I wonder if agents paid someone for some of these stats. The save rule is so ridiculous (come into a game with a 3 run lead?) and now this "hold" stat. Johnson gives up 1 run in 1 1/3 innings and he gets a hold? That works out to a 6.67 era.

Any guesses if there will be much movement on the trade front? Personally I have no issues with any of the veterans being traded since they are still 2+ yrs from contending.

Still a big improvement with some of the young pitchers this year over the horrible efforts of guys like Olson, Liz, Cabrera and Company.

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Pete's reply: I've also not been a fan of the "Hold" stat, but they put it in there because middle and setup guys get no respect at All-Star time or, for that matter, contract time.

Somebody started a thread about grading the O's and although I tried to post them,The sun won't let me even though I've registered and reregistered 4 times.Makes a man wonder.But my surprise was that most people are Giving Huff a C-,for a guy who's done a very good defensive job at a new position and is leading the team in RBI's,and has always been a second half hitter,what is your take,Pete?

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Pete's reply: I would give Aubrey a B. I think he's played well defensively and is a solid run-producer, though not an elite player. Don't know why you can't get into that site. Wish I had a better answer than sorry.

Anyone know whats up Jim Johnson? He looked way off tonight I think like 7+ awkward balls in the dirt, 3-4 of them wild pitches. It didn't cost us the game but I was surprised Trembley left him in their so long.

Wonder who they would bring up if Johnson has to go on the DL/ The O's are so secretive about injuries,we won't know until the last second if he's hurt or not.I guess it would be between Miller and Kam.I guess whoevers already ont the 40 man would get the nod.

Pete you don't have to say for those fans that think Brian roberts doesn't want to play. You can use my name Bob Lancione. He is down to 274 with another strikeout and now when a ball player does his job by running the bases to score a run that is enough for our sportswriter in this town to be satisified with his performance. How Sad.

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Pete's reply: You're doing a great job assassinating his character, Bob, so I'll leave that job to you.

Pete,
I am a big B-Rob fan and a big P-Schmuck fan. .But in the baseball-nerd tradition of arguing small points with Jesuitical intensity (!!) I've got to disagree with your statement that he decoyed Abreu on the force play at second.
The video of the MASN broadcast shows that as JJ got to the ball--before he began to fall--B-Rob signaled for the throw to go to first. The audio has Gary Thorne saying at the same moment, "The play's going to have to be to first." I think B-Rob thought the same thing.
Now, you undoubtedly think his gesture to first was the heart of the decoy. Hence my nerd-like beg-to-differ and my plug for the Jesuits, whose fire I've always liked and wish the Orioles had more of. Bet you never thought you'd read about "Jesuitical intensity" in a posting to your blog.
Speaking of which--I'd love to see more intensity from B-Rob. But that's not part of his game. He's a gamer, but a quiet one, like a lot of guys on the Os. He showed his style with his hustle in scoring from first in the example you cited. The fiery type would have taken out the catcher, to keep him from catching the throw. But B-Rob did it his way. He showed great athleticism in getting his hand on the plate while evading the catcher. He got the job done his way.

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Pete's reply: The reason I thought it was a decoy is because there was never a play at first base once Johnson went for the ball.

"The fiery type would have taken out the catcher, to keep him from catching the throw. But B-Rob did it his way."

Well, Brian is also generously listed as 5'9", 170 lbs. I think he chose a wise path...

Yeah, I didn't think it was an intentional decoy either. Also thought had he run hard out of the box on the ball hit to Chone Figgins to end the 7th, it would have put pressure on Figgins to make a good throw after Figgins double clutched when he looked at 2nd base force out first. As it was Roberts was out by 20 feet and sauntering. Not so long ago when Brady and Cal ran to first they did so with arms churning and knees chugging. The mantra at the time was "4 or 5 30 yard sprints a game is not so much to ask".

Pete if you were a judge hearing a important case, you would have to remove yourself from it on grounds that you couldn't be fair. I have never seen anybody so protective and unable to report obectively then you on this subject.Did you know that he has 56 strikeouts for a leadoff hitter, that is not doing his job in my eyes.

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Pete's reply: Yes, Bob, Brian has struggled at times at the plate. I'm not quite sure what you want me to say about that other than it's a fact. The judge analogy is pretty humorous. So your saying that anyone who actually knows anything should stay out of the conversation unless they agree with you.

Pete,
ALL Players "want to play". Some just don't hustle all the time. You should just admit that Brian is one of those and move on. Your constant search for plays on which he hustles is kind of reaching.
I don't think he was decoying anybody, he was telling Johnson to go to first which actually would have been the wrong play.
Perhaps Brians performance this year shows that he did the roids more than he's letting on. It does make you wonder with all these guys that get caught and claim they "only tried it once".

I like Brian, but I don't think it's unreasonable to run hard on every grounder. Why don't you just ask him why he doesn't think that is necessary?
Some of the new guys seem to do that like Reimold.

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Pete's reply: Brians overall statistical performance is pretty good, Bill. He's a leadoff hitter who's at the top of the majors in doubles and has 36 RBI. He also plays above-average defense. Is this his best year? Maybe not. But you don't have your best year every year. Should he run out every ground ball. Sure. He doesn't. I've said that many times. Do you want me to go down to the clubhouse and put him over my knee? What I won't do is run him out of town. If that's what you want, you need to do that yourself.

blancione - very well said...and I also like B Rob - but that is what makes it so disappointing, and perhaps why so many are willing to turn the other way. I don't "see" enough of the games to notice it with Reimold - but in baseball there's a lot of sitting and standing around, you would think, if nothing else, players should sprint just to keep their legs warm. I just don't get it. I also believe it's the type of thing that is more noticeable from a distance in the stands and it will be the reason AM lets Trembley go. With all the youth on, and coming to the team, DT does not have them hustling. The culture needs to change, but in this day and age with all the $ players make that manager may be difficult to find - but it's the next big move for AM...as much as I admire DT I think his easy going personality would fit a veteran team with on the field leadership - which the O's lack right now.

Pete on another posting you replied back to me saying that i accused you of not having any integrity. In my book using the word objectivity is different then accusing somebody of not having any intergrity.I would never in a million years say that about anybody.You may be right in saying that the average fan sitting in his living room doesn't have the availibilty that you do to the manager and the Gm but that in no way makes you 100% right on the subject. Many more fans have started to jump on you recently about Brian Roberts and you steadfastly refuse to budge a inch on the subject. Could you be just a little wrong on the subject Pete.

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Pete's reply: No, I'm not wrong because I haven't taken a position like you have. I see what you see, but I don't interpret it quite the same way you do. My experience at the ballpark contributes to my opinion. Does it make me right and you wrong. No. Nor vice versa. But to say that experience makes me too close to the team to have a fair opinion is just ridiculous. At the other end of the spectrum, I think you're fixated on this and see everything through the same negative prism with Roberts.

I agree with Gary. They need someone to stay on there back and make them hustle. Like kids growing up, they need guidance when young. Tremblay has to go, for these reasons and also because he doesn't handle the staff right or know what plays to call on the bases.
I think Brian is just in a slump, and pressing. He will be OK. Everyone has ups and downs. He was fine until a week or so ago. He is a quiet guy, but overall a gamer. Still one of the 3 best 2B in the AL.

Nice work lately Pete. Enjoy your perspective. Now, I haven't vented about Fred Manfra for a while so here goes. Go back and listen to his call on the Markakis single that scored Roberts...pathetic! No sense of drama as the play unfolded until Roberts got to the plate. In fact, he didn't even tell the listener it was a base hit, just "there's a drive in the gap" or something like that. Manfra is okay until something exciting happens then he falls to pieces. He truly does the listener a disservice and blemishes the art of broadcasting.
Ugh!!
Gosh I miss Miller! If I eat my vegetables and say my prayers, maybe someday he'll return. I know he loves Baltimore, just not that little guy with the big ego.

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Pete's reply: Well, you have to admit it's pretty hard to live up to Jon Miller.

Blancione,

I agree Roberts, at times, doesn't look like he's hustling. But...comparing strike outs to effort given is apples and oranges, pal. the two are not related. yes, that's a lot of strike outs for a man in his position. But he's also leading the league in runs scored. Last time I checked that was an indication of a good leadoff man, no?

I'm not totally disagreeing w/ you here, but at times your logic tends to be a bit flawed.

Pete,

Hope your having a great 4th of July and enjoying this great weather. I need to start giving you much more credit, throwing out that bomb on Raffy and running to the holiday, Shrewd Mr. Schmuck, very shrewd!

Enjoy all the festivities and look forward to hearing more from you tonight!

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Pete's reply: Keith, happy 4th to you, too, and I hope yours is way better than mine. I did go out this morning in an attempt to enjoy the holiday, but guys my age -- and size -- should not be playing basketball anymore and I now have what appears to be a torn Achilles to show for it. Bad day all around, but I'll still blog the game tonight.

Can't help but wonder what Trembley is thinking in handling the pitching staff. Does he learn from the past? Where are the matchups? Where is the fortitude to have a starter continue until he shows on the mound that he cannot get outs? Would one measly hit hurt? Removing Hernandez was the right move. He walked Figgins. He showed he was losing it. But Bergesen??? Why?

One more pet peeve. Why do Markakis and Huff bat back to back? No matter how well they hit lefthanders, it would cause the opposing manager more problems matching up if there was a righthanded batter between them.

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Pete's reply: Trembley tried that, inserting Adam Jones in there for awhile, but neither he nor Markakis responded well to it. Maybe down the line, Reimold will move into the fourth slot, but they're trying to take their time with his level of responsibility.

Pete,

Sorry to hear about the injury! Other than golf I've given up on strenuous athletic events and have moved over to ride a Harley! Take care of that achilles they can be sombitches to come back from if not taken care of correctly.

You know the story of the best made plans! Hope the O's can lift your spirits as well!

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Pete's reply: Thanks. This kind of sucks.

Am I the only one who thinks its a ridiculous reason to fire a manager because people think he can't handle his pitching staff? From what I'm reading the problem fans seem to be having is that his bullpen has blown games because he's taken out the starter at the wrong time. It's not because he's overworking his bullpen, because for the most part this bullpen seems to be working less than it did last year. Let's fire him because he sent his best pitchers out of the bullpen to finish a game off, let's fire him because he has bad timing. If you want to fire him, fire him because his team doesn't hustle, fire him because his team has tuned him out. But for the love of Earl Weaver, don't call for his head because of poor timing.

Ouch, Sorry Pete.. That is painful, but I do not have to tell you that now.

Good call Bobby!

Bobby,

Huh? Can you say poor line-ups on series ending games, can you say terrible fundamentals, pathetic bunting skills, no emotion, no discipline, horrid base running, no hustle, inability to effectively use his bench and finally the inability to effectively change pitchers! Other than that, I think Dave is doing a fine job, but timing certainly isn't the reason I would fire him! As most people in baseball say, his record is his record and unless you want 11 more years of futility I say fire him NOW!