I hate walks. I’d rather a pitcher give up a home run than a walk. If a batter hits a home run, he beat the pitcher. It happens. I understand that. But if a batter walks, the pitcher just blew it. There is no excuse for walking a batter. I knew the Orioles were playing above their heads for most of the season. They were expected to be bad, and they were in it for quite a while. But there was always something bothering me about the team. It turns out it’s the walks. They lead the American league with 582 walks allowed coming into this game, an average of 4.2 per game. 4.2! Some highlights from that:
- “Closer” George Sherrill has 30 walks in 50 1/3 innings (5.4 walks per nine innings)
- Fernando Cabrera – 16 in 27 innings (5.3 BB/9)
- Jeremy Guthrie and Jamie Walker are the only players on the team who are below the league average of 3.3 BB/9
- Dennis Sarfate has walked 60 in 74.3 innings – 7.3 BB/9!
I mean, seriously. How is a team supposed to win like that? The offense has been pretty good. But none of the starters except Guthrie can make it through the fifth innings with any sort of regularity. As I type this, walk machine Radhames Liz (6 BB/9) has just exited the game in Boston after 3 and two thirds, the Orioles down 7-1. It’s pretty frustrating for the fans. Oh, look, home run by Dustin Pedroia and it’s 10-1, Sweet.