I realize that this is only the first two weeks of the season, but the O's are looking pretty damn good. You might be saying that it's way too early to tell, but based on the Orioles' performance in the past 7 or 8 years, I think it's safe to say that we Orioles fans have to strike while the iron is hot and proclaim our team's greatness while they're still over .500.

If the Yankees' or the Sox's pitching staff falls apart, I think the O's do have a shot at the Wild Card. Stop laughing. Solid young pitchers (Lopez, Cabrera, DuBose, Bedard, Chen), solid young outfielders (Matos, Bigbie, Gibbons), and some serious offensive power in the middle of the lineup (the middle of the lineup goes like this: Mora, Tejada, Sosa, Palmeiro, Javy Lopez).

Unfortunately, when they inevitably trail off and end up 10 games behind the 2nd place team in the AL East, I don't have a curse to blame it on. But I can still curse out that little fucker that reached into Tony Tarasco's glove in the 1996 playoffs and gave Jeter a homerun. Which I do and most likely will.

Until then, let's go O's!

i've always liked the O's, i hope they do well. actually, the AL east could be kind of intereresting this year if the O's keep it up and if the improved blue jays keep it up too.

The Jays are in the same boat. I think the Jays have better pitching because they have a couple of proven veterans to go with their good youngsters, but they don't have the power in the middle of the lineup. I've been saying the same thing about the Jays since before the season started... if one of those teams struggles, the Jays can take advantage because they have a really good team. No one seems to be on my side of this argument, but I have confidence.

You forgot Roberts. That guy has insane talent. I'm not sold on their outfield or the old power guys, but they've got two good 8th/9th inning guys too. Maybe the Yankees will send you Matsui for B.J. Ryan at the deadline?

Sorry, the Jays are in the same boat as the Royals...there's definitely some young talent, but way too many questions. You guys need Joe Carter back

I'm not sure we could afford to lose Ryan.

And yes, I completely neglected the infield. Palmeiro/Gibbons, Roberts, Tejada, and Mora. Not too shabby.

Their outfield has a lot of potential, I think. I'm impressed by Matos and Bigbie, and even Gibbons (when he's out there). The weaknesses are Surhoff and Sosa because of age, and, in the case of the latter, lack of any actual fielding talent. But you know all about Sosa.

It's nice to think that your team isn't alone at the bottom, but the Jays are FAR better than the Royals.
Lots of questions, but at least they have a lot of talent. Halliday is one of the best, Lilly is great. Chacin has already proven himself, Towers and Bush have pitched well so far. The bullpen is a question mark, but they have some great young pitchers to help Batista. On offense, Wells has played terribly so far and they have been dominant. Hinske should improve over last year, Koskie and Hillenbrand should be at least as good as last year. Hudson will be a star within the next couple of years and Russ Adams is a solid young shortstop. They have a good player to cover every position plus they have a lot of depth.

I don't know...I just see a lot of them (e.g. Chacin, Hillenbrand) overperforming right now. I mean, do you really think Hillenbrand will hit .362 all year?

Whoops

No. Do you really think Wells will hit .167 all year?

I went to the O's win over the Yanks today. What a great game. Grand salami from the best SS in the majors.

After watching the O's win 5 of 6 from those Bronx Bastards, it defintely seems like we have some hope (finally) this year. Brian Roberts is off to an unbelievable start. Tejada is an RBI machine (he's at 18 and leading the league again). Melvin Mora is getting better and better at third (he made a great barehanded play today) plus he's starting to hit the crap out of the ball. We can count on 30 homers and 100 RBI's from Javy and Sosa. Where did Bruce Chen come from? There's a ton of upside right now for the O's.

The big question: will the pitching hold up? If you ask me, Ponson is the key to the O's success. If he gets going along with Bedard, Lopez, and Chen, the O's have the Wild Card easily.

Did you forget what division they're in?

Take it easy there. Nothing comes easy in the American League East.

I didn't forget what division they're in. I said Wild Card, not division title.

I really think that if their pitching is decent, they can make the playoffs. Their offense is just too damn good.

Of course, I'm biased since I'm a die hard fan and I'm probably getting ahead of myself. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm eating crow come August.

I think we're due though

To get the wild card they're going to have to be better than Boston AND New York. If either of those teams has bad pitching, it could potentially happen. My odds are on the favorites though.

Fuckin' Phillies! Sorry to hijack this thread, but that was an awesome finish... the Phils scored 2 in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Braves and take the series... Danny Kolb blows and I love those fuckin Phils

I do feel bad for Kolb, though. Yeah, he shouldn't have walked two and made a throwing error, but it's not like he got pounded before he was taken out of the game (unless you count home plate )

I dont think the O's pitching will last down the stretch. Especially Ponson. He keeps blowing games for you guys, and Angelos keeps him around.

Great offense.
Very good bullpen.
Good defense.

Chen , Lopez, Cabrera, Bedard. Could be good.
Ponson. (Maybe he will drink less, and eat less.)

O's can go as far as the starting pitching and lack of injury will take them.