Kevin Millwood, 2010 Topps Update Series #US255

Right. So this card was supposed to be published yesterday, on the occasion of Kevin Millwood's 38th birthday. But my time management skills could use improvement in general, and that ain't getting any better around the holidays. Now I'm saying hello and goodbye and Merry Christmas, if you choose to celebrate it. I'm on my way to Charlotte in about seven hours, and I don't have any cards scanned for the rest of the week while I'm away. (See previous statement about time management skills and a personal lack thereof.) I will see you on Sunday or Monday, but until then you get a vacation from me as I get a vacation from everything else in my own life. Be good!

Kevin Millwood, 2011 Topps Heritage #203

Everyone who predicted that Kevin Millwood would pitch a no-hitter in 2012, take one step forward. Yeah, that's what I thought.

Okay, so it comes with a small caveat. The 37-year-old Mariners pitcher tossed six hitless innings against the Dodgers last night, and the score was still 0-0 when he took the mound to warm up in the top of the seventh. But Millwood quickly signaled to the dugout, indicating that he needed to be pulled from the game. It turned out that he had strained his groin in the previous inning. Seattle manager Eric Wedge walked a tightrope for the final three innings, using five relievers to record the last nine outs of the game. Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen did the honors. Kyle Seager singled in the only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh; Pryor was tabbed as the winning pitcher despite walking two of the three hitters he faced. Wilhelmsen earned the save with a perfect ninth inning that included a controversial bang-bang out call at first base with Dee Gordon running down the line.

Last night's game was the first combined no-hitter since Roy Oswalt and five other Astros pitchers teamed up to stymie the Yankees in 2003. After a putrid 2010 season in Baltimore (4-16, 5.10 ERA), Millwood spent most of 2011 at AAA with the Yankees and Red Sox before turning in nine decent starts for the Rockies. Now he's 3-5 with a solid 3.57 ERA in a dozen starts for the Mariners. I'm sure spacious Safeco Field gets some of the credit, but ol' Kev is still faring much better than I would have expected. Now he's a part of the second no-hitter of his career, the first being his April 27, 2003 complete-game effort. In that game, he squeaked by the Giants 1-0. Meanwhile I'm still waiting to see the first Oriole no-no of my fandom. No rush, guys.

Kevin Millwood, 2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini #

Fun fact: Kevin Millwood is actually pitching in the major leagues right about now. Even after losing 16 of his 20 decisions in Baltimore in 2010, and logging some mediocre innings at AAA this year for both the Yankees and the Red Sox, the former Oriole landed in the right place at the right time. The Rockies traded their best pitcher, and their next-best pitcher got injured, so they had some need for a 36-year-old veteran to gobble innings like so many potato chips. So after drifting around minor league stadiums for the first four months of this season, Ol' Kev touched down in Denver and has made six starts thus far. As an added bonus, he's...not terrible. A pair of wins, a pair of losses, and a 3.79 ERA. Once again, we have proof that a few usable tendons are all you need to be a passable pitcher in the National League. For the cherry on top, Millwood hit a home run against Arizona starter Joe Saunders in his most recent start this past Wednesday. It was his third career home run, and his first in nearly a decade. Can't predict ball.

Kevin Millwood, 2010 Topps 206 #102

Last night Kevin Millwood started what was almost assuredly his final game in an Orioles uniform. If I haven't talked about him at all on this blog (and a quick search shows me that I haven't even mentioned his on-field performance since April), it's probably twofold: 1) he's had a miserable year and 2) I don't have any cards featuring him in orange and black. Both of those factors are a real shame. By the raw numbers, the veteran with the North Carolina drawl has been awful: 4-16 (that's a win percentage of .200), a 5.10 ERA, a 1.51 WHIP. He won a single game all year at home. His first win came on June 19, and thanks to interleague play, he didn't beat an American League team until August 28. He's assured of at least a share of the league lead in losses, which will make him the fourth Oriole pitcher in the last five years to have that dubious distinction. (The full list: Rodrigo Lopez, 2006; Daniel Cabrera, 2007; Jeremy Guthrie, 2009; Millwood, 2010. In 2008, Justin Verlander had a fluke down year and lost 17. Guthrie was the losingest Oriole with 12.)

So yeah, Millwood hasn't done much to help himself. But if you've been watching him all year, you know that he had a great April and August and a decent May and September, with a putrid June and July bookending a trip to the disabled list. When you take out that lost summer (9.33 ERA in nine starts), you're left with a 3.78 ERA in the remaining four months. During that stretch of the season, his W-L has been 2-11. The offense has had its struggles all year long, but it's been positively MIA when #34 takes the mound. The O's bats have produced an average of 3.55 runs when Kevin starts, and that's including runs that scored after he'd left the game. In 18 of his 31 starts, they scored three runs or less. To his credit, he never let his frustration get the best of him, choosing not to blame his unsupportive hitters for his lack of victories.

Last night, Millwood simply took matters into his own hands. He shut out the Rays, who will likely finish with the best record in the American League and were playing in front of a rare capacity home crowd, through seven innings on just two hits. He also struck out seven batters, including B.J. Upton to leave the bases loaded in his final inning. Naturally, the Birds were helpless against Tampa Bay starter Jeff Niemann for the first six innings, scraping out two singles and no walks. But a Nick Markakis walk and an Adam Jones single put two runners on with two out in the seventh, and Felix Pie finally picked up his pitcher with a triple to plate the only two runs of the game. Jim Johnson and Koji Uehara preserved the win by retiring five of the six Rays they faced, and Matt Wieters took care of the sixth by gunning down pinch runner Desmond Jennings in the eighth inning. Millwood insists that he wants to pitch again next year, no matter where it might be. After 2010, it's safe to say that he deserves to play with a team that can put up some crooked numbers.