The thought struck Davey Johnson as he responded to a question about the dismal state of the team he used to play for and manage. What can the Baltimore Orioles do to reverse the string of losing seasons they have endured since Johnson left as their manager?

“Get Gillick back, maybe Gillick will bring me back,” Johnson said. “We can start over.”

The Orioles turned into a disaster area after Johnson resigned following the 1997 season and general manager Pat Gillick followed a year later. The Orioles won the American League East title in 1997 but haven’t been able to win half of its games in any of the 12 seasons since.

Keep reading...

When the Phillies lost to the Yankees and the Mets defeated the Indians in the opening games of their most recent interleague series, the margin between the teams became three games. It was the first time since Sept. 12, 2008, that the Mets had led the Phillies by as many as three games.

It is one of the most unexpected developments of the season. The Mets go ahead of the Phillies? Maybe a few years down the road, but now, with the Phillies in their prime and the Mets struggling to keep up with the Nationals, not very likely.

Yet a series of unexpected circumstances has resulted in a reversal of their positions.

Keep reading...

Stephen Strasburg has just explosively landed on the major league landscape, and already the Washington Nationals are talking about when and how they will shut him down for the year.

“There will come a time when he reaches 100-110 innings, and we will shut him down,” Stan Kasten, the Nationals’ president, said the day after the 21-year-old Strasburg soared beyond the hype that preceded his debut with his seven-inning, 14-strikeout domination of the Pittsburgh Pirates. “I don’t know how that will be split up. We could give him more rest between starts.”

Keep reading...