Pete - what do you think the underlying reason for the O's complete and total meltdowns every time they seem to show signs of not being one of the league's worst teams? Is it the manager?

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Pete's reply: I can't link it directly to the manager because I'm one of those people who doesn't believe the manager has that kind of effect on the action on the field. I'm having trouble making any sense of it at all at the moment. I've been critical of the way Dave used the hit-and-run at times, but that hasn't been an issue in this series.

This team seems to have to talent especially on offense to be a .500 club. You might not be able to slug your way to the playoffs, but one can at least be respectable. The O's seem to lack a desire to win and just seem to go through the motions during the season. I guess over a decade of losing can do that to you.
I really like Dave Trembley but he seems to lack the fire and passion that this team desprately needs. I watch the team on a regular basis and it doesnt seem like he shows any emotion in the dugout. Trembley needs to kick this team in the butt more often.

Pete,

When do you think Tillman gets the call. Will we have to wait until Sept. 1st? Why not let him get half a season in the majors.

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Pete's reply: You might see him earlier, but I don't think the Orioles are in a big hurry to get him up there unless there's a need no one else can fill.

I love O's baseball...I've been an O's fan all my life. But, just when everyone proclaims the team has "turned the corner," they drop several games in a row and kill all momentum. They don't know how to succeed yet...they are not winners at this point. 10+ years of losing breeds a loser atmosphere. They pitch poorly, run the bases poorly, swing at terrible pitches at the wrong time, don't hustle, etc. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is still long and dark at this point. I love this team, but I just know the good times won't last and I know soon after a winning streak or a big series win, they will give it all back and lose 3, 4, or 5 in a row. Can we please stop proclaiming the O's are any good or turned any corners or almost there until they win the Wild Card or AL East again? Please, please...I can't take the short term love fests any more.

Hmmm...this IS one of the leagues worst teams. Measure it any way you want.Wins and losses is easy, and at the end of the day,that is all that really matters.
Good teams find ways to win.
Good teams play much better baseball than the Orioles. Good teams are far more talented than the Orioles. Here we're hoping that in the next year or 2 that they somehow become good enough to simply play 500 baseball.That's not really saying much, is it?
Losing is no fun, but it is a glaring and constant reminder of how much work is needed for this team to even be respectable.

.

Austin - two points. First, I like the way you put it better than the way Steve put it. It is not knowing how to be a winner, not lack of desire IMO. Second, why would you listen to anyone who says this is a good team? We all know this will be a good team when the pitching is good and for that we are depending on guys who havent thrown their first pitch in the majors. I think we have clearly turned the corner in that we are moving upwards as an organization but since the talent has to move up the organizational ladder, OPACY is the last place you will see the improvement.

Pete,

If they fall apart again this year and finish no where near .500 will the front office fire Trembley? I think he has to get some improvement out of this team.

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Pete's reply: I believe the O's have to perform noticeably better in the second half than in the first for Trembley to get extended.

The lack of consistency reflects nothing besides the fact that they're a mediocre team, which is not news. Would it be better if they went W-L-W-L for 162 games? Enough with the pop psychology.

11-0

Yup...Chris Ray sure looks...better... ;-(

Lucky--You are right, winning is about desire. It is also about high standards. In any organization if the leadership (manager, veterans, owner in this case) doesn't hold people accountable and set high standards, the organization will fail. The O's epitomize this...DT says the team will play hard, play well fundamentally, and respect the game and yet they do none of the above. Who is holding DT accountable, who is holding players accountable for continuous bone head plays? No one. The players will always take the easy route (see yo-yo performance now) if you don't hold them to the standard. I love how the organization is being built, but the big league team has zero leadership. DT, BRob, Aubrey, Melvin...lead by example, please. Set the young guys up for success by being role models on how to play the game! Saying the organization has turned the corner is totally different than continually saying the current team has turned the corner. We will continue to lose as long as we beat ourselves every inning we play...a change is a long way off.

Peter

You do understand that we all knew the team was gonna lose right?

It's the way they lose and the ridiculous stuff we see each night that is infuriating.

The fact that you keep going to the "well how many wins did you think they would have" says a whole lot to me.

I expected them to lose alot more than win.

What I didn't expect is another year of putrid fundamentals and WORSE base running than last year.

Those issues are completely separate from lesser talent which we all know this team has (especially with regards to SP).

So please, stop bringing up the W/L argument because it's old and tired. I've dealt with what will be 12 straight losing seasons. I'm used to it.

But this team lacks what EVERY major league team should have no matter what kind of talent they have. That would players that know how to do the basics.

Leadership, desire, consistency... these are things people cite when they're too lazy to figure out the real problem. Hint: it's talent.

This is the most talented team they have had in years. Not world series talent yet, but still more talent.
A toatl housecleaning is needed now.

Trembley has not shown that he can lead this team to the next level.
I don't blame Crowley for the lack of hitting, but again, it's just time NOW to get on with the program.

I'm sure Macphail has his "Tom Kelly" in mind. Let's bring him aboard now and let him grow with this team into next years surprise team in baseball.

Pete, you made the comment to me that you can't judge Trembley except on where the O's are in relation to where you thought they would be. You made this assumption that since you thought the O's would be about where they are record wise, that means that Trembley has done an "average" job. That logic is faulty on many levels. It discounts basically all the factors of this years team except your subjective opinion of what you thought there record might be.
That misses the whole point of his handling of the pitching staff and his in game decisions like BUNTING ON THE ROAD WITH NO ONE OUT and A RUNNER ON SECOND......IN THE 7th INNING down by ONE RUN with a HOT HITTER UP arrrggghhhhh!!!!
(see Calvin and HOBBS)

Yeah, that still bugs me because it can not be defended logically. Cetainly, a manager should use logic and percentages, one would think.

Steve D.

Have you seen some of the rosters we've had over the last ten years?

I'm not too lazy about anything. This team needs better leadership....yes and of course more talent which is on the way...they still lack discipline and that reflects directly on a manager I thought.

is that 2 grand slams for ramirez in this series? this is getting laughable all over again. I gotta think that a severe losing streak coming up to the all star break gets the housecleaning finished.

Not that I don't think some of these guys aren't decent players, but the O's don't need them. There is no difference between 3rd 4th 5th place.
65 wins,72 wins. who cares.
And next year will be more of the same, as even younger pitchers get put into the mix.

Pete, "I can't link it directly to the manager because I'm one of those people who doesn't believe the manager has that kind of effect on the action on the field." Come on. If this team did what DT said they were going to do and still lost, I'd be with you. Collectively, they do not hustle consistently, we have all lost count on the number of base running gaffs, and they have little discipline at the plate at key times. Can't we at least hold DT accountable for poor base running and lack of fundamentals? You gotta give us those (along w/hit-and-run). A guy who misses spots on pitches or hits a ball hard for an out isn't the managers fault...that's not what we are talking about when criticizing DT.

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Pete's reply: I've said several times today that Dave displayed a double standard going after Pie last night. He has not done that to the other players who have made similar mistakes. I have also said over and over that DT is almost certainly going to be held accountable if this team doesn't gel by August or September and show improvement heading toward next season. Not sure what else you want from me. You've got this forum, too. Say whatever you want.

I have seen some of those rosters. None of them had enough talent, which is my point.

Leadership maybe gets us from 75 wins to 80. When this team has 85-win talent, I'll worry about leadership then. Until then, I really can't figure out why so many people are up in arms. To quote Coach Green, they are who we thought they were.

By the way, your World Champion Phillies are about to drop their 10th out of 12... I guess they need some leadership too.

Steve D, you are right...the Phillies need some leadership. No one said the O's would, or should, win 80 or 85 games with this talent. For a young team, how they lose is more important than losing. You can't tell me Jones and Reimhold aren't learning to be lazy or undisciplined with BRob and Melvin as terrible examples.

Pete, Maybe, as you say, the manager doesn't have a meltdown kind of effect on the action on the field and Trembley's managing hasn't been an issue in this series.

Until tonight, that is.

Leaving Ray in to face Ramirez with the bases loaded, a run already in and with Ray being rocked pretty hard already makes no sense at all. True, there were two outs, but why allow Chris to pitch in that situation?

I mean we're talking about someone coming back from an injury who is trying to regain form, but who had recently been sent down to Norfolk because of exteme ineffectiveness.

Ray hadn't found his way back yet, but Trembley decides to leave him in a pressure cooker situation against one of the best hitters in baseball, someone who, Ray's command wasn't there, could easily hit a grand slam.

It wasn't and he did.

Sure, some people are going to argue that the game was already pretty much lost, with the Orioles trailing 7-0 in the bottom of the eighth, so Trembley was leaving Ray in for mop up duty. Yes, that's what he was doing, but was it a wise move?

I say no. Why risk damaging Ray's already fragile psyche by allowing him to fail so spectacularly? What about watching out for his players?

Net, result: Ray gives up five earned run in just 1.2 IP and his ERA balloons to 10.13, nearly a full run worse than when he was sent down to the Tides.

Just a terrible move by the manager and one that really did negatively impact the game, and more importantly, one of his pitchers.

Another bad move in my mind, though not as catastrophic by any means, was the decision to bat Ty Wigginton clean up. Although he's be hitting better over the past few weeks, Ty hasn't been nearly as productive or as patient a hitter as Oscar Salazar during that stretch.

By any objective way of measuring such things, Salazar has surely earned a start. (So why isn't he starting, Dave?)

As for Hill? He's an emigma. He either will find himself and be a valuable hurler for the Birds or be cut in the next month or so. Neither would surprise me.

Austin

You got it.

Not one sane person believes this team is talented enough to compete for a winning record.

However, to play like the Bad News Bears compounds every other issue.

This team gave up in the first inning of LAST nights game and rolled that all the way through tonight's game.

That has nothing to do with talent. It has to do with leadership, accountability, and pride.

This team has none of it.

And it's a major problem

That's what you are missing Steve D. Sure they need more talent. But our talented guys are making big time mistakes which will turn into losses that will really mean something.

Seems to me the lazy one is the one who just makes a blanket statement about talent without taking the time to look a bit deeper.

Sometimes in baseball, because it is such a finesse sport, it's not about effort and desire - in fact sometimes that hurts teams...that is why pitching always dominates hitting in the post season as hitters squeeze the bats too tightly. The core of this team is young - and veerans are not only playing poorly, I don't think they're setting a good example for the young guys---it's not a good mix. Mora and Wigginton will be gone next year - probably Huff too...the young pitching is going to be fine and the O's will be too - good days are ahead. they're just ayoung team going through some growing pains.

"You're never as good as you look when you're winning and you're never as bad as you look when you're losing." I don't know who said it, but it is so true.

Did anyone really believe the club was playoff bound even after winning five out of six vs the Mets and Philthies? And do we really think, after the wretched performance vs the Marlins, that they're gonna challenge the Nats for worst record in MLB?

Now, be truthful. Who thought the team would go to FLA and lay three big eggs after sweeping the Philthies? Even allowing for the vagaries of a long baseball season, this is ridiculous.

There are no answers here, only questions. Isn't terrible when the team's most reliable pitcher is a raw rookie who's not even one of their top prospects? You can't even call this team's up and down performance part of the growing pains of a young and upcoming club, too many of the culprits are grizzled veterans. This team is desperate to have a fire lit under its collective fanny, and I don't think the current manager is the one to do that.

I read where someone thinks the O's can contend for the wild card and Mac would pull a Pat Gillick and keep everyone. Well, you know what? Forget the wild card. If they keep the downward spiral, it makes it so much easier to trade the Huffs, Moras, Roberts, Sherrills et al of the world.

Of course, with the Nats coming up,
who's to say the club might not go on another five out seven streak? With this group, anything is possible.

Enjoy the roller coaster everyone!

Gary, All great points. Effort and desire (and very, very often telent) don't always win games. If talent is all that was needed, teams like the Marlins and DBacks would not have won the WS and the Astros and Rockies would not have played in the WS in the last 10 years.

This is an organization on the rise, but when the pitching finally arrives, the team better know how to win. Hot pitching beats hot hitting in the post season because of pitching talent and the ability to win 2-1, 3-2 games with good fundamentals in the field and on the base paths.

Pitching changes, when you're already down 7-0 in the late innings are often "take one for the team" - to even suggest this is a manager issue is just plain ridiculous. I would have blamed him more for burning an arm in a game that is already out of reach...they have starters who do not always give them innings - so sometimes a guy has to stay in for the duration of his pitch count - Ray is now a "long reliever" and there are times he's gonna have to give 2 innings...he was a pitch from getting out of it - didn't work out...so lets all hammer the manager? He is making some questionable moves - but not nearly as bad as some of the questionable hindsight posters on here. I see pitchers giving up 3 run homers and grand slams - well at some point you have to say our players are not performing - and when has a manager ever looked good when his players are not performing? I agree with peter in that there's onbly so much he can do - especially on game day.

I really should know by now. It's so difficult not to get excited and optimistic when the O's string together a bunch of nice wins. The turnaround always comes with an equally long string of demoralizing defeats. Of course as a long time fan, I know this, but it never helps. I get suckered every single time.
Don't we have a right to expect some sign of improvement by now? Should we all just accept now that the typical second half collapse is coming? I surely didn't go into this season expecting miracles, but this is getting awfully old. I can wait for the rookies to grow into their jobs, but I'm tired of watching the veterans play sloppy ball. That to me means the players don't have their heads in the game. That may be understandable given the O's record and their prospects this season, but it should not be acceptable at the Major League level.
We've been asked to be patient for a long time now, and so far I like what AM has done, but surely by now, with all these changes since the start of the season, there should be some glimmer of something different shouldn't there?

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Pete's reply: I think there is a glimmer. They're assimilating a lot of young players, so you have to give the team a chance to grow together. That's what this year is for.

Gary - if Mora, Huff and WIggy are all gone, who do you pencil in at 3B next season??

In retrospect, what could have been done differently? Would Kevin MIllar as a leader/locker room presence have made a difference in the discipline/fundamentals on this squad? Should the kids have been kept in Norfolk to all play together and win together and then come up together? Should one or more of the productive vets have been traded before the season based on current complaints about hustle or attitudes? How could this have been handled better looking back? Not signing Tex or CC. But specifically how could we have avoided the kids coming up into a losing situation where the fundamentals arent being practiced and they risk developing bad habits?

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Pete's reply: I don't think you can hold the nucleus together. It has to be a gradual process, and this is it. Don't really know how the third base situation will play out. Might be Mora next year, or Wigginton. Don't think they can develop someone quickly enough to avoid a free agent acquisition or trade.

Dave Trembley's public ripping of Felix Pie was bush league. It was scapegoating.

It would be refreshing to hear Dave, when questioned about the Birds' poor execution of fundamentals on the base paths and in the field say, "Hey, that falls on me. I said we would be a strong fundamental ball club, play the game the way it should be played. We are not doing that consistently. We need to play that way--every day."

Truthfully Roy I am not sure anything could have been done. Wigginton wasn't brought here to win now, not was eaton or hendrickson. I don't think Mcphail was going to go nuts fielding a better team that he knew still could not compete for a playoff spot. Mora has a tough contract - Huff could still bring a nice prospect by years end from the Mets (or someone)...I think what we are seeing is a gradual shift in philosophy - kind of like when you see construction on the thruway - everyone loafing around doing nothing---but a month later you're driving on beautiful pavement! there going to have some ugly periods and ugly losses - and I think AM is sitting back and noticing the leadership void, and perhaps a void at manager (though there are things about DT I like)...the process isn't always pretty, but it's happening. Some of the pitching was brought to buy time - and they did that even if it was a tad ugly at times...I'm just very happy about their direction - but frustrate like everyone else at their play of late.

Austin, I don't think the pitching that will takes this team into the future is even on the roster yet. I think we are looking at the back end of the rotation right now - and to me that is great news!

I also agree with ken - the pitching is the key in the playoffs - and I they have a good stable of arms

Pete,

Good news!! After 5 more loses the O's will win 8 games... then lose 8...

Trembley is the most deserving manager in baseball to get fired.

Gary - By "when the pitching finally arrives" I meant other arms next year or 2011 & 2012. What is on the way is great news...again the future looks bright, let's not ruin AJ, NR, and MW in the mean time.

GAME OVER MAN!!!!!! GAME OVVER!! THE O'S ARE $%#&@#!!!!! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!?!?! WHAT THE %$& ARE WE GONNA DO?!?!?!

maybe we can build a fire and sing a couple of songs.. yeah?!

The losses mostly come at night….. Mostly

Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious and stop calling me Shirley.

I think they're really getting the hang of it, when we come back I think I'll teach'em baseball.

"What are you doing Dave? This is highly irregular."
(Cue the gas!)

Gary, Yeah, "take one for the team" when the team's down big late in the game, I understand the concept. Makes sense usually, but not in that context. A manager shouldn't expose to that situation a young pitcher who's struggling mightily to put his career back together and who needs to be taking baby steps right now.

How much psychological damage did Trembley's decision inflict on Ray? Did he kill a once promising career with his shortsighted decision? Amazingly, Trembley is supposed to have been a Psych major in college, yet he pulled this? Incredible, simply incredible.

Gary, if it wasn't Ray I'd agree with you, because ordinarily what you wrote makes sense. But not in this case. It doesn't matter that he was one pitch from getting out of it. He didn't get out of it, that's what's key here. That's the issue.

You say you'd have been more upset with Trembley if he "burned an arm," but I submit having someone else come in for a batter or two is far less of a concern than burning Ray's confidence so soon after a demotion to Norfolk.

I really hope he is able to weather this major setback. Sure, he's going to do the stiff upper lip and say this won't faze him, but only going back out again will tell us if he's recovered. If not, he may be able to blame Trembley in part for ruining his career.

ken,

He has an era in double figures? What's done to his mind is done - he's got work to do to get his arm strength back and perhaps his confidence...getting out of that jam would do something for his confidence - but avoiding it everytime he gets in trouble would do him no good, Trembley no good, and the O's as a team no good - again I always wonder why people second guess decisions after the fact? yes he gave up the homerun - it happens, but the result shouldn't allow everyone to take pot shots at the decision which made sense (at least to me) when it was made....and this is the big leagues and he's not a young pitcher anymore...you can't just get pitchers up and down in the pen because you're worried he's going to implode - then Ray's problems become the teams problem. Not sure about you, but I would rather have one problematic pitcher than an exhausted bullpen.

DT may not be great, but he won't be the one responsible for ruining Chris Ray's possibly once promising career. He's a damn reliever after all, the most dispensable tool in the toolbox. He got hurt. The comeback ain't going so well. He cannot get major league hitters out on a consistent basis. Obvious. Sure you feel bad for the guy, and he'll get other chances to show what he has. Right now, the O's have limited choices. Here's one thing I know for sure-when the Orioles have enough talent ready for the major league level, they can start making the business of baseball decisions that need to get made.

Pete I agree with what you said about using this blog for spirited debate. I believe that's the way it should be. So don't get the context of what I'm about to say twisted. Having said that, I have to take major issue with a few things you've said the last couple of days.
1. You said the manager's effectiveness should be judged by how close or far he is from how many wins you thought he would have at a given point in the season. Some arbitrary benchmark, set at the beginning of the year or god knows when. That makes absolutely no sense. How many wins who thought he'd have. Me? You? McPhail? Angelos? Especially with a young transitional team like the 09 O's, who could have very well guessed what their potential or expectations would/should be? By your logic the people deciding Trembley's fate would never even have to watch a game. They could just look at the standings in the paper and say "hey andy, how many did we think we'd win by the break? Oh, 30-40. Well apparently we've won 32. Guess Trembley is safe for now. By the way do you have any idea how he's handling things? No I just know he's won 32." That would also be like saying I expect Terrell Suggs to have 9 sacks this year. So say he sacks 9 in the first 5 games but then refuses to put his helmet on and go out for the next 11. Are you gonna bring him back?
2. You've said that your tired of the posters second guessing decisions after the fact. Hello. Isn't that what sports fans have done since the beginning of sports. Passionate ones anyway. What fun would it be to spend 3hrs watching a game if you didn't get invested in it somehow. The purpose of this forum, I thought anyway, was for people who watch the team to evaluate what's going on and express their opinions. And by the way, I think it's somewhat condecending to assume that we're forming our opinions only after we've seen the outcome. Everything I blasted Trembley on here about, I felt was a mistake before the negetive outcome even reared it's ugly head. I just didn't know that it was a prerequisite to denote that before stating my opinions. Give people a little credit sometimes. You may have a better seat in the pressbox but we're still perfectly capable of seeing what's going on.

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Pete's reply: Fair enough, but remember, I didn't say I was tired of fans second-guessing after the fact. I said I know that there are times when that is appropriate, but I was tired of certain posters second-guessing virtually everything about the game after the fact, which is tedious. Guess I was saying to pick your spots better, because people stop taking your complaints seriously if you (not you personally) complain about everything. Also, if you don't like Trembley, that's fine, but if you bang on him for every single move that goes wrong, it just becomes noise. My point with the expectations thing was say that you judge the manager right now with the expectations as your greater context, but I've also been saying for awhile that Dave will be judged on the growth of the team in the second half. Andy wants to see the trend reversed where the Orioles have played okay until August then collapsed completely. He's been quoted to that effect, so it's not really my opinion.

I have a question for you all. This is the first year that I've noticed Roberts loafing all OVER the field ------ EVERY night!! He mopes onto and off of the field every inning, exerts minimum effort chasing down loose balls, and we've all seen him jog down to first base every time he hits a ground ball. Have I been missing this in past years or is this something that he's just started doing this year?

I understand passionate sports fans-God knows I am one-but the O's did not lose game 7 of the World Series last night....I'm a lot happier watching this team than I was any O's edition this century. Once again-help is on the way-guys like Bergeson, Reimold, Weiters, Berken, Hernandez, Tillman, Snyder, Arrieta, Matusz, et al will make this a better team. Just chill, for goodness sake.

"I have a question for you all. This is the first year that I've noticed Roberts loafing all OVER the field ------ EVERY night!! He mopes onto and off of the field every inning, exerts minimum effort chasing down loose balls, and we've all seen him jog down to first base every time he hits a ground ball. Have I been missing this in past years or is this something that he's just started doing this year??

No, he didn't start just doing this year.

Peter, what do you think about this?

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Pete's reply: I think he has bad body language, but I go to almost every game and I don't see him loafing on the field. I do see him pull up on some ground balls and I don't think he should do that, especially since he's considered a team leader. Don't know if, at this point, anything's going to change.

SevernDave and Mark- I have a question for you both , whose respondsibilty is meet & confront BRoberts about his lack of hustle or half assed effort ? My answer is manager Trembley , he should be flustered , throw a chair into wall , or get in Robert's face . If BRob still doesnt get message , then Trembley try that 'Pie bush league ' tactic on him ? Do something , Mr Trembley , dont feed us that 'we have to stress correct fundamentals' every night . If all that fails , bench him till BRob demonstrate proper playing attitude . If BRob doesnt respect you , why should rest of players do?
Hey guys and Pete , you all hit the mark on Trem & BRob also

Hey Pete, been busy for quite some time, but had to come check you out again while I had some free time.

I think one issue could be that there is no "enforcer" on the team. No on-the-field manager that will hold the other players accountable. Say what you want about Jay Payton, but when Melvin Mora screwed up late in a close game, Payton took him to task and it almost erupted in a fight in the dugout.

Not saying we need a clubhouse brawl, but somebody on the field has to step up and say, "Guys, this kind of play is just not acceptable."

Physical errors are one thing, everybody makes mistakes, but the constant mental errors on this team are inexcusable at this level of play.

Trembley can only do so much, I agree with you. There are only so many times the manager can say, "We've got to play better."

A player needs to step up. Roberts isn't the guy, Markakis isn't the guy, Jones could be, but he is still so young he may feel it isn't his place yet, Huff isn't the guy, Luke Scott isn't (though he could be, he has a strong conviction). Mora is on his way out the door.

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Pete's reply: Yeah, I wrote about that in my column about two weeks ago, with Palmer chiming in on the lack of leadership.

Point taken about too much negativity. I agree with John Z that this is the most exciting team to watch in many years. It's hard to control your excitement and therefore your expectations when you're starting to feel that the O's really are on the doorstep of something special. This season I didn't expect anything from the pitching, so a solid outing or a good showing by the bullpen is only a plus. Sherrill has been a wonderful surprise. But as for the starting lineup, frankly I expected a lot more. I knew the top 3 or 4's April numbers weren't going to hold up all year, but this prolonged slumps by Roberts, Jones, Markakis, Huff, Mora, etc, etc is so disappointing. I am one of those who feel that when Tillman, Arrietta, Patton and Matusz get here, we will be competeing for a division championship. But the mental mistakes, lack of hustle, and perceived lack of caring make you wonder what kind of team they will be joining, and how it might affect them and their performances. Therefore the only person I feel you can hold accountable for all of it (the common denominator if you will) is Trembley. It probably is unfair to put it all on him but these kind of opportunities don't come along very often (as the last 25 years has shown Baltimore fans all too well). Given the implications of everything, I still feel like a fresh start with someone new at the helm is critical to the kind of sucess we all want (and a lot expect) to have in the next few years.

Pete: "Rich Hill struck out the side on 10 pitches in the first inning and gave up five runs over the next two, another study in contrast for a team that refuses to be pigeonholed on any level. How do you explain a three-game road sweep over the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies and what is shaping up as three-game meltdown against the Florida Marlins at Land Shark Stadium?"

As a former tennis pro, that's easy to answer -- LACK OF DISCIPLINE.

The Orioles have talent but they thrash out with it haphazardly. There are simply going to be times when things go inexplicably well, and other times when they go inexplicably poor.

You cannot have consistent results if you don't have a consistent approach.

A few players are exceptions. They may slump. They may streak. But they go about their business consistently and the end of the day, week, month, season, their results are a solid body of work.

Unfortunately, these few players are the exception, not the rule. I hope what's being cultivated on the farm will be professionals in every sense of the word.

Pete's reply: I think he has bad body language, but I go to almost every game and I don't see him loafing on the field. I do see him pull up on some ground balls and I don't think he should do that, especially since he's considered a team leader. Don't know if, at this point, anything's going to change.

I've gone to 14 games this season and watched all but 2 on TV.

How did I know you'd make an excuse for him?

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Pete's reply: Perhaps because you're a negative guy who is looking to rip anybody you can. Kind of sad, actually.