SPORTS WITHOUT CHARM
Stat nerds are popping champagne like the ’72 Dolphins do when that final undefeated team takes a loss. The Orioles streak of 109 victories when leading after seven innings was snapped with an ugly 10-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Birds bullpen kept this miracle streak alive from August 8, 2011 through May…
Jim Johnson is a unique closer. He doesn’t overpower hitters with upper 90s fastballs, instead he makes his fielders work by forcing ground ball outs with a hard sinker. At the end of April, Orioles fans witnessed what happened when a hard throwing relief pitcher lost his command. Pedro Strop went into a tailspin and…
Kevin Spacey was one of several famous people at Pimlico on Saturday for the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes. After the race, the Academy Award winning actor tweeted a picture of his winning ticket, a fifty dollar bet on Oxbow to win. Winner winner, chicken dinner! I chose Oxbow for Henry Fonda’s film The…
I’m not going to lie. There are typically two weeks a year that I really care about horse racing. After the Kentucky Derby I try to read and soak up as much information as I can before the Preakness. I’ll use these thousands of words to lay down a few bucks on the race and…
“But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, expect death, taxes and Nolan Reimold on the disabled list.” – Benjamin Franklin The Orioles announced the left fielder/designated hitter Nolan Reimold has been placed on the 15 day disabled list with a right hamstring strain. The 29 year old is hitting just .188/.257/.327…
I briefly listened to a couple local sports talk radio personalities glance at the number of complete games Jim Palmer pitched in his career. It’s astounding, 211 in case you were wondering. These two went on to ask why the current Orioles rotation couldn’t pitch as deep into games as the Hall of Famer did…
The Orioles came close to rescuing Jason Hammel from his worst start of the 2013 season, but fell just two runs short of some serious magic at the Yard. The Birds dropped their third straight game for the first time since early April and Hammel’s ERA ballooned to 5.72. The O’s number one starter has…
I wasn’t really sure what the Orioles were going to get from Henry Urrutia when they signed him last season. His defection from Cuba kept him out of baseball for nearly two years, but he seems to have picked up right where he left off at the plate. The 26 year old Baysox outfielder currently…
Buck Showalter has made it clear that Ryan Flaherty continues to get playing time due to his performance at second base. At .133/.228/.233 on the season, he’s certainly not in the lineup because of his offense. Flaherty’s early season struggles have been often discussed on sports talk radio (when football isn’t discussed) and Twitter (through…
All of last season, the Orioles had to put up with national baseball experts saying they were lucky because of their one-run win record and run differential. Their Pythagorean record suggested that they weren’t as good as their actual win-loss did. But It didn’t matter, the numbers and experts were wrong and the O’s grabbed…
