Aaron Small, RH Erik Bedard, LH
(9-0, 3.25) (6-7, 3.74)
Game time is 7:05 on CSN and YES.
It's the last start of the year for Erik Bedard. All things considered, he had a nice season, though it could have been better without the injury and a bit of a nosedive that followed. I expect Bedard will be good next year and for a while after that if he can stay healthy. The only reason Bedard hasn't already made his mark is due to injury over his career.
It's also the last game of the year against New York. I'd like to see the O's go out on a high note against them.
I hate the Yankees so much. I hate Jeter, I hate Bernie, I hate Giambi, I hate A-Rod, I hate Johnson, I hate Womack, I hate Rivera, I hate Flash Gordon, I hate Posada, I hate Tino, I hate Ruben Sierra - I hate 'em all. Especially Bernie. If any Yanks fan ever wonders why I hate Bernie Williams so much, take a look at his career line against Baltimore. I respect a lot of them as players, but I hate them.
If the O's can win today, and the Red Sox win today, the division will be tied and those two can have their precious little dogfight for the AL East (well, they'll have it either way), and everyone can pay attention and love on the best rivalry in sports! all they want. I would take pleasure in the Yankees not making the playoffs for the first time since 1993, but I would also take perverse pleasure in the Red Sox not being able to win the division for the first time since 1995, even coming off the World Series victory last year, and it'd be even funnier if they couldn't hold off Cleveland for the wild card. The Indians are stumbling on their own though, losing three in a row to the Royals and D-Rays.
It's a tough spot to pick a team to root for. I'll root for Boston, if you want to consider what I do rooting. They are still the lesser of two evils and have plenty of players I like. I was with them hard last year as I saw their plight as one that took up the fight for all the teams the Yankees stomped for years, the Orioles being one of them. If we couldn't do it, Boston was probably the only team that could. They did it, they won, and it was a great story. Now, I just don't like them either again. It's a good feeling!