With the non-waiver trading deadline passed and the Orioles seemingly out of the playoff race for a ninth straight season, the team is looking for ways to stay motivated in hopes of ending the year on a positive note.
This may not be an easy task if recent history repeatsitself. In the previous five seasons, Baltimore is a combined 113-174 from August on, including 23-35 in 2005. This, along with 28 games remaining against American League East powers New York, Boston and Toronto and a sweltering heat wave predicted for at least the next week, could make for a rough end to Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo?s first full year at the helm.
To combat late-season fatigue, Perlozzo has used his bench and taken advantage of the designated hitter in recent weeks, including inserting recent call-up Fernando Tatis at third base for Melvin Mora Thursday at Kansas City, while spelling Miguel Tejada at shortstop with Brandon Fahey.
“We wanted to get some bench people in there,” Perlozzo said Friday. “We didn?t want anyone to get too rusty the last two months of the season. They deserve the chance to play, and fortunately, they have come through in the last few games for us.”
Chris Gomez said it is important the players maintain a proper attitude no matter how many games out of first place the team is in the AL East.
“We are professionals that get paid a lot of money to play baseball,” Gomez said. “To not play hard would be disrespectful to the coaches, ourselves, the fans and everybody else. We are not the type of team that can refuse to take games against poor teams in front of small crowds lightly.”
Kevin Millar said “the dog days of August” have never bothered him at any point in his professional career.
“Maybe it impacts the rookies, but I?ve never had a problem with this time of year,” he said. “I love this time of year, because it gives you a chance to finish the season strong. I know we are a good ballclub. We just have to play better baseball over the last two months.”
ORIOLES NOTES
» Baltimore?s lone winning stretch from August on over the last five seasons came in 2004, when it went 32-28.
» In 2002, Baltimore finished 18-40 over the final two months of the season.
