I remember the days when a Schmuck blog post titled "Defending Pie" would have been about some nationwide Cake vs. Pie debate.

Then Felix had to come along and ruin everything for us...

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Pete's reply: Good point. I'll go with a nice devil's food layer cake any day.

Speaking of Cake vs. Pie, the O's have a golden advertising opportunity sitting in front of them with Nick MarCAKEis and Felix PIE on the same team.

Where is the marketing department on this one?

I have to admit, I've trashed Pie all season long, calling him a Cub reject and so on, but as you all have seen on previous posts, I took his side big time.

I wish Trembley and Samuel had taken the high road. Pointing fingers does not help anyone's cause. Does not help Pie, does not help Trembley, or the team. Serves no good purpose all around.

I did observe that Pie was the only one handling this entire issue like a MAN. He gets a lot of respect from many fans because of it.

Team unity is even more important when you struggle than when you win.

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Pete's reply: My God, man, bite your tongue. If there was no finger-pointing, what would all of us here do when they're supposed to be working?

Seems to me that the baserunning coach needs to be fired. Maybe he knows how to run the bases but is unable to communicate. Who is the baserunning coach again?

OH! Juan Samuel... Ya, fire him...

Slugger, for once I completely agree with you.

Coming out of spring training I was really upset that Pie and Freel were taking roster spots from guys I felt were much more deserving. I did quite a bit of my own Pie bashing as he looked helpless and befuddled for a long time.

My opinion of him started changing slowly over the course of the season though as you could actual see the small improvements he was making each time he continued to go out there, and most of all his passion and enthusiasm.

I'm not saying that I expect him to develop into a star or even a regular player for that matter, but I will say that I've gained much more respect for Felix lately and I like the way he plays the game.

All of his mental errors are the only ones that seem geniune and honest somehow... like the other guys know better but they just don't care.

I posted a tirade about Trembley calling him out again.
I still think that for Trembley and Samuel to say what they said it makes them look like fools and cowards for doing it to this guy/now.(obviously the most bashable guy on the team, and obviously for whatever reason, he's the only one they are man enough to do this to). No need for that at this point. Their window to stand up, take accountability, and try to turn this ship around has already come and gone. Don't get tough now guys.

People need to defend this guy because he seems to have a great attitude; he is full of energy, and his potential. I am not talking hyped potential either we have seen him be great at times this season like hitting the cycle and even though he contributed to losses he also helped us win a few. Everybody makes mistakes and there are other Orioles out there making bad ones too. I am all for the coaching staff to rip him when necessary in private but I think this recent salvo was too harsh. If Pie did something that 100% blew the game for the Orioles and the blame could totally be placed directly at him that’s one thing but Pie didn’t lost that game he knew he did wrong why pile it on? He just needs to play more and figure it out.

Pete,

I concur with your logic. I also think it is fair to disagree on whether or not it is appropriate to publicy chastise and embarass a player regardless of the manager's logic for doing so. I seem to remember a certain manager for the Braves who pulled his All Star centerfielder out in the middle of the game and benched him for what he perceived to be a lack of defensive hustle. That was only a few years ago.

Billy Martin did the same thing to Reggie Jackson on National TV.

Pie seems like a nice kid and he has tremendous athletic ability. I agree that Trembley finally went public due to the repeated and outrageous mental errors Pie has made on the basepaths. He is trying to shake him up because talking to him in private obviously did not work.

I hope the the kid learns to concentrate and focus when he is on base.

If he does, it is a plus for the team.

too many base running blunders, who gets paid to do what?
mr. samuel controls the bases, uhm,
maybe a fine or the door?

Samuel sounds like a frustrated coach to say the least. I think he used poor judgment to rant about the affects expansion has had on overall major league talent. While I agree with his sentiment, it is a moot point as 30 teams are here to stay. Which means that, since 30 teams need to be stocked with players, that make the players in the majors, major league players. He shouldn't point it out in the context of the players he is coaching. He should also be thankful for expansion as he may not have made the bigs, or enjoyed as many seasons as he did, if MLB still had 16 teams when he played.

This is a 100 loss team in which neither Pie nor Trembley is part of the future. Who cares????

Rich

Pie is still very young. He could become something great I care.

Pete:
Whether Pie thought he could tag up and make third on the foul pop or that he was entitled to third because Mauer went into the dugout, he made a bad decision to leave second base. In the first case, no one is going to tag up and beat a catcher's throw at that distance. In the second case, he should have waited for the umpire to tell him to advance. And while on the second point, why wasn't Pie awarded third base? Earlier this year, Wieters caught a foul pop by the dugout railing and then tumbled over the railing. An opposing baserunner was awarded an extra base. Mauer, after catching the ball, stumbled into the dugout. Why shouldn't the same rule apply?

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Pete's reply: Because Mauer didn't catch the ball. Morneau did.

Rich -

Simple math will tell you that it's not very likely that the O's will lose 100 games this season.

There are 35 games remaining. If the O's play .314 ball, they'll win 11 games and avoid the century mark the loss column. If they play .400 ball (their winning % on the season is .409) from here on out, that would be 14 wins, leaving them with a 66-96 record.

So close...

I have told you all year long that the main problem on this team is the fact that there isn't a veteran presence on here that would take care of those type of issues. If we had veteran on here like jeter or a kevin youkalais those type of bae running mistakes, throwing to the wrong bases would be taken care of in private by the players and wouldn't have to be addressed by the staff out in the open.One of the veterans on this team who you would think could help is brian roberts but he is as guilty as anybody when it comes to those mental errors.It's takes more in this game to be successful then just putting 9 guy's on the field and while we have made strides in acquiring young players we are still light years behind anybody with in house leadership.

Pete,

Has anyone ever questioned the rule regarding base coaches wearing helmets, while umpires (defenselessly standing right next to them)still wear regular ball caps. I don't know why I was just thinking about this...

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Pete's reply: It is a good question, but I would guess it's because the umpires have no other responsibility but to watch the ball off the bat, and they stand further down the line.

Pie has some great talent , good speed and he is swinging the bat well as of late. However its almost tragic that Pie does not know how to run the bases, or in some cases field a position to ML standards. Pie could have tons of SB's doubles and triples if only he used his noggin a bit while playing. Do they do Baseball school during the fall and winter? I am not ready to trade Pie away ...yet because if we can teach a kid to play baseball Pie could be a star someday.

Seems to me that the baserunning coach needs to be fired. Maybe he knows how to run the bases but is unable to communicate. Who is the baserunning coach again?

OH! Juan Samuel... Ya, fire him...

Brob is getting old and in time Pie could take over as leadoff man easily with his talents he just needs more refinement. We just have to find ways to play him more. I am glad we have so many capable outfielders but its costing us valuable time to see what we got with Pie. I don’t mean to sound like a jerk but when Jones got hurt I was a little happy Pie would get to play more. I like Jones too but any opportunity for an up and coming talent is great to see them get time in and develop themselves. What I hate to see out there is guys taking time from developing players like Ty or Mora playing 3rd and Luke Scott at first. The Orioles need to only start only the best player possible for the overall development of the team. No more Jay Payton’s!

Hey Trembley and Samuel....Guesss what?

Pie will be here next year and you guys won't!

HA HA....How do you like them apples?

Hey Trembley grow a pair!

CHICAGO -- Lou Piniella has offered himself up to critics looking to blame somebody for the Chicago Cubs' disappointing season

“
Invariably, when things don't go right, it's always the manager's fault. You want to blame me? Take your shots. It doesn't bother me one bit, OK?

”
-- Lou Piniella

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Pete's reply: Somewhat different situations. The Cubs are not a rebuilding team.

I hope that sweet Lou gets fired and the O’s hire him

You all know the O's will tease us all by hiring someone with no Major league managerial experience. Rather than get a Tom Kelly, or a Bobby V, or a Lou Pinella (assuming he gets fired), or an Art Howe, or a Willie Randolph, or a Don Baylor they'll hire the manager of the Little League World Series Champs. This team is more hard to read that XX homosapiens

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Pete's reply: I'm confused. If Piniella couldn't win with a contending team, why do you think he's going to win with a rebuilding team?

I can see Trembley and Samuel in the managers office after the game Tuesday night. It's like the board meeting in those Direct TV commercials.

Trembley: Another demoralizing loss.

Samuel: Yeah Skipper, I tried to wave the guys on first home after a single or a walk but they just wouldn't keep running. I don't know what there problem is.

Trembley: Well it's down to crunch time here Juan, and as usual I have absolutely no idea what to do.

Samuel: You know I'm not the idea man skip. They hired me because my arm has an uncanny ability to do this Pete Townsend windmill thing.... Here check it.

Trembley: Stop it Juan. You're going to knock all my trophies off the shelves again.

Samuel: I don't see no trophies skip.....

Trembley: Whatever, let's get back to the issue at hand... There must be something.....

Samuel: I'VE GOT IT. Blamestorming! Let's have a blamestorming session.

Trembley: Brilliant, I knew you were good for something besides that freakish arm thing....But who can we blame? If we say anything bad about a veteran, he might get mad at us.

Samuel: Wouldn't want that.... Mad veterans?? No sir, no thank you.

Trembley: People really like Riemold and he has screwed up at all really. Hmmmmmmmm What about Moeller?

Samuel: Come on skip... That's too easy...

Trembley: Your right.

Trembley opens his traditional post-game McDonalds bag. When suddenly something happens. He spots two warm, delicious, hot apple.....

Trembley: Pie!!!!!

Samuel: Ah, I don't know skip. I mean he's a good kid. I probably should just be working with him more. I mean he trys real hard.

Trembley: Juan, this ship is going down fast. I don't wanna have to make those weekly phone calls to that automated unemployment phone service next year....do you?

Samuel: Hell no! Come to think of it, I can tell the media something about how expansion caused this. How Pie wouldn't even be here if they hadn't expanded the league, you know.

Trembley: What the hell are you talking about? There hasn't been an expansion team in over ten........nevermind. We gotta save are butts. Great idea Juan.

Samuel: So I'll call the press conference for tomorrow, alright skip?

Trembley: Sure Juan. And send that McDonalds boy out again to get me another number 3. Finger pointing always makes me hungry.

You all know the O's will tease us all by hiring someone with no Major league managerial experience. Rather than get a Tom Kelly, or a Bobby V, or a Lou Pinella (assuming he gets fired), or an Art Howe, or a Willie Randolph, or a Don Baylor they'll hire the manager of the Little League World Series Champs. This team is harder to read that XX homosapiens

Hey Pete.....so when you get the time how about researching the trades that McPhail has made and let us know how the x Orioles are doing. After all, one of the major grades for a GM is how have trades worked out.

Would love to see your recap.......and the response from your bloggers.

Also, i think the fans still think Pie is not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to baseball I.Q.......but what we dont like is Trembley's calling a player out in the press. Not cool.

Blancione......i completely agree

Eddie.......good comments

Slugger.....you are right on point.

djph

That skit you did was hilarious man. Good one!

Win or lose manager always has to have balls Pete.

Pie will be a fine ball player. Just give him a little time.

What amazes me the most about Pie is that not only is he putting good swings on the ball, but also he has, at the same time, become quite disciplined at the plate. Previously he was swinging at the pitches in the dirt and over his head. That's quite a transformation in pitch recognition.

The bottom-line is that we continue make mistakes that losers make. All of the O's have made mental mistakes this year that cost the O's wins. Whether you believe that Trembley is at fault or not, does not matter. It comes down to the fact that the players are not focused under Trembley's leadership. One would think that by the time a player makes it to the Major Leagues, he knows how to play baseball and run the bases. But that simply has not been the case. A change is definitely needed and since you cannot change out 25 players...the manager must take the fall. We've gone as far as we can with Trembley; now let's get someone who will inspire better play from the team.

Yesterday Michael Aubrey was picked off second base. Not too long ago, Roberts stole third easily, but Markakis was thrown out trying to follow him to second. Quite a few players have had a hand in bad baserunning. It's not just Pie, even if his mistakes are more memorable.

I'm glad that Pie is improving at the plate--a home run and two walks last night speaks well about his power and his patience. And so far, his baserunning mistakes have been more out of exuberance than laziness. I'd be much more upset if he failed to score because he was trotting slowly around the bases, instead of ill-advisedly trying to steal an extra 90 feet.

Djph,

Just brilliant!!!

You know it seems all of the sports writers and announcers in the Baltimore area are rallying around Trembly. I just heard Anita Marks and Scott Garceau saying that the base running blunders by the Orioles were not Tremblys fault. Bottom line Trembluy is the manager. He is responsible for the play of his team. If they play poorly it's his fault, period. This doesn't even take into account all of the bizzare strategy he has employed like starting all his backup players on Sundays, and losing one Sunday game after another. Continually moving players around in the lineup, hitting Mora fifth for months into the season, then finally taking Mora out of the lineup, only to play Mora every day again after Mora publicly challenged him. Trembly just can't hack it.

I will freely admit that I was one of the people that criticized Pie and criticized Trembly for playing him. Rightfully so on both counts. Pie was playing teribbly. Pie of course has shown a lot of improvement, and during the course of the season I have seen some of his better qualities. The guy has a great attitude, and he has worked and improved. That is deserving of recognition. Fans saying so are not flip-flopping, it's called learning, Just because I didn't want Pie to start every game it is not the same thing as wanting to see the guy sit on the bench every day with no playing time. Besides taking Pie out of the lineup for a while allowed Reimold to play, and look what happened there. It also gave Montanez a few starts, and he was playing pretty well, before he got hurt. Pie has made progress, let him play. This is one more problem with Trembly, he doesn't know how to use his roster. Andino filled in admirably while Izturis was hurt, and now he hardly ever gets to play.

Finally, singling out Pie repeatedly when so many other players have made so many base running mistakes is bush league. I don't want to hear any crapola from history about other managers. I's out of context,and no one has any way of knowing all the particulars about the situation. It is shooting blanks. Trembly needs to go period.

Pie's baseball IQ looks to be somewhere south of room temperature. Yes, he is talented and enthusiastic but the jury is still out on whether he has the smarts to focus on the cerebral aspects of the game.

Pie's baseball IQ looks to be somewhere south of room temperature. Yes, he is talented and enthusiastic but the jury is still out on whether he has the smarts to focus on the cerebral aspects of the game.

Eastern Shoreman--"....but the jury is still out on whether he has the smarts to focus on the cerebral aspects of the game."

Do you wish for Felix Pie to teach a literary theory course on Wittgenstein at Rutgers in the off season?

Would it help if he is in full uniform and practices taking his lead as he lectures?

To me, you're a coward as a coach if you let yourself and your career get taken hostage by a player. DT is still taking credit for the results, he's just saying the same thing everyone else is about Pie having issues that go beyond growing pains.

As a Maryland fan, I would have been ok with Gary calling out Vasquez at times and Gary got ripped for looking like a punk for not doing anything about the way Vasquez was playing.

Sometimes you have to lay down the gauntlet and let someone go through it.

Overlooked is the fact that Pie and Mora are both holding their tongue. They don't have to. Anyone could stand by their locker and throw DT right back under the bus and know it could get DT out of her for certain. The team definitely has a lot of character and class, I just think it also speaks to them still having respect for DT even though they're losing. If they thought he was a hack, someone who was traded or someone who is on their way out anyway would be saying something by now.

djph,

Just curious, but do you think Pie is playing smart baseball? He's working on his hitting and I think that's great and working out well, but a spade is a spade. Is DT supposed to say this kid is an All-Star and the critics should back off?

Tough love still has some love in it though. I think Pie sees that or he'd be disgruntled rather than responding.

Of course, his taking third in the ninth was a pretty astute baseball play.

you know, he made a baserunning mistake. Overly aggressive, tried to get to third with one out, thought the catcher caught the ball and was stumbling. End of story. How did it become WW III? Well, MASN started it, but a managers job is to diffuse the situation publicly, not to criticize to the extent that people play scared.

Oriole baserunners have been overly cautious almost to a man (almost) these last few months, after the first outbreak of excessive outs on the bases.

And it seems Samuel feels that because these guys are supposedly major leaguers then they shouldn't need coaching up. Wouldn't that make his job obsolete? except tor the arm waving i guess

Got to give Pie credit tonight, he turned a ground out into standing on third waiting to be knocked in for the tying run. Good running, risky with two outs but good running.

In response to your question James C, I believe that Pie has a long way to go in learning the fundamentals of the game.

Now Pie is only 24, but when you take into account that he's been playing professional ball for 6 or 7 years it doesn't say a lot about his mental makeup, but you certainly can not deny his passion and eagerness to please. He will learn to play smarter.

In a sense though he already plays the right way. With passion and enthusiasm, a mentality that might possible get clouded by a smarter player. You know the ones. They always talk about how lucky they are to be professional athletes, but at the same time "it's a business".

And to follow you're own example, if you don't think that Vasquez from the Terps isn't already thinking that way than you're fooling yourself. Only reason he's coming back is to hopefully play better and improve his draft postion and therefore his potential earnings. He doesn't give a crap about Gary Williams or the University of Maryland.

His passion on the court strikes me as more of the kind you see from an egotist. As he won't celebrate teammates great plays but only his own. Long story short(too late), sometimes for an athlete to be a little slow, might actually be a good thing for his franchise.

All of this talk about how it did not do Pie any good to call him out. Pete, did you see the play last night where he went from first to third in the ninth inning on an infield hit??? It looks like he took Trembley's comments to heart. He also ripped a home run the day after he was called out. That impressed me. Pie did not sulk and say that he wants traded; he went out to prove himself.

Pie is playing himself into a regular spot on this team. He is having an excellent game tonight, and the game is not even over yet. He hurt himself a little on the wet turf tonight, but I think he is "manning up" and has something to prove. As for Trembley and Samuel, I can't say for sure if either one will be here in 2010, but I bet Pie will be.