Orioles

Fire Tembley

It’s been more than a month since I asked the above question on Twitter; the answer is yes and it’s a damn good one. No, it’s not me…although I would love to take credit for this thing of beauty. It’s @FireTrembley on Twitter who has only 29 followers at this point but deserves a lot more.

The site invites users to post their “Tremblefacts.” Recent “users” include Dikembe Mutombo, Brady Anderson and the Warlord from Coming to America. Betty White even posted her 2 cents on Trembley…

Check out www.firetrembley.com it’s worth losing a half hour of your time and will the Orioles please just FIRE TREMBLEY!

Cheers and Hail

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Posted by fatpickle    Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Categories: Orioles

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4/8-4/12 Happy Bdays

Happy birthday Charles Mann. Charles played defensive end for the Redskins for 11 seasons from 1983-93. #71 was a 4-time Pro Bowler who appeared in 163 games as a Redskin. Charles finished his Skins career with 82 sacks and 784 tackles. Charles also is a member of the Redskins Ring of Fame and one of the 70 Greatest Redskins. In retirement Charles started a business with Art Monk. Happy 49th Mr. Mann.

Happy birthday Mike Nelms. Mike played 5 seasons for the Redskins from 1980-84. Mike was an excellent punt/kick returner and backup defensive back who wore #21. Mike appeared in 68 games as a Redskin and was a 3-time Pro Bowler. Mike’s best season came in 1981 when he averaged 29.7 yards per kick return and 10.9 per punt return including 2 TD’s. Mike was also a member of the NFL’s 1980’s All Decade Team and one of the 70 Greatest Redskins. In retirement Mike was the long time owner of a Toyota dealership in Culpepper, VA. Happy 55th Mr. Nelms.

Happy birthday Mike Devereaux. Mike played 7 seasons for the Orioles over 2 separate stints between 1989-96. #12 came to the Orioles from the Dodgers in exchange for Mike Morgan and appeared in 878 games during his O’s tenure. Mike hit .251 with 94 HR’s and 403 RBI’s playing mostly CF for the Orioles. His best season came in 92’ when he hit .276-24-107. In retirement Mike now serves as a coach for the Orioles single A affiliate the Delmarva Shorebirds. Happy 47th Mr. Devereaux.

Happy birthday Lee Lacy. Lee played 3 seasons for the Orioles from 1985-87. #27 appeared in 338 games for the O’s, batting .280 with 27 HR’s and 123 RBI’s. Lee retired after the 87’ season, his 16th season in the bigs. Happy 62nd Mr. Lacy.

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Posted by fatpickle    Date: Monday, April 12, 2010

Categories: Happy Birthday!, Orioles, Redskins

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Cal Ripken Jr…Skipper?

In a recent interview with Bloomberg Radio Cal Ripken expressed an interest in returning to the game as a major league manager. Ripken was quoted as saying, “I’m starting to think about it a little more now. When my boy goes off to college, if there’s a time to come back to the game, maybe that’s the time.”

I’ll be honest, I’ve never pictured my favorite athlete of all-time managing, despite the fact that he was born and bred to do it. I picture Cal as the G.M. or the owner of a MLB team, not an actual field coach…I see his brother Billy as a manager. And when we talk about Cal having any position with a MLB team, whether it be manager, G.M. or owner…it has to be with the Orioles…right? I can’t see Cal becoming the manager of the Marlins or the Nats.

This is a make or break year for Dave Trembley, regardless of Cal’s words. Anything less than .500 will probably lead to Trembley’s dismissal. Would Andy Macphail be confident enough to hire Cal to be the manager? Cal would certainly demand more power than any other manager…ever. And how much money would it take? A S-load. And every crab eating O’s fan out there is going to clamouring for Cal to be the next manager, any other choice and the B&O Warehouse will be receiving bomb threats.

For the record Cal’s son Ryan is only a sophomore in high school, so by Cal’s words we’re talking about 2 years from now. But, with Cal being on record as saying he would like to manage…let the countdown begin.

Cheers and Hail

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Posted by fatpickle    Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Categories: Orioles

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Orioles…Magic?

I have all kinds of reasons to be excited and optimistic about the 2010 Orioles. The O’s are loaded with young talent, they’ve added some key veterans and have moved their spring training home to within an hour drive or so from my house. Sure they haven’t had a winning record in the last 12 years and I’ve dropped a $1,000.00 or more watching a 60-70 win team play on the MLB ticket during that time…but this is the time of year that I can be excited for my O’s.

It’s not unrealistic to think the Orioles have a chance to make a run at the wild card, just look at the 2008 Rays as an example. I know playing in the AL East makes it extremely difficult to break .500, let alone make the playoffs…but this O’s squad has talent.

OK, maybe I’m talking out my ass about the playoffs, but take a look around the diamond with me concerning the talent.

C- Matt Wieters - Batted .288-9-43 last season. No reason to believe that he can’t double those numbers this year. He’ll be moving up in the lineup, playing a full season and he’s only going to get better.

1B- Garret Atkins - No question Garret had a sub-par 2009 season, but Terry Crowley is known to get the best out of hitters. In the 3 previous seasons to 09′ Atkins averaged .305-25-110. If he approaches those numbers in 2010, he’ll be a steal for the O’s.

2B- Brian Roberts - Everyone loves Brian for good reason, he’s just a hard nosed, gritty and talented ballplayer entering his 10th season in an Oriole’s uniform. You can book him to score 100 runs, steal 30+ bases and hit 50+ extra base hits.

SS- Cesar Izturis - Cesar is not going to put up big offensive #’s, but he does play solid defense and handles the bat well. Cesar struck out less than 10% of the time last season and if he can duplicate that again this year while stealing 15+ bases…I’ll take it.

3B- Miguel Tejada - I’m happy to see Iggy back in an O’s uniform. The power may be gone..hmmmm, I wonder why…but he’s still a pure hitter. I expect Iggy to make the adjustment well to 3B and hit somewhere in the neighborhood of .300-15-80.

LF- Nolan Reimold - After years of stalling in the minors, Nolan got his chance last season and made the most out of it. I think his game fits well at Camden Yards and he reminds me of Bill Ripken…so I naturally love him. I’m still not sold completely.

CF- Adam Jones - Adam broke out in a big way last year, making his first All-Star team and showing all of his 5-tool abilities. Expect more this season. 30-30…I’m just sayin.

RF- Nick Markakis - My current favorite player, you can write it in cement that he hits .300-20-100 or better. I hope the beard is gone for spring training.

DH- Luke Scott - He may be the streakiest hitter I’ve ever seen. He can hit 5HR’s one week, and not get 2 hits the next…just bat him in the middle of the lineup when he’s hot.

OK, that’s the good news…unfortunately you have to pitch in baseball, more on that later.

Cheers and Hail

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Posted by fatpickle    Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Categories: Orioles

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Feb 7-10 Happy Bdays

Happy birthday Raleigh McKenzie. Raleigh played 10 seasons for the Redskins from 1985-94. #63 played every position on the line but played most of his 144 games as a Redskin at center or guard. Raleigh is a 2-time Super Bowl Champion and one of the 70Greatest Redskins. In retirement this “Hog” became a teacher and high school football coach in Herndon, VA. Happy 47th Mr. McKenzie.

Happy birthday Joe Lavender. Joe played 7 seasons for the Redskins from 1976-82. Joe was a 2-time Pro-Bowler at cornerback for the Redskins. #20 appeared in 99 games and accumulated 29 INT’s (5th all-time) during his Redskins tenure. Joe is a Super Bowl Champion. Happy 61st Mr. Lavender.

Happy birthday Juwan Howard. Juwan played 7 seasons for the Bullets/Wizards from 1994-01. Juwan was drafted #5 overall and wore #5 while playing Forward for the Wiz. Juwan averaged 18.4 PPG 7.4 RPG and 3.3 APG. Juwan was an All Star in 96′ and was rewarded with a $105 million contract (after briefly signing with the Heat.) Juwan is currently playing for the Trailblazers, in his 16th NBA season. Happy 37th Mr. Howard.

Happy birthday Felix Pie. Felix is entering his second season as an Oriole, having finished the 2009 season strong. Felix looked lost at the plate early last year, but hard work with O’s hitting coach Terry Crowley produced final #’s of .266-9-29. Felix also became only the 4th Oriole to hit for the cycle last season. Happy 25th Mr. Pie.

Happy birthday Lenny Webster. Lenny played 3 seasons for the Orioles from 1997-99. The former catcher was the last Oriole to wear #42 before the # was retired by MLB in honor of Jackie Robinson. Lenny batted .265-17-86 during his Orioles tenure. A native of New Orleans I’m assuming Lenny is pretty happy about the Saints right now. Happy 45th Mr. Webster.

Happy birthday Benny Ayala. Benny was a DH/OF who wore #27 and played 6 seasons for the Orioles from 1979-84. Benny batted .257 with 33 HR’s and 120 RBI’s during his O’s tenure and had a WS ring from the 83’ Champs. His best season came in 1980 when he went .265-10-33. In retirement Benny recently sold his WS ring, so I’m going to assume he’s not doing to well. Happy 59th Mr. Ayala.

Cheers and Hail

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Posted by fatpickle    Date: Monday, February 8, 2010

Categories: Happy Birthday!, Orioles, Redskins

Tags: , , , , ,

Oriole Birthdays

Happy birthday Roberto Alomar. Roberto played 3 seasons at 2B for the Orioles from 1996-98. Robbie was a switch hitter who wore #12. During his O’s tenure Robbie batted .310 with 50HR’s and 210 RBI’s. Robbie made the All-Star team all the 3 years as an Oriole and won the Gold Glove twice. Robbie narrowly missed first ballot introduction to the Hall of Fame recently, missing by just 8 votes…I expect to see him voted in next year. In retirement Robbie has kept a fairly low profile besides the whole AIDS thing. I don’t know about that but the joke back in the day was Robbie spits and Brady swallows. Happy 42nd Mr. Alomar.

Happy birthday Fred Lynn. Fred played 4 season for the O’s from 1985-88. An center fielder who wore #19, Fred was known to sacrifice his body running into the outfield walls to make amazing catches. During his O’s tenure Fred batted .265 with 87 HR’s and 232 RBI’s. Fred was traded to the Tigers at the trading deadline in 88’ for Chris Hoiles. For his career Fred was a 9 time All-Star, won 4 Gold Gloves and was the first player to win the ROY and MVP awards in the same season. In retirement Fred has devoted much of his time to charity work. Happy 58th Mr. Lynn.

Happy birthday Melvin Mora. Melvin played 10 seasons for the Orioles from 2000-09. Melvin came to the Orioles in a trade with the Mets in exchange for Mike Bordick. Initially a utility player, Melvin settled into the 3B in 2004 and wound up appearing in more games there in an Orioles uniform…other than some Robinson guy. During his O’s tenure Melvin batted .280 with 158 HR’s and 662 RBI’s. Melvin’s best season came in 2004 when he batted .340-27-104. Melvin recently signed with the Colorado Rockies. Happy 38th Mr. Mora.

Happy birthday Scott Erickson. Scott played 7 seasons for the O’s from 1995-02. A tall(6’4”) righty who wore #19, Scott came to the Orioles in a trade with the Twins. During his O’s tenure Scott won 79 games and had a 4.73 ERA. His best season came in 97’ when he went 16-7 with a 3.69 ERA. Scott didn’t make any All-Star teams or win any Cy Young’s as an Oriole…but he was on People magazines most beautiful list of 2000. In retirement Scott married television reporter Lisa Guerrero and started a production company. Happy 42nd Mr. Erickson.

Cheers and Hail

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Posted by fatpickle    Date: Friday, February 5, 2010

Categories: Happy Birthday!, Orioles

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