Orioles News - 11/22/07 - O's Helping The Community

The Baltimore Orioles players often help out the community. Wait, aren't these players who make millions of dollars a year? Yes, yes they are. But that doesn't mean they don't have a heart. The O's help out the greater Baltimore area through several programs. Some of the biggest are OriolesREACH and RBI, which runs through Major League Baseball. RBI? As in Run Batted In? No, as in Revive Baseball in Inner Cities. In this program, O's players hold baseball clinics and equipment drives for the youth. This gives the local youth a chance to play baseball when they might not have had a chance otherwise. There is also the Orioles Food Drive, which has been going on for more then two decades. The O's also have numerous other events to help out the community. Almost all the O's players help out too. Reliever Jamie Walker often buys tickets for less privileged children. Even if they are rich, often-spoiled superstars, they can show they do have a heart. - John T.

Orioles News - 10/19/07 - Who Will Close Next Season?

Since the Baltimore Orioles' season is over, the main personnel is focusing on next year. A major question is: Who will be the O's closer next season? Our real closer, Chris Ray, will be out most of next season after having Tommy John Surgery. So, who else? Not reliever Dany Baez (who took over once Ray got hurt earlier in the year), because he too is having Tommy John Surgery. So who will it be? Chad Bradford? Jamie Walker? Or someone else that the O's sign or trade for this off season? My money is on a new closer that will come in via trade or free agency. Why? Well, Chad Bradford is one of our few good relievers, so Baltimore will keep him as a reliever simply because they really don't have many more good relievers. The same can be said about Jamie Walker. He is a top reliever for Baltimore and when your relievers are that thin, you need to protect what few relievers you have. So look for a new closer to come into town via trade or free agency. Otherwise, we might be in trouble. - John T.

Orioles News - 10/4/07 - Grading the Pitching in 2007

As a part of the 2007 season wrap-up for the Baltimore Orioles, I will grade the Orioles pitching. Some pitchers were good, but most were bad. Here are my grades. (Note: Players who finished the year injured are not included, with an exception of Erik Bedard.)

Grading the Baltimore Orioles' Pitching in 2007:

Pitcher: Grade: Key Stat:
Erik Bedard A 3.16 ERA in 182 innings
Jamie Walker B+ 81 games
Chad Bradford B 1 homer allowed all season
Jeremy Guthrie A- 175 1/3 innings for the rookie
John Parrish C+ 33 walks
Daniel Cabrera F 18 losses
Rob Bell C- 5.94 ERA
Brian Burres C- More hits then innings pitched
Dany Baez F 0-6 with a 6.44 ERA
Radhames Liz D Walks: 23. Innings pitched: 24.
Fernando Cabrera F 7.21 ERA
Jim Hoey D- 7.30 ERA
Jon Leicester D- More hits then innings pitched
Rocky Cherry F 7.71 ERA
Garrett Olson F 28 Earned runs
Kurt Birkins F 8.13 ERA
Victor Santos D- 5 homers allowed in 4 games

In other Baltimore Orioles news, executive Jim Duquette resigned. He has been with the team since October 2005. So long Jim.

Coming tomorrow: Grading the Baltimore Orioles position players in 2007. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/20/07 - O's win in 10 innings

The Baltimore Orioles won last night, 6-3 in the 10th inning over the Texas Rangers. A big part of the win is due to this guy, Brian Roberts (left), who hit a 3 run homer in the 10th inning to help lead the Orioles to a win. Miguel Tejada had the game tying hit, which at that point was only the Orioles 2nd run in their last 26 innings. The Orioles were doing badly, losing 1-0 in the 9th inning before a few hits turned into a run. In that game, the O's were 0-9 with runners in scoring position before the 9th inning. Another key factor in the O's win was pitching. (How often do you hear about the O's pitching doing well?) Starter Victor Zambrano went 5 strong innings, allowing only 1 run on 3 hits. He only walked 2 batters. Reliever Jim Hoey came in and mowed down the Rangers, not allowing a run. Rocky Cherry, Chad Bradford, and Jamie Walker all did the same, as they didn't allow a run. Fernando Cabrera did allow a run, 2 as a matter of fact but the Orioles still picked up a victory. Jamie Walker was the reliever who got the win.

Now for Miguel Tejada. He is our starting shortstop. But is it time for him to move? But where? To 3rd base? Or to another team? His range is declining at shortstop and he's making more errors then ever on the field. Should he move? I say yes. His play is declining. He's not doing well at the plate either. So, as much as I hate to say it, the O's need to trade him, possibly for some pitching prospects.

By the way, I am going away this weekend and I won't be able to post on Saturday and Sunday. - John T.

Orioles News - 9/14/07 - O's win 2nd straight

Two in a row! Yes, 2 straight wins for the Baltimore Orioles. It has been almost a month since the O's won back-to-back games. They won last night, 6-2 over the Toronto Blue Jays. There was a great pitching performance by Brian Burres, which led them to a win. The Orioles nearly shut out the Blue Jays, but reliever Jamie Walker gave up solo home runs to Aaron Hill and Hector Luna in the 9th inning. Those were the Jay's only runs of the night. Burres was awesome last night, pitching 7 scoreless innings, giving up 8 hits and walking none. He stayed focused and did a great job of getting out of jams. He threw 105 total pitches, and 72 of those were strikes. The team was certainly fired up as Tike Redman had 3 hits, and drive in a run. The Orioles scored early, providing Burres with a 2 run cushion before he even took the mound. The O's got another run in the 2nd inning when Brian Roberts homered to make it a 3-0 game. Aubrey Huff had a two-out triple in the 3rd inning, followed by Ramon Hernandez's single that scored Huff. Baltimore also tacked on 2 more runs in the 9th. It was a great game for the Baltimore Orioles, as they needed this win. - John T.

Orioles News - 8/24/07 - O's lose 4th straight

The Orioles lost again last night, 7-4 to the Minnesota Twins. It's their 4th straight loss. Corey Patterson singled in the 1st inning to begin. Then Miguel Tejada came up and crushed a homer to left field to make it a 2-0 game. Later in the inning, Nick Markakis was up and he got a 2-1 pitch that he liked as he sent it over the centerfield wall to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead. Then in the 6th inning, Corey Patterson lead off with a homer to right, to extend the lead to 4-0. Surely Jeremy Guthire, the O's starting pitcher who had been throwing a shutout, can hang on to this lead right? And the bullpen could hang on to this lead to right? Wrong. In 3 pitches, Jeremy Guthrie went from pitching a shutout with a 4-0 lead to a less comfortable 4-3 lead after Justin Morneau hit a solo homer and Jason Kubel hit a 2 run homer. After he finished that inning, the bullpen came in. I bet you can guess what happened next. If you can't here's what did happen. With a 4-3 lead in the 8th inning, the bullpen blew another game. In the 8th inning, Jamie Walker came in to pitch with runners on the corners. 2 sacrifice flys and a double later, the Twins had taken the lead 5-4. Then in the 9th with Dany Baez pitching for the Orioles, Torii Hunter took a pitch and ripped it for a 2 run homer to score the games final points. The O's have allowed 33 runs between innings 7-9 in the last 5 games. So much for revamping the bullpen this past offseason. In other Orioles news, Radhames Liz is making his Major League debut tonight. He was 11-4 at AA Bowie this year. Now if only he could get some run support...-John T.