Re: the team photo. Interesting that you bring that up as I have the 2007 photo gracing a spot on my classroom wall. I often have students go over to the picture and ask me why so many of the players and coaches have a "x" drawn through their heads. To this I answer that they are no longer part of the team and that as changes were made, I eliminated them.
Well, I think it goes without saying that the 2008 photo may have a few more "x" 's by the end of the off-season than did the 2007. It might be close, but I think that we'll see some changes. On the other hand, perhaps I should get a Baysox team photo and prepare to do a little "cutting and pasting" from Bowie to Baltimore. I'm also thinking I'll do some cutting and pasting from Baltimore to Norfolk.
But Pete, as you pointed out, I did get 4 hours of baseball and in the end my son, who has proven himself to be a master at getting free baseballs at games (we came away from a 2007 Detroit game with 4, count 'em 4 balls and two of the came from the Tigers!), walked away with yet another 2 balls courtesy of, according to him, B-Rob. Just be a cute 12 year old with a glove and the world is your oyster.
Maybe we should just pray for rain this weekend and hope that this season will just "go away" quietly and enjoy the post-season, football, hockey and basketball.
Whatcha think Pete?

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Pete's reply: I can't, in good conscience, pray for rain because there are still people who don't want to get wet. That's from my upcoming book of fake Eastern philosophy.

Fan appreciation week. Are you kidding me, just win a few games, I would even settle for one quality start. The Orioles do seem like there heading in the right direction. Its really hard to take year after year. Man they were so good when I was a kid. I feel sorry for my son . He has to enjoy a really bad team . I asked him hey want to watch the game and he laughed and said, I cant wast my time watching very poor baseball. I had nothing to say.

The game tonight should show all the Dave bashers that the guy has no weapons to use, as how is supposed to win a team that walks, hits and throws away ball after ball? It's easy to point fingers during this horrible September, but it's also easy to forget that you are only as good as the talent you have.

On a side note, what Ramon did to Aki was classless. He really showed what kind of jerk he is by unnecessarily putting one of the Rays top players in jeopardy before the post season. I only wish that Ramon would show those blocking skills behind the plate instead of on the base paths.

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Pete's reply: I agree.

I don't care if you're spent by this time of the year. I don't care if you're outmanned. I don't care if the entire Opening Day roster is on the DL. I don't care if you've lost the desire to grind every day...

IT'S DAMN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE FOR A TEAM TO STINK FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH STRAIGHT!

The fact that the Orioles have managed to accomplish it yet again (and down the home stretch for several years running) tells me that a lot of the "progress" I saw this season was smoke and mirrors. The heart of a champion wants to win every day, every inning, every pitch.

I will credit the offense for at least showing up to each game with the right mindset, but once a lead is relinquished it seems that they resolve themselves to "business as usual."

As for the pitching staff, nary a one of you should even cash your checks from the last two months of the season. You definitely haven't earned them.

I have to believe that the September doldrums really affect the psyche of the team long after they hit the golf course for the winter. I know it affects my faith in the possibility of this team ever getting turned around...

Manager Dave might also have added" when players don't know when to back up home plate ( as in when the pitcher fields a play on the third base line and the play is at the plate, the firstbase comes into back-up home and the right fielder comes into back firstbase because the batter will be safe at first on a fielders choice] so when the catcher who ended up fielding the bad throw had no one to throw to to prevent a second run from scoring, when in fact the catcher should have stayed at the plate and taken the throw from the firstbase who should have backing up home plate, but then again that's just good high school fundamentals and these are pro's. However, those bases loaded walks kept the Rays from putting the ball in play for extra bases and putting together really big innings, so maybe I don't understand the in and outs of managing anyway.

I'll take the quiz if it means losing Quiroz,Payton,Walker,Ramon,god has anybody deteriorated so much defensively in the last 2 years,and Millar,just for starters.Oh that's right,we don't have any.I hope Cabrera is hurt,that would make the decision to non-tender him that much more easier.Simon actually pitched pretty well,had a lot of movement and threw first pitch strikes.What a pleasant surprise.Still not convinced Dave Trembles can handle a major league tam,didn't see much difference over the last 45 games then we saw the last 4 years.

I feel for Trembley. I don't know how he sits through it. You can just stop watching the O's in mid-August and consider the season a small success.

Here's something for all the Dave bashers out there to think about. Let's say that the manager's decisions cost the team a total of ten wins over the course of the year. That really is a high number once you get to the major league level, figuring that over the course of the season it should average out the times when a choice turns out to lead to a win versus to a loss. But if we went with turning ten losses into wins, the Orioles would currently be at 77-81 and still be in last place in the AL East by a large margin.

The reality is that in spite of the progress made in certain areas this year, the injuries to the pitching staff and inadequacies of the starters have taken their toll. This was supposed to be an acknowledged rebuilding year, which means there was going to be some pain. And rebuilding doesn't just mean throwing away millions in salaries by cutting veterans and playing guys who are not ready for the major leagues. It means obtaining prospects who have a legitimate chance to develop and putting them at the level in the organization where they should be and letting them develop there. For some it's in Baltimore, for others it's Norfolk, Bowie, or Frederick. The goal was always to be better in 2009 than 2008 (and 2007) and be competitive on an ongoing basis by 2010 or 2011. Which means 2008 was going to be painful. We actually got spoiled by being competitive earlier in the year, though that just makes the last six weeks even harder to take.

Jack You make some good points. I still think a key part of this rebuild is to cut some veterans-like Ramon & Walker and if it means a hit to the bottom line, it's all part of the 'pain'. The danger with keeping these guys around just to save the $$$ is that Trembley ends up playing them too much. If you just sit Ramon, he ends up being a pain in the but and demoralizes the team.
We didn't seem to miss Gibbons much and I'm sure the rebuild can go on without Ramon & Walker. Hopefully, the rest of the declining vets will see their O's days come to an end this year-ie Millar and Payton. I'm ono the fence with Mora and Huff certainly is an asset.

TerryP - I agree with you that I would not miss those guys if they weren't around next year. Payton certainly won't be, and Millar not likely. However, I disagree with a lot of folks in that I believe we got a fair performance from those two this year. For next year, save the money and put it to use elsewhere and replace their performance with someone less expensive and/or with more long term potential (or Teixeira at first base, if you want to dream).

But your point about not missing Gibbons illustrates the dilemma. It was easy to replace Gibbons because he played a position at which there was a surplus available already on the roster. For Walker and Hernandez, that is not the case. Who in the organization would be a viable alternative as a lefty relief specialist? Granted, Walker failed in that role this year, but as a veteran you hope that at any point he will straighten out and give you what you have gotten in the past. And until Wieters is really ready for the majors, which we all hope is no later than June next year, then there just isn't anyone else that is a decent option at catcher either.

As a business owner it's easier to consider writing off an overpriced asset if you have something you can replace it with that will perform at a comparable level. If not, there is no reason to dump the guys since you have to pay them anyway if you can't replace them either. That's the part that makes it harder for MacPhail, balancing his legitimate business concerns with as quickly as possible both developing the farm system and fielding a winning major league team.

And when they get that team assembled, I remain open to the possibility that someone other than Dave Trembley might be the best man to manage it. For now, I am overall satisfied that he has gotten as much out of the team as possible with what he had to work with.

Jack. The problem with Walker is that Trembley probably burned him out in '07 by overusing him. Walker is a stand-up guy and everything but even he will admit that he stunk in '08. Trembley didn't know when to cut his lossed and kept bringing him in in the few key situations we were in late this year. The results were disastrous and he's better served using him as a mop-up man. Pretty sad state of affairs when we can't find another lefty in the whole organization to fill that role. I suppose one solution is to use Sherrill there and slot Ray back into the closer role. I realize there's the financial factor and shedding payroll etc which is probably why we traded one of our few dependable relievers in Bradford. In hindsight we should have kept him so he might have helped avoid a couple of losses. This guy can ptich forever and at the same price as Walker, far more useful.
I realize that we don't really have much options at catcher until Weiters is ready but continually playing Ramon by default is not the best idea either. If we ate the 8 mill left and paid another 2 mill for a gritty vet like Greg Zaun than it makes us better. He would set a good example for the youngsters by his hustle and he is a good handler of pitchers. The other option is to have like MacPhail lay into Ramon about his attitude etc but will that do any good?