Noah, looks like the Cards found their bats today. Big win in a shootout with the Nats. Fortunately for the Nats, the Braves lost too. :rolleyes2: -- Al
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Been so focused on the Nats and O's that I just noticed that the red hot Athletics (14-2 over last 16 games), have closed to within 3 games of the Rangers and are lead team in the wild card. We have 3 official title races going in the AL again and a pretty good wild card race with 5 teams involved. The NL title races are a bit more stretched out but there is a decent wild card scramble with 4 teams involved. Should be a pretty good last 30 games. -- Al
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Yeah, that's great about the division title and wild card races going on, but my question is do any of the fans in Tampa, Baltimore, Oakland and Atlanta know their teams are involved? Any highlights I see at any of the above mentioned teams playing at home show basically friends and family in the stands; last night the wild card leading A's played in front of about 20,000 fans, that's embarassing to be honest.
If your team is in the division title/wild card race, the least you can do as a fan is show up to the games. The last place Red Sox are drawing more fans than any of the above mentioned teams.................
Excellent point, George. It is depressing to watch the O's, in the middle of a pennant race for the first time in ages, play in front of such small crowds. The O's had a 4 game series against the division leading White Sox last week, in which the O's won 3 of 4. Two good teams in the thick of the races, and the O's could only put 47,000 fans in the stands, TOTAL, over the 4 games. Very unimpressive. Granted, the games were all weeknight games, but an average of under 12,000 fans is terrible. During those 4 days, MLB played 52 total games. Baltimore was outdrawn by EVERY other game during that stretch, except for one Detroit @ KC game, where Baltimore outdrew them by 74 fans. What an absolute disgrace and Angelos (O's owner) has no one but himself to blame. He has driven many die-hard fans away and it is going to take time to get them back. There are other factors, but the lousy on-field product for so many years has caused damage that won't recover in one season, winning or not. The O's are 23rd out of 30 ML teams in overall attendance, and, even worse, are 26th in percentage of filled seats at 54.8% of capacity, beating out only Cleveland, Houston, and Seattle. They will still hit 2 million in attendance if they can maintain their season average of 24,921, but that is a big if, given the Chicago series. -- Al
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Warrior
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Understood about fans being driven away by an owner and his attitude, we had the same thing here in Boston with the Bruins, the owner drove away alot of hard core fans.
Winning cures a lot and they've all come back, they play to sellouts every night, winning the cup two years ago helps for sure.
All I can say to fans who walk away due to the owner; it's your loss.....................
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Well I tip my cap to the Orioles, they are a botched double play ball yesterday away from being tied for first place with the Yankees, two back is still a great position to be in with the Yankees this week traveling to Tampa and then to Baltimore, the O's may very well be in first place this time next week.
Needless to say they are a solid team, specifically up the middle and the back end of their bullpen, they are a legit threat this post season.
Happy for you Al and specifically Sammy, who's been the eternal optimist on the Orioles these past few years; just goes to show sticking with your team pays off at some point.
Now tell the good folks of Baltimore to show up next weekend and cheer on the O's...............
Needless to say they are a solid team, specifically up the middle and the back end of their bullpen, they are a legit threat this post season.
Happy for you Al and specifically Sammy, who's been the eternal optimist on the Orioles these past few years; just goes to show sticking with your team pays off at some point.
Now tell the good folks of Baltimore to show up next weekend and cheer on the O's...............
Thanks, George.^&grin The O's just won't cave. It is really remarlable considering that they are doing it with a real mish-mash of a starting pitching staff. The bull-pen has really held them together. I really like their chances with the pen being so good. The O's have made close to 200 roster moves this season. Just unreal. -- Al
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Orioles remind me some of the Padres a couple of years ago: in it until the end but they were playing over their head and it caught up with them. If I had to pick the most likely contenders for the wild card, it would probably be the As, Tigers and TB. Just don't think the Orioles will be able to hang on. Angels should be in it but too many teams to jump over.
Nats won #82 today, which is a new record for the team since moving to DC, and their first winning season. Back to 30 games over .500 and the best record in MLB. Have recovered nicely from their 5 game losing streak by winning 5 of last 6. Still have the 6.5 game lead over the Braves with 28 to go. -- Al
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Thanks for the comments George, believe me if I didn't live 2,000 miles away I would be in those stands for sure!!! I remember the sell-outs at Camden Yards not long ago even during the middle of a week, I really can't figure out why the fans have not returned sooner, this has been a great year from the start and I really thought by now the stands would start to fill up??
but now after taking the Yanks down and hopefully a good series in Toronto will bring the good folks of the Baltimore area back, I know this weekend series with the evil Yanks will be a tough ticket, I just hope we have more Orange/black then pin strips in the stands...Sammy
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Agreed, the 1988 Mets were a great team.............
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Just to show you money does not buy pennants; at this stage of the season, 4 of the top 6 payrolls are not making the playoffs and the top spender (Yankees) is in a life and death struggle with two teams whos combined payroll does not exceed theirs.
Of the bottom six payrolls in baseball, three of those teams have a very good chance at making the playoffs.
Lesson learned Red Sox and Phillies; throwing dumptrucks full of money at players over the age of 30 does not work, drafting and developing young talent does................
Of the bottom six payrolls in baseball, three of those teams have a very good chance at making the playoffs.
Lesson learned Red Sox and Phillies; throwing dumptrucks full of money at players over the age of 30 does not work, drafting and developing young talent does................
Ain't that the truth!^&grin O's up 11-0 in the 8th. Pretty sure the bullpen can hold that, so it's up to the Yanks to make up 3 runs. Things look good for the O's. -- Al
Hey Michael! Wake up! :tongue: -- Al
Got to hand it to Buck and the O's. Six weeks ago the O's were 10+ games behind the Yanks, and their starting pitching was a disaster. The O's blew up the rotation, sent 3 starters to the minors and brought up 3 new guys. Those 3 new guys have been spectacular. Tillman is 7-2 in 11 starts; Gonzalez is 6-3 in 10 starts; tonight's winner, Britton, is 5-1 in 9 starts. Not bad, 18-6 in 30 starts. The 3 guys that were demoted were 12-27 in 54 starts. What a turn around. Anyone who doesn't think pitching is the most important aspect in winning just needs to study this year's O's, or the Washington Nationals. :wink2:^&cool -- Al
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