The Oriole Way ... almost

[Vertigo O]

The Oriole Way ... pitching, defense and three-run homers.

Baltimore is trying to get back to HOF manager Earl Weaver's recipe for success.

Pitching - Baltimore as a team owns the best ERA in the AL (2.79) and 2nd only to their not-quite-as-surprising Beltway brethren (2.41) in all of baseball.

Three-run homer - The O's are also 3rd in the AL and all MLB in HRs with 35.

Defense - And finally the almost. The Orioles have also compiled the 3rd most errors in baseball with 25 behind the Giants (13-14) and Padres (9-19).

I don't know if they can keep it up, but it's been a fun first-month-plus.

1989 had the Why Not? Orioles.

So after 23 years, I think the time has come to ask once again - Why not?

Reason #1 - The pitching returns to Earth.

Can these arms keep this up. Probably not. Can they come close? I'm hopeful. If any of them falter or go down to injury can the pitching depth in the minors pick up where they left off. That depth includes Zach Britton (15-day DL), Chris Tillman, Brad Bergeson, Jason Berken, Tsuyoshi Wada (15-day DL), Joel Pineiro.

Also, if the Orioles find a way to be playing meaningful games in September/October, will they look to the phenom Dylan Bundy to come out of the bullpen, ala David Price for the Rays in 2008. There is rumblings of that being a possibility.

My thoughts: There's no way they keep THIS pace up. But I also think that we have one of the best game-callers behind the plate in Matt Wieters who's a student of the game and really knows how to handle a pitching staff. And nothing gets by him and even the best base-stealers are hesitant about swiping bags. He's the best catcher, all-around, in the game RIGHT NOW. I also thing that once Britton is healthy, Hunter or Matusz gets bumped from the rotation. Which will make the staff as a whole stronger.

Reason #2 - All those errors are gonna start costing them games.

The fielding gaffes are very worrisome. Any teams out there got a 3Bman available so the O's can make Reynolds a full-time DH? Please?

Reason #3 - Injuries

As with any team looking to contend, staying healthy over the course of such a long season is always an obstacle.

[yankeebiscuitfan]

I'd say: Enjoy it as long as it lasts. Maybe they will reach a play off spot.

So far they have been one of the pleasant surprises. Another pleasant surprise is that the baseball powerhouses aren't doing great at the moment. I sure wish that the Yankees did better, but I think it is good for baseball to see that other teams are doing well. The game will stay interesting in this way.

And don't we all root for the underdog?

[Vertigo O]

5/6/12 - Stellar bullpen, 3-run HR in the 17th the game winner.

And yeah, YBF, I am and will enjoy it for as long as I can. ... guardedly

[Old Sweater]

It is hard to beat Earl Weaver ball if you have the gunners. Also the Orioles just ain't a running club this year, 8 stolen bases to go with 9 caught stealing.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/te...-batting.shtml

The O's extra base taken percentage is 41% compared to the LgAvg of 40%, so they are doing okay running the bases. What makes this even better is that the O's only have 12 outs on the bases so they aren't donating outs much.

You do have to run the bases aggressive but as far as the SB goes, leave that to the table setters without much pop. Rays are without Longoria now because of a SB attempt. His value with the bat is so much greater then a stolen base.