With the usual apologies to former Baltimore Sun Columnist John Eisenberg, here is another submission of my version of ‘Fact & Opinion.’
Fact:
The last Oriole to win the Rookie of the Year, was Gregg Olson in 1989.
Opinion:
In Nolan Reimold, Brad Bergesen, and Matt Wieters, the O’s have 3 players that will compete for the award in 2009.
Fact:
Koji Uehara is out of action for at least the next two months.
In 12 starts, Uehara is 2-4, with a 4.05 era. 66.2 innings pitched, 71 hits, 12 walks, 48 k’s. Uehara held hitters to a .742 OPS against.
Opinion:
I believe Uehara has made his last start for the O’s. I hope he can return in September, and get innings out of the bullpen.
This was a successful signing for the organization. It accomplished the goal of introducing the Oriole name to Asia, and bought some additional development time in the Minors for the O’s prospects.
Fact:
Brad Bergesen has 7 consecutive starts of at-least 6 innings of work. He has Grounder to Fly-ball ratio of 1.17, and is holding hitters to a .672 OPS against.
Overall, he has pitched 91.2 innings, and allowed 87 hits, 19 walks, and 46 k’s.
Opinion:
He has made 14 starts at this point in the Majors, so there are plenty of scouting-reports on him. Instead of tailing-off and looking more like a long-relief option, he appears to be getting stronger. He works quick, uses his defense, and does not hurt himself with walks. If he can continue to allow less than a hit per IP, and get grounders at his current-rate; he can succeed despite his limited K-rate.
At a minimum, he is looking like a good back of the rotation option.
Fact:
In 2009, Chris Ray has pitched 20.1 innings, and has allowed 34 hits, 11 walks, 4 homers, with 23 k’s. His era is 9.74.
Opinion:
I believe in Ray’s arm and believe that 20 innings is just 20 innings. It should not be a surprise to anyone if Ray goes on a run the next 20 innings and is very productive. That said, while I believe in Ray’s arm, I am not sure I believe he has the mental-makeup to be a consistently effective closer.
Addressing the closer position is imperative for this team in the near-term (heading into 2010). Sherrill was an All-Star in 2008, and has overall been strong again in 2009. 17 saves in 20 opportunities, 31 k’s in 32.1 innings, with only 25 hits allowed. Sherrill can close for a lot of teams in baseball, but I still think the O’s need a more intimidating presence to be able to compete annually in the AL East. By mid-2010 the best internal option might be David Hernandez.
Fact:
Lance Stephenson announced this week that he is heading to Cincinnati for college. University of MD Head Coach Gary Williams announced on local-radio that he had not been recruiting Stephenson (Williams did not use Stephenson’s name) for 2 months, despite Stephenson and his father stating in early-June that they had been in recent and constant contact.
Opinion:
I am in the tank for Gary Williams, who I believe belongs in the Hall-of-Fame, but I think MD handled this wrong. MD only loses Neal, and with the additions of Williams and Padgett have addressed their most glaring need; the Terps are going to be good. However, Stephenson’s athleticism from the 2 or 3, could prove to have been the difference between a Sweet 16 team, and a Final Four team. After a long-recruitment, MD clearly led for Stephenson, before Vasquez returned and the Terps bailed-out.
Fact:
In my interview with the Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy, Mr.DeCourcy stated that Gary Williams might be the best pure coach in College Basketball.
Opinion:
Gary can greatly add to his already impressive legacy, if the 2009-10 team meets their ceiling and MD adds to the 2010 recruiting class of Stoglin, and Ross.
Fact:
Coach Friedgen stated he might want to stay on as MD’s Head-coach for up to 5 more years if the team performs.
Opinion:
This will have to be clarified for recruits. All recruits will know that if Coach Friedgen is not there, that Coach Franklin will be; but it is still difficult to recruit players when there is an air of uncertainty.
Fact:
Vince Carter was traded to Orlando, Shaq was traded to Cleveland, Richard Jefferson was traded to San Antonio, the Wizards obtained Foye and Miller …. Hedo Turkoglu seems likely to leave the Magic, Gordon left the Bulls, and Ariza might leave LA.
Opinion:
I have had only passing interest in the NBA for years, but it feels as if 2009-10 should have a number of story-lines worth-watching. I think San Antonio has quietly gotten stronger with Jefferson, and their 2009 draft-picks Blair, and (Baltimore native) Jack McClinton.
I really like Portland’s talent, but am not sure their youth is ready to take the next step. Beyond a return to health for Agent 0 (Gilbert Arenas) the Wizards need one more big to join their front-line. If they can afford him under the salary-cap, I think former Terp Chris Wilcox would be a good addition.
Fact:
66,000 plus tickets have been sold for the Chelsea vs AC Milan game in Baltimore July 24th. The Baltimore Blast’s average attendance this past year was just over 7,500 a game.
Opinion:
There is obviously a soccer-loving audience here in Baltimore.
Could the City decide to pursue a Major League Soccer team? Perhaps Ed Hale, who was unable to have the arena built in Canton as he wanted…. could lead the initiative to build a dual soccer/lax stadium in his Canton complex?
Partnering with the local lacrosse community would be a great start.Check out this link to the new Soccer only stadium that is being built in New York.http://www.redbullarena.us/
Fact:
Mr. Jay Brodie, President of the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) said in December 2008 that a decision to select one of the four development proposals was expected in mid-2009.
Opinion:
I understand what the economy has done to commercial construction, but we have to move-forward as a City and see this product through to completion.
There is nothing more important going on in Baltimore than this project.
A new Arena, will bring in a more regular level of National level concerts… concerts that currently go to Washington, and skip Baltimore.A new Arena, will allow Baltimore to compete for NCAA Tournament games, along with conference tournaments (ACC, Big East, CAA, MEAC)…A new Arena, combined with the Hilton Convention Hotel, will allow the City to compete for the largest Conventions…. Which bring-in huge amounts of spending money to the City.
A new Arena, on the existing site, will help the Hippodrome, and the rest of the Westside development that is going on with the University of Maryland’s bio-tech park.
You would also expect a new Arena would allow the City to obtain an Arena football team… have a better home for the Blast…. And with 18,500 seats, and the corresponding skyboxes… the City could eventually be a viable home for an existing NBA/NHL team that wants to move… really, that would depend on the Corporate community of Baltimore, and how willing/able they were to fill the skyboxes.
Fact:
There are numerous media outlets for Baltimore Sports fans.
Opinion:
As a Baltimore Sports fan, you currently have sports-radio full-time on 4 stations: 1570, 1370, 105.7, and 1300. You also have Peter Schmuck and WBAL 1090 at-night.
MASN, and Comcast Sportsnet have emerged and are prominent, with MASN being the leading local-site in the on-line Alexa.com rankings.
Orioles Hangout has 8,100 members and an Alexa rating that competes with MASN and WNST. Ravens 24×7 has 1,800 members and Ravens Insider (Scout) has thousands more.
Terp sites such as the Terrapin Times (Rivals), InsideMDSports (ESPN), and the Turtle Sports Report (Scout) also each have large audiences.
Despite the pressures existing from their corporate parents with the Tribune company, The Baltimore Sun has greatly improved their on-line coverage.
Blogs such as Baltimore Sports and Life and countless others have sprung-up and added to the noise.
As a fan, I like that there are multiple voices available. The constant discussion from a variety of sources, seems to avoid ‘group-think’ and leads to more analytical opinions.
However, I believe a saturation point is coming, where consolidation might occur out of necessity.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.