Points of Pride Still Remain in O's Reach

Losing streak eliminates chances to reach .500; other, smaller goals remain possible for struggling Birds

By Matthew Taylor

The Orioles didn’t lose last night, which would come as even better news had they actually played a game.

The Birds’ painful losing streak started with the embarrassing 30-3 defeat against the Rangers. However, for this O’s fan, the reality of losing a late-game, four-run lead over Johan Santana and with it a win that would have provided a validating end to the late-August misery, somehow hurt worse. Dan Connolly and Roch Kubato track the Orioles’ somewhat traditional “Start of fall.”

Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays come to town this evening for a three-game set. The O’s are 10-2 against the D-Rays this season with six games between the teams left on the schedule.

The Devil Rays are like baseball aspirin, a cure for the hangover of an extended losing streak like the Birds’ current six-game slide. They’re the one thing that stands between the O’s and annual last-place finishes. In fact, the Devil Rays are the only team in Major League Baseball that currently stands closer to elimination than the Birds.

CBS Sportsline offers each team’s “Elimination Number.” The Devil Rays’ number stands at three, while the O’s are at 12. Some of our neighbors at or near the basement level include: Texas (14), Florida (15), Washington (16), Chicago (16), San Francisco (17), and Kansas City (18).

Dave Trembley is big on pride. Perhaps hanging around longer than these others teams could serve as a point of pride for the O’s in their remaining games. A much more important point of pride should be winning the season series against the Yankees, as should consecutive series wins against Boston.

The Orioles are 8-4 against the Yankees this season with six games remaining against the original Evil Empire (Sept. 17, 18, & 19 on the road; Sept. 28, 29 & 30 at home). This means that the Birds must finish 2-4 in those games to win the season series against the Yankees, which, according to MASN, hasn’t happened in the previous nine seasons. In other words, at least one long run of losing can come to an end this season.

Speaking of the Yankees, the New York Times addresses Mike Mussina’s recent pitching woes, including last night’s drubbing at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, and questions his future with the team.

Mussina is the most analytical of pitchers, but he seems mystified by this slump. He talked about the small slice of the game that pitchers actually control. But even that much has gone awry, shaking his confidence deeply.

“Right now, I let go of it and I don’t feel like anything good is going to happen,” Mussina said. “It’s tough to pitch that way. You can’t play the game that way to feel like you have no control over anything, and that’s how I feel right now.

“Even the 60 feet, 6 inches, it doesn’t feel like I have a grasp of, and two weeks ago I felt like I could do anything I wanted. That’s how this game is. It’ll slap you in the face when you think you’ve got it. I felt good about it and now I don’t feel good at all.”

The Yankees owe Mussina more than $11 million for next season, but he seems to be nearing the end. It is a scary and sudden reality, and it has knocked him as low as he has ever been.

The same article mentions that the Yankees called up former Birds pitcher Chris Britton after last night’s game.

I’ve long been a fan of Mussina, so much so that I’ve struggled to hate him for committing the ultimate Baltimore baseball sin of donning a Yankee uniform, a fact that I addressed in the July 2006 posting, “Moose Was a Great Bird.”

There’s a part of me that wants us to take Mussina off the Yankees’ hands and hope that he can re-coup some of that old magic in a Birds uniform. After all, the O’s aren’t above nostalgia. We brought back Eddie Murray to hit home run No. 500. We brought back Maryland-native Harold Baines. Why not bring back Mussina?

Yo-Yo Baseball in the Bronx

A game that was bad for the heart ends well

By Matthew Taylor

“We play for respect, we play with pride, and we’re the Baltimore Orioles.”
-Dave Trembley

I don’t have any kids, my job is challenging without being stressful, and my marriage is going well. Clearly, the one thing responsible for the increasing number of gray hairs on top of my head is my favorite baseball team.

A game like Wednesday’s 6-3 victory over the Yankees just goes to show that, win or lose, it’s not over until the bullpen blows a lead.

With that said, the O’s came away from the Bronx with another series win against the Yankees and have now won four of their last six games, which came against the top two teams in the AL East.

Despite multiple phone-in meetings to the office and a terrible MASN signal, I was able to follow the game in an amazing display of multi-tasking. So here are some well-earned observations from Wednesday’s game.

-I hate that baseball has allowed the networks to utilize in-game interviews, including MASN’s “Wired Wednesdays.” Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Dave Trembley’s remarks from the visitor’s dugout in the Bronx: “We play for respect, we play with pride, and we’re the Baltimore Orioles.”

Dave Trembley just reeks of optimism. Aside from the bullpen, he really does have the team playing with pride since the All-Star break. How better to explain the club’s resiliency? They followed up a Mariners’ sweep at Camden Yards with series wins over the Red Sox and Yankees, including today’s tenth inning rally immediately after the bullpen blew a three-run lead.

On the individual level, you have to credit Erik Bedard for his composure in the sixth inning, striking out Jorge Posada to end the inning with runners on the corners after Tike Redman lost an easy pop fly to left in the sun. The pop-up was recorded as a hit for Hideki Matsui.

-Has there been a more exciting pitcher wearing Orange and Black in recent memory than Erik Bedard?

During his peak years in Baltimore, Mike Mussina was a dominating ace. His performance in the 1997 ALCS – 25 strikeouts in two games, including an eight inning, one-hit affair in Game 6 - is one of the greatest in modern O’s history. However, Erik Bedard is poised to bandage the still-fresh wounds (at least in my mind) of Mussina’s departure.

Bedard already matched Mussina’s individual game mark for strikeouts with his 15 K performance against Texas on July 7. Now he’s on pace to shatter Mussina’s record for strikeouts in a season, 218 in 1997.

Bedard currently leads the league with 207 strikeouts; he is the first Birds pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in a season since Mussina recorded 210 K’s in 2000. Bedard is 8-0 in his last 12 starts and hasn't lost since June 10 against Colorado, according to the Associated Press.

-We need Kevin Millar’s bat in the lineup, but I much prefer Aubrey Huff at first base.

While attending the first game of last week’s series against the Mariners I counted multiple occasions where the Birds would’ve gotten an out had Millar been able to stretch for a ball thrown high or scoop a ball thrown to him on one bounce. He also charged a ball hit lightly up the first base line only to miss the tag on the runner. It seemed like a case of bad baseball instincts.

The latter play serves as a good comparison to Aubrey Huff’s eighth inning defense during this afternoon’s game. Huff deflected a hard hit ball but wasn’t able to record the out on his own. He immediately retreated to the bag and stretched out to receive Brian Roberts’ throw just in time to record the out. Here was a case of good baseball instincts.

I’m not typically a stat guy, but I did a little research to see if there’s anything to support my case on this one. My research took me into bold new territory, beyond the limits of fielding percentage and into the terrain of Range Factor per Nine Innings.

This season, Aubrey Huff’s .992 fielding percentage at first base trails Kevin Millar’s .998 fielding percentage at the position. However, Huff’s RF/9 is 9.72, topping Millar’s 9.68.

Following the trend backwards over the past few seasons, Huff’s numbers at first base hold up against Millar’s.

2006 – Huff 10.12, Millar 9.38

2005 – Huff 7.75, Millar 9.99

2004 – Huff 9.48, Millar 9.21

I’m admittedly a rookie at using the Range Factor statistic, but in this case it generally matches my gut instinct.

Moose Was a Great Bird

Mussina belongs in the Orioles Hall of Fame ... and an O's uniform

By Matthew Taylor

At the end of August, The Sun's Roch Kubatko posed an interesting question on his "Roch Around the Clock" blog. Having seen, if not heard, this year's induction ceremony for the Orioles Hall of Fame, Kubatko wondered, "Which former Orioles are next in line?"

Kubatko started with some soft toss, throwing out the names of fan favorites like Mike Bordick and B.J. Surhoff. Then he brought the heat: What about Mike Mussina?

Mussina committed a sinful act prior to the 2001 season, leaving the Birds to play for the hated New York Yankees. At the time, my instincts said it was a mortal sin: "To choose deliberately – that is, both knowing it and willing it – something gravely contrary to the divine law."

"Mike Mussina," I said half-heartedly at the time, "Go to Hell."

Six seasons later, I'm ready to consider a different possibility. Yes, Mike Mussina committed a sin. But perhaps it was more of a venial sin, "A moral disorder that is reparable."

The truth is, I've never been able to hate Mike Mussina. I've wanted him back in an O's uniform ever since he traded Orange and Black for pinstripes in 2001. But even if Mussina doesn't return home this off-season – and chances are that he won't – he still belongs in the Orioles Hall of Fame.

For one thing, his departure from the O's was due to the team's failings, not his. Then there's the fact that he was a truly great pitcher during his time in Charm City. Consider also that he's a hard luck guy who deserves better than he's gotten on the diamond, and one who demonstrates class off of it, and you can understand why Mike Mussina is a Bird that I want to return the flock.

So I agree with Roch Kubatko when he writes, "I can't imagine an Orioles HOF without Moose."

The Case for Mike Mussina

Many explanations have been offered for why Mike Mussina left the Orioles following the 2000 season – the inability to get a deal done during spring training or the early part of the season; disagreement over a "no trade" clause; the erroneous belief that Mussina would offer the O's the "home town discount" – but all of the reasons given reflect the team's mismanagement of the situation.

Mussina is one of the Orioles' all-time great pitchers (third in wins, second in strikeouts, fifth in starts). On two occasions he tied the team record for strikeouts in a game, setting down 15 batters on May 16, 1993, and July 5, 1997. Mussina also holds the team record for strikeouts in a season, 218 in 1997.

For the O's, Mussina was a clutch starter who nearly willed the Birds to the '97 American League pennant with 41 strikeouts in 29 postseason innings. He gave up just four runs in four playoff games, twice beating a considerably more dominant Randy Johnson (who went 20-4 and the AL with 12.3 strikeouts per 9 innings). Mussina pitched with such crisp efficiency in the playoffs that he earned the nickname "Mike Machine-a."

Even in his Game 6 defeat that year, he gave O's fans an "I Was There" moment – and I was in fact there – when he pitched eight innings of one-hit ball at Camden Yards with 10 K's and only two walks. This after he established a League Championship Series record with 15 strikeouts in Game 3. Baseball Library describes the dual performances as "two of the most valiant no-decisions in playoff pitching history."

The Wire-to-Wire '97 season and Mussina's postseason heroics are among the best of this 31-year-old's Orioles memories. However, Mussina's greatness extends well beyond that one dominant season. A cynic might point out that Mussina has never won 20 games and has never tossed a no-hitter, two mystical measures of baseball greatness. These facts are true. However, if Mussina were pitching horseshoes or grenades instead of a baseball, he would rank as one of the game's all-time aces.

This season, Mussina tied the American League record for most seasons with 10 wins by the All-Star break. He also became the first pitcher in AL history to win 10 or more games in each of 15 consecutive seasons. However, he has never won 20 games in a single season. He won 17 games three times ('97, '01, and '03) and 18 games three times ('92, '99, '02). Twice, he won 19 ('95, '96).

Consider this from Baseball Library:

"His failure to reach the 20-win benchmark had more to do with bad luck than bad pitches. The player's strike likely cost him a 20-win season both in 1994, when he had racked up 16 wins before the season abruptly ended in mid-August, and in 1995, when he won 19 games but was deprived at least three starts by the truncated 144-game schedule. In 1996 he couldn't nail down a final victory after hitting 19 wins with four starts left. In the penultimate game of the season he staked the Orioles to a 2-1 lead only to watch closer Randy Myers let in the tying run in the ninth inning. In 1999 he won 18 games but missed four starts in August and September after he was struck in the right deltoid by a liner off the bat of Brook Fordyce."

Then there's the issue of the no-hitters. Again, from Baseball Library:

"Equally frustrating were Mussina’s string of near no-hitters. On May 30, 1997 he retired the first 25 Cleveland Indians before catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr. lined a single to left field with one out in the ninth, denying him what would have been the first perfect game in franchise history. (The following May, Alomar would drill a single that hit just below Mussina’s right eye, bloodying his face, fracturing his nose and sending him to the DL for three weeks.) After fanning the last two hitters, Mussina settled for a one-hit, 10-strikeout shutout. Less than a month later he tossed seven no-hit innings at Milwaukee before Jose Valentin opened the eighth inning with a single. He flirted with perfection again the next season, setting down the first 23 Detroit Tigers on August 4, 1998 before giving up a two-out eighth-inning double to Frank Catalanotto.

…

His no-hit karma also followed him north. In a nationally televised Sunday night game on September 2, 2001, he tossed another near-masterpiece at Boston’s Fenway Park. When the Yankees finally broke a scoreless tie with an unearned run off veteran David Cone in the top of the ninth, Mussina needed only three outs to complete a perfect game. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, he got ahead of pinch-hitter Carl Everett 1-2 before the BoSox outfielder punched a high fastball into left-center field to ruin his bid at pitching immortality."

Beyond all of the on-field greatness, Mussina is a class act off of the field. I tried to cast the man to eternal damnation after he sold his soul to the pinstriped devil, but the truths are these:

• Mussina is no Derek Jeter – an endlessly hyped cover boy who has no flaws, but only because sports announcers have airbrushed them from the picture.
  
• He’s no Gary Sheffield – a surly talent who you’d allow to be your kid’s hero but not his baby sitter.
  
• And he’s certainly no Jason Giambi – a rule breaker whom Bronx fans chastised then cheered based on performance rather than principle.

Mike Mussina is a likeable guy any way you cut it.

Mussina coaches his local Pennsylvania high school football team after the baseball season ends. He's an old school guy who, despite working in the big city, loves his home town (population: 5,000) and wants to return there when he retires. He even served as a board member for Little League Baseball.

Mussina fell decimal points short of being his high school's valedictorian and went on to graduate with an economics degree from Stanford in just three years.

Finally, Mussina's a guy who knows tragedy all too well after 21 of his Montoursville neighbors perished in 1996 on TWA Flight 800. Mussina returned home that year for as many of the funerals as he could attend.

To hate Mike Mussina is to truly be blinded by hate. (And, yes, I have seen the pseudo-sordid photos of him – 1, 2, 3, 4 – from On the DL.)

Here's hoping that the O's brass has enough vision to strongly pursue Mussina this off-season and to place him in the team's Hall of Fame after his esteemed career ends.

Should the Moose get into the Orioles Hall of Fame after he retires? Vote in our latest poll on the sidebar.