OK so they lost all 3 this weekend to Tampa to start the season, but the Orioles will play their home opener today against the Brewers.
In addition to it being opening day in B’more, there is also this added element that the Orioles’ starting pitcher will be hometown boy Bruce Zimmerman.
Bruce has been in the majors for a couple years now and is one of Orioles bright spots. Here’s hoping that with the Orioles moving the fences back in Camden, it will make it more of a pitchers’ ballpark (click here.) This should help out Bruce and the rest of their pitching staff who look like they are going to need all the help they can get. (Anyone else think that it’s a little odd that MLB clubs can just monkey around with their fences when they feel like doing so? Imagine an NFL team shortening their field to 95 yards.)
Back to the Orioles weekend play, of course most all teams look good when they play the Orioles. However, Tampa Bay really does look like they will be a solid team again this year. Along with the Red Sox and the Yankees, the AL East looks to be the toughest in MLB.
With Tampa’s continued success while competing against the Red Sox and Yanks, it makes me wonder what they are doing right that the Orioles are not. Every year Tampa finds and fields good, young players who perform well and even manage to reach post season play as they have the last 2 seasons (click here.) Why can’t the Orioles do likewise? Angelos is the usual answer, but somewhere along the line it seems that smart baseball people in the O’s organization could decipher what Tampa has figured out and apply it here.
Speaking of Bruce, his “baseball song” seems more than appropriate when talking about the O’s and thinking about their bygone glory days.