Dave Trembley's gag about the Orioles starting their "pennant drive" after the team's 8-3 win over Oakland Sunday snapped a 9-game losing streak got a lot of play on the sports talk shows and Internet message boards.

 Me, I was just happy to see the Orioles manager could still joke -- about anything -- after the horrible start his team is off to this April.

 During the Orioles six straight losses at Camden Yards to Toronto and Tampa Bay, Trembley was starting to look like he did when the team floundered so disastrously late last September.

 At times, he looked weary and beaten-down and thoroughly puzzled by his team's listless performance -- and here we were in the very first homestand of the new season!

When I asked him during a pre-game session with the media whether the Orioles base-running mistakes -- something they had vowed to fix in the off-season and work on in spring training -- was especially frustrating, he sighed.

"Sometimes I wish you'd . . . ask them that on the other side," he said, his voice trailing off.

By the other side, we assumed he meant the other side of the clubhouse -- in other words, the players.

But for a proud man like Trembley, who never throws his players under the bus to the media, it was a sign that his frustration levels were red-lining.

Losing three straight to the Oakland A's on the beginning of a 10-game road trip surely didn't make things easier for the team -- or Trembley.

That's why it was good to see him enjoy the win yesterday and crack a few jokes.

 No matter what you think of him as a manager, he's a decent man going through a tough time with a team whose lack of fire can be absolutely exasperating to witness.

 You better have a sense of humor if you're going to manage this bunch -- at least the way they're playing now.