“I think we realize pitching and defense are going to win us some ball games” – Sam Perlozzo

i meant to write battered, but maybe batted IS more appropriate.

Yeah, I think you’re exactly right. This is why I think it seemed like the vast majority of O’s fans didn’t buy into the hot first half of 2005 (I sure did, though) and attendance never seemed to pick up then.

And this is why this season I feel like every loss could be the start of a looooong losing streak.

Lol

...with just Guthrie, Cabrerra and Burres in the post season?

Maybe for the wild card series, but we are going to need at least one other guy for the ALCS and the WS. And I’d definitely take Olson over Trax.

What can the Danes teach us about happiness?

“Year after year we’re just happy that things didn’t go as badly as we’d feared.”

I don’t really remember getting caught up last year, but I’m sure I did. The problem is when I think about last year I think about the miserable ending to the season. The memory that actually pops into my head when I think of last year is being at Kevin Millar t-shirt night on a dreary, foggy evening where there were only 500 people in the stands, Victor Zambrano (or was it Santos? doesn’t matter) was getting whalloped by the Angels and we left before the game was over because it was so freaking miserable. It’s hard to remember that the O’s did actually start off not so great.

Right now the Orioles are playing on pure emotion, desire to win, and simply are off to a hot start. I hate when people use intangibles that have nothing to do with sports like team chemistry, or the fact that history is against you because your franchise is only 7-25 in game 7 all time. This emotion thing with the Orioles is one thing I will buy into. I think that the Orioles want to win, and as SC said, they are doing all they possibly can to do just that. In almost every interview a player will reference to the fact that they are not going to go away and believe in themselves. Additionally, the O’s seem to only score runs when they are down and really need them, and then just throw their AB’s away when they are up big or have come back to take the lead. I think you can attribute that to the fact that they are zoning in on the pitches being given to them and somewhat catching guys off guard. Just a sidebar, but you also have to think that guys will start to hit Sherill soon. He is doing well but guys will catch on soon. I played for a long time and a guy who "hides" the ball can only do that for so long, because the second and third time you see the guy you begin to see the ball and if he can’t smoke one over the plate or have the bottom drop off as a closer, it becomes awfully tough to get outs.
My comment on other teams was meant to say that other pitchers and probably told to attack the strike zone on most of the O’s hitters and make them hit the ball. Going along with that, the big boys don’t really get up for April and May, plain and simple. Guys in the NBA will openly admit that they don’t put in half the effort for the regular season that they do in the playoffs. In the MLB players will look back in September and remark how they wish they had played harder and put more effort into their games in April and May as those games are what are hampering them late in the year. I think guys like Millar, Mora, and Huff and physically doing all they can, but when other teams become involved in division races the O’s always seem to fade, year in and year out it is no coincidence that they do well early and fall late.

in time for him to serve in IN Baltimore next week.

In certain kinds of criminal cases, if you appeal a verdict and lose, your penalty is increased. Hawkins should be looking at a one month suspension. If he doesn’t like that, he should appeal in the manful, Orioles way: get off your Jet-Ski and punch out the judge.