The Schmuck Stops Here

Hernandez escapes

2009-07-20T23:33:07Z

Of course, the good news is that Nick Markakis hit a quick homer and David Hernandez worked out of that bases-loaded situation in the first inning. The bad news is that he threw 30 pitches and will probably be back into the top of the Yankees order the next time he takes the mound. This doesn't bode well for a sustained outing for the rookie right-hander, but this was a reverse lock-type game anyway, so who knows. It's not like the Orioles could come in expecting to win when they've lost their last seven games at Yankee Stadium and Andy Pettitte has a 25-6 lifetime record against them. Throw in that Yankee luck -- I mean, did you see that ball bounce off Teixeira and straight to Robinson Cano -- and the Orioles may have to climb Mt. Everest tonight to open this series with a victory.

Hernandez move official

2009-07-20T19:48:40Z

The Orioles officially recalled starting pitcher David Hernandez from Double-A Bowie to face the Yankees tonight -- using the roster space created by the deal yesterday that sent utilityman Oscar Salazar to the San Diego Padres -- but will not make the corresponding move to make room for new reliever Cla Meredith until he joins the team tomorrow. Bad stat of the day: In their last 24 road games against American League East teams, the Orioles are 2-22 (1-11 this year). That, my friends, isn't easy to do. The last time the O's won a road series against a division rival was July 28-30 against the Yankees. So, I guess, if they don't win this series at Yankee Stadium, there's really no such thing as the law of averages.

Two moon shots on the same day

2009-07-20T16:27:16Z

Believe it or not, my clearest recollection of the first moon landing 40 years ago today happens to be a baseball memory? I spent the afternoon of July 20, 1969 at Anaheim Stadium enjoying a doubleheader between the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics before heading home to watch Neil Armstrong take that first step on the lunar surface. Obviously, I don't remember a lot about the two games, except that a young outfielder named Reggie Jackson launched his 37th home run of the season in the nightcap on the way to the best home run (47) and RBI (118) totals of his career. The moment that really stands out came between games, when the Big-A scoreboard (which now stands in the parking lot of the refurbished ballpark) displayed a crude blinking-bulb representation of the lunar landing module touching down and informed the crowd that "We Have Landed On The Moon." The crowd of more than 17,000 (I had to look the attendance up) erupted in a large ovation and, for the first time in my 13-year life, I couldn't wait for the second game to end so I could get home. That night, I watched Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (left) exit the module in glorious black-and-white and then stood out on the sidewalk looking up at the moon, hardly believing it was true. I was pretty sure at that moment that we'd be traveling to other galaxies in my lifetime, but the Cubs haven't even gotten to the World Series since then. Thanks for indulging me on this walk down memory lane. I actually got a little misty thinking about it. NASA photo

Orioles: The deal

2009-07-20T01:07:29Z

If you've been following Oscar Salazar's performance the past few weeks, you've got to have mixed feelings about the deal that just sent him to the San Diego Padres for reliever Cla Meredith. Oscar was the ultimate good soldier, waiting for his turn without complaint and performing very well as a spot player recently. He made some very timely contributions to some big comeback wins and endeared himself to fans here with his just-great-to-be-here attitude, but he really wasn't a player who was going to be the starting third baseman next year or some other cog in the rebuilding program. The Orioles were fortunate to get much of anything for either Salazar or Felix Pie, since they were up against a roster move to bring up David Hernandez and everybody knew they would have to waive one of them. The only question is who goes out to make room for Meredith in the bullpen. Guessing Andy MacPhail takes the path of least resistance and sends Kam Mikolio back to Norfolk.

O's win: Decision looming

2009-07-19T21:01:12Z

The Orioles put the hammer down on the White Sox today, actually tacking on runs after the White Sox gift-wrapped a handful in the fifth inning. Gregg Zahn's three-run homer in the ninth allowed the O's to head for New York feeing pretty good about themselves in spite if the series loss. "We showed a lot of patience at the plate, Zahn had a good game...it was a good game to get out of town with,'' said manager Dave Trembley. Tomorrow night, David Hernandez is expected to be recalled to face Andy Pettitte at the new Yankee Stadium, so the Orioles will have to find a place on the roster for him. There continues to be speculation they'll find a way to get something for Oscar Salazar or Felix Pie, but they may option a pitcher to buy some time.

Guthrie holds serve...so far

2009-07-19T19:51:59Z

The White Sox gift-wrapped a big inning for the Orioles, but the best thing about the five-run fifth -- in my opinion -- was that the Sox had a no-run bottom of the inning against Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. Everybody knows that Jeremy went through a streak where he had a penchant for giving back several runs right after an apparent break-out rally. This time, he disposed of the White Sox efficiently and kept his lead comfortable. There's still a long way to go in this one, but Jeremy looks like he may have benefitted from the involuntary break he got after contracting a virus. He looked rested and sharp through five, but just walked the leadoff hitter in the sixth.

British Open: Oh, well

2009-07-19T18:21:15Z

Tom Watson said at the end of the third round of the British Open that he had a 36-hole gameplan for the second half of the tournament. Unfortunately, he did not have a 40-hole gameplan. Watson and a lot of golf fans will remember his second shot on 18, which he hit too well. It was right on target, but rolled past the hole and trickled down the back of the knoll and slightly into the rough. If he had come up short -- even short of the green -- he might have won his record-tying sixth Open Championship. The playoff with Stewart Cink was never close. Watson clearly was fatigued and disappointed after the 72nd hole. Cink picked up a stroke on the first playoff hole and won the tournament when Watson blew up on the third, ceding a four-stroke lead on the par-5 17th. What a great week for golf, but Watson will have to get past the staggering disappointment of coming up a nine-foot putt short of delivering one of the most inspiring victories in the history of professional sports. Don't forget Cink's long birdie putt on 18 to stay in contention. He very much earned his first major victory, even if most of the golf world was not rooting for him to get it.

Watson: Playoff time

2009-07-19T17:35:18Z

It's not supposed to be easy. Tom Watson made a terrific tee shot on 18 and was in position to win the British Open with a conservative 8-iron on his second shot, but he hit it too well and it trickled off the back of the green. He needed to get up and down from a difficult spot on the edge of the rough and ended up with an eight-foot putt that came up a few inches short to drop him into a tie with Stewart Cink. Now, they begin a four-hole aggregate playoff that I have to feel favors Cink. He's been resting for a half hour while Watson wrestles with Father Time. You have to believe that age becomes even more of a factor when the tournament is lengthened to 76 holes. Hope I'm wrong, because this would be a victory for the ages.

Brilliant, my dear Watson

2009-07-19T16:17:07Z

Don't think you have to be a big golf fan to be rooting for Tom Watson right now. Already the oldest player ever to lead a major tournament going into the final round, he's still right in contention with just a handful of holes to go. If he can pull it off, it would be an even bigger story than Nicklaus winning the Masters at age 46 back in 1986. Watson is a couple months shy of his 60th birthday. To be honest, I'm personally grateful that he chose to make this historic challenge this weekend, since I'm stuck on the couch. It's lining up so that the Open runs right into the Orioles' series finale against the White Sox at 2:05 p.m. Jeremy Guthrie takes on Jose Contreras with the Orioles needing a win to avert a sweep heading into New York and Boston. The O's are 4-10 on Sunday, of course, but my money would be on the O's today.

Orioles: More of the same

2009-07-18T22:36:50Z

Orioles fans could actually find some consolation in the way the hitters battled in Friday night's loss to the Chicago White Sox, because they did so many position things even in defeat. I suppose you could do the same with today's game, but you can only rationalize so many tough losses. Ty Wigginton's error in the four-run White Sox rally was a hard one to swallow -- that just can't happen -- but that doesn't take all the responsibility away from Brad Bergesen, who came unraveled and allowed six straight hits. If you want to find a silver lining, it was the two outfield assists by Nolan Reimold and Nick Markakis that got him out of the inning, but all that did was tell a national television audience what we already know. The O's have a great young outfield. Once again, the Orioles went down swinging -- except Wigginton, who struck out looking with the bases loaded on a borderline pitch in the eighth. It was too close to take, especially since the home plate umpire had been calling that a strike all day. None of what happened in the game should change your opinion of Brad Bergesen. He hung a couple of pitches and let things go south for one inning, but it was still a quality performance. Once again, you could watch that loss and see some victories in the future, but that's getting kind of old, don't you think?

Thanks everybody

2009-07-18T16:05:27Z

I've gotten a lot of nice notes from many of the posters on this site, wishing me the best with my Achilles surgery. I really appreciate the support and hope everyone is having a great summer weekend. Everything went very well -- thanks to the wonderful doctors, nurses and hospital personnel over at Johns Hopkins. It is the best medical facility in the world, so I wasn't surprised, but I was amazed that they actually made the whole thing a relatively pleasant experience. Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into an Oscar speech, but I like to explain when the blog is left dormant for 24 hours. I'll be on light duty here for a while, but I'll be reading all the posts and hopefully giving cogent replies. I'll be eye-to-eye with my elevated right foot for the next 10 days. Wonder if it will affect the discourse. I did watch last night's game, but was -- for obvious reasons -- unable to kick the TV when Jason Berken threw that fat pitch to Jim Thome in the fith. I had be restrained when Danny Baez did the same thing with the bases loaded an inning later. Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? I thought there were a number of positive developments in the series opener against the White Sox, from guys laying down bunts to Aubrey Huff beating out two infield balls to Adam Jones and Nick Markakis going deep. But when you don't pitch, you don't win.

Trembley on Trembley

2009-07-16T20:36:56Z

We've spent the past couple months debating the daily performance of manager Dave Trembley, whose contract is up at the end of this year if the Orioles don't pick up his option for 2010. O's president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has said that he won't decide on Trembley's future until right near the end of the season, but Dave sat down with Orioles beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec the other day and talked at length about the situation. So, at the risk of offending the posters who think I put up too many links here, I'm going to put up another one. Take a look at Jeff's story right here, then come back and tell me what you think about Trembley's future. Your other option: If you want to talk directly to me about the subject, tune into Sportsline at six on WBAL (1090 AM) and give me a call. If you're out of signal range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon. Associated Press photo

Midterm grades (Part Deux)

2009-07-16T15:05:25Z

When I did the midterm grade report on the individual Orioles, I did not assign any grades to the team's overall performance in key areas. This was brought to my attention by an anonymous poster, but it was a fair point so I'll do it now: Pitching: C- -- The closer, setup guy and Danys Baez have been real good overall and the young pitchers have -- in total -- exceeded expectations. The veteran starters, overall, have been a definite disappointment, even considering that a couple of them came with no expectations. Hard to ignore the fact that the O's rank 28th in the league with their 4.94 team ERA, but the staff has been a lot better than that recently. To keep the ERA in perspective, consider that the team that's ranked 27th is the first-place Angels and the team that ranks 25th is the defending world champion Philles, who also are currently in first place. And, yes, I'm an easy grader. Hitting: B -- Last place team that ranks in the upper half of offensive ratings in most categories. Can't call that average. Certainly would benefit from more discipline at the plate, but only two teams struck out fewer times in the first half. Defense: C+ -- I think people only remember the errors and stupid plays. Overall, this is a decent defensive team. Baserunning: D- -- I'm guessing it improves in the second half, but a real trouble spot.

O's: Midterm grades

2009-07-15T21:12:15Z

Gotta say, I'm not that jazzed about the four-day Orioles All-Star break, but that might be because I'm sitting here staring at the big black boot on my right leg. That boot's not made for walking, so I'd just as soon have a ballgame to watch tonight...or at least tomorrow night. Instead, we've been banging out midseason analyses, and I've just given the Orioles their midterm grades. If you want to take a look, you can click here for a photo gallery that includes the player, a grade for his first-half performance (relative to his role on this team, not against the rest of the league) and a quick comment from me summing up his overall performance. If you just want the all the grades in one place, you can click here and scan right down the list. Then, if you disagree with the grade I've given somebody, you can come back here and rake me over the coals for my poor evaluation. Get to it. Radio update: Terrell Suggs signed a new contract today and he'll be our guest tonight on Sportsline on WBAL (1090 AM) at six. If you're not in signal range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Halfway to heaven?

2009-07-15T17:24:00Z

Well, that's probably pushing it, but the Orioles are getting ready to begin the non-mathematical second half of a season that is supposed to move the club much closer to being competitive in the seasons to come. Will the O's eventually get where they want to go this year? If you want Jeff Zrebiec's take on the top storylines of the second half, just click here for the first installment of our midseason look at the Orioles and the progress of Andy MacPhail's rebuilding plan. Later in the afternoon, We'll post our midterm grade report for every player on the active roster (plus Koji Uehara) and bring all of our second half analysis together in tomorrow's print edition. Also, you can go to Connolly's Corner Bar (in the Toy Department) for Dan's interactive take on several midseason issues.