Tough to Celebrate

Cal Ripken Jr. earns induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. An afternoon of celebration as we honor one of the game’s all time greats. I can’t picture anyone more deserving or more Hall of Fame like than Jr. He has represented himself, his family, and all of us with the highest level of class. We take great pride when Cal Ripken Jr.’s name comes up in conversation with those not from the Baltimore area.

So why don’t I feel like celebrating?

Nothing against Cal, instead, as far as baseball in Baltimore…now what?

His induction feels like a wake. From the time the Orioles arrived in Baltimore in 1954 till Sunday there was something fans could always celebrate. At first, simply having a team was fine. And it was just 12 years till the first of three World Series titles. For decades there were great teams and in the rare down years there were great players, Hall of Fame players to embrace.

But what can we embrace now? Cal’s induction gives us nothing else to look forward to. Sunday will be an unabashed Oriole holiday. We’ll puff our chests and reminisce about the streak, the stats, the way he played the game.

Then comes Monday.

And we have a team staring at a 10th consecutive losing season with nobody to look at and say “at least we have______”.

Brian Roberts is a nice player, but no Hall of Famer. And can you truly cheer a star that begged to be traded? Miguel Tejada lost any chance to be considered an all time great Oriole with that soap opera in the winter of 2006.

Andy MacPhail seems capable of turning things around. And they are 18-14 under interim manager Dave Trembley. The cabinets aren’t completely bare but for a franchise with such proud tradition, a franchise capable of rearing the likes of Cal Ripken Jr, that’s just not enough.

I think I’ll call in sick on Monday.

Phillies Save the World

e-mail Pete


Can’t recall congratulating or even ever not booing a team from Philadelphia yet today I say job well done to the Phillies. On Sunday when a bizarre storm
struck Coors Field in Denver, and the Rockies grounds crew was being tossed around like cows in the movie Twister, the visiting dugout emptied like John Kruk with a bead on the free buffet..

The Fighting Phills stormed to the rescue, regaining control of the way-way-wayward tarp, and saved a couple of crew members trapped beneath. The video really is stunning, take a look here.

Two things though amazed me more than seeing a member of the grounds crew hanging on for dear life while being dragged along the turf at, say, 40 miles per hour. First, that the Phillies reacted so quickly and with such heart to what most professional athletes would have deemed as something “not there problem”. They even had fun playing in the rain as the tarp was tamed.

And 2nd, that the Rockies themselves were nowhere to be found. Well, one of them took part. Former Oriole LaTroy Hawkins got his hands just as dirty as dozens of Phillies, but looked terribly out of place as the only member of the home team helping the home grounds crew. Even the umpires grabbed a hold of an edge till the sand bags arrived. Not much pride being shown from the Rocks.

And karma rewarded the Phillies for their charitable efforts. One loss shy of 10,000 for the franchise’s career, Philadelphia scored three times after the weather delay to ensure an 8-4 win.

Okay, break times over, you may resume booing all things Philly.

Oh Well

Still bothered by the last play of the Orioles game Sunday with the Angels. Not so much the call that was blown by homeplate umpire Jerry Davis. Been told since 3rd grade that missed calls are part of the game. But the Orioles lack of protest and concern does bother me.

Here’s a part of the Sun Story about the game.

"It looked like he slid under the tag," said Freddie Bynum, who left the on-deck circle and motioned for Mora to get down, "but when the ball beats you to the bag, the umpire more than likely is going to call you out."

Another quote from Jay Payton:

"When the ball beats you like that, unless it's obvious that you don't get the guy, more times than not he's going to be called out."

So let’s get this straight. It’s the norm to accept assumed calls, regardless of accuracy, with resignation and without frustration? What? Players go berserk if they feel disrespected in the slightest, and managers routinely get tossed for any perceived slight. Just ask Bobby Cox. But here we are, with the game decided by a blown call and the O’s response is …”ehh, what are you gonna do”.

Hard to believe this team hasn’t had a winning season since 1997.