A Disappointing Spring

Both the Orioles and I have had a less than stellar spring training. The team has only won 12 games while losing 17, and my successes have slammed to a stop. But it's only spring training, the regular season is what matters most.

O's fans can take solace in the fact that our future (young pitching prospects) have all done very well this spring. The veteran arms are the ones who have struggled, but Kevin Millwood, Jeremy Guthrie and Mike Gonzalez are seasoned enough to rebound for the long haul. The offense put up decent power numbers but lacked real consistency at the plate.

I have said it before, but will say it again, the Orioles will have a good 2010 campaign. Not good enough for the playoffs in this juggernaut division, but good enough to garner some respect. I am predicting that they will finish at .500, a monumental task given the four teams they must play 19 times this season.

As for me, my first foray into spring training TTM requests was a let-down. I only sent 19 requests, 16 of which went to current Orioles, only receiving five back in the mail. Of those five I don't count Ty Wigginton because he replaced my card with one he had already signed, as a Met. His success was sort of like a fielder's choice, while Koji Uehara, Chris Tillman, David Hernandez and Guthrie were all clean hits.

As with the Birds, I am hopeful for what this season will bring to my collection. I will be going to a few games to try and bolster my current player autographs, and I still have a bunch of home addresses yet to try. I expect to hit my goal of 50% overall my seasons end.

So here is to the Orioles players not letting me down, with their playing or their signing.