I would be more optimistic about beating up on the lowly Pirates if their fans weren't more justified in thinking they are about to go over 500.
Things should be clicking with the hitting heating up but as usual something else goes wrong and the starting pitching seems pretty shaky right now.
At least the bullpen has had some good games with JJ, to Koji, to Gregg usually working.

Do the excuses ever stop for the losing? What other division would the Orioles have been a wild card contender in the last 13 years?

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Pete's reply: This is a fair point. In the Orioles best season of the past decade (2004), they would not have finished better than fourth in any of the divisions.

Way too positive! Roberts may never be a full time second baseman again so we may need to fill that hole and find a big bopper for first base. Lee fields a great first base and is showing he can still get hits but no power. He was a one year fix so where is the power hitting first baseman for the future. I don't believe they will ever get Fielder and there is no one in the farm system.

Here's something the entire O's organization should ponder:

A GREAT Fathers Day spent in DC with my Dad, my sons and other family and we got to see our visiting Orioles win in a really good game.
I have always been and always will be a Orioles fan but I have to say I will be cheering on the Nationals now also except when they play the O's because they made this annual outing a 1st class experie...nce.

Getting to and from the stadium was the easiest I've seen it at any stadium, bar none (accidents on 295 on way home not their fault).
Their parking garages that allow you to enter right into the stadium taking the steps or the elevators was amazing.
We had seats in front row right above their bullpan and the coaches and pitchers in the bullpen were 1st class all the way. Before the game they spotted the youngest among us and only elementary school age kid and tossed a baseball up for her. After that none of us felt like harassing them as planned. By the time the game ended they had made sure that the other 2 ladies in the group had a baseball also and it wasn't just us as the coach went out between innings and gave one baseball away to a young kid each inning. These guys were a class act. Can't say that for my own team the Orioles as they wouldn't even give a tip of the cap or a wave to a row of their fans that you couldn't mistake for anything but O's fans.

Pete,

The Orioles absolutely must sweep the Pirates to have a wiining record on a road trip that they needed to dominate with at least 6 wins. Every team has injuries. The Orioles can't overcome them due to the lack of organizational depth caused by four years of Andy and Lee H. the 4th. I'll bet the Cardinals find a way to work around the fact that Pujols is on the DL.

Pete, saying that if it were not for 13 straight losing seasons....is like saying that because of recent near depression, some people think that the economy is now better than it was. It's all perspective, depending on how low the bar has been set.

Off topic:

I know it's only the GCL and a single inning, but Matt Hobgood's rehab appears to have started reasonably well.
(http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2011/06/taking-a-glance-at-hobgood.html)

Good points here; I feel the O;s always lack a sense of urgency about winning even after 13 losing seasons and tons of runners left on this year. The Indians are in first and they fired their hitting coach. I think the O's players need to be held more accountable for poor play. Substitutions are limited due to a lack of major league ready players in the minors ; but shouldn't the players follow Wieters suggestion and play better now. How many times is Markakis going to ground to second before somebody wakes himup.

peter i feel this is one time you are telling it like it is.as you said the orioes need to put it too the pirates. the orioles had no business losing 2 games to the nationas.maybe the orioles miss brian roberts,but that dowsn't mean the team go into the dumper and feel sorry for themselves. you writers have printed about what the players say they need to do to get better,why haven't you asked them when they plan to pick themselves up off the deck and play better. are they going to wait till buck gets fired and then put on a show for a week or two then fall off the wagon again.

Pete you can never be accused of being to negative until you honestly talk about the total under performance of NICK M That can be in a article you publish or something you just blog about..I continue to hear from media members who have told me over and over that they have written about his continued free fall.Some how pete i must have missed all those articles and all the postings. See batting 259 now has changed every bodies conception of just how bad he is performing. 11 extra base hits for the entire year just 11 PETE lowest obp and slugging % of all every day regular players. No Pete somehow i don't think you are too negative.

Pittsburg has proven that they are a much better team than they have been in recent years. We can’t start assuming that we’ll waltz on in there and win anything! We’re the ones who need to do what they have already done. If we put together a strong winning streak we may be an honorable team at the end of the year. Does anyone know what our record is outside the AL East? Our failure to win within the division has been poison this season.

Pete,

The Orioles will destroy the Pirates. BTW, Derrek Lee's bat has really heated up and contending teams might make an offer for him. If Lee is moved, the O's should consider bringing up Josh Bell and moving Mark Reynolds to first. Reynolds is matador at 3rd and we have to keep his power bat in the lineup. Could he be any worse defensively at 1B than Luke Scott and/or Nick Markakis?

I hate to be rational but... the Orioles do not need to sweep the Pirates. They don't even need to win the series. The season is not yet half over and, well, they still don't have the offense to challenge the Red Sox, Yankees or even the Blue Jays (the O's are a Bautista-Lind short of the Jays) and the pitching to dominate the Rays. If they are swept it will be devastating. If they win only one of three it will be disappointing. But it won't be the end... they've still a long way to go to challenge the big teams.

We need Mark Cuban to buy the O's. Until that happens, we are screwed.

I agree Pete. A lot of frustration with this team, but they are performing better than last year, while dealing with more injuries and a slumping Markakis (who looks like he might be shaking out of it, by the way).

I get that there is a lot of frustration from seeing how the O's got here and how many wins they've left on the table this year, but that should also encourage people that they have the potential to be better. If you'd said pre-season that the O's would be just 5 games under .500 on June 20, heading into Pittsburgh, I bet many an O's fan would have been content with that.

I'm with Kurt, more than tired of excuses.

Brian Roberts hasn't exactly been lighting it up the last two years even when he has been on the field, hitting less than .250 in the 45% of Orioles games that he's not missed with headaches or back aches. You might think missing a $10M player for huge chunks of the season would be a negative, but I actually think they've been doing better with Hardy in the leadoff spot.

As for Matusz, Britton is the one who was playing in his place, at least for most of April, so I don't think anyone could view 5 wins over that period as a drop-off. Given the off days over the past month I'd say the loss of Matusz has only really hurt us for one month so far. (so, 3-4 starts)

Lee isn't hitting the cover off the ball though his defense is valuable. I can't say that missing him for short periods has significantly affected the W-L record.

And has it really gotten to the point that we're pointing to the loss of Cesar Izturis as a cause of the Os poor performance? Say it ain't so, Pete.

A lot of us said it last year, but MacPhail needs to come through on his promise to "buy the bats" this year, and we don't mean flawed bargain buys or 1-year deals with past-their-prime stars. A targeted, premier acquisition of a cornerstone player (like Boston and Adrian Gonzalez, or NY and Douchera), is what this team needs and what the fans deserve.

MacPhail was hired in June 2007, and is now exactly four years into a three-year plan to competitiveness. I realize his contract is up this year and unless he shows this team and his fans that he has something better than we've seen up his sleeve, I say we show him the door. I'm sure we can find a GM who will be just as effective in delivering a doormat team, for a lot less money.

Do you think it makes the pitching staff even more irked at the uneven support they've received by our offense when, in our fourth game playing under NL rules, our starting pitchers are hitting .500 (4 for 8) with 2 RBIs?

@ Dave W- Wow. Glad you had a good experience and you're right: the Orioles as an organization and as individuals walk around like they are far more entitled. They are a bunch of losers (talking to you Nick M) who should be falling over themselves to retain fans. But alas, that is not their job, or so they think. Then whose job should it be? Everyone's. The players, the stadium personnel, management and ownership all should make it their purpose that the fans enjoy the game, especially while paying in attendance, if not seeing a good product on MASN. This isn't a sport where they are brutalizing their bodies like football, hockey or basketball, it's baseball. The least they can do for being paid an average of 3M per is act as though they care, even if they don't.

It's pathetic that Markakis walks around like some 12 year old waif, and wonders why his slugging % has dropped. 7M a year and he can't work out? He's told the media that he has trouble keeping on weight? I got a solution: eat more, lift more. Done. At age 27 you should have zero problems packing on lean muscle that won't constrict or slow you. Did 30 lbs of muscle hurt Barry Bonds' game? Not saying he should juice, but making 7M+ a year you should be able to afford a nutritionist and trainer that could get your physique past that of an emaciated distance runner. And Guerrero...he's built like the 80 year old janitor at my office. I realize he's got as much natural talent as anyone has had in his generation, but at some point you've got to fight off time by working, and please, that guy is not 36. Plus 3 at least.,,,,

I've been an O's fan my whole life, and while this isn't the worst team (for my money that's the cast of clowns and AAA players they rolled out in 1991), it may be the one that acts as if they deserve our respect, when they've earned none. With the exception of Adam Jones, these guys all walk around feeling sorry for themselves that they have to play for the Orioles. Well too bad. Suck it up, and just suffer being a millionaire, and try to pretend that it all means something. If they care, maybe the fans will again too.

"Do the excuses ever stop for the losing? What other division would the Orioles have been a wild card contender in the last 13 years?"

This is a terrible point. They might have made the playoffs in another division because instead of playing 20 games each against the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays, they could have been playing 20 games against far inferior teams than the three just mentioned. Its not an excuse for losing, its the age old what if question/ Dream a little!

I find it ironic that an Orioles fan would call any team lowly as vmoore stated in the first comment. Especially considering the Pirates have a better record through this point in the season. If anything, these teams are pretty even an neither can look down on the other.

Pete, I like the perspective from both the positive and the negative points of view.
Great points supporting both perpectives.
Thank you.

Wow! I'm watching the game on the MLB TV (online). The Pirates have invited their 1971 World Series team. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish, but that's gotta be like pouring a bucket of sea salt into fresh gaping wounds for Pirates fans.

Sad to say, these O's are not too far off the futility that is the Pirates franchise.

To put it into perspective: the MLB level of play has become so mediocre that even the lowly O's and Pirates may have a somewhat realistic chance at breaking 500.

To put it into perspective for Mat Weiters: Thank your lucky stars the Pirates passed on you, but don't get too excited. You're still an Oriole.

yo ho ho and a bottle of rum /... is that Nick heating up? and Wieters back to his career OPS number. wtf

Well I sure hope this is the beginning of an offensive upsurge. We've been waiting quite a while for Nick and Lee to start swinging the bat, and Reynolds has certainly been showing us a bit more recently. I'll wait a bit before I start celebrating too loudly though. The O's have caught fire before for a few games at a time, remember the first week? The win tonight was great, but lets see how long they can sustain this new high octane offense before we get too carried away. If they roll off a few more wins just to get a whiff of .500 and then lose 4 or 5 straight again, this little peak will be forgotten pretty fast.
I want to believe that this is the first glimpse of the higher powered offense we were sold in the spring, but I need to see more.

Pete -

has anyone taken notice that Arrieta is on pace for 21 wins this year and is leading the league in wins?

he's no Cy Young Award winner, but it would still be cool if he could pull it off.

Pete - I just read that third round pick Mike Wright just signed. This signing will not turn the fortunes of the Orioles around. The front office should be saving their money and direct their budget into just a few players.

As I wrote last week the only two players the Orioles need to sign that are "difference makers" are Bundy and Nick Delmonico. All the MLB experts agree without the Orioles signing Dylan Bundy and Nick Delmonico this past draft will do nothing to increase the competitive nature of the future Orioles.

The front office better save money on some of the "fringe" draft selections so they can sign these players for what they want - that means first round money for both Bundy and Delmonico!!

They should plunder the Pirates alright....Pedro Alvarez in particular.

Guy will be a 30+ homer, 100 rbi easy.

Do the excuses ever stop for the losing? What other division would the Orioles have been a wild card contender in the last 13 years?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: This is a fair point. In the Orioles best season of the past decade (2004), they would not have finished better than fourth in any of the divisions.

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Its not a fair point because the competition is different as well. In another league we wouldn't be playing the RedSox/BlueJays/Yankees/Rays 18 times a year.

If you really want to know, make friends with some people at fangraphs and ask them to do a projection for you. Could be a great little article as well. If you have friends over there, then ask them, I am sure they would love the free publicity for a few hours of work.

My thinking, the Orioles would not have competed for any NL Central division titles, but I bet they would have been in a race or two over that time.

Also, just a note, I am sure the Orioles would have been run a little different over this timeline as well. So really, predictions or calculations of this kind are always subjective.

"They lost veteran utility guy Cesar Izturis"

seriously pete? That's like losing pocket lint, a flat tire or your mother in law

True, O's are better than previous seasons. But it would be nice to see F.O. go out and get a couple of impact players....guys who can clobber the ball. All these base runners...we need three hits to score a run. Impact players are not cheap, plus we don't seem to have much on the farm. So just when will the brass spend some serious bucks and give us fans some players who can drive in runs?

True, O's are better than previous seasons. But it would be nice to see F.O. go out and get a couple of impact players....guys who can clobber the ball. All these base runners...we need three hits to score a run. Impact players are not cheap, plus we don't seem to have much on the farm. So just when will the brass spend some serious bucks and give us fans some players who can drive in runs?

dont appologize fore being critical...somebody needs to be when we have to watch MASN every night.

Pete,

I apologize for those who think that you're being too negative. There, that covers both sides.

Any chance Jamie brings her settlement money home & buys the O's ? Or would that be a wash(ing machine) sale ? If so, would you be her new bodyguard ?

Do the excuses ever stop for the losing? What other division would the Orioles have been a wild card contender in the last 13 years?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: This is a fair point. In the Orioles best season of the past decade (2004), they would not have finished better than fourth in any of the divisions.

-------

Its not a fair point because the competition is different as well. In another league we wouldn't be playing the RedSox/BlueJays/Yankees/Rays 18 times a year.

If you really want to know, make friends with some people at fangraphs and ask them to do a projection for you. Could be a great little article as well. If you have friends over there, then ask them, I am sure they would love the free publicity for a few hours of work.

My thinking, the Orioles would not have competed for any NL Central division titles, but I bet they would have been in a race or two over that time.

Also, just a note, I am sure the Orioles would have been run a little different over this timeline as well. So really, predictions or calculations of this kind are always subjective.

Posted by: Rob M | June 21, 2011 1:14 AM

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Wrong again. You are making a totally unprovable point. Tha ffact is that the Orioles can't complete against two teams in their own division (check the head to head records over the past decade) that have much lower payrolls. And the fact is that the Orioles can compete financially if they choose. Look at how the Red Sox have diversified. Most fans have never heard of Fenway Sports Group. Or the fact the Red Sox have been buying real estate around FCenway to make money on the properties their. The Red Sox break even from the team, it's NESN that makes the money. Just like MASN, but Angleos doesn't re-invest.

The Orioles lose because they don't have good teams. Period.

Thank you DoubleB, I am glad that somebody else believes how important Ceazar Itsuriz is to this team. If we had 8 more like him we win the w/series. By the way Andino and Pie, there's two more super stars we can not be without. Let's see who can go the longest without getting a "productive" hit.

Pete: you did say "Plunder" correct?
I think our Bad News Birds thought you said "blunder". And, trust me...they've got you covered.

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Pete's reply: This is a real bad outcome. I'll weigh in on it in a few minutes.