hey, mabye ramon is heating up. he just hit a solo shot. does anyone know how his runners thrown out compare to other catchers? is he better or worse than posada in this category?

Continuing a prior topic... I'm also very happy that Mussina hasn't gotten his ring with NY. But something that I don't think anyone has pointed out on this blog is the contract he signed that kept him an Oriole and off the free agent market the first time. As I recall, it was 3 years at about $7M a year - below market value, and done fairly quietly because he wanted to stay here. So I don't think it's entirely fair to portray him as a money-grubbing traitor. He stabbed all of us by leaving for the hated Yankees (I agree, I'd pull for him if he went to the Sox), but I blame Angelos.

It's not looking good. hoey just walked in a run and the bases are loaded with one out.

Phrases over used in my household this season:

1) Not again!

2) Here we go again!

3) Go got to be kidding me???

4) I can't believe how bad these guys suck!

it's time to do something about Hoey. He's just let them tie the game. Wonderful.

Can anyone tell me why we are throwing this game away? Are we not embarrassed enough? Why are we throwing this game away? This makes me sick. Trembley is turning into Perlozzo right before our eyes. Why wasn't Bradford in the eighth. We need a win! Hoey stinks!

Roch, did we need to wait that long to yank Hoey? We're thin in the bullpen, but now is not the time to see if he can handle something to this point he has not? This losing streak could get embarrassing just like the 30 runs that kicked it off.

What is not being told to us? Where is Bradford? Now we have to suffer through Burres. It will be 30-6 before we know it. What does Mazzone tell these guys. We may lose 100 games before this is over.

This is ridiculous. Another walk. These guys can't pitch. Is Trembley trying to get Mazzone fired? He must be, this is terrible.

Every single person in the organization involved in "rebuilding" this bullpen last winter should immediately be given their walking papers.

I'm not sure when I've ever seen such a pathetic spectacle...oh, wait, that's right...it was last Wednesday.

np: "Thirty Days in the Hole," Gov't Mule

We are headed to last place, and Trembley is trying to get Mazzone fired by showing that nobody can pitch. Where was Bradford? Walker had the seventh, Bradford the 8th. Instead we get the two clowns who can't throw strikes.

Wow! I am extremely disappointed in Trembley--his decision to leave Hoey in after the 3 of the first 4 batters got on was worse than any of Perlozzo's blunders. OK, you have a 3-run lead and you hope that Hoey will get you through 1 inning. But when he's ineffective once again--you can't leave him in for the 2nd walk and the 2-run single!! As I said a few days earlier, the ONLY TWO RELIEVERS WHO CAN PITCH A SHUTOUT INNING ARE WALKER AND BRADFORD. If you want to take a chance on someone else with a 3-run lead, yank him as soon as you see that he is ineffective. And worry about tomorrow when you get there--at least this way you would win SOME of the games.

Great, we just Devil-Rayed the Devil Rays. Good job, major leaguers. Someone tell them this is not women's softball. They play seven innings. Learn how to pitch in the eighth inning. It shouldn't have been this hard.

One final thought before I turn off yet another game in disgust:

If you're Erik Bedard, does ANYTHING less than $25 million per season bring you back to Baltimore?

np: "Gone Daddy Gone," Violent Femmes

same rap, different night!

This game is on Trembley. Why the h*ll would he let Hoey continue after loading the bases (or even before that)?

Burres is not a reliever.

Post-script to previous: Wow again!
Now that Hoey and Burris have blown the game wide open, and the 6-3 lead is a 9-6 deficit, Trembley is compounding his blunder by WASTING BRADFORD! If Bradford had started this inning or even come in with 2 on and 1 out, the Orioles would most likely still be leading and batting in the bottom of the 8th. PLEASE TELL TREMBLEY THAT UNTIL HE FINDS A 3RD OR 4TH RELIEVER, HE SHOULD USE ONLY WALKER AND BRADFORD TO HOLD A CLOSE LEAD, AND NEVER WASTE THEM OTHERWISE.

this sh-- is getting old every god da-- night!!! this is it for me ROCH!!!!! THANK GOD WE HAVE THE RAVENS. I WANT TO SEE EITHER ANITA OR AMBER ON THE MOUND IN THE 8TH INN. OF COURSE WITHOUT CLOTHES ON!!!!! WE THE FANS DESERVE AT LEAST THAT!!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN ROCH??????

8th inning -- Are you kidding me!?! Another pathetic display by the bullpen.

Earlier in the season I was one who wanted to see Perlozzo gone because I thought he mis-managed the BP.

Now I just want the BP gone. Trembly makes the right moves and these pitchers do not do their job.

Last week I was looking forward to the Orioles closing the season strong this week. Heck Trembly had just been inked to a deal and I was excited. This week, I just want the season the end. These guys are not professionals and none of them deserve to be on the field at the moment.

The articles that discuss are late season implosions...any suggestion that this year could be different are gone. This organzation is nothing but losers. Get rid of Flanagan, Duquette, and all coaches...including Mazzone. Leave McPhail and Trembley...and good luck.

Roch - How can you watch this?

We are now the laughingstocks of baseball, and I suffer only because I have pride in my hometown. I can't bring myself to root for D. C. or else I'd be gone in a flash. We have a big enough market and a crown jewel of a stadium and we flushed it down the toilet....the same thing year after year after year after year. We shouldn't be Pittsburgh and Kansas City, but we are. We are terrible.

Is there any way the Orioles can convince their opponents that they're now playing in a men's slo-pitch softball league and a regulation game is just seven innings?

Quick note to Tom in Tinseltown: I thought there was just ONE reliever to choose to blow the game ... I didn't see the “All of the above" option.

np on Shore: “(I hate) Everything about You” Ugly Kid Joe

The O's pen rocks. They're simply the best. Peter Angelos is awesome too. You can't mess with the O's. We wanted quality, competitive baseball, and they've delivered. I like the way these guys fight for Trembley, and for the fans, consistently, on a night in and night out basis.

I keep having to change the blog entry. It's up to 8, no 10, no 11 runs in the eighth. I didn't see the Texas onslaught, but I'm getting a sense watching this mess. What's up with this team? I mean, I know we don't have a playoff spot or even a .500 record to shoot for, but there's just no fight anymore in these guys at all when the going gets rough. You'd think they'd desperately want to win for Trembley. How did it go so bad so fast, Roch? I guess the, er, 30-run game might have left some mental scars, but it's THIS bad? These are professionals, right? Enlighten us, dude!

11 runs and 9 hits in the 8th...I went to the store and when I came back the Bucs were still batting.

Maybe someone should ask Trembly and Roberts now about their criticism of the O's fans. Geez!

Gotta love that $40 million bullpen...

OK. Miggy and Millar both went deep in the bottom eighth. Maybe I was a bit harsh about the no-fight thing. But the pitching! The pitching, I tells ya! What's up with the pitching?!?

the Os are like ... hitting the very edges of weirdness

i don't even know what else to say

(as i write this it's 14-8)

You called it, another awful 8th inning. time for a new manager. Hah

Okay Tom D-- now I will let you take exception: THIS IS THE WORST BULLPEN IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY!!!!!!! (Daytona Boy, 2007)

I could go out there and throw batting practice and teams could not get that many consecutive hits. We are so unlucky. And the WALKS-- Hoey was not just missing the zone, he was missing by 3 feet to either side.

Yeah Tejada--pad those stats so we can trade you!

Fret not folks, I think we are only 16 players away from competing.

I'm late on the Mussina thing, but I don't really wish anything bad for him. Did he really make a mistake signing with NY? Should he have spent his 30's in baseball purgatory? We were fading fast and lacked the organizational talent to get better. I'm sure a Stanford guy with a few connections knew the shape of this franchise. Plus, we hadn't paid him market value as I think Sheets mentioned.

Whatever, living in the past is what this team does best. Is it football season yet?

Stop me if you've heard this one: An Oriole reliever is walking down the street when he meets a fellow bullpen maven from the D' Rays.

After exchanging greetings the talk turns to shop. "You know, I've been reading how you guys have been strugging this year and I just want you to know I feel for you," said the Oriole.

"Thanks, I really appreciate that," responded the D' Ray, who was more than a little dejected.

"Sure, don't mention it," was the reply, "I can understand, you guys being the worst 'pen in baseball and all."

Suddenly, the Tampa player's expression changed to a broad smile.

"Not any more!" he exclaimed.

I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Maybe if I save a few old people, fix a flat tire, feed a homeless guy, catch a kid falling out of a tree, and woo Andie Macdowell, the curse will be broken and the calendar will turn to October 1966.

Seriously, Coach Shatner needs to go into the clubhouse and pop an artery or two at these guys. They play like a bunch of teenagers whose girlfriends all just broke up with them.

A rambling personal thought on Mussina: as a kid who started playing baseball at the age of 6 and started pitching right about at the time when Mussina was our ace, I have mixed feelings about him. I idolized him back in my middle/high school playing days. Didn't throw the knuckle-curve, but I emulated his delivery to a T, collected his cards, got his autograph. He was my hero almost as much as Cal was. Even when he went to the Yankees, I had a slight tug to still root for him, and I still follow his starts when I can. But I can't help but feel that he ruined his chance for the Hall of Fame by going to the Yankees. Sure, he wouldn't have won the World Series here either, but he would've anchored the staff for the last 7 years, perhaps saved a few seasons from going below .500, probably won as many or more games, and would've been mentioned as one of the greatest pitchers/players in Orioles history, possibly besting Palmer in wins, definitely in strikeouts. As a Yankee, he's just a face in the crowd.

If Mussina stays an Oriole and eclipses Palmer for the club record in wins, does he receive some consideration for the Hall? I can't really speculate, but from his how his career turned out as a Yankee and an Oriole, I think he is borderline at best.

Buck the trend? Guess not. Looked like Texas Chain Saw Massacre II in the 8th.

How can we hit six homers in a game and still be losing by six? Maybe Mazzone can only coach starters, and has no clue about a relief corps. That's giving him credit for helping guys like Bedard and Guthrie get better. But the relievers have just digressed as the year wears on. Maybe Daytona Boy was on to something, after all. It's all so painful.

orioles designate entire bullpen for assignment....11 runs in one inning...are you kidding me? this is just way too funny now, isn't it. back to the drawing board fellas. you gotta be trying to give up 11 runs...do you think if you combined the o's and the rays you'd get one major league team that could win 81 games? i'm serious.

enter the word 'hilarious' in the field below.

is it possible to keep Markakis/Roberts/Guthrie/Bedrad and just fire the rest of the team? because for the love of Johnny Unitas, this is getting to be disgusting.

Did anyone else notice that Carlos Pena didn't have both feet inbounds on that TD catch in the 8th inning?

Check the replay and tell me what you think.

Trembley should have used a challenge there. That TD changed the whole game.

I would like to blame the team as a whole for this loss, but this bullpen straight up sucks! I have to be a delusional fan because I keep on watching....