mobico

How ironic - a rare ''blowout'' in one of the closest games of the year!

Terrible joke I remember from my youth: Why do you never see anyone sitting on the benches that proudly proclaim "Baltimore: the City that Reads"? Everyone thinks it says "Wet Paint".

When I saw the article (before this thread was started), I guessed that Schoenfeld would give them a C-. So perhaps just a tad harsh. But! Here's what Brad Doolittle had to day when asked which team he was most excited about this year as opposed to last: Doolittle: Of all the recent rebuilding teams, I feel like the Orioles have emerged as the most interesting. It's not just because they were so much better last season (though that's part of it), because I feel like they played over their heads. But on top of that unexpected success, now the O's are starting to graduate some of their prospects, and they have more than a few who seem like they can be true impact players. Adley Rutschman already is. Gunnar Henderson is following in his wake. Grayson Rodriguez should be a factor soon. The rebuild in Baltimore looked murky to me as recently as a year ago. Now I'm just excited for the fans there.

Frobby, You did say in a recent posting that you have found the first 18 games to be largely non-predictive.

Frobby - I also thank you for your kind and corteous response. Thanks for the trips down memory lane! I used to enjoy figuring theoretical batting averages in my head, if only x player would get y hits over the next z number of at-bats. Or, what rate he would need to hit homers at to reach x number for the year.

I am not trying to upstage Frobby here. I just thought that another way to view the team in snapshots would be nine games at a time. This has the advantages of neatly fitting into 162 games - exactly 18 times. I think that it will be interesting to see how this compares and contrasts to Frobby's ten games at a time. I don't know how to post a chart, but here goes for a first attempt (maybe someone can help with the formatting?): GAMES | RECORD | RS | RA | TOTAL RECORD 1-9 | 3-6 (.333) | 21 | 30 | 3-6 (.333) COMMENT The widely panned pitching staff lost staff ace John Means for at least a big chunk of the year, and yet still held opponents to 3.33 runs a game. The offense, however, managed a meager 2.33. This disappointing start to the season ended on a high note as the Birds took 2 of 3 from the Yankees.

Let's see. The O's lost the first game by 4, the second by 2, and the third by 1. My mathematical model predicts that we will lose the fourth by 1 in the 10th inning.