As another losing season wraps up, I like to find some things to be happy about even though the O's are going to miss the playoffs yet again.
Nick Markakis had 101 RBI.
Jeremy Guthrie reached the 200 innings pitched mark.
B-Rob had possibly his best season ever.
Wiety was starting to heat up over the last 6 weeks of the season.
We debuted a ton of rookies, some of whom will form the core of the team for years to come.
I got a lot of autographs since not many people show up to the games.
Hey, I'm definitely an Orioles optimist, but the team wasn't going to be competitive this season from the start. But next year, or the year after, they will make a playoff push. Believe me, they will at least be better than the teams that have worn the black and orange for the past 12 seasons.
I was very happy that the O's pulled off the 3 game sweep of the Jays; it was their third sweep all season and the 2nd time they did it to Toronto. They also finished the season on a 4 game winning streak. Yeah, I know that immediately followed a 13 game losing streak but how much better is it to win the last four than losing over 100 games and 17 in a row to close out the season? A lot better. Those 4 wins at the end should stay with the players and give them hope for the future. The players showed some fire in the last series of the year; something that had been lacking for most of the season. That's how you play and win baseball games!
I also had some major autograph success at Sunday's game. Half of the team was signing so I got 12 different cards signed including my first in-person Chris Lambert. It was a nice way for me to finish the season too.
In the coming weeks, I'm planning on giving a rundown on the signing habits of every player who was on the team this season. Some were very good and accommodating while others avoided signing like the plague. If you have been following my blog, you have an idea of how the players were but I will give you my breakdown of how much and when they signed for me.
182 days until Opening Day!
18 hours ago
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2 comments:
We are in the toughest division in baseball. The Yankees and Red Sox would any other division by the streets and the Rays are now a solid side.
The AL Central has the Indians, Black Sox and Twins but none of those sides are near the strength of the Yanks or Red Sox.
I think we should adopt a Moneyball type strategy to get back up there.
It would be nice if we were in an easier division to win, but I don't see that happening until at least Selig is gone. So for now, all we can do is try to compete. A moneyball type strategy isn't a bad idea; it's just unfortunate that the big market clubs are now using a similar strategy; but have a lot more money to play with.
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