I’m sure my old school solution for the Orioles troubles, detailed below, is far too ancient for current baseball fans. These methods seemed to have gone the way of the dinosaur in Major League Baseball. But with the current eight game losing streak, the worst start in the franchise’s history since 1988 and morale at an all time low, I can’t help but think the Orioles need some fire.
This club has been clearly out matched in their eight straight defeats and bullied in the fundamentals this season. They need to send a message and there are a couple ways to do it.
In game one of the series in Oakland, it appeared David Hernandez had clearly picked of Rajai Davis in the 1st inning, after he reached base on an infield single. The first base umpire called Davis safe and Dave Trembley came storming out of the O’s dugout to argue for his young starter. Dave must not have used terrible language, as he exited the field and was able to return to his duties in the dugout, but I was hoping like heck that he would hit the showers early.
Guys like Hernandez, Brian Matusz and Brad Bergesen need that overwhelming support from their manager and I don’t see any issue with Trembley lighting a fire under his guys during the losing streak. The skipper told Scott Garceau yesterday that he wasn’t trying to do anything of the sort, but in my opinion, pulling an Earl Weaver is great for the club’s morale and for supporting these young guys.
Facing Boston on the road is going to be incredibly difficult and I’m sure the Red Sox are going to try to walk all over the Orioles early. So the O’s have got to beat them to it. Throw some chin music at Dustin Pedrioa or Kevin Youkilis in their first at bats and prove that you’re not gonna go down with out a fight. Those guys won’t be looking for junk balls across the plate after an O’s starter sends that sort of message.
Sure, you might have Nick Markakis or Miguel Tejada take one on the back, but at least your message is clear.
I’m fulling prepared to be disagreed with on this post. I’m not quite sure how a guy that never saw “old school” baseball or an Earl Weaver tirade got to be the way I am. But I’m old school. Light the fire, end the losing the streak.
I am from the old shcool and have viewed all that you have not and are proposing. You are dead wrong. Weaver cursed, kicked dirt, threw things and displayed just as much bad sportmanship as could be displayed but I do not believe that was his strength. That was his weakness. His strength was his knowledge and intuition. As far a chin music goes, one mistake and you end a man's career and lively hood. You may show your determination and manhood? but you are admitting your weakness. Shame on you
Do you think Roger Clemens or Randy Johnson cared about a little chin music? What about the Heartbreak Kid, sweet chin music. You have to bust guys inside to eep them honest. If Palmer would have busted obin Yount inside in 1982, we would have been world champs not the Brewers. If Pete Harnisch had of busted Derek Jeter inside Tito Landrum would not have had that ball taken from him in Yankee Satdium. If Flanagen had busted coke sniffing Dave Parker inside, we would have won the 79 series. Get my drift? Don't be a pus.
Zach
The Orioles are a joke and adding fire isn't gonna do a damn thing.
The team sucks because they aren't a good baseball team and they have a terrible manager.
Earl Weaver was a master tactician when it came to baseball. His temper and fire wasn't the reason the Orioles were good. His players and his baseball knowledge were the reasons.
Fire, cheerleading, throwing at guys. This is your answer to trying to turn the ship?
They stink. They have stunk. And they continue to stink as long as that idiot owns the team.
Zach
Once again you avoid talking about the real problems and divert the argument to something that's meaningless. This isn't little league and it isn't some beer league where a fake argument with the ump or some chin music to the other team will result in anything meaningful.
I told you from the beginning of the season that this team isn't talented enough and that the manager is a joke.
Now of course I didn't think they were 1-10 bad but I knew they would stink. What I was hoping for (and shame on me for this) was that they would have eliminated the horrendous mistakes that dogged them all last year.
But alas, we see the same garbage night in and night out.
Andy MacPhail deserves a HUGE amount of criticism for bringing Trembley back. All the kook aid drinkers who believed this lineup was some juggernaut and that the pitching was ready better have another glass to wash that crow down with.
Oh, and this story just came up on foxsports.com
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Sources-say-Or…
A fish rots from the top down. The Orioles will NEVER be good until that ass sells the team.
Bank on it.
I'm not denying the fact that I'm not writing about the fundamental problems with this team. No one feels like writing about continual losses on BSR. But no matter what opinion I have, you're gonna find a way to twist it on me.
Adding fire to this team isn't little league at all. You think the Red Sox aren't gonna throw at one of our guys next week. Mark my words, Tejada gets hit and it's to send a message to the rest of the team.
Mark,
We ar\\gree on something, Trembley should have ben fired along time ago.
Nope. This definitely isn't my solution for the Orioles troubles. But right now it's ALL they can do with this team. Rather than complaining about the players, manager, attitude, etc. I've written about what I think they should do right now.
You're right Earl Weaver had talent that Dave Trembley doesn't have. But the match up style of managing that Weaver started is actually really similar to what Trembley manages by.
Sigh.
Im not even gonna go down the road of mentioning Weaver and Trembley in the same sentence.
They shouldn't even be in the same thought.
You can't. Trembley manages by Weaver's book of managing. But Weaver was much better. I AGREE!
Sure, this is a bad team, but Reimold lollygaggling after balls and the seeming lack of overall intensity should be addressed by the manager. Otherwise just wave the white flag and surrender.
P.S. – The happiest man in town is Mike Gonzalez as his two measly blown saves in week one seem like nothing after dropping 11 of the first 12.
The orioles problems are not going to be solved by firing Trembley or kicking dirt in the face of an Umpire or throwing at batters. The problems are from the top and until someone convinces the ownership to quit interfering in the management of the team nothing will change. I agree that the Ripken story tells it all. The ownership is more worried about control than winning. Until that changes, nothing will drastically change. And about the brush back pitch. They all use is and the same goes for the theatrics of cursing out the ump. That is the way it is in the real world. Sad to say but you are right Zach.
Mell I believe that when you say Orioles problems are not going to be solved by firing Trembley you are absolutely wrong. They are right that Trembley manages from Weaver's book and that is the problem. We need a manager with his own knowledge and instincts. The copy is never as good as the original. You want to shake up this team, do it by firing Trembley and put a guy like Dempsey or Ripken in as Manager and you will not only put fire under the players but that would also ignite the fans.
Dempsey?
Ummm.
No.
NEED TO USE YOUR IMAGINATION MARK………………….HE WOULD DEFINITELY MOTIVATE AND IF ZACK IS INTERESTED IN SCRAPPY LIKE WEAVER, THEN DEMPSEY COULD CERTAINLY SUPPLY THAT. TALK ABOUT SHAKING THINGS UP……………..HE WOULD BE THE MAN WHO COULD DO IT.
This team needs someone from outside the organization, not Dempsey.
Dempsey has been lobbying for the job since the Perlozzo days. Hell, he was undermining him while on the staff.
Dempsey has no business managing a team. Seriously. Just listen to him talk and it's obvious.
I agree, Dempsey is not the answer. He's been in the booth too much lately to get his fire back into game shape. What about T-Bone!! I just love the name and it would sound cool to have a manager named T-Bone.
Oh yeh, let's get a manager that has a cool name? Then we can lose and be cool at the same time. Dempsey being in the booth as long as he has is an asset. That what managers do. Analyze the game and make decisions accordingly. With a Dempsey or Ripken running the field maybe you could watch an Oriole win and have a T-Bone steak at the same time.
W Tell – Ripken? Are you smoking the hippie lettuce? What experience does he have? Don't sit there and say he's in the Hall of Fame because with his stats if he was a 1st or 3rd sacker he wouldn't be in! Oh, but he worked 5 million days straight!
Your King Ripken is not the answer. He brings nothing to the table that any other player wouldn't bring. Hell, honestly I'd rather have Billy Bob Ripken manage then Calpie. At least Billy Bob has some fire.
Bringing Ripken in would be like bringing in Trembly, Mazzilli, Perlozzo, Ray Miller, & Phil Regan. All 1st time managers that sucked. Same thing Ripken would be!
Drop the narcotic Slurpee William Tell and go cut the grass.
I'm on baord with Ripken. Look at who managers really are .. players that have played the game. Defensive minded players. Players with really bad offensive stats. Players that grew up around baseball. And Billy is young so he may be able to relate to the team more.
Get a new vocabulary. Everything with you guys sucks. If you want to debare the issue at least do it with some suggestions that might help. It is time to get real ball players into the manager's position and a name that can stand up against upper management and make their own decisions. A ball player with Ripken or Dempsey's popularity would give them that kind of stature. Manager's who use to be players use their instincts and have walked the walk. You and 9inchnails need to go get a manicure. Thowing pitches at guys heads and that beer league stuff ain't hacking it. Next you will want to mandatory injection of steroids.
Ravens 2488, you got drugs on your mind. Hippie lettuce and narcotic Slupees? You do not like my all caps and you surely don't like my Ripken or Dempsey. You want a bunch of ignorant red necks that kick dirt and shout obscenities. I am sure that will solve our problem. You talk about little league and beer leagues and throwing pitches at heads. Ball players have walked the walk. As managers they know how the players think and they have developed real instincts for the game. What is you answer . More pitches to the head and acting as unprofession as possible to inspire. Next you will advocate passing out steroids to the players.
Billy Tell – Street vocabulary homey, street vocab… You my flocked fiend are the one to whom the speedball comments were directed to… Your ol Ravenmaniac here never touched the "love on the rocks" but I guess you and your skateboard buddies were rolling phat and street BBQing whenever you could. You need to get off the Rip mountain, put down the tee totelin and clear your mind of the ravaged runabouts and look for a new guiding light. And Jimi Hendrix ain't comin Mackrel Moonshine…
Hey Billy Tell, take the cap locks off and write like a typical person and not the WildCat that you are… You probably still wear your Starter Jacket with the oversized logo on the back everytime the O's play.
Just logged on after a busy weekend of poker and youth sports…Found the "Weaver as a master technician" comment particularly amusing seeing as how he won just one game against "the Amazin' Mets" in 1969 after having won 109 games in the Regular Season…Seeing as he failed to win a World Series game for eight years after taking a three games to one lead in the '71 World Series, then blew another three games to one lead…Seeing as how he lost the final game of the 1982 Regular Season with the A.L. East Title on the Line! One Championship in 15 years despite Managing the likes of Hall of Famers B. Robinson, F. Robinson, J. Palmer, E. Murray? One Championship??? That's under-achieving of epic proportions, matched only in these parts by Billick, B.!!! Oh, stop…Ol' Bruz is only half-joking!
We need to get away from the "good ole days" Orioles thought process. Those days have come and gone. Bringing back people from that time (Cal/Dempsey) isn't going to magically change this into a good team. Angelos has run this team like an demented lunatic for almost twenty years so this will take time to reverse. I hate to say it because he can come across like a know-it-all jerk, but Mark is probably right in that Angelos has to go before this team can turn the corner. Something outside the box has to happen, they have to find that up and coming manager. Bringing back some icon from the 60's, 70's or 80's isnt' going to solve this problem, it just won't.
Pole – I agree with a lot of your comments, but wonder where this mysterious billionaire is coming from to magically swoop in a buy the team from Angelos. First thing the yokals will say is "Ripken is putting together a group", and then, here we are again with Ripken magically saving the day. Maybe Ed Hale? Nope, he's got his own financial issues. How about the Great Steve Biscotti? I mean look at ALL he's done for the Ravens.
Where is this mysterious Billionaire that you all have as taking over the team?!?!
I like your thoughts Pole. I just echo STG's question. Who comes in to buy this team?
I'm not a B-more money guy who can give you a list. I'm giving an opinion that Angelos is the drain on the team that keeps them down. As long as Angelos is the owner, he will want the praise for whatever happens with the franchise. I wouldn't mind Cal-Pie getting a group together as long as they hire baseball people to make baseball decisions.
It's OK Pole.
I do know it all and it's fine to admit it.
Just call em like I see em.
I know you do, thats why I like giving you grief. All our grief is that we don't see the light at the end of the tunnel for this team. I didn't grow up with a MLB team in my town so just having that means something to me. I haven't gone through the pain probably everyone else has on this site has so I'm always cautiously optimistic. Not that I expect things will change anytime soon, I just haven't had the history most have had.
I do not know why you are belly aching. We are about as far from the "good ole days" as we can get. As I remember, in the "good ole days" we won a few games. Dempsey, Ripken…………yeh give me the good ole days.
Great! What a mess. I’ll have to get back to you later, I really hate babysitting.