8. September 2007 by Orioles Fanatic.

What a game!! What a day!

I had some friends over for dinner and I have to admit I was a bit nervous that I was going to have to forego watching the game. I informed them ahead of time that the Os were playing the Sox and it was just a fact that at 7:00 we’d be watching, but I thought, realistically, as a good hostess, them not being fans of the game, I couldn’t really subject them to baseball, let alone the Orioles. However, when game time came, they willingly agreed to sit and watch (the joys of polite guests) and I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity.

So I was watching when Scott Moore hit a grand slam! I can’t tell you the rest of the specific details before that because I was trying to be engaging with my guests while glancing back at the tv every chance I could. We were scoring runs like nobody’s business and I was glad that since my friends had limited exposure to the Orioles, they were getting to see something redeeming in my team. I was particularly glad that the Orioles were playing reasonably professional looking baseball so that I didn’t accidentally say any bad words in front of their four sweet children. (Their children are adorable! Hannah, the youngest at 7, is so precious, you could eat her up.)

My friends left after the big inning and I got to watch the rest of the game in peace. What a game it was. I pulled out the scorecard I downloaded from Microsoft and kept score for the first time in at least twenty years. We had such a big lead that when the Sox predictably scored a run in the top of the ninth, it didn’t put our winning in jeopardy.

And the very best thing about the game? Boy, were those Red Sox fans quiet!!

Tomorrow is going to be the bomb. We wanted to go to the Greek Festival on Friday night, but then I would have had to miss the game, so we decided to put that off until tomorrow. So Greek food, leftovers from dinner today, lots of fresh fruit, and the Os.

Then, we start packing for our vacation.

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8. September 2007 by Orioles Fanatic.

Today’s word of the day:
commination \kom-uh-NAY-shuhn\, noun: 1. A denunciation. 2. A threat of punishment.

Let’s use it in a sentence.
1) Comminations have been issued from both teams for Daniel Cabrera’s intentional pitch to hit Dustin Pedroia in last night’s game.
2) After Cabrera nearly hit Dustin Pedroia with an intentionally aimed pitch towards his head, the Boston dugout emerged angrily onto the field. Despite repeated comminations to restrain himself, Cabrera continued to incite argument that resulted in the Orioles dugout, and both bullpens rushing the field in preparation for an all out boxing match.

Here’s a review. In the fourth inning Cabrera, nervous about Crisp on third, balked, sending him home and resulting in a 3-0 Boston lead. Now, I suppose, angry about this, Cabrera lost his cool and took aim at Pedroia. I’m so naive, I thought he must have done it accidentally. Our bullpen is so pathetic, I can’t even give them credit for having enough mastery over their pitches to control where they go. At this point, I just assume that when a pitch makes it over home plate, it’s by some extraordinary stroke of luck, especially since the pitches aren’t the sort to help the Orioles win a game. If they had control over the ball, one assumes the pitchers might understand their role as part of the Orioles roster to limit the runs scored by the opposing team. A look at the score of any game in the last month will clearly demonstrate this lack of understanding by the Orioles bullpen.

At any rate, Cabrera took aim at Pedroia and members of the Red Sox dugout immediately emerged onto the field. Instead of collecting himself, Pedroia continued to lose his temper, and provoke a fight. He had to be held back, first by one of the umpires, and later with the help of Melvin Mora. Both dugouts and bullpens spilled onto the field ready for the ensuing brawl. I bet as frustrated as the Orioles must be, they were itching for an opportunity to release some aggression. Palmer said during the hoohah, “They might as well just tackle each other.”

Narrowly, the teams escaped any punches being thrown, but I found myself almost wishing for someone to put Cabrera on the DL. It’s not bad enough that we can’t pitch, but then we act like school kids getting angry at the other team because we can’t pitch? Haven’t we endured enough shame at the hands of our pitching staff this year?

The rest of the game was pretty uneventful and no surprise, we didn’t score even one run.

I pity Dave Trembley. I think of his joy the day he accepted the job as manager and what a miserable experience managing the Orioles must have been for him since that day. I bet he lays awake at night trying to figure out new strategies, new lineups, new combinations of his pitchers and wondering how he let himself get in this situation. Poor guy, his bubble burst, a long awaited dream turned nightmare.

Yet, for every press conference he maintains his composure, even last night, when he was struggling to hold back his frustration about Cabrera’s unacceptable behavior. He continues to stand up for his team and compassionately coaxed Cabrera off the field when he was ejected, deservedly, I might add, when I’m sure a part of Trembley really wanted to throw his own punch to Cabrera’s head.

The final score was 4-0.

So once again, I find that the Orioles surprise me in new ways. I can’t remember the last time I saw a bench clearing incident. And simultaneously, the Orioles are as predictable as the rising sun. Much like the sun they’re always in a lot of heat, they’re hard to look at, you stick around too long (past the sixth inning), you’ll get burned, and while they provide some warmth, sometimes you just need to get away from them and cool off.

Tonight’s game will be even harder to watch. The stadium will surely be packed with even more Red Sox fans and I’ll miss at least the first hour of the game. We’re having friends over for dinner and I’m afraid I’m going to be a rude hostess hurrying them out the door as quickly as possible. By the time I tune in, we’ll be down a good five runs if things are going well. At least we have the DVR so I won’t have to miss anything worth seeing. The question is, will there be anything worth seeing?

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