Baltimore Sports Then and Now

Koji Uehara has emerged as the closer for the Orioles.

Buck Showalter was hired to turn around the struggling Baltimore Orioles, but no one could have predicted the immediate impact the new manager would have on the team. After winning 32 times in their first 105 games, Showalter, who took over on August 3rd, guided the O’s to 17 victories in the month of August and into the role of spoiler in the American League playoff race.

The winning month for Baltimore was the first for the franchise since June 2008 and marked the first time the Orioles have had a winning record in the month of August since the 1997 season.

But the Orioles haven’t moved into a position to avoid the worst record in baseball and a 100 loss season by beating bad teams at home. The Orioles have become legitimate spoilers in the American League playoff race.

Of their 17 wins, six came at the expense of the Los Angeles Angels to basically knock the defending AL West champions out of contention in their division.

Baltimore also won four of seven against the Chicago White Sox and split a four-game series with the AL West leading Texas Rangers.

They finished the month with a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox that further erodes the chances for the perennial playoff contender.

There is no secret to the success of the Orioles in August. Quite simply, since Showalter’s arrival they have increased their offensive production while decreasing the number of runs they allow. Read the rest of this entry →

Brian Matusz and the other Baltimore starters have been magical since the arrival of Buck Showalter.

Buck Showalter has made a great early impression on the Baltimore Orioles during his first weeks on the job already guiding the O’s to more wins in August than they have registered in any previous month this season. As we look toward the long-term future for the Orioles, there are five keys that Showalter will have a chance to evaluate over the final 40 games.

1.Starting pitching – The biggest reason for the turnaround during the month of August has been the performance of the starting pitchers. After barely averaging five innings per outing and posting an ERA above 5 for the first 100 games of the season, the starting pitcher has pitched at least six innings in 15 of the first 18 games for Showalter with an ERA under 3.

The question moving forward is whether Showalter and crew have found the key to pitching success or if at some point the starters will return to their old ways. With three of the five starters in just their first or second season in the majors, the hope is that they are building for long-term success.

Though veteran Kevin Millwood has pitched better in August, if the Orioles hope to make significant improvement in 2011 they will need to add at least one additional proven winning pitcher to the starting rotation.

2.Corner Infield – When the Orioles were the best team in baseball in the early 1970s they had superstars at both third base in Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson and at first base in 1970 league MVP Boog Powell.

In 2010, those two positions are significant weaknesses for the Birds. Showalter will have the next six weeks to see if rookie third baseman Josh Bell can be the long-term answer for the Orioles. So far, Bell has definitely not earned the spot for next season as he is hitting just .216 with no home runs and 4 RBI in 23 games. With the Orioles out of contention it doesn’t hurt to give him a long look. However, if he doesn’t turn things around soon the Orioles will definitely need to address the position in the off season. Read the rest of this entry →

Jeremy Guthrie has been brilliant in his first two performances since Buck SHowalter arrived in Baltimore.

In his first week as manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Buck Showalter has proven not simply to be a great baseball mind, but also a pitching guru. After more than 100 games of borderline ineptitude, the starting pitchers for the Orioles responded to their new manager with seven straight quality starts and the results are six wins in seven games and perhaps a new attitude in Charm City.

After 13 years of disappointments Orioles fans have to be careful not to get carried away after winning six of seven games against two teams fighting for playoff positions in the American League. However, the immediate change in performance both offensively and defensively is a hopeful sign that the Orioles have some of the right players in place and simply needed a manager capable of pushing the buttons.

Team president Andy MacPhail said at the beginning of the season that he believed the Orioles were ready to stop rebuilding and start playing to win. A 32-73 record in their first 105 games hardly supported his statement.

However, since Showalter’s arrival, along with the return from injuries of starting second baseman Brian Roberts and starting catcher Matt Wieters, the O’s have definitely played at a different level. Read the rest of this entry →

New manager Buck Showalter is watching and evaluating every move the Orioles make.

Sure it is just three games in early August, but for the Baltimore Orioles and new manager Buck Showalter the sweep of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the first three games under Showalter is a positive sign in what has generally been a dismal season.

Though the goal for Showalter is long-term success for the Orioles, the short term can be very important for a team that has played above .500 ball in the months of August and September only once in the last decade.

Baltimore has not had a winning season since 1997 and their play in the final two months every season has typically set a negative tone for the offseason. Since 2000, the Orioles have posted a winning percentage of .382 (218-352) after August 1st.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the only season during the recent decade in which the Orioles had a winning record over the final two months was 2004 when they went 32-28. The next season Baltimore jumped out to a great start and led the American League for two months before fading down the stretch.

If the Orioles hope to inject any hope back into the minds of a fan base that is tired after watching 13 straight losing seasons, they can start the process with a strong final two months.

Showalter gives the team the much needed motivation to play hard now because he is using this time to gauge which players he wants to carry the mantra for his team in 2011. Read the rest of this entry →

Will Buck Showalter be able to return magic to the Orioles' uniform?

Though the calendar may say that it is August 2010, for all intent and purposes, the 2011 season has begun for the Baltimore Orioles.

With the Buck Showalter era beginning on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the new skipper will be spending the next two months looking to determine which current Orioles he believes can be part of the future for the franchise.

For just about every player, the next two months can be considered an audition as very few roster spots seem certain for 2011.

Finishing 2010 with a flourish would be a great boost for the Orioles as Showalter looks to set the tone for the future.

Once among the most successful franchises in baseball, the Orioles have not had a winning season since 1997 and have seen their season victory total decline every year since 2004.

The job for Showalter will not be just to assemble a talented roster, but also to restore a winning culture to a team that has become accustomed to losing.
Read the rest of this entry →

Lawyer Peter Angelos became owner of the Orioles 17 years ago.

This week marks the 17th anniversary of the Baltimore Orioles being purchased by the group led by lawyer Peter Angelos.

In August of 1993 Angelos and his group of minority owners that at the time included writer Tom Clancy bought a team that was enjoying their second season in a baseball stadium that had launched a new era in sports stadium construction and was without question one of the premier franchises in all of sports.

Under the direction of managr Johnny Oates and led by third year pitcher Mike Mussina and future Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr., the 1993 Baltimore Orioles finished tied for third in the American League East with an 85-77 record.

Though the team lost 13 of their final 19 games to finish 10 games behind the division champion Toronto Blue Jays, attending baseball games at Camden Yards was a happening. The Orioles finished second in the American League with an overall home attendance of 3,644,965 (45,000 per game).

Despite an overall downturn in baseball attendance over the next few years brought on by the strike of 1994, there was no decline in fan interest in Baltimore. Over the remainder of the decade, the Orioles finished first or second in the American League in attendance every season, including leading the league for four straight seasons between 1995 and 1998.

Baltimore thrived early in the era of Angelos as they made the playoffs in 1996 and 1997 and reached the American League Championship Series following the 1997 season.

However, 1997 proved to be the on-the-field peak for the Orioles as they went 79-83 in 1998 and have not had a winning record since. Read the rest of this entry →