Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Orioles Are Birds of Pray
Ask around and you won't find many folks overly surprised that former Secretary of State Colin Powell did not win the 2005 Indianapolis 500.
Most don't know General Powell was even on the track, but he was the early leader in his Victory Red Corvette convertible. His was a 400-horsepower production version capable of hitting a top speed of 186 MPH. Not your typical IndyCar, just the newest in Chevrolet's long heritage of pace cars. Any question of a ceremonial front-runner winning the Indy would, of course, be ludicrous.
So why was anyone hanging in suspense over the 2005 Baltimore Orioles?
If you're an Orioles fan, the epiphany that your team is the Colin Powell of the American League East has already dawned. You held the lead for 73 games, playing your best baseball in eight years to do so. Despite a foray of injuries, you've throttled all 400 horsepower into service. Yet every time you glanced back, images of the Red Sox and Yankees grew larger in your rear-view mirror. They've got 700 horses and have been drafting you all season, waiting for the real push that is about to begin.
Interleague play is now over. There are no more stops to pull into for servicing by pit crews wearing National League uniforms. The Grand Marshall has dropped the green flag and the Birds are dutifully pulling off the track.
Of course, the baseball universe from Commissioner Selig to casual fans dispersed among small markets between the coasts, would love them to stay out there. They embrace parity, which has eluded baseball since its last strike in 1994. A two-team field does not beget compelling drama year after year. Their growing disinterest is evident in stadiums such as Camden Yards, where attendance fell 34% from 1997 to 2003 as the O's fell from American League East champion to fourth place.
Of the few teams that embody the potential, the Baltimore Orioles are the most desirous answer to baseball's prayer for parity. Baltimore, birthplace of the New York Yankees and Babe Ruth, host of the memorable 1969 and 1979 World Series, professional home to Cal Ripken, Jr. — professional sports' iron man and icon for the mythic notion of player as role model. What more decisive triumph than for the Baltimore Orioles to overthrow the oppressive rule of Boston and New York and reclaim former glory from the midst of this division of behemoths?
The 2005 start certainly broke from recent molds. While the Red Sox and Yankees slept off postseason hangovers, Baltimore seized first place on the strength of what had been its biggest unknown — starting pitching. Rodrigo Lopez (7-3, 4.47 ERA) and Sidney Ponson (7-5, 5.42 ERA) anchored a rotation that once posed too many questions for analysts to validate the O's as a contender. Recent call-ups Erik Bedard (5-1 in nine starts, 2.08 ERA) and Daniel Cabrera (5-7, 5.48 ERA) provided the value-added that analysts were afraid to rely upon, while well-traveled Bruce Chen (6-5, 3.54 ERA) has been the surprise they could not foresee.
On May 21, Bedard pitched seven shut-out innings against Philadelphia for his fifth consecutive win and the 27-15 Orioles held first place by three games. Then, a nagging pain diagnosed as a strained ligament in his left knee sidelined Bedard before his next start and figured to cost him another two. He has yet to return and the O's have gone 15-19 since.
Not that the disabled list has been a solitary confinement for Bedard. Kurt Ainsworth, the 26-year-old right-handed starter who missed most of 2004 with elbow surgery, and Jason Grimsley, a key bullpen acquisition in 2004 who underwent Tommy John surgery last fall, both expected to contribute in 2005. Neither has thrown a pitch and both remain on the 60-day DL.
What's more, the entire outfield has seemed more like a battlefield with starters Larry Bigbie, Luis Matos, and Sammy Sosa all serving time on the 15-day DL. B.J. Surhoff, a fill-in starter during these injuries, is now filling in on the DL, as is catcher Javy Lopez, who was added on May 25 and has yet to return.
Those who haven't given up the cause certainly have ammunition. Despite their fall, the Birds are still playing .550 baseball and are firmly in the wildcard hunt. Miguel Tajeda has settled any arguments over who is the best shortstop in baseball. The performances of Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora make theirs an all-star infield. The O's will be comparably healthy as the schedule makers reconvene intra-division play where they were 19-11 heading into this week. Best of all, is there a better acquisition before the trading deadline than Erik Bedard?
Try Curt Schilling and the real Randy Johnson.
The truth be told, Baltimore's biggest problem has always been exogenous. The Red Sox made the O's look like Sunday drivers in overtaking them over last week-end. Boston is now firing on all cylinders and should improve with the return of Schilling and the riddance of those stranded runners and bullpen demons that warmer weather has begun exorcising.
The Yankees haven't kept up to Boston, but with $208 million of assorted superstars in the dugout, there's always someone zigging when another zags. Their trick is to get two superstars zigging at the same time. That and another $20 million of midseason salaries thrown in for good measure will propel New York past the Birds, as well.
Starting this week, the Orioles have 22 head-to-head opportunities remaining with their two nemeses and they've won nine of the first 14 games. Like water, this success will seek its own level and wash away the remnants of suspense that once gripped us in the process.
Having 13 of those games played in Camden Yards shouldn't be a comfort to the Chesapeake Bay region. Over the last two and one-half seasons, a Boston or New York visit has meant a 25% spike in attendance, bolstered by commuting or carpet-bagging Red Sox and Yankee fans that increasingly fill every city. Unfortunately, the hometown O's are 11-27 in those games but the crowd goes home happy.
This anticipated gate will further augment the coffers already endowed by the O's settlement with MLB over the relocation of the Washington Nationals, not to mention some luxury tolls paid by the Red Sox and Yankees as they pass by the Birds. Just don't look for any to be reinvested any time soon. ESPN's Buster Olney has called Baltimore's front office the slowest moving in baseball. They appear content with beguiling fans into believing they've suffered the anguish of Job and no rushed decision will remedy this.
That's another problem with injuries — they create a false-positive diagnosis while making folklore of the injured and absolving management. In reality, this year's DL only accelerated the inevitable.
In the end, what legacy might these 2005 Birds leave baseball's loyal parity partisans? I'm afraid not much more than a broken wing and a prayer.