The Orioles WON! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But more importantly, I was there! My first live win of the season, Ugh, I swear it feels as though a large weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It was a great night all around. Adam Jones continued his turn-around with a 3-5 night including a homerun, and two RBI. Miguel Tejada was the star of the evening with a 4-hit 4RBI night including a three-run homer as the Orioles cruised to a 11-5 win over the Marlins.
People have been riding Jones all year, with reason, but i think it is absolutely great to see how he has turned things around so far. His batting average is up over .270 for the first time since April, his OPS is up over 700 and he is driving the ball. Yes, Adam still needs to work the count more and walk more often and his OBP is still absurdly low, but I think that will come with time. Right now I just want to sit back and watch Adam continue this nice streak, and hope it continues for another month or so.
In the shadow of this win however is a very interesting development. This afternoon Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis and owner Peter Angelos met in a Little Italy cafe and had a discussion about the direction of the team. Nick asked for the meeting and Peter obliged.
“I wanted to give him my input and tell him the things I thought we lacked and needed, and what we needed to change,” Markakis said. “He’s completely open to anything. He was listening, and he was a lot easier to talk to than I anticipated. You know me, sometimes you’ll have a better conversation with the wall than talking to me. But it went a lot better and it was a lot smoother than I thought it was going to go. If I can strike up a conversation and talk to a guy like him who owns the team, I think it is a good situation.”
A couple things about this:
1) It is fantastic to see Nick Markakis stepping up into the leadership role. I like that he is becoming more vocal as he becomes more comfortable with the team and his role in the game. The Orioles need a leader like this, they need someone to be a captain. Nick should be that guy.
2) It is equally fantastic to see Peter Angelos being so receptive and open to meeting with his players as such. Of course it would be stupid not to meet with him and at least hear him out but I do like the idea that the budding team captain is getting in nice with the owner. I know it is never fashionable to praise Peter Angelos but he deserves some kudos here.
All in all, today was a good day in Birdland. I know it is impossible to get excited about a team that just won its 20th game – in July, but lets be happy for at least one night shall we?
One last thing: Big shout to the young lady wearing one of our fantastic shirts in the upper deck tonight. Thanks for reading and thanks for still believing.
