It's never a good idea to compare sports losses to tragic events where people lost their lives. But if ever there was a good excuse to do it, today's 6-5 loss to the Red Sox would probably be as good a time as any.
The Orioles got what was their best performance of the season by a starting pitcher as Jeremy Guthrie (yeah, that guy) scattered 3 hits over 8.1 innings against one of the leagues best offenses. However, it all went for naught when Sam Perlozzo took Guthrie out after Ramon Hernandez dropped a routine pop-up. Thinking that Guthrie may have been shaken by such an error, Perlozzo turned to his overworked bullpen, the same bullpen who had been the main culprit of numerous heartbreaking losses this season, to get the final 2 outs.
What occured afterward was the sports equivalent ofthe Titanic sinking, the Pearl Harbor attacks, and 9/11 all rolled into one event for the few Oriole fans left in Baltimore and around the country, that still watch this team play on a regular basis.
Here's how it happened.
After Guthrie was prematurely removed from the game, Danys Baez came in and promptly allowed 2 hits. Sam, getting very nervous now, brought in Chris Ray, who is looking more and more like a mental midget as the season rolls along. He is quickly becoming the white version of Jorge Julio. Most of his save appearances contain more emotional roller coaster rides than a relationship with a bi-polar nymphomaniac. Case in point, they are never easy to watch. Today's example was no different.
Ray walked 3 batters, although one was intentional, but the other was a walk with the bases loaded. To Eric Hinske no less. Then, after Roberts threw out Kevin Youkilis, who represented the tying run, at the plate, Chris Ray dropped the final out to win the game at 1B when fielding the throw from Kevin Millar, which allowed 2 runners to score for the loss.
Thank you Jeremy Guthrie, but no thanks.
And so it goes with the Orioles this season. They keep finding more and more ways to lose games. At least they are coming up with some new and creative ways to lose them.
Here's what could have been had Guthrie been left in to get the final 2 outs -- a series win in Boston, against a team that has downright owned the Orioles over the last 2 years. And it would have given the O's a much needed emotional boost heading into 9 games against 2 of the worst teams in MLB, in the Blue Jays and the Nationals.
Oh yeah, they would have been back at .500 at 19-19 too.
But after a loss like today's, all bets are off.
There was no reason to think that the Orioles couldn't have gone 7-2 over the next 9 games putting them at 26-21 headed into a tough series with Oakland. But after today's loss, who knows how the Orioles will respond, if at all.
This is the kind of loss that can destroy a season.
Will the team continue to respect Sam Perlozzo, who's decisions have time and time again cost them wins? I wonder if Sam is as lost at the clubhouse buffet table as he is in the dugout. I've never seen a manager be so clueless in all aspects of the game.
When you take a step back and look at tough losses like this one, there is no one person that you can pin the blame on. Hernandez dropped the pop-up which would have made it 2 outs with the bases empty. Sam Perlozzo jumped the gun and took Guthrie out. Danys Baez gave up consecutive hits. Kevin Millar had no business fielding a ball that Brian Roberts could have easily gotten to. And Chris Ray, who looks like a boy amongst men on the mound and did the most damage.
But still, it was a team effort. Losing always is.
The blame is evenly spread around, and in a society focused on placing blame on one person, these losses are even harder to take because they often leave fans at a loss for words and no place for them to focus their frustration, except by throwing the remote control at the TV. Losing is a team effort and the Orioles are extremely good at it. They excel at it. It's almost as if they put on losing rally caps and think up new ways to impress themselves with losing a game.
If Red Sox and Yankee fans always have faith that their teams will always find a way to win a close game, Orioles fans always believe that the Orioles will find a way to lose a close game.
The funny thing is this though. Today's game wasn't close. The O's had the Red Sox dead to rights at 5-0 with 1 out in the 9th inning. Even worse teams than the Orioles win today's game. Hell, worse teams keep the shutout.
But if the O's can't even close the door on a 5-0 lead with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, how are they going to do anything?
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Don't get your hopes up
The Orioles have won 4 out of their last 6 games after losing 9 out of 10 games and have a chance to sweep the Devil Rays with a win at home tonight.
OK, so the Orioles are going to be better than the Devil Rays for a little while longer. However, the Orioles face LHP Casey Fossum tonight, who has pitched well against the Orioles in the past. So a sweep is not going to be easy. But nothing with the Orioles ever is.
Plus, sweeping the Rays would put the Orioles at only a game under .500.
And with the O's headed to Boston for 3 and facing Beckett and Schilling again, this may be the closest they get to .500 for a while.
Luckily, after the Boston series, the O's face the Blue Jays, Nationals, and Blue Jays again before facing a tough team in the A's again. So if the O's can just steal a game from that Boston series, they could set themselves up well to eclipse the .500 point during that string of games against struggling teams.
But even if they do get their heads above water during that stretch of games, how long will it be until they go under again? That is the main problem with the team. There is no consistency. They're hot and cold.
Last season, it looked like they could avoid long stretches of bad play, as the Orioles didn't have many losing streaks past 4 games. Unfortunately, they didn't have many win streaks past 3, either, which resulted in a 70-92 record. But whatever they learned in 2006, they forgot in 2007.
And the fact that we are counting down the games until they get back to .500 like we're counting down the games until they're in first place is depressing. At this point, we're only hoping for the O's to get back to mediocrity.
But at least they are playing better now. And at least they're not worse than the Devil Rays. Yet.
OK, so the Orioles are going to be better than the Devil Rays for a little while longer. However, the Orioles face LHP Casey Fossum tonight, who has pitched well against the Orioles in the past. So a sweep is not going to be easy. But nothing with the Orioles ever is.
Plus, sweeping the Rays would put the Orioles at only a game under .500.
And with the O's headed to Boston for 3 and facing Beckett and Schilling again, this may be the closest they get to .500 for a while.
Luckily, after the Boston series, the O's face the Blue Jays, Nationals, and Blue Jays again before facing a tough team in the A's again. So if the O's can just steal a game from that Boston series, they could set themselves up well to eclipse the .500 point during that string of games against struggling teams.
But even if they do get their heads above water during that stretch of games, how long will it be until they go under again? That is the main problem with the team. There is no consistency. They're hot and cold.
Last season, it looked like they could avoid long stretches of bad play, as the Orioles didn't have many losing streaks past 4 games. Unfortunately, they didn't have many win streaks past 3, either, which resulted in a 70-92 record. But whatever they learned in 2006, they forgot in 2007.
And the fact that we are counting down the games until they get back to .500 like we're counting down the games until they're in first place is depressing. At this point, we're only hoping for the O's to get back to mediocrity.
But at least they are playing better now. And at least they're not worse than the Devil Rays. Yet.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Important series... LOL
Tonight, the O's start a 3 game series against the Devil Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
It's an "important series", if a team headed nowhere can have such a thing.
Anyway, this series could show us a lot about the 2007 Baltimore Orioles. Can we write them off on May 8th, earlier than any recent losing season? Or will they surprise us with some sparse quality play every now and then?
They're facing some tough TB pitchers that have given them trouble in the past, in James Shields (3-0, 3.74 ERA) and LHP Corey Fossum (2-2, 7.34 ERA), who needs to thank the Orioles for keeping him the league a few years longer than he should be. And after losing 11 out of their last 14 games, it would be a prime opportunity for the O's to shut down and allow the Rays to take the series or sweep them.
But if they show some signs of life against pitchers that routinely give them fits, then there could be some salvaging this season.
After all, if Jeremy Guthrie or Brian Burres pitch well while Jared Wright and Adam Loewen are injured, then at least the O's have found a bargain for basically free. It would be nice to add another decent starter to the list of hopefuls that already includes Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera, Adam Loewen, Hayden Penn and Garret Olson. After all, you can't have enough good young(er) pitching, because let's face it, Erik Bedard (age 28) ain't getting any younger.
The offense is bound to bounce back from their recent horrid slump, but don't expect too much from them over the course of a season. They simply aren't very good. And while the O's are taking their sweet-ass time in calling Jon Knott or J.R. House up to the big leagues, they must do it at some point. Right?
But what makes this series even more interesting, is to see if the Orioles can continue their streak of being worse than pretty much every team in the AL, except the Devil Rays.
Since joining the MLB in 1998, the Devil Rays haven't won more than 70 games. Even the Orioles have managed to stay ahead of them.
But the Devil Rays are clearly headed in a different direction than the Orioles. Even with all their pitching "talent", the Orioles still can't seem to get out of their own way. And while the Devil Rays still have poor pitching and a history of nothing but losing, they are finally reaping the benefits of a young and talented team. And if their pitching can reach mediocrity, they will make a surprising run that will open people's eyes for the first time in their 10 year history of ineptitude.
So as the O's take the field tonight, it could be one of the last times we do it as a better team than the Devil Rays.
It's an "important series", if a team headed nowhere can have such a thing.
Anyway, this series could show us a lot about the 2007 Baltimore Orioles. Can we write them off on May 8th, earlier than any recent losing season? Or will they surprise us with some sparse quality play every now and then?
They're facing some tough TB pitchers that have given them trouble in the past, in James Shields (3-0, 3.74 ERA) and LHP Corey Fossum (2-2, 7.34 ERA), who needs to thank the Orioles for keeping him the league a few years longer than he should be. And after losing 11 out of their last 14 games, it would be a prime opportunity for the O's to shut down and allow the Rays to take the series or sweep them.
But if they show some signs of life against pitchers that routinely give them fits, then there could be some salvaging this season.
After all, if Jeremy Guthrie or Brian Burres pitch well while Jared Wright and Adam Loewen are injured, then at least the O's have found a bargain for basically free. It would be nice to add another decent starter to the list of hopefuls that already includes Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera, Adam Loewen, Hayden Penn and Garret Olson. After all, you can't have enough good young(er) pitching, because let's face it, Erik Bedard (age 28) ain't getting any younger.
The offense is bound to bounce back from their recent horrid slump, but don't expect too much from them over the course of a season. They simply aren't very good. And while the O's are taking their sweet-ass time in calling Jon Knott or J.R. House up to the big leagues, they must do it at some point. Right?
But what makes this series even more interesting, is to see if the Orioles can continue their streak of being worse than pretty much every team in the AL, except the Devil Rays.
Since joining the MLB in 1998, the Devil Rays haven't won more than 70 games. Even the Orioles have managed to stay ahead of them.
But the Devil Rays are clearly headed in a different direction than the Orioles. Even with all their pitching "talent", the Orioles still can't seem to get out of their own way. And while the Devil Rays still have poor pitching and a history of nothing but losing, they are finally reaping the benefits of a young and talented team. And if their pitching can reach mediocrity, they will make a surprising run that will open people's eyes for the first time in their 10 year history of ineptitude.
So as the O's take the field tonight, it could be one of the last times we do it as a better team than the Devil Rays.
Monday, May 7, 2007
I want the O's to lose. There, I said it.
Can you be a fan of a team and want them to lose? Because that's what I'm doing with the Orioles right now.
I want them to lose. Yeah, I said it. And here's why...
Winning a few games here and there isn't going to do the O's a damn bit of good in the grand scheme of things. It's really just going to hurt their chances at what could be their first 100 loss season since 1988. After all, I'm sick of the 90 loss seasons. If we're going to suck ass, at least do it with some gusto.
Any sorry team can go out and post a 70-92 record like the Birds did last year. But when I look back and see 70-92 or some variation of that record, I think to myself, "Damn, they sucked that year." This time, I want to look back on the 2007 season and say, "Holy shit, I forgot about how absolutely dreadful they were!"
If anything, let's make year #10 a year to remember.
The tragedy, however, is that they shouldn't be this bad. When the season started, even the most pessimistic fan believed they had a legit shot to crack the .500 barrier. They had a roster perfect for platoons and a young pitching staff with tons of potential.
But then Perlozzo and the front office totally butchered the roster management (Knott still only has 4 AB's in an O's uni) and platoons are about as likely as a Dodo bird landing on your front lawn. Then the pitchers started dropping like flies.
But let's face it, these are the Orioles we're talking about.
The 2007 team was constructed to be a .500 team, as they have been for years. How else can you justify Deivi Cruz and Omar Daal as your marquee signings? If that is the goal, the worst case scenario is going to be a 100 loss season, like it could very well be this season.
But if the O's set their sights higher, and actually did some intriguing things once in a while, like go out and get as much young high-OBP talent as possible, instead of filling out your roster with cuddly fan favorite players like Mora, Roberts and Gibbons, then you might actually be able to set your sights on the playoffs and beyond. That way, when the injuries crop up, the worst case scenario is .500.
We've said it a million times, and each time it's said the cement it's written in just gets a little drier. Angelos has no incentive to win. He's making money one way or another. Even if attendance continues to drop he will still be laughing all the way to the bank while O's fans pay the price.
The only thing O's fans can do as the losses mount is stay away and hope that empty stadiums embarrass Angelos into actually doing something different for once. Stop signing mediocre players, for one. Allow the front office, as incompetent as they may be, to make moves on their own, without every little detail of a trade being analyzed and ultimately vetoed.
Going 81-81 is probably the worst thing imaginable for this team right now. It will lull the front office and Angelos into thinking they're on to something, and then they'll just keep doing more of the same.
So that's why I root for the losses to continue. Wins won't come as often as they need to to make a run at the playoffs, so why win at all? Football fans root for losses all the time to get a better draft pick. Why can't I do the same? Only, other than the better draft pick, I'll get to watch as Angelos has to defend his decisions, and hopefully, change the way he does things.
So let's make this a season to remember and see how Angelos reacts when the O's drop a 3-digit number in the loss column for 2007.
I want them to lose. Yeah, I said it. And here's why...
Winning a few games here and there isn't going to do the O's a damn bit of good in the grand scheme of things. It's really just going to hurt their chances at what could be their first 100 loss season since 1988. After all, I'm sick of the 90 loss seasons. If we're going to suck ass, at least do it with some gusto.
Any sorry team can go out and post a 70-92 record like the Birds did last year. But when I look back and see 70-92 or some variation of that record, I think to myself, "Damn, they sucked that year." This time, I want to look back on the 2007 season and say, "Holy shit, I forgot about how absolutely dreadful they were!"
If anything, let's make year #10 a year to remember.
The tragedy, however, is that they shouldn't be this bad. When the season started, even the most pessimistic fan believed they had a legit shot to crack the .500 barrier. They had a roster perfect for platoons and a young pitching staff with tons of potential.
But then Perlozzo and the front office totally butchered the roster management (Knott still only has 4 AB's in an O's uni) and platoons are about as likely as a Dodo bird landing on your front lawn. Then the pitchers started dropping like flies.
But let's face it, these are the Orioles we're talking about.
The 2007 team was constructed to be a .500 team, as they have been for years. How else can you justify Deivi Cruz and Omar Daal as your marquee signings? If that is the goal, the worst case scenario is going to be a 100 loss season, like it could very well be this season.
But if the O's set their sights higher, and actually did some intriguing things once in a while, like go out and get as much young high-OBP talent as possible, instead of filling out your roster with cuddly fan favorite players like Mora, Roberts and Gibbons, then you might actually be able to set your sights on the playoffs and beyond. That way, when the injuries crop up, the worst case scenario is .500.
We've said it a million times, and each time it's said the cement it's written in just gets a little drier. Angelos has no incentive to win. He's making money one way or another. Even if attendance continues to drop he will still be laughing all the way to the bank while O's fans pay the price.
The only thing O's fans can do as the losses mount is stay away and hope that empty stadiums embarrass Angelos into actually doing something different for once. Stop signing mediocre players, for one. Allow the front office, as incompetent as they may be, to make moves on their own, without every little detail of a trade being analyzed and ultimately vetoed.
Going 81-81 is probably the worst thing imaginable for this team right now. It will lull the front office and Angelos into thinking they're on to something, and then they'll just keep doing more of the same.
So that's why I root for the losses to continue. Wins won't come as often as they need to to make a run at the playoffs, so why win at all? Football fans root for losses all the time to get a better draft pick. Why can't I do the same? Only, other than the better draft pick, I'll get to watch as Angelos has to defend his decisions, and hopefully, change the way he does things.
So let's make this a season to remember and see how Angelos reacts when the O's drop a 3-digit number in the loss column for 2007.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
The tunnel is only getting darker
For years, optimistic O's fans have said that they see "light at the end of the tunnel."
Players like Larry Bigbie, Luis Matos, Matt Riley, Brian Roberts, Adam Loewen, Erik Bedard, Nick Markakis and Daniel Cabrera were going to change the course of the Orioles' losing ways.
And as you can see from that list, half of those players are not with the team anymore, some are out of baseball, some are with the team, and some are actually doing pretty well.
But the outcome hasn't changed one bit. The Orioles are still losing.
Those same optimistic O's fans will say it's only May 3rd, but all one needs to do is take a look back throughout the 9 years of losing to see that the Orioles have struggled to make it back to .500 after falling below it. And when they do reach it, like they did on August 23rd, 2002, a massive losing streak usually follows (4-32) to erase any good they did in getting back to even.
And with the recent rash of injuries and poor hitting, to be combined with the failure to manage their roster properly, the Orioles are heading nowhere again in 2007.
Normally, fans in the middle of a losing season at least have the minor league system to give them hope for the future.
But not with the O's.
As usual, the O's AAA system is filled with minor league veterans. Some do deserve a shot to play in Baltimore (Jon Knott, J.R. House, Jason DuBois) but even they are only former can't-miss prospects who, well... missed. But in a season going nowhere, this is the time to give these guys one more look to see if they can fill any needs the team currently has.
But even the Orioles are incapable of doing this. As the Orioles were headed for a 90-loss season last year, they failed to give Luis Tererro, a Jon Knott-like career minor leaguer, a decent look in the OF. Instead, the O’s opted for a 120 lbs. soaking wet Brandon Fahey and his equally lightweight .614 OPS. So for those hoping that House and Knott will be called up to the Orioles and receive decent playing time in a season going nowhere, don't get your hopes up.
Then there are the injuries. Jared Wright and Hayden Penn both can't be counted on to start games for the Orioles this season. Adam Loewen looks like he could possibly be out for an extended period of time. And while Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Burress both deserve shots to start in their absence, both are just pitching versions of Jon Knott and J.R. House, one time can't miss prospects who, well... missed.
In the minor leagues, only Garret Olson deserves a shot to crack the rotation if Guthrie and Burress falter in Loewen and Wright’s absence, but he currently has an ERA above 5.00 in AAA Norfolk. Any other talent the O's have at the minor league level is currently stuck in high-A level Frederick, a good 1-3 years away from Baltimore. And as we have seen time and time again, anything can happen in those 1-3 years. Injuries, poor play, meteors falling out of the sky and crushing prospects, you name it. Some of these guys might as well be in tee-ball they feel so far away from contributing to the Orioles.
Then there is the management. There is nothing that hasn't already been said about Peter Angelos, so there is really nothing new to add there. One can only hope that he sees the errors of his ways this season and trades away all the valuable talent on the team for prospects and gives rebuilding a legitimate shot for the first time in his 15-year reign as owner of the team. But for an owner who loves “names,” rebuilding seems unattractive, and in his eyes, could only further hurt attendance that has already been at a flatline for years.
And if Angelos did approve a firesale and subsequent rebuilding process, do you actually trust the O's current front office of Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette to oversee such a complicated thing? There are already too many examples to list that prove the front office doesn't understand the day to day operations of running a team (funny, didn't Angelos say that about the fans after WNST's protest last season?) so what would they do in a rebuilding process, that will determine the outcome of the team for years to come? Done poorly, a rebuilding process can ruin a team for 3-5 years and set this organization back even further.
The bottom line is this, the Orioles are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. There is no simple answer for them. They’ve been wandering around in that tunnel for years, and when they thought they saw the light at the end, it was only their minds playing tricks on them.
There is no light. There never was.
But even after all that is said, the Orioles need to do something. Because whatever they've been doing for the last 9 years, it's obviously not working. Not even close.
Players like Larry Bigbie, Luis Matos, Matt Riley, Brian Roberts, Adam Loewen, Erik Bedard, Nick Markakis and Daniel Cabrera were going to change the course of the Orioles' losing ways.
And as you can see from that list, half of those players are not with the team anymore, some are out of baseball, some are with the team, and some are actually doing pretty well.
But the outcome hasn't changed one bit. The Orioles are still losing.
Those same optimistic O's fans will say it's only May 3rd, but all one needs to do is take a look back throughout the 9 years of losing to see that the Orioles have struggled to make it back to .500 after falling below it. And when they do reach it, like they did on August 23rd, 2002, a massive losing streak usually follows (4-32) to erase any good they did in getting back to even.
And with the recent rash of injuries and poor hitting, to be combined with the failure to manage their roster properly, the Orioles are heading nowhere again in 2007.
Normally, fans in the middle of a losing season at least have the minor league system to give them hope for the future.
But not with the O's.
As usual, the O's AAA system is filled with minor league veterans. Some do deserve a shot to play in Baltimore (Jon Knott, J.R. House, Jason DuBois) but even they are only former can't-miss prospects who, well... missed. But in a season going nowhere, this is the time to give these guys one more look to see if they can fill any needs the team currently has.
But even the Orioles are incapable of doing this. As the Orioles were headed for a 90-loss season last year, they failed to give Luis Tererro, a Jon Knott-like career minor leaguer, a decent look in the OF. Instead, the O’s opted for a 120 lbs. soaking wet Brandon Fahey and his equally lightweight .614 OPS. So for those hoping that House and Knott will be called up to the Orioles and receive decent playing time in a season going nowhere, don't get your hopes up.
Then there are the injuries. Jared Wright and Hayden Penn both can't be counted on to start games for the Orioles this season. Adam Loewen looks like he could possibly be out for an extended period of time. And while Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Burress both deserve shots to start in their absence, both are just pitching versions of Jon Knott and J.R. House, one time can't miss prospects who, well... missed.
In the minor leagues, only Garret Olson deserves a shot to crack the rotation if Guthrie and Burress falter in Loewen and Wright’s absence, but he currently has an ERA above 5.00 in AAA Norfolk. Any other talent the O's have at the minor league level is currently stuck in high-A level Frederick, a good 1-3 years away from Baltimore. And as we have seen time and time again, anything can happen in those 1-3 years. Injuries, poor play, meteors falling out of the sky and crushing prospects, you name it. Some of these guys might as well be in tee-ball they feel so far away from contributing to the Orioles.
Then there is the management. There is nothing that hasn't already been said about Peter Angelos, so there is really nothing new to add there. One can only hope that he sees the errors of his ways this season and trades away all the valuable talent on the team for prospects and gives rebuilding a legitimate shot for the first time in his 15-year reign as owner of the team. But for an owner who loves “names,” rebuilding seems unattractive, and in his eyes, could only further hurt attendance that has already been at a flatline for years.
And if Angelos did approve a firesale and subsequent rebuilding process, do you actually trust the O's current front office of Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette to oversee such a complicated thing? There are already too many examples to list that prove the front office doesn't understand the day to day operations of running a team (funny, didn't Angelos say that about the fans after WNST's protest last season?) so what would they do in a rebuilding process, that will determine the outcome of the team for years to come? Done poorly, a rebuilding process can ruin a team for 3-5 years and set this organization back even further.
The bottom line is this, the Orioles are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. There is no simple answer for them. They’ve been wandering around in that tunnel for years, and when they thought they saw the light at the end, it was only their minds playing tricks on them.
There is no light. There never was.
But even after all that is said, the Orioles need to do something. Because whatever they've been doing for the last 9 years, it's obviously not working. Not even close.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Nothing to get excited about...
The Orioles haven't come close to rebuilding in the 9 years since they've started losing even though their record looks a lot like it year after year.
Teams with 90 losses should at least be on their way up, right? One would think. But not when it comes to the O's. And that is why it's so hard to follow this team right now. There is nothing to get excited about.
Teams that rebuild, and do it the right way, by trading most or all of their valuable players for prospects and inexperienced players with upside, are fun to watch. You watch the team and over time a star emerges right before your eyes. And a year or two later, those players are usually the centerpiece of a team fighting to make the playoffs.
Cleveland did it with Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner. Detroit did it with Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Justin Verlander. The Florida Marlins are doing it right now for the second time in 10 years after winning a World Series with Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez.
Yet the Orioles stand pat each trading deadline when they should be unloading their valuable talent to rebuild. Instead of trading players like Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons, the Orioles have signed them to extensions that will likely come back to haunt them.
In the last few years, there was always a reason to at least follow the Orioles from a distance, even when they were out of contention in July. You might skip 3 games and then watch the games that Bedard or Cabrera pitched, or check the box score the morning after a night game to see how Markakis did.
Now those reasons to watch are getting smaller and smaller.
The Orioles are past the point of player development being a selling point. What good is it if the development never translates into a winning record? Sure, players like Markakis, Cabrera, and Loewen are exciting to watch, as they represent the Orioles future (albeit uncertain), but what good is it when they pitch well in a loss, or help the team win a game with a HR, only to be followed up by a long losing streak?
If we felt like all of this development was headed somewhere, we might be inclined to care when Cabrera pitches well or Markakis hits a HR. At least we would have the hope that those players would be a key part of the Orioles when they are battling for the division or the Wild Card in a year or two. But that is not the case.
Not at all.
With each Markakis HR or solid Cabrera start, one can't help but go from hopeful to hopeless. After a while, all these positives become are reminders of how tragic the Orioles are. Under the proper management, the bright spots on the Orioles would be surrounded with players capable of helping them get to the postseason. On the Orioles, they are surrounded with journeymen and aging veterans.
Of all the things wrong with the Orioles, this is perhaps the most depressing. Even after 10 years, there is still no end in sight.
Teams with 90 losses should at least be on their way up, right? One would think. But not when it comes to the O's. And that is why it's so hard to follow this team right now. There is nothing to get excited about.
Teams that rebuild, and do it the right way, by trading most or all of their valuable players for prospects and inexperienced players with upside, are fun to watch. You watch the team and over time a star emerges right before your eyes. And a year or two later, those players are usually the centerpiece of a team fighting to make the playoffs.
Cleveland did it with Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner. Detroit did it with Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Justin Verlander. The Florida Marlins are doing it right now for the second time in 10 years after winning a World Series with Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez.
Yet the Orioles stand pat each trading deadline when they should be unloading their valuable talent to rebuild. Instead of trading players like Melvin Mora, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons, the Orioles have signed them to extensions that will likely come back to haunt them.
In the last few years, there was always a reason to at least follow the Orioles from a distance, even when they were out of contention in July. You might skip 3 games and then watch the games that Bedard or Cabrera pitched, or check the box score the morning after a night game to see how Markakis did.
Now those reasons to watch are getting smaller and smaller.
The Orioles are past the point of player development being a selling point. What good is it if the development never translates into a winning record? Sure, players like Markakis, Cabrera, and Loewen are exciting to watch, as they represent the Orioles future (albeit uncertain), but what good is it when they pitch well in a loss, or help the team win a game with a HR, only to be followed up by a long losing streak?
If we felt like all of this development was headed somewhere, we might be inclined to care when Cabrera pitches well or Markakis hits a HR. At least we would have the hope that those players would be a key part of the Orioles when they are battling for the division or the Wild Card in a year or two. But that is not the case.
Not at all.
With each Markakis HR or solid Cabrera start, one can't help but go from hopeful to hopeless. After a while, all these positives become are reminders of how tragic the Orioles are. Under the proper management, the bright spots on the Orioles would be surrounded with players capable of helping them get to the postseason. On the Orioles, they are surrounded with journeymen and aging veterans.
Of all the things wrong with the Orioles, this is perhaps the most depressing. Even after 10 years, there is still no end in sight.
Finally! Things are getting interesting...
If the Orioles are going to lose 7 out of 8 games, they should at least do it in style. And since they slept through most of those losses, last night's 8-4 loss at least provided some action, even if it didn't exactly translate into runs.
Last night, the Orioles and Tigers traded beanballs and nearly came to fisticuffs after the tigers plunked Tejada and then the O's drilled Gary Sheffield. Daniel Cabrera had to be held back from Sheffield, and that's probably a good thing since Sheffield and his steroid-sculpted frame would have probably throttled Cabrera, who is a towering force on the mound, but just a tall drink of water when it comes to throwing down. And with Jared Wright having had his second cup of coffee in Baltimore before being sent back to the DL, the O's could ill-afford losing another starting pitcher.
If anything good can come from a near melee, it's that the O's at least showed some fire and energy. Well, most of them anyway. You'd think that the team's manager would be spitting fire in such a situation, but when words were exchanged between teams, and Jim Leyland was practically shouting directly into the Orioles' dugout, Sam Perlozzo looked like the puny kid who hides inside a locker when a fight is brewing.
You won't find many people who think Sam Perlozzo is a good manager, just when it comes to making general baseball moves, but now there is even less to say good about him. After Mazzilli lost the clubhouse, the players turned to Perlozzo as their leader. Shortly afterward, Mazzilli was fired and Perlozzo was made manager. Sadly it looks like it's come full circle for Perlozzo.
If a manager doesn't have his team's back when the other team's manager is shouting directly at them, what are the players going to think? If Perlozzo hasn't lost the clubhouse yet, last night could be the start of the chain reaction we look back to in July when the Orioles are 20 games out of first place and people are calling for Perlozzo's head. And if the players were truly for Perlozzo, last night had to at least put some doubt into their heads.
Then you've got Kevin Millar complaining to the media about his lack of playing time, and essentially being platooned with Jay Gibbons. That's more like it, Kevin! Remind the team of why they brought you here, for good chemistry! Nothing brings a team together like an aging veteran complaining about his playing time!
To be fair, Millar was one of the better players on the team until he lost his playing time when Payton came back. Despite slumping during his inconsistent playing time since then, he still leads the team in walks and is second to Tejada in OBP. Meanwhile, Payton hasn't gotten a extra basehit since coming back from the DL, and Gibbons looks completely lost at the plate.
If anyone deserves to be playing out of these 3 players, it's Millar. And hey, he did that cool Ray Lewis dance on opening day!
So color me happy. There is nothing worse than the O's sleepwalking through a losing streak. But when you've got players complaining, managers failing to back up their team, and fights nearly breaking out, things get interesting.
And hey, it's only May 1st!
Last night, the Orioles and Tigers traded beanballs and nearly came to fisticuffs after the tigers plunked Tejada and then the O's drilled Gary Sheffield. Daniel Cabrera had to be held back from Sheffield, and that's probably a good thing since Sheffield and his steroid-sculpted frame would have probably throttled Cabrera, who is a towering force on the mound, but just a tall drink of water when it comes to throwing down. And with Jared Wright having had his second cup of coffee in Baltimore before being sent back to the DL, the O's could ill-afford losing another starting pitcher.
If anything good can come from a near melee, it's that the O's at least showed some fire and energy. Well, most of them anyway. You'd think that the team's manager would be spitting fire in such a situation, but when words were exchanged between teams, and Jim Leyland was practically shouting directly into the Orioles' dugout, Sam Perlozzo looked like the puny kid who hides inside a locker when a fight is brewing.
You won't find many people who think Sam Perlozzo is a good manager, just when it comes to making general baseball moves, but now there is even less to say good about him. After Mazzilli lost the clubhouse, the players turned to Perlozzo as their leader. Shortly afterward, Mazzilli was fired and Perlozzo was made manager. Sadly it looks like it's come full circle for Perlozzo.
If a manager doesn't have his team's back when the other team's manager is shouting directly at them, what are the players going to think? If Perlozzo hasn't lost the clubhouse yet, last night could be the start of the chain reaction we look back to in July when the Orioles are 20 games out of first place and people are calling for Perlozzo's head. And if the players were truly for Perlozzo, last night had to at least put some doubt into their heads.
Then you've got Kevin Millar complaining to the media about his lack of playing time, and essentially being platooned with Jay Gibbons. That's more like it, Kevin! Remind the team of why they brought you here, for good chemistry! Nothing brings a team together like an aging veteran complaining about his playing time!
To be fair, Millar was one of the better players on the team until he lost his playing time when Payton came back. Despite slumping during his inconsistent playing time since then, he still leads the team in walks and is second to Tejada in OBP. Meanwhile, Payton hasn't gotten a extra basehit since coming back from the DL, and Gibbons looks completely lost at the plate.
If anyone deserves to be playing out of these 3 players, it's Millar. And hey, he did that cool Ray Lewis dance on opening day!
So color me happy. There is nothing worse than the O's sleepwalking through a losing streak. But when you've got players complaining, managers failing to back up their team, and fights nearly breaking out, things get interesting.
And hey, it's only May 1st!
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