Soul Searching

[85Knight]

I wasn't being sly or tricky. The rest of the sentence wasn't necessary to add because it didn't change the sentiment of what you said you were trying to accomplish. You said your post was designed to bait naysayers. that's not unique, and I'm not calling you out for it. there are several posters here who do the same thing. I was letting you know that it was disappointing to me after I had put a lot of thought into my reply. I thought you wanted to have an honest discussion about how the O's are performing at this point in the season. that wasn't the case.

lesson learned by me.

You can't be serious. If you can't understand what I wrote then I don't know what to tell you. How you've managed to twist around everything I said and even ommit parts of my sentences is comical. Dude, reading is fundamental. I don't know what else to say.

[weird-O]

You can't be serious. If you can't understand what I wrote then I don't know what to tell you. How you've managed to twist around everything I said and even ommit parts of my sentences is comical. Dude, reading is fundamental. I don't know what else to say.

there's no misunderstanding at all. I totally understood what you posted. shall I quote you again? will that help? I can't imagine why you're backing down from your comment now

[85Knight]

there's no misunderstanding at all. I totally understood what you posted. shall I quote you again? will that help? I can't imagine why you're backing down from your comment now

Ok, let's have reading 101.

This is what I said, "I posted this knowing that I would get the "I told you so" from the people who have given up on this organization but that's not who I was directing this at."

This is how you dissected what I said, "I posted this knowing that I would get the "I told you so" from the people who have given up on this organization."

Those are completely opposite statements. "But that's not who I was directing this at" means that I did not write this to get a response from the naysayers even though I knew they would chime in anyway. The thread was directed at people who actually believed this team could play better than they have. It's pretty simple if you actually read it.

And to your other point, if you read my o.p. I was comparing the Orioles over the last 6 weeks to how they started off and to their career numbers. I don't know how that got past you.

I've explained this as simply as I can.

[weird-O]

Ok, let's have reading 101.

This is what I said, "I posted this knowing that I would get the "I told you so" from the people who have given up on this organization but that's not who I was directing this at."

This is how you dissected what I said, "I posted this knowing that I would get the "I told you so" from the people who have given up on this organization."

Those are completely opposite statements. "But that's not who I was directing this at" means that I did not write this to get a response from the naysayers even though I knew they would chime in anyway. The thread was directed at people who actually believed this team could play better than they have. It's pretty simple if you actually read it.

oh...see that makes much more sense when it's removed from the rest of your post. as part of your larger post, it left me with the impression that you were looking forward to the naysayers arguing with you. couple that with the fact that you received 2 significant replies (one expressing the naysayer stance, and mine) you decided to reply to the post that seemed to offer more of an opportunity to do some arguing, even though that wasn't your intended audience.

all these things together left me with the wrong impression. I'm very happy I was wrong.

And to your other point, if you read my o.p. I was comparing the Orioles over the last 6 weeks to how they started off and to their carreer numbers. I don't know how that got past you.

I've explained this as simply as I can.

I understand that. I see where you're comparing to both sets of numbers. but stats accomplished over an 8 week period are not usually the best yardstick. any player or team can have an incredibly good or bad 8 weeks. that includes the greats of the game and the Jeff Manto types. so I didn't focus on the first 2 months of the season, because most everyone knew they were playing over their head.

were you expecting the O's to play at that clip for the whole season?

[85Knight]

oh...see that makes much more sense when it's removed from the rest of your post. as part of your larger post, it left me with the impression that you were looking forward to the naysayers arguing with you. couple that with the fact that you received 2 significant replies (one expressing the naysayer stance, and mine) you decided to reply to the post that seemed to offer more of an opportunity to do some arguing, even though that wasn't your intended audience.

all these things together left me with the wrong impression. I'm very happy I was wrong.



I understand that. I see where you're comparing to both sets of numbers. but stats accomplished over an 8 week period are not usually the best yardstick. any player or team can have an incredibly good or bad 8 weeks. that includes the greats of the game and the Jeff Manto types. so I didn't focus on the first 2 months of the season, because most everyone knew they were playing over their head.

were you expecting the O's to play at that clip for the whole season?

The only player who started off hot was Adam Jones and do you believe he was playing over his head? Who else could you even consider was playing over their head? This has been a light hitting team all season except for the home runs. The bullpen is the sole reason this team won early unless you want to throw in the suprising starts of Hammel and Chen.

The problem is that after the Pirates series things got even worse. Schmuck chimed in on this, read his article. Check out the other thread that talks about how bad we we started hitting after the Pirates series. Look at everybody's numbers right now. They're way below their career avgs. This team can play better than they did the last 6 weeks. It's pretty obvious. Will they? Now that's the million dollar question.

[weird-O]

The only player who started off hot was Adam Jones and do you believe he was playing over his head? Who else could you even consider was playing over their head? This has been a light hitting team all season except for the home runs. The bullpen is the sole reason this team won early unless you want to throw in the suprising starts of Hammel and Chen.

The problem is that after the Pirates series things got even worse. Schmuck chimed in on this, read his article. Check out the other thread that talks about how bad we we started hitting after the Pirates series. Look at everybody's numbers right now. They're way below their career avgs. This team can play better than they did the last 6 weeks. It's pretty obvious. Will they? Now that's the million dollar question.

in this case, I was referring to the collective team and the winning %. in addition to the PB being so strong, the offense routinely got timely hits to come back if they were down a few runs (especially in the late innings). before I replonded to your first post, I looked up the career stats of some of the key players. I used Hardy as an example. it seems like he's having a bad year, but compared to his career stats (including last season, which was his best) he's keeping pace with his career production. Reynolds is an exception. he's killing the O's.

the results of April-May were a collective effort. Reimold was an impact leadoff hitter. then he was lost for the season. Davis was hitting very well, but then he bottomed out. he seems to be coming back up again. as I said before, he doesn't have a long enough track record to say he's doing better or worse than his career. he's doing worse than April-May, that's for sure.

top to bottom, the team was hitting. not all in the same game, but any batter in any given game could and was beating opposing pitching.

that's hard to quantify because it isn't a stat that can be as easily measured. for example, if you were to look at Andino's individual #s, they may look bad. what isn't as easily tracked is that his few hits may have come at important moments of the game. maybe he extended an inning or that sort of thing. when Reimold and Markakis went down, and Davis started slumping. there were more weaknesses. that put a bigger burden on guys like Betemit and Andino. add Pearce and Avery, and it's not hard to see why they stopped winning as often.

this team isn't filled with impact players. they won as a team. it's like your car's engine. when everything is in synch, it runs great. throw in a few misfired sparks from your plugs, and suddenly you're spuddering.

the short answer is, what this team accomplished in April-May defies stats. that's why I disagreed with you that you could track their success/failure by their individual numbers (both career and 2012).

[85Knight]

in this case, I was referring to the collective team and the winning %. in addition to the PB being so strong, the offense routinely got timely hits to come back if they were down a few runs (especially in the late innings). before I replonded to your first post, I looked up the career stats of some of the key players. I used Hardy as an example. it seems like he's having a bad year, but compared to his career stats (including last season, which was his best) he's keeping pace with his career production. Reynolds is an exception. he's killing the O's.

the results of April-May were a collective effort. Reimold was an impact leadoff hitter. then he was lost for the season. Davis was hitting very well, but then he bottomed out. he seems to be coming back up again. as I said before, he doesn't have a long enough track record to say he's doing better or worse than his career. he's doing worse than April-May, that's for sure.

top to bottom, the team was hitting. not all in the same game, but any batter in any given game could and was beating opposing pitching.

that's hard to quantify because it isn't a stat that can be as easily measured. for example, if you were to look at Andino's individual #s, they may look bad. what isn't as easily tracked is that his few hits may have come at important moments of the game. maybe he extended an inning or that sort of thing. when Reimold and Markakis went down, and Davis started slumping. there were more weaknesses. that put a bigger burden on guys like Betemit and Andino. add Pearce and Avery, and it's not hard to see why they stopped winning as often.

this team isn't filled with impact players. they won as a team. it's like your car's engine. when everything is in synch, it runs great. throw in a few misfired sparks from your plugs, and suddenly you're spuddering.

the short answer is, what this team accomplished in April-May defies stats. that's why I disagreed with you that you could track their success/failure by their individual numbers (both career and 2012).

You make some good points. I can agree that early on the total was greater than the sum of the parts. I think this was mainly because the strength of the team was an exceptional bullpen. What gave us a chance to win late was the fact that the bullpen kept us in games but I don't think that was a fluke or luck. I think that's just who we were and who we'll probably be all season.

None of that takes away from the fact that we went south though. We went from playing well to playing badly. I'd settle for some middle ground from this team. If we can do that we've got a shot at a winning season. Even though Markakis will help if we don't get more production from Hardy and Reynolds we're in trouble. We really need to hit better than .240 as a team to continue to win.

[weird-O]

You make some good points. I can agree that early on the total was greater than the sum of the parts. I think this was mainly because the strength of the team was an exceptional bullpen. What gave us a chance to win late was the fact that the bullpen kept us in games but I don't think that was a fluke or luck. I think that's just who we were and who we'll probably be all season.

None of that takes away from the fact that we went south though. We went from playing well to playing badly. I'd settle for some middle ground from this team. If we can do that we've got a shot at a winning season. Even though Markakis will help if we don't get more production from Hardy and Reynolds we're in trouble. We really need to hit better than .240 as a team to continue to win.

I totally agree. a problem I see with getting help, is that few teams are out of the hunt. there won't be an many sellers. the BP has been nothing short of great.

[kudzu]

I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not. Am I wrong for thinking that this team can play better than they finished? I think getting Markakis back is gonna be a big boost both offensively and defensively but some other players have got to pick it up.

My goal is a winning season which means we have to play 4 games under the rest of the way. I think we can if we only start living up to our career numbers.

I had previously thought that I had identified all the blind homers on this board.

Are you applying for membership ?

[85Knight]

I had previously thought that I had identified all the blind homers on this board.

Are you applying for membership ?

I take it you're a member of the Orioles naysayer and doomsdayer nation and that everyone else is a homer.

If having a little optimism and positivity around here makes me a homer then sign me up.

[kudzu]

I take it you're a member of the Orioles naysayer and doomsdayer nation and that everyone else is a homer.

Close enough.

Especially if the alternative is "The Orioles Are Freakin' Awesome ! They rule !"

[85Knight]

Close enough.

Especially if the alternative is "The Orioles Are Freakin' Awesome ! They rule !"

I forgot I was talking to a Nats fan so this discussion is pointless.

Enjoy your success while it lasts but I'd be a little cautious about downing someone else's team because you're not that far removed from being on the bottom and you haven't won anything yet.

[Softbank Orioles]

I forgot I was talking to a Nats fan so this discussion is pointless.

Enjoy your success while it lasts but I'd be a little cautious about downing someone else's team because you're not that far removed from being on the bottom and you haven't won anything yet.

More like...one trick pony who can only come up with one thing to post (groaningly unfunny Vlad jokes).