I Don’t Like The Yankees So Much
If you google “reasons to hate the Yankees,” over 4.5 million results show up. I don’t have that many reasons to hate them, but as a lifelong Orioles fan…there are a few things about the Yankees that burn my ass!
#1 $200 Million payroll:
OK, we all know they spend more $$ than everyone else…big deal. $134 million more than the O’s. I’d take the O’s young and inexpensive talent over the Yankees old and declining roster any day!
#2 They win all the time:
This is a false statement. Mike Mussina pitched in New York the past 8 years, he has the same amount of World Series rings as I do. They had a dynasty from 96-2000. For the 25 years sandwiching that era…C*&K.
#3 The Fans
First of all, they all look like this guy.
Yankee fans don’t like each other, let alone any other teams fans. They invade Camden Yards when the Yanks come to Baltimore. Yelling for Deerrrricckkk Jettterrr and Mariiiiianno Riiiverra. My favorite Yankees fans? The Japanese Matsui fans that don’t speak English.
Look, you can go to almost any bar or store anywhere in America and see a Yankee hat or jersey. It’s no big deal. There may be 2 guys in said bar or store with Yankee hats and they won’t even acknowledge each other, because it’s common place. But if your wearing an O’s hat in Tampa, and another guy walks in the bar wearing the same hat…that’s a kinship. You have a bond.
#2 Jeffrey Maier
Let’s face it O’s fans, baseball is full of curses…we have the Jeffrey Maier curse. Little prick.
#1 They score hot chicks
Why wouldn’t they? They all have $100 million dollar contracts. Whether it’s Jeter banging Minka Kelly…or for that matter nearly every girl from my Sweet 16 Hot Chick contest, or A-Rod tapping Kate Hudson and Madonna (it would have been more impressive for Craig Nettles to bang out Madonna, she was hotter back then.) But wait, it doesn’t stop there, Jorge Posada (operation Dumbo drop) has a hot wife, CC Sabathia (weighs 330) is doing well for himself, and AJ Burnett’s wife is smokin! I’m sure it doesn’t stop there, hell…I bet Craig Nettles wife is still hot.
Karen Burnett (Maryland girl)
And for the record, if you google “reasons to hate the Orioles,” you only get 190,000 results. We win.
Cheers and Hail
Orioles Midseason: Magic Or Tragic?
Halfway thru the 2009 season the Orioles are definitely a work in progress. Having shown signs of improvement, they still finished the first half at 36-45…and with a firm grip on last place in the AL East. Their record also placed them 24Th out of 30 MLB teams. But, it hasn’t been all bad…let’s take a look at the first half, the positives (Orioles Magic) and the negatives (Orioles Tragic.)
Orioles Magic:
Adam Jones - Voted to his first All-Star game today, Jones is having a breakout year. He’s almost eclipsed his numbers from last year, in every category. He batted .307-12-46 in the first half and played a gold glove centerfield. And he blew bubbles the whole time.
Luke Scott - He has swung a hot bat all year, .296-16-43, despite a stint on the DL.
Markakis, Roberts, & Huff - The big 3 have been as steady as ever. Roberts is tracking 70 extra base hits, Markakis is tracking 108 RBI’s and Huff 110 RBI’s.
Nolan Reimold - NOLAN! He finally got his chance and he’s delivered. 9 HR’s in only 45 games. He’s got sneaky speed and doesn’t seem over matched in any situation.
Brad Bergesen - All he has done is go 5-2 with a 3.53 ERA since being called up. His record would have been better if not for the bullpen letting him down twice. Plus, he’s been lights out working with Matt Wieters.
Tragic:
Free Agent Class 2009 - Ryan Freel, Chad Moeller, and Adam Eaton are already gone from the organization. The rest of the class, Koji Uehara, Mark Hendrickson, Ty Wigginton, Cesar Izturis, and Greg Zaun range from disappointing to horribly disappointing.
Cubs prospects turned Orioles prospects - Since taking over the O’s, Andy Macphail has made a point of picking up or trading for draft picks that didn’t pan out during his tenure with the Cubs. Guess what…they still suck with an Orioles uniform on. I guess there’s a reason we got Hill, Montanez, and Pie for next to nothing.
Middle relief - Bass, Hendrickson, Walker, Sarfate, Liz, and Ray have been absolutely horrible.
Melvin Mora - Not sure if it’s age or something else?? He went nearly a month without an RBI and has 2 HR’s and 9 extra base hits so far.
To Be Determined:
Matt Wieters - The knock on him coming up was that he was not going to be a good defensive catcher…so far he’s been great behind the dish. His bat was slow to get going, but it’s gotten hot the past couple of weeks. Expect a big 2nd half.
Cheers and Hail
O Say Can You See The Future
Wipe your eyes, the future is bright! picture via The Baltimore Sun
In case you haven’t been paying attention, the Orioles future is officially here. And the Orioles future is a lot better than recent past. I’m not just optimistic because I’m a fan, the talent that is upon us is the real deal!
Friday marks the debut of the #1 prospect in all of baseball, Matt Wieters. He has played like a man among boys in the minors for a little over a year, and as Macphail said “it’s time.” He’s a switch hitting 6’5″ 230lb BAD-ASS!
Pictured above is rookie Nolan Reimold. His walk-off 3 run homer today was his 4th HR in his short 2 week career. He seems to be a keeper. Center Fielder Adam Jones appears to be the next Eric Davis (healthy in his prime, Eric Davis.) Jones has a .354-11-34 line so far this season. Oh yeah, he’s playing like a gold glover defensively. You know Markakis is a stud, I’ll just remind you he is only 25 years old!
So far this season the Orioles have saw 3 rookie pitchers win their major league debuts, they’ll go for #4 tomorrow when David Hernandez takes the hill. Hernandez was 3-1 with 2.91 ERA in the minors this season, along with 60 strikeouts in only 43 innings. He struck out 14 in his last start at Norfolk. In the next 4 games against Detroit the Orioles will stroll out 3 rookies with only 9 games experience under their belts…and I couldn’t be happier. No Eaton, no Hendrickson.
But, the future talent doesn’t stop there, the O’s minor league system is loaded. Chris Tillman (5-0 2.13 ERA) and Troy Patton (5-1 1.62 ERA) will be in Baltimore before the end of the year. Last years 1st rounder, pitcher Brian Matusz, and 2005 1st rounder, 1B Brandon Snyder will be up next season. Pitcher Jake Arrieta will also be making his prescience felt soon.
It’s a great time to be an Oriole fan. Although there are still some growing pains ahead of us, it’s obvious that the next 10 years will be better than the last.
Amen to that.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, Orioles
Tags: Markakis, MLB, O's, wieters
Note To The O’s, Vote For Pedro
The O’s need to sign Pedro Martinez and they need to do it soon. The Orioles are batting .290 as a team and scoring over 6 runs a game. This kind of offensive production should be enough to win a lot of games and compete in the AL East. Unfortunately, the O’s have assembled what might be one of the worst pitching staffs ever. The 3,4, and 5 starters are horrible (and the 3rd starter is on the DL.) The middle relievers have struggled and a couple of them, Bass and Liz, have proven that they are not major league pitchers. The back end of the bullpen has also struggled. Ray appears that he is not fully recovered, or not comfortable yet, from shoulder surgery. Sherrill has been shaky at best.
We can only assume that the offense will continue this kind of production (Jones is blossoming into a star) or even get better with the addition of Weiters sometime soon. So why not compete now? Why wait till 2010?
Reportedly, Martinez can be had for a 1 year $5 million dollar deal. That’s certainly not going to break the bank and the one year deal does nothing to mortgage your future. I know Martinez is on the decline and his health is a major risk. But you can’t tell me he’s not better than Hendrickson or Eaton. How is Adam freakin Eaton even on this squad? They couldn’t talk Steve Trachsel into returning? Sign Martinez, and bring up Tillman, Bergesen, and Patton to fill some of the holes. The O’s are 4-0 when Guthrie or Uehara start, after that you get 19 runs in a single game put up on you.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Friday, April 17, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, Orioles
Tags: MLB, O's, pedro martinez
The Ultimate Softball Team
We are well into Spring Training now and there is still an amazing number of established MLB veterans who have something in common with me, we aren’t playing anywhere. The list of players reads like the decade of the 90′s all-star team. So, I’d like to invite them to join me to form the ultimate softball team.
Ladies and Gentleman, The HGH Bombers:
C - Ivan Rodriguez
1B - Richie Sexson
2B - Ray Durham
SS - Orlando Cabrera
3B - Nomar Garciapara
OF -Manny Ramirez
OF - Jim Edmonds
OF - Moises Alou
OF - Barry Bonds
DH - Frank Thomas
P - Curt Schilling
P - Kenny Rogers
P - Pedro Martinez
Sure these guys are well past their prime, but they still want to play and I’m amazed some team hasn’t taken a chance on them. If they can’t find a home, the offer stands.
Cheers and Hail
A-Lob
McNamee’s over there taking care of Clemens and Giambi, he’s got plenty left for us!
When you just got called out as a cheat and a liar, how do you put the spin on it? Well start by scheduling an interview with the 90 year old guy from ESPN who acts like everyone’s grandpa. Those questions were lobbed up to A-Rod like it was batting practice. Don’t hammer him into answering the fact that he cheated, or that he has lied to the public for several years. Let him lump his failed marriage and huge contract into the mix to try to seek extra sympothy.
Most people who have watched baseball and saw Barry Bonds break the all-time HR record all thought it was done thru cheating. And we all said “wait till A-Rod breaks it, then we’ll know the record is clean again.” Well guess what, we were wrong. Truth is, there is no player playing the game today that we could trust to have played their entire careers clean. MLB needs to release all the names of the players that tested positive, and acknowledge once and for all that we have an official steroid era. Then, move on.
The true all-time HR champion for now and maybe all time, is Hammerin Hank. Yep, the guy who in his 40′s was declining statistically, not hitting more home runs. The guy with the big beer gut, and his skills eroding him. Not 40lbs heavier in muscle and going thru a training regimen like Ivan Drago.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Monday, February 9, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, MLB
Tags: A-rod, hank aaron, MLB, steroids
