As I get set to make the trek to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to spend the afternoon in section 17 today, my mind is still reverting back to the pompus events of Friday morning. In general, I'd like to think that I have a pretty thick skin and that I'm not offended by many things. However when something does hit me the wrong way, I tend to not let it go very easily (as my mother will tell you). Matt Garza made the regard in which he holds the O's very clear on Friday. Worse yet, he backed it up on the field by doing exactly what he said that he was going to do.
We see stories similar to this all the time, however generally the loud mouth ends up with egg on his face. It absolutely sickens me when I think of Garza sitting in the clubhouse after the game grinning from ear to ear, and I won't deny that I did take a lot of solace in the fact that Kevin Millwood plunked Evan Longoria pretty good in that game. However, I hope that the main idea of this isn't lost by the mere fact that Garza won the game. He pretty much called out another team that had done nothing to him other than beat him. My attitude about life has always been that if someone hates you that much and wants you out of the picture, you either have to accept the fact that they'll succeed (in eliminating you), or you have to be willing to go to any means necessary (legal or otherwise) to defend yourself and your way of life. While the O's didn't turn around and shove it down Garza's throat again, it was an awful irony that one of the best players in the game got hit by a pitch (Longoria). Had that escalated, I'm sure that somehow the Orioles would have been blamed for starting something seeing that they're not in contention at the moment and Tampa is. However the fact remains that Matt Garza showed what a bush league "punk" that he is by his comments preceding the series. I hope that he doesn't think that as a result of the outcome of the game he's vindicated or that he's now the good guy. I guess his mother never told him that there's such a thing as being an honorable winner and a good loser.
Ultimately, you're not going to win games if you can't hit with runners in scoring position, which is what the Orioles failed to do on Friday. Luckily those woes were cured, however one day too late to get to Garza. Last night behind a Nick Markakis homer and a Matt Wieters bases-clearing double, the Orioles managed to beat Tampa 8-4, evening the series at one game each. This afternoon Chris Tillman (who is being called up with rosters having expanded) will get the nod for the O's, who'll try to win this Labor Day weekend series with the Rays. I suppose that's better than losing the series, however I'd trade a series win for having embarrassed Garza on Friday. For those that think I'm being overly petty, keep in mind that Cito Gaston is still booed in Baltimore for refusing to play Mike Mussina in the 1993 all-star game at Camden Yards. Baltimore's a proud city with proud people...and we never forget those who choose make us their enemy.
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