With the Triple Crown within our grasp, we need Ramon back behind the plate this weekend to ensure the WP title.

And that play in the base path was very Albert Belle-esque. I bet Fernando Vina experienced sympathy pains when he saw that.

Maybe Ramon can use the day off to practice his scowl. I just hope he's not planning to chase little kids with his car this Halloween.

I just saw a headline that the O's had lost their 9th game in a row. I had no idea. The O's are lucky the Ravens are off to a good start so fans are ignoring their September collapse (again).

But Angelos should be worried (again) about fan apathy more than anything else. The fans should be outraged over another fall swoon, but I sense very little anger. It's like we dont care. And that's a bad sign for the club.

this team is an embarassment

When will Trembley get it through his thick head that Hernandez is a detriment to this club..... His laziness and lackadaisical attitude enhances the inept performance of the club as a whole. Pathetic is too kind of a word to use when describing the relationship between Trembley and Hernandez and to only a slightly lesser degree with Millar and Payton.

Was Ramon's play on the Liz error earlier in the game a borderline walk-through? With a little effort, could he have caught it? Once he missed it, could he have, perchance, done more than trot after it? The Ramon story has been season-long, and these are serious questions. Just wondering what you and others thought, after watching two runs score.

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Pete's reply: I don't know. It seems like everything Ramon does these days is borderline.

The Orioles should have waited until the end of the season to make a decision about Trembley. The pitching is just awful, the baserunning laughable, and Ramon Hernandez is not the only one dogging it. The entire team is out of sync, and Trembley seems to have given up and packed his bags for the offseason. Why should we be optomistic? It seems like every decent pitching prospect we have ends up with his arm in a sling. Why not just have all of our minor league picthers undergo labrum and Tommy John surgery this offseason and get it out of the way?

It sucks to be an Oriole fan. Wake me up when it's over.

Let's go Flacco.

I don't think the play was a cheap shot. Heck he even tried to help the guy up.

I'm a defender of Trembley, and generally feel that everyone who complains about bullpen management is attempting to look smarter than they really are. I've also felt he plays Ramon (and doesn't trash him to the media) because he has no choice. I like Quiroz as a backup catcher, but if he were to start we'd have a backup and a sub-backup until such time as the Chosen One arrives. What I'll say here is that Ramon's takedown of Iwamura was dirty, he deserved to get drilled in his next at bat, and Trembley's constant line of respect the game tells me Ramon should be benched.

We should have gave Ramon to Houston when we sent his buddy Miggy there.

Sheets its not hard to see he over works his bullpen. Lets look it over:

G.Sherrill - Career high InnP was 45.2 in 73 games. So he pitched less then an Inning per game. He hit 45.2 In July this year. But he hadn't been the same pitcher since the AS Game.

J.Walker - Pitched in a career high 81 games in 2007. 25 more games then he had the previous season. This year he has pitched like his arm was broken.

But those are veterans. Lets look over the young kids. Hitters like Adam Jones and Lou Montanez get handled delicately. But not the young pitchers.

J.Johnson - Was a starter most of his career. Got into 54 games and 68.2 InnP.

M. Albers - He started a few games but overall he pitched more then an inning everytime out. He had 49 Innings before July.

I could go on about over use in the 1st half doomed a lot of these guys in the 2nd half but no point. Most people already see it.

Hey gang,

At the start of the season we were told that the Os were rebuilding and that it would not be a pretty sight in the short term. So the Os played over their heads at the start of the season and raised expectations. The length of the baseball season caught up with them and brought them down to where they were expected to be based on the available talent. Why is everyone so surprised?

On playing Hernandez and Walker - is Trembly trying to shame the players or is he highlighting to the front office just how bad these players are?

I agree with sportnut; Akimora was stupid to get completely in the basepath to make the tag. Why was Hernandez (who I agree has been almost completely lackadaisical) wrong to keep running in the basepath (and take out Akimora), but it's OK to slide into the second baseman or shortstop to break up a double play at second base?

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Pete's reply: Got to jump in on this. Iwamura was not in his direct baseline. If you watch the replay, Ramon turns right and decks him. He could have run through him and that would have been fine.

Peter. Your headline is dead-on..Ramon had been taking the day off since August! I know he's become the poster boy for mailing it in but what about the rest of this team? Losing 9 straight and what is it-27 of 32 takes more than one guy playing lousy.
It's almost comical in the variety of ways that we have managed to lose games-- ptiching duels(few and far between but still..) 1-0 3-2 loses, a series of blown leads of 4 plus..Like last night, it was 6-0 good guys and then poof-5 minutes later Tampa's up. and of course, the good old-fashioned a*** kickings-too many to mention.
Is there a more brutal finish ever to an Orioles season? The recent 4-32 finish comes to mind so we should 'match' that if the Jays sweep us this weekend. Maybe the O's brain trust will show up and watch how to put together a pitching staff and in particular, what happens when you throw strikes.
By Monday the torture will be over and we can all look forward to the inevitable next phase of the rebuild. Things can only get better right???

How many times did Ramon attempt to throw a ball from the plate to 2nd base last night? 2 or 3? How many times was he late? 2 or 3?

I do question whether what happened was a cheap shot with a little drama on the "are you okay" move, or was it for real?

Whatcha think Pete?

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Pete's reply: I thought it was a little cheap, especially from a guy who isn't willing to take a hit.

Will part of the solution to the O's ongoing pitching woes be to once again replace the pitching coach?

Timothy. I don't think the pitching coach is the problem. We've had some of the supposed best in Baltimore over the years-Mazzone, Ray Miller and even Kranitz 'had' a good reputation. The end results are about the same-next to bottom in MLB in key categories such as ERA, HBP, walks etc.
A pitching coach has to have some basic talent to work with and I am disgusted with the complete lack of command with the majority of our pitchers-I mean throwers. Our pitching situation is comparable to a basic golf hacker(like me) hiring Dave Leadbetter or Butch Harmon. If I have trouble breaking 90, I am not suddenly going to compete on the PGA tour by taking a few lessons.
It's all fine to complain and this is good therapy for us but what is the solution? Are we going to have to go through another season of erratic starting, followed by the 'throw in the towel portion' of the last 35 games every year? I say don't promote anyone until they establish they can throw strikes and not walk a batter per inning. This may eliminate most of the current motely crew but if nothing else, it sends a clear message. The best scenario is that 3-5 pitchers recover over the winter and we have only a few spots to file. One can dream!!!

I would like to see the O's get some veteran starters to back up the younger ones. Especially make an effort for Mike Mussina. I would love to see him finish his career as an Oriole.

By the way does Cleveland have any minor league starting pitchers they want to give up on?

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Pete's reply: No, I think that well is dry.

Pete,

Fullback, that's the first contact Ramon has managed to make this year, he sure can't block the plate, call a game, work with pitchers, give a target, hustle or act like he gives a hoot! No Ramon, Peyton, Walker, Millar, Fayhe, Castro, Cabrera need to bannished from the Charm City, probably along with Trembley too but I could be talked into giving Captain Kirk another year, provided he did something like get into the game, go to the top step, go out and talk to young pitchers when they begin to struggle and generally act interested. But heads must roll to keep my interest in 2009!

Pete--Do you really believe the O's will take any of these people (I can't call them pitchers without throwing up)to spring training? It only proves "you get what you pay for".

I really don't think Trembley is the problem. Casey Stengel himself couldn't do anything with this pitching staff. A pile of crap is still a pile of crap no matter how many bows you put on top of it. Even my 12 year-old brother with a limited knowledge of baseball could tell that Ramon wasn't giving it his full effort. I think he mailed it in when calling games as well. I still think Trembley is a good man, and will be a good manager, once he gets some actual talent to work with.

Pete:
On your jump in. Ramon may have turned to hit him with his shoulder instead of frontally. But he didn't make a 90 degree turn. And the basepath is the same all the way from first to second; three feet on either side of the baseline. If a runner is applauded for breaking up a double play at second base where he goes right at the fielder (as long as he is not out of the basepath), why is it a cheap shot if it occurs somewhere between first and second?

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Pete's reply: Because he turned into the guy and basically tried to lift him off the ground. In my mind, it was the same as sliding through second with your cleats up. Running into him was fine. Trying to knock him on his head is not. I actually said borderline cheap shot, however. Here's my other complaint. If the second baseman had been 6-3 and 230 pounds, I don't think Ramon runs into him at all.

" If the second baseman had been 6-3 and 230 pounds, I don't think Ramon runs into him at all." Dead on. Hernandez is a total wuss. He would only risk contact with a slender second baseman, provided he was not sliding into home, in which case Hernandez would take two steps towards the mound to clear a path, as a matter of habit.