Need a cohort

broderic on May 12, 2011

Just rolled in from a night at Camden Yards. Orioles take the second straight game from the Mariners. I did not wear my Ichiro jersey. I am a true homer. Only if Marge was there would I have. And tonight was a perfect night for some fun companionship.

With work being the way it has been with the layoffs and the fill in spots, your humble narrator had to lose one position and back fill another, stupid position, and he could use a nice game like this one.

On the ride in, I chatted with a gentleman who was just going to Pickle’s Pub and/or the game. I told him King Felix was pitching for the Mariners and that I had no hope for a win. Chris Tillman gonna pitch for the O’s and hope was non-existant. At least, I can watch the great Ichiro. You know he’s my second favorite.

I arrived early enough to catch the last half hour of the Mariner’s batting practice. Again I make the mistake of sitting in the bleachers in center-right. The weak hitting M’s only put 4 balls on the fly there and 3 or so on the bounce. I gave up on shagging balls and sat down and watched all the other dudes try and catch. An M’s fan kept yelling for a ball, but it ain’t happening if you don’t have tits.

I get a drink and then some nachos to begin the game. I’m down in my season tickets seats with a father and his young M’s fan. Guys are from Philadelphia. Go figure. Kid’s wearing the Ichiro shirt that I should’ve been wearing.

I yell to the ball girl. (Christen or Kirsten?) “First, foul ball give it to the Ichiro fan!” She smiles and nods. It doesn’t happen. I chatted with her in the bottom of the eighth. Maybe I’ll see her again the next time around.

Chris Tillman throws 200 pitches in the first 4 innings, but we are tied. Then all-star AJ comes through and drives in 2 runs on 4-4 evening. Ichiro gets thrown out by Matty Weit Weit. The legend of Bobby Andy doesn’t get going. Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds were out of the lineup. Felix Pie taking his place and making some plays.

It was a good night with the win. I drank some beer and forgot about work for a few hours. It’s the best thing and I wish some girl would come along.

I rode home on the light rail beaming chatted with an Orioles usher about his work — he was going to another job. Tough. My work? Also tough.

But at least the Orioles win.

Link of the Day [4.13.11]

broderic on April 13, 2011

Mancave? Fancave!

These dudes get the envious task to watch all MLB baseball games this season from a high tech apartment in New York City. I would’ve given it a big “meh,” if not for the Orioles fan, Ryan Wagner, being one of the dudes. I only found out from the Adam Jones and his tweets about his visit the other day. Since the Orioles are in NYC, I believe a couple of them have visited the place.

What a weird way to spend the season.

http://mlbfancave.mlb.com/fancave/

Is This Birdland?

broderic on April 9, 2011

April 8, 2011: Detroit Tigers

First season ticket game of the season.

We were in first. We won. We’re still in first.

But this photo says it all. Beer, food, buds, and baseball. The green field. The cool night.

Baseball is back.

Atop the American League East

broderic on April 4, 2011

3 and 0. That's the Orioles record as they go into Opening Day at Camden Yards. They are in first place. Of course, it's still only the first week, but it is still nice to say.It's hard to believe. We swept the Division champs, Tampa Bay, using awesome pitching and timely hitting. The starting pitchers all pitched well and the worst of the bunch, Zach Britton, has an ERA of 1.50. The other starters all have 0.00 ERA. That Britton, he sucks!The hitting wasn't what I was looking for though. They weren't as dynamic and powerful as I thought they would be. Hopefully, the bats will awake and be a force to reckon with.

78 is the number to beat

broderic on March 31, 2011

78That's my prediction of the number of Orioles wins this year. Sadly, that's not enough to break the decades long losing streak. Orioles fans are gonna have to resign themselves for another losing year, but that is a step up. Will next season be better or worse? Hope for the better.Last year I predicted 75 wins, but they only managed 66, and they were only lucky to reach that number. Thank, Buck! He livened up the team when he became manager at the end of July. Trembley and Samuel got the O's to a 32-73 record. Buck managed them to a 34-23 record. Hopefully, the team will play just as good for Buck for the full year as they had for a third.Can the Orioles win an extra 12 games to take 66 wins to 78? They had plenty of offseason moves to shore up their lineup and they're expecting their young arms to mature enough to face off the AL East. They'll need to score more runs and allow less. Will it be enough for 12 more wins?They built a starting lineup to score runs. Lots of mashers. But also a lot of strikeout kings. The young arms are home grown. Will they be better this year than last?Let's hope so.Play ball!

Link of the Day [2.09.11]

broderic on February 9, 2011

Today is addition day: 2+9=11! Just noticed. That isn't what today's link is about though.As yesterday's (or last night's) link took you to the game at which Ferris hooked school, hung out with Cameron and Sloane, masqueraded as Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago, and, most importantly, caught a ball at a Cubs-Braves game, today's link goes into the importance of why it was plain awesome of Ferris to catch a day game at Wrigley Field. (Man this sentence is a string of phrases that an editor could fix.)Baseball's 162 game schedule allows for a couple games a year to occur during a weekday afternoon. If you can do it, skip work or school and go down and support the local nine. It's a very fun way to spend an afternoon. Buy a hot dog. Drink a few beers. Heckle to opponent's left fielder. A bad day at a ball game is so much better than a day in a cubicle. I did it last year early in the miserable season of 2010. Watched the best game from the centerfield bleacher seats in Camden Yards as the Orioles took on the Mariners. Down several runs, the O's make the move with a Corey Patterson homer. Then they take the lead on Luke Scott's grand slam that barely cleared the wall. Alleged murderer, Alfredo Simon, called on to shut down the M's in the top of the ninth barely gets the save as the final out is recorded at the plate. That's baseball! And that was the most exciting 2010 game under the ill-fated Dave Trembley.http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/The-cultural-importance-of-Ferris-Bueller-s-Wrig?urn=mlb-181604&print=1

*Clang-Clang* *clap-clap*

broderic on January 14, 2011

Dear Kami-sama,

Please make sure that John Lackey and Josh Beckett continue to have subpar pitching performances in the upcoming season. Please make sure that Andy Petitte has truly retired, and if he hasn't ensure that he will not be the Andy Petitte that we all know and loathe. Please allow the Devil Rays to field a AAA level caliber team. Please allow Toronto to fall back behind the Orioles in the wild, wild AL East.

Please allow the Orioles to win some games in this tough division and to turn around their farm system so that 2012 is not El Apocalypto.

Thanks,
Orioles season ticket holder

Did I do that?

broderic on January 6, 2011

Joining Derek Lee, Mark Reynolds, and JJ Hardy in Camden Yards this upcoming baseball season is BrowserMetrics, your humble narrator. I'm just as excited for the upcoming season as the other guys. I just made the commitment by re-upping my season tickets. I'm almost in the same spot, but now 2 rows closer.Whaa?! I thought I wanted to be further back in order to catch more foul balls. But then they told me that I could sit two rows closer and all those plans went out the window. Maybe, sitting closer to the ball person will help me increase my chances of receiving a loose ball here and there. Or maybe Nick Markakis can throw one my way. Now how does this change my predicament of needing someone to come with? And how about when it is three or four people? Darn, I'm wondering if I can keep up as well…Any takers on games?