I almost saw the most dubious Orioles’ “record” erased last night

[Frobby]

Back on August 22, 2007, I was one of the “lucky” fans who attended the 30-3 shellacking the Rangers pinned on the Orioles.   That game set the modern records for most runs allowed in a game and the greatest margin of defeat.

Last night I attended the Nats’ 25-4 drubbing of the Mets.    I was with a large group, and after the 7-0 first inning, told several of them that I’d attended the biggest slaughter in the history of baseball and was sure this wouldn’t approach that.   

After 2 innings it was 10-0.    Three innings, 13-0.   Four innings, 16-0.   Five innings, 19-0.    At this point, it dawned on me that maybe the O’s records might be approached.    

The Nats allowed a run and then went quiet for two innings, so it was 19-1 going to the bottom of the 8th and I went back to thinking the O’s record was safe.     But then the Mets brought in Jose Reyes to pitch — no Chris Davis he.    He topped out at 85, only three a few pitches in the 80’s, and was throwing a lot of slop in the high 60’s.   Six runs ensued, and at one point the lead had grown to 24-1 with a runner on base and only one out, and then later 25-1 with two runners on base and two out.   I really thought the O’s records might be erased.

Alas, after throwing 48 pitches Reyes finally got the third out, and with no possibility that the Nats would bat in the 9th, the Orioles’ records were safe.    For good measure, the Mets scored three runs in the top of the 9th to render the final margin a mere 21 runs.    

It dawned on me that I might have been the only person in the entire stadium who had ever witnessed a more lopsided game in person.   

[esmd]

The odds that anyone else besides you attended both games has got to me pretty low.  Funny world.

[backwardsk]

What did you make of the Shawn Kelley situation?

[Frobby]

Just now, backwardsk said:

What did you make of the Shawn Kelley situation?

It was extremely unprofessional.    

[OFFNY]

14 minutes ago, esmd said:

 

The odds that anyone else besides you attended both games has got to me pretty low. Funny world.

 

o

 

Strangely enough, I was at the two most important games that Brad Bergesen ever pitched in his career that bookended that 2-month run that he had in 2009, including the game in which his leg was broken ........ and I live in New York State.

 

Bergesen was on fire for 2 months of the 2009 season, pitching to the tune of a 2.46 ERA and a 1.131 WHIP in 12 starts in that 2-month span. He was in the running for the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award.

Then, a line drive up the middle in the 7th inning of a game on July 30th of that season ended Bergesen's run, and his season.

After that, Bergesen had a few bright moments over the next couple of years, such as pitching a complete-game shutout 2 years later in 2011 ........ but the consistency of that long run from the 2009 season was never recaptured, and I believe that he never really recovered from that broken leg in the 2009 season.

 

 

The first game in that run was his big breakthrough game, which also happened to be Matt Wieters' first game ever in late May of 2009.

Bergesen had a great game, pitching into the 9th inning while giving up up only 2 runs. When Dave Trembley took him out in the 9th inning, the loudspeakers at OPACY played "The Kid is Hot Tonight", by Loverboy.

 

In the game in which his shin was broken two months later, Bergesen was again pitching a gem when a line drive caromed off of Bergesen's leg with 2 outs in the 7th inning. Matt Wieters picked up the ball, and threw out the runner at 1st base for the 3rd out to end the inning. Bergesen then proceeded to hop on one leg all the way from the pitcher's mound to the Oriole dugout, before collapsing at the top step. We all gave him a standing ovation.

 

I was fortunate enough to have met Bergesen also, when I was allowed onto the field at OPACY for batting practice in a game against the Indians in 2011.

 

o

[SeaBird]

58 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It was extremely unprofessional.    

Rizzo released Kelley this morning saying:

“I thought that the act that he portrayed on the field last night was disrespectful to the name on the front of the jersey, the organization, specifically Davey Martinez. You’re either in or you’re in the way, and I thought he was in the way . . .that’s something that you don’t come back from. It was a disrespectful act, and I thought it warranted him leaving the team. I didn’t see how he could face the rest of his teammates and the coaching staff and the manager again after such a selfish act in a 25-1 game.”

[Redskins Rick]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

It was extremely unprofessional.    

True, but enough of a situation to get a ticket out of town?

Ive far worse temper fits over the years, then this.

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

True, but enough of a situation to get a ticket out of town?

Ive far worse temper fits over the years, then this.

It really was absurd to do that when you’re sitting on a 20-run lead.    I suspect Kelley may have already been on thin ice in DC.    If Scherzer had thrown his glove they wouldn’t have cut him.   Kelley has pitched well but there may have been other clubhouse issues with him (just speculating).

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

It really was absurd to do that when you’re sitting on a 20-run lead.    I suspect Kelley may have already been on thin ice in DC.    If Scherzer had thrown his glove they wouldn’t have cut him.   Kelley has pitched well but there may have been other clubhouse issues with him (just speculating).

I get that. I once saw a manager get tossed out of a travel baseball game, because his team was up by a crazy amount of run, and he went out there to argue  The umpire, said, take a hike, you got a huge lead and you want to argue stupid things.

Sorry, I went off topic.

Back to topic:

He had to have been on thin ice, but his pitching was pretty good, so there must be other factors for sure, I am sure he will land somewhere, somebody will take a flyer.

[backwardsk]

26 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It really was absurd to do that when you’re sitting on a 20-run lead.    I suspect Kelley may have already been on thin ice in DC.    If Scherzer had thrown his glove they wouldn’t have cut him.   Kelley has pitched well but there may have been other clubhouse issues with him (just speculating).

I'd like to know when he was told he had the ninth.  Suero threw around 30 pitches in the eighth.  They were up 21-1 when the pinched hit for Suero.  Was Kelley up and getting loose after the eighth, or was he told after they lifted Suero?  If so, when?  In the blowout, did Martinez lose track of his bullpen management?  

Earlier in the day, Kinzler was traded to open room for a guy who can pitch multiple innings (Suero).  Then he can't in a 20 run game.  After 30 pitches, he was lost for today anyway.

It may seem like I'm defending Kelley, I'm not.  You can't act like that. But....I could see how the inexperience of the manager could have put him in a bad situation.  Everyone will want to quiet this down, but it's conceivable that there was more to it than being angry about being used in a blowout.

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, Redskins Rick said:

True, but enough of a situation to get a ticket out of town?

Ive far worse temper fits over the years, then this.

So they got rid of one pitcher because of a tantrum, and another because he was leaking info on clubhouse discord to the press.  

Two guys who can pitch gone for non baseball related issues.

[SteveA]

Jose Reyes became the first player in MLB history to give up 2 HRs the day after hitting 2 HRs.

[SeaBird]

Here's Kelley's side of the story:

Kelley, the former Yankee, claimed his meltdown wasn’t because he was angry at the mop-up duty.

“You can ask everybody in the bullpen. When [Wander] Suero’s pitch count got up, I said, ‘I’ve probably got the ninth.’ I figured I was the freshest reliever and I was going to throw the ninth,” Kelley told reporters, via the Washington Post. “Like I said, for me, I’m not justifying it. I should not have thrown my glove and acted like a baby out there. But at the same time, I’m acting like it’s one to one for me. I’m giving it everything I’ve got.”

Kelley instead blamed the collapse on his arguments with the umpires, who were pestering him about his pace.

Second base umpire Tripp Gibson III and Kelley had a heated conversation just before Jackson’s home run. And home plate umpire Adrian Johnson also went back and forth with Kelley, who believed that the same calls that were sliding earlier in the game were now not going his way.

“[Johnson] told me to slow down. I was a) just trying to keep it going, and b) I’ve used the quick pitch sometimes. He told me to slow down one time, and the other guy behind me [at second base] told me I had to come set or it’s a balk,” Kelley said. “… Then the home plate umpire was telling me to hurry up. I was like, ‘But you told me to slow down.’ It was kind of frustrating. That’s all that was about.”

Washington teammates Ryan Madson and Max Scherzer reportedly approached Kelley following the blowout and patted him on the back. Nationals manager Dave Martinez believed that Kelley was simply frustrated with the umpires.

“I think the homer, and the whole thing with trying to pitch fast and the umpire telling him to stop,” Martinez said. “He was arguing. I gather that’s what it was.”

Before the DFA, Kelley was having a solid year, pitching to a 3.34 ERA in 32 1/3 innings.

https://nypost.com/2018/08/01/nationals-release-quality-reliever-after-bizarre-mets-meltdown/

[Number5]

33 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Jose Reyes became the first player in MLB history to give up 2 HRs the day after hitting 2 HRs.

If I were to take a guess on who will be the second, it would be Shohei Ohtani,

[Frobby]

30 minutes ago, SeaBird said:

Here's Kelley's side of the story:

Kelley, the former Yankee, claimed his meltdown wasn’t because he was angry at the mop-up duty.

“You can ask everybody in the bullpen. When [Wander] Suero’s pitch count got up, I said, ‘I’ve probably got the ninth.’ I figured I was the freshest reliever and I was going to throw the ninth,” Kelley told reporters, via the Washington Post. “Like I said, for me, I’m not justifying it. I should not have thrown my glove and acted like a baby out there. But at the same time, I’m acting like it’s one to one for me. I’m giving it everything I’ve got.”

Kelley instead blamed the collapse on his arguments with the umpires, who were pestering him about his pace.

Second base umpire Tripp Gibson III and Kelley had a heated conversation just before Jackson’s home run. And home plate umpire Adrian Johnson also went back and forth with Kelley, who believed that the same calls that were sliding earlier in the game were now not going his way.

“[Johnson] told me to slow down. I was a) just trying to keep it going, and b) I’ve used the quick pitch sometimes. He told me to slow down one time, and the other guy behind me [at second base] told me I had to come set or it’s a balk,” Kelley said. “… Then the home plate umpire was telling me to hurry up. I was like, ‘But you told me to slow down.’ It was kind of frustrating. That’s all that was about.”

Washington teammates Ryan Madson and Max Scherzer reportedly approached Kelley following the blowout and patted him on the back. Nationals manager Dave Martinez believed that Kelley was simply frustrated with the umpires.

“I think the homer, and the whole thing with trying to pitch fast and the umpire telling him to stop,” Martinez said. “He was arguing. I gather that’s what it was.”

Before the DFA, Kelley was having a solid year, pitching to a 3.34 ERA in 32 1/3 innings.

https://nypost.com/2018/08/01/nationals-release-quality-reliever-after-bizarre-mets-meltdown/

Seems like Rizzo overreacted here perhaps.