have Wimbledon (who apparently give hotties center court preference), the US Open, countless soccer matches, marquee boxing, plus you get to see the NBA draft and Free Agency open up. But when your MLB team falls farther and father away from .500 everyday, it can be hard to deal with baseball season on a daily basis. This is why I have been in a blogging cocoon for the last month, but last Tuesday the Orioles got me believing again. In what had to be my most exciting experience as an O's fan (believable since they've sucked for the last 11 years) the Orioles managed to climb back from a nine run deficit heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring ten unanswered runs in two innings to stun the AL leading Boston Red Sox 11-10, capping the biggest comeback in franchise history. That's right, in the 50 odd years the Orioles have been in Baltimore, this was the biggest comeback ever and the fact that it was against the Red Sox only made it sweeter. This game had everything including my heart in my throat for most of the game.It started off like your typical O's game, close for about three innings until someone from the other team blows the game open by hitting a mutli run homer. This day was no different, at least it appreared to be no different, but then something happened. Raindrops. What started off as a beautiful summer day quickly turned into a rainstorm the likes of which I haven't seen since my days at the University of Florida. A rain delay was called before the start of the 6th inning and the only hope for O's fans in that moment was the the game would get called off (since it technically want a complete game yet). At that point the Sox were up 9-1 and nobody felt like staying around to watch another blowout. Fortunately for me, I happened to roll up to the game with a family of die hard Red Sox fans and they wanted to stick around to see as many runs scored as they possibly could. So almost 90 minutes later the water subsided and the remaining....i don't know...2,000-3,000 people took to their seats to watch the rest of the game. The top of the 7th inning was more of the same. The Red Sox looked in great shape as they added yet another insurance run to their growing lead. It's 10-1 Sox at this point and them some of that Orioles Magic decided to kick in. You know, they say strange things usually follow a rain delay, I used to write it off as folklore but that was all about to change.
Luke Scott took a monster swing and was only inches away from a three run homer. He settled for an off-the-wall (RIP MJ) double annd drove in Aubrey Huff to cut into the lead by a run. Stud rookie Nolan Reimold (if you don't know this kid yet, do yourself a favor and read this) advanced to third base, Scott was safe at second, and pinch hitter Oscar Salazaar stepped up to the plate. Salazaar had been lightining it up on the AAA Norfolk Tide, but I dont think anybody saw this coming: A
low inside fastball led to a booming shot over the left field wall and a three-run homer for Salazaar. The score was now 10-5 and it looked like maybe, just maybe we had a game on out hands. Everyone was getting in on the action now, even lowly Felix Pie. The worst hitter on our team hit twice in the final two innings, including an RBI single to close out the 7th inning. Mark Hendrickson (3-4) then retired the side and the O's headed into the bottom of the 8th inning facing a four run deficit. After a string a singles and a sacrifice fly pulled Baltimore within one run of tying the game, the Sox decided to bring out their ace. After going through four closing picthers (Delcarmen ,Masterson, Okijima and Saito) Boston finally handed the riegns over to Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon had never blown a save against the Orioles in his career, effectively closing out 21 consecutive games vs. the birds, but he hadn't counted on facing Nick Markakis. After retiring Felix Pie and drawing a 2-2 count on Markakis with 2 outs, Papelbon gave up a triple, allowing two runs to score and giving the Orioles the lead for the first time and for good. Mr. Excitement George Sherril came in to close out and in true Orioles fashion (almost blowing the save) pulled out in the end and recorded his 17th save of the season.And thus concludes the biggest comeback in Orioles history. Way to go boys, lets use this as a little momentum heading into the all-star break. And props to Adam Jones to making his first All-Star appearance. This guy has future-of-the-franchise written all over him.
Now that my narrative is finished, I'd like to take a minute to talk about the NBA and some of the moves that have been taking place over last week with Free Agents. First of all, this is not a great year for Free Agents, in fact it is one of the most mediocre classes that I can remember, however there have been so many moves the 2009-2010 NBA looks like a shell of its 2008-2009 Self. Shaq goes to Cleveland, Artest goes to the Lakers, Sheed goes to the Celtics and Carter goes to the Magic. The funny thing is, these four teams were already good. They were already serious NBA Title contenders for next year, they all added serious pieces and hardly had to give up anything. I can't wait to see who comes out of the East between these three teams. It looks like the balance of power has finally shifted in the NBA as the East is going to be a dogfight through the entire season. You could make an argument for 10 or 11 teams who will be vying for the 8 available playoff spots. Its gonna be great.
...And then there's the Wizards. Desperate to make a "big" move like
everyone else, the Wizards traded their number 5 draft pick, along with half of the big men on the team for Mike Miller and Randy "ya foye" Foye. I'm not sure how I feel about this to be honest. On the one hand I like Mike Miller as a former Gator and he will get to contribute immediately to the team. He's this kind of guy who will get you 8-8-8 a game and if there is anything we can use on this team, its a guy who can pass the ball. I am also loving Randy Foye. Not only will he provide great minutes off the bench, but he is the ultimate insurance policy for Gilbert. Lets face it, there's no telling how healthy Gilbert is going to be throughout the season. His minutes are questionable as is his durability. But now, if he goes down for an extended period of time, we have a proven starter who is willing to come in and run an offense. I mean honestly he's the best back-up a team could ask for and would be a starter on most other teams (Fun fact: he also has reverse organs in his body). He can also play both guard positions so he may even start at the 2 for the Wizards at some point. On the other hand, the most pressing issue this offseason was the lack of big men on the roster. Haywood and Jamison are getting old and are not going to be able to give as many minutes as they have in the past. Yes they are still good players and will make an impact this season, but shouldn't we have tried to get someone younger would could complement Gilbert and Caron up top? I mean this Free Agency had some decent big men who you could get of a reasonable amount of money. Charlie Villanueva signed for just under $8 Million, Rasheed Wallace and Ron Artest signed for Mid Level Excpetion Deals, Even Shaq didn't demand that much money and it was obvious since February that the Suns were shopping Amare Stoudamire. But now the Wiz are left with only 4 big men, two of which are vastly inexperienced. Don't get me wrong, I think Javalle "Up-phrey's" Mcgee is the real deal and will flourish in Flip Saunders offense. The kid is a tree and can pretty much block anything, but with all the moves everybody else has been making this offseason, it just seems like the Wiz have come up a little short. I definitely think they will be in the thick of things come playoff time, but they are looking more and more like another first round exit and less like a title contender.some statistics courtesy of espn.com
Thanks for your patience between blog entries. Until next time....
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