Pete,

I must admit, you do seem to work your azz off. Not sure if you get paid by the column, but if so, I hope a bonus kicks in.

As for Roch, while I don't post on his Blog, I did check out what he said and it can be interpreted different ways. While I have little respect for him (not that he cares), I appreciate you looking into the matter and attempting to clarify something that is, at the end of the day, meaningless 'stuff'. I realize now that I overreacted.

Anyway... Thanks again!

Like you, I was going to take a break from the game today. However, after last night, a game a thoroughly enjoyed attending (no thanks to the O's), I've decided to head back out to the Yard.

The place may be 80 to 90% Sox fans, but at least there's an energy that NEVER exist anymore, accept when NY and Boston are in town.

It feels like baseball, and while I despise Boston as a franchise, they have some terrific players who O's fans can only dream about having.

It's a summer day. There will be a HUGE buzz in the air (due to the Boston fans). And, it's baseball at one of the best baseball stadiums in the country.

Even though it's a near 'certainty' that the Orioles will lose.... No matter!

It's going to be a good day.

Pete, I hope later today that you are not typing your blog on a laptop in the emergency room. Keep your back shoulder up and swing for an imaginary dot in the center of the ball. Remember, the other team always hides their worst fielder in right field :)

Hey, maybe the O's should put you guys on the schedule-they might have a shot at a win!

Pete,

Check your health insurance before you go see the doc again. Often standard of care for treating the second occurrence of a sports related injury within a year involves firearms.

I will continue to make this suggestion - bring Caleb Joseph up to the Parent Club to split time with Wieters.

Matt is obvious "pressing" at the plate and he needs to take a step back and share the catching position with another solid prospect.

Wieters is not ready yet to be the full time catcher - some day he will but not now.

i think markakis is trying to show crowley that he can go the rest of the year without hitting a ball to right field

RE your column this morning:
Ah, Petah, Petha, Petah as Kate would say, just trade three (Atkins, Tejada & Wiggington) vets and five or six QUALITY rookies will just fall into your lap, It just doesn't automatically happen that way. Look at the monster (?) trades AM made in"07 - '08. Jones the only valuable one in the Bedard trade, and he doesn't look too promising right now - half a year in "09 and he's been a flop since then.
Josh Bell is still a question mark and the rest are so-so.
The trade of Tejada has proven more fruitful w/ Scott hitting better than Jones and even most of the other OP's. (I still believe Scott would turn out to be a much better hitter if he was rewarded with a full time job at 1B. He's in his early 30's and, as a true player, isn't satisfied w/ sitting on the nench when the rest of his teammates go out on the field. He's too young to be a DH for the rest of his career.) Who else has been satisfactory to date?
As you did say, a super strong foray into the free agent market is a MUST! Will Angelos/McPhail commit the $$$ to a couple of QUALITY, proven vets? I wouldn't be too sure of that.
Millwood absolutely shouldn't be traden. An additional proven pitcher to support Millwood on the mound as well as on the bench as a teacher would/should be an important addition.
McPhail's "Grow the arms" doesn't Always work. He should make some consessions and trade a couple of his young arms together with a couple of those vets you mentioned as well as, maybe, Guthrie, Koji, Atkins, Lugo, etc. to get the proven vets mentioned above.
The trouble is AM's "Buy the bats" hasn't worked too well either. I know, why not fire the pobo (pres. of baseball ops) and just maybe things will change for the better. Certainly they haven't done so since AM was hired as pobo. And, if they hired a new guy, why not call him the GM? That sounds so much better than pobo.

here's a few questions to ask Matusz: Hey brian, why does it take you 50 pitches to get thru 2 innings? Do yo you think you belong in the major leagues?Do you think you're going to spend the rest of the year figuring out that pitching behind to major league hitters will get you a very short career?Are you going to ever attack the strikezone or just pussyfoot around for your 5 innings?
Add him to the list of regressors.

jim66,

I think Matusz has a lot of talent. He is a smart pitcher and he does attack the strike zone. He is still trying to figure out how to pitch in the big leagues. He has great potential. Cut him some slack. For a rookie, he is pitching very well. He happens to play for a team that gives him no run support. Do you forget to factor that in?

I think you're trying to hold him to the same standard you would hold veterans like Burnett, Lackey or Beckett. Let's not forget, he is a rookie, and a pretty darn good one.

The Yankee players were going up to him the day after he pitched and congratulating the guy for his pitching performance. Each and everyone of the hitters he faced during that Yankee series , had nothing but good words for him. What does that tell you?

You have to be patient with pitching. Matusz is on the right track. Get him some run support and some innings in, and in a couple of years, you will have a Cy Young, All-Star pitcher.

After they figure out a way to lose today's game (I'm guessing the bullpen gets torched after Matusz leaves in the 6th with 100+ pitches), they've got Burnett, Sabathia, Hughes and the Yankees offense to deal with (hint: three more losses) before a 15 game interleague series. And guess what happens there...

Three games in Baltimore against the Mets, who have a 3.88 team ERA...

Three games in San Francisco, where the Giants are third in the NL with a 3.25 team ERA...

Three games in San Diego, where the Padres are second in the NL with a 3.04 team ERA...

Oh, and in those two away series, they don't get a DH...

Then six games against the Marlins and Nationals in Baltimore, when they might get their first win since May 25th!

But The Plan™ is right on track, right...?

Meso,
just venting, the season is wearing on me

probably the worst matusz becomes is a solid 2. He's usually got some decent command of a few pitches. and he's piched real well against the yanks.
He's pitching well right now, not to jinx the poor guy...
wouldn't mind having a couple more of him...

How bad are things in Birdland? So bad that the owner of the Birds in the Belfry website is closing down the front page. For now, the message board (appropriately named the Birdseed) is still up, but activity has been very slow. Wouldn't surprise me to see that closed as well. I should note that the webmaster had a season ticket plan with the O's for a long time. When he cancelled it (many years ago, now) he never even had a call from someone with the O's to ask why.

Jim66,

I know, and I feel your pain. This team is pathetic. I have to hand it to the starting pitching though. They have been solid all year long. I don't know how they do it. Milwood has been doing it all year. Guthrie pitched a great game last night.

As a pitcher you feel you have to be perfect because you know you get no run support. Our pitching would have been much better if they pitched relaxed. You would see them attacking the strike zone more. But they feel like they have to pitch a shutout to win the game. And in reality they do. That's the only way Milwood will get a win.

Andy MacPhail might have perhaps ruined the careers of Berken, Hernandez and Bergeson. You can't bring rookies up in this kind of situation. It is the most terrible circumstance to pitch under, when you get no run support.

Now, what you're left with are a bunch of young talented pitchers whose psyche is all effed up, and might never have the confidence to pitch up to their potential.

Matusz though is a special kid. He doesn't get rattled. He goes out there and continues to put together quality starts.

If we get swept, I can't wait to hear what BS ANdrew feeds us about making progress.

Actually, all I need to do is read Roch on MASN to get a direct feed from Andrew's mouth.

LOL

Pathetic that we have to struggle to beat the Sox. Looks to be a loooonnnngggg week folks.

If we get swept, I can't wait to hear what BS ANdrew feeds us about making progress.

Actually, all I need to do is read Roch on MASN to get a direct feed from Andrew's mouth.

LOL

Pathetic that we have to struggle to beat the Sox. Looks to be a loooonnnngggg week folks.

Just listen to Oriole Park.

'Let's Go Red Sox'
'Let's Go Red Sox'
'Let's Go Red Sox'
'Let's Go Red Sox'

Hey Baltimore. What are all the experts and national media saying now? Maybe you can find someone still sleeping under a rock to say your Plan is on track.
What a bunch of Baltomorons

How bad is Boston to lose to these guys?????

If Crowley must go, who do we bring in? Is Mickey Brantley available? He put together a pretty good hitting team in Toronto.

Not Brooks,

Are you saying we have a designated hitter? :) I'm quickly losing interest in this blog, the solutions are not rocket science and decent baseball person sees it, in fact this is the very reason they won't get a quality manager or GM or Free Agent, everyone sees it in the baseball world.

Nice win today, maybe just maybe if they run a few wins out there history will repeat itself and they will take the interim tag of Juan Samuel much like Perlozzo and DT and we'll be stuck with him for 3 more years of the AM=Abysmal Mistake= Andy McFail tragic experiment!

I told you so!

The truth will set you free!

This years draft must hit a "homerun".

Andy and Jordan must be extremely aggressive in drafting any and all major league potential players, irregardless of the signing cost, when they make their selections.

Management, which includes Angelos, must go for it this year and spend all the money needed to get this team "turned around" in the next few years,

Andy/Jordan - it is now up to you guys!!!

Don't let the fans down!!!!

Start making changes now. Release Atkins and either cut or send Montanez down for starters. Those are two roster spots that have produced absolutely nothing all season. Who to bring up? Not sure, I don't follow the minor leagues close enough but there HAS to be better options either at Triple or Double-A or in another team's system.

I'm going to McDonald's! Thanks Pete.

Peter Schmuck takes the day off and the Orioles win....coincidence? I don't think so....Peter, take Tuesday off, too.

And one comment about the Red Sox fans that taunt the Orioles fans....they have short memories.....remember just a few years ago when the Red Sox team was about as hapless as the Orioles are now. But they now have good owners, a good GM, and a good farm system.

And when they took down the Yankees in the playoffs by winning the last 4 games after losing the first 3, many a Oriole fan cheered them on. We all dislike the Yankees and their fans.

Now the Bosox fans, with several years of success, has become a bit more like Yankee fans --- and it's not very attractive.

I just hope Oriole fans remember how NOT to act when we finally begin to have a successful team. As the saying goes, "act like you've been there before."

Hell, yeah, the plan is on track.

Why would anyone think different? Because of wins and losses? Sorry, guys but those are besides the point right now. What got Trembley fired was not the W/L record, but the lackluster why in which they were playing. If you're gong to lose, at least look like you care that you're losing.

If Juan Samuel can get these guys caring again, if they can somehow see some success, maybe, just maybe they can start playing up to their abilities. You can't tell me that Jones is this bad, that Reimold is not a ML player.

I give Wieters a pass because he is trying to learn the toughest position in all of sports, while trying to learn how to hit ML pitching and leading a pitching staff that, with the exception of three or four guys, is no more experienced then he is. So cut him some slack.

I grant you that Atkins does appear to be done, so why not put Scott there and let Montanez play LF for an extended period and see once and for all if he has anything? Scott's a good enough athlete and has enough baseball smarts that maybe he can make the move to the infield without too much difficulty. It can only enhance his trade value.

And any success the big club has filters down the minors. If the guys in Norfolk and Bowie see the Orioles do well, it gives them more incentive to want to be part of it.

As much as I like Terry Crowley(I went to Jr high with his daughter) and respect his abilities, maybe a new voice is needed. Sometimes, and everyone of us has experienced this, the same advice over and over again grows old. I would think the new permanent manager will want to assemble his own staff, so my guess is that Crow won't be here next season anyway, so why not bring up the minor league hitting instructor? Denny Walling is the organizational hitting coordinator, he certainly knows something about hitting. The Norfolk hitting coach is Richie Hebner, he's another ML veteran who has an idea, plus, he's worked with some the guys in the minors when they had success. No offense to the Crow, but maybe it is time for a change.

No, people, no matter how some of you say the plan is a complete failure, the fact remains that the plan is just getting started. This team is in its best position in so many years, even the most cynical of you have to admit that. Even better, either a power hitting SS prospect or a power arm who throws in the mid to upper 90s are about to join the organization.

So give the plan a chance to get established and take MacPhail at his word that he will buy the bats. If he doesn't, then blast him. And I'll join you.

And wayne, read the whole post before you blast me.

Hey frustrated. Boston fans are by far the worst. Obnoxious, condescending johnny come latelys with recent success but a century of losing. At least Yankee fans understand the game and its nuance.
boston fans = philly fans
jerks

Did anyone see Tillman leave Juan hanging after the game? ROFL someone is pissed he got yanked the other night... Macphail traded for players are supposed to do whatever they want!!

2 all beef patties, special sauce, letter, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun (sung really fast)

letter=lettuce

BTW - whoever said that Tillman was the second coming of Storm Davis is DEAD ON. Fastball with NO movement.

Earth to Kranitz, come in Kranitz......

ken,

You really think the players didn't 'care' before? Now I'm not saying DT was a good manager, but did they not care because he was there?

Do you think the guys are trying? I mean really trying?

How about Jones. You think he's trying?

Or Markakis, Weiters, Izturis, Tillman, Bergy, Hendrickson........ any of them

Do you think they're trying ken?

I do.

Perhaps a foot up the rear will fire them up a little. Perhaps getting in their face or benching them will help a little. But you truly believe that'll get them where they need to go?

ken, ken, ken........

These guys just aren't good. For some it may be that they're genuinely regressing. For others, it's pure player development. For others yet, perhaps they're either over the hill or never will be...

All in all though ken..... they stink!

And it's hardly just about the W/L record. It's about the stats.. the performance....the play on the field.

They can't hit, there pitching is dead last in BAA, they can't steal bases, they have zero bench, and they have no one to bring up from the minors, accept maybe Arrieta.

Even AM says they've taken a 'giant step backwards' ken. Did you hear him say that?

How does that equate to the plan being 'on track'?

Even Pete wrote today that it's already a LOST season, as pertaining to the Plan.

How does that equate to the plan being 'on track'?

As Gil has said over and over, AM has put NO time schedule on his Plan. Don't you find that interesting ken? Not even a little?

So as he enters his 4th year this month, he might as well be in his 1st year, or his 7th.... Why? Because he put no time measure on his plan.

None

And trust me ken, I did read your entire post by the way.

'just getting started' you say.....

Sir, who just gets started in year #4 in professional sports? Answer: AM does 1) because he set no time table, and 2) some like you go along.

He had players when he arrived ken... Look it up. He really did. But now the positions players you want to put in LF and 1B are part of the progress AM has been talking about? Really?

These are the guys? And the others you mentioned in the minors? Would ANY team even think about bringing any of them up?

I was at the last 3 games at the Yard Ken. People are pissed off beyond belief. And the win today did NOTHING to change that.

All they saw was a stadium FILLED with Boston fans... Loud Boston fans ken. People were afraid to speak up in their own home stadium.

It was a sea of Red and the few O's fans who were there were not thinking of the so called plan. All they felt was how horrible it is to be embarrassed to bring their kids to watch the home team play baseball.

But that's ok ken... It really is. 99% of the people who loved the Orioles are either mad or have left, while you and and a very few others have been 100% wrong at every single turn.

I admire your faith ken. I admire your optimism. I do NOT believe you're a plant by either the O's or the SUN. I believe you're a real and loyal fan.

But ken, you've been wrong at everything pertaining to the O's. And believe it or not, I wish you were RIGHT in everything you've said to date. I honestly do.

BUT it doesn't matter because....

I still enjoyed the game today. The fact that they won doesn't really matter any more. Instead, it's about being outside, being at the Yard, being with friends, and enjoying baseball.

check, check, check and check

I don't understand how Tillman has been so highly rated a prospect. Not just by the Orioles, but by everyone. I've seen him pitch a bunch of times and I don't see any movement on his fastball and I see below average control. Hopefully, he can improve but I'm guessing he ends up as a back of the rotation guy.

Jon--------- See Reimold, Wieters, Bergeson, Matusz, Young, Bell, Snyder, Montenez, (fill in name here), and yes of course, Tillman. Blast any one of them and you're burned at the stake in these parts. Problem is for all of them-------- MLB keeps statistics on players. Bummer for them.

The frame of mind that a simple lead can put a team in is understated.

That's why Trembley had to go.
If the team was within a run or two of tying or going ahead in a game, he would not call for a sacrifice or hit-and-run to save his life.

I hear different people say in the first two or three innings that it's "too early" to sacrifice to get a leadoff runner in scoring position.

WHY ?

If it leads to a run being scored, then what's the difference which inning it is ?
You never hear anyone say it's "too early in the game" for a solo homer.
A team only gets one run from one of those.
To me, it's never too early to score.
It goes up on the scoreboard and it still counts all the way to the end of the game.

Today the Orioles won by one run.
That's one run they would not have had if Lugo had not sacrificed Izturis to second late in the game.... and it's one run they might not have been short if Adam Jones had been able to lay down a decent bunt earlier instead of bunting it so hard that the pitcher hardly had to move in order to pick it up and get a force at second base.

I'm happy to see Juan Samuel calling for it even from Jones, who probably fancies himself "above" self-sacrifice.

Bravo, Juan.

When the leadoff batter gets on, it's the next batter's job to move him up..... especially if that next batter is hitting in the .240's.

Funny... I never heard anyone say it's "too early in the game" to hit into a double-play, either.... but that was the case so many times during the first 50 games of this season that there should be a new reference in the rulebook calling it "Trembley's Option".

Again, Bravo, Juan.

It's one thing to preach fundamental baseball.
It's quite another to practice it.

Wayne says
"He had players when he arrived ken... Look it up. He really did."
If only saying it made it so...Who are these mystery players you claim AM had when he got here? Cabrera Brandon Fahey? Oh

Markakis, Wieters, Roberts, Bergy, Reimold, Johnson, Arrieta to just name some.

Those names are certainly no worse than the names he's brought in - Young, Tillman, Moore, Bell, Snyder, Izturis, Atkins, Matusz. Hendrickson, etc

So far, guys like Bergy and Arrietta are no worse/better than Tillman, Matusz, Bell, etc...

I go by performance and production. Names mean nothing and what the local or national media says about a player is useless...

What happens on the field is all that matters. It wasn't bare when AM got here. They just want you to think it was....

Alright guys, you need to chill a little bit.

They beat a very good Redsox team. They fought hard. Something they didn't do under Trembley. The pitching was phenomenal. The hitting is still abysmal, but good enough to win.

The team showed hustle. Can't ask for better. Guys were running the bases hard. The team is struggling because Andy macfailed it. But it's pointless harping on it now. Trembley is fired. That was a good move, but the team won't turn it around this season. You won't find good quality free agents or other players via trade, who would want to come to a losing franchise in a middle of the season.

Ride this season out, as painful as it might be, and hope for the best. This cluster-puck needs time to get fixed.

MacPhail admitted he took a giant step backward, which is the same as saying he failed pretty much. Because the team was already sucking before the PLAN. Now it stinks. However, you're not telling anybody something they don't already know. This team has got some very good young talent. Hopefully MacPhail can bring in an established Major league manager. Hopefully Angelos will dump the Western Union truck for a first and a third baseman. You get B-Rob back healthy. Your young pitchers have breakout years next year, and all of a sudden you're in contention.

Macphail should have Angelos by the balls at this point. Next year is a make or break year for this franchise. Common sense says, they will turn it around. Let's be hopeful.

Markakis, Weiters, ... Bergy, ...
These guys just aren't good
All in all .... they stink!

He (Andy MacPhail) had players when he arrived ... Look it up

"Who are these mystery players you claim AM had when he got here?"

Markakis, Wieters, ... Bergy, ...

Your answers are even more incomprehensible and evasive than your usual "stuff"

What you and your friends fail to admit all the time is there were a few players here of course. every team has a few good players. But the minor leagues were pretty much bare, so even this year when Roberts gets hurt there is no one to step up. That's Andy's fault for not having good position prospects? Since it takes an average of 3-5 years to develop prospects, how in the world could it be his fault (after being here for almost 3 years) that the minor leagues was a wasteland.
You all just continually overstate your case on this and the idea he was supposed to upgrade the major league roster by overpaying for marginal free agents which is what got us in trouble in the first place.
So who exactly were these players AM had in the minor leagues when he got here that he traded away?
exactly.
He inherited a mess and he's made it better by the accounts of all knowlegable baseball folks,
Sure, they stink at the major league level right now...due to injuries and lousy replacements in the minor leagues which are not his fault and some players having a sophmore slump. But it will get better, just have patience.

While waiting to see if the trading deadline is more trading than dead ...

"I should note that the webmaster [at a previously mentioned Web site] had a season ticket plan with the O's for a long time. When he cancelled it (many years ago, now) he never even had a call from someone with the O's to ask why." - Saddened O's fan

I had a season ticket plan from 1984 though 2000. I knew the writing was on the wall when Angelos vetoed Gillick, but my wife wasn't interested in Ravens tickets so we didn't swap then.

At any rate and in the quest to be fair to the owner who has absolutely earned my wrath, the Orioles did send me several emails and standard mail items. This went on for a couple years at least.

I can't specifically state whether they asked why I stopped renewing, and they never called on the phone. I still get occasional emails from them to this day.

While I was miffed I couldn't keep the same or similar seats when I first wanted to downgrade from an 81-game plan to what was then a 29-gamer, I cannot find fault that they didn't call me.

"Boston fans are by far the worst. Obnoxious, condescending johnny come latelys with recent success but a century of losing. At least Yankee fans understand the game and its nuance ... boston fans = philly fans ... jerks" - Ted

Absolutely correct. Yankee fans "enjoy" my cheering and jeering and hold conversations with me in between mine and theirs.

Sox fans sound like My daddy can beat your daddy when things are going well for them or go into a self-sustaining sulk when things are not. Prior to 2004, I used to cut them some slack because their team had to play in that toilet up there. Now, they act like they themselves did something to deserve the team's recent success.

(It's also funny that the Sox had to become Evil Empire II, but do they ever not want to hear it.)

(For the record, I have not been to a Philly-Oriole game since the '83 World Series. I found their fans suprisingly docile then -- but given the reports I have heard and read, and the fact most of them are also Eagle fans, I find the comparison easy to believe.

"whoever said that Tillman was the second coming of Storm Davis is DEAD ON. Fastball with NO movement." - Bob F.

I saw that, too, the other day. Thanks for the repost. It also makes me wonder if he's going to be a six-inning pitcher like Davis (or Bedard for that matter).

"I don't understand how Tillman has been so highly rated a prospect ... by everyone. I've seen him pitch a bunch of times and I don't see any movement on his fastball and I see below average control." - Jon in Chicago

I actually believe in Tillman to some degree. I think his mechanics are such he can learn control and the necessary nuances of pitching. Now he still may be a six-inning pitcher when it's all said and done, but I do still regard him as a prospect.

Tillman is Exhibit A of a player being rushed to the Bigs too soon. This is another reason why you need to have legitimate big leaguers at the big league level -- even if it still means your big league team ends up 71-91 for the year.

"I hear different people say in the first two or three innings that it's "too early" to sacrifice to get a leadoff runner in scoring position.
WHY? If it leads to a run being scored, then what's the difference which inning it is? You never hear anyone say it's "too early in the game" for a solo homer."

First of all, early in the game is when you know you have your proper batting order in place. After that, your lead-off batter might be batting with two outs or your clean-up hitter may be leading off.

Secondly, you only get a finite amount of outs with which to work. If a runner or two made it on base, perhaps it is a good time to pile on the runs to get rid of that pitcher. In most cases, the starter is better than his likely replacements.

Thirdly, giving up an out just to advance a runner only increases your chance to score one run but decreases your chance to score multiple runs -- especially on a light-hitting team like the Orioles.

With a single and a sacrifice, you need to go one-for-two to score a run. Without the acrifice, you need to go two-for-three.

The difference there isn't as stark as comparing .500 to .667. Before the second subsequent hit, a WP or PB might score the run because you have a runner at third, not second. If the first subsequent hit comes with the next batter (instead of the sacrifice), a SF will score a run. And if the first subsequent hit comes before two outs, a FC will score a run.

As for putting up multiple runs, the more outs you concede, the less likely your light-hitting club will put up a crooked number (apologies to Flanny who likes to say that a lot). It will also give you fewer at bats to get an extra base hit.

The solo HR doesn't concede an out -- so apples and oranges.

Now, if you have a guy like Izturiz hitting, you might sacrifice earlier than usual because he is only one or two levels above a pitcher batting in the first place.

"Who are these mystery players you claim AM had when he got here?" - smitty

"Markakis, Wieters, Roberts, Bergy, Reimold, Johnson, Arrieta ..." - wayne

smitty, you are not alone in thinking this.

I have been late to the party on bashing MacPhail because believe it or not, I do believe in The Plan.

I believe in The Plan as a plan, not as thee plan.

Furthermore, I did not expect the Orioles to be an 82-win team coming off of a 64-98 season. I did expect the Orioles to make moves that would give them an identity and to be able to build the farm system.

This is where I got off the fence with MacPhail. He did neither.

The Orioles have prospects in the majors too soon. They also have expectations too stinking high on the prospects that should be playing in the majors.

Wieters, for example, is a prospect (still) that should be with the parent club. However, he should be playing less -- maybe four games per week as a catcher and maybe one game per week as a DH. That would give him time to absorb what he is (still) learning.

Because of Wieters' height, he should eventually be groomed as a part-time 1B, too -- but that would be down the road somewhat.

So instead of a veteran like Moeller playing two or three games per week -- helping Wieters and the young pitchers -- MacPhail chose Tatum.

Izturiz was selected for defense but the defensive philosophy went out the window with the signings of Atkins and Tejada.

There is little power in a hitting friendly home ballpark. There is little speed with this punch-and-judy attack. There is no concept being employed.

All of the above helped me decide which side of the fence I was on about MacPhail but the worst part of what he has done so far is he has not even kept up with his own narrow approach.

The Gonzalez signing was not only silly from the standpoint he was going to be a closer on a (we had hoped) 70-something-winning team. Nor was it just silly to think he would achieve the kind of success that was sparingly there in his past.

The Orioles won't have a second round draft pick this year because of his signing.

The Plan became The Stipulation.

The Orioles need to be aggressive in targeting players -- in trades and in free agency. They need to be equally aggressive in player development, and that means no rushing.

I don't know where Angelos is on all of this, but if the Orioles truly want to get better, get closer to .500, and eventually competitive, I'm not sure MacPhail is equipped to do what's necessary.

If someone else comes in after this season is over, he will be in the same exact spot MacPhail is in right now. If that's "starting over," why are we three years in and still starting over? After all, starting over is a concept based on where you are -- not the timeline of a hired gun.

Good ol super apologist Ken actually said this:

Hell, yeah, the plan is on track

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHHHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Sorry, cant think of any response that would be more appropriate

bear the birdfan

Try to keep up with this, but if you play for 1 run, often times thats all you get

Scoring opps are rare in baseball, thats why u play for the big inning early and worry about playing for 1 run late in the game

DUring the orioles glory yrs, there was a high pct of games where the Orioles scored more in 1 inning than their opponent did during the whole game

Thats why obp and power is such a lethal combination.

Waspman you are a thoughtful person and have never been knee jerk on the blog. As an objective pragmatist you have aptly summarized the status of the organization and Andy Macphail's one dimensional approach. Of course I and others have been saying these things for two and a half years. Macphail showed his hand early and his indifferent offseason activity in 2008 and 2009 is the reason our prospects have been rushed to the major leagues and why the team is on the verge of being blown up for the second time on Andy's watch.

Although I am winding down my career I still travel extensively and it should comes as no shock to anyone that in other cities our home team is commonly referred to as"The lowly Baltimore Orioles" by the media. There may be still a few in the National media who are in Andy's corner but the people who come on the blog and spin the anecdote that "knowledgeable" baseball people support Andy's plan, are quoting exceptions rather than the rule. Andy is being roasted by the local media outlets all over the country as I travel, especially in Chicago. Few in the media, save for the shills at MASN, are lining up behind Andy at this point.

waspman,

I think the O's have legitimate young talent at pitching. Of course they are going to struggle. They're learning how to pitch at the big league level, while the advanced scouting is figuring them out. That's normal.

The problem I see with the O's is their scouting. Enough going after high school prospects. I saw a piece on MLB network about the Cincinnati Reds. They have this young pitcher who came straight out of college with no minor league experience and is lights out.

They need to go after college pitchers. Forget this high school nonsense. What happens is: you rush them through your minor league system and bring them up too soon. With college pitchers, you don't have to worry about that. They've already pitched for 4 years in college, and they are ready for the bigs.

"you are a thoughtful person and have never been knee jerk on the blog." - Gil

Thanks!

"The problem I see with the O's is their scouting. Enough going after high school prospects." - Mesotheliangelos

I agree.

"if you play for 1 run, often times thats all you get" - play for 1and thats all u get--u only get 27 outs, dont waste em

Earl Weaver proved himself to be awkward as a television analyst but he once said something about Gene Mauch that has stuck with me -- "Play for a run. Lose by a run."

I was (still am) a Brian Billick supporter. There were times I employed the same theory about his strategy during crunch time, though -- Play for a FG, lose by a FG. (Sometimes Brian proved to be right thanks to the Raven D.)