Trouble brewing in the Nat's bullpen as the closer, Soriano, has been on a downhill slide since the All-Star break and it is getting worse. He has 7 blown saves, 5 since the break, and 3 in his last 9 appearances. In his last 2 games he has blown a 2-run lead that lead to a 14 inning marathon (though the Nats eventually won) and last night he blew a 3-run lead that lead to an eventual loss in 11 innings. The end-game of a pennant race is NOT where you want your closer to meltdown but that is what the Nats are dealing with. The only reason this problem hasn't been more of a disaster is that the Nats have been fortunate enough to win most of the games Soriano is booting and the fact that Atlanta has not been able to close the gap. I hope Williams has the guts to replace Soriano. There are several options such as Clippard, Storen, or Thornton. At any rate, the closer position must be solidified before the playoffs. -- Al
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Bad weekend for the O's and Nats, so far. O's being shutdown by the Rays and the Nats being slapped around by the Phillies, again. Leads at 8.5 and 6 games, respectively. Wake up boys, still 20 or so games to go and it ain't over yet.{sm2} -- Al
Panzer ace
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In the West the Giants have been practically unbeatable. Great hitting and solid pitching at the right time. We are only 2 games out of first, it would great to avoid the wildcard.
I am still thinking it will be the Nats and Giants in the NLCS.
Warrior
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I'm pulling for the Giants, Cardinals, Tigers, Angels and Nationals in that order.
Giants for Jason, Cardinals for Gary (I know deep down you're a baseball fan), Tigers for Joe, Angels for Brad, Nationals for Al.
Any combination of those teams in the ALCS/NLCS/WS and I'm in; if not, I'm done.................love October baseball.
Giants for Jason, Cardinals for Gary (I know deep down you're a baseball fan), Tigers for Joe, Angels for Brad, Nationals for Al.
Any combination of those teams in the ALCS/NLCS/WS and I'm in; if not, I'm done.................love October baseball.
sammy719
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O's and Nats are where it's at! Pulling for a B/W corridor World Series.^&grin -- AlI'm pulling for the Orioles for Sammy!!...Sammy
jazzeum
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You can't be serious about worrying about the Orioles and Washington, particularly the Orioles. Yankees are not a good team and the Os are 7-3 in last 10. Yes, it's suppose it's possible for DC to blow a lead but these are not the Phillies, Mets, Red Sox or Braves. Those kind of el foldos are rare.
Warrior
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I'm pulling for the Orioles for Sammy!!
You're a good guy Sammy and a die hard Orioles fan, you've been positive here every spring despite the fact that for the most part, the Orioles have had two chances to win the division, none and none, so your loyalty has finally been rewarded.
That said; sorry, I don't care too much for the Orioles, it starts with their manager, he said some things when he took the job directed at the Red Sox that were pretty classless IMO. Not sure where that was coming from, maybe from his days as the manager of the Yankees.
And speaking of classless, that on field celebration the last game of the 2011 season when the Orioles knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs was bush league, way over the top. I still haven't forgotten that nonsense.
My American Legion baseball coach (and later my college coach) taught me you win with class, you lose with class; he was one of the most influential people in my life when I was younger.
The way a team conducts itself on the field is a reflection of the manager; a fish rots from the head down, which you should know, the fisherman that you are.
The ironic thing is in the early to mid 1970's, I loved the Orioles, that had great, great teams back in those days, plus Earl Weaver was a great manager, they were my second favorite AL team back in those days.
I still can't wrap my head around how they lost the WS to the Mets........................all of THAT said, good luck in the playoffs.
jazzeum
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How they lost to the Mets in 69? Easy. Mets were better team and Orioles were overconfident. On the first pitch of the game Buford led off the World Series with a HR off Tom Seaver as he rounded the bases, he told Bud Harrelson “You ain’t seen nothing yet”. Harrelson later said “First game, first pitch, you ain’t seen nothing yet either”. And how right he was.
Not so much worried as just naturally cautious and afraid that premature celebration will displease the Baseball Gods. Yes, those type of collapses are rare BUT I have witnessed them all and it stays in the back of my mind. I don't forsee any disaster, however, I will not uncross my fingers or step on any cracks until the clinch occurs.:wink2: -- Al
Still have nightmares over that streak of NY vs Baltimore championships (Mets over O's, Jets over Colts, Knicks over Bullets) in that 69/70 time frame. Never quite goes away. At any rate, it is why I can't pull for the Mets, Jets, or Knicks. Still like the Yankees when not against the O's, though. :wink2: -- Al
Good day for the B/W corridor, after a miserable Friday and Saturday. Both the O's and Nats won. The O's once again lead NYY by 9.5 games and have reduced their magic number to 12, with 20 games remaining. And didn't Cruz have a day? A pair of 2-run Hr's and a 3-run triple to drive in all of the O's runs in a 7-5 OT win. Can you say MVP? The Nats have a 7 game lead over Atlanta again, with a magic number of 14 and 21 games left. That magic number will change, or not, one way or the other, with the opening of the Atlanta series in DC starting tomorrow. Going to be a big series for the Nats and Atlanta. A Nats sweep (wishful thinking:redface2 or a series win, will leave the Braves just about DOA. Braves really have to have the sweep to realistically stay in the race. Not impossible given the Nats poor record against the Braves. We'll know by Wednesday evening.:wink2: -- Al
or a series win, will leave the Braves just about DOA. Braves really have to have the sweep to realistically stay in the race. Not impossible given the Nats poor record against the Braves. We'll know by Wednesday evening.:wink2: -- Al
sammy719
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Thanks for the luck George, well at least you liked the O's back in the day
and I do get the coach thing, as good/great as a manager Tony Larussia was I couldn't stand the guy and disliked who ever he coached, A's/Cards, he just always came across as "I'm better then you" type attitude, anyway getting ready for the Red Sox tommorow and hoping the O's can share a little luck with my Ravens as we sucked in the first half about as bad as a team can play...Sammy
Warrior
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Thanks for the luck George, well at least you liked the O's back in the day
Understood and yes, there is a lot of "I'm the smartest guy in the room" with Buck, which annoys me.
Don't feel bad about the Ravens in the first half as the Patriots laid a gigantic egg in the second half vs the Dolphins, outscored 23-0. Their offensive and defensive lines were just awful today.
A-W-F-U-L.
Panzer ace
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Thanks for the luck George, well at least you liked the O's back in the day
I am not a big Tony LaRussa fan. He is a pretty smug guy. However as a community/charity guy he is top notch. He did some great things in many Bay Area communities and not all of it was headline news.
Been a good 2 nights for the O's and Nats, both winning the first 2 games of their current series. At the risk of jinxing everything, I'm going out on a limb and saying the races in the AL East and NL East are finis. O's lead Toronto by 10 with 18 left to play and the Nats lead Atlanta by 9 with 19 to play except Atlanta is a little worse off than it seems because they are 10 down in the loss column and only have 17 games left to close the gap. Epic collapses, such as Oakland is facing, are the only things that will stop the O's and Nats from taking the East titles. Looks like the Angels have locked up the AL West, leading the fading A's by 8. Oakland has only gone 7-17 since August 13 and the downward trend is getting steeper, having won only 2 of their last 11. In fact, Oakland will be fortunate if they can even grab a wildcard spot the way they have been playing. The other title races are still open races, although it does look as if St. Loo has grabbed control of the NL Central. The best remaining race in the NL looks to be whether the Brewers or Pirates can get the last wildcard spot because it looks like LA and SF will both make the playoffs in the NL West. No way to call the AL Central or the wildcards in the AL right now. -- AlGood day for the B/W corridor, after a miserable Friday and Saturday. Both the O's and Nats won. The O's once again lead NYY by 9.5 games and have reduced their magic number to 12, with 20 games remaining. And didn't Cruz have a day? A pair of 2-run Hr's and a 3-run triple to drive in all of the O's runs in a 7-5 OT win. Can you say MVP? The Nats have a 7 game lead over Atlanta again, with a magic number of 14 and 21 games left. That magic number will change, or not, one way or the other, with the opening of the Atlanta series in DC starting tomorrow. Going to be a big series for the Nats and Atlanta. A Nats sweep (wishful thinking:redface2
maddadicus
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The best thing I can hope for is that Cruz GETS CAUGHT, we find out that Buck knew all along and is dismissed just before the playoffs
..That is how much I absolutely dislike Buck " the creep "Showallter. It seems that a number of current players also do not believe the PED is dead slogan. John Lackey and Manager Farrell think different also.. Since my Yankees are dead, time to pick out my teams to root against.:rolleyes2:.Michael