June 15, 2005
Be Agressive
John Eisenberg of the Baltimore Sun wants the Orioles to be agressive in going after more pitching. He points out the teams' complacency lately:
Manager Lee Mazzilli said after the trip that he was pleased the team didn't lose ground. Huh? The Orioles easily could have gained ground, having played mostly losing teams while the Yankees and Sox muddled along. For the Orioles, the lost series in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati represented blown chances to gain ground.
With all due respect, the manager should be pushing his division-leading team to continue surpassing expectations rather than allowing it to settle for treading water.
You can be sure the Yankees and Red Sox aren't satisfied with weeks in which they muddle along slightly below .500.
Exactly right. I saw a quote from Lloyd McClendon last week in the subject of the Pirates reaching the .500 mark:
"All it means it that we've won half of our games," he said. "That's not our goal. I don't know if it's significant at all in June."
I agree with Eisenberg's article. The Orioles have the rare opportunity to outrace the Red Sox and Yankees. It's time to pull out all stops and go for the division win.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:25 AM
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IF the O's can get a lock on just one additional starting pitcher with the goods, it's going to be difficult for the Sox to catch up with them, and VERY difficult for the Yanks to do so. The Sox are the bigger issue for the Birds right now, as Schilling is lurking in the wings with a return, and Wells appears to be heating up with, well, the summer heat. Say the O's could get someone to pick up Cabrera's starts then they would really cement their pole position in the AL East.
I wouldn't say too much about the O's road trip against the Reds and the Pirates. First of all they are on the road, second they are in NL parks playing without the DH, third of all they played the Reds when the Reds bats were Red hot (no pun intended...seriously), and fourth the Pirates are not the rockies, astros, or devil rays...they can play ball (it will not last, but now they are a .500 ball club) It would have been nice to gain a game or two on the Yanks/Red Sox/Blue Jays (and please can we start mentioning the Blue Jays when regarding the East), but not disappointing.
It will be nice to add a veteran starting pitcher, actually it might be necessary because we know teams will start gearing up for the post season run. Lopez, Ponson, Cabrera, and Chen have done great so far, and they will get back their best pitcher Bedard in a month. The rotation is respectable but not dominating, but they don't need to be with that lineup. I honestly think a veteran starter is needed just in case one of the five get hurt down the road. The O's will be in it to the end.
