Orioles Are Getting Good Luck and Bounces

When straight-shooting Cal Ripken suggests that life has grown a little mondo-bizarro around the old ballpark, it is time to take notice.

“Weird things are happening,” he said Sunday.

In fact, at this point, it is hard to tell where life leaves off and weirdness begins, as the Baltimore Orioles play through their strangest April since, well, last April, which was, of course, the strangest--not to mention, cruelest--month of them all.

The Orioles don’t like to talk about last April, or even last year. The word is that the next promotion at Memorial Stadium will be calendar-burning night--1988s are preferred, but ‘86s and ‘87s are acceptable. Last year is the official unyear. Bring up last April in the presence of manager Frank Robinson, and he responds with a number of interesting contortions.

I do it sometimes, just to watch.

“Frank, when you compare this team’s start to last year. . . . “

Robinson begins by crossing his arms, as when a referee signals a pass is no good. Then, the way your first-grade teacher used to, he zips his lip with a finger, while shaking his head no, no, no. It is as if Max Patkin were the manager.

But you can’t fully appreciate this season unless you remember last year. A 9-8 record is no big deal until you point out that the Orioles didn’t get their ninth win last season until May 23--meaning the ex-Woes are a month ahead of schedule.

And, of course, here is where it gets strange--the reconstructed Orioles, everyone’s pick to finish last, left town Monday for a week-long road trip all alone atop the American League East. After 17 dates a year ago, they were 13 1/2 games off the lead.

Explain, please.

“You can’t explain it, exactly,” Ripken was saying.

You can’t explain it at all. You can point out that Jeff Ballard has won his first three starts, the first time for any Oriole since Dave McNally did it in 1973, a year more fondly recalled. And you can mention that when Bob Milacki faced only 27 batters Sunday, it was the first time an Orioles’ pitcher has done as well since Jim Palmer in 1967.

You can credit a defense that turns last year’s doubles into flyball outs and tough ground balls into double plays (four times Sunday).

But, if you want to get a real fix on this season, you have only to study the Orioles’ fifth inning in Sunday’s game.

Brady Anderson led off with a triple, his ninth extra-base hit of the season. He also has six stolen bases. And he has a chance to be the Orioles’ best leadoff hitter since Al Bumbry. Phil Bradley grounded out, and that is when it got fun. Mike Devereaux hit a bouncer to second, and Anderson, maybe a little too exuberant for his own good, headed for home, where the throw beat him by at least 10 feet.

He could have slid into an easy tag. He could have walked into the catcher. Or he could have tried to pop the ball loose.

“It’s not a good idea to collide with the catcher,” Anderson says. “He’s bigger than I am, and he’s the one who’s got the padding.”

But collide he did. Pop loose the ball did, all the way into the Twins’ dugout, allowing Devereaux to get to third base.

A year ago, the catcher holds the ball and picks the runner off rounding first.

“It was all luck,” Anderson said.

But the luck didn’t end there. Ripken stepped in and sent a pop foul in the direction of the stands. Between catcher Tim Laudner and the ball stood Randy “Moose” Milligan in the batter’s box. Milligan never moved, setting the best pick you’ll ever see on a baseball field. By the time Laudner felt his way around the Moose, the ball had been caught by a fan at the rail.

“He was going to have to go around me,” Milligan said. “I wasn’t going to move. That was my area. Besides, he had his chances.”

On the next pitch, Ripken popped foul again, and Laudner, in a very tough inning, never saw the ball. With two extra chances, Ripken doubled in the last run in the Orioles’ 3-0 victory.

“I was looking over here,” Milligan said of the second popup, “and the ball was over there. He (Laudner) didn’t know where it was.”

Milligan was proud of his role. He contributed, although if Laudner had run into him, Milligan could have been called for interference. Last year, it would have been interference, and Robinson would have argued and probably been thrown out of the game. And Milligan would have twisted a knee falling down.

This year is different.

“Things like this happen when you’re going good,” Ripken said. “You can get the extra chance or the good hop. When things aren’t going so good, you never get a break. It’s just the weird bounce of the baseball.”

Last year, if the ball bounced weirdly, it was usually between some Oriole’s legs. That was then. So far, this is now.