This afternoon, in their home opener, the Orioles won again. Wow, 4-0; who would have thought it? Now, I know the season just started and the Os still have 158 more games to go, but at least allow me to savor this moment. After all, as a long-suffering Orioles fan, their start is a like a breath of fresh air.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certainly not going to get ahead of myself, though. Neither, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure, is Buck Showalter. During this afternoon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s post-game press conference, in fact, when a reporter asked him if the 4-0 record could be the start of something special, Buck recalled that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s managed 100-win teams that have lost four, five or six in a row, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also managed 95-loss teams who have won that many in a row. So you never can tell; you just have to go out and play the games.<\/p>\n
Granted, the four games represent a mighty small sample size; nonetheless, the most promising aspect of the Os performance thus far has been their young pitching staff. As if Jeremy Guthrie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s three-hit, no run gem on Opening Day wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t masterful enough, along came Chris Tillman on short notice to fill in for an injured Brian Matusz and he eclipsed Guthrie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s performance with a six-inning no-hitter. Hopefully, the soon-to-be 23-year old (April 15) is finally going to turn the corner. He gave glimpses of his stuff last July in Texas, when he limited the Rangers to two hits and an unearned run in 7 1\/3 innings. If Tillman can finally realize his potential, he could solidify his place as the fifth starter, and push Brad Bergesen to the bullpen.<\/p>\n
And what to make of the phenom, Zack Britton? He had by far the best showing in spring training, yet he also has options, so he was sent to Triple-A Norfolk on the last day of camp. Then, again due to Matusz\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s early injury, he was almost immediately recalled, and yesterday, in his major league debut, shut down Tampa on a run and six hits. Matusz, perhaps the brightest and best of the young prospects, was placed on the 15-day DL, but what happens when he comes off? Ah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been awhile since the Os have had to worry about these kinds of speculative moves among a plethora of young pitching talent, so Buck and Andy McPhail will earn their money by making the tough decisions. (I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even mentioned Jake Arrieta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s six-inning, six-hitter in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s win over Detroit.)<\/p>\n
Does anyone remember what happened the last time the Orioles started the season 4-0? It was in 1997. That was quite a team. En route to a division title and their second consecutive playoff appearance during the two-year tenure of Davey Johnson, Baltimore fielded an infield of Palmeiro, Alomar, Bordick and Ripken (although the little-used Jeff Reboulet actually opened the season at second due to Alomar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s five-game suspension for spitting on umpire John Hirschbeck the previous season). Unfortunately, they lost to the Yankees in the ALCS, however, and thirteen consecutive losing seasons have followed.<\/p>\n
Now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not saying they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re destined for the playoffs this year. By dredging up that team, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just reminiscing. But, somehow, after all these losing seasons, it just feels like good things might happen to this team, too, and the start gives me reason to hope that my team might finally once again be a winner.<\/p>\n
Keep your hopes up Os fans.<\/p>\n
Join Chip and Ted Leavengood each Friday at 7:00 p.m., as they host the Seamheads National Podcast, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Outta the Parkway,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d discussing all things baseball at each end of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This afternoon, in their home opener, the Orioles won again. Wow, 4-0; who would have thought it? Now, I know the season just started and the Os still have 158 more games to go, but at least allow me to savor this moment. After all, as a long-suffering Orioles fan, their start is a like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[14258,14256,9733,8786,222,4704,1771,14259,10385,6098,3256,1954,9993,685,14257,7224,85,14260,9264,6097],"class_list":["post-13366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-baby-birds","tag-brad-bergesen","tag-breath-of-fresh-air","tag-buck-showalter","tag-bullpen","tag-fifth-starter","tag-four-games","tag-game-press","tag-hap","tag-home-opener","tag-jeremy-guthrie","tag-league-debut","tag-orioles-fan","tag-phenom","tag-promising-aspect","tag-signs-of-life","tag-spring-training","tag-start-of-something","tag-tillman","tag-unearned-run"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t