Baltimore Orioles Soundoff

When a scrawny singles hitter, who averaged just over nine home runs per year for his first five seasons in the major leagues, begins slamming the ball out of the park at a clip of over 29 home runs per year for his next five seasons, there may be reason for some concern.

When that same scrawny lefty, who has the sweetest, most picture-perfect swing in the game, averages more than 39 home runs per season for the rest of his career, the original concern melts away and his home run deficiency is just a fluke.

When the game's most underrated player for so long reaches a plateau that only the likes of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Eddie Murray had ever reached, there is cause for celebration.

That was the career of Rafael Palmeiro, a wonderful baseball story. Until now.

Everyone knows about Palmeiro being suspended for taking steroids. But what should Raffy do next?

There is talk that the Baltimore Orioles don't want him back. In a season where the O's spent most of the first half of the season in first place only to freefall to fourth in record time, the O's didn't need this.

If the Orioles do not welcome Palmeiro back into the lineup, I back that decision. The playoffs are just a pipedream at this point and although Palmeiro could help the O's, he isn't a miracle maker. They don't need him.

What the O's need now, is the young guys to take charge. Enter Alejandro Freire, a 30-yea-old first baseman recently called up from Ottawa where he was leading the Lynx in almost every offensive catergory. Instead of Palmeiro coming back, let Freire play in his stead. In fact, I would rather the O's call up Walter Young, but hey, what do I know?

Rafael Palmeiro has had an amazing career, and if it ended a little more than a week ago, if it ended right after he achieved 3,000/500, than he would have been celebrated in the Hall of Fame. But it didn't end there. And now Raffy is tainted.

There is nothing he can do about it now. He took steroids. Even if he is telling the truth and he didn't take them on purpose--if you believe that I'll tell you another one--his career is effectively over.

Some of the younger guys who were caught with steroids can bounce back from this. They made mistakes, they weren't that good to begin with, they are young. But Raffy is old, his mistake was crucial, and nobody knows how long he's been on the juice but the speculation begs that his records be astericked.

No, Raffy is done. His career is over.

I loved watching him play, he was a delightful player to adore. He always had a smile on his face and he always produced. He was always modest and he never brought attention to himself. Maybe now we know why.


Palmeiro, Ponson and Surhoff Down; Freire, Rakers and DuBose up

In addition to the fact that Rafael Palmeiro probably isn't coming back to the Orioles, Sidney Ponson and B.J. Surhoff were also taken off the active roster. They were placed on the disabled list with various injuries.

These roster moves pave the way for Alejandro Freire, Aaron Rakers and Eric DuBose to step into the major league spotlight. For Rakers and DuBose, this is another chance to shine. Both have already, at some point, been in an Orioles uniform. For Freire, however, this is his first time in the majors.

Neither Rakers nor DuBose pitched in last night's game, however Freire did start at DH for the O's. He, however, was the only Oriole not to record a base hit last night against the Devil Rays, going 0-4 and grounding into an inning-ending double play.

Hopefully we will see good things from all these baby birds in the future. And soon, I'd like to see Walter Young up at the major league level.


Orioles Game Update: Baltimore 5, Devil Rays 2
Box Score

In what could be considered the most flawless game the O's have played in a very long time, Baltimore defeated the Devil Rays 5-2, last night. The game started off shaky for both Orioles starter Erik Bedard and O's hitters, but both settled into their roles and produced nicely. Almost every Orioles starter had a hit, with the exception of Freire, and after giving up two runs in the second inning and walking four early hitters, Bedard settled down to pitch seven strong innings of five-hit ball. The O's scored two runs in the 5th on an Eric Byrnes HR, and added three runs in the 7th off RBI singles by Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada and Javy Lopez. B.J. Ryan struck out the side in the ninth for his 24th save.


Next Orioles Game: Tampa Bay @ Baltimore, Wednesday August 10 @ 7:05 p.m.





Rodrigo Lopez vs. Casey Fossum