we had to watch that same Indianapolis team play in the Super bowl.  In a season that started off with such high expectations, it was tough to watch the season end as it did. 

Fast forward a couple months, I found myself, once again like many other Maryland sports fans, watching the Maryland Terrapins make a run in the NCAA tournament.  Despite how the Terps had over-achieved all year, they under achieved against the Michigan State Spartans in the tournament.  A Spartan team that had about as many players on the injury list as does a typical Bill Belichick team (the only difference is Tom Izzo does not lie about who is injured on his team unlike Bill ‘the con artists’ Belichick).  Not only did the Terps lose but a week later we had to watch Duke make their run and eventually win the NCAA tournament.  Of all the teams we had to watch win the tournament, of course it had to be the team we hate the most.  

Fast forward one day.  Still angered by watching Duke (despite being in my opinion out played and out coached) defeat Butler in the championship game, I once again joined all other Maryland fans to watch the Baltimore Orioles open up their season with relatively high expectations.  Those expectations were met for the first 8 innings of the ballgame as we clearly outplayed the Tampa Bay Rays yet due to some bad luck we couldn’t get the clutch base hit.  However, we did hit three homeruns, and Millwood pitched a good game, so we were in excellent position to win the game.  But alas, victories, even small ones like a win on open day, seem not to be the destiny of Maryland sports fans.  I watched in shock (yes I agree I should have known better) as the O’s blew their lead and lost in the bottom of the ninth. 

I was planning on writing a blog Tuesday night, but when I sat down to do it… I just couldn’t.  I was angry when the Ravens lost to the team from Indianapolis; I was frustrated when the Terps lost at the buzzer to the Spartans, but when the O’s lost open day I was neither angry nor frustrated.  I was sad.  I am not saying I’m throwing in the towel for the O’s in 2010 after one game.  All I’m saying is so far in 2010, it sucks to be Maryland sports fan.

Lessons learned from Spring Training

As Spring Training wraps down, the last game is on Saturday, Trembley’s plan for the 2010 season is starting to come into focus.  Here are the four biggest things that Spring Training has shown Oriole fans.

                4.  Chris Tillman is not ready to be a starter in the majors.

The kid has a good stuff; however, if the Orioles have learned anything from the past ten years is that great stuff does not lead to being a great pitcher.  Tillman lacks control of the strike zone, and though I have no doubt he will dominate in the minors, he needs to gain greater control of his pitches before being brought up.  This should not be looked at as a setback for Tillman.  He is a kid, only 21 years young.  I would like to see Tillman spend a full year in the minors before his brought up to the majors next year.  Of course assuming that he is able to do what many pitchers before him have been unable to do, and that is to master the strike zone.

                3.  The Orioles have major issues with their starting pitching

Everyone piles on Jeremy Guthrie as being a bum.  Last year, he was awful.  Certainly, he must have been the worst pitcher the O’s had last year.  But what a minute, let’s take another look, Guthrie led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts.  His ERA was certainly high at 5.04, but it was still lower than the O’s combined ERA.  With that said, the O’s starting pitching have had a rough spring with Millwood, our ace, giving up 12.95 runs per game and our number 2 Guthrie’s 7.41 ERA (actually a vast improvement over his spring training last year).  And our last three starting pitchers are still wild cards that our unproven. 

                2.  Section 336 is in fact Baltimore’s Best Sports Blog

After starting this blog up again at the beginning of spring training, it is clear, based on the cult-like following alone, that this blog is in fact best sports blog in Baltimore.  Much thanks to all my readers and my own clever wit to make this possible. 

1. 1.       Felix Pie will be the starting outfielder for 2010 season.

I take much joy in Pie being the starting left fielder on open day.  Since last season, I was stating that this would and should be the case (if you don’t believe me just check out the archives and read “I like Pie”.  Even despite the opposition I received from those of you who are ignorant about baseball and thought Reimold should be the starter in 2010, I held strong and stuck with Pie.  Earlier when I mentioned Tillman, I stressed the importance of not only having the skills but a great pitcher must also have an extremely high pitching IQ.  This is less true in batting.  I will take a guy with raw talent like Pie over a guy who is smart and tries really hard like Reimold.   

I would have hoped for some better performances of certain Oriole players in Spring Training, but what’s done is done and, thankfully, records and stats from Spring Training do not roll over to the regular season.  Opening day provides a blank slate where all players have chance to prove how good of players they can be.  And this year, there are a lot of O’s with a lot to prove.

My Father did not lie to me; the rumors are true!

Hello again everyone!  Only 11 days left till the start of the 2010 baseball season!  You know what that means.  It means that I have to figure out something to write about for the week and half.  But don’t you worry about me.  This blog is called Baltimore’s Best Sports Blog for a reason!  Okay, fine maybe it isn’t really Baltimore’s best sports blog, but most people who read this blog admit that it’s still better than The Shmuck Stops Here. 

Monday, I discussed the lack of sports action in Maryland until Opening Day.  My blog Monday was solidified by my actions on Wednesday night.  Now I know I teased that I would discuss the importance of spring training, but that’s going to have to go on hold because today, I gotsa talk about hockey.  Yes, that’s right boys and girls, hockey!

So let me set the stage.  Wednesday night, I went with my Daddy, bro and bro-in-law to see the best hockey team in the NHL; the best team with the best player in hockey of course being the Washington Capitals with Ovechkin.  (Props to Daddy for scoring us great seats… I got chills and goose bumps from sitting in my seats and gazing around at the banners that hung with pride from the rafters.  Right over top of us hung three Washington Mystic banners for being number one in attendance.  If that does not set the tone for a sporting event, I don’t know what does!)  The Caps opponents were the much-hated Pittsburgh Penguins.  We witnessed two of the best teams in hockey with two of the best players (Ovechkin and Crosby) in hockey.  The game was a tense back and forth tussle made all the more insufferable by the loathsome Penguin fans which made up about 10% of the fans.  At the end of regulation, the game was tied at 3.  To overtime it went and, despite some close calls, the game remained tied and to the fifth period (if there is such a thing) it went.  During the fifth period (or a shootout as some people refer to it), the Penguins took an early lead but the Caps came from behind and out shot (is ‘out shot’ the correct term?) the Pens.  I did not realize the Caps actually won the game until I saw the Pens goalie skate of the rink and all the fans started to leave their seats.   After watching such an exciting contest, one thing I (and everyone I went to the game with) was sure of is that hockey has nothing on baseball. 

Yes, we witnessed every aspect of hockey that makes people love it.  We had great seats; we saw a comeback; we saw a shootout; we saw our team win.  Regardless of all these things, I found myself sitting in my seat not wondering who is a better player Ovechkin or Crosby, but instead I was pondering how many homeruns Weiters would hit this year.  No, your father did not lie to you, and, yes, the rumors you have heard since you were a little kid are true.  Hockey does suck. 

Tune back in on Monday when I start your week right by listing the top five reasons hockey drools and baseball rules.