SlickNick
February-29th-2004, 07:47 PM
Always nice to hear good things about the O's from Gammons. Can we please get a Yankees Suck smiley face in here?!!
O's plan to ruffle some feathers
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By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com
Feb. 29
No one has to remind Lee Mazzilli he's walked into the same division as the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, the best division in baseball that in his first year as manager. "I know it as well as anyone, I watched the Yankees play the Red Sox 26 times last season," says Mazzilli. "But this is a great time to be an Oriole."
No one is running around predicting 100 wins, but, remember, this is one of baseball's flagship franchises, one that went wire-to-wire in first place in 1997 and hasn't had a winning season since. Six consecutive losing seasons have eclipsed the former Baltimore record by two years.
Mazzilli comes in with the credential of a World Series ring and the Joe Torre School, and he comes in with energy. "All we want is the winning attitude, to play and compete hard, start winning and see what happens," says Mazzilli. "You never know when things get rolling. Is it tough to play 59 games with Boston, New York and Toronto? Sure, but it's up to us to make it tough on them."
Along with Mazzilli's hiring, Orioles owner Peter Angelos gave Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan the iron to sign Miguel Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro, Javy Lopez and Sidney Ponson. Three positional players who have considerable postseason experience. "It seemed like Christmas Day every time we signed one of those guys," says Jay Gibbons, who knocked in 100 runs unprotected. "It just recommitted to the Oriole tradition of winning."
"I know what it's like to play in Baltimore when the Orioles are winning," says Palmeiro. "The ballpark's filled every night, it's electric, it's one of the two or three best places in the game to play. They're back to wanting to recreate that magic. Lee is completely committed to it. It's really exciting."
"You look at what these players bring," says Mazzilli. "Tejada is an MVP. Raffy is a Hall of Famer, a guy who when his career is over will have 3,000 hits and 600 homers. Javy hit more homers in a season than any catcher in history."
Mazzilli knows that the O's already had some very good young players. Gibbons can mash. Larry Bigbie has grown into a potential cornerstone, hitting .323 with an .875 OPS in the second half, and teammate Brian Roberts predicts a 20-homer/20-steal season. Melvin Mora had a .921 OPS before getting hurt. Luis Matos hit .303 with an .811 OPS despite a 28/90 walk/strikeout ratio. "Tejada, Palmeiro and Lopez drop right into the 3-4-5 spots in the order," says Beattie. "That allows the other young players to drop down lower, with less pressure. Gibbons was being pitched around. Bigbie might hit eighth. It should be a very good lineup."
Mora has to make the transition to third base, which he played one year in the minors. That is one question. The starting rotation is another issue.
Ponson is back, after going 14-6 for the O's, 3-6 in San Francisco. Rodrigo Lopez fell to 7-10, 5.47 after his 15-9, 3.57 debut in 2002. Kurt Ainsworth, acquired in the Ponson deal, is likely to start. And while Omar Daal is around and Eric DuBose pitched well in September, they are most excited about two other left-handers, Eric Bedard (their best prospect before Tommy John surgery) and Matt Riley, who is also off the same operation. Down the line, in the minors, they have some other big arms, like Denny Bautista, John Maine and Adam Loewen.
The fact that they could have two left-handed starters and three or four left-handers in the bullpen has not been lost on Mazzilli, who knows one needs lefties in Camden, Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, and that Toronto's Ted Lilly could be the only other left-handed starter in the division.
"We're going to bring winning back to Baltimore, and we'll start this year," says Tejada, whose energy marvels teammates like Roberts and Jerry Hairston. In fact, when Mazzilli asked Tejada about taking days off, Miggy replied, "only in spring training. I want to play every inning of every game once the season starts." Yeah, and then go team up with David Ortiz to win another Caribbean World Series. "Hey," says Tejada, "there's nothing better than winning."
O's plan to ruffle some feathers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com
Feb. 29
No one has to remind Lee Mazzilli he's walked into the same division as the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, the best division in baseball that in his first year as manager. "I know it as well as anyone, I watched the Yankees play the Red Sox 26 times last season," says Mazzilli. "But this is a great time to be an Oriole."
No one is running around predicting 100 wins, but, remember, this is one of baseball's flagship franchises, one that went wire-to-wire in first place in 1997 and hasn't had a winning season since. Six consecutive losing seasons have eclipsed the former Baltimore record by two years.
Mazzilli comes in with the credential of a World Series ring and the Joe Torre School, and he comes in with energy. "All we want is the winning attitude, to play and compete hard, start winning and see what happens," says Mazzilli. "You never know when things get rolling. Is it tough to play 59 games with Boston, New York and Toronto? Sure, but it's up to us to make it tough on them."
Along with Mazzilli's hiring, Orioles owner Peter Angelos gave Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan the iron to sign Miguel Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro, Javy Lopez and Sidney Ponson. Three positional players who have considerable postseason experience. "It seemed like Christmas Day every time we signed one of those guys," says Jay Gibbons, who knocked in 100 runs unprotected. "It just recommitted to the Oriole tradition of winning."
"I know what it's like to play in Baltimore when the Orioles are winning," says Palmeiro. "The ballpark's filled every night, it's electric, it's one of the two or three best places in the game to play. They're back to wanting to recreate that magic. Lee is completely committed to it. It's really exciting."
"You look at what these players bring," says Mazzilli. "Tejada is an MVP. Raffy is a Hall of Famer, a guy who when his career is over will have 3,000 hits and 600 homers. Javy hit more homers in a season than any catcher in history."
Mazzilli knows that the O's already had some very good young players. Gibbons can mash. Larry Bigbie has grown into a potential cornerstone, hitting .323 with an .875 OPS in the second half, and teammate Brian Roberts predicts a 20-homer/20-steal season. Melvin Mora had a .921 OPS before getting hurt. Luis Matos hit .303 with an .811 OPS despite a 28/90 walk/strikeout ratio. "Tejada, Palmeiro and Lopez drop right into the 3-4-5 spots in the order," says Beattie. "That allows the other young players to drop down lower, with less pressure. Gibbons was being pitched around. Bigbie might hit eighth. It should be a very good lineup."
Mora has to make the transition to third base, which he played one year in the minors. That is one question. The starting rotation is another issue.
Ponson is back, after going 14-6 for the O's, 3-6 in San Francisco. Rodrigo Lopez fell to 7-10, 5.47 after his 15-9, 3.57 debut in 2002. Kurt Ainsworth, acquired in the Ponson deal, is likely to start. And while Omar Daal is around and Eric DuBose pitched well in September, they are most excited about two other left-handers, Eric Bedard (their best prospect before Tommy John surgery) and Matt Riley, who is also off the same operation. Down the line, in the minors, they have some other big arms, like Denny Bautista, John Maine and Adam Loewen.
The fact that they could have two left-handed starters and three or four left-handers in the bullpen has not been lost on Mazzilli, who knows one needs lefties in Camden, Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, and that Toronto's Ted Lilly could be the only other left-handed starter in the division.
"We're going to bring winning back to Baltimore, and we'll start this year," says Tejada, whose energy marvels teammates like Roberts and Jerry Hairston. In fact, when Mazzilli asked Tejada about taking days off, Miggy replied, "only in spring training. I want to play every inning of every game once the season starts." Yeah, and then go team up with David Ortiz to win another Caribbean World Series. "Hey," says Tejada, "there's nothing better than winning."