Baltimore Orioles Information
The 2007 season has been challenging for the Orioles. They are bouncing back after a not so stellar season, replacing Sam Perlozzo with Dave Trembley. The Yankees and Redsocks having an advantage in plays, market and Media, and competition is nearby with the Montreal Expos and Washington Nationals. Nevertheless, there is some hope that the close competition for fans will inspire the Oriole’s game. And apparently it has, with Miguel Tejada’s consecutive games-streak, And Aubrey Huff’s recorded his 1000th hit, and 200th double. Oriole stadium ticket buyers are getting a team that has won eight division titles, six American pennants and three world Championships.
Which
of the following two statements is true: The Baltimore Orioles have won three World Series championships in their franchise history
or The Baltimore Orioles have only made four playoff appearances
in the last 30 years. Actually, they’re both true (sorry
if you feel slightly cheated). These two statements wouldn’t
seem to fit together, but they both are true in the case of the
Baltimore Orioles, a team known more for their sputtering play
of late than of the fluid play of their World Series teams of the
late 1960s.
Lee Mazzilli is ready to lead the Baltimore Orioles in 2004, even though it will
be his first career experience as a manager. Mazzilli played 14 seasons of professional
baseball and followed that up with four seasons as the New York Yankees first
base and outfield coach. In each of those seasons, Mazzilli’s Yankees won
the American League East and the Orioles finished fourth. Mazzilli has proven
he’s a winner, and the Orioles hope it will transfer over into their organization.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards was opened in 1992, and played host to the all-star
game the following year. It was in that year’s home run derby that Ken
Griffey Jr hit the first and only ball to make contact with the warehouse located
beyond the right field bleachers, a shot estimated at 530 feet. The field itself
is also asymmetrical with a 410 measurement to dead center. The stadium took
33 months to build and only cost the city $110 million, a fraction of what it
would cost today.
The Orioles made many moves in the off-season with possibly none bigger than
the addition of all-star shortstop Miguel Tejada from the Oakland Athletics.
Tejada, like Jason Giambi the year before him, was simply asking for more money
than the organization was able to pay him, so he made the jump to the Orioles.
Another move the O’s made was the acquisition of all-star catcher Javy
Lopez from the Braves. Lopez had a career year last season, hitting 43 homers
and batting in 109 runs in 129 games while still keeping a .328 average. Adding
Tejada and Lopez to a young lineup with players like Melvin Mora and Jay Gibbons
means that the Orioles should be a fun team to watch through the summer.
The Oriole starting rotation will be younger than usual in 2004 (average age
of less than 26 years old), but they’ll still have Sidney Ponson to lead
them this season. Ponson led the staff with 14 wins last season, but was traded
to the San Francisco Giants late in the year to help their playoff push. In the
off-season, Ponson resigned with the Orioles. Daniel Cabrera, Eric DuBose, Erik
Bedard, and Kurt Ainsworth are the expected starting pitchers to fill out the
staff in 2004. Closer Jorge Julio will finish ball games for the O’s, who
expect to be contending with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox in the later
months of the season.