| Power Rankings |
| Date | Ranking | Previous |
| 09/02/2008 | 21 | 20 |
| 2-11 in their past 13 ... Remind me again why the Orioles felt it was so important to hang onto Kevin Millar and Aubrey Huff at the trading deadline ... Journeyman pitchers who react to being yanked from the game by flipping the ball to the manager and storming off, as Fernando Cabrera did last week, deserve a stern punch to the throat and a job behind the counter at Arby's. |
| 08/26/2008 | 20 | 16 |
| Did you realize Aubrey Huff ranks second in the majors in extra-base hits? Me neither. ... Daniel Cabrera can't pitch. He can't. It's that simple. ... For whatever little it's worth, there's a simmering feud between the Orioles organization and Terry Francona over the way George Sherrill was used during the All-Star Game. Yup. |
| 08/19/2008 | 16 | 19 |
| It says here that Baltimore's 60-64 record in the Bauer-tough AL is a more impressive feat than Florida's 64-61 mark in the willowy, frail NL, especially when you factor in the run differentials. The Marlins are at minus-31, while the Orioles are at plus-3. |
| 08/12/2008 | 19 | 19 |
| Finishing only three or four games under .500 with this ragtag collection of talent would be quite the achievement, akin to making a coherent movie from an Ethan Hawke script. |
| 08/05/2008 | 19 | 20 |
| Now as before the trade deadline, George Sherrill's numbers scream "above-average middle reliever" rather than "B.J. Ryan, but with a decidedly non-intimidating sports name." ... Actual lead from the AP story on the Orioles/Mariners game Friday night: "Garrett Olson tried something new Friday night, wearing a titanium-laced necklace for the first time." And some say that American sports journalism is a dying art. ... Jeremy Guthrie doesn't miss a lot of bats -– that's the cool way to say "strikeouts are not his forté" nowadays -– but he's quietly throwing better than 80 percent of the starters in the AL. |
| 07/29/2008 | 20 | 21 |
| They actually won on a Sunday! Hugs and high-fives all around. ... The Orioles continue to hit the ball better than anyone has expected -– what the hell got into Melvin Mora at the All-Star break? -– but their pitching has fallen off a cliff. Until Sunday, no Baltimore starting pitcher had gone six innings since July 18. ... Adam Jones, and particularly his quick-whip bat, is starting to give me the same tingly feeling I got when introduced to perky Alicia St. John back in ninth grade. |
| 07/22/2008 | 21 | 17 |
| If your answer at shortstop is Juan Castro (36 years old, lifetime .602 OPS), you're clearly asking the wrong question ... The Orioles' Sunday losing streak has now reached a near-impossible 15 games. If nothing else, such continued futility should provide terrific recruitment fodder for whoever's organizing the team's weekly religious services. |
| 07/09/2008 | 17 | 16 |
| Adam Loewen's latest misfortune is frustrating, even if he wasn't going to be a factor in the rotation this season. He has to be considered more suspect than prospect now. Save for an injury-hit pitching staff, they have done an admirable job in the first half. |
| 07/01/2008 | 16 | 15 |
| A real good bullpen gets a boost from the return of pitching prospect Adam Loewen, whose future is in the rotation but he will finish out the year as a reliever. His presence there could allow the O's to deal from the depth of their relief staff at the trade deadline -- when everyone needs help in that spot. |
| 06/24/2008 | 15 | 13 |
| The best bullpen in baseball (3.18 ERA) has really bailed out a suspect rotation. A career resurgence of Aubrey Huff has really helped, too. Wonder what he thinks of Baltimore now? Oh, and how about what Erik Bedard thinks of it? |
