Of course there has been no official announcement from Birdland but everyone else, including the World Wide Leader, seems to think that is a forgone conclusion. It seems when Juan Samuel brings the lineup card to home plate today, so begins another era in Oriole baseball.

This move was a longtime coming. The Orioles are horrible and while responsibility can be peppered all over the place, Dave Trembley seems to have proven his inability to turn this team around. So now, the O’s bring in a new leader in 3rd Base Coach, Juan Samuel. Sammy has been the 3rd straight manager to take over in the middle of the season. Sam Perlozzo replaced Lee Mazzilli. Dave Trembley replaced Perlozzo. Each time, the new manager had the interim tag removed and they stayed on to manage the next season. It remains to be seen if Samuel is strictly a lame duck manager. My guess is that he has a chance to compete for the job, but the team would have to make such an improvement that the likelihood is near impossible. Instead, I think Orioles fans can look forward to a 2011 season with a fresh look and a new manager and hopefully a new staff.

But for now, let’s hope that this change has provided enough spark that the players will respond and give the fans a decent product on the field for the remaining 100+ games.

Was this the right time for a change?