Throwback Thursday: Mother’s Day Massacre

Warning: this one is not for the faint of heart. It was a game so bad, that it has become known not-so-affectionately as the Mother’s Day Massacre.

It was May 13, 2007, and though the Orioles were nominally in second place, they had already fallen 8 games behind Boston. The series against the Red Sox gave the Orioles the opportunity to dig into that lead, but Sunday’s game was an ugly reminder that the O’s “were who we thought they were.”

Jeremy Guthrie took a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning. With a five-run lead, Guthrie was pulled by manager Sam Perlozzo when a baserunner reached on an error. After 8.1 near-perfect innings from its starter, Baltimore went to the bullpen. Which is when all hell broke loose.

Perlozzo brought in Danys Baez (sigh), who promptly allowed two consecutive hits. Baez was then replaced by closer Chris Ray, who collapsed like a flan in a cupboard. Don’t believe me? Here are the pitching lines for the day:

That’s right: three walks and three runs allowed in one third of an inning. The Orioles snatched defeat from the clutches of victory, allowing the Red Sox to score 6 runs in the ninth inning.  For O’s fans, it was a nightmare. This game was supposed to be different. And yet… there we were: cursing in the ninth inning, wondering what we had done to deserve this team.

As you enjoy the game on Sunday – take this moment to remember how far the Orioles have come. Tommy Hunter may be a wild ride in the ninth, but this team is different than the one we were subjected to in 2007. Deficits are not insurmountable. Leads are usually safe. The Red Sox don’t own us – that is starting to shift in the right direction. When the O’s play the Astros this Mother’s Day, it will be a game you can watch with your mother in the room – without having to worry about censoring your language.

Side Note: Jeremy Guthrie seems to have been a lightning rod here in Baltimore. Some fans loved him, others couldn’t stand him. Rumor is that part of the reason that he was traded to the Rockies for Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom is that he was not a particularly good clubhouse presence.

But I liked him. And part of the reason I liked him was his postgame interviews. He never shied away from from the media – he made himself available to answer painful questions about painful losses. He was graceful, and often insightful. Here’s what he had to say about the day:

I had full confidence, as I will and as everybody on this staff does, in everybody in the back end of that bullpen…Not once did I think this isn’t going to work out for us. The team is playing really well. If everyone can think about the way we played and not the last inning of the game, we’ll be fine.