This is going to sound like damning with faint praise, but I've just watched the most amazing two weeks of non-contending baseball in my several decades of writing about the national pastime.

Of course, maybe I'm just still in a euphoric haze after back-to-back nights when the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays were dueling for the final American League playoff spot and each was riding an emotional roller coaster that didn't stop until midnight.

It wasn't really about the Orioles -- at least, not anywhere else in the baseball world -- but it was here, and they did the almost unthinkable when they reeled off three straight hits against Red Sox super-stopper Jonathan Papelbon with two outs in the ninth inning to push the Sox out of playoff contention.

That wasn't official until a couple of minutes after the O's staged a playoff-caliber on-field celebration, when Evan Longoria completed an even more unlikely come-from-behind victory over the Yankees with a walk-off home run in the 12th inning. The Rays trailed 7-0 in the eighth inning before scoring six times to pull within a run and tying the game in the ninth on a two-out, two-strike homer by Dan Johnson.

The past three days at Camden Yards featured a level of intensity not seen here in the past decade, and it was great fun even if it didn't change the fact that the O's finished last again in the AL East. I guess you take your entertainment where you can get it after 14 straight losing seasons.

"I think that our finish overall is encouraging,'' closer Jim Johnson said, "though I know we did this last year. A day like today just shows you how crazy baseball can be. They absolutely dominated us for a long time, so this is a little justification at the end of the year."

Now, stand by for some news Thursday about the future of the front office.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Just baseball
        

I'm sure the Red Sox will say it was pure chance that first baseman Adrian Gonzalez bounced a throw off the head of Matt Wieters as the O's catcher was sliding into second base the eighth inning. I'm sure they'll say it was an accident when David Ortiz hit Wieters on the head with his bat in the top of the ninth.

Okay, it was, but I think the Red Sox should stop hitting Matt Wieters on the head.

Don't you agree?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Still trying to digest what happened to the Maryland Terrapins this afternoon. New coach Randy Edsall said that his team lacked intensity and will, so I'll have to take him at his word. The Terps also lacked just about everything else it takes to win a game against a decent team -- and Temple has become a very decent team over the past few seasons.

If you're interested in my take on the situation, why don't you click here and read my column off the game.

Now I've got to rest up for the Ravens game tomorrow by watching the season premier of Saturday Night Live with Alec Baldwin, who -- I have to admit -- I'm glad didn't keep his promise and move out of the country after George W. Bush was elected to a second term.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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These aren't your father's Temple Owls, but nobody expected them to come into Byrd Stadium and score four touchdowns before the Terps had four first downs. Temple had a 28-0 lead with nine minutes to go in the first half, then added a special insult when the Owls stopped the Terps on fourth and short at Temple's 10 yard line.

It has been a team collapse, featuring a sporadic offensive attack, a porous defense and a pair of special teams breakdowns. Other than that, everything is going great.

If you're hoping for a comeback like the one the Terps almost pulled off against West Virginia, don't hold your breath. Temple may not be a Top 25 team, but the Owls can pound the ball in the second half and eat up the clock if the Terps offense finally wakes up.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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If you're wondering why the Orioles are suddenly beating up on the best teams in the American League, it isn't all that hard to figure out. Their late-season resurgence is not a replay of last year's miracle rally, which was spurred by new leadership and the physical rebound of some key players, but the backlash from the season-long intensity gap between the AL contenders and it's chief pretender.

Think about it. The Red Sox, Rays and Angels have all been in contention all year and are understandably feeling the effects of late-season fatigue. There are more specific causes, of course, like Boston's recent pitching problems, but that still doesn't account for a series loss to a team that still has a far inferior pitching staff. The Orioles, meanwhile, have no emotional stake in the season any more and are playing with both motivation (to beat the teams that have been beating up on them all year) and abandon (because they have nothing to lose).

Throw in the positive impact of a designated hitter who is suddenly in a late-career contract drive, the terrific second-half production of Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy (something that actually bodes very well for the future) and the sudden emergence of Jim Johnson as the closer of the future instead of the next candidate for the starting rotation, and you've got the recipe for some interesting -- though largely meaningless -- baseball.

Might as well sit back and enjoy it.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
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Everybody and his brother is calling what happened to the Ravens on Sunday a "letdown," which probably seems like an obvious conclusion to reach when you compare their performance with the one that had people crowning them Super Bowl champs after the Pittsburgh game last week.

If the fact that they didn't play anywhere near as well as they did against the Steelers constitutes a letdown, then who can argue? But if you give a little credit to the Titans coaching staff for completely disrupting the newlook Ravens offense and you give Matt Hasselbeck a little love for the way he picked apart the Ravens secondary and somehow neutralized the Ravens rush, then it's more of a beatdown than a letdown.

The Ravens did not rise to the emotional level of the Steelers game because it would have been impossible to replicate the intensity of their home opener against their chief division rival for a road game against a far less talented team. That's not an excuse -- they should have been able to beat the Titans anyway -- but it is a fact that should quell any talk of some motivational deficiency.

That doesn't mean it wasn't a shocking loss in the aftermath of such a satisfying and lopsided victory over the Steelers. It just means that anybody can be beaten by a team that executes its gameplan better.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big fan of Peter Gammons, who I have known for decades, but he got some bad information if he thinks that the Orioles and the Angelos family intentionally stiffed the memorial service that was held in New Hampshire for Mike Flanagan.

Gammons tweeted that "Angelos and his pitiable Orioles were nowhere to be found."

Club officials say they were not invited to the event and I have to believe them when they say they would have been there in a heartbeat to honor one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history. Everyone in the organization -- and the media -- had tremendous regard for Flanagan, who had a big impact on the team on several levels, so there was no reason why the Orioles would not have wanted to be represented at any memorial for him.

There's no word yet on a memorial service in Baltimore, but the club is expected to do something soon after the season.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)
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Next year's Orioles schedule was released by the team, and you can take a look at it month-by-month by clicking here to view it on Orioles.com. If you're like me, you can't wait for next spring and you're hoping somebody develops a new drug that will erase your short-term baseball memory.

I haven't looked at it yet, but I can tell you this without fear of serious debate. The Orioles are again going to have way too many games against the American League East. Is that a coincidence or what, because it seems to happen every year.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Zach Britton was disappointed in himself. He wanted to send a message to the Tampa Bay Rays that they weren't going to get back into the American League wild card race on his watch, but his command failed him at a couple of pivotal moments in a game that provided little room for error.

“We all know that they’re in the battle for it, they are playing really well,’’ Britton said. “So I actually want to go out them and beat them. You don’t want them to get it on your clock. So I was really disappointed that I didn’t put together a good effort and got us in a hole early and we couldn’t put it together. So it’s just a mixture of walking those guys and, at the same time, you give them chances to score runs, they are going to score runs.”

Britton has ridden the proverbial roller coaster this season, getting off to terrific start and then temporarily pitching his way back to the minor leagues. He recently rebounded with three strong starts against the Twins, Yankees and Rays, but has faltered a bit his last two times out. He gave up four runs on five hits over five innings, a line that was very similar to the one he put up in New York last week.

“It starts and stops with fastball command,’’ manager Buck Showalter said. “That's one of the reasons Tampa is doing a good job with their starters. They have guys with good command of the fastball. Zach didn't have it tonight. Didn't have command. He's just inconsistent with it, like a lot of young pitchers. Hopefully he'll figure it out with the help he's got and will continue to get."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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The Ravens said all the right things after they thoroughly spanked the Pittsburgh Steelers. They said that it's only one game and they've got 15 more. (True) They said the Steelers are a great team and they will be back.(True) They said they still have a lot of things they can improve on going into their first road game at Tennessee. (True).

Nobody wanted to say that they really, really enjoyed putting a complete beatdown on their chief rival and wiping away the memory of last year's second-half collapse in the playoffs.

It wouldn't have been the end of the world if they had lost the game and they didn't punch their ticket to the playoffs by winning it. But they did exorcise some demons and they did store up a big, giant acorn in heaven by getting the first one against the Steelers by a very lopsided score.

And the Steelers felt it big-time.

"We got whipped in every facet of the game,'' said Steelers safety Ryan Clark. "They were the more physical team...the more aggressive team. They were the team more technically sound. They were the better football team. They made tackles. They were much more physical than we were."

Pretty much sums it up.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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It's not even the fourth quarter, and I'm already taking it all back. This is the biggest game of the season for the Ravens, who are manhandling the Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. Who would have imagined that the season opener would be so lopsided? Joe Flacco has been superb. Ray Rice has been terrific. The young tight ends have made a big difference. And, I think most importantly, the offensive line looked like the real thing.

Now, we can stop all that talk about Flacco never beating Ben Roethlisberger and the Ravens can move into Week 2 at Tennessee with some serious swagger. Can't wait to see where they are in the next ESPN Power Rankings. I'm guessing No. 3.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I'm pretty sure we're all in agreement that we would rather have the games between the Ravens and Steelers take place later in the season, but nobody will be complaining if the Ravens make good on the oddsmakers opinion that they are three points better than the Steelers.

Of course, that basically accounts for the home-field advantage and there has been enough change in the Ravens roster to make it impossible to predict what might happen today. These games are almost always decided by three points or so, but I'm guessing there will be some air between these teams today. It's the opener and just about anything can happen.

I have to take issue with the notion that this is a must-win. Of course, any head-to-head matchup with your top divisional rival is extremely important, particularly because of the prevalence of tiebreaker situations at the end of the regular season, but there are 15 games to go after this and too much can happen -- to both teams -- to put any special significance on this particular matchup between them. If anything, this might be the one situation where you could make the opposite case.

Of course, if the Ravens win -- my prediction is Ravens, 19-16 -- I'll start printing Super Bowl tickets right after the game.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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If you doubt the Orioles really care at this point, just check out the replay of Nick Markakis leveling Francisco Cervelli at home plate in the seventh inning. Cervelli held the throw and Markakis was out, but it was Cervelli who had trouble getting up.

Pretty sure the Yankees don't appreciate that, since they've got a pennant race to win and the Orioles are playing for pride right now, but I'm guessing that play confirmed everything manager Buck Showalter thought about Markakis.

“It’s a baseball play,'' Showalter said. "He’s sitting there with the ball in front of the plate. People have done the same thing to Matt. It’s a baseball play, a great play. Great relay and great throw from center field. We probably need to a little better job of reading that ball off the bat so it’s not close.

"Let’s keep in mind the challenges of what’s gone on here the last 48 hours. To come out and play a game with that intensity and knowing how much it means to the Yankees, and for our guys to play on the same level of intensity, I’m pretty proud of them. A lot of guys, at 4-1, 3-0, might have had thoughts of getting through customs in Toronto. But our guys have a lot of pride and I’m proud of them.”

Thought there might be some fallout, but there wasn't much, When Matt Wieters struck out to end the inning without the Orioles scoring the tying run, Cervelli fist-pumped his way back to the dugout like it was the World Series.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Chris Davis was asked on Thursday what he was thinking when he went to the plate on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium with a chance to tie an O’s record with six strikeouts in an extra-inning game.

“I was thinking, ‘Don’t strike out,’” Davis said with a smile. “Obviously you don’t want to laugh or make jokes about something like that, but it was just at a point where you just think…what do I have to do? Obviously, we’re in a close game, so it’s one of those things where you just have to keep battling. What else can you do?”

Davis quickly went down 0-2 in the count and everybody was pretty sure that he was going to tie Sam Horn for the O’s dubious single-game strikeout mark. The Yankees fans knew what was going on and were chanting “We want six! We want six!” but he hit a sharp one-hopper to second base to keep his name out of the record book.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Red Sox postseason hero and former Oriole Curt Schilling stopped by the O's clubhouse before Tuesday night's rainout. He was traded to the Orioles along with Brady Anderson in the July 30, 1988 deal that sent Mike Boddicker to Boston.

Anderson also was in the house, so it was great to see them together. Hard to believe it's been more than 23 years since that deal. Even harder to believe that Anderson still looks pretty much the same as he did then. He and Jim Palmer probably have oil paintings hanging in a closet somewhere getting old.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Now that my career as a motorsports writer has grinded to a halt, I'm headed to New York for the three-game series between the Orioles and Yankees, which begins with an afternoon game on Monday.

Once again, we'll all be focused on Brian Matusz, who will be trying to snap a string of five straight starts in which he has surrendered at least six runs. He really needs to put something together soon so that he can go home with some confidence.

Maybe this is the place to do it, since he has pitched very well against the Yankees in the Bronx.

Just a heads up: For the most part, I'll be posting on the Orioles Insider blog over the next few days.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Since I don't have a clue about marketing, I'm trying to figure out just why certain entities jump on board to sponsor these racing teams. One of the big-name partners of Dale Coyne Racing is The Boy Scouts of America. I was a Boy Scout (for about a month until I found out they didn't go camping with the Girl Scouts), but I don't remember there being a merit badge for open-wheel racing.

Totally understand why the National Guard is a sponsor for J.R. Hildebrand. It's probably a great recruiting tool. I hear the speed limits in Iraq are seldom enforced.

If you pay attention to this kind of thing, you'll notice that Honda is named on just about every car and every driver. That's because every engine in the race is built by Honda, but that's won't be the case next year, when the Indy Car engines will be supplied by Honda, Chevrolet and Lotus.

Here's another random cellphone photo, showing James Jakes being pushed out of the paddock in preparation for the big race.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Baltimore Grand Prix
        

Obviously, I already have an affinity for Australian Indy car driver Will Power, who qualified first for tomorrow's Grand Prix and clearly deserves a place in my Odd Name Hall of Fame. He won the pole for the seventh time this year, so he's certainly no stranger to open-wheel race fans and he should have been honored sooner.

He's no Dick Trickle, of course. In fact, he's not really even Will Power. Outside the United States, he's usually identified as William Power, but everybody calls him Will over here, and it sounded pretty good as the track announcer called his final lap on Saturday. He nipped Graham Rahal to win the Firestone Fast Six.

While we're on the subject of strange names, which obviously is very dear to my heart, Power's hometown is Toowoomba, Australia, which also is quite a mouthful.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore Grand Prix
        

Clearly, I have stepped outside the box to cover the Baltimore Grand Prix and I'm pretty stoked to see some open-wheel. OK, who am I kidding. I'm pretty stoked to see Danica Patrick, since I've always liked fast women.

The weather didn't completely cooperate during the Indy Lights qualifying this morning. There was a brief rainstorm that gave the event that spongy Baltimore feel we all love so much and a threat of lightning that prompted race officials to close some raised walkways, but the qualifying went on as scheduled.

It was pretty cool watching the Lights cars speed down Pratt Street, so I've included this cheesy cell phone photo to give you a taste of what it's like for the fans lining the track.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore Grand Prix