Dah-Dee
May-2nd-2005, 03:31 PM
Keeping the faith:
Orioles fans have at least five reasons to believe
Posted: Monday May 2, 2005 12:25PM; Updated: Monday May 2, 2005 2:58PM
You want to believe in the Orioles. You want someone -- anyone -- to break the stranglehold the Yankees and Red Sox have had on the American League East for seven consecutive years. Variety is good, you say. Dynasties are bad.
But can we make the leap of faith with the Orioles, the hottest team in baseball following eight straight wins? Can a squad with this starting pitching -- come on, Daniel Cabrera and Sidney Ponson? -- win a division as stacked as the AL East?
If the Red Sox could reverse the curse of a dead guy after 86 years, if the Angels could win the 2002 World Series with Jarrod Washburn as their ace, if the 1979 Pirates could take the whole deal without a pitcher who won more than 14 games, then the Orioles can at least make a run at this thing.
Five reasons to believe in Baltimore:
Schedule
The O's are 15-4 against teams in their division, beating up on the supposed studs (5-1 against the Yankees) and the duds (5-1 against the Rays). Now comes the good part. Baltimore starts this week with three games at home against the Blue Jays (the Orioles are 3-0 against Toronto) and then turn to the AL Central, where they have six games against the worst team in baseball, the Royals, during the next couple of weeks. Yes, the O's also have three against the tough Twins and four in Chicago against the white-hot White Sox. But Baltimore also has a short interleague set against a lost Philadelphia team and home series against the mediocre Mariners and Tigers before the end of the month. May could be almost as good to the O's as April was.
Punch
The O's are a swinging, scoring powerhouse. Suddenly, they have the most-feared lineup in baseball, or at least in the AL. Following the early-season emergence of Brian Roberts, is there a tougher top third of a lineup than Roberts, Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada? The Orioles lead the majors in runs (144), home runs (39), extra-base hits (90), batting average (.304) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.865). Baltimore has struck out the fewest times (126) in the AL. With five of its regulars hitting above .300 (Roberts, Mora, Tejada, catcher Javy Lopez and outfielder Luis Matos), this team is a pitcher's ulcer waiting to burst.
Speed
Yeah, Baltimore has some of that, too, which will come in handy when the bats inevitably cool off. The O's lead the majors in stolen bases (27) and have been caught only four times. Roberts leads the majors with 12 steals while Matos has seven. Because the O's are so good at putting the ball in play, they use their speed to take extra bases and keep constant pressure on the opposing team.
Competition
The Red Sox are just four games behind the Orioles in the AL East, but Boston has serious pitching problems, with Curt Schilling and David Wells on the shelf plus a struggling closer in Keith Foulke. The disappointing Yankees, at 10-15, are already 7 1/2 games back, and their pitching is even more suspect. Mike Mussina has a 4.97 ERA, Jaret Wright is hurt, Kevin Brown looks done and Carl Pavano has been mediocre. Boston and New York have a pretty soft schedule in May, too. But neither team has played inspired ball so far.
Bullpen
The Orioles can't stay this far ahead of the AL East wolves with the unproven starting five of Rodrigo Lopez, Cabrera, Erik Bedard, Ponson and Bruce Chen pitching like it has. (Lopez, by the way, is the old man of that rotation, at 29.) The starters rank 10th in the AL with a 4.74 ERA. But the Orioles' bullpen has been stout. Righty Jorge Julio has given up one run in 12 2/3 innings, righty Todd Williams has allowed four hits and a run in 12 innings and lefty closer B.J. Ryan, though a bit spotty at times, has converted all five of his save chances. Veteran lefty Steve Kline, signed as a free agent in the offseason,had a rough start in Baltimore, but in his past seven outings he's been nicked for only three hits and one run in 6 1/3 innings. The 'pen will get taxed as the season wears on, but with the offensive firepower the O's have shown, manager Lee Mazzilli has been able to leave his starters in longer and give the bullpen time to find its way.
We know, we know. May has just begun. The Yankees will start to bang the ball all over the park. Mussina, inevitably, will pitch better. Randy Johnson will be lights out. Up in New England, Schilling and Wells will return, the bullpen will straighten itself out and Manny Ramirez and the rest of the sluggers will keep slugging. Worse, when July comes and the Yankees and Red Sox find themselves with holes, they'll somehow find a way to make a trade for the hottest hitter/best pitcher on the market.
Still, the Orioles believe. Their fans believe. If this team can pull off a May that is anywhere close to its April, the rest of us can jump on the Baltimore bandwagon before summer rolls around.
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Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/john_donovan/05/02/orioles.start/index.html
Orioles fans have at least five reasons to believe
Posted: Monday May 2, 2005 12:25PM; Updated: Monday May 2, 2005 2:58PM
You want to believe in the Orioles. You want someone -- anyone -- to break the stranglehold the Yankees and Red Sox have had on the American League East for seven consecutive years. Variety is good, you say. Dynasties are bad.
But can we make the leap of faith with the Orioles, the hottest team in baseball following eight straight wins? Can a squad with this starting pitching -- come on, Daniel Cabrera and Sidney Ponson? -- win a division as stacked as the AL East?
If the Red Sox could reverse the curse of a dead guy after 86 years, if the Angels could win the 2002 World Series with Jarrod Washburn as their ace, if the 1979 Pirates could take the whole deal without a pitcher who won more than 14 games, then the Orioles can at least make a run at this thing.
Five reasons to believe in Baltimore:
Schedule
The O's are 15-4 against teams in their division, beating up on the supposed studs (5-1 against the Yankees) and the duds (5-1 against the Rays). Now comes the good part. Baltimore starts this week with three games at home against the Blue Jays (the Orioles are 3-0 against Toronto) and then turn to the AL Central, where they have six games against the worst team in baseball, the Royals, during the next couple of weeks. Yes, the O's also have three against the tough Twins and four in Chicago against the white-hot White Sox. But Baltimore also has a short interleague set against a lost Philadelphia team and home series against the mediocre Mariners and Tigers before the end of the month. May could be almost as good to the O's as April was.
Punch
The O's are a swinging, scoring powerhouse. Suddenly, they have the most-feared lineup in baseball, or at least in the AL. Following the early-season emergence of Brian Roberts, is there a tougher top third of a lineup than Roberts, Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada? The Orioles lead the majors in runs (144), home runs (39), extra-base hits (90), batting average (.304) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.865). Baltimore has struck out the fewest times (126) in the AL. With five of its regulars hitting above .300 (Roberts, Mora, Tejada, catcher Javy Lopez and outfielder Luis Matos), this team is a pitcher's ulcer waiting to burst.
Speed
Yeah, Baltimore has some of that, too, which will come in handy when the bats inevitably cool off. The O's lead the majors in stolen bases (27) and have been caught only four times. Roberts leads the majors with 12 steals while Matos has seven. Because the O's are so good at putting the ball in play, they use their speed to take extra bases and keep constant pressure on the opposing team.
Competition
The Red Sox are just four games behind the Orioles in the AL East, but Boston has serious pitching problems, with Curt Schilling and David Wells on the shelf plus a struggling closer in Keith Foulke. The disappointing Yankees, at 10-15, are already 7 1/2 games back, and their pitching is even more suspect. Mike Mussina has a 4.97 ERA, Jaret Wright is hurt, Kevin Brown looks done and Carl Pavano has been mediocre. Boston and New York have a pretty soft schedule in May, too. But neither team has played inspired ball so far.
Bullpen
The Orioles can't stay this far ahead of the AL East wolves with the unproven starting five of Rodrigo Lopez, Cabrera, Erik Bedard, Ponson and Bruce Chen pitching like it has. (Lopez, by the way, is the old man of that rotation, at 29.) The starters rank 10th in the AL with a 4.74 ERA. But the Orioles' bullpen has been stout. Righty Jorge Julio has given up one run in 12 2/3 innings, righty Todd Williams has allowed four hits and a run in 12 innings and lefty closer B.J. Ryan, though a bit spotty at times, has converted all five of his save chances. Veteran lefty Steve Kline, signed as a free agent in the offseason,had a rough start in Baltimore, but in his past seven outings he's been nicked for only three hits and one run in 6 1/3 innings. The 'pen will get taxed as the season wears on, but with the offensive firepower the O's have shown, manager Lee Mazzilli has been able to leave his starters in longer and give the bullpen time to find its way.
We know, we know. May has just begun. The Yankees will start to bang the ball all over the park. Mussina, inevitably, will pitch better. Randy Johnson will be lights out. Up in New England, Schilling and Wells will return, the bullpen will straighten itself out and Manny Ramirez and the rest of the sluggers will keep slugging. Worse, when July comes and the Yankees and Red Sox find themselves with holes, they'll somehow find a way to make a trade for the hottest hitter/best pitcher on the market.
Still, the Orioles believe. Their fans believe. If this team can pull off a May that is anywhere close to its April, the rest of us can jump on the Baltimore bandwagon before summer rolls around.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/john_donovan/05/02/orioles.start/index.html