My Rant to the Baltimore Orioles Organization

Let’s not kid ourselves:  The O’s organization has officially taken any hope of a brighter future and thrown it out of the window.  That hope then proceeded to fall 300ft, landing with a giant “THUD!” on the concrete below.  Many fans have become uninterested, unenthused, and ultimately, ready to finally call it quits as fans.  Even I, an avid O’s fan since the age of six, have hardly payed any attention at all in the year 2010, as I am simply sick of watching the team flounder on throughout the season.

There are plenty to blame for this mess.  You can blame Andy MacPhail, as his plan to “grow the arms and buy the bats” simply has not unfolded.  Arms have been grown; however, a solid bat is no where in sight.  Say what you want, be we all know that both Mark Teixeira and Matt Holliday could be Orioles right now, yet no one in the front office pulled the trigger.  Instead, we were left with a plume of young, undeveloped bats…and Garrett Atkins.

You can, of course, blame Peter Angelos.  With his lack of effort in the front office and his driving the once proud O’s organization into the earth, he is grouped amongst the worst owners in sports, next to the Raiders’ Al Davis and the Redskins’ Dan Snyder.  So I say thank you Angelos.  You took my favorite team and made it the laughing-stock of the MLB.  Hopefully, he has plans to sell the team (I know it isn’t going to happen, but a kid can dream, right?), because as of now, there is no hope for the organization as long as he is running the show.

You can blame Dave Trembley, the O’s manager.  Once known for pushing fundamentals on the players, Trembley’s once praised tactics are now nowhere to be found.  He makes dreadful pitching changes, horrible coaching decisions, and we have been left to see a team that is no longer fundamentally sound.  Add this onto a team filled with youngsters who are looking for a professional work environment, and you have the makings of a disaster.

Finally, you can blame the players.  It is not the manager, or the President of Baseball Operations, or even the owner who physically plays the game.  The team does not hit with runners in scoring position.  In fact, they hardly hit at all.  Only a select few pitchers have even shown glimpses of success, and even then they are left with nothing (Just ask Kevin Millwood, I’m sure he can give you a better explanation.).  The bullpen is an absolute mess, with four different closers being used this season, and three of them have successfully blown saves and hit the disabled list (Thanks for that by the way.  I don’t care if your arm is falling off; do your jobs.  Heck, pay me to go in there in the ninth, and I’ll put them away for you.  And it’s funny, the way all three of you went down after you started blowing the team into oblivion.  I don’t know about the timing, and frankly I don’t seem to care anymore.  I feel no sympathy.  Do your jobs, and that does not include making fools out of yourselves.)  Ultimately, the youngsters haven’t lived up to expectations, and frankly I don’t blame them.  They are left to fend for themselves without any guidance or leadership.  The organization basically placed all their dreams on the shoulders of a 2^nd-year catcher, and now they are wondering why he has struggled.  Hmmm, let me check…how many times out of ten is a kid going to successfully maintain stability in a starting rotation while also trying to be one of the better hitters in the lineup?  To answer the question, 0.  At most, 1.  For that, I say sorry to Matt Wieters.  No one in the organization will tell you this, but you are doing one heck of a job for a kid who is expected to lead this team to the promised land.  And no, that is not sarcasm.  I honestly speak for myself, and hopefully many others around the country.  Keep up the good work kid, you don’t have much helping you out, and you’ve held your own.  You are, indeed, on of the very few bright spots in this franchise.

To conclude this rant, it’s about time someone in this organization woke up.  The light that once burned brightly for an amazing franchise is slowly growing dim in my soul.  I not only speak for myself; I speak for those of Oriole Nation.  The fan base is beginning to turn it’s backs on the once pride-and-joy of “Charm City”.  And as sad as it is, I am as well.  I am no longer interested in a joke of a franchise.  I want a team that will give me something to enjoy in the summer.  Hey Ravens, please don’t disappoint us this year.  You guys are actually run efficiently, and you are all many of us have to look forward to.