Keith Law and Jim Bowden believe the Orioles are the team most likely to collapse down the stretch

[Moondoggie]

To be fair, I actually agree with them that the Orioles are "the team most likely to collapse down the stretch." I've believed that for quite a while now because the starting rotation is substandard and the hitting is inconsistent. But what's most likely isn't always how things play out. We'll know in a few weeks.

[OsEatAlEast]

What was the win prediction Keith Law gave for the O's during the O's vs. Red Sox ST game on ESPN earlier this year? "68 wins, but they could be much worse." [paraphrase]

[OFFNY]

Which team is it that just lost five out of six? I think they rhyme with Glue Days.

Not just 5 out of their last 6 ........ they have also lost 6 out of their last 8.

[OFFNY]

To be fair, I actually agree with them that the Orioles are "the team most likely to collapse down the stretch."

I've believed that for quite a while now because the starting rotation is substandard and the hitting is inconsistent. But what's most likely isn't always how things play out. We'll know in a few weeks.

I agree with it, also.

However ........ if I had predicted the Orioles to go 74-88 and finish in the A.L. East cellar in the first place, and they were one game out of 1st place on September 7th, I would not go there. It would be bad enough that the Orioles had already made me look bad in the big picture, so I would not proceed to predict their doom in the smaller picture (the stretch run), even if I thought that there was good reason to feel that way ........ I would be too busy wiping the egg off of my face that was already there in the first place.

[FlipTheBird]

Keith just can't stand a team that isn't relying on his "prospects."

[canonfaz]

I think this falls under the category of "well, duh?".

Come on boys! Big series against Detroit, lets go!

[evenparthrough9]

True statement.

[SilentJames]

Shoooooot.

Half of Orioles Twitter and 1/5th of this board have been piling dirt on the Orioles since May. No one in the popular baseball press has considered the Orioles legitimate for any of the last four years, they have been completely overlooked by most major media outlets all year, sportstalk is a wasteland -

And we then wonder why attendance is low.

Everyone: "Orioles fans, your team is bad and will not continue to be good and was never really that good to begin with."

Fans: "Oh well."

Everyone: "WHY AREN'T YOU SUPPORTING YOUR CONTENDING TEAM?!"

[SilentJames]

That being said - the Orioles' run of success has always been on a razor's edge. They are streaky and have been all year so in September one bad streak could end it all. The Red Sox definitely have the prospect army for call-ups and fresh arms could stabilize their shaky pen.

[maybenxtyr]

That being said - the Orioles' run of success has always been on a razor's edge. They are streaky and have been all year so in September one bad streak could end it all. The Red Sox definitely have the prospect army for call-ups and fresh arms could stabilize their shaky pen.

We can only hope to play even with Boston and Toronto head to head. Detroit is the biggest threat because of the schedule, but they do play Cleveland a lot down the stretch. If Baltimore can keep winning they will be ok. I give myself a headache thinking about these scenarios though. I still don't believe the Yankees can maintain the level of play that they are on right now.

[Going Underground]

Everyone is an expert. They bring in retired generals during the Iraq war. Frontline did a report on all the generals and other pundits during the war and found out they were wrong of what happened 70% of the time.

[schittenden]

No one has mentioned Buster Olney's comments when asked who will win the division in the same article:

Olney: The Blue Jays. They are still the most complete team in the division, with a well-rounded pitching staff, and the difficulty of Boston's schedule and the Orioles' on-going rotation problems might eventually take down those two teams. But I will say this: I have chronically, consistently underestimated the Orioles all season. Before the year started, my thinking was that Baltimore was the one team that couldn't win the division because of its lack of starting pitching. What genius that turned out to be.

[esmd]

They're both jackrods. We're ALREADY in the stretch and they haven't collapsed. After 139 games, we're 76-63. Last year after 139 games, our record was 67-72. The collapse had already occurred. We'll be right in this until the last few games of the season. We may or may not make the playoffs, but there will be no "collapse."

[Phantom]

Let's all pretend like a large number of users here haven't/aren't predicting the same and call these guys names!

[WEAVERMAN]

http://http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/17480704/mlb-insiders-roundtable-pennant-race-predictions-september-heroes-stretch-run-dark-horses

This Law character is a real sore loser, and resents the Orioles success.