I get pretty fired up when my team is insulted, slandered, or just downright disrespected. That’s part of being a fan to me. You defend your team at nearly every turn, even if it’s going against the majority at times. The level I reached on Thursday night in defending the Orioles is one I’m not sure I’d been to before.
If you haven’t been living under a rock over the past six months, you are well-versed in the debate or feud or whatever you want to call it between the Orioles, Ravens, MLB and NFL over last Thursday’s scheduling matter. I wrote about this with a little more depth Thursday morning for MASN: http://www.masnsports.com/orioles_buzz/2013/09/andrew-stetka-baltimores-inferiority-complex-is-showing-again.html
The Ravens were forced to open their season against the Broncos in Denver. In case you missed it, the Orioles did as good of a job covering Denver receivers as the Ravens did. But if you ask a number of NFL writers, executives and fans, the O’s might as well have been on the field in Denver because they were just as much to blame for the Ravens getting stomped as the football team itself.
One of these geniuses decided to spread blatant lies and PR spin my way via Twitter. And why shouldn’t he? After all, it was the NFL’s public relations man himself, Brian McCarthy. I pressed McCarthy on why the Orioles were to blame for the NFL sending the Ravens on the road. I received several responses from him, one of which stated that the league was “not happy” that they had to “move the game.”
The thing is, they didn’t. Everyone would’ve been happy if the game was played on Wednesday. Everyone would’ve been happy except for the NFL, because they wouldn’t have made as much money from ad revenue.
The Oriole-bashing didn’t stop there. Greg Aiello from the league office, Albert Breer of the NFL Network, former NFL player Ross Tucker of the NBC Sports Network and even NBC’s Al Michaels all took pot shots at the O’s throughout the night.
The Orioles even confirmed yesterday that an intern from the NFL’s offices took the time to call the press box at Camden Yards on Thursday night to inquire about the attendance at the game. Is the NFL mounting some sort of “I Told You So” defense because the O’s only drew around 17,000 to the game against the last-place White Sox? Perhaps they will use some of the “43,000” fans that attended the Keith Urban concert at the Inner Harbor as their witness. That number is in quotations because it’s completely fabricated and unbelievable. The NFL made it up. Just like it’s made up a number of other lies to attack a baseball team for no apparent reason.
I’m tired of all of this. I’m sick of defending the baseball team against opponents that aren’t even on the same field or in the same game as them. If you are an Orioles fan that isn’t a Ravens fan, I feel your pain. If you are a Ravens fan that isn’t an Orioles fan and has been defending the actions of the NFL, get a clue about what is real and what is not. If you are a fan of both teams and are still trying to back the NFL on this matter, get your head out of your rear and stop picking favorites between your two teams. Instead, realize that you don’t have to play favorites. You don’t have to like one team more than the other. You can root for both teams and stop contributing to the ongoing battle between the two franchises. And you should.
In terms of actual baseball games that were played over the past week, it actually is tough to defend some of what the Orioles did. The O’s went 3-37 with runners in scoring position in the four-game series with the White Sox. Talk about squandering opportunities. Despite the struggles with the bats, the Orioles did what they had to do in winning three out of the four games. You can get greedy and want a sweep, but you can never guarantee one even against a team as bad as the White Sox (especially in a four-game series). The losses like Sunday’s where the opportunity was there will stand out for obvious reasons, but they aren’t any worse in reality than a 10-0 defeat.
The two stellar performances from Miguel Gonzalez and Scott Feldman were not only needed, but hopefully a glimpse into what we can see down the final three weeks of the season. It was a long time coming for both. It’s all hands on deck at this point.
And yes, that’s it. There’s three weeks before the postseason. A total of 20 more games, all against AL East teams.
This week will prove extremely important for the Orioles for obvious reasons. If the O’s can’t get at least two wins against the Yankees, you will start to see the writing on the wall. These are the last four against New York and there won’t be another chance to knock them down a peg while lifting the playoff hopes. The Birds will also have to take advantage of a trip up to Rogers Centre to face the Blue Jays. There are only six more chances to play a team with a losing record and three of them come this weekend in Toronto. At this point, “crunch time” is an understatement.
I’ll put it this way for you. The Los Angeles Dodgers could have the NL West clinched by the end of the week. They have a magic number of 10 and play three games against the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks this week. The Atlanta Braves are in the same boat in attempting to clinch the NL East. The magic number there is just nine.
It’s getting to be that time where “X’s” are placed next to a city in the standings.
Orioles Player of the Week:
Miguel Gonzalez (P): If ever the Orioles were desperate for Miguel Gonzalez to step up and make a big start, it was last week. Gonzalez held the White Sox to four singles and a walk over seven innings to pick up his first win in seven starts. Gonzalez went the whole month of August without a victory, but bounced back nicely. It’s something the O’s will need from him down the stretch if they are to play in October.
American League Player of the Week:
TOR- Esmil Rogers (P): The Blue Jays got a pair of great performances out of Rogers this past week. He totaled 14 innings and allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out nine. The Jays picked up wins in both of his outings.
National League Player of the Week:
PIT- Andrew McCutchen (OF): The front-runner for the NL MVP showed why last week by posting a .450/.577/.850 slash line while hitting two homers. After four straight losses, Pittsburgh is still searching for that 82nd win which would clinch its first winning season since 1992. As an O’s fan, I can relate.
Be sure to tune in for my weekly appearance on The Coach’s Buzz on CBS Sports Radio 1300 tonight at 7:15 pm. You can also now view some more of my thoughts on the Orioles at MASNSports.com every Thursday where I will guest blog throughout the rest of the season.
Follow me on Twitter @AStetka.
2 Responses
Re: O’s vs. Ravens: well put. I’m one of those Orioles-but-not-Ravens fans and as I’ve been tweeting throughout, the spin by the NFL has been ridiculous. It’s also proven their power, though, as the media bought into it hook, line and sinker. This probably will blow over soon, but it’s a shame that the Orioles were blamed from all quarters under grossly false pretenses.
Re: O’s vs. Ravens: well put. I’m one of those Orioles-but-not-Ravens fans and as I’ve been tweeting throughout, the spin by the NFL has been ridiculous. It’s also proven their power, though, as the media bought into it hook, line and sinker.