Who is Jeremy Guthrie?

Heading into the ninth inning today with a 5-0 lead, we were a franchise on the rise, poised to beat the Red Sox for the second time in three days. For an instant, I thought the year might be salvagable. Jeremy Guthrie had stymied the Sox for eight innings with a masterful three-hitter. Francona had removed Ramirez who looked as though he had been playing left field in a lawn chair for the entire series. One out in the ninth and I'm almost ready to turn the TV off. A pop-up to the catcher for out number two, it seemed, but the ball squirted out of the catcher's glove. Guthrie pleads his case to stay in but Perlozzo opts for the safe bet and the $20M revamped relief corps. Enter Danys Baez. What damage could he possible do? Baez is another in a long line of relievers who've joined the Orioles over the last decade who have done nothing but damage. Trombley, Timlin, Kline, somebody from the Brewers, and others--all shellacked. Baez has aimed the ball from his first pitch with the Orioles and today was no different. We would have a better chance getting outs with Joan Baez on the mound singing, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Danys serves one up to Big Papi and he pounds it off the wall in left center. It's 5-1. Then Willy Mo singles. Chris Ray took it downhill from there and the rest is history. One of the worst losses in franchise history, in a decade of melting down, a colossal collapse. Like the 1986 World Series in reverse. Get used to seeing the Red Sox celebrate. Sam Perlozzo manages not to lose. He doesn't manage to win baseball games. Someone asked the question, "Who should replace him?" How about someone who knows how to win as an Oriole like Dempsey or Dauer or Murray or Frank Robinson? Jeremy Guthrie is a winner. He won the College World Series--more than anything the Orioles have done in the last 24 years. The Orioles have become predictable bad theatre against the Red Sox and the Yankees--inventing ways to lose games from intimidation and lack of confidence. They play passionately until the denouement--and then they disappear. The collection of players, not a team, has played best over the past decade when they are 20 games out of first. When he left the game in the ninth, Guthrie dedicated his performance to his mother. The rest of the team owes her son an apology.