First-place Orioles at the all-star break
I see there is a photo Manny Machado in the most recent Sports Illustrated. Can’t wait to read the article on our first-place team in the AL East.
So it made me curious how did our great teams do in the past at the All-star break”? Our first World Champion team (1966) was in a good spot. The Frank Robinson-led Birds were 30 games over .500 and a full 8 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers.
Recall Frank won the triple crown in his first year with the Birds but he wasn’t running away with the title at the break. Brooks Robinson held the league mark in RBI’s with 70. And that was 14 ahead of Frank. F. Robby was also third in batting average and homers.
The World Champion Orioles of 1970 were also in first place at the all-star break. Again the Tigers were in second, this time, 6 games out. Boog Powell was in the league league in RBIs all of one more than the Twins Harmon Killebrew. Frank Robinson led the way in batting average as he was hitting .330.
And the 1983 World Champs from Baltimore? No, they were not in first place at the break. OK, pretty close as Baltimore trailed by a single game behind the Jays of Toronto. And league leaders? Eddie Murray was second in intentional walks. And second sacker, Rich Dauer, was also among the league leaders for bad news. He was hitting a whopping .205 which was fourth worst in the AL. He also ranked in the top three for worst slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Don’t worry, Dauer did better the rest of the way.
So the 2014 team is in first place. Why? They stole Nelson Cruz from Texas and he leads us with 28 homers and 74 RBIs. He’s hitting a robust .287. Adam Jones is having a typical strong year. He’s at .301 with 16 homers and 54 RBIs. Nick Markakis has been solid at .288 with 7 homers and 32 RBIs at the top of the lineup.
JJ Hardy hasn’t posted the power numbers but he’s strong defensively and is still hitting .280. We’ve had a surprise season from Steve Pearce. Chris Davis has been a disappointment but he’s still providing us with some power. Manny Machado has awakened lately and is hitting the ball well. The pitching staff has been helpful. Chris Tillman isn’t great but he battles. Kevin Gausman should be a valuable player coming down the stretch of the season. I love the one-two punch of Darren O’Day and Zach Britton. Both have been brilliant. Tommy Hunter didn’t grab the closer role but he’s been stellar as a long reliever. Go Birds.
