Posts Tagged ‘nolan’

10/11-13 Happy Bday Nolan Reimold & Gregg Olson

Happy birthday Nolan Reimold. Nolan just finished his rookie season for the Orioles. It was an impressive campaign that saw him win AL Rookie of the Month honors in June and garner some media attention for AL ROY. Alas, his season was cut short by an achilles injury. Overall Nolan batted .279 with 15 HR’s and 45 RBI’s. He also showed some surprising speed on his way to stealing 8 out of 10 bases. Nolan also spurred Fatpickle to create these T-shirts that are soon to be classic collector’s items. I look forward to watching Nolan excel for the Orioles in the years to come. Happy 26th Mr. Reimold.

Happy birthday Gregg Olson. Gregg played 6 seasons for the Orioles from 88-93’. He won the 89’ ROY award (beating out Ken Griffey Jr.,) when he went 5-2 with a 1.69 ERA and saved 27 games for the “Why Not” Orioles. Blessed with a devastating, knee-buckling curveball, Gregg saved 160 games and had a 2.26 ERA during his Oriole tenure. His 160 saves are #1 all-time in Orioles history. Gregg was inducted into the Orioles HOF in 2008. Happy 43rd Mr. Olson.

Happy birthday Skip Hicks. Skip played 3 seasons for the Redskins from 98-00’. His best season was 98’ when he started 5 games and rushed for 433 yards and 8 TD’s. Skip was drafted in the 3rd round out of UCLA where he still holds the record for TD’s in a season (26) and a career (56.) Happy 35th Mr. Hicks.

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