Baltimore Orioles Soundoff: Welcome to unofficial authority(self-titled) on Baltimore Orioles baseball

Monday, August 01, 2005

Welcome to unofficial authority(self-titled) on Baltimore Orioles baseball

My good friend Bill Ferrara--check out Bill's NBA Blog called Passfirst--was listening to me complain about the team that I pour blood, sweat and tears into. Lots of tears. Lots and lots of tears, lately. Bill's a Yankees fan and so obviously is tired of hearing me talk about the Orioles.

We have our arguments: I say the Yankees are too old, the pitching staff belongs in an assisted living center. He said the Orioles would choke and couldn't possibly win with their mediocre pitching staff. OK, so we were both right.

Bill gave me the idea to start a blog where I could rant, praise, criticize, damn, show love for and otherwise discuss anything that I feel worth discussing about the Birds.

So here goes nothing: Jeff's Baltimore Orioles SoundOff...Post #1

Rafael Palmeiro's Steroid Suspension: The Jeffrey Maier Curse Continues...

Rafael Palmeiro sat out of Monday afternoons game against the Chicago White Sox as the first of a 10-game suspension for violating the MLB's drug policy. Palmeiro, coming off a magical few weeks when he became only the fourth player in the history of baseball to obtain 500 career home runs and 3,000 hits, becomes the seventh and highest-profile player to be suspended for violating the drug policy.

Palmeiro denies vehemently that he had any knowledge of putting illegal substances into his body and doesn't know how they got there. However, why would you put anything into your body that you aren't absolutely sure is 100% legal?

The timing of Palmeiro's suspension is impeccable isn't it? Is it just me, or are the Orioles belly-flopping faster and harder than newly acquired Eric Byrnes did Sunday night when he dove into third? It can't be just me.

Let's look at a timeline of the Orioles season thus far, you know, so we can pinpoint exactly where the implosion I am calling "The Curse of Jeffrey Maier" began.
Disclaimer: Jeffrey Maier will be bashed more than any two other people combined on this site, with good reason.

1) Opening Day: Orioles 4, Athletics 0; Rodrigo Lopez pitches six scoreless innings

and Sammy Sosa leads the offense to an opening day shut out. (Record: 1-0)

2) April, 10: Orioles 7, Yankees 2; Again Rodrigo Lopez pitches a stellar game and the Orioles complete a sweep of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. (Record: 7-4)

3) April 30: Orioles 7, Devil Rays 5; BJ Surhoff, Miguel Tejada and the red-hot Brian Roberts all homer for the first-place Orioles who finish April with a 19-9 record. (Record: 19-9)

4) May 6: Orioles 3, Royals 1; Sammy Sosa sits in this game with a Staph infection to the bottom of his foot. He doesn't return again until May 24th. (Record: 22-12)

5) May 10: Minnesota 6, Orioles 4; Luis Matos breaks the ring finger on his hand after being hit by a Jesse Crain pitch. He is expected to miss 6 weeks. (Record: 24-13)

6) May 21: Orioles 7, Phillies 0; Erik Bedard is masterful as he lowers his E.R.A. to 2.09. However, this would be he last start before going on the DL with a strained ligament in his left knee. (Record: 27-15)

7) May 24: Orioles 3, Mariners 2; Sosa returns, however Javy Lopez breaks a bone in his hand after Bret Boone fouled a ball off it. Lopez would need surgery and wouldn't return until after the all-star break. (Record: 28-16)

8) May 31: Red Sox 5, Orioles 1; Orioles end May with an L, and have lost 4 out of their last 5 with the Red Sox gaining ground. (Record: 31-20)

9) June 30: Indians 9, Orioles 3; O's end June the same way they ended May, with a loss. This time the hurting O's limped into July by losing 8 out of their last 10 games. (Record: 43-35)

10) July 12: All-Star Game; Orioles had lost control of first place as of June 23rd. After beating Boston to close the first half of the season, they stand 2 games out of first. (Record: 47-40)

11) July 31: White Sox 9, Orioles 4; Ending June by losing 13 out of 15 games is not a good way to stay in the race. The Orioles were pretty much healthy now, but their offense still looked sickly. (Record: 51-53)

So you see, somewhere down the line, the Orioles seemed to be crushed by some unexpected force. Be it injury, managerial decisions, slumps, etc. The Orioles were flying high for much of the season. But after going 4-13 from July 12-31, they have slipped to 8 games out in the standings and nothing seems to go right.

They can't hit when they pitch well. They can't pitch when their hitting picks up. They are a recipe for disaster. And now that Raffy has been suspended, anything that could have gone wrong this year, has.

My friends, the O's are still in it. They are. No, really, they are. But something needs to pick up. Some force needs to take back over, because they are reeling. And a freefall this hard usually isn't stopped by a mere net.

Thanks for listening to my first blog! Check in daily for game by game story lines, criticisms and praise. Go O's!

# posted by Jeff Lippman @ 3:15 PM