I know I’ve done a poor job updating this blog but I can’t allow today to pass without noting that today, Feb 13th, is the day Orioles pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Season’s right around the corner.
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Its about time. Miguel Tejada has been rumored to be gone all off season and now he finally is: sent to the Astros for a package of 5 players (Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Troy Patton, Dennis Sarfate, and Mike Costanzo). I’ve only ever heard of Scott and he’s a 29 year old outfielder, which doesnt excite me.
That’s a fine haul for Baltimore. The Astros pretty much cleaned out their farm system for two years of an average-hitting third baseman. The average NL 3B had an .804 OPS in ‘07; Tejada was at .799 in the AL. I know some readers think I’m an Astro-hater but that’s not the case. I just think they gave up way too much here. Patton was ranked their third best prospect by Baseball America, Costanzo sixth. Scott is a cheap quality regular, and Albers was third on the team’s 2007 top prospect list.
That’s comforting but I feel similar to Roch:
My first reaction is one of disappointment, but I also know it’s unfair. I like Scott and probably will like him more in the coming months. But this isn’t exactly a sexy trade. It’s nowhere near being a blockbuster.
Obviously I don’t know how serious discussions got with the Angels but Brandon Wood or Nick Adenhart would have seemed like a better haul then the above Astros. Oh well.
Camden Chat passes along this link to John Sickel’s review of the Astro’s farm system for 2008, looks like we got their #1 and #5 prospects. Thats good.
So I’m at my stepmom’s house for dinner and to watch the game and I see a guy who looks really familiar walking out to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Is that….? Couldn’t be. Wait, yes it is indeed one Kevin Millar, former Red Sox and CURRENT ORIOLE! Not only did he throw out the first pitch, he also read out the Red Sox lineup for Fox. What the hell was he doing? He plays for a rival team in the same division as the Red Sox, how in the world is that appropriate?
Now that Kevin Millar has become a good-luck charm for the Red Sox, they want him to throw out the first drunk at Fenway Park,
And bat cleanup Wednesday.
The FOX promo didn’t bother me in the least, but I’d be curious to know whether Millar checked with the Orioles before taking part in last night’s opening ceremonies.
Maybe it’s all part of an agreement between the two teams. Mike Timlin could throw out the first pitch at Camden Yards on Opening Day.
I e-mailed manager Dave Trembley last night, asking for his reaction to the Millar controversy. I’m still waiting to hear back. And I’ll try to track down Millar today.
Manny Ramirez says it’s not the end of the world.
Did anyone doubt that a large chunk of Millar’s heart remains in Boston? That doesn’t mean he’s not loyal to the Orioles once the games begin. He wants to beat the Red Sox every time he steps on the field. But he was part of something very special there and always will be associated more closely with that organization.
Don Baylor cried when the Orioles traded him to Oakland. Rick Dempsey and Scott McGregor cried when the Yankees traded them to the Orioles.
None of them threw out the first pitch for their former teams, however. And Millar chose to come to Baltimore as a free agent. It was his decision.
I guess I’m OK with it if the Orioles are OK with it.
That’s what I’m trying to find out.
I too wonder if Millar checked with the O’s. And yeah I get it, he still loves Boston, but he chose to come to Baltimore, he wasn’t traded here. I kind of like Millar, I’ll be honest, (despite what I read about him in Seth Mnookin’s excellent Feeding the Monster), but this really pisses me off.
Kevin Millar threw out the first pitch. Baltimore Oriole Kevin Millar went to Fenway Park to give the Red Sox mojo because he was a 2004 hero.
2632 noted that Bill Mueller did it last night. My response was, and is, that Bill Mueller is retired from active play. Millar is not. Millar is a member of a rival team of Boston’s. Millar should not be out there hugging Doug Mirabelli in front of God and everybody.
A typical, disgusting display!
Normally things like this don’t bother me, but what the hell is Kevin Millar doing out there rah-rahing a rival club? Are you kidding me? I hope he’s fined for conduct unbecoming an Oriole or some such made up garbage. I understand Kevbo still has friends on the Sox, and he says nice things about us, and in a week I won’t give a damn and I’ll go back to liking Millar just fine, but this is really sticking in my craw for some reason. It’s annoying, is what it is.
Have some pride in your current professional life, Kev. Stop living in the past. You are not a member of the Boston Red Sox. It’s over, dude. You are an Oriole. I understand how this might be difficult to deal with, but these pipe dreams of yours aren’t going to make your winter any shorter.
(P.S., Sharp designer jeans, though.)
Agree with everything he says (including the jeans bit). I’d suggest we ship Millar back to Boston but I don’t think they’d take him.
UPDATE
Right after posting this I saw that Roch had a Millar update. Here’s what he has to say:
An Orioles spokesman informed me that the Boston Red Sox contacted the club and sought permission to use Kevin Millar in the FOX promo and to have him throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Millar phoned team president Andy MacPhail and ran the ideas past him before agreeing. The Orioles are fine with it.
I don’t care that the Orioles said it was alright, I’m still not fine with it. You think the Red Sox are bringing back Johnny Damon to throw out any pitches? I think not.
The Orioles have allowed 30 runs in a game and been no-hit by a rookie with only two major league starts. So what’s next? Someone accidentally takes the field naked, assuming he’s having one of those weird dreams you had as a kid?
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Steve Trachsel has been traded to the Cubs for Class AAA right-handed reliever Rocky Cherry and Class AAA third baseman Scott Moore. Thank God the O’s got something for Trachsel, its not like he fit into next year’s plans.
Even though I meant it when I said I’d never talk about The Game That Shall Not Be Mentioned….I have to break that vow (for this post only!) just because there have been some interesting tidbits of info that I’ve read since and I might as well mention them. To wit:
-Wes Littleton actually got a save in the game. Littleton entered the game in the 7th (when the score was 14-3) and was awarded a save. This is absurd, isn’t this up to the scorekeepers discretion? (via With Leather)
- Via The Big Lead, the great Ken Rosenthal (former Baltimore Sun employee, by the by) used The Game That Shall Never Be Mentioned Again as a good opportunity to absolutely destroy the O’s.
Good times.
Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar set a club record by reaching via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in his 50th consecutive game. Millar, who broke the mark set by Ken Singleton in 1977, began his streak on June 20.
The first text, 9:20pm yesterday, sent by college roommate Mario: “Nice pitching today Baltimore”.
The second text, 10:01 pm, sent by good friend The Cooler: “Just ran across the bball scores…Orioles gave up 30 runs tonight”
The third text, 10:12 pm, sent by college friend Jordan: “So r u a nationals fan tonight?”
The fourth and final text, sent 2:03am this morning, by Mario again: “24 earned runs for the orioles bullpen?”
Yesterday was not a good day to be an O’s fan. I won’t go in to the details, by this point you already know them all (30-3 loss, 30 unanswered runs, 9-7 loss in the second game of the doubleheader, last time a team scored 30 in a game was 100 years ago, etc. etc. etc.). Usually its nice when your favorite team is the talk of the town, this being one of those exceptions. Its always enjoyable when one of your defeats inspires a column entitled “The Greatest Beatdowns in History” (we came in 8th, for the record).
I am glad that I didn’t watch the whole thing. I turned off the TV when it was 14-3, safe in the knowledge that we’d been blown out by the lowly Rangers. Little did I know what was to come. As John Gruber wrote, regarding the Rangers “They might as well have just gone ahead and pantsed them while they were at it.”
The Big Lead says “This is the wackiest score we’ve seen in the sport in our entire left, and that’s not hyperbole.” That sounds about right. 30 runs in a game is almost unimaginable. I echo Roch’s thoughts:
30-3.
No matter how many times I write it or say it, the absurdity nearly overwhelms me.
30-3.
You have to laugh right? To keep from crying, yeah, but I mean come on. Are the O’s the worst team in baseball? No, not even close. This is just one of those flukes that happen. Sadly they happened to my O’s. SC’s right though, who cares?:
Look, in one way, I find it as embarrassing as anyone else does. No one should give up 30 runs in nine innings. Ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. But, it happened. And, of course, it happened to us.
Dave Trembley is still my boy, I didn’t get crazy overnight or anything. My advice to anyone whose mentality toward the team changes thanks to the Texas Rangers (who stink and can’t hit) dropping 30 runs on the O’s is simple: Laugh it off. To hell with it! Who cares?
I’m not even saying it doesn’t suck. But, really, think about it. This was an historical disaster in pitching. This was the first time in 110 years that someone has scored 30 runs in a game. I tried for years to score 30 on RBI Baseball 4 for the Genesis, and the best I ever did was 26.
The odds are overwhelming that you or I will never see another 30-spot in a Major League Baseball game. It’s too bad it was a game with us that went the way it did. It’s still just one loss. And at least it was unique.
Stephen Dubner at the Freakonomics blog helpfully points out that the Rangers scored all 30 of their runs in just four innings, for what thats worth. I just can’t believe the Rangers’ 8th and 9th hitters BOTH went 4-6 with 7 RBIs. Sigh.
Chris Mottram has a pretty funny screen grab from the O’s website during the game. Never let hope die! His brother Jaime reminds us that at least we had Cal. At least we got that going for us, which is nice.
My friend Jason talks about how mlb.com does a good job putting video highlights up on the web. If it were up to me all video/audio/print from this game would be erased forever. I know I will never speak of this game again. Never. This is it. I am now at peace.
The O’s news of the day is that they’ve reportedly decided to extend Dave Trembley’s contract through the 2008 season. I’m in favor of this move. The O’s are 29-25 since Trembley took over and I like how they’ve been playing since Sam Perlazzo was let go (nothing against Mr. Perlazzo). The emphasis on running I enjoy (especially with B-Rob and Corey doing it). I like having the team stretch together and I like how he’s stood up to Tejada.
Its been quite the move up the ladder for Trembley, he started the year as the O’s bullpen coach. I’m glad Joe Girardi didn’t want this job, its worked out well with Dave. Interesting note, did you know Trembley is only the 7th major league manager in history to not have played professional ball? I didn’t.
More reaction:
Roch
Camden Chat
Fanhouse
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