SoE (Megdal): It’s Time to Finally Believe in the Orioles

Primer’s own Mr. Megdal takes a break from his contractually obligated ball-busting of the Wilpons to point out that Serious You Guys, the Orioles really are a pretty solid team now:

BALTIMORE—A pair of diametrically opposed views exists about the Baltimore Orioles, 2012’s winner of 93 games and a playoff spot, off to another strong start in 2013.

Outside the Baltimore area, skeptics abound. Sure, the Orioles won 93 games, but their Pythagorean record—a measure of expected wins and losses based on runs scored and runs allowed—had them at 82 wins, barely breaking even. Then the Orioles did little this winter to add any talent. Thus came the belief that the Orioles are simply some kind of team of destiny, not talent, and not a real contender.

Or as ESPN’s Keith Law put it last September: “There’s literally nothing that the Orioles can do to convince me that they are a good team. They’re like the eighth best team in the American League.”

Well then.

But for a team living on destiny and despite the certainty of Keith Law, these Orioles are playing pretty well. This season, even after a pair of losses to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday and Wednesday, they are 23-17, just two games out of first place in the AL East, and tied for one of the wild card spots. And their underlying performance supports the record: their Pythagorean record is also 23-17.

Ask the Orioles, or many of their fans, whether they are still waiting for the bottom to drop from under this baseball season, and you’ll get a series of blank stares. The Orioles have played like contenders for 200 games now. Isn’t that enough?

Fangraphs - The Orioles and Holding Runners On: Showalter’s Gambit

More daring than the Ruy Lopez or the Caro-Kann Defense!

The Baltimore manager has his first baseman, Chris Davis, playing a few steps off the bag when holding runners. Not just the slow-of-foot — all runners, all the time. The situation doesn’t matter. According to Orioles broadcaster Gary Thorne, the practice began in spring training and has been in place for every game since the start of the season. [...]

Something else Showalter said — and what he wouldn’t say — is where the gamesmanship comes into play. “You create some unknown in the runners mind,” he admitted cagily.

Showalter took pains not to elaborate, but the psychology behind the strategy seems apparent. Much like Joe Maddon’s shifts can create questions in a hitter’s mind, not being held on in a standard fashion puts runners in unfamiliar territory. Can they afford to take a bigger lead? Pitchers can still throw over, which they’ve done this year without incident. If runners can get a jump, are they willing to challenge Matt Wieters‘ arm? The Gold Glove catcher has nabbed four out of five runners attempting to steal so far this season. Asked if Wieters’ defensive ability plays a big role in his strategy, Showalter withheld comment.

Hardballtalk: The NFL caves: the Ravens to open on the road, preserving the O’s-White Sox September 5 game

Baltimore Ravens     ✔ @Ravens

The #Ravens are going to open the 2013 season on the road on Thursday, Sept. 5 because of a scheduling conflict with the Orioles.

Ravens want O’s to move game to accomidate Home opener.

Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Biscotti said his team and the NFL are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the season opens at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 5, so it’s up to the Baltimore Orioles to give a little themselves.

“In fairness to Major League Baseball and the Angeloses, we’re trying to dump a pretty big problem on them and we’re asking them to make a lot of concessions that will benefit us and potentially harm them though it doesn’t necessarily harm them,” Bisciotti said, according to the newspaper. “The bottom line is if they wanted to do it, they would find a way to do it. From the Ravens and the NFL standpoint, we’ll do whatever we have to do in order to keep that tradition.”

OT-Superbowl: Kaepernick spurned Cubs to continue football career

Colin Kaepernick drew the attention of major league baseball scouts as a senior in high school in Turlock, Calif.

He could throw in the 90s and he had tossed two no-hitters. There were baseball scholarships and interest from some major league teams. The Chicago Cubs were particularly intrigued and interested enough to draft Kaepernick in the 43rd round of the 2009 amateur draft.

Figured the Superbowl should gets its own thread, and the regular football thread was getting large anyway. Also, this one is actually sorta baseball related as well.

ESPN: Orioles simultaneously extend Buck Showalter & Dan Duquette to 2018

This actually happened a couple of days ago, but strangely nobody submitted an article about it here.  Where’s the Orioles esprit de corp on Primer?

BALTIMORE—Buck Showalter was tired of hearing about his contract. Ever since the end of the most successful season in 14 years, the Baltimore Orioles manager was pestered about the contract.

Showalter would tell everyone that he had a deal for the 2013 season, and he had more job security than most American workers. He wasn’t worried.

Now, Showalter has more job security than almost any American worker including almost all his players, and so does the Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette.

On Wednesday, the Orioles announced extensions for both. Showalter’s is a five-year extension; Duquette’s a four-year one. They’ll be under contract through the 2018 season with the Orioles.

I must say, it represents quite the turnaround for Dan Duquette. Then again Karlmagnus would be happy to explain to you why he was the *true* architect of the Red Sox’ World Series victory in 2003.

Soccer Out of Context: The AL East

If baseball were to follow soccer, here’s a look at how the uniforms might appear.