Pathetic.

[Yardball85]

10 hours ago, Pickles said:

I mean I would have preferred Vavra starting too, but I didn't know Mountcastle was hurt until three seconds ago, so I figure they probably have their reasons.

And in light of Mountcastle's injury, (and the trade of Mancini, which everybody was happy with two weeks ago), it's literally the only difference between their regular lineup so the angst doesn't make much sense.

I mean they literally started their top 7 guys, and one guy was dinged up and one guy's been traded.

For me, it boils down to there being no excuse for Nevin still being on this team.  And while I guess it is arguable, it they want to make the playoffs, which Elias said he thinks they can, then Henderson and Stowers should be up here instead of Nevin/Phillips. 

[DrungoHazewood]

Always better to have the data than go by memory. So, here's the biggest percentage gains year-to-year in MLB history.  I may have missed a 19th century team or two because my source list only went to 1900 and the only older team I know of from memory are the 1889-90 Louisvilles.

Quote

Rank Team Year 1_W Year  1_L Yer 1_Pct Year 2_W Year 2_L Year 2_Pct Diff W_diff   Notes 1 1890 Louisville 27 111 0.196 88 44 0.667 0.471 64   Players League chaos 2 1999 D'backs 65 97 0.401 100 62 0.617 0.216 35   Acquired R. Johnson, Finley, L. Gonzalez, B. Kim, A. Reynoso, Stottlemyre 3 1946 Red Sox 71 83 0.461 104 50 0.675 0.214 33   Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Doerr others came back from WWII 4 1936 Braves 38 115 0.248 71 83 0.461 0.213 32.5   Ruth retired in '35 5 1905 Phils 52 100 0.342 83 69 0.546 0.204 31     6 1989 Orioles 54 107 0.335 87 75 0.537 0.202 32.5     7 1962 Phils 47 107 0.305 81 80 0.503 0.198 30.5     8 2022 Orioles 52 110 0.321 59 55 0.518 0.197 31   84 win pace, +32 9 1993 Giants 72 90 0.444 103 59 0.636 0.191 31     10 2008 Rays 66 96 0.407 97 65 0.599 0.191 31     11 1914 Cardinals 51 99 0.340 81 72 0.529 0.189 28.5     12 1918 Pirates 51 103 0.331 65 60 0.520 0.189 28.5   WWI short schedule 13 1947 A's 49 105 0.318 78 76 0.506 0.188 29

 

[Sanfran327]

I was pretty grumpy during and after this one. Arguably the first meaningful game since getting walked off in Toronto, and it felt like we completely and utterly laid down for it. I agree with Moose that there is no excuse for pitching to Arozarena in that situation, as that Earl Special felt inevitable. Then the bats were just silent. Very little contact with authority. Very few threats of reaching base for 8 innings. I had to leave the house before the end of the game, and I was glad to see that Mateo ruined the perfecto and that we were able to scratch out a run, but this was a brutal effort whether you want to call us a contender or not. 

It's also important to keep in mind what we say we are contending for. I don't think even the most delusional among us think we are title contenders, but we are absolutely wild card contenders. Making it to the post season is entirely up to us. No unrealistic miracles need to happen for the O's to achieve that goal. Play smart, win series, and you're probably in. 

But I'll say it again: this was a putrid effort in every sense (actually, we pitched well outside of the AB to Arozarena) in our first big game in quite a while. I can only hope that this was a major learning experience for these young fellas, and they hated it so much that they never want it to happen ever again.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Sanfran327

[RZNJ]

11 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

I was pretty grumpy during and after this one. Arguably the first meaningful game since getting walked off in Toronto, and it felt like we completely and utterly laid down for it. I agree with Moose that there is no excuse for pitching to Arozarena in that situation, as that Earl Special felt inevitable. Then the bats were just silent. Very little contact with authority. Very few threats of reaching base for 8 innings. I had to leave the house before the end of the game, and I was glad to see that Mateo ruined the perfecto and that we were able to scratch out a run, but this was a brutal effort whether you want to call us a contender or not. 

It's also important to keep in mind what we say we are contending for. I don't think even the most delusional among us think we are title contenders, but we are absolutely wild card contenders. Making it to the post season is entirely up to us. No unrealistic miracles need to happen for the O's to achieve that goal. Play smart, win series, and you're probably in. 

But I'll say it again: this was a putrid effort in every sense (actually, we pitched well outside of the AB to Arozarena) in our first big game in quite a while. I can only hope that this was a major learning experience for these young fellas, and they hated it so much that they never want it to happen ever again.

I'll just say this.  The Yankees got no hit earlier this year.  They were dominated by Michael Wacha last night.  Do you really think there was a lesson to be learned from yesterday?

 

[Sports Guy]

I don’t think people are getting the real point here.  Of course great lineups have bad games.  Of course great lineups appear to “not show up” on occasion throughout the year.

But it goes back to the frustration of knowing there are good options in the minors available to replace bad options up here and the team isn’t doing it.

It goes back to, for some, trading Mancini when you need more hitting in this lineup.  It goes back to continuing to play guys like Odor and having roster spots for Nevin.  
 

Those are the real issues.  All the other stuff is just window dressing and normal fan frustration and cliches.  But the underlying issues are real and they are things that are well within the teams control to fix and they are choosing to not do it.

If you are going to go down, you should do it with all your bullets in the chamber.  The Os are going into a gun fight with a knife.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Sports Guy

[Ohfan67]

22 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Always better to have the data than go by memory. So, here's the biggest percentage gains year-to-year in MLB history.  I may have missed a 19th century team or two because my source list only went to 1900 and the only older team I know of from memory are the 1889-90 Louisvilles.

 

That's amazing. I had no idea that the Orioles were on pace for a top ten turn around season. Let's hope they stick to the pace. 

[DrungoHazewood]

22 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I'll just say this.  The Yankees got no hit earlier this year.  They were dominated by Michael Wacha last night.  Do you really think there was a lesson to be learned from yesterday?

It's a long season and even the best teams lose.  Everyone needs a day off sometimes, the backups get rusty on the bench, and the manager has way more insight into who's banged up than we do.  Earlier this year I looked at the 116-win Mariners team and found like a half dozen games where they basically threw it away with errors and mistakes.

I'm sure someone could write a thesis on all of the seemingly stupid decisions made by Frank Robinson and Roland Hemond that kept the '89 Orioles out of the playoffs.

Edited August 15, 2022 by DrungoHazewood

[Moose Milligan]

41 minutes ago, Yardball85 said:

I have never understood, not once, the purpose of keeping Nevin on the roster this long. 

Yeah, it's puzzling.  

[DrungoHazewood]

18 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t think people are getting the real point here.  Of course great lineups have bad games.  Of course great lineups appear to “not show up” on occasion throughout the year.

But it goes back to the frustration of knowing there are good options in the minors available to replace bad options up here and the team isn’t doing it.

It goes back to, for some, trading Mancini when you need more hitting in this lineup.  It goes back to continuing to play guys like Odor and having roster spots for Nevin.  
 

Those are the real issues.  All the other stuff is just window dressing and normal fan frustration and cliches.  But the underlying issues are real and they are things that are well within the teams control to fix and they are choosing to not do it.

If you are going to go down, you should do it with all your bullets in the chamber.  The Os are going into a gun fight with a knife.

They've decided that going all in by calling up all the prospects and starting their clocks this year aren't worth an outside shot at a wildcard. You don't like that strategy, but that's what they're doing.

[Sanfran327]

28 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I'll just say this.  The Yankees got no hit earlier this year.  They were dominated by Michael Wacha last night.  Do you really think there was a lesson to be learned from yesterday?

 

If we had the Yankees' record, I wouldn't have minded yesterday so much. Hell, if we had Toronto's record, I wouldn't have minded yesterday so much. The situation played a big part in my frustration. So while the rational side of us is fully aware that everyone has a bad day, as a fan, it's really rough watching your team have a bad day in a big spot.

As for lessons to be learned, I guess we won't know if the team took anything away from yesterday's game until they find themselves in a similar situation again, which might not be until game 163. 

[owknows]

Ya mean they're not gonna play .800 baseball for the rest of the year?

I'm shocked....  shocked and dismayed

[Sports Guy]

21 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

They've decided that going all in by calling up all the prospects and starting their clocks this year aren't worth an outside shot at a wildcard. You don't like that strategy, but that's what they're doing.

Obviously…but that’s the frustration of fans.  After years of losing on purpose, charging fans high prices for a sh!t product and not caring, they now have an underachieving, scrappy team that is fun to watch and instead of saying, let’s go for this, they are sitting on their hands.

Its frustrating for fans and they have every right to feel that way.

[Gurgi]

17 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Wait, are we back as a winning team that we start making threads called "pathetic" over getting beat 2 of 3 from a team that has typically beaten us like a drum over the last oh I don't know, last eight years? 

We have never played well in Tampa.

But honestly, do you guys really think Elias really thinks this team is a contender? Today's lineup included a .706 OPS celan up hitter in Urias, Odor (.644 OPS) batting 5th, the end of the lineup with Nevin (.571) playing 1B and Phillips and his .488 OPS playing RF.

In the words of Cal Naughton Jr., "It's embarrassing."

This is why I'm enjoying the ride, but I'm not going to start getting too excited because it's clear Elias still is not putting a contending team lineup on the field every game.

This is what is frustrating.  After all this losing we actually seem to have a shot at the wildcard and Elias is making us play with our hands tied behind our backs.  Say what you will about Duquette and his bad trades and not doing anything to make our minor leagues any better you have to admit if he ran this club they would bring up any prospects that look likely to upgrade our present talent.   You dont have to look further than bringing up a 19 year old Machado to play third.   Duquette would not force us to play with Phillips and Odor and Nevin.   If he thought they might of improved us they would be here.

That is behind all the angst now.   We as fans can see how a couple of moves might make us more competitive but Elias just wont make them.    And if he waits till rosters expand our little window this season might be closed by then.   

[Gurgi]

49 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t think people are getting the real point here.  Of course great lineups have bad games.  Of course great lineups appear to “not show up” on occasion throughout the year.

But it goes back to the frustration of knowing there are good options in the minors available to replace bad options up here and the team isn’t doing it.

It goes back to, for some, trading Mancini when you need more hitting in this lineup.  It goes back to continuing to play guys like Odor and having roster spots for Nevin.  
 

Those are the real issues.  All the other stuff is just window dressing and normal fan frustration and cliches.  But the underlying issues are real and they are things that are well within the teams control to fix and they are choosing to not do it.

If you are going to go down, you should do it with all your bullets in the chamber.  The Os are going into a gun fight with a knife.

This is the truth.  The Orioles are intentionally not doing all they could do to win games.  Its like Elias would be very happy to win a wild card spot this year but he frankly isnt really going to do anything differnt than what he had planned before the season.  

[Sports Guy]

12 minutes ago, Gurgi said:

This is the truth.  The Orioles are intentionally not doing all they could do to win games.  Its like Elias would be very happy to win a wild card spot this year but he frankly isnt really going to do anything differnt than what he had planned before the season.  

That’s right.  Now, for some people, this is great to hear.  Staying the course is the smart route.

For others, it’s a slap in the face because you never know when you are going to be in contention again and the team has been so awful that they should be trying more.

I see both sides.  I’m personally in the middle.  I’m glad they did some things but I feel they failed or are failing at others.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Sports Guy