Orioles Drop Matinée, Fall to 1-8

Associated Press – B.J. Upton homered twice and drove in four runs, Carlos Pena hit a three-run shot and the Tampa Bay Rays ended a dreadful homestand for the Baltimore Orioles with a 9-1 victory Wednesday.

David Price (2-0) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings for the Rays, whose 6-3 start is the best in franchise history. Tampa Bay swept the three-game series, something it did only once on the road last year.

Miguel Tejada homered for the Orioles, who went 0-6 and were outscored 37-16 during their opening homestand against Toronto and the Rays. Baltimore is 1-8, its worst start since going 0-21 in 1988.

Orioles starter Brad Bergesen (0-1) gave up eight runs, five earned, in three-plus innings. After enjoying a promising rookie season in 2009, the right-hander has an 11.74 ERA after two starts.

The Rays scored three unearned runs in the first inning, courtesy of an error and Pena’s second homer in as many at-bats. After Tejada misplayed a popup between third base and shortstop that plopped onto the infield, Bergesen issued a two-out walk and Pena followed with a drive to left-center.

This single loss by itself doesn’t really bother me too much. Bergesen is young and a rough start to the season should have been expected. But the cumulative effect of all of these defeats is just sickening right at this point.

The offense showed a bit of life last night but today was another unacceptable output. Aside from Tejada’s solo shot, they did close to nothing today. Once again they failed to cash in when it counted, going 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and leaving seven on base.

Things have to turn around soon, right?? The law of averages has to kick in sooner or later. But then again the law of averages doesn’t apply when you are playing horrendous baseball.

On a side note, today the team placed struggling closer Mike Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left shoulder. Kam Mickolio is expected to fill in during Gonzalez’s absence.

Orioles 2010 Preview: Hope Springs Eternal

(Image Courtesy of Orioles.com)

Tonight symbolizes a fresh start for the Baltimore Orioles. All the opening days of the past 12 years have been fresh starts in a sense. But they way those last 12 seasons have ended up…yikes!

My favorite team has been hard to watch for the past decade. It has been frustrating, embarrassing, and sad to see sub par baseball year in and year out.

But there is plenty of optimism this year amongst players and fans alike. When I look at the 2010 Orioles I see serious potential for growth. That growth is what will hopefully translate into contention with the big boys in the A.L. East in the years to come

So here is my brief outlook of this year’s team:

The starting pitching staff is young (Brian Matusz, David Hernandez, and Brad Bergesen are 23, 24, and 24 respectively) but the they are anchored by veterans Kevin Millwood and Jeremy Guthrie. One would hope there is some improvement from 2009 in which Baltimore’s starters tied for the worst ERA in baseball at 5.37

Brian Roberts once again will lead things off and play second base. He was limited to 19 at-bats during spring training due to a herniated disk in his back. Despite this he is set to go and will play in tonight’s game.  batting second is Center fielder Adam Jones. Jones was named an All Star and won his first career Gold Glove award in 2009. He has improved vastly since joining the team 2 seasons ago. He has tremendous range in the outfield and has become more patient as a hitter. I still feel he has another season or two before he really blossoms at the plate. Right fielder Nick Markakis’ stats dipped a bit in ’09. He is entering his fifth full season as a pro and I’m looking for him to be firing on all cylinders this year. An average of over .300, 25+ home runs, and 100+ RBI’s are very realistic numbers for him.

A familiar face in Miguel Tejada is back on the squad. He will play third and bat cleanup this year. DH Luke Scott and catcher Matt Wieters fill the 5 and 6 spots respectively. This will be Wieters’ first full season in the major leagues and he’d like to pick up where he left off at the end of his rookie campaign. He had a very solid September last year, finishing the month hitting .362, knocking in 14 runs, and having an on base percentage of .425.

Also entering his first full season is Nolan Reimold. He will bat seventh and occupy left field. But he will miss tonight’s opener with a sore Achilles tendon. Felix Pie will fill in. Garrett Atkins joins the O’s after seven seasons with the Rockies. He will play first and bat eighth. He is a career .290 hitter who like Markakis, is capable hitting 25+ HR’s driving in 100+ RBI’s in a good year. His numbers dropped off considerably in 2009, it will be interesting to see if he can rebound in 2010. And batting ninth is shortstop Cesar Izturis. Last year the Orioles needed major help defensively at short and they got it in Izturis. In 2009 he had a .984 fielding percentage and committed only eight errors.

There you have it. I assume it would be appropriate to make a prediction here. I’m going to say the O’s finish 4th in the American League East and just barely miss reaching the .500 mark with a record of 80-82. Just some perspective: the birds have not had more than 79 wins since 1997, when they won the division with 98! I’ll refer back to this post in October when all the dust has settled. Hopefully I’m not too off. Enjoy the season!!!

Loving The New “Birdland” TV Spots

Alright so last week I caught a glimpse of the TV and there was commercial on featuring my favorite Oriole: center fielder Adam Jones. But this Oriole ad was different. You see, when it ended, I was pumped, excited, and ready to buy season tickets!! 

Ok maybe I got a little carried away. But let me walk you through the ad in case you haven’t seen it. 

It has Jones in the weight room doing squats, curls, and agility drills. He’s sweating like crazy and looks pissed off. While all of this is being shown you hear him saying: 

Last season, I earned the title: All Star.

So what??

I’m not working to be called Gold Glove winner or All Star.

I’m working for the title: World Champion. 

And when I earn that, I’ll rest 

…Well, probably not. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes! This is a commercial I can be proud of! Who wouldn’t want to support the team after seeing this? 

There are two more spots that are currently airing that are very similar to this. One is with catcher Matt Wieters and shows him swinging away in the batting cage talking about how games are won and lost in the offseason. The other is with pitcher Brad Bergesen throwing some heat and claiming he can’t wait to attack 2010. 

Once again, I’m probably getting a little carried away here. These are only commercials. But when you contrast these to some of the commercials of last year…what a difference. 

Here are just two of the 7 or so ads that were running last year: 

 

First we have two young ladies at the game. The one on the left mentions how every game they attend, the one on the right just stares at “him”. She asks if she will ever say anything to “him”. We then see the Oriole Bird dancing on the dugout and find out who “he” is. Finally they get his attention and the one on the right blushes. “THIS IS TRUE LOVE” pops up on the screen. 

It’s cute, and I get it. But come on!! Clearly they are marketing the fun part of the game, and there is nothing wrong with that. But when it airs half a dozen times per telecast, it gets to be a little too silly for me.