Sports in Stilettos

Well helllllllooooooo New Favorite Oriole.

Forget UT’s QB with the tacky back tattoo, J. J. Hardy is way, way, hotter. Seriously. Scorching.

I admit I haven’t been the biggest fan of Yahoo! Sports, but they sure won me over with this photo.

(via MLB - Photo Gallery - Yahoo! Sports)

Don’t mess with the man behind the stunna shades.

That would be O’s manager Buck Showalter, who endeared himself to Baltimore fans last season when he steered the team to a 34-23 record after taking over in 2010 - and he’s on track to win over even more of the O’s faithful with some recent comments he made in Men’s Journal.

ESPN.com reports the skipper called out New York Yankee Derek Jeter for not standing in the batters’ box and Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein for mistaking money for baseball smarts.

Showalter was reportedly quoted saying: “I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll. You got Carl Crawford ‘cause you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt. It’s great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying, ‘How the hell are they beating us?’”

Later he said maybe he should’ve toned it down. I think maybe it’s perfect just the way it was.

While his remarks might not go over so well with the big guns in the AL East, I’m guessing I’m not the only O’s fan who likes Showalter just a little bit more now. After all, nothing says Baltimore like crabcakes, beer, and a chip on your shoulder, right?

Besides, Baltimore fans have suffered long enough. It’s way past time for us to start doling out some butt-whippings. Am I right, or am I right, Baltimore?

Anyone else super duper mega maybe a little too excited for this year?

(Photo via Buck Showalter - baltimoresun.com)

J.J. Hardy is, hands-down, my new favorite Oriole. Or my favorite new Oriole. Works either way.

He’s made some great plays at shortstop this year and he’s real good-looking, even though sometimes his jersey looks too big on him and makes him seem like he’s 12. Whatever. He’s freakin adorable.

Too bad he’s on the DL now. Thumbs down for strained obliques. Two thumbs and a big toe down for 2-3 weeks out.

I’m really looking forward to seeing J.J. play in person this season; too bad it looks like that’s on hold for at least a few more weeks.

Wishing him the best for a speedy recovery!

Goooooood morning, you good-looking man.

Thanks for last night, by the way. Pretty awesome.

(Also, thanks for getting rid of that travesty you called a ‘stache. Seriously, THANK YOU.)

Photos via Google Images.

Zach Britton Will Be Fine

Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s O’s-Twins game, I am not the least bit concerned about Zach Britton. Judging from some callers into the Baltimore sports stations today, a number of fans are but it is way, way too early for that.

Let’s be real. He may have been the best pitcher in spring training, but he’s still a baby. And it’s still April. He had one bad game. Realistically, he’s gonna have more. It’s a long season and with a little luck (he’s already got the talent) he’ll have a long career with the O’s.

So, calm down, O’s fans. He’ll bounce back. It might not happen tonight, although it’s totally cool with me if it does, but Britton will be fine. Maybe even great. Just stop overanalyzing the kid and let him do his job.

UPDATE: ZB was totally fine. See? Yall need to just trust. And while you’re at it, lay off Derrek Lee for a minute, too. So he’s not hitting too much. It’s still April. He missed a lot of spring training. Yeah, they brought him in to boost the offense but I’m at least as entertained by his Inspector Gadget arms over on first base. Seriously, anyone can hit a home run, but can anyone streeeeeetch and get big outs while doing a full split? I think not.

Zach Britton For The Win!

After this weekend’s losses to the Yankees, I was a little nervous about how the O’s would fare with the Red Sox in town. The Sox were on a five-game hot streak after a dismal start to the season, while the O’s had reverted back to that familiar spot at the bottom of the AL East despite a shockingly strong early run.

I wondered where the team would go from there. Things were not looking up and in baseball, unfortunately, even when you’re at the bottom, you can still fall further behind. (So optimistic, right? Welcome to the side effects of thirteen straight losing seasons.)

So, what next?

Well, in terms of the rotation, that would be Zach Britton.

And thank goodness for that.

In the midst of my doom-and-gloom-fest over the Orioles’ recent uninspired play (15-3 is real bad, y’all), I totally forgot about their rookie who dominated spring training and has since accounted for almost half the team’s wins so far this season.

Britton gave up just one hit en route to becoming the first rookie in the club’s entire history to get four wins in April. You know, no big deal.

Sure, he probably had more opportunities to get to four wins than other rookies in the past, but still, four wins out of five starts in his first season in the majors - when he’s not even supposed to be here yet - is pretty good. Ok, really good. If Brian Matusz wasn’t injured, Britton probably wouldn’t have gotten four starts in April, let alone four wins. Crazy how things work out, huh?

ZB has been nothing short of impressive all season, even when things aren’t going his way on the field. I got a little nervous when he loaded the bases in the top fifth, more because of how vulnerable the kid looked out there than because the bases were loaded. He might not pitch like a rookie often, but for just a few minutes, when pitching coach Mark Connor went out for a pep talk, he sure looked like one. He got out of the inning just fine - no harm, no foul, no more runs.

The dude might be the youngest pitcher on staff, but he could teach some people about slithering out of sticky situations. Not saying the rest of the O’s pitchers can’t pitch their way through adverse situations, but sometimes they can’t. Or they don’t. Either way, ZB’s made a case for himself as one of the best the Orioles have almost every time he’s been on the mound.

Before the season, everyone talked about Zach Britton as one of the future stars of the O’s pitching staff. It looks like the future came a little sooner than the front office expected, but based on what he’s done for the team so far, it’s a darn good thing it did.

Don’t Bet on Brad Bergesen

I’m scheduled to make my first appearance at Camden Yards tonight, provided the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms stay away, and I’m not as excited as I should be.

I haven’t been to an O’s home game in…well, in awhile, which is a whole lot longer than I’d like. I’ve been super pumped about the O’s since February. I’ve been saving my favorite of the two new O’s shirts I bought for weeks, just waiting for this occasion.

Of course, I wasn’t planning for this occasion to feature Brad Bergesen (0-3) against Jon Lester (2-1 in 2011, 6-0 all-time at Camden Yards).

I don’t think we’re winning this one.

Don’t get me wrong. I hope the O’s win three in a row and sweep the Sox. I hope I’m there to see it. I’m just saying that if someone asked for a show of hands from everyone who thought Baltimore was going to beat Boston tomorrow, my hand would not go up.

Bergesen vs. Lester? Not exactly an even match-up. I like Bergy, but he’s had to pitch opposite Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia, and now Lester, and I don’t think he can hang with those guys at this point.

I was confident Bergy was going to lose his first start of the season, ending the O’s season-opening win streak. I was right.

I picked him to lose last weekend against the damn Yankees and Sabathia. Right again, unfortunately.

Maybe I should switch things up and pick him to win for once, get some good vibes headed his way, but I’m being realistic. Bergy’s fifth in the rotation for a reason, and it hasn’t helped that the (bad) luck of the draw has thrown him on the mound opposite some great pitchers. To be the best, you have to beat the best, but I’d be happy if he could just beat the mediocre, or even the not very good, and I’m not sure that’s where the Red Sox are at this point.

So I’ll continue doubting Bergy until he proves me wrong. It’ll happen someday, maybe even today if I’m lucky. I just wouldn’t bet on it.

Week in Review: Sports/Life 5/31-6/3

My computer’s been on the fritz (bad news for a blogger!) so here’s everything I would’ve posted if I had the time/energy/wireless access:

It started at the beach. As all weeks should, oui?

Then Brian Matusz started his first game of the season which was cool. And Nick Markakis started his first game of his professional career at first base, which was a little strange but whatever. (Anyone else miss D.Lee and his Stretch Armstrong arms??)

The Bruins played, and I was feeling just awful enough to skip the gym and watch the whole game. LOVE playoff beards. Seriously and for real. DO NOT LOVE Ryan Kesler. (Remember this Kesler love? It is gone…at least temporarily because he’s just too pretty to hate forever. Sorry B’s.)

I was just starting to feel better about the loss and better in general and then I left work and found my sideview mirror dangling next to my car. My car, somehow, seems to have escaped unscathed. My mirror has been Macgyvered on with duct tape. It’s a good look, but man, it’s not so practical when I need to merge!

Instead of being stressy about it, I’m getting amped for the French Open. I have a weird thing for major tennis tournaments and a totally understandable thing for majorly hot tennis players (really, just Nadal. But can ya blame me??)

I just scrolled through my blog and it was almost entirely Adam McQuaid/Boston Bruins.

Whaaaaaat? Too much (yep, that’s right, I said it).

Time to switch it up.

I haven’t posted much about the O’s recently because they haven’t done very much for me lately, and I don’t want Sports in Stilettos to be a depressing pity party.

They managed to eke out a game in Toronto today to avoid getting swept in the series up north, and it was a home run from my favorite Oriole, Mr. JJ Hardy, that got the O’s on the board first today.

I was a Hardy fan before the season started, just ‘cuz he’s a cutie pie, but I’ve been really impressed with the way he’s played overall this season. I know he’s had his struggles in the past, so it’s great to see him bounce back and become a valuable contributor. I was very glad to hear the O’s were working to get him an extension; I certainly want to see him stick around for awhile!

I’m a few days behind with these thanks to spotty internet on vacation, but since there’s not a lot of good news coming out of Camden Yards these days, I’m going to keep talking about it.

First, shortstop JJ Hardy got a 3-year, $22 million contract extension over the weekend (pending his physical). YAY! He’s been pretty solid in the field and at the plate all year (when he wasn’t injured) and I am beyond excited he’ll be in Baltimore a few more seasons.

Second, right fielder Nick Markakis got his 1,000th hit on Friday! He reached the milestone in six seasons, quicker than Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken, Jr. Six seasons? At the risk of sounding like someone’s grandmother, I remember the days of watching Markakis playing in the minors with the Aberdeen Ironbirds. It’s been pretty exciting to watch him develop over the course of his career; I just wish he’d been able to reach 1,000 hits on a successful Baltimore team. Here’s hoping the O’s go on an upswing by the time he gets to 2,000

Third, the O’s finally - FINALLY - finally won a game. Two games, actually. After a nine-game losing streak, they managed to beat the Cleveland Indians in Baltimore Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. (I was originally supposed to be at the game on Sunday - of course they won when I wasn’t there!)

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