Mark it down Peter.

Roberts is having a great day.

How dare you compliment Brian? Don't you know that he's conditioned to losing and doesn't care whether his team wins or loses? He only stayed so he could get paid. The O's need to get rid of him because we'll never win anything with him.

(removes tongue from cheek)

The O's have a long long bleak future. The kids are coming up and they remain the worst team in all baseball. Even the Nationals are vastly improved and a far superior team. The O's will be the worst for at least another 5 years thanks to their a-hole owner.

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Pete's reply: Boy, I wouldn't want to be your kid after striking out in a little league game.

It sure is depressing when you rally back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and then give up NINE runs in the top of the 14th. Man, our relief pitching sucks! Albers has really gone downhill in terms of letting inherited runners score. *sigh*

Bass, Albers, Huff, Wigginton...Don't hate them because they're washed up has-beens or never-will-be's. They are who we thought they were. Just accept the futility they represent for another 6 weeks, and THEN we can get our panties in a wad if they're on the roster in 2010.

Oh my god what a terrible game!! Guthrie, Albers and Bass need to GTFO!!!!!

This team can lose at any time. Don’t think they are going to win until the game is over.

Oldetoys has a good point.

If the Nationals have improved and the Orioles have gotten worse (record wise AND on the field play), how can we expect this exact same team (and it will be for the most part, the same team), to hit .500 anytime in the near future?

And notice the notion of "competing" is not even a thought anymore - it seems like the O's are trying to build this franchise towards a "run at .500" - which I guess is now the O's world series.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but who did Tampa Bay really add last year?

Look at Adam Jones from year one to yeat two and the leap he took. 10 more HR's already, 16 more runs, BA is up 22 points and he's already surpassed last year's RBI total by 9 with a month to go.

Oldetoys has a good point? The Nationals have improved to 43 wins so far this year to our 48. They had 59 wins last year and they aren't on pace to do much better this year. Their division leading Phillies would be 3rd in the AL East right now, so let's keep their competition in perspective too.

The O's are "trying to build" just like you said. That run starts with getting to .500, just like it does for every other franchise (minus the Yanks). It's not like McPhail will board up the warehouse, DFA the whole roster and have the groundskeeping staff salt the grass to scorch the earth because there's no point going forward from there in Baltimore.

James C -

#1 - The Orioles are 8-20 and teh Nationals are 16-14 since the All-Star break. That is how the Nationals have improved over the Orioles.

#2 - Just because the Rays had the kind of turnaround success that happens once every 50 years, should not be the guaranteed blueprint way to win for the Orioles.

Honestly, the Rays getting to the WS was the worst thing for the Orioles fans. Now people think an awesome turnaround will be sudden and happen overnight --- when it is actually extemely rare.

So the Nationals have been decent since the All-star break; they've had a good run for a little while. Whooppee. They're still not a good team and not a young team. Morgan, Guzman, Johnson, Dunn - none of them are young; only Zimmerman is. The Orioles, on the other hand, have maybe the best young core in baseball. Give 'em time, people. We've been waiting twelve years; we can wait one or two more.

Paul,

You're still talking about 30 games of 162. They're playing relative cupcakes compared to the Tigers, White Sox, Red Sox and Angels. Comparing records straight up isn't the whole picture.

I'm not saying I'm expecting the Orioles to be just like Tampa Bay. I just provided an on point answer to your question. Colorado or the Marlins are other examples where young talent turned the corner in a small window. Even the Phillies had a lot of young guys surge over the last couple years. It was a couple guys a year playing to their potential until it added up to a pretty potent team. Most of those teams didn't start in the deficit that the Orioles did with a farm system that made Old Mother Hubbard feel sorry for us. So if it takes one more year than another team that built itself up, I wouldn't be shocked or angry about it. It's 8 months before next season even starts though and you're working off a very close minded assumption on how things will turn out. I just don't see it being very constructive...or accurate.

I booed Roberts louder than anyone last Tuesday on the double play he ran into on the pop-up by Markick@$$ (props to my wife on the nickname) with only one out...but I'll tell you what--the boy has been playing with a chip on his shoulder lately--hittin' the cover off the ball. I know we're not gonna win much, but not quitting and playing like you care is contagious--it looks real good on you---hopefully, others will notice, and follow suit...