Monday Open Thread

Scioscia did not think it was necessary for Felix Pie to apologize after the Baltimore Orioles outfielder punctuated his hitting for the cycle Friday night with a celebration Pie acknowledged was excessive.

“He was excited; you don’t hit for the cycle every day,” Scioscia said. “I didn’t really give much thought to it, but if he feels he went overboard with it, fine. It’s not an issue.”

Really? Then what was with the daggers coming out of your eyes for the rest of the night and the brush back pitch from Lackey the next day? At least say what you actually think, buddy.

link

That casino land is at “Gateway South”, which the city has been investing a lot of time & money into redeveloping as the unofficial welcoming inroad to the city. That particular parcel, I believe, was to be developed into a ginormous sports complex by a group headed up by Ray Lewis.

So I’m curious as to what happened with the sports complex – did it die? I remember seeing pretty elaborate plans for that location that didn’t involve neon signs & gambling.

til the deadline to sign draftees. The Nats said they’d draft him again (with his permission) next year if it doesnt work out this year. Good luck with that.

At least our offense has come around a bit.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-sp.osnotes16aug16,0,915478.story

Troy Patton shut down for year

Left-hander Troy Patton, who is on Triple-A Norfolk’s disabled list with arm fatigue, probably won’t pitch again this season, said Orioles director of development David Stockstill.

Patton, who missed the 2008 season after shoulder surgery, has thrown 108 innings combined at Double-A Bowie, where he was 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 11 starts, and Norfolk, where he was 1-3 with a 6.45 ERA in nine starts.

"That’s a pretty good load in the first year after surgery," Stockstill said. "As he gets tired, we’d rather not push it and go any further."

 Felix Pie is adorable

Pie said he didn’t get to sleep Saturday morning until about 3:30, fielding text messages and phone calls from friends and family. Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano, New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez were among those who contacted Pie.

He said he spent an hour talking to his best friend in the Dominican Republic.

"He cried, man, and he made me cry, too," Pie said.

Pie received Friday night’s lineup card as a souvenir, and hitting coach Terry Crowley presented him with the ball he hit for the triple. Pie asked Crowley, who has become his mentor, to sign it.

"I said, ‘I appreciate you because everything I got wrong, you fixed it. Thank you,’ " Pie said.

Oh man, gotta love those early 90s cards. They’re up there with the laser school photo background.

11. Michael Ohlman, C, Lakewood Ranch HS (FL), #326 overall, 6’4’’/205: I’m a bit higher on Ohlman than some others, as I think he has the natural tools to stay behind the plate, and he’s developed the skills there, too. He’s still got some learning to do, but I think he could be a plus defender there. At the plate, I like the fact that he makes good contact, and his power should play. There’s no reason to think that there’s not a starting catcher in his toolset. This is a great pick for both talent and draft position, as Ohlman was speculated to be a first day candidate. However, he might not be signable, as it could take $1MM+ to get him away from Miami. That will be tough, but the Orioles might have saved enough for it with the Hobgood deal. DOB: 12/14/90. Commitment: Miami.

28. Kyle Hoppy, OF, Orchard Park HS (NY), #836 overall, 6’0’’/195: Hoppy’s probably got a better chance of starting on the football team at Bucknell next year than sporting a pro baseball uniform. I didn’t even follow him this spring, and I don’t think I’ve seen him on any other follow lists either. Interesting name to watch if you like two-sport athletes, though. He hasn’t signed. DOB: 5/8/91. Commitment: Bucknell (FB).

We have signed a lot of tough signs later in the draft this year. Lets hope this strategy pays off, then again it only takes one or two of them becoming ML players in order for it to pay off, so it seems like a good strategy to me.

It’s plenty relevant, zk. After all, he played well for one early round and then ran out of steam. Once an Oriole, always an Oriole, I guess. ;)

Been lookin’ at a few pictures, and boy did Brian have a nice bunch of teammates come join him last night. So far I’ve seen Wieters, Tillman, Matusz, Markakis (even with his walk/run), Jones, Scott, Huff, Guthrie, and Baez.

I’m not talking about the swoon and the 8-21 record since the AS Break. Nor am I particularly thinking about the fact that the O’s 93 OPS+ puts them near the bottom of the AL. Likewise, their ERA+ of 90 puts them two points off the bottom of the AL. They pretty much suck at all facets of the game. I don’t think MacPhail envisioned this level of play. Whatever, all of this is par for the course for an Orioles fan.

What is tough for me is the fact that the O’s are now entering the end of the season where they play games against the Rays (10), Red Sox (5), Yankees(6), and have a three game set with the Rangers. I just find it hard to root against the Rays and Rangers because I would rather see them in the playoffs instead of the other teams in the hunt. I just can’t watch games where an O’s loss can be rationalized as acceptable since it helped some other team. At the same time, it’s no fun watching them do their usual flop against the teams you’d rather see out of the playoffs. That urge to just stop paying any attention other than looking at box scores the following morning is coming on strong.

If Mark Teixeira had Joe Mauer’s RBI percentage, he’d have 111 RBIs right now.

I’m pretty into this

but sadly there is a meaningless Giants game on at 8 that probably means more than the O’s regular season game. Does that make sense? In any event, looks like i’ll catch the first 3 innings and then onto football land.