Sad stats to consider when thinking of your baseball following friends in KC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and DC:
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Kansas City, Baltimore, Washington and Pittsburgh aren't just bad. They are bad beyond logic. It's remarkable how these teams can stay so far down for so long with revenue sharing, draft advantages, the faster flow of information, front office turnover, etc. -- essentially remaining outside this period of parity.
Over the past seven years, the Royals, Orioles, Nationals and Pirates are 0-for-28 when it comes to winning seasons. Moreover, they have lost 91 games or more 22 times in those 28 seasons, including 93-plus losses for all four in each of the past two years.
--Tom Verducci
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However, I will note that KC has - by far - the best minor league system in baseball and will graduate a lot of top tier talent in the next two years. DC has two generational talents (potential Hall of Famers, barring injury) in Strasburg and Bryce Harper who will lead the team in 2012. And even Baltimore and Pittsburgh have been unable to squander their high draft picks and have strong cores that could bring them up to respectability.
Suzi, I'm glad CJ is home safe and sound.
ARGH. I'm signing Noah up for AYSO. So I signed Grace up too. She should be an eyefull, right?
I thought Baltimore was doing a lot better at the end of last season?...or something...Signed, Knows NOTHING About Baseball but has a Lot of Civic Pride. Plus I went to one game and they won. And it was fun.
What's AYSO, Kat?
The
Sottish Deerhound
won Westminster! Whoo!
I know! American Youth Soccer Organization!
I thought Baltimore was doing a lot better at the end of last season?...or something...Signed, Knows NOTHING About Baseball but has a Lot of Civic Pride. Plus I went to one game and they won. And it was fun.
Go Baltimore! Their biggest problem is that they're in the AL East with three powerhouses in the Yankees and Red Sox and the Rays, plus Toronto is also very good. The Yankees and Red Sox have the two biggest payrolls in baseball and over the last two seasons have snapped up all the biggest names in free agents. And the Rays were bad for so long that they stockpiled a huge number of high draft picks which have paid off for them. They're loaded with young talent. Whereas B'more's top prospects like Matt Wieters and Adam Jones and Brian Matusz have not quite panned out. (Though I think Wieters and Matusz will be all-stars in a couple years.)
I went to an Orioles game once. Courtesy of msbelle. It was fun. Same game as lisah. But like lisah (and maybe even less lisah), my enthusiasm is relegated to hometownism. And lack of trafficism-where-I-need-to-be.
We have been so lucky here. Self-pay has become more mainstream. We no longer get "whuts'at?" looks. In fact, what we usually get at the practice, the lab, the clinic, and the dentist is, "You're self-pay? We'll be glad to bill you. Or if you pay the full amount today we'll give you a 40% discount." Considering that when we had insurance the deductible was so high we wound up paying in full for visits and most treatments anyway, I'll take the 40% discount, and happily.
I went to an Orioles game once. Got invited to a super fun wedding in Baltimore, and we stayed a couple days after to eat crab cakes and such, including catching a game at Camden Yard. Orioles vs. Mariners - I don't remember who won but I got to see Cal Ripken Jr. play.
