Archive for the All is Right with the World Category
But then again…
6. August 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
We beat the Angels. Once again, all is right with the world.
And we kind of deserved to lose to the Mariners given what we did to them with Bedard.
May I say again, “Luuuuuuuuuukkkkkkkkeeeeee!”
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HBP
30. July 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
I can’t help it. When HBP hits a batter now, I laugh.
I take a perverse pleasure every time his number increases and feel something akin to, not, but akin to, pride that he is the HBP leader in both leagues. In the eighth inning tonight, HBP hit a Y and was ejected from the game by an overreacting ump. It was an unfair ejection, yet I was tickled. Not just because he hit a Y. That’s a bonus, of course. It’s that I’ve come to count on at least one batter getting it and I feel a little cheated if HBP makes it through an entire game without adding one to his magical number.
We narrowly won tonight, but we won with HBP pitching eight innings before his ejection. JJ was brilliant and Sherrill showed us his specialty, his own unique flavor of fan torture.
Final score: 7-6 thanks to Huff’s insurance homer in the 9th. I can’t say what I want to say because I don’t want to jinx it, but I know you know what I’m thinking.
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Luuuuuuukkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeee!
20. July 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
I think the title says it all.
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HBP
3. July 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
My husband is complaining that he hasn’t eaten yet, “Will there be food tonight?” Some days I wonder what I was thinking marrying a baseball-less Brit. Anyway, I have to keep this short, cause I do love the man, and it would be tragic if he starved to death because of my neglect.
Here’s the two-second wrap, because it is so note-worthy, I have to share. HBP pitched tonight. Are you ready for this? NINE FULL INNINGS! NINE. Guess how many walks? Wrong! ZERO! Guess how many batters he hit? ZERO again! Isn’t that phenomenal!
Look out Josh, our man is finding his game. If this keeps up, I’m going to have to change my nickname for him to Strikes. That would be a heavenly world.
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Day Game at Wrigley
27. June 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
If you missed today’s game, I’m really sorry for you. If only we could have eliminated the Grrrres part of the game, it would have been perfect. (See if you can figure out which part of the game that was. A couple of the runs count against Liz, but I blame Grrrrres.)
Remember the chatter before the first game about how hard the Cubs would be to beat?
There’s nothing else I can add except that if we weren’t in the toughest division we’d be in first place already.
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Roberts Milestone 1000 Hits
25. June 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
The Orioles played the Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field. One cold November evening many years ago, I touched the outside of that park. It was the best I could do since it was the off-season. It was after a dinner date with a handsome stranger I met while on a business trip. I can’t tell you the exact sequence of events since there was wine at dinner, apparently a little too much of it, but I must have mentioned how much I longed to see a game there, or at the very least, the park itself. The restaurant was close to Wrigley Field and somehow me and the handsome man ended up outside of the stadium with me feeling up the exterior wall wishing that I wasn’t seeing it in the dark. I won’t say what else I did or didn’t see in the dark that night, but it was a fun time. (Just kidding!!)
Tonight was fun too, but in a very different way. Mostly fun. Here are the brief highlights. Roberts had his 1000th hit as a Oriole. For a brief time the Os were up 7-1. Guthrie pitched six and a half innings before things started to fall apart for real. Sherrill provided the characteristic finale, making us sweat it, loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth and then striking out three consecutive batters. When he struck out the last batter, I wanted to crawl through the television and give him a great big hug.
I’ll leave you with this thought. Though the Orioles are in fourth, by this time next week, we’ll have a better win percentage than most of the rest of the AL and NL. And if that’s not true, I’ll push a hockey puck from one end of the rink to the other at the next Skipjacks game. Or something to that effect.
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Triple Shot and Stuff
21. June 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
Let’s start with last night’s game. I had dinner plans away from the 500 foot radius of my sofa, so I recorded the game. Since every day I go to work and there’s only one other Orioles fan who I seldom see, I had no concerns that anyone would reveal the outcome. Yet today, three different people approached me to say, “How about your Orioles sweeping the Astros!” It’s the first time anyone besides me knew the score of the previous night’s game. So typical. Oh well, the Os won, so how can I complain about that.
Things got off to an exciting start tonight against Milwaukee, as the Orioles scored four runs in the top of the first inning. I felt really confident that the outcome had been decided until Radhames Liz promptly surrendered two. The next inning was mostly a repeat of the first. By the top of the third, Liz left the game. The rest of the game didn’t represent the most stellar performance of the Orioles bullpen, but was good enough, along with two solos by Huff, to hold onto the lead. I swear I heard Jim Thorne say that the Orioles had the third best bullpen in the American League. Did I hear that? We don’t have our Beckett yet, but we’re on our way. I noticed both Liz and Sarfate sighing on the mound. They just need a little more experience to convince themselves of their ability.
Triple Shot Sherrill pitched a typical ninth, loading the bases before retiring everyone to win the game. I’ve decided that it’s part of a brilliant strategy. He disarms the opposing team, giving them a false sense of confidence and hope. Imagine you come up to bat with no outs and the bases are loaded. You’re thinking, “Oh! Well! This is going to be easy.” Over-enthusiastic, you swing too eagerly at a pitch and ground out. You have to admit it’s genius!
For our viewing pleasure, Amber brought the finale, adding whip cream to the sundae with an interview of hatless Triple Hot who seemed unaware of his own winning strategy, apparently a product completely of his subconscious.
The Orioles were the only winners in the American League East. We’re six games back. But not for long. Not for long.
Final Score: 8-5
Cabrera HPB: 23
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Congratulations Trembley
19. June 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
Today, June 18 marks the one year anniversary of Dave Trembley serving as the Orioles manager. Earlier this season, I started a post of the “how we love you, let us count the ways” genre, but I realized I needed more time to create a proper list honoring him. He has done so much to create a team, a roster of players who have chemistry, work well together and can depend on each other. Each member of this team contributes. Trembley has worked to bring back the “Oriole Way,” making sure that the players have the right attitude. And, it’s worked. You can see it on the field. I could go on, but there’s so much to say about Trembley and I want to say it properly.
It was appropriate that to mark Trembley’s anniversary, the Orioles won. When? In the bottom of the 10th, of course, because that’s how fabulous this team is. Today also marks another anniversary that we’ve all agreed to never mention again. Isn’t it wonderful how far this team has come in a year!
How far it’s come indeed. Guthrie pitched an outstanding game. Eight full innings, striking out eight batters and surrendering only one run. Bradford pitched beautifully for the ninth and tenth, giving triple hot Sherrill the night off.
Some other highlights of the game were when the camera happened to be pointed on Astros’ first baseman Erstrad just as he was adjusting his misters. I’m sorry, but that was funny. In the bottom of the ninth, something fascinating had the fans watching an unseen events in the stands instead of the game. We didn’t get to see the action, but I’m sure a Red Sox fan was involved.
Finally, in case anyone was counting, the camera panned to the dugout, showing a hatless Sherrill five times. It was a great game all the way around!
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Sherrill, WB Tribute, and 2008 Magic
18. June 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
Tonight was Wild Bill Hagy night at Camden Yards. There was only one appropriate way to honor him besides giving away t-shirts and that was by finishing the game with a come from behind win. If Jones had surrendered his number 10 jersey to Terry Crowley, and Crowley had driven in several RBIs, it couldn’t have been more reminiscent of those days of magic with Wild Bill leading us. What’s even better than the magic of the seventies is that this team, this year, is just as much fun to watch as they have ever been on the heels of one of their worst years ever (their worst year, surely?).
Each game offers something new too. Tonight I saw something that I swear is completely brand new. The Astros pitcher wasn’t happy with home plate ump Ed Hickox’s call and responded by making an aggressive gesture of sorts. It wasn’t “the Bird” or anything, but I can’t tell you exactly what it was since the viewing audience never had the pleasure to see it. I’d love to know actually because it so riled Hickox that he started for the mound! He had to be held back by the Astros catcher. It raises the question, can an ump be ejected for starting a fight and if so, who gets to eject him? Another ump? Trembley? If an umpire is ejected from the game are there backups?
Of course, there are other details about the game that are more exciting than a little umpire misconduct. The Orioles did great, Mora is a hero, I couldn’t love Luke Scott more, this team is definitely going to the World Series, yada, yada. Let’s skip ahead to talk about Sherrill. After Sunday’s game, I read that he admitted to having a tired arm. I was glad that there was an explanation. Let’s give the guy a break. After all, did you know that he has the second highest number of saves in the American League? He pitches every day, he’s going to have an off one, right?
Before tonight, I might have been wont to say something irrational and unforgiving like, “I don’t understand the game today. Savers pitch one inning. I don’t understand it.” Tonight however, I saw Sherrill in the dugout without his cap. Let’s just say it put everything in a whole new light. Earlier tonight, my husband and I had a little laugh when he nudged me with a wink about an upcoming event, “Sherrill giveaway day…” He’s heard me complain many a night and knows that I’d be more likely to set fire to a Sherrill t-shirt as an outlet for my torment than wear one.
But that was before. I’m a reasonable person and open to re-evaluating my position. I decided to give it a little more thought and you know, it turns out, I just might like to have that t-shirt. And maybe a poster. They still sell milk in Baltimore, right? Oh yeah. I’m on board.
Sherrill ended the game with a beautiful strikeout, the kind where, for all three strikes the batter whips the bat with an assured swing that only makes contact with air.
I’ll hug and squeeze him and call him George.
Cabrera HBP: 14. He didn’t pitch tonight, but he has the ability to increase his HBP count on his night off.
Note: Don’t worry, my husband lives what for him is the wretched experience of watching the Orioles every single night. He’s not troubled to read my endless blog entries about it. This will be our little secret.
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Recap: 8-7 Orioles
15. June 2008 by Orioles Fanatic.
I really like how the Orioles are toying with the Pirates. It’s both fun and twenty-nine years overdue. In the top of the 9th, the Pirates, that is Adam LaRoche, or “The Roach,” as I have come to call him, and trust me, I don’t mean that affectionately, hit a two-run homer taking back the lead at 7-6. Thinking that the Os had everything in the bag, I was multi-tasking, trying to finish up my Bryson book that is three days late to the library. I couldn’t believe it. My heart sank, “Stinking pirates!” I daren’t have hoped for a comeback, could I? Could I? Ugh! What a bummer!
Indeed, I could. Salazar, a big question mark for me until this point, reignited my hope on a ball that landed on the right side, in every sense of the word, of the foul pole in the stands behind the left field fence, tying the game 7-7. Now all we needed was one more run. Bynum was waiting expectantly on second. Again, I tried to set my hopes cautiously, trying less often to be my own worst enemy. Ramon Hernandez at bat. Two outs, two strikes. “Don’t take us into extra innings, Ramon. Please, let’s dispatch with them now, let’s not drag this out.” Ramon smashed the ball toward center field, and we waited to see what would happen while the camera panned to the center field, watching as the Pittsburgh outfield ran and ran towards the ball. “Is it going to drop in? Is it?” It seemed to hang in the air an interminably long time, just like when you’re watching an accident and your brain stalls time in order to interpret it in digestible bits.
Center fielder Nate McLouth couldn’t get to it. The ball dropped behind him! It was so bloody fabulous, I can’t put it into words.
Final score: 8-7 Baltimore.
Also of note, another question mark until today, Cintron produced a hit at a crucial point in the game and the game and there were a variety of game delays mostly due to injuries. Mora left the game in the first inning after foul tipping a ball that somehow freakishly landed on his knee. He writhed in pain for a long while and only managed to get off the field by taking a little break on his way back to the dugout. Remember that he was only walking the distance from home plate. Knee injuries are the worst. I tore my meniscus once skiing. It was by far the worst injury I’ve ever had and why you won’t see me on the slopes again. (Well, that and the one time I tried to give skiing another chance, only two years later, I promptly sprained my elbow.)
Then the game was delayed while the home plate umpire attended to his contacts. So many jokes came to mind and it looked like Millar, who was batting at the time, might have ribbed him with a few. “Maybe now you’ll finally be able to see!”
Finally, in between strikes and Ramon Hernandez’s game winning hit, the Pirate right fielder overly ambitiously tried to catch Hernandez’s foul. He gave it everything he had, smashing into the right field fence, which one imagines must be padded, no? Apparently not enough because the guy was wretched and left the game after making many faces betraying his agony. That oughta teach him.
What?? You expect me to have sympathy for a Pirate? Okay, really, I wish them no personal ill-will, unlike the Red Sox and Yankees. Though, there was a story that came out after the World Series that they were all coke-heads. On second thought, those dirty cheaters deserve suffering, even if it was nearly thirty years ago!
It was an absolutely, positively fantastic game!
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