Nationals, The Cure For Any Slump...Countdown 48

I really do feel bad for the Nationals. When they first moved to DC I worried they would take away from the Orioles already struggling fan base. But instead, I think they might have done the opposite. They are so bad, they make the Orioles look good by comparison, and therefore have solidified some of the borderline fans. No one really wants to switch from a losing franchise to an even worse one. Maybe a few people, but overall, I really doubt there presence has hurt the Orioles much, and the Nats have managed to become the punchline of the league. Like I said, I do feel bad for them.

But when they play the Orioles, I can't help but be a little happy. I don't need to see the O's clobber them like they did last night 11-1. But I do like the O's to get every win they can. And playing the Nats is possibly the most perfect remedy to three game sweep by the Marlins before a series against Boston. At least I can be in good spirits this weekend before a week of Boston and the Angels. It seems this season that when the Orioles can get on a roll, they can win 5 or 6 out of seven games before they begin to slump again. So hopefully, they'll be able to steal a few from the Red Sox.

The Orioles were on fire last night with pretty much everyone being productive and scoring a season tying high of 8 runs in one inning. Melvin Mora seemed inspired by his move down to 7th in the batting order and was able to contribute 4 RBIs to the effort. And while Bergesen struggled, he was still able to get out of innings only allowing one run over 6 innings. Yes, I'm a huge fan of this rookie and I would greatly appreciate someone updating his Wikipedia page. Right now it only says he pitches for the Orioles and he went to high school in California. So will someone please get on that. Also, if anyone knows if he's single, please pass that on to me.

If the Orioles could find some consistency this season, it'd be great. So far their streaky play vacillated between great and gut wrenching. I'd just like to see some consistently good baseball. Yes, they are bound to have good days and bad days. But do they all have to come in row?

O's Are Clutch, Sweep Phils...Countdown 49

Yes, the Phillies have been slumping at home and were without some of their key players, including Ryan Howard with the flu, but wins are wins. With the Orioles having such a dismal road record this season, I'm still happy when the O's can win anything on the road. A sweep of team away from home is music to my ears. And even a slumping Phillies team is still dangerous, they are still the defending World Champions, and they have the hitters to make any young pitching staff tremble.

But the Orioles manage to pull off the three game sweep by coming up with clutch hits late in the games and not allowing Philly to run away with any lead. The O's are now on a 5 game winning streak and playing some good baseball right now. The man of the moment has to be Robert Andino. In the 20 minute of the game I was able to stay awake to watch, (I know I'm lame) he just made all the plays. It's going to be hard for Izturis to come back and just reclaim his spot. Andino is seizing his opportunity and making terrific plays and even hitting in clutch situations.

I feel like the team is enjoying the winning and is starting to remember how fun baseball can be. They are in much better spirits and its showing while they are playing. This team has been nothing but streaky this season and right now is no exception. But something has changed. The Orioles are no longer winning based solely on their slugging. Now they are preventing teams from scoring runs and are winning close games. And that's something to look at with enthusiasm and hope it continues.

While a .500 season is still a long way off, 49 games to be exact, every little sign of hope is something to be happy about. And if for the first time in years, the O's could have a better record the second half of the season, it's possible. I'm not ready to count them out yet.

Photo: #49 Jason Berken

Orioles Win Series, Wieters Finds His Bat...Countdown 52

After weeks of speculation as to what was happening with Matt Wieters bat, he finally did it, he hit his first home run and drove in his first couple RBIs. Now everyone can stop worrying and just let the kid play the game. He's been really good defensively and been calling good games. But now hopefully he'll be hitting home runs on a regular basis, hitting in the clutch and living up to all his hype. He came through tonight with a lead off double in the bottom of the 9th.

Hopefully the clubhouse has settled down and gotten back on track. After the error filled game a few nights ago, it's good the O's could pull one this series. Especially with a bottom of the 9th rally. It was a great way to end a series. I'm hoping they can keep this streak going over the weekend in Philadelphia.

It's good to see us winning and the countdown continuing. The O's are now a mere 52 wins away from a .500 season. So let's continue to cheer them on. Some of you may have noticed that I'm not updating this as often as usual. Part of that has to do with the rate the Orioles are winning games, but mostly it's because I'm studying for the Bar Exam and that takes a great amount of my time and energy. So sorry if I'm not keeping all you O's fan's updated as much as either of us would like. I hope all of you will bear with me through this next 6 weeks of studying and sparse updates. Thanks.

O's Stop Skid...Countdown 56

The Orioles managed to stop there there slide and get back on track last night despite the terrible weather and win 3-1 against Seattle. Though I'm going to have to say I'm not a fan of this instant replay thing. I know its supposed to make the game better. But so far I've only seen the O's get screwed by it. And yes, I don't care if its more fair, I want my team to win. There is no review for other crucial parts of the game, calls of safe or out or catches. I'm tired of out home runs being taken away. Why doesn't it happen to the team we're playing. We give up enough home runs, some of them should be called back.

It's terribly annoying to me when a person is called safe or out and they are clearly not. Why can't the umpire review those plays. Getting into balls and strikes would be a little tedious and would drag the game on far too long. But maybe the MLB could set up a system like the NFL. Each team gets 2 or 3 challenges a game. Set up guidelines for what can be challenged and then add that to the managers job. It just makes more sense. At least to me.

Luckily last night the O's were able to overcome their lost home run and still win the game. I would just like to point out that I love Brad Bergesen. He pitched a great game last night. I also think another rookie deserves a fair amount of attention and praise, Nolan Reimold. The kid is batting .385 in his last five games and .295 for the season. He also gives us a legitimate out field that does not involve Pie, yes he still makes some mistakes, he's a rookie. But if we are able to keep bringing up guys like him in our farm system the future looks bright for the franchise.

Right now the O's are struggling and the countdown to .500 is looking more and more like it not going to happen this year. But it's nice to see the team putting the pieces in place for next year and the future. We just have to wait for it to all come together.

Wieters Debuts, Orioles Roll...Countdown 58

Last night it seemed like I had gone back in time. Fans braved and waited out the pregame rains to stay around and watch the O's play. The stadium was full of fans wearing orange and cheering on the home team. Everyone seemed excited and happy and hopeful. And it was loud. It was awesome, the way Camden Yards was when it opened and the Orioles were winning and making the playoffs on a regular basis. It was awesome.

The big story of the night was the debut of top prospect Matt Wieters. While he had a slow offensive night, going 0 for 4, he played solid defense and managed to call a good game. Brad Bergesen pitched a solid eight innings and only allowed two runs. He was treated to a standing ovation when he left the game in the bottom of the 9th. It's the second time I've seen him pitch this season and truly believe his is the real deal. A solid starting pitcher on a team that sorely needs quality pitching. And even if Wieters bat was a little quiet, the rest of the line up more than made up for it.

Luke Scott hit a grand slam and followed that up with another home run his next at bat. The crowd went wild and Scott stole the show. It was just a great game. I traded an extra ticket to a friend in return for a home made sign (pictured above) and had the awesome opportunity to meet John Harbaugh while trying to get on the Jumbotron. He was very nice and is way hotter in person than on TV.

The O's have now won 5 in a row and 7 of the last 8. Hopefully people keep coming out to see this team. This young team is giving O's fans something to be hopeful about again. And right now, they're playing really good baseball. They are now only three games below .500 and only wins away from a .500 season.

GO O'S!

Orioles Start the Series Off Right...Countdown 61

The Orioles have now won the first two games in their series against Toronto. So now they have won their last two series and 4 out of there last 5 games. Things seem to be looking up for the O's. Guthrie pitched an amazing game yesterday and Jason Berken won his Major League debut today only letting up seven hits and two runs in five innings. The Orioles found their bats and supported him with seven runs. The Orioles pulled off a win despite the miserable weather two days in a row with a 9-2 victory today and 4-1 victory yesterday.

But the turn around in wins isn't the only exciting thing happening with the Orioles right now. Hot prospect, Matt Wieters, is scheduled to make his major league debut on Friday against Detroit. He's been tearing up the minors and Andy McPhail seems confident that he will be able to call a game. He can learn a lot from veteran catcher Gregg Zaun and hopefully will be able to deal with the young, frequently changing pitching staff.

It's something to get excited about. A winning team and a new, young, switch hitting, power hitting catcher. The next couple of days should be fun. Yes, we've been winning agianst losing teams. But in order to get closer to having a winning season, the O's need to win the games they're supposed to win. Only 61 more wins to a .500 season.

Photo

Behind Enemy Lines: Yankee Stadium

A few nights ago, my brother and I made the trip to Yankee Stadium. After scouring Stub Hub a week ago for reasonable tickets, and moving him into his new apartment we were ready to go in our Orioles' gear. In the end we were able to get cheap tickets, about $15 a piece including fees for decent seats behind the 3rd base dugout in the highest level. But overall we had a good view of the field. Maybe it was because it was a Tuesday night, maybe it's because the Orioles were playing, but we definitely got reasonable tickets at a very reasonable price.

We arrived at the stadium and saw it was littered with Orioles fans. Little orange dots amongst a sea of blue and white and pinstripes. It was nice to see some friendly faces. And actually, most of the fans were pretty nice to us. A few rowdy obnoxious Yankee fans got kicked out of our section. But they were quickly bored of taunting the Orioles fans and moved on to fighting amongst themselves. I have to hand it to the stadium officials, because they had no problem kicking out the idiots who were fighting or even the guys going overboard on the taunting.

Sadly, I think one of the reasons all the O's fans were able to handle the "you sucks," to the point the Yankees fans got bored and turned on each other is that it's the truth. Yeah, we know our team has been bad for over a decade. Yeah, you telling us is old news. We have to live the pain of cheering for a losing team. But we know when they finally do turn this ship around we'll be better for it. We stick with our team no matter what. So what if we've been losing for a decade, any sign of promise or hope is enough to excite us. I'll be ecstatic if we can finally have a winning season, a feat that is looking further and further away each game. Yankees fans are upset if they don't win a championship. There's something to be said for the happiness that comes with lowered expectations and hope.

After Brad Bergesen pitched a great game through the 6th inning, only letting up one two run home run in the first and pitching masterfully. At that point the game was still close, 2-1. We began to get excited at still being in the game against Sabathia in the 7th inning. But that was when all hell broke lose. The Yankees scored seven runs that inning off of three different pitchers including most off of reliever Chris Ray. When the inning finally ended, the guy sitting next to us, who had been very pleasant all game, turned and told us that his 10 year old son said he felt sorry for us. That it must be hard to watch your team blow it like that. We quickly responded that he shouldn't feel bad. We were used to it. If anything, I brought away from that game the Bergesen is a reasonable starting pitcher. And that makes me happy. Sure, it does suck to watch your team get blown out. But I also got to see Adam Jones make and incredible diving catch that topped the Sports Center highlights the next day. I got to see some great pitching for a while. And I got to see Yankees Stadium. All in all it was good trip.

It was a beautiful stadium and I'd be happy to go back and see another game there. I didn't really eat at the restaurants or special bars. Mostly it was a good game worth watching, spent drinking expensive domestic beers and eating some overpriced french fries. Maybe I'll go back to watch a team I care less about and actually do some exploring of the stadium. But what I saw of it, I enjoyed.

Photo: I didn't get around to uploading the pictures we took and now they are with my brother, still on his camera. So I borrowed a picture from someone else.