Monday, May 14, 2007

Wounded birds

A couple of friends have a gentleman's bet going each year (I don't think either of them has actually paid up) regarding which team will win more games, the Red Sox or Orioles.

I think they started wagering around 1997, when Baltimore won the AL East title, finishing 20 games ahead of Boston. That's back when O's owner Peter Angelos was spending some big-time money, and Baltimore had a cast that included Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, Mike Mussina, Jimmy Key (one of the great underrated pitchers of his generation) and Rafael "I have never used steroids. Period." Palmeiro.

The Sox, on the other hand, had in their starting lineup the likes of Jeff Frye, Tim Naehring, Wil Cordero, Darren Bragg, Troy O'Leary and Reggie Jefferson, with Tim Wakefield (already 30 years old way back then) anchoring the starting rotation.

Since then, of course, the Red Sox fan has won the bet each and every year, and it hasn't been close. Baltimore has escaped the cellar by the grace of Tampa Bay, and the only thing keeping Boston from the division title has been the Yankees' even bigger payroll. (Sox fans were ecstatic at their team winning the '04 Series, but New York finished first that season.)

Today's standings show Baltimore in second place, percentage points ahead of New York but a full eight games behind Boston. The margin would have been seven if not for the disaster that befell the O's yesterday.

Baltimore was cruising along with a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, threatening to hand seven-game winner Josh Beckett his first defeat. But catcher Ramon Hernandez dropped a popup for what should have been the second out, and O's manager Sam Perlozzo decided to make a pitching change, putting in Danys Baez to face one of the game's most dangerous hitters, David Ortiz.

Baez has bounced around a bit since making the AL All-Star team as Tampa Bay's representative two years ago. He had been somewhat effective for Baltimore in the early going this season, but Big Papi popped a double off Baez to produce Boston's first run.

After Wily Mo Pena smacked a single, Perlozzo brought on closer Chris Ray, who has been somewhat erratic. He walked the first two hitters he faced to force in a run, then Jason Varitek doubled. A couple of batters later, Julio Lugo's single and Ray's error brought in the winning run.

Interestingly, the franchise that now is in Baltimore holds the record for blowing the largest ninth-inning lead. On Opening Day 1901, the Milwaukee Brewers held a 13-4 lead against Detroit, but the Tigers scored 10 runs to win the game. Milwaukee moved prior to 1902 to become the St. Louis Browns, which in turn moved to Baltimore in 1954.

At any rate, Boston's victory served as one more sad day for my buddy the long-suffering Orioles fan. Of course, he's not as long-suffering as my buddies the Pirates fans ...


Trivia question 31: The Orioles have won three World Series since arriving from St. Louis. Which years?

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