Baltimore Orioles: Garrett Olson Provides Blueprint For Success

As a player hears his name called in the Major League Draft, it is only normal for him to think of the millions of dollars he could make and the hallowed stadiums that he may play in.

Anything but the norm, engineering enveloped Garrett Olson’s mind. The day the Baltimore Orioles selected him with the 48^th overall pick in the 2005 Major League Draft, Olson had been in a classroom taking a final on thermodynamics at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

In place of the injured Adam Loewen, who made only 6 starts last season due to a stress fracture in his elbow, the brainy southpaw constructed a strong outing as he brought the heat against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Having started 7 games with the Orioles last season, Olson must have wished he could forget most of his starts. Compiling a 7.79 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched, Olson assured himself a spot in the Minor Leagues to start the 2008 season.

Now 24 years old, Olson built a string of strong performances at Triple-A Norfolk to the tune of a 1.85 ERA.

Speaking of Olson, Baltimore manager Dave Trembley stated, “If you can't command your fastball, you can't pitch here. He's earned that opportunity to do that. I have no problem with providing him the opportunity to see if he can take it and do it here.”

Olson has passed his first test. Throwing 6.2 innings and only allowing 2 runs against the Rays, Olson earned the win and praise from his catcher, Ramon Hernandez. After lauding his command and the location of his fastball, Hernandez said that Olson could be a contributor for the rest of the season.

This solid, young, and healthy arm could provide stability to a shaky rotation as it deals with the loss of the potentially Pavano-ly brittle Loewen.

It would be only fitting for the architect of the Orioles, Andy MacPhail, to use an engineer to help rebuild this organization.

Bird Droppings

-     Outfielder Adam Jones is showcasing his skills and continuing to make executives around the league project stardom for this 22 year-old. However, the most encouraging sign for Jones is how quickly he adjustments. Earlier in this young season, Jones had been taking poor routes and turning the wrong way on balls but has improved by leaps and bounds in both areas. Let’s just hope he learned his lesson and won’t make another base running gaffe like he did against the White Sox. Jones inexplicably made a wide turn around third base on a slow roller to shortstop Orlando Cabrera and was subsequently thrown out in the 10^th inning.

-     With attendance miserably low, does anyone else get the feeling that Peter Angelos might attempt to draw fans by making the ill-advised move of investing his economic stimulus rebate on Barry Bonds if the Orioles are still in contention in June? To make money, perhaps, he should sell the Camden Yards naming rights to the Yankees or Red Sox since they have more fans come to the games than the Orioles.

-     I better say this while I can. While the first-place Orioles have had an amazing start, it is a testament to their depth that the Rays are also atop the AL East standings without the services of All-Star Scott Kazmir and despite the poor hitting of Carlos Pena.