Monday, April 20, 2009

Looking on the Brightside ...

It's not surprising that a pitcher would struggle in Fenway Park, but Jeremy Guthrie's 0-4 record there as an Oriole is the very definition of hard luck. For as frustrating as it must've been for Guthrie to come away with a no decision on Friday after being spotted a seven-run lead, it still pales in comparison to the Mother's Day Massacre (or Miracle, for those of the Evil Empire II persuasion) at Fenway on May 13, 1998.

Clearly, it was a disappointing weekend in Boston for Birds fans, which means it's time for an early season look on the bright side.


-Seems the O's did well in extending that Markakis guy. You know, the one who's leading the AL with 16 RBI.


-Sure Koji took the loss on Sunday, but you've got to like
that line: 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, 5 Ks, 1 BB. Given the chance, I would've hugged him, too.

-There are actually some things blooming on the farm this spring for the first time in a long while.

-The Yankees gave up 22 runs against the Indians on Saturday, the second time that's happened in the past five years. The game included a record-setting 14-run second inning.
Not even the O's could do that. (But you've got to credit the fans for the "We Want Swisher!" chant. Apparently the affluent crowd at the new ballpark is also creative.)

-The much-anticipated (at least by The Washington Post and D.C. fans) competition between the O's and Nats has been a race to the bottom thus far, but it looks like the Natinals (sic) are firmly in the lead for the role of the area's baseball laughingstock.

The latest laughers:

The Nats bullpen can't hold a lead -
or three,

One of their few guys playing well is fined and rebuked for
reporting to the ballpark five minutes late following a charity event,

And
the team is having trouble spelling its own name correctly on the home unis.

Combined attendance numbers the past two Sundays at home ballgames in Baltimore (last week) and D.C. (this week): 32,505.

For better or worse, these two teams' fates are intertwined thanks to the MASN deal. So maybe these last items aren't part of the brightside after all.


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