Monday Bird Droppings
by duck on Aug 23, 2010 7:15 AM EDT
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Recaps of yesterday's loss can be found at Dallas Morning News, The Sun, Orioles.com, and MASNsports (with post-game Buck).
Berken goes for second opinion on shoulder | orioles.com: News
"Based on what the doctors here told me, it's just a matter of how the shoulder reacts to the rest," Jason Berken said. "Hopefully [this doctor] says the same thing, [and] there's no need for surgery. That's what we're always shooting for."
Orioles Insider: Luke goes deep for 100th time
Apparently, Luke Scott had hit 99 home runs before yesterday.
Orioles Insider: Orioles magic number is down to one
"With their 6-4 loss to the Texas Rangers in [Sunday]'s series finale, the Orioles are now one loss away from clinching a 13th straight losing season. That stretch of futility is matched only by the Pittsburgh Pirates."
Orioles: A day later, rookie Josh Bell still smiling - baltimoresun.com
Josh Bell will deliver the baseballs to his mother when she sees the team play in Chicago Tuesday.
School of Roch: VandenHurk's debut (updated)
"VandenHurk walked leadoff hitter Julio Borbon on five pitches before striking out Elvis Andus. He picked off Borbon and fanned Young to complete a 12-pitch inning."
Michael Young relives Rangers' 30-3 drumming of Orioles three years ago | Dallas Morning News
"The 27-run margin is the largest in the modern era, and the Rangers set a club record with 29 hits. But Young said the Rangers were trying to keep the score down. Manager Ron Washington added that third-base coach Don Wakamatsu held runners on hits that ordinarily would have scored them or moved them an extra base."
Orioles Notebook: O's protecting young hurlers - Carroll County Times: Orioles
Buck Showalter wants his young starters healthy, and he’s closely watching the number of innings they’ve pitched. Still the Baltimore Orioles manager isn’t making any definitive judgments about how many they’ll rack up this season.
Schwalenberg handles baseball memorabilia by day, sells beer to fans by night - baltimoresun.com
"If you've ever passed a balmy afternoon in the bleachers at Camden Yards and craved a crisp Budweiser, chances are you bought that beer from Schwalenberg. If you haven't enjoyed his work in the stands, maybe you've toured the Sports Legends Museum in the adjacent warehouse and gazed at one of the exhibits Schwalenberg lovingly prepared as curator."
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Broadaster Vin Scully, 82 to return to L.A. Dodgers next season - MLB - SI.com
Vin Scully will return to the broadcast booth to call Los Angeles Dodgers games next year for his 62nd season. The team said Sunday that the 82-year-old Hall of Famer will call all home games and road games against National League West opponents.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella retires after a half-century in baseball, goes to be with ailing mom - baltimoresun.com
"My mom needs me home and that's where I'm going," Piniella said. Can't argue with that.
IN THE MINORS
Bulls charge past Tides in slugfest, 9-8 | Norfolk Tides News
Norfolk pounded out 11 hits, but four unearned runs doomed the Tides in a 9-8 loss to Durham Sunday night at Harbor Park.
Squirrels Shut Out Baysox | Bowie Baysox News
The Bowie Baysox fell to the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-0 Sunday night. With the loss, the Baysox fall to 66-60 on the season, and drop to third place in the Eastern League's Western Division for the first time since May 31.
ROWELL SETS RECORD, KEYS FALL 4-1 | Frederick Keys News
On the day that 3B Billy Rowell set the all-time games played record in Keys history, only Rowell provided much offensive punch as the Keys registered just four hits in a 4-1 defeat to Salem. Frederick did work seven walks however but its clutch hitting was non-existent.
Delmarva won 2-1
They collected just two runs on eight hits, but it was enough on Sunday.
IronBirds and ValleyCats Rained Out | Aberdeen IronBirds News
Sunday evening's game between the Aberdeen IronBirds and the Tri-City ValleyCats has been cancelled due to rain. The game will not be made up.
Bluefield lost 2-0
Starter Zach Petersime went 7.0 IP of scoreless baseball, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out six.
The GCL Orioles won 5-2
Mychal Givens went 1-for-5 and Connor Narron went 1-for-2.
Fourth Rounder Mummey Joins Shorebirds | Delmarva Shorebirds News
The Baltimore Orioles announced on Sunday that Orioles fourth selection in 2010, Trent Mummey, has been promoted to Delmarva. He has joined the Shorebirds in Hickory.
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Comments
To: Michael Young
Re: Rangers 30 Orioles 3
Fuck Off.
Sincerely,
Kevin
by kba26 on Aug 23, 2010 8:59 AM EDT reply actions 4 recs
reply fail, so let me add my own twist...
To: Mondays
Fuck Off.
Sincerely,
Matt
"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man." ~ The Dude
by PBR me ASAP! on Aug 23, 2010 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions
To: School
Fuck off.
Sincerely,
Jordan
Buck Showalter clearly isn't interested in having Anthony Rendon as a member of the Orioles.
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Aug 23, 2010 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
To: Unemployment
Fuck off.
Sincerely,
Mark
It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay. - John Waters
by Eat More Esskay on Aug 23, 2010 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions
I like where this is going.
Buck Showalter clearly isn't interested in having Anthony Rendon as a member of the Orioles.
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Aug 23, 2010 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions
If the Orioles go 19-18 the rest of the way, they avoid 100 losses again.
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
That could happen.
But aren’t we playing the AL East for most of September?
Buck Showalter clearly isn't interested in having Anthony Rendon as a member of the Orioles.
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Aug 23, 2010 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions
27 games in September. 23 games against the AL East.
I think we could go .500 the rest of the way and avoid the 100 losses, even so. Although if the young hurlers totally run out of gas and we get another whole-team slump, that won’t be as fun.
It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay. - John Waters
by Eat More Esskay on Aug 23, 2010 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't see what difference it makes
...a piece of V mail in which everything but the salutation "Dear Mary" had been blocked out and on which the censoring officer had written, "I long for you tragically. R. O. Shipman, Chaplain, U.S. Army."
Human use base-10 arithmetic because we have 10 fingers.
10 squared is one hundred and humans do not want their baseball teams to lose that many games!
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 Aug 23, 2010 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions
What about octospiders?
"Real Orioles don't pout. Real Orioles don't gloat. Real Orioles just win."
by NewYorkOriole on Aug 23, 2010 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions
You may win that bet even if the O's get 100 losses.
It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay. - John Waters
by Eat More Esskay on Aug 23, 2010 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions
CONGRATULATIONS BILLY ROWELL!!!!
Oh wait…it’s not a good thing to play the most games at A-ball in Orioles history??? Damn.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
Wow and I thought our base running with DDT was bad.
German kids just ran themselves into a double play. Guy threw a pitch, and then right after the catcher throws it back to the pitcher, kid on third breaks for home, he’s out. So the German kid on second figured, hey the other team thinks the play is over, I’ll steal third, nope he was out but like a foot.
Buck Showalter clearly isn't interested in having Anthony Rendon as a member of the Orioles.
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Aug 23, 2010 12:34 PM EDT reply actions
little league man
They try all kinds of crazy baserunning shit.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
After a play like that, I can see why German has gone winless so far.
Buck Showalter clearly isn't interested in having Anthony Rendon as a member of the Orioles.
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Aug 23, 2010 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Germany is a misnomer
The coaches were all speaking what I will call “North Carolina English”. Then the announcers told us all that the “German” team is out of Rhamstein(?) AFB. Military kids. Which is fine, but really I would rather see a world team that is comprised of the country of origin…
Birdland and Buck both start with B... coincidence? I think not.
by Birdland in NC on Aug 24, 2010 2:54 AM EDT up reply actions
So is nobody else bummed about Markakis?
Am I missing some reason to feel good about his season (other than the doubles and slight rebound in OBP)?
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
he's in a slump
.293 OBP since Aug. 1. It happens. Let’s see where he ends up with before we start judging him.
...a piece of V mail in which everything but the salutation "Dear Mary" had been blocked out and on which the censoring officer had written, "I long for you tragically. R. O. Shipman, Chaplain, U.S. Army."
I guess
I don’t really get the “let’s see where he ends up” thing – you can’t talk about guys performance until after the season?
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
well, you can
but what kind of grand pronouncement are you going to make right now? That Nicky has “lost” it? I only see a slump, nothing more, nothing less. If his season numbers in October look bad, then that’s a whole other thing entirely.
...a piece of V mail in which everything but the salutation "Dear Mary" had been blocked out and on which the censoring officer had written, "I long for you tragically. R. O. Shipman, Chaplain, U.S. Army."
Nobody was trying to make any grand pronouncement.
All I was saying was that he’s not having a very good year and it’s bumming me out. Even on August 1st he was only OPSing 816 – that’s a shitload lower than 2008 and significantly lower than 2007 and only a slight improvement on last year’s numbers. Even excluding the slump, I’m not real excited about his season.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
1.8 WAR so far. I’m starting to think that 2008 was a major aberration. If you take out that year, this year looks slightly weak but nothing to be concerned about.
Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns.
I wonder why this is
He’s more or less duplicating last year’s overall production (to this point), but in a very different way.
Still, he’s got a .287 wOBA in August while hovering around .350 in most other months. Arbitrary endpoints? You betcha. But it illustrates the point: his numbers are in a nadir, and I’d except him to rebound before the end of the season.
...a piece of V mail in which everything but the salutation "Dear Mary" had been blocked out and on which the censoring officer had written, "I long for you tragically. R. O. Shipman, Chaplain, U.S. Army."
I still think in a better lineup with more power
You could bat him 2nd and he would see SO many more fastballs and really have a chance to be elite. Selective strike zone and all.
Birdland and Buck both start with B... coincidence? I think not.
by Birdland in NC on Aug 24, 2010 2:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Pretty much
But for some reason when Lugo or Corey are in the lineup, they’ve been batting 2nd and pushing Nick down to third. But that’s only been maybe three or four times since Miggi was traded.
"Stick to what you know, which is nothing, and stick to your little blogs." -Rob Dibble
I agree that it's a slump, although it probably goes farther back than Aug. 1.
Of course, it’s just easy for us to look at the monthly totals off ESPN.com or whatever. :)
Nicky’s OPS peak for this season was like .915 on May 4. OK, we can file that under early small sample size. Get out of May and his OPS peak is .854 on July 10 – with a slash of .310/.398/.456. Right now he is hitting .285/.364/.425. Yikes.
My pet theory’s that he’s had too much pressure on himself ever since the “guys don’t have a plan” thing in the middle of June. He actually enjoyed a few weeks after that where his stats were ticking up and he looked like he was following his own advice – but since the ASB he’s taken a lot of 0-fers and has looked more like the kind of player he was expressing frustration with than the kind of player he’s been in the past.
Obviously, we have no way for sure of knowing why that is, but I feel like it probably fits under the “90% of the game is half mental” category.
It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay. - John Waters
by Eat More Esskay on Aug 23, 2010 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Who knows
he just looks weak at the plate to me recently. Tons of weak foul balls off to the left side of the field on real tentative slappy swings.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
I guess you can also look at the lineup stuff to see if that makes a difference.
The DT/Windmill lineups had him batting 3, ahead of Wiggy when he was still hot. Now he’s 2 but with a not-hot Wiggy right behind him. Luke’s been hot ever since he came off the DL but he’s in the cleanup, so there’s separation there.
So if teams are deciding there’s no reason to pitch to Markakis, but he feels like he has to produce, that’s probably a bad combo. Is that what’s happening? Hell if I know. I think it’s a plausible scenario, though.
It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay. - John Waters
by Eat More Esskay on Aug 23, 2010 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions
That's certainly a possibility
that should show up in those stats that count swings at pitches outside the strikezone and all that, but I’m too lazy to look that up.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
I think that one is on Fangraphs.
Stat labeled Zone% which is described as “Percentage of pitches seen inside the strike zone” – Nick’s number is 44.9%. Career average for that is 49.8%.
None of the Fangraphs stuff is broken down by month though, so I don’t know how we’re supposed to look at his July and August vs. April/May/June. His contact number is actually higher than it’s ever been in his career. He’s just not making good contact as often.
It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay. - John Waters
by Eat More Esskay on Aug 23, 2010 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions
That's interesting
Don’t they also have a stat about pitches swung at OUTSIDE of the strike zone? I would assume that over the last month that number has gone up and that’s why he’s making bad contact.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
Yep.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=5930&position=OF#platediscipline
Right now, his O-Swing% is the highest of his career, and his Z-Swing% the lowest. No splits for Plate Discipline stats, though.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
So it's pretty simple
- he’s swinging at more pitches outside of the strike zone and making contact with more of those pitches than ever before
- he’s taking more pitches inside of the strike zone than ever before
- he’s making contact more in general, but pitchers are throwing him fewer strikes than ever before
It’s weird that based on those stats his walks are up this year. It’s like even despite the fact that his command of the strike zone is worse he’s walking more. All of it those stats seem pretty unlikely to lead to much success.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
Well,
making contact with pitches out of the zone can be good if it means you’re fouling them off, right? I’ve definitely noticed him fouling stuff off that, frankly, I’m amazed he managed to make contact with. Of course, it’s better if he doesn’t swing at balls at all, but…
His swinging-strike percentage is also a career low, which is good. So the O-Swing and Z-Swing aren’t good, but it’s not all bad news.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
True
and it certainly seems like he fouls off many more pitches than the average, but I would assume over the course of a season he’s also putting a substantial number of those shitty pitches in play and the result is most likely usually an out. He is not Vladdy hitting bombs on pitches at his ankles.
Doesn’t it stand to reason that his swinging strike % is so low because he’s taking more strikes than he ever has before?
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
Doesn’t it stand to reason that his swinging strike % is so low because he’s taking more strikes than he ever has before?
Ah, true.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
Yeah,
what’s weird to me is that he’s been in a walks slump. BB% by month:
April: 14.4%
May: 14.4%
June: 13.2%
July: 5.9%
August: 6.5%
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
OT: Rock Star Update
Now that the Rock Star in my office has a website, he decided to update his fans on their blog page:
In the first of my rather literary posts and quips, I hereby declare the beginning of our summer tour "Our Music is Hotter than the Weather"! is this Thursday (Thursday?, Thursday!) at Mojo 13 in Wilmington, DE (Home of tax-free shopping!) at 9:30PM. Yes, our music is hotter than the weather (even though it’s been 90 degrees as of late in Philly), and will be melting your face off via aural soundwaves live across the East Coast this summer. Keep looking here for updates. I’ll also note that I’ll be wearing a special new stage outfit, guaranteed to make both our music hotter, the crowd sweat more, and me cooler…
With posts like this it is no wonder that I overheard him talking about all the ladies knocking down his door for a date. Let me explain to you his full proof plan to getting the ladies:
Date 1: Eulogy* – If the date doesn’t work out at least I get to drink good beer.
Date 2: Nice Restaurant – If she made it this far, she is worth spending a few bucks on.
Date 3: Salsa Dancing – This is when I make the move and see if she is a keeper.
Note that this is exactly what he said while describing his dating process and evaluation for finding the next Mrs. Rock Star (OK – I made up the Mrs. Rock Star part).
*actually a great bar in philly with a phenomenal beer selection
*actually a great bar in philly [as long as you dont go on a friday or saturday night and have to deal with the douchey Old City crowd] with a phenomenal beer selection
fyp.
i was about to get that involved
but I decided to keep it simple. the bar tenders used to be nice before they had to start stocking miller lite closer to the top. ugh i hate stupid people. i think it is also becoming a cougar den too.
yeah – I stick to the weeknights for a nice meal and drinks.
Tried to go there Friday night and couldnt even get in it was so crowded
Ended up going to Brownie’s just down the street and a group of like 8 of us had pretty much the whole upstairs to ourselves
He must be a Rock Star if he's playing gigs at Mojo 13.
(Mojo 13 is a little shithole bar in Claymont, DE)
"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man." ~ The Dude
by PBR me ASAP! on Aug 23, 2010 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions
Is it supposed to be obvious
what the subject’s response to “the move” is supposed to be, in order to qualify as “a keeper?”
My best guess is “not throw up in his mouth” but I’m not much of a dater, so…
Camden Chat...far better than yahoo message boards. -NewJerseyAveSE Aug 13, 2010
by killertomato on Aug 23, 2010 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I must know
the address of this website. At least his band’s name?
"Real Orioles don't pout. Real Orioles don't gloat. Real Orioles just win."
by NewYorkOriole on Aug 23, 2010 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions
If you copy and paste
a portion of the quote you can find it.
Camden Chat...far better than yahoo message boards. -NewJerseyAveSE Aug 13, 2010
by killertomato on Aug 23, 2010 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I need to go to Cooperstown...
That’s the default image on http://baseballhall.org/museum .
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
Sickles answered a question about Xavier Avery today:
Xavier Avery
Is he the Orioles’ center fielder of the future or is he a fourth outfielder at best?
well he has the tools to be a starter…but he’s got to do a better job stealing bases, he’s got 28 bags but has been caught 14 times, a poor ratio. His power hasn’t developed yet, and he’s struggling with contact after moving up to Double-A. On the other hand, he’s only 20.
Future center field starter is the ceiling, fifth outfielder is the floor. My guess is that he never quite hits enough to be a quality starter year in and year out.
by John Sickels on Aug 23, 2010 5:47 PM EDT
"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man." ~ The Dude
On one hand, that would be disappointing
On the other, it would prevent us from having to go out and sign a Corey Patterson. Its not like a team doesn’t need those players.
There are currently like 20 orioles in my back yard
The birds, not the team.
I choose to think this is some promising omen.
take a picture.
Buck Showalter clearly isn't interested in having Anthony Rendon as a member of the Orioles.
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Aug 23, 2010 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions
I couldn't
Whenever I got near the back door (it’s a glass door) they all flew up into the trees. They’d be back a few minutes later, but they didn’t like seeing me there.
Berken
Did DT and JS injure his shoulder by overusing him? My impression is that he racked up too many innings for his own health.
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