Can the Orioles win 21 more games? I think so, they should be motivated.

Pete - Going back to Umpires are Human Too post. What you said about veteran pitchers and hitters getting borderline calls is correct, but there was nothing borderline about the two-strike curveball that Waters threw to Ortiz. It was a great pitch that the ump did not have the guts to call a strike and sure enough Waters hangs the next curveball and Ortiz hits it off the wall.

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Pete's reply: I feel your pain. Umpires sometimes call a pitch before it lands, penalizing a pitcher for a great pitch. It isn't right. It just happens.

O's Fan in San Fran - Both Mickolio and McCrory gave up a pair of runs in an inning, I believe it was two nights ago.

Kam Mickolio looked good in his major league debut. Yet another player the Orioles received in last year's Eric Bedard haul, along with Adam Jones, George Sherrill, and a couple of promising prospects (Tony Butler and Chris Tillman). Wow, Andy MacPhail really picked Seattle's pocket, didn't he? (Andy, have you no shame? LOL)

Orioles' Magic Number: 21 (victories needed in the remaining games for a winning season)

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Pete's reply: Check out TIllman's line tonight. Six shutout innings, three hits.

I don't have a problem with Liz being recalled (not that if I did, Andy and Dave, would call and tell me the reason for the decision). I think the O's want to see if Liz is a SP or a long man. I think if he fails badly in the role of a SP, he should be the long man next season. There is nothing wrong with having a prospect turn out to be a very good reliever. JJ would be example # 1.

I thought Kam looked pretty good, as his delivery for a big man is already much more fluid than D Cab. The potential for next years BP could be amazing. Dennis, Chris, JJ and George all used in the later innings and Liz and Kam early in the game when Olson and Waters start.

Is there any reason why Ramon wasn't given a 3 and 1/2 RBI HR (to quote Gary Thorne), as he did take Crisp out of the yard. That doesn't count for anything?

M's fans must be livid, as we have an All Star closer, a 5 tool center fielder, a lights out 20 yr. old pitching prospect and a 6'9'' Giant that just made his MLB debut and to top it off, they threw in a Butler.

Peter Schmuck? What the heck happened to Peter Schmeckle - did he get a buyout from the Tribune?

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Pete's reply: I guess so. He just couldn't take the heat about his name.

" I think the O's want to see if Liz is a SP or a long man."

Long man ? Is there such a thing the way DT uses the bullpen ? What's the longest the 1st or 2nd man out of the bullpen has gone this yr ? It's just a series, a parade of one inning (or one inning plus) relief appearances.

Long man ? Check Sammy Stewart or Moe Drabowsky.

Hey Peter,

Riddle me this:

How many not-so-finesse lefties who can't throw over 91 does it take to not have a successful starting rotation?

It seems we keep trotting out pitchers who were aces in the bullpen and turn into jokers on the starter's mound. Noticed, for example, Sarfate pitched quite impressively last night as a reliever after demonstrating his starter skills, much akin to what you get from the 50-cents-for-5-minutes BP machine at the local pitch-and-putt. So, here's a thought, and it's probably not original, but one that I've been musing of late. Do away with starters. No more starters. Go ALL BULLPEN. Nobody pitches more than three innings. I'm sure if you did the research, you'd find that on average the typical game has at least three pitchers hurling anyway, so why not? It will take awhile to figure out which guys are better handling to early innings vs. the later ones (we have GOT to do something about giving up 57 runs in the first inning...or at least get some promotion going with the good people at HEINZ), but Rome wasn't built in a day, and evolution takes time. There was a time, as we recall, when there was really NO bullpen, just a place where you dumped your sore starters til they got healthy. So...we began with an ALL STARTER model...graduated to Starters and Relievers, then Starters, Relievers and Closers, then Starters, Relievers, Setup Men, and Closers, so it seems the next natural progression is the ALL BULLPEN model. Why not? Is there some baseball rule that prohibits this? The times they are a'changing afterall, I mean, TAMPA BAY in first place in AUGUST? Ye gods...