Why I'm Not So Upset About The Orioles Three-Game Losing Streak

Normally I'd be devastated by a three-game losing streak like this. The O's had a four-game winning streak and a lot of momentum going for them, they are facing a couple of good teams in short series at home and it would have meant a lot to show those clubs that the O's are for real.

But it's April 26 and that's all B.S.

The O's have been "showing teams that they're for real" for the past few Aprils now. I didn't believe it until I looked it up, but the Orioles have finished April at or above .500 for the past four seasons. And where did it get them? Not once in those seasons did they finish within five games of the break-even point.

Image from baltimoresun.com

That's why early this month I told myself that I wasn't going to get worked up about what happens in April.

Lots of crap teams jump out of the gate hot and put up decent April records. The good teams get better as the season goes on.

And if you look at how the team has played, these guys should feel lucky to still be one game over .500.

Erik Bedard was supposed to be the ace of the staff, and he's putting up Bruce Chen-like numbers.

Melvin Mora seems to have dedicated his April to making a bloopers reel for his six kids.

Razor Ramon Hernandez, One of the best all-around catchers in the Majors, is hurt and has been replaced by Paul Bako, honestly one of the worst all-around catchers in the Majors.

Aubrey Huff in April has been in 2007 as Aubrey Huff in April has been throughout his career -- bad.

But those things will change. Huff will get hot, Hernandez will come back from his injury, Mora can't be this bad in the field forever (right?!?) and Bedard will return to form (he did have a 5.97 ERA on June 1 last year before basically dominating for the last three months of the season to get it down to 3.76).

It's fun to project out numbers less than 20 games into the season and say things like "Ian Kinsler is on pace for 64 homers" or "The Orioles are on pace for 96 wins," but then reality sets in. Because this is baseball, and the season is long.

Every team is going to have winning streaks and losing streaks and every player is going to have slumps and surges, but at the end of a 162-game season everything will end up where it should be. The best players will separate themselves from the flukes and the best teams will rise to the top of the standings.

So for now I'm just trying to sit back, enjoy the baseball and be pleased with how the O's have kept their heads above water despite the issues and injuries. ... But seriously this team better not be sucking like this in May or I'm going to flip.
 

Photoshop Fun: Ramon Hernandez T-shirt

I was bored, so I decided to design a T-shirt using the likeness of my favorite new Oriole, "Razor" Ramon Hernandez. Of course, no one on the team or with the media uses this nickname, it's just something that people at Camden Chat have been using all season because it's awesome. I had considered actually buying a replica jersey and getting "RAZOR RAMON" and number 55 put on it, but that would have been $120 and I just can't justify spending that kind of money on something that only a few people I've never even met would appreciate.

I've actually thought for a while about creating a Beltway Sports Beat Cafe Press shop, but then I realized A) I don't have any funny t-shirt ideas, B) any ideas I do have infringe all sorts of copyrights and likeness rights, and C) I have like three regular readers (hi mom!), so even if ALL of them buy shirts I stand to make about $6 on the whole thing.

So here it is, my Razor Ramon T-shirt design that will probably never actually be pressed to cotton...

If you think doing that makes me a loser... I spent hours voting for Ramon for the All-Star game, and I'm proud but also somewhat ashamed to say I ended up voting for him over 1,000 times... and he still came in last...

So here's to you, Razor! Thanks for being better and cooler than Javy Lopez. Now snap out of that 4-for-31 slump.

For You Orioles Stat Geeks

With the Orioles having some marginal success (15-14 from May 28 to June 28), I decided to look at some numbers. With everyone focusing on the improved pitching, I noticed that a lot of the hitters have stepped it up in June as well.


As I jinx everyone on the Orioles...

PLAYER		SEASON				JUNE
		AVG	OBP	SLG		AB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Jeff Conine		.254	.333	.424		59	.305	.379	.492
Brandon Fahey		.264	.315	.347		46	.261	.333	.413
Jay Gibbons		.274	.312	.495		7	.429	.429	.429
Razor Ramon		.287	.351	.524		93	.290	.356	.613
Javy Lopez		.276	.323	.429		90	.289	.319	.467
Nick Markakis		.250	.326	.337		59	.322	.385	.390
Luis Matos		.205	.282	.339		47	.255	.352	.383
Kevin Millar		.242	.349	.376		71	.254	.357	.408
Melvin Mora		.290	.355	.427		93	.247	.311	.301
Scorey Patterson		.282	.324	.429		100	.270	.305	.330
Brian Roberts		.314	.383	.415		109	.303	.374	.394
Ed Rogers		.211	.200	.211		9	.111	.100	.111
Miguel Tejada		.314	.367	.517		99	.293	.343	.404

An interesting thing that this table displays is that the guys who are having better-than-their-season OPS months (with more than 10 ABs... sorry Gibby... and Kris Benson) are Conine, Fahey, Hernandez, Javy, Markakis, Matos and Millar. Surprisingly absent from that list are Mora, Tejada and Roberts.

So ranking OPS for June, you get:

1) Ramon Hernandez .969 (and that was including an 0-for-23 skid)
2) Jeff Conine .870
3) Miguel Tejada .802 (even on a "down" month, Tejada's one of our best players)
4) Javy Lopez .786
5) Nick Markakis .774
6) Brian Roberts .768
7) Kevin Millar .766
8) Brandon Fahey .746
9) Luis Matos .735
10) Corey Patterson .635
11) Melvin Mora .612 (Melvin what are you doing down here?)

Granted, from June 1 to June 28 the team is two games under .500, and that's when these stats were accrued, but with Tejada and Roberts not on their normal pace and Mora scuffling, it's good that the O's have some other guys stepping it up, because every team is going to have stretches when their top guys aren't red hot and typically over the last 8 or 9 years the Orioles have been the kind of team to let those stretches crush them.