The Orioles kicked off their West Coast road trip with a shutout over the Seattle Mariners last night, 1-0.
Well, the story of the night was the pitching as Rich Hill got the win by throwing seven shutout innings, Jim Johnson pitched a perfect eighth inning, and despite throwing three straight balls to start the ninth, George Sherill earned the save.
The night for Hill started off shaky as he allowed a leadoff double to Ichiro Suzuki, and issued three walks before the fourth inning, but he settled in, and retired the final 14 batters before he was pulled. After his crazy start against the Blue Jays, last night’s start was a wonderful thing to see and shows the future can indeed be bright for the Orioles if the starting pitching ever gains consistency.
Meanwhile, for Seattle, Jarrod Washburn pitched a respectable game as he gave up only a run in seven innings; however, he took the loss. For Baltimore, Adam Jones scored the only run in the sixth inning via Nick Markakis’ RBI-single off Washburn.
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If you have a moment, you’ve got to check out a piece that Brady Anderson wrote — sort of like ‘A Letter to Editor’ thing — in today’s Baltimore Sun (at least online) that defends Angelos as an owner, and also a person. I read much of it before lunch today and have been listening to the discussion on the radio pertaining the team owner, and I’ll say this: I agree somwehat with Brady’s assertion of Angelos.
Obviously, I don’t know Angelos, but as I have always contended, while it may be a little beyond the pale to blame the slide of the Orioles only him, a lot of it is due to bad drafts, young players who didn’t work, signing free agents past their prime, as well as just plain bad luck. However, Angelos owns the team — therefore, he’s captain of the ship, so he’ll get the blame.
Think of it this way, if Steinbrenner had been a perennial loser than a winner in New York despite his misdeeds in the past, would he be as honored as he is now? Honestly, if the Orioles were a contender, I’m sure Angelos and the front office would take the credit for being a winner.
I give a lot of credit to Brady Anderson, the letter was well written, and we’ve got a perspective of Angelos that’s rare in the public domain from someone who actually has gotten to know him somewhat.
Did Brady make a lot of money from the Orioles — sure; however, I think the issue with the owner deals with wins and losses along with the implied destruction of the glory days of the team — plain and simple. If the Orioles win, the hate of Angelos becomes moot, and most fans would not hark for the good old days of Oriole Magic.
Despite the losing all, things have become a lot better with Andy MacPhail at the helm, and we’re now closer to becoming respectable than a national joke.
