Monday Bird Droppings

by Camden Chat on Oct 5, 2009 7:15 AM EDT in Open Threads Comment 24 comments

Farewell, Melmo. Farewell.

O's Mora moved by Camden Yards salute
"When Cesar Izturis heard "La Vida Es Un Carnaval," by Celia Cruz after the sixth inning Sunday afternoon, the Orioles shortstop admitted sheepishly that his eyes began to water. And that started a chain reaction, because when his friend and teammate, third baseman Melvin Mora, saw Izturis get teary, he started to choke up. Then there was the female fan near the Orioles' dugout who was bawling as Mora stepped onto the field after the sixth, waved to the crowd and touched his heart as Cruz's salsa tune -- the one that is played before Mora's at-bats at Camden Yards -- blared." Yeah, it's a long excerpt, but one worth sharing. Adios, Melmo. - duck

Orioles use unearned run to beat Blue Jays 5-4

"Michael Aubrey scored the winning run on Brandon League's second throwing error in the 11th inning Sunday, giving the Baltimore Orioles a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays and a three-game sweep." How you screw up a throw to 1B from a bunt TWICE in one inning is beyond me. But I'll take the win. - duck

The Schmuck Stops Here: Orioles: RIP 2009

"Can't remember the last time I was this eager to get a season over with, and I'm guessing I'm not alone." No, no your not, Peter. - duck

Orioles’ Roberts Takes Second - NYTimes.com

"(Brian) Roberts is a throwback player, with great speed and gap power, so it is fitting that the player he is most similar to is Fred Dunlap, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Their statistics are 92.8 percent similar, according to the Web site, which is amazing considering that Dunlap played from 1880 to 1891." Hey, it only took the NY Times a month to notice. - duck

Kevin Cowherd: Bringing back Trembley makes no sense

"How do you not change managers after another disastrous second-half collapse and one of the worst seasons in team history?" Kevin, tell us what you really think. - duck

O's focus turns to coaching staff

"Now that the Orioles have exercised manager Dave Trembley's option for 2010, the focus turns to his staff and its future." Might Juan Samuel or someone else be moving along? I'd imagine someone if going to fall on a sword about the lack of fundamentals this team has shown, if it's not going to be Diamond Dave. - duck

Trembley knows his role will change

"The expectations are about to rise demonstrably at Camden Yards, and Trembley knows that if the Orioles are going to win, he has to be more of a disciplinarian and less of a teacher on the field. "I know what I have to do better," said Trembley of his approach. "I've got to drop the hammer more. I've got to drop it. Because losing does not sit very well with the people around here anymore. And I almost paid the ultimate price for that, and so did a lot of other people. That's it in a nutshell, probably more than a nutshell.... I've had great support from the players. Great, tremendous. But they're in for a little bit different approach in Spring Training." This is good stuff to hear from DD. -zk

New attendance low for Camden Yards
"For the second consecutive season, the Orioles have set a new Camden Yards low in attendance. With an announced 17,969 at the finale Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Orioles drew 1,907,163, in 81 games, a dropoff from the previous low in 2008 (1,950,077), when they had 78 home dates." Everyone who's surprised, raise your hand. Yeah, that's what I thought. - duck

Rise of young O's builds hope -- baltimoresun.com
It's the end of a disappointing season, but the Orioles believe they see the light at the end of the tunnel. -Stacey

NCAA gets tough on advisers for baseball players

"The NCAA Eligibility Center recently distributed a questionnaire to college baseball players that suggests tighter oversight of advisers in the draft. Many agents questioned where the initiative will lead, only seven months after an Ohio judge upheld former Oklahoma State pitcher Andy Oliver's right to representation in the draft." Scott Boras can't become an "adviser" for the 2 years before a junior declares for the draft now? What is this country coming to? - duck

Welcome to Open Thread. It's like a greatest hits collection of nightmares.

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On advisors

Why shouldn’t a player retain the services of a lawyer and other legal/professional experts when making the biggest financial/career decision of his life? The NCAA’s approach to its so-called amateur ethos is wildly out of date and out of touch. You wouldn’t tell someone in any other profession that they didn’t have the right to ask a lawyer to help them make such an important decision. I just don’t see where the NCAA gets off on regulating this. There are too many potential livelihoods at stake.

by pipkin on Oct 5, 2009 9:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought it was "advisor"

but SBNation spell check kept telling me “adviser”

Jim Palmer: "I said to Nolan, 'Why do you run every ball out like that?' and he said, 'Why wouldn’t you?' "

by duck on Oct 5, 2009 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's both

how odd.

by daveh873 on Oct 5, 2009 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I had to download Melmo's song

now that he cant do any more damage on the field I can afford to be a bit sentimental about the guy. You’ll live on forever in bobblehead form, Melmo. Don’t ever forget that.

by daveh873 on Oct 5, 2009 9:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Day one without baseball

It’s alright, just feels like an off-day. What to listen to on my breaks at work?

About the Trembley quotes, I’ve already heard him say these things, and he’s already run a “fundamental spring training” before. I hope we really see results, because I can think of five games off of the top of my head where bad strategy OR bad fundamentals cost the team the game.

I know it’s almost a joke, but I hope Roberts shows a little more hustle next year. He hustles enough, but I hate to see someone leaning backwards as they run to first, or not running to first on a dropped strikeout. The more time passes, the more of an example he sets.

The stock market will never recover, our armies will never again be #1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of their lives - HST

by the fix is in on Oct 5, 2009 11:12 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

sniff

Take Care, Melmo

by Steve. on Oct 5, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Optimism and denial..

Such a fine line we walk sometimes. I am optimistic about our teams direction. Almost all of the kids improved this year and despite the arguments some make, you can’t deny that fact. Where I often feel like I am in a bit of denial is thinking we can continue to make strides and be competitive. We just don spend enough money right now and by the looks of the playoffs, money is all it takes on baseball. With that being said, we did resign our 2 best veterans to long term deals. I think it’s very unfortunate for us that this sort of progress couldn’t have happened last year. There simply aren’t any real valuable names out there that are worth overpaying for to get us back on the right track. We can’t afford to trade much from the farm to get the impact we need to hit what has basically become our impending doom— 6 years from now. Maybe I’m just in denial but i don’t think we can e competitive as long as Angelos remains at the top… Plz Cal, call your peoples at comcast and bail us out like you did baseball…

by GeoffreyA on Oct 5, 2009 12:41 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs

My problem is more perpetual

Even if all or most of our prospects pan out and we become competitive and willing to spend big money on free agents, won’t the Yankees and Red Sox always just outbid us if they think we area real threat? Even if they don’t really need the player, our huge spending is play money for them, so they can just add them just to prevent us from getting them. Sometimes I wonder if the best possible outcome is to have one lucky season like the Rays where everything clicks…

by O'sFan21 on Oct 5, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was at the game yesterday

My GF surprised me with really nice tickets, and we were in the first row right by the Blue Jays dugout. Like, the very first row. They were awesome seats. But anyway, I had been talking to some Blue Jays fans who had driven down from Toronto for the weekend and had been to all three games. As I was talking about how I was glad Mora wouldn’t be back next year, he did the little curtain call thing that’s described in the first Bird Dropping. I clapped for him, genuinely proud of some of his past accomplishments. Then I started clapping because I was glad that he had already taken his final swing as an Oriole.

Happy trails, Memlo.

by PhilR8 on Oct 5, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Melmo a special place in my heart

On MVP Baseball ’05 Melmo seemed to hit a homer every single game.
More homers then Palmerio, Lopez, Tejada and Sosa.

Ray Rice is so agile. He's a whole new breed for agile you need a new word to describe his agility... UBER-AGILITY!

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Oct 5, 2009 3:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

how about that

Melmo DID hit more hrs in ’05 than any other O. So I guess your game was somewhat accurate.

by daveh873 on Oct 5, 2009 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who are you rooting for in the post season

I’m rooting foR LAADEOFODSSGOUFEED

Ray Rice is so agile. He's a whole new breed for agile you need a new word to describe his agility... UBER-AGILITY!

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Oct 5, 2009 4:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dodgers

Jim Palmer: "I said to Nolan, 'Why do you run every ball out like that?' and he said, 'Why wouldn’t you?' "

by duck on Oct 5, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In this order

Tigers/Twins > LAAOCCAUSAWHESMWU > Any NL team >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Red Sox

Cry havoc and unleash the Esskay hot dogs of war! - The Wayward Oriole, Opening Day 2008

by Eat More Esskay on Oct 5, 2009 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lemme finsh that

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>YANKEES

Ray Rice is so agile. He's a whole new breed for agile you need a new word to describe his agility... UBER-AGILITY!

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Oct 5, 2009 7:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Incorrect

I would never, ever in my entire lifetime root for the Yankees against any team for any reason whatsoever. Therefore, they do not appear on my list at all.

Cry havoc and unleash the Esskay hot dogs of war! - The Wayward Oriole, Opening Day 2008

by Eat More Esskay on Oct 5, 2009 7:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Twins

Although really, no shot.

by Steve. on Oct 5, 2009 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

replied in the wrong spot

you all get the idea.

by Steve. on Oct 5, 2009 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BTW, today's was Zombieland

What an awesome movie. Opening credits were worth the price of admission.

Jim Palmer: "I said to Nolan, 'Why do you run every ball out like that?' and he said, 'Why wouldn’t you?' "

by duck on Oct 5, 2009 5:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Question:

This hat

"Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me, I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I’d rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out."-Ichiro

by WestcoastO'sFan on Oct 5, 2009 7:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I own both of them

so I say, both of them.

"I hate making excuses. If I suck, then I suck. And I suck. That's the way I'm playing. If you suck, you suck. You have to take responsibility in this game. Right now, that's the way I feel. Yes, I suck." - Jose Guillen/quote of the year

by getxstoked on Oct 5, 2009 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs