Last Saturday marked the third consecutive year that I've attended Orioles FanFest. Why would I do such a thing, wondered nobody in particular? It's simple. Winter is long and cold and gray. It's about to get a lot duller, what with football season drawing to a close. I get a momentary respite from that baseball-lacking void that runs from November into February, and I allow myself to push aside just a bit of the abundant cynicism that allows me to cope with being an O's fan. In January, everyone is healthy, in shape, and 100% focused on having their best year ever...well, except for Brian Roberts, I guess. But I'll admit to being just a little encouraged by things like Mark Reynolds being 15 pounds lighter and determined to improve his comical defensive play at third base. I'm willing to believe that Brady Anderson has the magic formula to fix Brian Matusz when the new assistant GM asserts that Matusz is "
like a different human".
Most of all, I get pumped up when I hear how strong Jake Arrieta feels after having large bone chips removed from his elbow. Given that Arrieta had knowingly been pitching with the chips for years, there's a good possibility that we've never seen what he can do at full strength. He acknowledges that anything beyond five innings was a physical struggle for him, and that this shouldn't be the case any longer.
Look, my football team just missed a spot in the Super Bowl in harrowing fashion. I need a little happy juice today.
I hear you man. I was at FanFest myself and asked Showalter about the leadoff situation and he seemed pretty upbeat about the possibilities, from BRob coming back strong to having Andino hit leadoff or teaching one of the younger guys in Adams, Flaherty, or Antonelli. As a side note, Troy Patton was definitely the friendliest player I encountered as well. I brought my ticket from the Sept. 26th game in which Patton picked up the win in relief and his face lit up when he recognized it. Apparently Josh Beckett was an idol of his, and getting the win against him was a wild experience according to Troy. Here's hoping for better things this season!
ReplyDeleteChris, that's a great story about Troy Patton. I'll definitely root for him big-time this year.
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