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09-29-2006, 09:47 AM
After all the walks, and bad pitches and being sent to the minors, a performance like last night's makes you stop and think about the possibilities.
Daniel C can take a terrific last outing into the off-season. :thumbsup:
I wish I knew who wrote this article from today's Baltimore Sun. There's no by-line. :notme:
I love the whole bit about the glasses. :D (I have a sneaking suspicion this was written by Roch Kubatko......the Peter Angelos/glasses reference sounds like him. :D )
Gem has a message: Cabrera's worth wait
Originally published September 29, 2006
It's no mistake that when Daniel Cabrera bends over to pick up a rosin bag, his 6-foot-7 frame resembles a giant question mark. After all, has there ever been a bigger uncertainty - both literally and figuratively - to wear Orioles colors?
We've seen him take the mound and look as consistent as a flashing stoplight. We've seen him unleash that fastball and have as much control as a first-time golfer hacking into the wind. And then there have been times like last night, when you squint at him and picture his plaque in the Hall of Fame.
He was just two batters away from history. Up the New York Yankees came, and down they went. They were lined up like dominoes, and Cabrera, up on the hill with 97-mph heat, flicked a finger and knocked them down. From that 1-2-3 first inning to the make-or-break ninth.
The no-hit bid, of course, was broken up after 8 1/3 innings by Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who lives near Cabrera in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Repulic. But the Orioles' tall right-hander still sent a powerful message last night.
He entered the game with a future that might have been in question. He was starting to look like a player who might be more valuable as trade bait than he is on the roster. Even though the Yankees might not have had a lot to play for last night, Cabrera had everything on the line.
If you're the Orioles, just a couple of days away from a long offseason to-do list, you can't give up on Cabrera now. He's worth a bit more waiting, he's worth a little more patience.
"That's what his capabilities are," pitching coach Leo Mazzone said after the game. "He'll get the chance to throw more no-hitters in the future."
Last night was no fluke. Cabrera can be that good. He's physically capable of doing it on any night. But that's never been the problem. There's something in his psychological makeup, it seems, that holds him back.
At times, it certainly seems like a confidence issue. Remember what he said after beating the Minnesota Twins last week?
"I deal with the same problem, the walking people," he said.
He's aware of what has hampered his growth; he just seems helpless against it at times. Before last night's game, his ERA in September was an unsightly 6.75, but his walk totals have been significantly lower since the All-Star break. That's the kind of thing Orioles coaches are looking for to assess what the future might hold for Cabrera.
"Has he turned the corner? I think he's got a good lead on turning the corner," Perlozzo said last week. "I don't think he's quite there yet, but he's getting closer all the time. It's just maturing."
And last night we saw a major growth spurt.
It'll stand as Cabrera's last outing of the season. He'll have the next five months to think about this one outing, facing the best ballclub that money can buy and for three hours showing the nation that sometimes even the Yankees can't even buy a hit.:laff:
If you believe that you're only as good as your last outing, Cabrera will be an All-Star until pitchers and catchers report. It's a good thing to sit on and build on next year.
"I try to take all the positive things that happen this year and bring them into next year," he said a week ago. "I'll try to do a better job than I did this year. ... [This is] my bad year."
A bad year with a beautiful ending. It's like being forced to read 300 pages of a calculus textbook, only to find that William Wordsworth wrote the final words.
Who knows if we'll ever see a performance like last night's out of Cabrera again, but it's certainly worth the gamble to find out. There hasn't been a whole lot of marked improvement these past two seasons (in fact, he posted more wins in both 2004 and 2005), but with Cabrera you always feel like you're on the edge of greatness. You'll likely have to watch it from the edge of your seat.
For some reason, when Cabrera slid on a pair of eyeglasses earlier this month, his future with the Orioles came into focus. Life has imitated art, and the Orioles' Wild Thing - their spectacle in spectacles - is performing better with corrective lenses.
He first wore glasses on Sept. 12 against the Boston Red Sox. Since then, he's 2-1 in four appearances. He's had 27 strikeouts, 12 walks and 12 earned runs. Maybe everyone from the clubhouse to the warehouse should get their prescriptions checked. Wouldn't it be wild if all this time, owner Peter Angelos simply couldn't see how bad his teams have been? :rotf:
Barring a crazy last few days of the season, the record books will always show that Cabrera led the American League this season in walks and wild pitches. And we'll remember that he was sent to the minors because he couldn't find the plate.
But he shouldn't spend the next few months focusing on that, and neither should the Orioles' decision-makers. One magic night is just enough to remind people why they had so much hope for Cabrera.
After the worst season of his career, for some odd reason the future still seems bright as ever.
Does it make sense? No. But nothing about Cabrera's spotty career has.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun |
Daniel C can take a terrific last outing into the off-season. :thumbsup:
I wish I knew who wrote this article from today's Baltimore Sun. There's no by-line. :notme:
I love the whole bit about the glasses. :D (I have a sneaking suspicion this was written by Roch Kubatko......the Peter Angelos/glasses reference sounds like him. :D )
Gem has a message: Cabrera's worth wait
Originally published September 29, 2006
It's no mistake that when Daniel Cabrera bends over to pick up a rosin bag, his 6-foot-7 frame resembles a giant question mark. After all, has there ever been a bigger uncertainty - both literally and figuratively - to wear Orioles colors?
We've seen him take the mound and look as consistent as a flashing stoplight. We've seen him unleash that fastball and have as much control as a first-time golfer hacking into the wind. And then there have been times like last night, when you squint at him and picture his plaque in the Hall of Fame.
He was just two batters away from history. Up the New York Yankees came, and down they went. They were lined up like dominoes, and Cabrera, up on the hill with 97-mph heat, flicked a finger and knocked them down. From that 1-2-3 first inning to the make-or-break ninth.
The no-hit bid, of course, was broken up after 8 1/3 innings by Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who lives near Cabrera in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Repulic. But the Orioles' tall right-hander still sent a powerful message last night.
He entered the game with a future that might have been in question. He was starting to look like a player who might be more valuable as trade bait than he is on the roster. Even though the Yankees might not have had a lot to play for last night, Cabrera had everything on the line.
If you're the Orioles, just a couple of days away from a long offseason to-do list, you can't give up on Cabrera now. He's worth a bit more waiting, he's worth a little more patience.
"That's what his capabilities are," pitching coach Leo Mazzone said after the game. "He'll get the chance to throw more no-hitters in the future."
Last night was no fluke. Cabrera can be that good. He's physically capable of doing it on any night. But that's never been the problem. There's something in his psychological makeup, it seems, that holds him back.
At times, it certainly seems like a confidence issue. Remember what he said after beating the Minnesota Twins last week?
"I deal with the same problem, the walking people," he said.
He's aware of what has hampered his growth; he just seems helpless against it at times. Before last night's game, his ERA in September was an unsightly 6.75, but his walk totals have been significantly lower since the All-Star break. That's the kind of thing Orioles coaches are looking for to assess what the future might hold for Cabrera.
"Has he turned the corner? I think he's got a good lead on turning the corner," Perlozzo said last week. "I don't think he's quite there yet, but he's getting closer all the time. It's just maturing."
And last night we saw a major growth spurt.
It'll stand as Cabrera's last outing of the season. He'll have the next five months to think about this one outing, facing the best ballclub that money can buy and for three hours showing the nation that sometimes even the Yankees can't even buy a hit.:laff:
If you believe that you're only as good as your last outing, Cabrera will be an All-Star until pitchers and catchers report. It's a good thing to sit on and build on next year.
"I try to take all the positive things that happen this year and bring them into next year," he said a week ago. "I'll try to do a better job than I did this year. ... [This is] my bad year."
A bad year with a beautiful ending. It's like being forced to read 300 pages of a calculus textbook, only to find that William Wordsworth wrote the final words.
Who knows if we'll ever see a performance like last night's out of Cabrera again, but it's certainly worth the gamble to find out. There hasn't been a whole lot of marked improvement these past two seasons (in fact, he posted more wins in both 2004 and 2005), but with Cabrera you always feel like you're on the edge of greatness. You'll likely have to watch it from the edge of your seat.
For some reason, when Cabrera slid on a pair of eyeglasses earlier this month, his future with the Orioles came into focus. Life has imitated art, and the Orioles' Wild Thing - their spectacle in spectacles - is performing better with corrective lenses.
He first wore glasses on Sept. 12 against the Boston Red Sox. Since then, he's 2-1 in four appearances. He's had 27 strikeouts, 12 walks and 12 earned runs. Maybe everyone from the clubhouse to the warehouse should get their prescriptions checked. Wouldn't it be wild if all this time, owner Peter Angelos simply couldn't see how bad his teams have been? :rotf:
Barring a crazy last few days of the season, the record books will always show that Cabrera led the American League this season in walks and wild pitches. And we'll remember that he was sent to the minors because he couldn't find the plate.
But he shouldn't spend the next few months focusing on that, and neither should the Orioles' decision-makers. One magic night is just enough to remind people why they had so much hope for Cabrera.
After the worst season of his career, for some odd reason the future still seems bright as ever.
Does it make sense? No. But nothing about Cabrera's spotty career has.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun |