The End Of The Adam Eaton Error

I am rolling with posts today, so I figure I'll keep up the momentum with some O's stuff.

Last night, the Orioles were taken to the woodshed one more time by the New York Yankees, to the tune of a 7-4 loss. In the three game series, the Yankees hammered O's pitchers for 27 runs in three games. Should we call this the Great New York Orange and Blackout of 2009? The game last night was notable because it will likely mark the end of pitcher Adam Eaton's time with the O's.

In all my years watching the Orioles, I must say, I have yet to come across someone as bad at his job as Eaton. Sure, in this decade-plus of futility, the O's have had lots of shitty pitchers: Mike DeJean, Mike Fetters, Daniel Cabrera, Sidney Ponson, Jorge Julio, the list could go on. But Eaton was as awful as I have seen anyone who has ever put on an Orioles uniform. I mean, look at this stat line:

2009 BAL 8 8 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 41.0 56 39 39 9 19 28 8.56 1.83 .322

The key stats in that line? How about an 8.56 ERA, a 1.83 WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched)and a .322 batting average against. For those that do not know much about baseball, that is god awful. To really put it in perspective how shitty Eaton is, look at the numbers 39 and 41. 39 is his earned runs allowed and 41 is his innings pitched. That means Eaton gave up almost one earned run for every inning pitched! Last night pretty much summed up the entire Eaton experience. He gave up doubles to the first three Yankees he faced and was down 6-0 before the end of the 2nd inning. How is a young team not supposed to be demoralized by that? The worst part is, everybody except Andy McPhail and Dave Trembley knew Eaton was going to get raked by the red-hot Yanks.

But enough words. I'm going to let someone else do the talking. Here's a classic rant by legendary Chicago Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley on one-time Hawks defenceman Alexander Karpovtsev, who at that time, had just been traded to the New York Islanders. Now, as you are listening to this, just sub in the name "Adam Eaton" for "Alexander Karpovtsev" and "Baltimore Orioles" for "Chicago Blackhawks." Foley's end quote sums up exactly how every O's fan feels about Eaton: "Good riddance."

Orioles 10 White Sox 3

I suppose the headline on this game could be: "Markakis, Huff and the boys from Norfolk help O's break skid."

Brad Bergeson got it done in his first career start for the Orioles and the team snapped a 5-game losing streak. The youngster, called up from Norfolk to take Alfredo Simon's spot in the rotation, pitched a solid 5 2/3 innings for the win. Bergeson didn't have overpowering stuff, but he was around the plate and kept the Palehosers off-balance all night. And when he did run into trouble in the 4th and 5th innings, when the White Sox took a 3-2 lead, he didn't panic and kept it to a one-run deficit. The thing that stood out the most about Bergeson's performance tonight, besides a wicked tailing fastball, was his poise. He certainly got a test early in the 1st inning, as Sox slugger Carlos Quentin was battling Bergeson, hitting foul ball after foul ball. Many a young pitcher would have gotten frustrated and lofted a meatball up there that Quentin would have deposited into the bleachers. But Bergeson hung in there, kept making tough pitches and got Quentin to whiff to end the inning.

The side story to Bergeson's first outing was the reawakening of the Oriole bats after being held in check for two straight games. Aubrey Huff launched his first bomb in the first inning, crushing a Jose Contreras offering into the terrace boxes in right field. Then, after the Sox had taken the lead, the O's started taking the Windy City lads to the woodshed, scoring two runs in each of the next 4 innings to turn this one into a rout. They first managed to tie the game when Brian Roberts walked, moved to second on a groundout and then scored on a Nick Markakis double. Two batters later, 'Kake would give the O's the lead for good, coming around on a Luke Scott single. Markakis was on fire tonight, finishing 4-for-4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. That $66 million contract is looking like a bargin, if that's possible.

The game saw mini-breakouts from a number of O's who had been scuffling at the plate, including Huff, who cranked a 2nd homer into the center field bleachers in the 8th; Scott, who went 3-for-4 and raised his average over .300; and Cesar Izturis, who went 1-for-3 but got things going in the 6th with a walk and stolen base before scoring on Lou Montanez's double. Izturis would add a two-run double of his own in the 7th. Montanez, filling in for the concussed and DL'ed Ryan Freel, was the other Norfolk callup to make an impact tonight. The only O's who continued to struggle were Felix Pie, who hit three weak groundouts to go 0-for-3, and Ty Wigginton, who went 0-for-5 with a costly error at 3rd base.

The bullpen looked very sharp tonight, as the O's were able to use three of their strongest relievers so far this season - Danys Baez, Chris Ray and Jim Johnson - to kill any hopes of a Sox comeback.

Still, the story of the game was Bergeson, who is hopefully a harbinger of things to come from the O's farm system. I do not have any delusions of grandeur that the O's are going to make any noise this year. All I ask is that the team be competitive and show some hope for the future. And if we are going to lose, I'd much rather lose with young guys like Bergeson than with retreads like Mark Hendrickson and Adam Eaton. There's a reason those guys have bounced around the league. It's because they aren't very good. The lesson from this season, I suppose, is that we're going to have to put up with the Eaton's and Hendrickson's while we await the promise of the Bergeson's. By this summer, hopefully we will be seeing more of the latter than the former.

So, as Michael Reghi used to say, you can book this one to the Orioles. The O's can get back into that series-winning mode they were on before by winning tomorrow night. It will be Jeremy Guthrie against John Danks. Until then, if you like an Orioles win, give me a FUCK YEAH!

Red Sox 12 Orioles 1

Lost in the euphoria of last night's Caps win, I didn't do a post about the Orioles latest loss yesterday morning to the Boston Red Sox. After losing a 2-1 nailbiter on Sunday, the O's lost in more conventional fashion yesterday: by seeing their pitchers get torched for double-digit earned runs. I won't go into too much depth here, actually, I'll just give you the Cliff's Notes version of the O's 5th loss in a row.

- Mark Hendrickson was lit up for a second straight outing, yielding 8 baserunners (5 hits and 3 walks) in 5 innings of work, along with 3 earned runs.

- Dennis Sarfate had his worst outing of the season, getting pounded for 4 hits and 3 earned runs in his only inning of work.

- Radhames Liz made Hendrickson and Sarfate look like Sandy Koufax and Dennis Eckersley by getting hammered for 6 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning. With an ERA of 67 in two outings, Liz earned himself a one-way ticket to Norfolk.

- The O's pitchers helped two more slumping Red Sox hitters, David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia, break out. Pedroia finished 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs and Ortiz went 2 for 4, including a two-RBI triple. Yes, only the O's pitching staff could allow the lumbering Ortiz to hit a triple.

- Felix Pie struck out one more time, making it 7 K's in his last 15 at-bats.

- Ryan Freel had to be carted off after getting hit in the head with a pick-off throw. Despite his complaining to the media last week about playing time, let's hope Freel is OK.

- Despite his supposed steady work in the field, Gregg Zaun is an absolute sieve at the plate. The O's catcher is hitting .118 this season. Is Matt Wieters ready yet?

So, another loss in the House Of Horrors that is Fenway Park. The Birds at least get to come back home today, where they will open a 3-game set with the Chicago White Sox. Until, Otto has a special message for this game.

"Ach Du Scheisse!"

Red Sox 2 Orioles 1

There will be no 4th straight series win for the Orioles as they lost their 4th straight game and 3rd in a row to the Boston Red Sox.

This time around, the O's actually got a very good outing from Koji Uehara but couldn't get anything off Sox starter Jon Lester and when they did have chances, they couldn't deliver the big hit.

Uehara deserved better today as he held the Red Sox at bay over 7 strong innings. The only runs he gave up were a Paul O'Neill/Jorge Posada Memorial Bloop RBI Single (Posada and O'Neill were/are the masters of "excuse me" hits) to Mike Lowell and an RBI single to Dustin Pedroia. For most of the game, the O's couldn't touch Lester, who struck out 9. And when they did get some guys on base, the couldn't get them in, as witnessed by getting two on with none out in the sixth. Robert Andino had singled and Brian Roberts walked, and for the first time all day, Lester looked vunerable. But Felix Pie and Nick Markakis struck out and Aubrey Huff grounded out to end the O's rally. The O's only run came off Takashi Saito and even then, they squandered an opportunity for a big inning. Nick Markakis and Huff hit back-to-back singles but then Ty Wigginton hit into a fielder's choice (scoring Markakis but giving the Sox an out), Luke Scott flied out and Gregg Zaun, pinch-hitting for Ryan Freel, struck out to end the game. All told, the Orioles left 6 more men on base today.

Some Hangar Observations:

- Adam Jones left the game in the first inning after pulling up lame running out a ground ball. The postgame report says it was a sore hamstring. Not good.

- Felix Pie replaced Jones and turned several of the balls hit to him in center field into an advensture. At the plate, Pie came to the O's with a reputation as a big whiffer and so far he hasn't disappointed in the season's first two weeks. He's struck out 6 times in his last 12 at-bats. Somebody on the Orioles coaching staff needs to channel his inner Lou Brown and somehow convince Pie that with his speed he should be hitting the ball on the ground and legging them out. Perhaps make him do 50 pushups for everytime he hits the ball in the air? Pie is a guy with the skill-set to be another Al Bumbry/Omar Moreno type but goes to the plate with the mentality of Rob Deer. He's a slasher who thinks he's a home run hitter.

- It's not good for your offense when the light-hitting Andino is your best hitter.

- Ryan Freel has already begun complaining about playing time. Um, Ryan, when you're 1-for-14 it's hard to complain about PT. Here's a hint: Stop chasing balls up in your eyes like you did today. And when you do get in, get on base and rack up steals. It's the only way you're getting to get at-bats. If you're not doing that you're pretty much useless to this club.

- Chad Moeller did make a nice catch in the stands. Unlike Freel, Moeller at least does something when he gets in there. The shame is, he's likely to be out of a job the minute Matt Wieters shows up.

- Does David Ortiz look like he aged in dog years or what? He looks like the guy that got released by Minnesota back in the day, not the feared Big Papi. Injuries and not having Manny Ramirez around can do that but still, it's odd watching Ortiz struggle to hit pitches he either would have taken or mashed into the bleachers just 3 years ago. He's looked awful in a series where, most of the time, the Sox have been feasting on Orioles pitching.

- Brad Bergeson, who was the O's minor league pitcher of the year last year, will be getting the call on Tuesday against Chicago.

So one more O's loss in the bank. I knew I should have taken a picture of that 6-2 record, it would have lasted longer. One more game in Boston tomorrow at 11 a.m. for Patriots Day up there before coming home. With Mark Hendrickson on the mound, the potential for ugliness is at Defcon 4. But until then, one last time, let's get Otto von Bismarck's thoughts on the game.

"Scheisse"

Red Sox 6 Orioles 4

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party on last night's Orioles game but I was in Ocean City without access to my laptop. I was with a buddy of mine and a bunch of his work colleagues. Fortunately, the place we had dinner at had a TV in the bar, and even better, I had a clear view of it from my seat. Since we were dining at a pricey Italian restaurant, the food took forever so I did get to watch the whole game. I love multi-tasking.

Before I get into the recap, while I'm on the topic of Ocean City, Maryland, allow me to go on a quick tangent about the place we ended up, an enormous bar called Seacrets. Most of you that have been to or lived in the Mid-Atlantic and visited Ocean City have heard of it. Quite frankly, it's lame. La-la-la-lame. But at the same time, it's one of the most ridiculous places on Earth. They have this very restrictive dress code (they wouldn't let one member of our party enter because he had a visable white undershirt) and they put you through a metal detector as you go in. As if the terrorists are going to target some beach bar in Ocean City, Maryland. Guys, I think they have better alternatives out there.

Then there are the people. Oh, the people. 95% of the guys look like they are auditioning for the newest season of "Tool Academy." Lots of bright colored polo shirts, Baby Gap size T-shirts, gelled up hair and Jersey Shore meathead swagger. The girls are all in halter tops and some of them seem to have a competition going to see who can look the most like a prostitute. We saw this one gal in hotpants that rode up all the way to her ass cheeks. It was an outfit that screamed "Slip me a Roofie!!!" As if that were not enough, the place has a bouncing dance floor, a lot of bands who cover "Laid" by James and these TV screens showing girls dancing in shadow, which generally resembles an iPod commercial. It truly is like the poor man's Sodom and Gomorrah with plenty of overpriced drinks and faux tough-guy bouncers to make it a pleasant experience for the whole family.

Ok, with that said, here were some notes I took from Saturday's game.

- Last night made it abundantly clear what the difference is between the Red Sox and the Orioles. When it comes to the lineups, the O's are right there with Boston. But when it comes to pitching, the O's are as far from Beantown as Istanbul is. Adam Eaton got the start and was awful. Again. And when the O's did get to Sox starter Josh Beckett, the Boston bullpen was able to slam the door. Baseball is all about pitching, pitching, pitching and the Boston pitching is just miles ahead of the O's at this stage of the game. They can go to an ex-World Series MVP like Beckett, while we have Eaton, who helped the Phillies win the World Series last year by not pitching for them.

- That said, Brian Bass looked much, much better than in his last relief appearance. Chris Ray, Jamie Walker and Jim Johnson also looked good. That trio can form the basis of a very good relief corps, if only the starters could give them a lead to protect.

- The O's lineup, as good as its been at the beginning of the season, is ridiculously weak in the 7-8-9 holes. Last night's trio in those spots (Gregg Zaun, Felix Pie and Cesar Izturis) went a combined 2 for 12, left 7 men on base and are all hitting under .200.

-Can't say the O's didn't get some chances. They left a whopping 17 runners on base. Aubrey Huff and Ty Wigginton, batting in the 4 & 5 spots respectively, left a combined 6 men on base. You need better than that from guys in prime RBI spots to beat a good team like Boston.

- Can I repeat again how awful Eaton was last night? The numbers tell it all: 4 innings, 9 hits, 2 walks and 6 earned runs. His ERA in two starts is over 11. I hope Eaton decided to rent and not buy in Baltimore. Actually, I hope he didn't rent either. For his sake, I hope he bought a timeshare because his next game of 6 earned runs might be his last.

So that's all for my commentary of last night's game. This afternoon's game just ended so I will be right back with a post on that one. For now, get used to seeing Otto von Bismarck today.


"Schiesse"

Red Sox 10 Orioles 8

Two games: 29 runs against the Orioles pitching staff. 19 of them earned. 19 earned runs in two games. I'll repeat one more time, 19 earned runs in two games. I don't know what is a more disturbing number, the 19 earned runs or the 10 unearned runs. The shame of it is, the O's offense has scored 14 runs in 2 games and LOST! That is unacceptable.

Up 7-0, having a conga line around the bases with your supposed "ace" on the hill, tonight should have been an easy time for the Orioles tonight against the Boston Red Sox. But with the O's pitching staff, nothing is easy. And that 7-0 lead evaporated faster than Lindsay Lohan's career (horrible Rick Reilly pop culture reference of the night). After two solid outings to start the season, Jeremy Guthrie reverted back to the very hittable pitcher he was in spring training and the World Baseball Classic. Guthrie walked four and was shelled for 8 hits in 4 and 2/3 innings. Yes, he should have gotten out of the 5th inning, if not for Aubrey Huff's fielding error. To quote George Steinbrenner, Huff "looked like a monkey trying to fuck a football" on that one. By that point though, Guthrie had already unraveled after the O's had staked him to that 7-0 lead. He gave up four runs in the bottom half of the second and let the Sox creep further back after a solo homer by J.D. Drew. Once Brad Penny, who spent his three innings of work walking the ballpark and giving up a grand slam to Nick Markakis in the process, was removed and the excellent Red Sox 'pen entered the picture, the O's offense couldn't keep pace.

Then again, your pitching staff shouldn't be so horrid that a seven run lead is not enough. Now, over the course of a baseball season, games like this happen sometimes. But with the O's staff, you get the eerie feeling that this isn't an isolated incident. This staff is that bad. Usually, when Guthrie or Koji Uehara pitches the team has a chance, but Guthrie didn't have it tonight. There's no way to look at tomorrow's matchup of Adam Eaton against Josh Beckett and not have a certain sense of dread. After all, the O's offense could score 6 runs against Beckett and still lose by 10. That's how bad this staff is. The worst part is, I know it will not be the last time I will write a blog post like this.

So, that's two straight losses for the Birds, both of them bad. Hopefully Beckett tomorrow looks as awful as Penny was tonight and Eaton somehow manages to channel Jim Palmer and the O's can get back on a winning track. Until next time, take it away Otto von Bismarck of the German Empire...

"Scheisse"

Rangers 19 Orioles 6

Well, it wasn't 30-3. The Rangers actually showed some mercy this time. In the 8th inning when Matt Albers was throwing the ball to the backstop, the Rangers didn't try to score. That's the best that can be said about this game. The Rangers showed mercy. I wish I had more but there's not a whole lot more that can be said about this one. I'll just let this graphic do the talking...

Thankfully there's an off-day tomorrow before travelling to Boston. Wonderful. Until the next time, Otto says...

"Scheisse"

Orioles 7 Rangers 5 (10 Innings)

Another day, another series win, another George Sherrill near-heart attack for the Orioles.

The O's improved to 6-2 and assured themselves of a third straight series win with tonight's 7-5 victory over the Texas Rangers in a roller coaster ride of a game. It looked early on like the Rangers were going to play Home Run Derby with O's starter Alfredo Simon, as Texas got 3 solo homers in 2 innings by Michael Young, Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis. But Simon had to leave after an inning and 1/3 due to an apparent elbow injury and the O's bullpen slowed the Rangers down, led by sterling work from Dennis Sarfate, as well as contributions by Chris Ray, Jamie Walker and Jim Johnson. The O's offense chipped away at Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy with homers by Luke Scott and Aubrey Huff and an RBI single by Adam Jones. The bullpens then took over until the 10th when the O's exploded off of 400-year-old Rangers reliever Eddie Guardado. Jones hit a mammoth 2-run shot into the O's bullpen and Scott followed 3 batters later with a 2-run double that scored Nick Markakis and Ty Wigginton. That gave the O's a seemingly secure 7-3 lead into the bottom of the 10th.

Then, Mr. Excitement entered the picture. George Sherrill came in and did what George Sherrill does. What is that you ask? Well, he didn't get the nickname "Mr. Excitement" by going out and going 1-2-3 every time. Sherrill gave up 4 straight singles to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Omar Vizquel (he's still in the league?), Ian Kinsler and Young to turn it into a 7-4 game with the bases loaded and nobody out. After forcing an RBI groundout from Josh Hamilton to make it 7-5, Sherrill gave up two towering flyballs to Hank Blalock and Cruz, both of which went to the warning track. But they stayed in the yard and Mr. Excitement escaped once again. Manager Dave Trembley might not live much longer or may take up smoking as long as Sherrill is the closer. With Sherrill the name that always comes up is Don Stanhouse, the O's closer in the late 70s who earned the nickname "Full Pack" because he would make Earl Weaver so nervous by getting into jams that Earl would smoke a full pack of cigarettes while Stanhouse was on the mound. I'm not even the O's manager and Sherrill makes me want to smoke a full pack of cigs.

Two Random Notes:
- The Oriole catchers finally threw out someone trying to steal. Opponents were a perfect 11 for 11 stealing bases against Gregg Zaun and Chad Moeller but Zaun threw out 2 Rangers tonight to end that little streak.

- The O's brass bragged all off-season about the improved defense and it has been on display in Texas. First, there was Markakis' great catch from last night and then tonight, Jones and Brian Roberts executed a perfect relay play to nail Young at the plate and get a key out when the game was still tied 3-3.

So that's all for tonight. The O's can once again try to get a sweep tomorrow night. If nothing else, they can hopefully avoid giving up 11 runs, which they've done the last two times they've tried to get a sweep. Of course, that's an iffy proposition with Mark Hendrickson on the mound tomorrow against ex-Oriole Kris Benson. But for now, if you like an Orioles win, give me a Hoo-rah!

Orioles 10 Rangers 9

Ah, Texas. Like John Wayne Gacy's crawlspace, whatever-the-Rangers-Stadium-is-called-these-days is a place where things get buried, in this case, the ERAs and WHIPs of pitchers. The victims this day were Texas' Vincente Padilla and the O's Koji Uehara. Padilla got the hook first, after being blasted for 7 earned runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Koji fared a little bit better but was clearly laboring by the 6th inning and his stat line looked just as ugly: 5 innings, 7 hits and 7 earned runs. Danys Baez, who looked sharp the first two games, morphed back into the hittable pitcher we all remembered from 2007. He did inherit a mess from Uehara, bases loaded with none out, but he helped turn a 10-4 rout into a 10-9 nailbiter. However, some solid holds by Jamie Walker and Jim Johnson kept the Rangers at bay. George Sherrill came on, and of course, put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. But Nick Markakis bailed Sherrill out with a brilliant catch of a long flyball by Michael Young and Flat Breezy struck out Marlon Byrd to end the game. Just another day at the office for Sherrill, who Jim Palmer fittingly nicknamed "Mr. Excitement."

But with the bad pitching came hitting. Lots and lots of hitting. Aubrey Huff had the biggest night, going 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs. Markakis and Brian Roberts kept up their hot starts by going a combined 5 for 10 with 3 RBIs and 5 runs scored. But the biggest shot came off the bat of Felix Pie, who hit his first home run as an Oriole and then punctuated it with the fastest home run trot since Pete Rose. Seriously, dude looked like Usain Bolt flying around the bases. And oh by the way, how nice were those new Orioles road unis with "Baltimore" written across the chest...

...Sweet.

So let's just call this one another typical night in Texas. The O's can assure a third straight series win tomorrow night with Alfredo Simon going against Brandon McCarthy. But for now, if you like an O's win, give me a Domo Arigato!

Remembering My Fantasy Baseball Antichrist

I've been playing fantasy baseball now for about 6 years. And in that time, I've had good teams and bad. Good players and crappy ones. But I've never owned anyone that challenged my will to live more than ex-Orioles closer Jorge Julio.

You see, it seemed every year for 3 straight years I ended up with Julio on my roster. Looking back now, you may be asking: why did you let Jorge Julio anywhere near your fantasy roster? Well, remember, Julio was the Orioles closer back in the day and actually posted decent saves numbers for a couple of years.

But man, he came with a huge Buyer Beware tag. To be honest, part of the reason I ended up with Julio so often was because he was so predictable. He was going to end up with 25-35 saves and at least 500 heart palpatations and 5 broken remote controls. You could always tell a bad Julio outing right from the get-go. His first pitch would be a slider that would bounce 5 feet in front of home plate. Then he'd throw another slider that would bounce 8 feet in front of home plate. Keep in mind that Jorge threw a 97 mph fast ball. Behind 2-0 in the count, Julio would try to crank up the fastball and overthrow it, usually 6 feet over the hitters head or half a mile outside. And that would be all she wrote. Pretty much an automatic blown save and Orioles loss.

Not only that, but much like his forefathers Doug Jones, Mike Timlin and Armando Benitez, you could always count on Julio imploding in a big spot. The guy was like the A-Rod of closers: he would go 1-2-3 with a 3-run lead in a meaningless May game against Texas but in a 1-run game in August against the Yankees or Red Sox, Julio set more fires than a 90s Norwegian black metal band.

My ultimate memory of Julio was duing an interleague game against San Francisco. Me and my buddies were in attendance and Julio came into a close game to try to get the O's out of a jam. Not a chance. Julio got shelled and I got drunk as hell. I let Julio have it with a stream of obscenities and had the urge to see how many beers I could drink before alcohol poisoning set in. When he was dealt to the New York Mets in the trade that brought Kris Benson to Baltimore, I didn't care whether Benson was a bust or not (he was), I was just glad to be rid of Julio. He was the sort of pitcher that cost fantasy GMs championships and real life GMs their jobs.

I had purged Julio from my brain for a number of years. The last I saw him, he was pitching for Colorado and nearly cost the Rockies a playoff berth by imploding (as always) in a tight spot. I thought the league had run out of teams for him to play the role of bullpen arsonist. So imagine my surprise when I turned on Sunday night baseball yesterday and saw Julio pitching for Milwaukee. I watched him briefly. He started the first hitter off with ball one high and inside and I quickly switched the channel. I knew how this one was going to end.

Rays 11 Orioles 3

Say this about the 2009 Baltimore Orioles, at least early on: When they lose, they lose spectacularly. In two losses this season, the O's have been whipped to the tune of 22-5. At least they aren't losing nailbiters.

Here at the Hangar, we don't do a lot of fancy statistical work. Hell, we just shoot from the lip and give our amateur opinions about things. Some may say, what the Hangar does is why mainstream media guys hate bloggers: just some asshole sitting in his mom's basement spewing garbage about things he doesn't understand.

Well, maybe that's true. But I don't need a press pass or a background in sabermetrics to know that Adam Eaton is not going to cut it as the O's 5th starter. He allows too many baserunners and doesn't have overpowering stuff. Eaton got himself into trouble right off the bat. He managed to get out of danger in the first inning but after loading the bases in the 2nd, the potent Rays lineup struck with a 3-run triple by Carl Crawford. All told, Eaton allowed 10 baserunners (8 hits and 2 walks) in 4 innings of work, leaving the game down 4-0. Again, I'm just some dipstick on a blog but I get the sense that's not good.

If Eaton was bad, Brian Bass was worse. Like, "I Know Who Killed Me" bad. Bass was filleted (how you like that Rick Reilly-style pun, eh?) for seven runs on eight hits, including four home runs. The only good thing you could say about Bass's outing was that he went 3 1/3 innings, saving the rest of the bullpen. But surely there has to be somebody in Norfolk or Bowie better than Bass? The guy has been flat-out lit up in two outings this year.

Oh well, the good thing about baseball is that you have another game tomorrow and after a bad outing, you can just do this...

...but it is troubling that the pitching staff looks as bad as advertised, especially in the 4th and 5th starter spots. Despite Mark Hendrickson's strong outing on Friday, it looks like Guthrie and Koji and pray for rain. Are you sure there's no way we can coax Pedro Martinez to pitch here? After all, I'd rather see Pedro get lit up for 5 runs than a guy like Eaton. Even though his fastball has lost some serious juice, you at least know Pedro is a professional who will be around the plate. Or if we can't do him, how about Chris Tillman or Jake Arrieta?

So the O's will now hit the road and travel to that place where ERAs go to blow up: Texas. I get the feeling we're going to see quite a few crooked numbers up on the scoreboard during this three game set with the Rangers. But for now, we'll close the book on a successful homestand with a bad ending. What do you think about it former Chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck?

"Scheisse"

Orioles 6 Rays 0

The Orioles guaranteed themselves a second series win over an alleged AL East contender with a fairly easy 6-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. In the words of the movie "Major League," "Maybe these guys ain't so fuckin' bad?"

The game, for all intents and purposes, was over in the first inning when the O's jumped all over Tampa starter Jeff Niemann for five runs, punctuated by a Melvin Mora grand slam. Jeremy Guthrie looked sharp, scattering 5 hits over 6 innings of work. Relievers Matt Albers, Jamie Walker and Chris Ray each gave up a hit but managed to pitch their way out of any trouble. Ray in particular has been a mystery man this year: he looked great in spring but has been bombed in two outings so far. It looked like he'd be the guy to blow the shutout after giving up a walk and a double to Dioneer Navarro. But he recovered and ended up striking out the side, giving a little Dennis Eckersley-style fist pump after K'ing Akinori Iwamura to end the game. Let's hope this is the beginning of Ray returning to the dominating form he showed in spring.

There was very little to note from this game after the first inning but two things struck me. One, did the O's grounds crew put flubber down on that warning track. The first five games at Oriole Park have seen a ton of ground ruled doubles, where the ball hits that track and bounces about 30 feet in the air. It looks like bouncing a tennis ball on asphault.

Second, the O's did not take a series from Tampa all year last year. Now, they've done it in two games. Like I said in the opening, these guys may not be so fucking bad, especially if they get some decent pitching, because they certainly can hit.

So the O's will try to go for the sweep this afternoon. Things will be a bit tougher with Rays ace James Shields going to the hill against O's fifth starter Adam Eaton. But until then, if you like an Orioles win, give me a Huzzah!

Orioles 5 Rays 4

A little late getting this up (not that anybody gives a crap) but the Baltimore Orioles are now 3-1 thanks to a 5-4 victory last night over the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays (still weird to say that). The O's can guarantee a second series win tonight against what figures to be one of the top teams in the division. We've seen the O's get off to good starts before, only to crap the bed come August and September. But so far there is something a bit more encouraging about this team. Right now, the O's top 3 hitters (Brian Roberts, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis) look as solid as any in baseball. Those three guys hit the crap out of the ball again last night, collecting five hits and scoring 4 of the 5 Oriole runs. Melvin Mora, who hit so well last year with runners in scoring position, knocked in 3 RBIs, hopefully picking up where he left off last year.

Now, if you asked me who my two least favorite Orioles were at the beginning of this season I would have told you without hesitation: Mark Hendrickson and Danys Baez. I nearly strained my voice screaming "NOOOOO!!" when the O's signed Hendrickson, a 6'9 lefty who couldn't break a Cheez-It with his fastball. I saw Hendrickson plenty in his days with the Dodgers and wasn't very impressed. Baez, much like Hendrickson, was also with the Dodgers, stunk there, got signed by the Orioles and stunk in 2007 before missing all of last year with arm injuries.

With that said, of course those two guys would look very sharp last night. Hendrickson allowed plenty of baserunners in his 5 1/3 innings pitched (6 hits and two walks) but he pitched himself out of it and only gave up one run, a homer to Evan Longoria. Baez was even more impressive and looks reborn if his first two appearances this year are any indication. He struck out four Rays over his 1 2/3 innings of no-hit ball. He looks like the guy who saved 40 games for the Rays a couple of years ago.

And yet, the O's bullpen made it interesting again. This time, it was the guys who were good last year, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill providing the heart palpitations. Johnson especially looked shaky, giving up a two-run homer to Longoria to turn a 5-1 game into a 5-3 nailbiter. Of course, shaky is Sherrill's business and Flat Breezy was up to his usual tricks, striking out all three Rays he faced but also giving up a homer to Dioneer Navarro. Business as usual, right Georgie?

Other than the bullpen, the only other worry sign for the O's is the inability to stop other teams' running game. The Yankees stole four bases in three games when they were here and Tampa Bay added another one last night. A lot of these steals, the catchers haven't had a chance. The pitchers have to do a much better job of holding guys on.

Small quibbles when you're winning though, and the Orioles are winning out of the gate. Let's see if they can get another one tonight with Jeremy Guthrie on the hill against Jeff Niemann (who?). Until then, if you like an Orioles win, give me a Jai Ho!

Yankees 11 Orioles 2

I should have taken a picture of the graphic that said "Orioles 2-0 1st Place In AL East." It would have lasted longer. I suppose a game like today was bound to happen. The Orioles bats would fail to knock in runners in scoring position, the Yankees would pummel the inexperienced O's hurlers and the Evil Empire would set things in order.

The turning point in this game, as far as I'm concerned, was Aubrey Huff striking out against Yanks starter A.J. Burnett with the bases loaded. The O's had failed to take advantage of some chances in the first two games of this series, but today was different. You just knew this Yankees lineup was going to get theirs at some point. Despite the big missed chance by Huff, the O's were still in this thing until the 6th inning when the Yanks got a couple of hits, chased Simon after making it 4-2 and then took advantage of an error by Brian Bass to blow the game wide open, leading 7-2 after that 6th inning. Robinson Cano added a garbage 2-run homer to rack up some bonus fantasy stats. The horribly named Nick Swisher clobbered O's pitching something fierce with a 2-run homer and a 2-run double. Chris Ray got shelled again. Glad I took him over George Sherrill in my fantasy draft.

The toughest part about this game was Big Cash getting his first home run. I suppose it was bound to happen, but I could have handled this loss a lot better without seeing the big dollar sign hitting one out. I was also a bit disappointed Big Cash wasn't booed as vociforously as he was in the 1st two games. We're not gonna let him off that easy are we? Just because Colin "Schrutebag" Cowherd said something about it?
"Wanted: For crimes against sports talk radio"

Keep booing him. Here's what you can do: pretend Big Cash is Jeffrey Maier. That ought to work. Or, I can put his smirking, two-faced grin up on the screen again...

Is that not the face of a guy you want to boo? I know I do.

So, it's one loss. The beauty of baseball is that you can lose 80 games and still have a winning record. But losing to Big Cash and the Yankees still carries some sting. Don't take my word for it though, take the word of the former Chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck...

Otto: "Scheisse"

Orioles 7 Yankees 5 - Magic Number: 160

Konichiwa Koji Uehara! Welcome aboard, as the O's guaranteed themselves an opening series win over the dreaded New York Yankees.

The bullpen was shaky again, a reversal from last year, but the O's hit the crap out of the ball for a second straight game, causing Yanks starter Chien-Ming Wang to come up limp. Right off the bat, you could tell the Oriole hitters were still in the groove from opening day, getting three extra base-hits in the 1st inning, then chasing a flaccid Wang after 3 2/3 innings when Nick Markakis hit a bomb to put the home team up 7-1. Up 7-2 after 5, for some reason O's manager Dave Trembley pulled Koji and put in Matt Albers, who proceeded to make things interesting. Dennis Sarfate did the same, giving up a 2-run homer to Derek Jeter. Trembley's explanation after the game was that he's trying to limit Koji's pitch count early on. Not a bad strategy, but through two games, its clear the bullpen is a little slow out of the gate.

Still, it was a nice follow-up to the stellar opening day, and the O's have now put some panic into New York early on. They've bombed two former 20-game winners in a row. The crowd was smaller than opening day, but the O's fans were once again into things from beginning to end. Let's try to keep this support up all year.

And now, comes the part where I rip Mark Teixeria again. First, let me uphold the new Baltimore tradition...

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

If Big Cash thought the worst was over, he was dead wrong. Again, the crowd wasn't as big as on opening day, but they still let Big Cash have it everytime he stepped up to the plate. As if we needed more fuel to boo this goof, he provided some. If Big Cash was thinking he was going to quiet the boobirds by playing the "I always rooted for the Orioles. Except for when Don Mattingly came to town" card, he's sadly mistaken. Got news for ya Big Cash, the boos aren't going to stop. You got 8 more years of this. It's the price you pay for signing a contract with the Yankees for roughly the GDP of Namibia and talking out of both sides of your mouth. All he had to do was say, "I'm going wherever the best deal is," and no one would have cared. We would have been disappointed, sure, but we would have understood. But instead, he wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted the big money contract but he wants everybody to like him. Doesn't work that way, especially not in Baltmo, where slights are seldom forgiven. Like I said yesterday, Big Cash could have been the King of Baltimore but he chose to be just another hired gun in New York. I just look forward to the day four years from now when Big Cash is introduced at Oriole Park...and is still showered with boos while he makes a face that says "Why are they still booing me?" The thought is priceless.

So, its 2-0 for the O's on the young season. Big sports day for the Good Guys tomorrow: Caps can clinch the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference and the O's can sweep the Yankees. Until then, in honor of our new Japanese pitcher, if you like an Orioles win, give me a Domo Arigato!

The Morning After

For one day at least, it is a glorious time to be a Baltimore Orioles fan. We just spanked the New York Yankees and their $200 million team on opening day. And our booing of Mark Teixeira is the talk of the baseball world.

Check it out, O's fans made:
Deadspin

D.C. Sports Bog

and Yahoo's Big League Stew blog.

Not only that, but when you search for this here blog on Google, the words "lowlife, front-running, chickenshit motherfucker" come up. Really, really good times.

So now that we O's fans have shown Big Cash, I mean Tex, how we feel about him, now its time to add another man to the shitlist. This guy will be a lot tougher to boo than Big Cash but if we see him around town, he should be given the same treatment. It's Fox Sports baseball columnist Ken Rosenthal.

Just like Big Cash, this guy has Baltimore ties (he worked for the Sun) and has plied his trade nationally by shitting on the Orioles at every opportunity. He piled on big time after the 30-3 debacle against Texas two years ago with a scathing column about O's owner Peter Angelos (alas, it is no longer online). Ok, fine. The criticism was warranted at that time. But then he goes out and writes a column saying we had no rational reason to boo Big Cash yesterday. No rational reason? Wha!?! Apparently Kenny doesn't read Hangar 39 much. Bottom line is, in Baltmo, we never forget a slight and Big Cash slighted us. It wasn't about the money, it wasn't about the Yankees. It was about the fact that Big Cash was a disingenous douchebag. If he had just said something to the effect of "It was about the money" or "I wanted to play for the Yankees the whole time," he wouldn't have got booed as bad.

As bad as Big Cash's foot-in-mouth disease, it was nothing like Rosenthal. Just read this self-aggrandizing interview with a fawning Rick Maese on the Sun's website. My favorite part is that Angelos owes HIM an apology for PA's calling him out after that Texas article two years ago. Give me a break. Please, Fox, do us all a favor and don't send this guy anywhere near Oriole Park for the rest of this season.

Orioles 10 Yankees 5- Magic Number: 161

Great way to start a season eh? Beating the dreaded, hated Yankees. Pounding $160 million fat ass C.C. Sabathia into submission (seriously, did you see the size of Sabathia out there? Dude looked like a sperm whale. As my old man would say, "He don't look like he's skipped too many meals.") It was one of the most satisfying opening day wins I can remember in quite some time. Yes, it was only one game, and the pitching was as suspect as O's fans expected. But who gives a crap? For one day, we whacked Sabathia and the Yanks pitchers around the ballpark.

The top 3 in the batting order, Nick "The Greek" Markakis, Brian Roberts and Adam Jones, looked lethal at the plate. The Yankees pitchers couldn't get them out all day. Cesar Izturis did more at the plate and in the field in one game than last year's shit sandwich of Freddy Bynum, Alex Cintron and Luis Hernandez did all season, even bringing a small measure of cosmic revenge for Jeffery Fuckin' Maier in 1996 with his home run.

But the real point of this little rant is to tell all the O's fans that were in attendance today: Bravo! You not only took back Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a place that for far too long had become the personal domain of the Sal's, Anthony's and Vinnie's making their way down from New York but you gave Mark Teixeira the booing of a lifetime. And it couldn't have happened to a bigger douchebag than Teixeira.

"Double talkin' jive
Get the money motherfucker
Cuz I got no more patience"
- Axl Rose

Here's the thing, Yankee fans and outsiders won't completely understand the venom we have towards Tex. They all think it was because he signed with the Yankees and not the Orioles. Or because he took the Yanks' $180 million over the O's $150 million. But really, the reason we gave him the Elway treatment and booed his ass all the way back to the Bronx wasn't because of either of those things. Oh sure, they were a part of it, but the real reason is because Tex, a Severna Park native, could have come back to Baltimore and been the hero of the day. He could have been the beacon of the O's return from the baseball graveyard. Some O's fans were looking forward to his free agent year for 3 seasons. A good portion of the fan base was ready to build him a statue to go with Johnny U's. The thought of a local boy coming home and helping to resurrect the Orioles to their place as a top organization was just too good to be true. He got everybody's hopes up by indicating through the press that coming back to play in Baltimore (or in D.C.) would be a real thrill for him. We salivated at the thought of this guy hitting his 35 homers and 100 RBIs in orange and black.

So when he revealed himself to be just another baseball mercenary, it felt like a real double-cross. But even then, we could live with Tex signing with the Yankees. We could live with the money. But when he gave that press conference for the New York media where he talked about how it was his dream to play for the Yankees, how Don Mattingly was his favorite player and how he would go to games at Camden Yards wearing a Yankees cap, well, that was the last straw. Tex wouldn't just get a token booing like Mike Mussina did. No no, he would get an epic kind of booing. A John Elway/Robert Irsay-style booing. The kind of vitorol that most people don't think Baltimore fans have but oh, we do.

My only worry going into today was that the Yankee fans would drown out the boos. But O's fans, you guys came up clutch.

We booed Tex so bad, he revealed himself as utterly and completely full of crap. "In a perfect world, I'd be an Oriole?" Uh, Tex, Judge Hangar has found you guilty of being a lowlife, front-running, chickenshit motherfucker. I got news for ya big man, that $180 mil bought you 8 more years of booings like this. We O's fans can take comfort in the fact that for 10 games a season for the next 8 YEARS, we can come to the Yard and boo Tex out of the ballpark. That we can look forward to a whole series of damage control statements like this one. You could have been a hero Tex but now, we O's fans hope when you go for crab cakes, the chef, the hostess, the patrons and the waiter boo your ass as well. Like Johnny Utah told Roach at the end of "Point Break," "I hope it was worth it."

So, it's 1-0 for the O's with a day off tomorrow before playing opening night against the Yanks on Wednesday. Until next time, if ya like an Orioles win, give me a HELL YEAH!!

Good Guys Links - Orioles

It's been a couple days since I have posted anything about Baltmo's baseball team, not that you've missed anything or missed the Orioles period. Nonetheless, they are our baseball team and they do provide the placeholder in between Capitals and Ravens seasons...

"So they got that going for them...which is nice."

- The O's bullpen is looking to stay healthy this year. Having the starters last longer than 4 innings every start would help.

-Chris Gomez's roster status is "shaky" as spring training starts to wrap up. You could say Gomez's baseball talent is also "shaky"

- Former Oriole Curt Schilling called it a day. May you continue to rot in hell Glenn Davis.

- Happy news for Nick Markakis fantasy owners: he's looking to steal more bases this year. I also hope he keeps his awesome heavy metal hair all season.


- There will be no Rich Hill on opening day.

- O's blog The Wayward O previews the AL East.

- Another O's blog, Dempsey's Army, has some info on the Matt Wieters hype machine, including, apparently, Chuck Norris Facts.

- Peter Angelos says once the O's get into playoff contention, then they will start going after big name free agents. So the plan is, once we develop all this minor league talent we're trying to develop, then we can go out and get another Albert Belle to sink the franchise into another decade of 4th place finishes. Is it just me or is there a lot more optimism around the O's when Angelos doesn't talk?

Good Guys Links - Orioles

Sorry for the late start to the blogging day but the day job was so busy today I needed a break from words for a little while. I'm ready for more though now so I'll be bringing the posts fast and furious tonight. For starters, here are some links to the Good Guys - Orioles edition.

- This is a little bit older but O's blogger Roar From 34 remembers the day Ken Griffey Jr. ended Brad Pennington's career with one monstrous home run.

- The O's starting pitching staff this year is, to put it mildly, a mess.

- That being said, Manager Dave Trembley liked what he saw out of Adam Eaton in today's exhibition loss to St. Louis.

- Nice stuff by Jeff Zrebiec on hitting coach Terry Crowley and his work with offseason acquisition Felix Pie.

- Ex-Oriole Sir Sidney Ponson may not find a lot of judges to beat up in Kansas City.

Links ahoy...

What ARRRRGGGGH ya doin' out there internets?

Time for another lazy links post. This may be it for today as far as posts since the day job is going to take up much of my time. Thus, no game recap from Caps-Thrashers tonight unless I manage to get out early. I can hear the weeping from Delaware to Slovakia now. I'm going to do this in a little different format, so if you like it, let me know. And if you don't like it well, IDONTGIVEAFUCK!

"Sasha, what the fuck are you doing?"

Good Guys Links:

-Orioles take two more exhibition games from the Boston Red Sawx. That's a sweep in Grapefruit League competition. If only they could do this when the games count. And if only slapdicks like this didn't show up at Orioles Park in spades...


- Brian Roberts had a big game for Team USA in its bounce-back win over the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.

-Radhames Liz - future bullpen arsonist. If he doesn't have Jorge Julio written all over him I don't know who does. And yes, I am still bitter at Julio for murdering my fantasy baseball team a few years back.

- The Ravens and O's are teaming up for a doubleheader promotion on April 25. The Ravens are hosting a "FanFest" type of event and those that buy tickets will also get admission to the O's-Texas Rangers night game.

- Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz are all headed to the minors as predicted right here on Hangar 39!

- Brian Pothier may make his first appearance in two years during tonight's Caps-Thrash game. Glad to see Brian was able to make it back after suffering from post-concussion syndrome. Caps owner "Billionaire" Ted Leonsis sums it up pretty well.

- From Japer's - God wants Alex Ovechkin to get #50 tonight. I agree with God on this one.

- JP and Peerless have previews of tonight's game, which will be on Versus at 7 pm.

-Also, Peerless rightfully calls out Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, aka NBC's Pierre McGuire and "Mad" Mike Milbury for the dated criticism about Jose Theodore. The "Caps can't win the Cup with Theodore" stuff is about as dated as a 90s Mike Myers movie.

Non-Good Guys Sporting Links:

- Auf wiedershein Matt Jones. My only regret is that he didn't pull a Robbie Fowler and snort the endzone line.

- Via Puck Daddy - The Calgary Flames are drawing musical inspiration from...Lady Gaga? Who the fuck is Lady Gaga?

Non-sporting links:

-R.I.P Ron Silver. Loved you as Senator Darren McCord in the Jean-Claude Van Damme blockbuster "Timecop."

Silver also delivered the immortal line from the short-lived Fox TV show "Skin" -"HIS FATHER IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY!!!"

- From the Icon - The lack of creative imagination in Hollywood continues. Now we are apparently getting a "Macguyver" movie. Other than Patty and Selma from "The Simpsons" is there anyone out there excited about this?

- Dick Cheney - still delusional.

Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "One Shot, One Kill" by Maryland's own Dying Fetus.