So, last night the Orioles went down to their sixth loss in a row.
Last night also exposed something that has been troubling me about this
team. The largest problem, in my humble opinion, is
fundamentals.
For one, the Orioles have been called for eight (8) balks
thus far this season, leading the major leagues in that infamous
statistic. I can see one or two balks being called early in the
season, but it is now practically July. There is absolutely no
excuse for pitchers to be called for a balk this late in the
season.
I will admit that there does appear to be an effort to call the balk
more this season–last week in Toronto the Orioles were called for two
balks. Also, the tendency to call balks on certain pitchers is
certainly something opposing managers will exploit. Last night, Steve Kline
had his third balk called against him this season, and the most he has
had since the first one he had in his rookie season of 1997. Two
of these balks obviously have cost the O’s a game–last night’s and a
game against the Kansas City Royals in May. The balk is
admittedly a judgement call on the part of the umpire, and I am not too
happy that Jason “Juice” Giambi was also protesting the balk.
Clearly, some instruction was had at the hand of Joe Torre and his
minions.
My point with the balk is that at this point in the season, all of the
starting pitchers and relievers should know what constitutes a
balk. There is no excuse to still have the call made against you
this late in the season. Maybe Ray Miller needs to have an extra
session with his entire staff to train them on what is and is not a
balk. At this point, it cannot hurt to make sure the Orioles
staff knows a balk.
The other fundamental that cost the Orioles the game was the inability for Jorge Julio
to cover first base on a double-play. It is the top of the 8th
inning, and the Yankees have runners on first and second with no outs
and Ruben Sierra at the plate. Sierra hits a ground ball to Rafael Palmeiro
who begins the relay for the double play–the play would have been
scored 6-3-1. Julio, however, was late to cover first base, and
Sierra was safe. Everyone knows in baseball that you never give
the opposing teams an extra out, and that is exactly what he did by not
covering the bag. If he makes that play, Bernie Williams is the last out of the inning and Jorge Posada never scores. The O’s come to bat with the score tied in the bottom of the inning.
Fundamentals are the difference in winning ball games. When you
are on a losing streak like this, fundamentals play a big role in
extending or ending the streak. With all the good that has
happened thus far this year, why does it seem like the O’s are suddenly
looking like their recent past?
I have not given up on the Orioles just yet. There are some
things that need to be done on the pitching and hitting front. In
a post later today, I will talk about what I think the Orioles need to
do to get back to their winning ways.
