btownoriole
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Posts posted by btownoriole
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I’ve thought about this too, along with the fact that they outperformed their Pythagorean by so much and they were pretty healthy. I think the front office is banking on internal improvements in other areas - I think there’s a lot of unrealized upside next year with Holliday, Gunnar, Mullins, and perhaps even Adley.
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1 hour ago, Low Country Bird said:
Does that mean the Ravens' 2000 Super Bowl was illegitimate?
The 2000 Ravens were 12-4, which was tied for the 2nd best regular season record in the entire league that year.
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I’d really like to give him one more shot at starting. But it’s great to know he can handle high-leverage situations if it doesn’t work out.
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6 hours ago, tntoriole said:
In a short series even between bad teams and good teams, the bad teams can and do win.
Exhibit A: The 2021 52-win Orioles swept 3-game series from the 95-win Astros and the 92-win Red Sox in their own ballparks.
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3 minutes ago, SouthernBird said:
I still hate it. I like baseball the way it was played. If a guy wants to scratch his nuts between pitches, well that is Baseball. Batter wants to back out a few times, well that is Baseball.
Well a lot of people stopped watching because it became excessive.
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34 minutes ago, tntoriole said:
Our team’s fortunes aside, i do believe the current playoff structure still reduces the historic value of a 162 game season marathon to determine league champions in short series of games.
But this is not going to go backwards due to the money and beliefs that playoffs engage communities more in baseball fanship, which are both true.
No weighting formula will correct this. Either you have league champions by 162 game performance or you have league champions by playoff performance over several weeks. The two ways are fundamentally incompatible with each other.
I think this was the thinking when the NHL created the "President's Cup." Hockey's playoffs are the 2nd-biggest crapshoot behind baseball.
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This is all about additional TV money. Instead of two wild card games MLB can sell 8-12. Any “fixes” to make it “more fair” will likely involve expansion to 8 teams in each league. I would imagine that will happen after MLB adds two more teams and goes to eight four-team divisions.
The one thing I would like MLB to figure out is more fair seeding. The #2 seed was locked into playing one of the teams with the 5th and 6th best records while the #1 seed was locked into playing one of the teams with the 2nd or 3rd best records in a best-of-five. Seems like everyone wants to try to emulate March Madness with a fixed bracket.
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1 hour ago, Just Regular said:
Do little scrappy guys get allowances for showing up big star pitchers?
That is a fantastic YouTube pull. '87 World Series stands out in my memory for home field advantage. 7-0 for the home teams....it didn't matter if Twins were throwing their aces in St. Louis, or back rotation guys in front of the Hefty trash bag outfield wall.
Viola got the last laugh in Game 7.
Its crazy the deciding game thrills Minnesota fans got twice in a 5-year period. '87 and '91 - Viola and Morris both threw long three times in eight calendar days.
I guess technically the Orioles won a winner take all postseason game if you let the Saunders-Darvish wildcard game count.
The '91 World Series was also 7-0 for the home teams. That was maybe the best World Series of my lifetime with 5 of 7 games decided by one run and 3 games (include Games 6 AND 7) going extra innings.
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I’m with Roy. Since they added the wild card the MLB postseason is the biggest crapshoot in North American professional sports. Nothing that happens this week or month can take away what the O’s accomplished over the past 6 months.
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8 minutes ago, Justinlstn said:
Just looked up GRods stats vs Texas this season. Last time he faced them, was May 10. 3.1 in innings 6 hits, 9 runs, 3hrs and 3 walks. Obviously that was a different time for him during the season but still is worrisome.
It was actually May 26 and it was his last game before being sent down. He's a completely different pitcher. Doesn't mean the Rangers won't get to him, but his approach and mindset is not the same.
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22 hours ago, Sanfran327 said:
It's amazing to me how many sports organizations still don't get this. Any team that relies on revenue in the slightest to succeed needs to be doing whatever they can to attract and serve fans. Before Elias showed up, it was apparent that the O's didn't care about the fans, as the gameday fan experience had reached new lows for me. Now they are going above and beyond to connect with and grow the fan base, and that's what will eventually allow us to keep some of our new favorite players around.
I have pretty conflicted feelings about him, but I think a lot of these changes started happening when John Angelos took over. The article in the Sun yesterday hinted at the changes he made on the business side after taking over. And hiring a brilliant GM and staying out of his way has been the best move he’s made.
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13 hours ago, Frobby said:
Thought it might be interestibg to recap the six previous meetings between these teams.
April 3: O’s 2, Rangers 0 — Kyle Bradish started this game and looked good but was struck in the foot by a Jonah Heim line drive with one out in the second inning. Danny Coulombe pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, and then Tyler Wells, who had been scheduled to start the next day, came on and threw 5 shutout innings Meanwhile, the O’s scored single runs off Jon Gray in the 4th and 5th on solo homers by Gunnar Henderson and Jorge Mateo. Felix Bautista made sure they stood up, shutting down Texas in the 9th for a 2-0 game.
April 4: Orioles 7, Rangers 2 — The O’s jumped all over Rangers starter Andrew Heaney, scoring 5 runs in the 2nd inning and 2 more in the 3rd to drive Heaney from the game. Ryan Mountcastle hit a 3-run homer to cap off the 2nd inning rally, and Jorge Mateo had a 2-run homer in the 3rd. That was all the O’s needed, as Kyle Gibson, moving up his start by a day, allowed solo homers to Adolis Garcia in the 2nd inning and Nathaniel Lowe in the 6th, but allowed only 4 other hits and no walks in 7 innings of work. Logan Gillaspie and Cionel Perez closed it out.
April 5: Rangers 5, O’s 2 — Grayson Rodriguez was called up for his major league debut, facing Jacob DeGrom. Grayson was shaky in his first inning, allowing a walk, a wild pitch, a double and a single before escaping the inning. The O’s got the two runs back in the fifth inning on an Austin Hays fielder’s choice and an Adam Frazier single Grayson left the game tied 2-2 after 5 innings. But Austin Voth allowed a 2-run homer to Josh Jung in the 6th, and Keegan Akin yielded a run-scoring double in the 7th, snd the O’s were shut down the rest of the way to fall 5-2.
May 26: Rangers 12, O’s 2. Grayson Rodriguez kept Texas reasonably in check for 3 innings, though allowing a 2-run homer to Leody Taveras in the second inning. But in the 4th, Texas ambushed Grayson for 7 runs, including a 2-run homer by Robbie Grossman and a grand slam by Corey Seager. Meanwhile, Jon Gray dominated the O’s, allowing only 4 hits in 7 innings, including a solo homer by Adley Rutschman in the first inning for the only run he allowed. The O’s scored an 8th inning run, answered by Texas with 2 off Ryan McKenna. It was never a game after the 4th inning. Grayson was sent to AAA following this debacle.
May 27: Rangers 5, O’s 3 — This wasn’t as close as it sounds, as the O’s scored 2 in the 9th to make it interesting. Dean Kremer started and pitched decently, allowing single runs in the 2nd and 4th. He was pulled with one out in the 7th after walking a batter, and Bryan Baker performed his speciality, allowing inherited runners to score, yielding a double and a single to cash in Kremer’s walk and the runner on 2B. Meanwhile, Andrew Heaney, who the O’s had crushed in Texas, was dominating the O’s, holding them scoreless until the bottom of the 7th, when Austin Hays hit a solo homer. The Rangers clawed that back on a Keegan Akin error when he dropped a throw at 1B, to make it 5-1. With two outs in the 9th, the O’s scored twice on back to back doubles by Ryan Mountcastle and Ramon Urias, but it was too little to late, as the O’s fell 5-3.
May 28: O’s 3, Rangers 2 — This was a thriller. The O’s scored twice in the first off Cody Bradford on an Austin Hays single and a Ryan Mountcastle sac fly, but mounted no offense for 6 innings after that. Meanwhile, Kyle Bradish cruised through 6.2 innings, allowing only a 5th inning run on a Marcus Semien double. But in the 8th, Yennier Cano allowed a game-tying double to Corey Seager. The O’s answered in the bottom of the 8th, as a Cedric Mullins leadoff walk was followed by singles by Rutschman and Hays, the latter hit plating Mullins for a 3-2 lead. The Rangers held it there, and the O’s brought in Felix Bautista for the 9th. The Mountain responded by striking out Adolis Garcia, Josh Jung and Jonah Heim in succession, putting an end to the season series at a 3-3 draw.
As you can see, the O’s shut down the Texas offense pretty well in the three games they won, allowing 0, 2 and 2 runs in those games. Similarly, the O’s scored only 2, 2 and 3 in the three games they lost.
This is a great summary. It’s been so long since these teams met it’s hard to get a feel for what to expect. Then reading these game summaries it’s easy to see why - a lot of the key pitchers from the season series game outcomes (deGrom, Gray, Bautista, Voth, Akin) won’t be in this series. From the O’s side Rodriguez and Henderson have grown tremendously and on the Rangers side they now have Carter and Chapman.
Regardless, this is going to be a tough series.
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Building on some of the other posts, the ‘83 Orioles lost 5 of their last 7, giving up 40 runs in those seven. In 9 postseason games they gave up 12 total runs.
I have no idea if the O’s bats will wake up or struggle. I have no idea if the bullpen can get tough outs without a weapon like Bautista available. And I have no idea how the starters will perform in the intensity of the postseason. But unlike fans of 22 other teams next Saturday we can find out!
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1 hour ago, NashLumber said:
Does anyone know if the games on the network channels be streamed later, ie. after they are over on MLB-TV? If they were principally on MLB-TV, that's the usual thing and I can start a game late. Like an idiot, I booked 3 gigs I can't get out of back in spring when I thought I'd be able to steer clear of some. But I will miss games on the 8th (possibly) and definitely the 7th and 13th due to playing with the band.
I know I could watch regular Fox and Apple exclusives on MLB-TV after those games were over.
Yes they can be watched later.
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A couple of memories from the end of that second 1983 7-game losing streak.
- The streak was snapped in Chicago in a game started by Bill Swaggerty. I don’t believe he got the win but pitched well-enough to keep the O’s in the game.
- The game after the streak was snapped the O’s beat the White Sox again, 2-1. Earlier in the game Ron Kittle hit what he thought was a home run. The umpires ruled fan interference (which I believe was the right call). Tony LaRussa completely flipped out, tossing third base, and getting ejected. Kittle was stranded, a key development in a one-run game.
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17 hours ago, InsideCoroner said:
Before my teenage years when I started buying all the baseball publications I could get my hands on, I religiously watched This Week In Baseball. I was legitimately disappointed if the family had plans and I missed it.
Like Frobby, I also sat for hours reading the list of qualified hitters and pitchers in the Sunday sports section. “Wow, look at that average on Madlock!”
Planned my Saturday around This Week In Baseball. When I got my Apple TV+ trial (to watch the O’s of course) I found they have a library of old episodes. It was fun watching the one from Opening Week in ‘82 with a feature on rookies Cal Ripken, Jr. and Terry Francona, both of whom with full heads of hair!
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I look forward to reading Frobby’s updated post(s) after every win. It either brings back great memories or teaches me something new (or both) every time. Thanks!
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5 minutes ago, Winning_Season said:
A win is a win, and a Tampa loss is a Tampa loss, it doesn't matter when they happen in relationship to each other, both bring the magic number down by one.
I'm all for being strategic about rest, but with a 1.5 game lead, the idea of actively or tacitly throwing a game is ridiculous.
I agree with this. That said, would like to see Flaherty get some bulk innings one of these next two in Cleveland. Preferably it would be after Means or Gibson gives 6+ and the O’s have a decent lead. I’d really like Hyde to extend Means to 90-100 pitches. He’s the one pitcher not gassed right now and he should be built up.
I was a bit worried about how the starters would pitch the first time back on “only” 4 days rest. They needed to do it in prep for the playoffs but Rodriguez and Kremer have not been as sharp the last two days.
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12 hours ago, Jagwar said:
The 1979 team was a blast. I just wish that at 12 years old I had been more able to appreciate that team.
If I recall the only games we could watch were away games on Channel 13?
Yep, 40 games a year on TV and hardly any of them were home games. That’s what made radio so special.
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Prior to this week the O’s had really only had one other semi-slump (losing 6 of 7 in late June/early July). The timing stinks but in the larger context another slump is not surprising. My concern is that this thing could snowball quickly given that Houston is next.
BTW, the Rays are really good.
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Great topic. IMO favorite season is a combination of on-field success (and perhaps how surprising it is) and how it fits into your life. For me '89 has always ranked highest simply because I was 18 and given Sunday season tickets as a HS graduation gift. It was the first time I went to more than a couple of games in a season and the success of that team came out of nowhere. Even now, 34 years later, there are memories from games I attended that feel as fresh as yesterday.
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9 hours ago, SteveA said:
What I remember most about 1978 is that when Al Bumbry broke his leg early in the season and was lost for the year, and Boston was off to the red hot start, it pretty much felt like it was over early. And that was not a feeling we had very often in those days.
I remember in June or so when the Red Sox had a 14 game lead that I actually rooted for the Yankees to beat them, and I NEVER rooted for the Yankees. But I felt our only hope was if the Sox were brought back tot he pack. I didn't hate Boston back then, my grandfather was a lifelong fan who actually remembered when they won it all in '18.
I felt terrible about my rooting when the Yankees actually had the great comeback and caught the Red Sox and beat them in the Bucky Dent game.
1978 was also the year Earl Weaver started the season with a bizarre experiment, moving Murray to 3rd, DeCinces to 2nd, and Dauer to the bench to get his best bats in the lineup. We opened in Milwaukee and got swept by some ridiculous score of like 30-9 total for the 3 games, and that experiement was mercifully abandoned.
[All of the above is completely from memory, I resisted the temptation to go to baseballreference.com and pollute my memories with mere FACTS],
1978 was my first year as a fan. I remember one thing about attending my first Orioles game at Memorial Stadium - walking out from the concourse and seeing this beautiful field in front of me. My lifelong love of the Orioles and visiting MLB parks (I’ve been to 31 current and former as of today) was born that day.
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1 minute ago, dystopia said:
The Braves lost 16-13 to the D-Backs back in July. Be happy we won the game. There are going to be games where nobody can pitch.
Or look no further than the opening series at Fenway where the O’s turned a 10-4 8th inning lead into a 10-9 win and a 7-1 lead into…well, let’s not go there.
I’m just glad today is the last game there this season. It has been a house of horrors for the bullpen and defense. And yet they can do no worse than go 3-3 there for the season.
I feel better about losing to Texas now
in Orioles Talk
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Except it’s rare for the lowest seed in the NBA playoffs to make it to the Finals. This is now two straight years for MLB.
MLB is becoming a worse version of the NHL playoffs.