The Orioles and OBP

The Colonel and I are going to try to preview teams, players, whatever in essay form until the season starts. I bet this only lasts for a couple of posts. Today the Colonel with an essay on the Baltimore Orioles.

I find the Baltimore Orioles fascinating. Now you ask yourself, yeah they're interesting they have finished with a winning record the past two seasons and have made one trip to the playoffs what's your point? My point is the Orioles have achieved those winning records despite their allergic reaction to getting on base.

The Orioles are horrible at getting on base but are great at scoring runs. That doesn't seem possible. Don't you need to get on base to score runs? Not the Baltimore Orioles. Check out this graph. (This is their projected lineup via Yahoo)(Data via Fangraphs)

Name	OBP	AVG	HR	Runs
Davis	.362	.286	53	138
Wieters	.287		22	59
Cruz	.327	.266	27	49
Machado	.314	.283	14	88
Hardy	.306	.263	25	66
Schoop	.333	.286	1	5
Jones	.318	.286	33	100
Markakis	.329	.271	10	89
Reimold	.250	.195	5	17

See why the Orioles are fascinating? Despite having one player who has an above average OBP the Orioles score a ton of runs. In fact they were in the top 5 of runs scored and they hit more home runs than any other team. And that's what makes them dangerous and fascinating. 

They're dangerous obviously to opposing teams pitchers. They take advantage of the tiny AL East ballparks and destroy balls. This also makes them dangerous to themselves. 

The Orioles didn't rely on a high BABIP to score runs like the Cardinals last year but they do rely too much on the home run. Sometimes you need that leadoff walk plus a home run or double in an inning to win those 3-1 games. The Orioles lost quite a few of those close ballgame last season. 

Does this mean the Orioles will be bad this year? There's mass data on almost all of their players that suggest that their OBP's will be the same this year so will they end up in third place again with a winning record? Not necessarily. While the Orioles can score a ton of runs, their pitching last season gave up almost as many. Look at their results from last season. They played a lot of 8-9, 10-9 games last season. You're going to lose a few of those if your pitchers are giving up as many runs as you're scoring. 

And that's the main issue with the Orioles. Their pitching is much more a problem than their hitting. They're scoring runs despite low OBPs because they can hit home runs. That shouldn't change. What they need to worry about and change is their pitchers FIPs. The Orioles somewhat solved this problem by signing Ubaldo Jimenez but they still have four other projected starting pitchers who had FIPs over .380 last season. 

The Orioles will be fascinating this season because time will tell if they can still compete with low OBPs. And they still have time to make a run at another pitcher like Ervin Santana. But time will tell if their low OBP offense can keep up with their high FIP pitching staff. 

Buck Showalter's Grading Sheet

On Tuesday I brought you the story about Buck Showalter demanding that a Orioles prospect write a one page essay on Frank Robinson because the kid didn't know who the Hall of Fame player was. Well I can only image that Buck had the kid turn in the paper today and this is what his grading sheet looks like.

Format: A+, "You followed my instructions and kept the page single spaced on college ruled paper. You wrote from the first line to the second line as instructed. Well done young man."

Penmanship: B-, "While I did ask for cursive, you're penmanship needs work young man. Your 'L's" look like "I's" and the beginning of the paper was hard to read compared to the end of the page. You get a B- because your handwriting did improve as the page went along."

Grammar: A, "You must have been an excellent English student in high school because your grammar is great. You did mess up an your and you're but kids and adults on Twitter mess that up every single day tweeting about my lineups."

Knowledge of Subject: A, "You began with knowledge that Mr. Robinson grew up in Oakland with Bill Russell. Played for the Cincinnati Reds. Traded to the Baltimore Orioles in one of the worst trades ever. Won MVP's in two different leagues. Won 2 world championships. Became the first African-American manager in baseball. And fell asleep in the Expos dugout during a game."

Total Grade: A, "Well done young man, but next time know who Frank fucking Robinson is. I mean seriously. The man has worked as a manager and as an ambassador of the league. I know you kids today have your heads buried in your phones so next time do yourself a favor and use the Internet on that phone and look up the history of the Baltimore Orioles. Then you'll know who Brooks Robinson is when I ask. And if you don't know who Cal Ripken Jr is, the entire city of Baltimore might execute you. Save yourself the hassle."

Professor Showalter Demands That You Know Who Frank Robinson Is

You might not know who Josh Hart is. He's a 2nd round pick out of a Georgia high school by the Baltimore Orioles. He was born in 1994, the same year as my brother, meaning he's only 20 years old and by the time he grew up former Oriole Frank Robinson was no longer relevant in baseball. At least to him. So ole Buck Showalter is going to change that.

Buck asked O's farmhand Josh Hart if he knew who Frank was. He didnt, so Buck told him he wanted a one-page report on him by tmrw. #Orioles
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) February 24, 2014

Now does Buck make him write the report single spaced or double? And what kind of font? Not the big kind that all of us kids tried to get away with, right? Definitely with one inch margins, right? And how closely does Buck check the work for plagiarisms? We need more detail on this because I'm more curious about this right now than I am about the spring training games that are about to start this morning in Florida.

(Via Big League Stew)

Video: Don't F*ck With Buck

I won't go on any rants about "unwritten" rules in baseball. Let the players and managers govern themselves and stay out of their way. They don't need some asshole on their couch or on a TV set (looking at you Mike Wilbon) wagging their finger at baseball players for governing themselves. Yes we might think it's foolish, but we're not there in the ballpark or in the clubhouses.

Now that being said I love sign stealing and I love when the team who's signs are being steeled get mad. Well dumbfucks create better signs. How hard is it to change signs quickly? Why are you angry at another team stealing signs when it's your dumbasses that created the shitty signs in the first place?

I bring this up last night because you could see the season slipping out of Joe Girardi's hands last night in Baltimore. Girardi thought the Orioles 3rd base coach Bobby Dickerson was stealing the Yankee signs. So he yelled at Dickerson. Well Orioles manager Buck Showalter or any other manager would never allow the opposing team to yell at one of their coaches/players so Buck got out of the dugout and yelled back at Girardi leading to this.



Showalter giving Girardi the throat slashing gesture like he's Chris Webber in his prime is my favorite moment of the baseball season. It's absolutely beautiful. It just says, "Your season is over and you know it." And of course the Yankees lost last night slipping to 3 games back in the wild card while the Orioles are now 1.5 games back.

The lesson here is that you better be more creative at creating signs. For someone who has a industrial engineer degree, Girardi sure does have his signs stolen a lot. The other lesson here is don't fuck with Buck Showalter.

Yes The Orioles Are Tied For 1st Place In The AL East

The Yankees lost. The Orioles won. Meaning the O's are now in first place of the AL East. Here's the snapshot to prove it.

This is the latest the Orioles have been in first since Cal Ripken still played for the O's. Soak it in, O's fans. I'll be rooting for you guys.

Part 2: How can the Orioles comeback?

In Part 1, I reviewed the history of the Baltimore Orioles, who have fallen on hard times after being the most envied franchise in the game for many. In Part 2, I will examine the Angelos ownership and question if the team will ever improve.

How does Angelos operate? Can the Orioles comeback?

1. Invest in the Farm System and scouting.

The Orioles farm system still hasn’t developed many players. Outside of Nick Markakis, none of the players picked in the 1st round from 1995 to 2006 have had positive impact for the Orioles. Not many of them have had any impact at all in the majors, except for Jayson Werth, picked by Pat Gillick in 1997, but traded almost as soon as Gillick left town. Recent top picks like Matt Wieters and Brian Matusz are in the majors, but major questions still surround them. But, it’s about more than just picking good players. You need coaches and managers committed to 1 way of doing things throughout the system, so that players have the ability to learn their individual skills, without wasting time learning each individual manager’s bunt and outfield relay plays. And the scouts need to be out in the field, beating the bushes, looking for hidden gems. In fact, it recently was revealed that the Orioles have the fewest scouts by far of any team in the AL East. They also have no international presence at all. It’s hard to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, and now Rays if you can’t churn out a comparable number of prospects that those teams can.

Part 1: The rise and fall of the Orioles

(Editors Note: Kris Thompson is a dedicated Orioles fan and he wants to tell you a story about how he became a Orioles fan, why they've been one of the worst teams in baseball the past ten years and what can be done to bring them back from the dead. You can follow him on Twitter and occasionally you can see him in the comments around these parts. He might write pieces from time to time in these parts more often in the future. Be nice to him.)

Recently, a longtime Orioles blogger wrote a piece for his site, blasting the team and its owner Peter Angelos. As a longtime Orioles fan, I’ve decided to provide some historical context, and in Part 2, offer some of my thoughts on how the team can improve.

Right now, the Baltimore Orioles are the bad joke of an industry. They only have 31 wins in 98 games, are playing home games in front of acres of empty seats. There are high levels of fan anger and worse, apathy. It wasn’t always like this.

I’ve been addicted to the Orioles my entire life. My dad was an Orioles fan, and so was his, even though they were the International League Orioles then. I came of age at the tail end of the glory years. After all, they had the best record in the Major Leagues from 1965 to 1984. Hall of Famers like Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, and Cal Ripken came up through the farm system, learning to play the game ‘The Oriole Way.’ Smart GM’s supplemented the developed players by making trades for superstars (Frank Robinson, Reggie Jackson), or finding gems in the scrap heap of the Major Leagues (John Lowenstein, Steve Stone)and watching them develop into important role players. Superfan Wild Bill Hagy and the rest of the crazies of went to run down Memorial Stadium were a common sight to national TV audiences. In the dugout, orchestrating it all, the combative Earl Weaver was not only attacking umpires and his own players(Very NSFW), but was also the game’s most brilliant strategist. The Orioles were a factor in almost every pennant race from 1966 to 1983, winning it all 3 times.

So what happened to the Orioles? Continue reading for the fall of Orioles Magic. 

Video of the Day: Juan Sanuel Loses His Sh*t

The Baltimore Orioles are really bad. Like 30-65 and sitting with the worst record in baseball bad. That doesn't mean these guys don't take pride in what they do. As I talked about in Foul Ball this morning, umpire Gary Darling missed a call badly in last night's game and Ty Wiggington vehemently disagreed with the call. Darling, who is known for a quick hook, threw Wiggington out of the game. Later in the game Orioles manager Juan Samuel lost his sh*t and took out his frustrations on home plate ump Bill Hohn. It's one of the more epic rants you'll see. Very reminiscent of Earl Weaver.



What people don't really know is, that Juan Samuel just wanted to beat traffic out of Camden Yards. 

(Via 700 Level)

Self-Seving Open Thread, Part III

The rubber match between the Immovable Object and the Irresistible Force. Okay, okay maybe it's just the Orioles vs. Giants. Still, this game is important to Kris and myself. Tim Lincecum is pitching today for the Giants which is always a must see. Lincecum struggled throughout most of May, but pitched well against Oakland last Friday. I'm anxious to see if Lincecum will look like the normal Timmy or the guy we saw in May. Feel free to join Kris and I but don't be a troll or I will ban you. The game will be broadcast on the MLB Network at 12:35 PM PT/ 3:35PM ET.

Self-Serving/NBA Finals, Game 6 Open Thread

The Celtics look to finish off the Lakers tonight and raise banner 18 to the rafters. The Celtics have to finish out tonight. They cannot let the Lakers tie the series and force a Game 7. The refs tonight favor the Celtics where the potential referee's for Game 7 favor the Lakers. For the Lakers, they cannot let the Celtics push them around like they have in Game 4 and 5. Gasol is going to have to have a big game to relieve the pressure from Kobe. Ron Artest has to be his old defensive stopper. Lamar Odom is going to have to give more off the bench for the Lakers. Gut feeling, the Celtics close out tonight. With Andrew Bynum hurt, the Celtics have taken complete advantage of the Lakers front court. I don't see where this will change tonight.

Tonight the Orioles and Giants also resume their series. So with Kris and myself having an vested interest in both teams, we will also be watching that game. Tonight also marks the return of the Phillies-Yankees series. The Phillies will be traveling to New York to play the team that beat them in last year's World Series. Tonight's pitching matchup: Halladay vs. Sabathia. Should be a great night of sports.

Self-Serving Open Thread, Part 1

kt1ooo is a Orioles fan. I'm a Giants fan. The Orioles travel to San Francisco to play the Giants. This open thread is self-serving for Kris and I. Kris and I are both gluttons for punishment because we both watch baseball teams that are hard on the eyes. If you find a stream or have MLB Extra Innings, then you are more than welcome to join Kris and I for the game. If you do wish to join us don't be a troll. First pitch at 7:15PM PT/ 10:15PM ET

Similarities between the Giants and Orioles:

- Both team colors are Orange and Black. (Tonight will be Halloween night at AT&T Park. Get it?)

- The Orioles fans have a saying describing their team this year called "Orioles Tragic". The Giants fans have a saying to describe their team, "It's Tragic Inside."

- Neither team has won a World Series in a very long time. At least the Orioles have won one in the past 30 years.

- Neither team has made the playoffs in the past 7 years.

- Peter Angelos fired Jon Miller from the Orioles broadcast after the 96 season. Larry Baer fired Hank Greenwald from the Giants broadcast after the 96 season. Ironically, Miller was hired by the Giants to replace Greenwald.

Updated!: I forgot about the immortals Tim Worrell and Kurt Ainsworth. Hall of Famers Damian Moss, Sidney Ponson, and Aubrey Huff have played for both the Orioles and Giants.

Updated!: From Kris: Orioles Tragic is a play off the tune the O's used as their theme song in their glory days "Orioles Magic".



Funny he says that, because "It's Tragic Inside" is a play off of the Giants tickets commercial "It's Magic Inside."