We Are Who We Are - a .500 team

[OFFNY]

Bottom line is that I haven't bumped the post out of happiness, I've stated many times that I hope I'm wrong.

You conveniently left out the fact that you have never bumped the thread after an Oriole winning streak, and have consistently bumped it after an Oriole loss and/or several Oriole losses.

Actions speak louder than words. When all of your thread bumps occur after an Oriole loss, and nothing is heard from you after an Oriole winning streak (whether it be a 2-game, 3-game, 4-game winning streak, or 7 wins in 8 games), then that leaves the presumption that you are doing so with glee. You don't necessarily have to say "Yay, the Orioles lost, I am right about them being a .500 team" for it to be obvious that you have an agenda.

[nate22]

This is kinda off topic but if we play .500 (35W- 35L) ball from here on out that's an 86 W season. To win 90 games we only have to improve on that by 4 Ws. Easier said than done but doable.

[weams]

Ok. Officially. Everyone behave.

[OFFNY]

This is kinda off topic but if we play .500 (35W- 35L) ball from here on out that's an 86 W season. To W 90 games we only have to improve on that by 4 Ws. Easier said than done but doable.

Or, we could split the difference, and finish at 88-74 (37-33 the rest of the way.)

But, of course ....... our only goal at the moment should be to improve our overall record to 52-41 by the end of today's game against the Yankees.

[scOtt]

Without Tanaka, they will be very lucky to be .500

The Japanese have a different mindset from Americans.

"I want to apologize to the Yankees organization, my teammates and our fans for not being able to help during this time," Tanaka said. "I accept this injury as a challenge, but I promise to do everything I can to overcome this setback and return to the mound as soon as possible."

[OFFNY]

The Japanese have a different mindset from Americans.

"I want to apologize to the Yankees organization, my teammates and our fans for not being able to help during this time," Tanaka said. "I accept this injury as a challenge, but I promise to do everything I can to overcome this setback and return to the mound as soon as possible."

In some aspects, yes, they have a different mindset than their American counterparts.

In other aspects, they are similar (green.)

Tanaka Signs $155 million Contract with Yankees

(By Bryan Hoch)

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/masahiro-tanaka-signs-seven-year-155-million-contract-with-new-york-yankees?ymd=20140122&content_id=66923096

[Aristotelian]

This is kinda off topic but if we play .500 (35W- 35L) ball from here on out that's an 86 W season. To win 90 games we only have to improve on that by 4 Ws. Easier said than done but doable.

Which is to say, we will hit 90 games by maintaining our current pace. The way things look, that should be enough to do it (but you never know, the Jays could get hot again, and never count out the Yankees).

[24fps]

At the very least, uttering the phrase "I hope I'm wrong" should be painful. Ideally, if it's used as a pretext to indulge in a little tedious attention-getting, it should be both painful and heavily taxed.

[brianod]

At the very least, uttering the phrase "I hope I'm wrong" should be painful. Ideally, if it's used as a pretext to indulge in a little tedious attention-getting, it should be both painful and heavily taxed.

Before I'm cast into Orioles poster's hell or purgatory, maybe you should look at my post before the 2012 season where I predicted a playoff berth. Or, my post during the 2012 season where I advised keeping Chris Davis over Mark Reynolds. Both were roundly laughed at and were right on the mark. I tend to lead from the heart and apparently that offends some people. I posted this out of frustration after about 180 games or so of .500 ball. So, I own this, and I don't shirk from it. However, those portraying me as someone who gets a perverse joy when the O's lose are 100% wrong. No-one on this board should ever be "heavily taxed" for having a different opinion unless you want to turn this board into a cliquey love fest that nobody outside the clique wants to read.

[Nigel Tufnel]

What the heck, I'm going to bump this.

[Frobby]

What the heck, I'm going to bump this.

Er, I think brianod meant .600. Small mistake... I'm sure he's happy to have been wrong.

[Aristotelian]

Wow, the original post on this thread is just about the best reverse-jinx post/thread EVER. Way better even than some of Firestone's best efforts. The sad thing is most of the specific statements in the post are true...add to that Machado's knee injury and Davis's suspension. And yet we are sitting 32 games over .500 and clinched the division with two weeks to play. Unbelievable!

[SilentJames]

Even if the Orioles had ended up a 500ish team, I would have stood by my statement that no one should ascribe any extra significance to a crappy single loss in May.

And special teams lose close games all the time.

[olehippi]

I just think its proof that some people should give up trying to prognosticate. Nostradamus they ain't.

[weams]

I've given up hope on a special season. Bottom line is that our starters are average, we have one failed closer and an unproven closer just promoted that looks promising but was on the scrap heap a couple months ago. Our lead off hitter clogs the bases with his lack of speed and has little if any power. Our outfield defense is below average, when we play Cruz, it is abysmal. Our phenom is off of major knee surgery and is unproven offensively. Our #3 hitter is an overrated defensive player who may just be the worst offensive Oriole player I have ever seen in the clutch. Book is, throw him a slider, outside in the dirt, when the O's need a hit. It seems to work 90% of the time. Our blossoming superstar at first looks like a nice #5 or #6 hitter rather then a stud. Our catcher is hurt. Our all-star ss hasn't hit a homerun all season and has reverted to his injury prone past. Schoop is a nice prospect but is very raw. Flaherty seems to have proven he isn't a starting player.

We are lucky to be over .500. We will have ups and downs all year but this team is not special and will not make the playoffs as currently constructed imho.

.605 winning percentage. First American League team to clinch. Finishing strong. WITH THREE ALL STARS INJURED OR SUSPENDED!