It wasn't all bad in '09: Best Offensive Performances by the Orioles

by Stacey on Nov 12, 2009 6:11 PM EST in O's History

Baseball-Reference.com just revamped their Play Index tool and I've been messing around with it to learn all the new features. They've added some good stuff, so far my favorite is that you can do a search on how many times a player did something in his career. Last summer when Brian Roberts hit his 50th double, I was really interested to see how many players had more than one 50 double season. This new feature wasn't available so I had to do a search on 50 or more doubles and sort by name. Not anymore!

Anyway, I was doing some searches on the 2009 Orioles and it got me wondering who had the best individual performance at the plate this year. The first thing that came to my mind was the cycle by Felix Pie, followed by Luke Scott's monster day at the plate on Matt Wieters Day. It's obviously subjective, but after doing some searching on B-R.com, I've come up with a short list of finalists.

Luke Scott - July 11th @ Seattle. LUUUKE drove in two runs in the first inning off of Erik Bedard, then socked it to the Mariners bullpen with a two run triple in the 6th and a 3 run homer in the 7th. His final line: 3-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 7 RBI. GameThread and recap.
Ty Wigginton - June 14th vs Atlanta. Wiggy had three hits including two home runs to lead the O's in an 11-2 butt kicking of the Braves. His line: 3-4, 4 R, 3 RBI, BB, 2 HR. GameThread and recap.
Matt Wieters - September 15th @ TB. Your personal Savior had the best game of his young career on this night. After falling behind the Rays 5-0, the offense staged a comeback led by Wieters who went 3-5 with a HR, a 2B, a BB, 2 R, and 5 RBI. GameThread and recap.
Felix Pie - August 14th vs Los Angeles/Anaheim. You all know the game. Felix hit for the cycle, saving the triple for last. He ended the game with 4 hits, 3 runs, and 4 RBI. He also made Mike Scioscia look like a tool by apologizing for being too excited. GameThread and recap.
Brian Roberts - Sept 12th @ New York. This game is better known as the night Brian Matusz mopped the floor with the Yankees, but Brian Bob had a pretty big night himself. With two runs already scored in the top of the 2nd inning, Roberts launched a grand slam off of A.J. Burnett. He'd add 2 more hits on the night, including his 51st 2B of the year to end the night 3-4 with 1 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR. GameThread and recap.
Adam Jones - May 12th vs Tampa Bay. Dr. Jones only had two hits on the night but he made them count as he homered in back-to-back innings. The O's won 7-5 with Adam going 2-4 with 2 R, 4 RBI, and 2 HR. GameThread and recap.
Luke Scott - May 29th vs Detroit. I didn't really want to list any players twice but how could I leave this one out? Since coming to the American League, Luke Scott has made the Tigers miserable. On this, Matt Wieters Night, Luke continued his assault with 3 hits, 2 of which were HR (one being a grand slam), 5 RBI, 2 R, and a BB for good measure. GameThread and recap.

There are probably a number of other good individual performances, but the list was getting a little long, and that game where Nicky hit the grand slam was so awful I didn't want to look at the recap. So what do you say? Who of the above had the greatest offensive night of '09 for the O's?

Poll

What was the greatest night for an Orioles hitter?

Luke Scott vs the Mariners (3-4, HR, 3B, 2 R, 7 RBI)

51 votes

Ty Wigginton vs the Braves (3-4, 2 HR, BB, 4 R, 3 RBI)

2 votes

Matt Wieters vs. the Rays (3-4, HR, 2B, BB, 2 R, 5 RBI)

11 votes

Felix Pie vs the Angels (4-4, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI)

71 votes

Brian Roberts vs the Yankees (3-4, Grand Slam, 2B, BB, 1 R, 4 RBI)

14 votes

Adam Jones vs the Rays (2 HR in consecutive innings, 2 R, 4 RBI)

6 votes

Luke Scott vs the Tigers (3-3, 2 HR, BB, 2 R, 5 RBI)

22 votes

Others - explain in the comments.

1 votes

178 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

huff giving joba the fist pump

"you know what the orioles could use right now? a day off." - joe angel

by swilhelmross on Nov 12, 2009 6:28 PM EST reply actions

Matt looking decidely Huff-esque in that picture

by PhilR8 on Nov 12, 2009 6:30 PM EST up reply actions

Not gonna lie.

I thought for a second it was Huff. Then I realized it was Wieters.

"He's a gazelle." -Adam Jones on Nolan Reimold.

by LenaO on Nov 12, 2009 7:15 PM EST up reply actions

Whoa!

That does look kinda like Huff. That’s weird.

I now have a blog: http://justanotherbaltimoresportsblog.blogspot.com/

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Nov 12, 2009 9:11 PM EST up reply actions

Me, too

I didn’t give it more than a passing glance and only just now realized it wasn’t Huff.

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew_G on Nov 12, 2009 10:06 PM EST up reply actions

I'm starting to think I should change that picture

I don’t want people confusing Huff and Wieters!

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Nov 12, 2009 11:09 PM EST up reply actions

that does NOT look like huff

not even at all (poor grammar for emphasis only)

by twistedlogic on Nov 13, 2009 9:45 AM EST up reply actions

really?

That’s pretty much the same dude.

by PhilR8 on Nov 13, 2009 10:39 AM EST up reply actions

put those side by side and they dont look anything alike

put them not side by side and they still dont look anything alike

by twistedlogic on Nov 13, 2009 3:03 PM EST up reply actions

by PhilR8 on Nov 13, 2009 4:17 PM EST up reply actions

Wow

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Nov 13, 2009 4:33 PM EST up reply actions

well if you do that

then ANY player of that body type will look alike.

by twistedlogic on Nov 13, 2009 9:54 PM EST up reply actions

HA.

Now that’s funny.

"He's a gazelle." -Adam Jones on Nolan Reimold.

by LenaO on Nov 14, 2009 6:13 PM EST up reply actions

Well

It’s not so much that they look anything alike… it’s just that when my eyes glanced over the image the angle of the picture made it look like Huff.

"He's a gazelle." -Adam Jones on Nolan Reimold.

by LenaO on Nov 13, 2009 3:27 PM EST up reply actions

I'm between

Luuuuuke’s rainbow over the Warehouse game and Pie.
Perhaps not considered to be the “best” by some of you, but they were definitely two of the most memorable for me.
Luuuuke with the rainbow and the ML debut of the Future… Pie slamming his hands together at third in excitement… oh, the good old days.

"He's a gazelle." -Adam Jones on Nolan Reimold.

by LenaO on Nov 12, 2009 7:17 PM EST reply actions

Wait.

I just remember the rainbow was when Matthew came up to bat.
Grand Slam WAS amazing though… Tiger killer, for sure.

"He's a gazelle." -Adam Jones on Nolan Reimold.

by LenaO on Nov 12, 2009 7:19 PM EST reply actions

all of them are awesome

and i know this is crazy, being about offense and all but when i read…

This game is better known as the night Brian Matusz mopped the floor with the Yankees,

I got a really good feeling, maybe even some goosebumps.

What up?

by snakethejake on Nov 12, 2009 7:58 PM EST reply actions

LUUUKKKKEEEE 5, Tigers 0

That game was a beautiful convergence of awesome ass-kicking (3E1N mowed down the Tigers all night as well) and an electric crowd. Good times.

"The United States is the New York Yankees of countries...powerful and respected until the year 2000." - Homer J. Simpson

by Brotz13 on Nov 12, 2009 10:06 PM EST reply actions

I was at that game......it WAS awesome...

However I had to vote for the night Brian Roberts dominated the Yankees – because I just hate that team so much….

by NewYorkOriole on Nov 12, 2009 10:15 PM EST up reply actions

The rainbow game

might’ve been the only time all season when I really thought The Plan was going to work.

Fuck me, I was singing early Bob Dylan songs all day in the car, I could barely sit still – and the game delivered. The game fucking delivered!

"I like baseball, movies, good clothes, whiskey, fast cars ... and you. What else you need to know?"

by Andrew_G on Nov 12, 2009 10:22 PM EST up reply actions

That day was truly magical

A full house in Baltimore on a gorgeous Friday night, everyone happy and full of hope, a rainbow over the warehouse, a rookie pitcher mowing them down, home runs, phenom catchers, fireworks. It was the perfect night.

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Nov 12, 2009 11:08 PM EST up reply actions

"He also made Mike Scioscia look like a tool by apologizing for being too excited."

Mike Scioscia is a tool.

And while you can’t not love a cycle, it’s just a fun-anomaly kinda stat. (My fave: Brady is the only player to hit 50 HR in a season and steal 50 bases in a season; different seasons, yeah, but still… )

Anyway, 7 ribbies still tops 4.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Nov 13, 2009 2:10 AM EST reply actions

Fun-anomaly kinda quiz: What player was traded a day after hitting for the cycle?

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Nov 13, 2009 2:14 AM EST up reply actions

Whoops, it wasn’t the next day. Damn, this neuron loss thing is getting outta hand. Anyway, let me rephrase the question:

What player he led his league with 77 extra base hits, was third in total bases, hit for the cycle twice — and was then traded in the off-season?

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Nov 13, 2009 2:49 AM EST up reply actions

Hint: Pie is a much better fielder than this guy, a RF/1B who was said by a teammate to wear a glove for one reason only: “It was a league custom.”

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Nov 13, 2009 2:53 AM EST up reply actions

Had to go look it up, but...

Babe Herman, who went from the Dodgers to the Reds after his enchanted 1931 season. What’s more, he hit for the cycle a THIRD time, with the Cubs in 1933.

"The United States is the New York Yankees of countries...powerful and respected until the year 2000." - Homer J. Simpson

by Brotz13 on Nov 13, 2009 8:07 AM EST reply actions