Felix Hernandez was unhittable for 8 innings. Games last 9 innings. With King Felix on the bench, the Orioles scratched out 3 runs off of Seattle's make-shift bullpen and pulled off a thrilling 3-2 win. Thank you Seattle for your early-season overprotectiveness of your prized pitching phenom.
The Orioles have won 4 in a row since dropping the season opener to Tampa. 4-1 is good enough after week 1 for sole possession of first place in the AL East. No one player is tearing things up. The team has done enough things well through the first 5 games to pull off a few W's. As George Washington said, "Perseverance and Spirit have done wonders in all ages." Maybe this Orioles team will continue to demonstrate both of those qualities and continue to remain competitive.
After 1 week, it seems appropriate to take a very early look at the scorecard from the Miguel Tejada trade:
| | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | OPS |
| Tejada | 26 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | .750 |
| Scott | 13 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.292 |
| | G | IP | W | L | K | ERA | WHIP |
| Albers | 2 | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.231 |
| Sarfate | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.500 |
So far, so good.
Other Week 1 MLB Observations
--The Nationals have dropped 4 in a row after an exciting 3-0 start. Of those 4 losses, the first was, by far, the most frustrating. A blown 6-1 lead to the Phillies which ended in the bottom of the tenth with a bases-loaded walk. I would love to see a stat on the record of teams in games following losses which end in "walk-off walks." I would venture to guess that teams who lose in that fashion often hit a little skid. I could be wrong, but, I can't think of too many more infuriating and deflating ways to lose a contest.
--Thanks to the wonders of mlb.tv I was able to watch the end of Padres-Astros on Wednesday. In the small sample of 1 game this year and the final game of last season, I have seen Trevor Hoffman absolutely implode twice in a row. I can't help but wonder if this is going to be the season in which the strains of "Hell's Bells" stop signaling doom for opposing teams. Several losses and an ERA over 10.00 is not how an aging closer wants to start a season.
--I loathe the Red Sox. I despise the crowds from Red Sox Nation that descend upon Oriole Park several times a year. I hate seeing Red Sox hats (of all sorts of colors) on the heads of people who could not tell me what the cause of the "curse" was or who have never heard the names Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, or Bill Buckner. I find the lot of them obnoxious.
That being said, the sheer stupidity of what the Red Sox have had to do at the start of this season strikes even this Red Sox-hater as being unfair. Starting games that count a full week before everyone else and getting that early start on the other side of the world from your home town just isn't right. Combine that with a west coast series and a trip to Toronto in the first week and you have a lousy way to start the season. Don't get me wrong, I jumped out of my chair and shouted for joy when Frank Thomas hit the grand slam off of DelCarmen today. But, MLB can't send teams on goodwill world tours when the games actually count!
--I caught a couple of San Francisco Giants pre-season games. The bleacher fans at AT&T Park had already begun calling for GM Brian Sabean's head on a plate. Several Choruses of "Whats the Matter with Sabean? HE'S A BUM!" rang out during a 7-2 drubbing of the host Giants by the Mariners. A couple days later, the Giants looked like amateurs in a loss to the A's in Oakland. Botched cut-offs, infielders and outfielders colliding, ZERO power at the plate. All of those things, I told myself watching the two games, could make for a long, long season by the Bay. After 1 week of the regular season, the Giants are making me look like a prophet. As a bad team in what promises to be a deep division, the Giants could be staring at 100 losses.
--A Passed Ball by Ivan Rodriguez, a runner making the 1st out of an inning at 3rd base, Carlos Guillen dropping a throw at 1st base. The Tigers are almost a third of the way to the 0-21 start of the 1988 Orioles. I wonder how many cigarettes Leyland has lit up over the course of these first 6 games. Theres 156 more games to play, but, in a division which features the likes of Cleveland, 6 HOME LOSSES in a row culminating in a 13-2 Sunday night national TV butt-kicking is never, ever good.
--Fantasy Gripe of the Week: I followed the advice of Baseball Prospectus and drafted Atlanta 2nd Baseman Kelly Johnson in the middle rounds of my draft. His knee issues forced him out of the lineup for a couple days, I picked up Dustin Pedroia as a short-term replacement. And then, without warning, Johnson jacks a surprise pinch-hit grand slam on Saturday. Too bad he was kickin it on my bench.
--Joe Morgan's idiotic comment/question of the week: (speaking to Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski) "How did you know Miguel Cabrera was available?" Dombrowski's Answer: "Everyone in baseball knew he was available." Thanks for the thoughtful question Joe.
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