This IS September right?

It is hard to believe but it is September and Orioles are tied for first place with the Evil Empire Yankees. I mean this is September right? For the past 14 years whenever Sept we were already ramped up for the season because the O's were well out of it. This is nice! This I definitely can get used to. As I'm writing this the O's are up on the Blue Jays and the Rays are up on the Yankees. If things continue which I hope they do. The O's will be in sole possession of first. Then we go into a 4 game series at home against the Yanks. This could be a great weekend. Think I might go out and buy some crabs and sit back with a Natty Boh and enjoy!

NFL Week 1 Picks

Man did this NFL season sneak up on me. I can't believe it's starting tonight. Which in it self is weird starting on a Wednesday. Let's get things going.


Dallas @ NY Giants
Cowboys usually kick the season off strong and then fade in the later weeks. Giants got caught up in the trash talking this week but they have the talent to carry that swagger and confidence. Not to mention, no superbowl winner has lost it's season opener since 2004. G-men win this one!
Indy @ Chicago
New era in Indy and Luck is what they are going to need this season. I think the Bears are more experienced and have the talent to knock off Indy.

Philly @ Cleveland
Clevelanders are excited about the new direction their team is heading, but it's still a bit soon. Philly rolls over the Browns easy this week.

StL @ Detroit
We'll see if either of these injury prone QB's will finish the game, but I'm going with the more potent passing attack thet the Lions are going to bring. Lions win at home and Suh get's a flag thrown.

Miami @ Houston
The Dolphins head out to Houston and lose week 1. Houston runs the ball better, throws the ball better, and has the better defense.

Atlanta @ KC
Atlanta last year was 3-5 on the road and the Chiefs were 4-4 at home. That said the Chiefs offense still looks horrible, and the Falcons fly in and take this game by 17.

Jacksonville @ Minnesota
The Londona Jaguars, oh I mean the Jacksonville Jaguars have a new owner and building but it's not a finished product yet. Giving the edge to the home team in the dome. Minnesota wins 17-9

Washington @ NO
Even with all that is going on in New Orleans I still think Drew Brees is going to be too much for the Redskins. NO wins.

Buffalo @ NY Jets
I went back and forth with this one. I'm going with my gut and saying Bills take this game. I always lean the Bills way in this matchup and maybe it's a little part of me hoping they do win it. I don't know but whatever the reasoning I'm going with the Bills and that's that.

New England @ Tennessee
New England has owned this matchup and it's not going to be any different this time. NE wins unfortunately.

Seattle @ Arizona
Not liking anyone playing QB for Arizona. Seattle wins this easy.

SF @ GB
I like SF and what they're doing out there in the Bay. However I don't like them that much to say they beat the Packers. Especially since the past 6 times these teams have met GB has owned them taking all 6 easily. GB all the way.

Carolina @ Tampa Bay
Another team that interests me in the way they are rebuilding is Tampa. With that said I'm going with the Panthers and what we saw from them last year.

Pittsburgh @ Denver
Alright you all know where my heart is going on this one. Obviously I would love nothing more than to see the Steelers lose to the Broncos. You know what, with the injuries that have plagued the Steelers I'm siding with the Broncos on this one. Boncos win a close one 17-14

Cincy @ Baltimore
The Bengals have played us close and this game isn't going to be any different. Cincy is weak in the middle of their O-line and Ngata, Cody and Ray can exploit that weakness. You tie that together with our new no huddle offense and some new toys for Joe. I think we win this and win 28-17.

San Diego @ Oakland
Tough but I'm going Oakland. I would say with the upset but I don't think this game is an upset either way. Oakland by 3.

There you have it. Sorry it wasn't more detailed but this week cam up fast. I will break down the Ravens and Bengals in a day or so.

Orange Koolaid Anyone?

Alright so I've been drinking the orange Koolaid for a while now this season, and I have got to know. If you weren't drinking it before are you drinking it now? If not then, WHY THE HECK NOT? Let me break this down for you. Right now the Orioles sit at 62-53. At this exact point last year we were 45-72, 2010 we were 41-75, 2009 47-67, 2008 58-62. Heck let's look back to when we last won the division in '97 at this point we were 73-42. That's only 9 games away from where we are right now and we finish that season 98-64. Look we have 47 games left in the season and we sit 5 1/2 games out of first place behind the Evil Empire and currently in the second wild card spot behind the Rays. Say we split the remaining games and go 85-77. When was the last time we finished in contention this late in the season and over .500? Heck tell me at the beginning of the season if someone told you we would finish with that record you wouldn't be laughing at them and saying "Yeah right". So I ask you again "Why aren't you drinking the Koolaid yet?"
Can this team tank the remaining 47 games? Sure. I mean they have a tough schedule left. Heck the rest of this month we have the Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers, Blue Jays, White Sox, and Yankees. Can we lose some of those games? Yeah, but I think we have proven this year that we can hang with these teams, and in years past we have finish strong in September playing the role of spoiler. Which lets face it that's all we had to play for.
The moves we have made this season aren't flashy, and big name signings but seem to be exactly what is needed. We needed to fix our fielding woes since we lead the league in errors. It seems we have done that in picking up and putting McLouth, Quintanilla, and Ford in the field. You add to that bringing up Machado and our fielding has been much improved.
That brings me to my next topic here. I was concerned with the bringing up of Machado because in years past we have brought guys up and they never panned out. Now I'm not about to crown the guy a Hall of Famer, but he has been quite impressive. In 4 games he is hitting .375 with 3 HR 7 RBI's and 5 runs scored. Heck in the 6 hits he's recorded he has the 3 HR's a double and a triple (which was his first major league hit). So 5 of his 6 hits have been for extra bases. There's been the haters saying yeah but it was against the Royals pitching. Yeah well who else put up those kind of numbers this past series? Yup keeping looking because no one did.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Orioles Magic is back. This team is in competition to make a push for the off season. Will we go far? Probably not but who knows. That's why they play the games right? I said it last post, I haven't even been following the Ravens training camp because I'm fixated on the O's. We have never had an Orioles team in competition and a successful Ravens team. It looks as tough we may have that now. Football season is right around the corner, but until then LET"S GO O'S!!!

How Bout Dem O's Hon

Can't get enough of that Baltimore expression these days! The O's in the win column again last night sweeping the Mariners putting them 4.5 games behind the Evil Empire (Yankees) and tied for the final wild card spot with the A's. I'm telling you I am loving how this season is playing out so far.
One thing I wanted to get to was the roster moves the Orioles are completing today. They are calling up one of their 2 top prospects today in Manny Machado. I'm not too sure about this move. The first thing that comes to mind is "Is he ready?" I guess you never know until you put him in there. The other thing that has me worried about is, will moving him up this early ruin him? We've had guys come up that we thought were ready and they have fizzled out and didn't become what everyone thought they were going to be. Then again everyone's diferent and this is turning into a different orginzation than years past. With different front office personel and coaches. We'll see. I hope he does become what everyone thinks he will be and become a starting infielder for us. Word is he may be starting at third tonight, making a slide to the right from his usual spot at short stop. God knows we could really use someone with a glove over there at third. We are leading the majors in errors and a good chunk of those coming from third. Betemit and Reynolds just aren't getting it done in the field.
Another move that may happen today is the promotion of the Orioles second top prospect Dylan Bundy. He has swiftly moved through the minors this season starting in A Delmarva and then to AA Frederick. Now it looks as though he is moving again and this time to AA Bowie. In 19 minor league games so far this season he started 19 games posting a 1.92 ERA and in 84 1/3 innings has struck out 103 batters and 19 walks. Pretty impressive. Very curious to see how he does up in Bowie!
Don't have much time now so I'll keep up on any more news I hear and pass it along.

O's start a series tonight against the Royals. Let's start another sweep!

Still out there?

Alright so it's been some time since my last post. To be exact my last post was back in March. You had the NFL season close and the end of the season buzz started to fade. Giving way to the increasing excitment to the start of the MLB season. I have to apologize for the break. We've been busy with summer stuff and the start of our product review blog which has taken off faster than we could have imagined. So I've been spending some extra time with that. Also honestly I've been enjoying this baseball season that the Orioles have provided us. I keep saying I hope the Orioles can keep this up and not let things slide like they ave in seasons past. So far they haven't let me down. My hopes for a strong finish continue to grow since in years past they have played the role in beating teams with winning records. The problem was we already had 80-90 loses by then. I like the little acquisitions they have made in Thome and Quintanilla. Just bringing a guy like Thome with his personality and experience your giving these young guys something they haven't had since Kevin Millar was in town. Wei Yin Chen has been a great surprise coming over considering most of the talk before the season was about Wada. Then you had Hammel who was lighting it up on the mound until he was injured. Hoping he can make it back and give us a little extra push. Alright am I drinking the orange cool-aid? YES and by the pitcher full at that. After 14 straight losing seasons I have been dying to see this team back in the mix and I think that time has come. I'm not saying they're taking it all but it's nice to be back in the mix.
Now that football season is about to get going I will definitely be more active. The Ravens have their first preseason game this week and I will try to break down some of the things I see in that game. I'll tell you what. In the past couple years I would have been all about football since the O's are usually out of it but this year I have been all baseball.
Please excuse any grammar or spelling errors as I'm typing this on my phone while I'm waiting for my wife at the park and ride.

Bounty Hunters!!!

Now when you think Bounty Hunting I know the first thing that comes to most peoples minds these days is the made famous by TV bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman. I on the other hand and maybe this is because of the time I grew up think of a bounty hunter way more bad ass than "Dog". That's right the one and only Boba Fett from Star Wars.

I mean come on you look at this guy and you know he is just THE MAN! You see this guy coming, heck even if you even know he's looking for you, you're turning yourself in.

Alright this post isn't about that kind of bounty hunting. This is about the bounty system that was going on in New Orleans with the Saints and possibly wide spread throughout the NFL. A system that played players in accordance to a fee schedule depending on the severity of the injury. It has been sited that in this instance if you were a defensive player for the Saints and delivered a "Knock Out" you were payed $1000 and if the player you hit was carted off you were payed $1500. Heck the year the Saints won the Super Bowl it was reported that the "pool" amount reached $50,000! Look I love the NFL. I love the big hits. Are you kidding me when Hines Ward would cross the middle of the field and Jarrett Johnson or Ed Reed leveled him, you better believe I loved the hit. When Ben would drop back and Ngata or Suggs would plant a hit in his chest or back heck yeah I loved it.
Here's the difference in my personal opinion. As a defensive player your going to hit your opponent to hurt them. You're going to make them feel it and think twice about going over the middle of the field or run the ball at you. However there's a difference between hitting someone to hurt them and hitting someone to injury them. Let's look at the fullback for a second. There's a difference between him drilling a linebacker to open a hole for your running back and that same fullback hitting an offensive lineman in the knee when he's being blocked up high by someone else. One could make the argument that if someone is playing "clean" football and in a play legally hits another player and in that hit injuries him there's nothing wrong. I agree there is nothing wrong with that. What makes that situation and what happened during that play wrong is when you tie into it a bounty system that is going to pay and encourage injuring another player. One could even argue "Yeah but he didn't hit him with the intent to injury him. It was just circumstance." Well in my opinion if he went into that game knowing if he took someone out he would get rewarded financially that turns that "unfortunate circumstance" into something worse.
Look football is all about the big hits. I get it! I love it! I don't however feel that this needs to be a part of the game. I think it promotes injuring a guy in stead of hurting a guy. I think when you have this system in place you're no longer looking to knock a guy out of a game, but crossing that line to putting a guys livelihood, health, and even life in jeopardy.  I'm interested in how this whole thing is going to turn out and what else is unveiled in the process.

Orioles causing a stir in S. Korea and in fans...

So to catch you up in case you haven't been following the Orioles moves this offseason and any headlines they have been linked to. The Orioles signed 17 year old South Korean, Seong-Min Kim to a Minor League contract. So what's wrong with this you ask? Shouldn't be anything wrong with this. I mean the Orioles and all clubs sign guys right out of high school to play in the minors. In fact outside of the US, Canada and Puerto Rico players can be signed at the age of 16.  Well the problem is that the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and the Korean Baseball Association are crying foul. Apparently they said that the process in dealing with Korean players is for the ball club to contact MLB and MLB will contact the KBO to negotiate with the player. The KBO filed a letter of protest against the Orioles with MLB and the Orioles have since apologized for the move. Strike one against the Orioles and no harm no foul right? Well the KBA has plans to ban O's scouts and Seong-Min Kim has been banned from ever playing South Korea again and also banned from ever coaching in South Korea as well. Now it looks as though MLB is going to void Kim's contract with the Orioles.
Now when I first started writing this I was a bit angry that MLB was voiding the contract and the KBO's over-reaction to all of this. That was stemming from my perspective as a fan, and now that I've taken some time to think it over it's the right thing to do. The Orioles and Duquette know the rules when contacting and signing foreign players. I mean come on as involved internationally as Duquette has been he definitely knew it was a no-no to do what he did. So it appears MLB will suspend the signing for 30 days by voiding the contract and the Orioles will also be fined by MLB. My only hope is that during that time Kim doesn't get signed by another team. Not because I think he is the next coming of Nolan Ryan, but because he has talent and can be a part of the rebuilding of our minor league system.

Spring training starts this weekend. This time every year I always feel like that guy who is so enamored with a hot girl that only comes around when she wants something. Once she has you following her like a puppy dog she leaves you broken and emotionally drained, but you know months down the road you see her again and fall right back into the trap. That's just what the Orioles do to all us fans. Every April they come back around wearing that appealing outfit saying "...but we've changed! See look at all the improvements we've made! Trust us we're moving forward and will get better." We fall for it every year, and every year we will continue to hang our heads when we're left watching all the other couples (teams/fans) go on to bigger and better things come October. Damn you Orioles!!! Yes even through all that you put us through we'll come back and defend all your flaws.