JOSE VALVERDE 2007 – Dominican Republic’s best closer yet?

The Arizona Diamondbacks are right in the thick of the National League playoff hunt as we enter the last month of the season, and closer Jose Valverde is a big reason why.  Arizona has won more one-run games than any team in baseball, and the 6′4″, 255 lbs. Dominican slammed the door on the opposition [...]

CHUCK DIERING in 1954 – The First MOST VALUABLE ORIOLE

When Baltimore got an American League franchise in 1954, Chuck Diering was named Most Valuable Oriole for a team than went 54-100 and finished in seventh place.
Diering batted .258 with two homers, drove in twenty-nine runs and scored thirty-five.  He didn’t lead the team in a single offensive category, so his value wasn’t easy to [...]

FRANK ROBINSON hits it out of Memorial Stadium

They did it again.  My attempt to exorcise the demons nesting in the Orioles bullpen by writing about how historically bad they are a few days ago obviously did not work. 
My favorite Baltimore pitcher – 6′9″ fireballer Daniel Cabrera struck out eight Tampa Bay Devil Rays in six innings and turned over a 6-3 lead [...]

104 and Counting

On May 19, 2006 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Erick Aybar of the Angels pinch-hit and played the last two innings at shortstop in a 16-3 defeat to the Dodgers.  In doing so, Aybar became the 100th different man born in the Dominican Republic to play shortstop in a major league game.
Every big league franchise has employed at least one Dominican shortstop, beginning with Ozzie Virgil of [...]

Mets’ Reyes about to swipe another Stolen Base record

Jose Reyes improved his stolen base total every season since reaching the major leagues in 2003 and, on August 22, his second and third steals of the game tied and broke the New York Mets single season franchise record.
Reyes tied another club mark by stealing at least one base in six consecutive games, a record he’ll [...]

BEDARD is KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKing!

With the count a ball and two strikes, Jason Bartlett of the Twins swung through a 79 mph curveball for the first out in the first inning of today’s game, making Erik Bedard the Orioles all-time single season strikeout king with 219.
Bedard tied Mike Mussina’s ten-year-old club record in his last outing, after becoming just the third [...]

The Humiliating 30 – Gas on the Fire with the 2007 Orioles Bullpen

Who didn’t hear about the Orioles humiliating 30-3 defeat in their own ballpark Wednesday night to the awful Texas Rangers?  In case you didn’t, Baltimore made history by allowing more runs than any big league baseball team since the William McKinley administration (1897).  The O’s were still sort of in the game when erratic starting pitcher [...]