The Orioles will go to the post-season when Nate McCouth's career is resurrected.
Wait!
For those of you just starting to pay attention to the Orioles, how many players on that team could you name a week ago? A day ago? Today??!!!
A lineup sporting Endy Chavez, Nate McClouth, Mark Reynolds, Jim Thome (sorry, Jim) AND Joe Saunders on the mound? C'mon, get real.
So all they do is chase the Yankees down to the last day of the season, then go into Arlington and do a Texas hold 'em on a powerful lineup to advance to another showdown with New York.
A manager's role is frequently overrated, in my humble opinion, but not when it comes to this team. Buck Showalter should get the Manager of the Decade award now.
The fact remains, this is not a frightening lineup. One of their best players, Nick Markakis, has been on the sidelines for a month. Chris Davis has been in the majors for five years and doesn't really have a spot except DH, which he yielded to Thome. Davis slammed 33 home runs this year, nearly half his career total of 77. Adam Jones is a very fine player and they have some decent pitchers sprinkled about. Jim Johnson saved 9 games in 2011 and 51 this year. He has 71 saves for six years of service. Still, when you look at the auto- and semi-automatic outs in this lineup you have to believe they are on a magic carpet ride.
Where will it end? Haven't a clue.
1 comment:
I disagree with you about the manager's role. I think that it is quite important to have the best formation and exploit the best attributes of each player.
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