The View from the Top

Carpe Diem, O's fans - Let's enjoy it while we can

by Matthew Taylor

Sure it's three games into the season. Sure it's a three-way tie. And sure it's due in part to alphabetical order. But in a rebuilding season you have to take the victories - large, small, and moral - wherever you can get them.

So "throw your hands in the air and wave them around as if there are no repercussions" (credit: Kenny Mayne), Birds fans, because your Baltimore Orioles are in first place in the AL East after Friday's 7-4 victory over Seattle. Baseball-Reference.com will record for all posterity that there indeed were (or was, as the case may turn out to be) "Days in first" during the 2008 season.

The last time the O's were over .500 was April of last season.

AL East Standings

Baltimore 2-1 .667
Tampa Bay 2-1 .667
Boston 3-2 .600
New York 2-2 .500
Toronto 2-2 .500

On a serious note, here's a real positive for the team: "The Orioles bullpen had gone 11 innings without allowing a run before the ninth." (source: The Sun)

You'll remember that the bullpen looked particularly sharp - and received plenty of plaudits from the local press - at the start of last season But here's guessing that Dave Trembley will be a bit more careful than Sam Perlozzo was about going to his relievers, if only because Perlozzo's gotten beaten up so much for his bullpen (over)usage.