I have been missing for a couple of weeks.  Sorry about that.  Sometimes, family takes precedence over baseball (of course, if the Orioles had been playing all season like they have for the past 40 games, the story here might have been a little different).

I have been metaphorically holding my breath over the last couple of weeks, because every time I looked at the schedule I saw what I looked at as the biggest challenge on the horizon for this team and really showing that it was moving in the right direction.  And what I saw looming was this…

You were expecting something NY/TB/Boston, weren’t you?

Yes, the Toronto Blue Jays.  The team that we were supposed to be better than this year.  The team that had whipped us 12 straight times this season (even before the arrival of St. Buck the Orioles had at least scored one victory or two against the other AL East teams).  I saw the Blue Jays for what they were, a team that was playing good baseball, and that was probably a little pissed off that they were picked to finish behind the Orioles this year (and I am fairly certain that Cito Gaston reminded them of that a few times this year).  And as this series got closer, I kept seeing the Orioles getting swept again by the Jays, and then spiraling downward through the remaining 20 or so games.  After a dozen losing seasons, you tend to see the worst outcome first

I didn’t even get a cool hat…

So when the Orioles won 4-3 Monday night (a game I missed both out of fear of watching “The Unraveling” and because the Ravens were at the Jets, and Opening Day is always more fun than game 140) I was pleasantly surprised.  When I watched the Orioles take a 4-0 lead in the 7th (before my DVR kicked in to start recording 2 different shows, kicking me out of the game) I said a little prayer and started on another project.  When I saw that the Orioles won 11-3 last night and are in line for a sweep (after winning 4 straight series for the first time since 2004, TYVM), well, I figured I needed to come on here and let you know what I am thinking.

Just so you know, I am already working on my end of season recap / 2011 offseason Manifesto.  So keep an eye out for that.  And in the meantime, just know that the Orioles are (according to my math, so take this with a grain of salt) 27-13 under Showalter, which means they are playing at a .675 clip.  That is the best record in the AL East for a full quarter of the season.  It has been 12 years of wandering in the rain, but there is a double rainbow of hope on the horizon

This is what hope on the horizon looks like.  Tremble before it’s might and majesty.

We are 11 games into the Buck Showalter era, and the changes are obvious.  This is no longer a team playing because they have to, they are a team playing because they WANT to.

(By the way, did you dig the Creamsicle uniforms last night as much as I did?  Evoking memories of these guys…

Back when these guys were kind of decent

is never a bad thing.  Also, I love how the throwbacks were designed so that the players had to wear them only to the knee and we could see the socks an stirrups.  Without going all UniWatch on you, I really do like the classic look better)

This team has become fun to watch, and with a fan base right out of “Good Morning Vietnam”

"You're in more dire need of a win streak than any white man in history" - FYI: Don't GIS the original phrase w/SafeSearch off. It does NOT lead to pictures of Robin Williams

I haven’t updated RendonWatch 2010 in a while, so I thought I should mention that the Orioles are NOT in line to pick him right now as we are 1.5 games IN FRONT of Pittsburgh for the top pick.  And that is okay.  Especially since Rendon is injured AGAIN (same ankle that he hurt last year, and this time it is pretty bad).  Also, the 2011 draft class looks to be rather deep, even if the majority of players around and after Rendon are pitchers, it is one of those drafts where some good players could be found in the 2nd half of the 1st day if a team is willing to pay over slot value (something the Orioles have been much more aggressive about doing since Andy MacPhail took over). The O’s have signed 35 out of their 49 draft picks (they lost their 2nd round pick when they signed Mike Gonzalez, not a great return on investment so far), and 6 of their top 9.  The first pick (Manny Machado, SS, Brito HS in FL) still has not signed, and while the team has said from the beginning that they expected this to go down to the wire, they do expect him to sign.  I am hopeful that they get him inked, even if he is still a few years away from the majors.  I know if they DON’T get him signed they get a comp pick in the 2011 draft, which since the draft is deep (as just mentioned) wouldn’t be the worst outcome, but Machado ranks out as a solid ML SS or 3B, and we cold use him at either position (Josh Bell could probably transition to 1st, giving us another option other than Brandon Snyder or [shudder] Nolan Reimold).

The Orioles have the toughest end of season schedule in baseball (as of right now I believe the combined win percentage of their opponents is .581 or some ungodly number), so I do not have realistic expectation of this team continuing to win at an .819 clip.  But I do have every intention of continuing to watch and enjoy this for as long as it lasts, and to actually be looking forward to next season and the moves that are made in the off-season.  And THAT is something I would not have said a couple of months, or even a couple of weeks ago.

It has been 12 days since the Orioles hired Buck Showalter, 9 days since his introductory press conference, and 8 games with him at the helm.  All of those numbers are noteworthy, but none more so than the number 1.  One loss.  And that one loss wasn’t exactly a blowout.  Let’s really break it down, here…

• 7 straight quality starts (minimum 6 innings, maximum 3 earned runs) before last night
• 8 straight games with the starting pitcher pitching into the 6th inning or beyond
• 9 runs per game average
• Countless fans left shaking their heads as they watch their team do the things they didn’t think were still possible

All he wants are frickin' hits w/runners in frickin' scoring position. And he is FINALLY getting them

Anyone who knows me knows that I think Dave Trembley got a raw deal here, but I need to go on record and admit that they should NOT have brought him back this year.  I thought Trembley deserved a chance to lead a team that had reasonable expectations to win, but he was not ready for that, and it showed.  Juan Samuel had a thankless job, and he performed it admirably.  But Showalter is EXACTLY what this team needed and needs.  He not only has the acumen and attention to detail, he has the proven track record that gives everything he says instant gravitas

Just don't gravitas and drive. It's too melodramatic. And stupid.

The biggest difference I have noticed is how Showalter is letting the players know that they have a job to do.  He is letting his pitchers work through jams (something that is a lot easier to do when you have a 3 year contract along with guarantees that you will be allowed to run the team the way you want to, which Trembley and Samuel never had), and he is taking young players aside to talk to them (and more importantly to coach them).  He talked to Josh Bell about making sure he is staying properly hydrated after he had 2 separate bouts of leg cramps pull him out of games.  He took a moment to sit next to Arrieta last night after that tough 4th inning, and then he put him back out there and let him battle.  Felix Pie and Adam Jones are playing with more purpose, because they know that when Buck said that he is going to find those “nuggets” that they have the chance to be a nugget, or they could be an afterthought.

Now with all that being said, having Luke Scott go on a hot streak (10 HR in his last 22 games) and having Brian Roberts back and getting comfortable again, as well as Pie finding his groove after an extended absence have all helped Showalter in the same way that they hurt Trembley and Samuel.  But I have to believe that even with all of that, the biggest difference is the man behind the men.

By the way, that new emotion?  Fun.  The last week (even the loss) has been fun.  Last night was a BLAST.  1st pick be damned, I say we keep going for a while.

Whenever he gives us something worthy of noting, we will be quoting Buck Showalter.  Last night, while referring to Torii Hunter’s 3 run HR in the top of the 8th that tied the game, Buck dropped the following pearl of wisdom…

This is part of playing in the American League. There are some big, strong, hairy guys here who can hit it where the grass doesn’t grow. That’s part of playing in this division. We’ve got some big guys, too, but maybe not as hairy.

Honestly, the quote feels even better than the win.  And the win feels REAL good.

I am at work right now (let’s hear it for bosses of small companies that like to sleep in late on Mondays, allowing employees to do a bit of corporate slacking!!!), so I will not be able to cover the big Buck Showalter press conference live, which would be my preference.  But I will be covering it today, either during my lunch break, or when I get home tonight.  So tune in later for a look at all the quotes to note from Big Buck Showalter (I really want to call him that from now on…”Big Buck”…I like how that rolls off the tongue).

So yesterday I make a complaint about the Orioles not being able to sign the guy who would be perfect to run this team and teach these young players the how’s and why’s of being successful,, and today they go and sign the guy!   Behold the power of snark!

No, S-N-A-R-K...oh, never mind...

So Showalter will begin managing the club on Tuesday the 3rd when the O’s kick off a 7 game home stand against the “More Than One City And You’re Playing With It” Angels.  Hopefully some fans will turn out to give Buck a standing ovation, if for no other reason than for being brave / stupid enough to take the job.

And now, for a new feature here that will become a regular post…

RendonWatch2011

This is where we will look at the standings in the race for the top overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.  You may recall that yesterday I proposed the somewhat unorthodox (at least for any fan of Baltimore professional sports teams) idea of rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates to win so that we would have a worse record than them and would therefore be in line to draft Rice 3B Anthony Rendon.  Well, as much as the Pirates have sucked even longer and harder than the Orioles, we need to make sure we are watching all the teams that could possibly beat us to the loser’s laurels.  So in that vein, I present to you the current standings and immediate future of the teams taking place in

RendonWatch2011

Baltimore Orioles 31-70

Pittsburgh Pirates 36-65 5 Games Back

Arizona Diamondbacks 37-64 6 GB

Seattle Mariners 39-63 7.5 GB

Cleveland Indians / Houston Astros 42-59 11 GB

To put it in context, Arizona has lost 6 in a row and 7 of their last 10, and we STILL gained a game on them in the race.  So while I do not want to get overconfident, I do feel confident that the Orioles can pull this one off.

So we got THAT going for us…which is nice…

I have officially run out of things to say about this team.  The young players are playing below expectations, NONE of the veterans brought in have been worth the ink used to sign the contracts they are playing for, and the front office can’t seem to figure out how to sign the perfect managerial candidate for this team, leaving him out there (after raising his profile) while jobs in Chicago, Florida, and possibly LA and NYC are becoming available, ALL of which are potentially more attractive than the one here.

Hi. I'm Andy. This is my brother Peter, and my other brother Stockstill

There is no point in getting into the quagmire that it the draft signings.  The vast majority of the top picks in the first 10 rounds have not yet signed, so that is not on the team.  The Orioles picked some highly ranked players that they knew were going to be difficult to sign, and they knew going in that Machado was going to probably go down to the wire.  Hell, they said as much…

But speaking of the draft, it is becoming more and more obvious that this team needs to continue to build through the draft.  Getting Machado signed will help by giving the team a legitimate SS prospect that could see the big leagues in the next 2-3 years (I know he is a HS player, but from all accounts this kid is the real deal.  Not Alex Rodriguez good, but no slouch, and him getting fasttracked to the bigs is not far fetched).  But they need more.  The outfield is pretty set, and the pitching (while going through some serious growing pains) is still looking to be a strength within the next year or two.  But the infield needs help.  The infield needs help.  The infield needs prospects like Rendon, the 3B out of Rice.  But there is only one way we are going to get Rice, and that is to have the top pick in the 2011 draft.

So far we are well on our way.  And if we suffer another late season collapse (not that it would be all that noticeable in comparison to the way the first 100 or so games have gone), it should be all but assured.  In fact, there is only one team that I can foresee challenging for the “honor” of the top pick…

The Pittsburgh Pirates

And this is why I am about to propose something that would normally not only go against every fiber of my sports being, but would get me derisive looks (at the least) and quite possibly a beating.  And that is calling for ALL Baltimore fans to root for a team from Pittsburgh for the next 2 or so months.  Not ALL Pittsburgh teams, just one.  One that has been worse than our team (last playoffs / winning season 1993 compared to our 1997), and one that can still suck enough to appease Baltimore fans.  Just not as much as the Baltimore team.

So come on, O’s fans.  Cheer for the yellow and black.  You’ve already pretty much given up hope, how much more can your sports soul die?

The 2nd half starts tonight for about half of the teams (14, in case you were wondering), and Friday for the rest of them (including the Birds).  So now is as good of a time as any to arbitrarily assign grades to the team.  Unlike some other graders (like Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun and his grades), I am going to go by area other than individual player, then expand in the comments below.  So, without further ado…

• Starting Pitching – C Plus

Overall it has been uneven, but leaving me on the side of cautious optimism.  Kevin Millwood was the most recognized of the hard luck pitchers, but the entire staff suffered from a lack of run production, especially early on.  The Young Guns are a work in progress, and anyone who expected them to be the reincarnation of the mid 90′s Braves rotation when all are essentially rookies (Tillman is not technically a rookie, but he isn’t exactly a 5 and 10 guy either) is a fool.  Brian Matusz had a horrible May, but he has otherwise been more than solid, Chris Tillman has had some ups and downs, but he definitely has the stuff to be a solid #2 starter in the game, and Jake Arrieta has been impressive in limited action so far.  Jeremy Guthrie has been better than last year, but really projects out to be a #3 or 4 guy in the rotation of any team that has serious aspirations of being a contender.  Him being the #2 here just shows you that the team still has a ways to go before making any legitimate noise.

• Relief Pitching – C Minus

Much more uneven, lately much improved.  If Juan Samuel has done nothing else, he has cleared up and settled the pitchers into more defined roles, making them all more efficient since this allows them to prepare mentally and physically.  After the disaster that was Michael Gonzalez at the beginning of the season and the injury / implosion of Jim Johnson, the ship righted itself rather well.  Jason Berken and David Hernandez have been thriving out of the ‘pen (another backhanded compliment to the Young Guns and the growth they have already accomplished – even with the amount of major league learning they still have to do – is that 2 guys that were being used as starters for an extended period last year are now in the bullpen, where they are more suited and apt to succeed), and with the exception of a couple of hiccups, the ‘pen has been decent.

• Infield (Defense) – D Plus

Losing Brian Roberts hurt more than just on offense.  It threw a monkey wrench into the defense.  As much as I have loved Ty Wigginton and his “Put me in, Coach” attitude (not to mention his production), he is no Brian Roberts when it comes to playing 2nd.  Hell, he’s no Garrett Atkins at playing 1st, either.  But for being a guy dropped into roles that he should not have been put in, he is holding his own.  Cesar Izturis has been decent, but not spectacular (and when you hit like he does, you better be flashing some serious leather, which he ain’t doing).  Miguel Tejada has improved over at 3rd, but he is still learning the position, and there are going to be more growing pains throughout the year.  Matt Wieters has been playing a very solid defense.  My only complaint with him is calling a game, and that comes with time.  He doesn’t call a bad game right now, but as far as being behind the plate, that is where he has the most room to grow.

• Outfield (Defense) – B Minus

This one is tough to grade, especially since playing left field for the Orioles in 2010 has had about as much job security as being the drummer for Spinal Tap

Poor guy was so scarred he bought an electric car

So far we’ve seen Nolan Reimold, Felix Pie, Lou Montanez, Corey Patterson, and Luke Scott (and probably one or two other guys I am blanking on right now).  When you are using Luke Scott in the field, that third of the field gets an incomplete.  Move on to Adam Jones.  He’s still playing too shallow, and his “I’ll think about it” comments when the idea of him moving back came up show that he still has some learning to do on his part.  It is a simple fact of logic that it is easier to run forward than it is to run backwards, and he is no Paul Blair.

I shouldn't need an excuse to post a picture of a living legend. So I am not giving one. Respect the Blair, fool!

Nick Markakis has been his usual, solid, above average defender.  Players don’t like to challenge him that much anymore, so his assists are down.  But don’t mistake that for him having anything less than another stellar year with the glove.  If Gold Gloves didn’t all but default to 3 CF’s every year he would already have at least one.  I think we need to start some kind of campaign, some viral marketing strategy to get him at least considered for the thing.

• Hitting – D Minus

The long term loss of the only 2 guys on the team who could realistically be called “leadoff” hitters (Roberts and Pie) put this team in a deep hitting funk pretty much right from the start, and it trickled down in a hurry.  I don’t think that it is a coincidence that Patterson coming in and taking over the role went along with Jones dramatically improving his at bats, which allowed Wieters to improve (Markakis has been good here, too.  His power numbers are down, but he isn’t getting a pitch worth hitting all that far because there is no one behind him to make a pitcher think walking him is a bad idea.  It is important to note that while I am still of the mind that Terry Crowley needs to go, the team has markedly improved since a semblance of stability and veteran leadership (it feels weird calling Corey Patterson a leader, but I think the moniker fits right now) has been introduced.

See any kind of pattern here?  I do…

• Coaching – D Minus / C Plus Plus

Two grades for two coaches.  Dave Trembley is a class act, and he did not deserve the beating he took from the other teams or from the fans.  But it became abundantly clear that a change needed to be made, and Andy MacPhail finally took the poor fish off the hook.  Samuel has come in and done a good job with what he has to work with, especially since he is an interim in the truest sense of the word (as much as he deserves serious consideration for the permanent position, there is no way MacPhail can dip into that well again after Trembley and Sam Perlozzo before him – even if Perlozzo was not MacPhail’s call), and the team has responded to him and improved their game.  It is a testament to the respect that he has from the players (and his  stabilizing both the bullpen and the batting order) that he has done as well as he has, and as Peter Schmuck noted in his article, Samuel has definitely earned another look as manager, if not here then somewhere else.  I can’t give him higher than “slightly above average”, because this team still has twice as many losses as it does wins.  But it is easy to speculate that if the change had not been made this team could be a good bit worse than that.  Think about that for a second, but not for too long, or this could happen…

His head ASPLODE

• Front Office – D

It hasn’t been easy to stick with “The Plan” in the face of such a horrid season, but MacPhail has done just that.  And as much as it has hurt, it is still the right plan.  It might not work, but it has a proven track record of working in the past.  MacPhail big failure was not getting enough veterans to help the youngsters out.  Tejada has been good, if for no other reason than he is popular with all the players who were here his first time around (i.e. Markakis).  Millwood might not have had great stats, but having him as a sounding board has helped the Young Guns, and will be the kind of thing that keeps paying off long after he has moved on.

This is another instance where Roberts going down hurt in ways that aren’t obvious at first glance.  His going on the DL not only forced young players into positions that they were not set up / ready for (remember Jones’  disastrous stint as the leadoff hitter?), but it made the young’uns feel like they had to do that much more, and they started pressing (which is why Patterson has been a leader and a calming influence.  He has allowed others to return to roles they are better equipped for both physically AND mentally), and they regressed.

But he completely blew it with the Atkins signing.  There is no defending that.  And that along with the signing Gonzalez to a two year deal (and not getting on the coaching  and training staff in spring training when his velocity was WAY down from his usual level, even if Gonzalez was saying he was fine, was almost enough to give him an F.  But he has done the best he could to correct the ship, and if he gets the manager position correct (any time he wants to finalize the Buck Showalter deal would be just fine with me), along with his (again) solid draft and ACTUALLY signing a respected free agent Latin American player from the nascent Orioles academy down there, he will have salvaged this season, at least for me.

• Overall Grade – D

That might not add up from a G.P.A. standpoint, but I am taking points off for class participation, and for those horrible MASN commercials with the fans on the rooftop across from the stadium.  Those alone are worth losing half a point.  Now let’s see what happens in the 2nd half…

I have been loathe to come back here and post anything.  You see, the team started winning a few games.  The starting pitching wasn’t great, but the bullpen was excellent, and the hitting was timely.  Runners in scoring position were being driven in, hitters were working the counts and making good choices, even with 2 outs!  And since the last time the Orioles won 3 in a row while sweeping a series I wrote a celebratory article and they responded by going to New York and getting swept by the Yankees, I didn’t want to impinge on any possible mojo happening.  When they lost to the Oakland A’s Tuesday night, I figured I was justified.  But then they go out and win again last night after sweeping the Washington Nationals.  So now I am confused, and don’t know if my opinions can actually affect the cosmic scales.  So I figured “what the hell, let’s look at the manager search!”.

In a perfect world...

So Bobby Valentine decided he didn’t want to be here.  It is disappointing, but I cannot say I am surprised.  The only reason he agreed to be interviewed was to show baseball he was interested in coming back to manage here in the US (I guess the Chiba Lotte team just didn’t do it for him anymore).  It is interesting that as soon as he got out of the interview, he was telling everyone that he didn’t think it was the job for him, and then 3 days later the Florida Marlins fire THEIR manager (and since Jeffrey Loria is an old friend / fan of Valentine, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that Valentine is going to wind up there).

The two big names left with management experience (that have actually been mentioned / interviewed by the team) are former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge and former Yankees / Arizona Diamondbacks / Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter.  Fan favorite Rick Dempsey is being interviewed today, and Wedge is coming in for a 2nd interview, but don’t read into that anything about him being the front runner, as this is his first interview w/Peter Angelos included (Andy MacPhail did an exploratory interview with Wedge while MacPhail was travelling w/the team).

Other names that have been bandied about are all either not on the team’s radar (like recently fired Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez, who will most likely be taking over in Atlanta for the retiring Bobby Cox since Gonzalez has a long history w/Cox and the Braves), involved in the operations of other teams (most notably former Seattle Mariners and Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin – also a former Oriole – who is currently working as a scout for the New York Mets, and is probably the in house replacement in waiting for Jerry Manuel), or otherwise not of interest to the team (Phil Garner is sitting out there somewhere, probably rusting, and Davey Johnson has even said he would listen if approached, but there has not been a peep from the Warehouse on taking him up on the offer).  I have heard rumblings of Billy Ripken, but I just don’t see it happening, and that is probably for the best.  So what does all of this mean?

I think that of the options as they currently stand, Showalter is the best choice.  He has the most experience, the most success, and most importantly he has dealt with the AL East and the extra pressure involved.  Wedge would be interesting, and he did win AL Manager of the Year in 2007.  However, looking at his teams, they seemed to under-perform compared to their talent level.  Then again, there is the thought that he may have learned his lesson (look up Terry Francona’s career winning percentage as a manager before he took the Red Sox job, or even Bobby Cox’s first stint in Atlanta for signs of managers any fan would take right now who didn’t have all that impressive numbers coming in).  The fan in me likes Rick Dempsey, but I just don’t know if this is the right time for bringing in ANOTHER manager with no big league managing experience (he probably should have gotten the job after Lee Mazzilli was fired instead of the team taking the interim tag off of Sam Perlozzo).  I do think that Rick could make a good manager, but after 12 going on 13 years of losing more games than they win (often by a comfortable margin), the team needs something to shock the system.  Let Dempsey be the bench coach and apprentice for a couple of years (this would be ideal to do under Johnson, since he is 67 and probably won’t manage more than 3-4 years if he is hired anyway.  This way he can train his replacement).  The Johnson / Dempsey ticket would actually be a very workable idea, and it would definitely get the fan base fired up.

The big negative with Showalter is that he is a control freak and a micromanager.  But he has had success doing it that way, and Lord knows being hands off hasn’t brought any pennants to town.

So for me, it breaks down like this:

• Option 1A is Showalter
• Option 1B is Johnson / Dempsey
• Option 2 is Wedge

Anyone else would have to be introduced to the conversation and the search, and until they are, it is beyond idle chatter.  I do wish the team would bring Melvin in for an interview (or at least ask the Mets if they can interview him and force the Mets to show their cards).  I would like to see if Mike Hargrove is interested in coming back.  The last time he was the manager for a team with legitimate young talent he didn’t do so bad, did he?

I don’t expect any decision any time soon.  I just hope for some progress to at least match the progress of winning 5 out of 6 (and if they now lose the next few games, you will know that I will NEVER post during a hot streak again).  It may be a drop in the bucket, but to a thirsty fan every drop can help quench a powerful thirst.

All of us are frustrated.  Fans are sick of the losing.  Reporters (and bloggers) are tired of trying to find things to talk about in regards to the team.  It becomes a cacophony of apathy (which would be an EXCELLENT band name if anyone is looking for such a thing) all around.

And then someone speaks up and everyone takes notice.

Nick Markakis is not known as verbose.  In fact, he is as much Calvin Coolidge as he is Calvin Ripken.  But that didn’t stop him from ripping the team a new one, albeit in the classiest way I have ever heard a star rip his own team.

The gist of the story is that Markakis understands that the team has dealt with a number of injuries and that the Orioles are in without a doubt the toughest division in baseball, but that it doesn’t excuse the approach that some of the players are taking towards their job…

“Sometimes, guys are going up there and it looks like they have no idea what they’re doing,” said Markakis who has drawn 39 of the Orioles’ 185 walks, a testament to not only his batter’s eye and his patience, but also of teams frequently pitching around him.

“I’m not saying that to bash guys. I want guys to be successful. I want this team to be successful, and I have to produce as well. I’m part of this. But it takes a lot more than one big bat. We definitely need that one guy who could hit you 40 home runs, but from top to bottom, you need guys getting on base. You need guys in there who have a plan, who have a clue and who know how to execute that plan and get on base. We don’t need every guy in this lineup trying to hit home runs. We’re paid to get on base and figure out how to score and drive in runs. You look at the Yankees. They have guys who can hit home runs but everybody in that lineup can get on base.”

He took the time to excuse Terry Crowley for the team’s total ineptitude at the plate, saying that Crowley

Has 110 percent nothing to do with the way we are going about our business at the plate or on the field right now.  You can have anybody come here and you still are going to have a couple of guys who are not going to change their approach and fix it. It’s worthless. You can point your fingers here and there, but it is what it is. You’re in the big leagues. You have to change your approach on your own. This is the best of the best and if you go up there clueless, you’re going to come back [to the dugout] clueless. It’s that simple.

I completely agree with the first quote, but not so much with the second one.  I think that coaches have a shelf life for a reason, and that after so long the lessons begin to turn into white noise.  I still hold it true that Crowley is more directly responsible for the team’s current offensive funk then Dave Trembley ever was.  And if the players are going up there and not even attempting to use a game plan or change an obviously failed approach, then why isn’t Crowley tearing them a new [donkey]hole?  And more to the point, why isn’t Juan Samuel and his “I’m going to manage the way I played, with fire and compassion” attitude not ripping them apart before they even get back to the dugout?

According to the article, this blast came before the Orioles won on Tuesday night in San Francisco (and before the loss on Wednesday afternoon, too).  I am curious to see what if anything the words getting out into the public will do for the team.  But I do know that when the team’s all around best player calls the other 24 (and the front office) on to the carpet, it can either be a really good for the team, or really REALLY bad.