Break up the Orioles! As of last night, the Baltimorons owned the best record in the American League at 25-14. In the upside-down AL East, they trump Tampa, Toronto, the Yankees and the Red Sox.
If you hear Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young singing "we have all been here before," it's because Deja Vu isn't just a song*, it's the yellow birds' modus operandi. Check out this cheeky blog from April about hot starts at Camden Yards.
*The song came up on my mp3 player earlier this week -- and then it mysteriously played again. No kidding.
In summary, the "Sorryels" have scratched out roughly as many wins as losses in the first half of the season since 2001, and fallen apart thereafter. This very team went 34-20 under Buck Showalter to end the 2010 campaign, then stumbled through most of last season until a 22-16 finish. Counting that, they've Dr. Jekylled their last 77 games with a 47-30 record. But in a decade of futility, what goes up comes down.
Still, the current squad has a pack of underachievers who might finally be delivering. Outfielder Adam Jones and backstop Matt Wieters have lived up to potential so far with OPS of .931 and .851 respectively. A starting staff of four-star prospects has performed at a middling level, a dramatic improvement over previous years. That Brian Matusz has limited opponents to 11.5 hits and one home run per nine innings, for a 3-4, 5.71 record, is a moral victory ranking with Gettysburg compared to last year's combustion of 1-9, 10.69, allowing 14.7 hits and 3.3 big flies per nine.
So go ahead, believe in the Orioles at your own risk. Mostly, I believe in the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Blue Jays.
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