This is something the Baltimore Orioles do not have. There is nothing “regularly recurring” about the starting pitching rotation of the Birds. But maybe that doesn’t matter so much anymore in this modern era of baseball.

I am an old man for a blog writer. I can actually remember the 1971 four-man rotation of Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, and Dave McNally. McNally had 30 starts that year, whereas the other three posted 37 or 38. These guys averaged about 250 innings a year between 1969-1973.

May 2, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman (30) pitches against the Los Angeles Angels during the third inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

But the point I’m getting at here is that, in those days, you pretty much knew every fourth game who would be pitching, and by extension for the whole year. Later, when five-man rotations became the more reasonable paradigm, one could follow his team and pretty much know – with only a few exceptions – who would be rotating as a starter throughout the season. Maybe there are some modern teams out there like this, as I don’t closely follow the majority of them; but I can say for sure that the Baltimore Orioles are not, and have not in any recent memory, been one of them.

Already this year with 38 total games in the books, the Orioles lead the baseball universe by having had nine different starters. And it looks like we are only just getting started with the rotating door of the rotating pitchers of the rotation. It can make one’s head rotate as well, and it now seems almost silly to have so much pondered over spring training as to which player would be the fifth starter.

This situation is not normal. It is crazy. But it may not be deadly. And for that, Orioles fans can thank Dan Duquette who has loaded up the system with viable choices. I well remember FanFest 2012 when a year ago in January, Nick Markakis was asked about his observations upon the off season and said, “We sure seem to be stockpiling a lot of arms around here.”  Ah … yep! Some people collect stamps or coins; Dan Duquette collects pitchers.

Of the starting five pitchers this season, only Chris Tillman seems to be on solid ground at the moment. Jason Hammel has had multiple consecutive rough outings and can’t seem to command the ball (which is, by the way, a phrase never heard until recent years). Michael Gonzalez is at least briefly on the DL. Jake Arrieta is throwing the ball for Norfolk now (with word today that he has a stiff shoulder). And also today, Wei-Yin Chen had to depart early with an oblique strain – the severity of which is yet undetermined. These guys have more ups and downs than my stock portfolio … and less guarantees of ultimate reward.

I probably sound very critical, and truly I do not mean to be. Stuff happens. I’m not sure why it happens more frequently than it did 40 years ago, I can only observe that it does and we are into the mode of “the next man up.”  So really, I mean for this to be a positive blog post, because the Orioles – unlike most franchises – are able to dip into the minors and bring up the next guy and continue to win. At this moment, the Birds are on pace to win 98 games.

So who will be the next man up if indeed Chen has to shut down for a time … or to fill in one or another of a few pending holes in the rotation? I am guessing it might well be Jair Jurrjens, who right now has an ERA of 2.62 and a WHIP of 1.16. He also has a clause in his contract that releases him if he is not called up by a certain approaching date.

But will we ever see the day in Baltimore where there is a relatively “normal” rotation? And who will be the five main guys? I am guessing that we are never going to get close to such a scenario this year, and I’m honestly good with that – never expected to get there this season. But I am thinking that 2014 will feature something more regular. Thinking logically, there would seem to be two certain long-term pieces in Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman. I believe Chris Tillman is the real deal and has largely figured out what it takes to be a consistent winner. Chen looks like a long-term keeper and innings-eater (believing today’s incident to be but a bump in the road). The fifth spot is a more open question as I see it. Until recent weeks, we would all say it is Hammel. It would be great to see the Jurrjens of the past reappear, and I do not think that is impossible. Perhaps it will be Tsuyoshi Wada – who was to be the better of the two Oriental pickups from last year. It really should be Arrieta, whom I believe to be the most talented … but I see him as a reliever along the lines of Brian Matusz – guys who can be lights out for a short time but who don’t have some issue of fortitude for the starting role. And I cannot explain the Zack Britton situation … can only say that he has dropped off the radar with a current Norfolk ERA of 3.38 with a WHIP of 1.67 (Yikes! … has 12 walks in 24 innings).

Over recent years, commentators of the Orioles have looked in at the team and said that it will go as far as the starting pitching takes it. Well, that could pretty generally be said about every team. And though we have lived through some real adventures with the rotating rotations, honestly, the anemic offence has cost the team more of the losses than the starting pitching… that is, until this year. Now the offense has become a genuine strength with league stats in the top handful of every category. It is NOW true that the Orioles will go as far as the starters take them – given the run support AND the top-notch bullpen.

We have an interesting 18 months ahead to see how all of this shakes out for the Orioles. So what do you think?

Courtesy of Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s face it; had this game been played somewhere between 1998-2011, odds are the O’s wouldn’t even have had a 6-1 lead to blow in the 8th inning. However if they had and they would have had any team (but especially New York – or Boston for that matter) come back on them in that manner, it would have  ”game over.” I remember a game in 2007 against the Washington Nationals in which the game seemed to go back and forth time and time again. However each time the Orioles (led at the time by Sam Perlozzo) got the lead, you could almost see on their faces that they were wondering how Washington would get the lead back. Sure enough after a bad hop here and an error or two there, the Orioles trailed again.

A lot of people like to pun some of the Showalterisms such as “I saw that look in his eye,” but sometimes that makes a difference. The 2012 Orioles were noted for many things, perhaps most pertinently the whole play ’till the last out idea. They never gave in, and that definitely stands for something. In watching the film of that game last night, I never saw the look of defeat, self-doubt, or the deer-in-the-headlights look on any of the Orioles’ faces after New York came back. Instead I saw looks of resolve, which was exactly what was missing in the aforementioned game in 2007. (It’s also worth mentioning that there’s a big difference in the quality of the players and the leadership between 2007 and 2012.)

Unfortunately it’s too early to say whether or not what we witnessed on September 6th of last year was a true paradigm shift. If the Orioles struggle in 2013 and beyond, it might just have been a flash in the pan so to speak. It seems that most of the national media and many members of the fan base are resigned to that fact. However…what if that doesn’t happen? There were a lot of big wins in 2012, many of which came in dramatic fashion. Wilson’s Betemit’s walk off homer against Oakland last April comes to mind, as does Nick Markakis‘ go-ahead homer last May in Washington, and Taylor Teagarden‘s heroics in July against Detroit. However if the O’s continue the trend of playing competitive baseball beyond 2012, that September 6th game would be the representative moment of a paradigm shift (More realistically you might look back to the 9/28/11 walk off win against Boston, however you get my point.) The stakes in that game were so high, and obviously it was done under the backdrop of the Cal Ripken statue. It’s tough to get much better than that.

That moment was a poignant one in Orioles’ history, and the Birds now have to find a way to ensure that writers such as myself will always point back to it as proof of a turning point. That’s a task that will not begin or end in 2013. Instead it’s an ongoing geometric ray, which moves forward from that moment in time. We know that the 2012 Orioles answered the bell. It’s now up to current and future incarnations of the club to continually do the same, proving that moment as a true paradigm shift.

Apr 04 2011; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles former manager Earl Weaver and current manager Buck Showalter (26) after Earl threw out the first pitch on opening day against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles defeated the Tigers 5 – 1. Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Probably the first picture in most minds of Weaver is that of an aggressive argument with umpires; and yes, there were quite a few! Earl got tossed a total of 94 times over his 17 years – placing him 3^rd all-time on the ejections list.

But Weaver was a great baseball mind, and that is how he should most be remembered. He is the godfather of “The Oriole Way.”  Though it was Hank Bauer who actually managed the World Champions 1966 Orioles, it was Earl who took them through the incredible seasons of ’69,’70, and ’71 … and many other successful campaigns thereafter.

It was Buck Showalter who especially today shared reflections on the impact of Weaver. Buck invited him to spring camp to talk to the players, saying today that Earl kept repeating to the guys to “be brilliant in the basics.”

These days, around Orioles circles, I most often hear Weaver cited as the champion of the 3-run homer. The funny thing is that I was alive and following the Orioles rather intently over his managerial years, and I don’t recall him talking about that very much. He was more about situational baseball and match-ups and doing all the little things well. Weaver was in fact a groundbreaker in these matters, and among those enriched by that thought process was me! As I reflect on it, I was educated in the minutia of baseball by following the team and his leadership in my formative years. Earl was indeed ahead of the times. As I reflect back to why college coaches I had would make mistakes that were clearly and obviously wrong-headed to me, I now see that they did not have the experience I had of watching, listening, reading, and learning from a brilliant baseball mind. My coaches were still a product of a very staid and traditional way of playing the game in a one-size-fits-all mode.

Earl Weaver was of course the source of an abundance of great one-liners and quotes… many of which could never be repeated in mixed company. I’ll share one that I suspect few have heard, since it comes from my world – where I’m the pastor of a church. Former Orioles outfielder Pat Kelly had come to a strong faith as an Orioles player. After his career was over, he became a very gifted and sought-after speaker in the evangelical church community. Not long before his sudden death in 2005, he spoke at a dinner event at my church. He talked a lot at dinner about Earl Weaver and his fiery leadership. Pat told me that, after his faith conversion, he said to Earl, “Skipper, I’ve come to faith in Christ and I’m walking with the Lord now.”  Without any pause, Weaver replied, “Oh really? I’d rather that you walk with the bases loaded!”

The Orioles community is certainly really pleased to have successfully included Earl in the monument court at Camden Yards, and to have been able to do it before his passing. But the other passing that has happened is the passing of The Oriole Way of the Weaver era to The Oriole Way of the Showalter era. This was symbolized well by the first pitch of the 2011 season being thrown from Earl to Buck. That is how it should be; that is how it is; that is how it will be. The Orioles are back, even if Earl is gone.