where we encourage the delusions of one jonathan quayle higgins... [aka all things ORIOLES thread]

that's 106 pitches, i mean.

ack.

O's are hitting the ball well, but damn they've got no pitching. 7 game road trip may now decide the fate of their season.

again!

So is this Melvin Mora's annual midseason down-the-chute injury?

actually, i think mora stole gibby's power.

ah, but if the lead holds (and who knows in these troubling times) the o's will have the east's best record against the central, pending this week's series against minnesota.

*shudder*

but really, if the o's just hadn't have done so terribly against nl clubs, no one would be complaining.

LHH are 2-59 against him this season. gotta be the best LOOGY in baseball, though he's pretty good against RHH too.

anybody happen to see david ortiz's two triples today? things of comedic beauty.

3-0 and a sub 2 era since ray miller was re-hired? maign...

mel mental is on fire!

miguel tejada has knocked in the most rbi since the all start break...

-o's pitching led the league in walks issued, but also allowed the fewest homers (pretty impressive on that count playing 81 ganes at camden)

-o's hitting was in the top five or six of most offensive categories except homers and ops (due to the low amount of total bases i guess...fewest strikeouts in the league, too)

i think the greater area of concern is beattie/flanagan.

i mean, i think they've made some good deals to strengthen the system and some good small signings, but i'm concerned about things like wasting money on dejean then trading him for a guy they released, trading a young arm for grimsley...

it'll be interesting to see what happens w/ their small ball guys nest season. roberts, newhan and hairston are basicaly the same dude, maybe more so hairston and newhan as they're both natural 2nd basemen. javy's been a bit of disappointment, though his numbers are very good for a catcher and no one expected him to replicate last year. raffy's been a huge disappointment.

like roberts and hairston, newhan is fast and doesn't have much power. he hits well, though and has the second best obp on the team next to mel mora. roberts has hot an assload of doubles, but newhan actually hits triples and maybe has a little better hr power than roberts and hairston.

Is there any rumblin' about the O's making a play for pitching this off-season?

i've heard that carl pavano is one of their big targets. although i also hear milwood, milton and d-lowe. perhaps the much maligned russ ortiz?

i imagine they'll deal roberts and/or hairston, maybe julio, maybe gibbons...

mel mora has fewer errors than any third baseman going back to may 21. it would be interesting to see how many he had in may up until the 21st. i know he had 11 in april.

FUCK YOU PETER ANGELOS

javier vasquez (l): 2.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 walks, 3 ks, 8 earned runs
rodrigo lopez (w): 5.2 innings, 8 hits, 2 walks, 4 ks, 5 earned runs

Uni update is pretty nice!

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/1112/mlb_a_orioles_600.jpg

Are they done with the godawful "O's" script hat?

nope.

VISITING UNIFORMS SHOULD BE GRAY AND HAVE THE NAME OF THE CITY IN BLACK CAPITAL LETTERS

DAMMIT

Bill (NJ): Have you heard if the Orioles plan on putting Wieters on the Opening Day roster or if they're going to play arb clock games with him?

SportsNation Rob Neyer: (12:21 PM ET ) It looks like they're going to do with Wieters what the Rays did with Longoria last year. Can you blame them, really? Could save a few million bucks...

that's a curious statement. it means basically another year of team control.

I didn't realize jq higgins and mookieproof had been chronicling the Orioles on ilx for almost 20 years, kudos