I don't know about any of you, however when outsiders hear that I write this column for the Orioles on this site they kind of sneer. I think that the prevailing attitude is that regardless of what the Orioles do, they're going to fail. In 2010 we thought that the O's would be much improved because the young core of players (especially the pitchers) were going to be much improved with a year of experience under their belts. After the Birds started off 2-16 and Dave Trembley was fired in June, it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. While a lot of that was beyond anyone's control (injuries), the naysayers celebrated and people like me ate crow once again. This time around, most people agreed that the Orioles had made some significant upgrades to their roster. Yet the team's only hitting .233 on the season going into tonight's game against the Mariners. As a team, the O's are scoring just over three runs per game, and the pitching staff has an ERA of 4.78. So are the people that look at statistics and form educated opinions about what could possibly happen wrong once again and did the naysayers nail the Orioles this season also?
Easy Hoss! With a record of 14-19 after 33 games, we've not yet begun to fight here. However I'm starting to hear chatter on message boards, blogs, etc. about the fact that the Orioles aren't getting the results that they were expecting. I suppose my message to the players would be, do you really want these people to be proven right once again? I know that the players are trying; nobody goes out and does a job halfway. However the results aren't quite what we thought they'd be at the moment. It's fair to say that the Orioles' rotation is missing the likes of Brian Matusz and Justin Duchscherer, both of whom we expected to be on the Opening Day roster. However the naysayers would probably say that a fact as such proves that this Oriole team will never be good. They signed an injury-prone guy in Duchscherer, and Matusz (the highly-touted southpaw that everyone was so big on) is going to be injury-prone as well. That, combined with the struggles of Guerrero, Lee, Markakis, etc. adds up to one big swing-and-a-miss.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that Baltimore's a proud city. The players aren't just playing for salaries and for themselves, they're playing for the city and for the fans. I hope that they spent the day off thinking about how they were going to take the bull by the horns starting tonight. I know that the players are trying, however perhaps they should think about how they're trying. As an example, kudos to Nick Markakis for breaking out of his slump by hitting the opposite way. After a few rough outings, Kevin Gregg has gone seven straight appearances without giving up a run. (And no, now that I've said this I'm not worried about Gregg blowing a save in the top of the ninth and Markakis striking out with the bases loaded in the last of the inning!) At 5-2 with an ERA of 2.93, Zach Britton is by far the storyline of this young season for the Orioles. Even Lee and Guerrero are showing a few signs of life as well. If the Orioles can score one or two runs more per game and give up one less, they'll be fine. I guess I just have a real problem with the fact that I look at a lot of stats and form educated opinions about what could potentially happen, but yet I end up with egg on my face because people who otherwise are just trying to laugh and sneer have ended up being right. Laugh if you will, but at 33 games in this season is far from over. 33 games into last year, I'm not sure that the same held true.
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