The BLAME lies with

[JMUplayer]

The inept front office who can't draft well, cant spend FA dollars well, can't move players when they should, can't bring in players when they should.

It's really that simple

[hagers]

I think the Flanaquettes did much better this off season
we repaired a broken bullpen & got Huff.Our biggest
mistake was signing a declining & unhappy Jay gibbons to
a long contract.We dont really need that many relievers
for matchups,but we do need a long man.

I see our problems as hitting related especially w/men on
base.Very little power & extra base hits.

[dlb]

I grew up with the Orioles of Jim Palmer, Moe Drabowski, Paul Blair, Boog Powell, the Robinsons & etc. Those were great teams and the organization was one of the best in baseball through the Earl Weaver era.

But we haven't done squat in 25 years. I can't even bear to watch them anymore.

[bedir than average]

I can't bear watching tonight's game as the Orioles are roughing up the King.

[DiamondDave]

Originally Posted by dlb

I grew up with the Orioles of Jim Palmer, Moe Drabowski, Paul Blair, Boog Powell, the Robinsons & etc. Those were great teams and the organization was one of the best in baseball through the Earl Weaver era.

But we haven't done squat in 25 years. I can't even bear to watch them anymore.

It is hard to.... but I still support my O's....

I have more autographs of Palmer, Robinson, Powell, Ripken, McGreggor, Flannigan, etc than I care to count... and that is the way I remember the O's... classy and hard competing, even if they were out of it...

[dlb]

And let's not forget to raise a glass to the greatest announcing team in the history of sport - Mel Proctor and John Lowenstein. Those guys could make a rain delay fun.

[hagers]

Dlb-You do indeed remember the good times. if you want to remember
those wonder days,tune in to classic & watch Earl & the orioles play.
Last nite I watched a game from 1986 against the Rangers & they
had two grand slams to come from behind to beat the Rangers.

Jim Dwyer & larry Sheets hit them,Dempsey was catching,Cal played
short.What a blast from the past.It wasn,t one of their stellar yrs.
but it sure beat todays losers.Some of the players I barely remember.
I think it was on Masn I,m not sure.

[JMUplayer]

I like the pick of the Catcher in the 1st round... solid

[feathered friend]

I like the whole 2007 team. It is the product of the best, most well-thought-out effort on the part of O's management since the pre-1996 season.
Whose fault is it that previously proven major league batters keep coming up with men on base and failing to drive them in?
Whose fault is it that previously proven major league relievers keep failing to hold down the opposition for even the one or two batters they were brought in to handle?
Whose fault is it that a closer who saved 30 games just last season for a losing team has already blown more opportunities this season than he did all the last?

And of course, from the other perspective, whose seemingly insignificant signings of Steve Trachsel, Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Burres have kept the Orioles' starting staff competitively tough all season, giving quality start after quality start since 4/5 of the originally projected staff either ended up on the DL (Benson, Wright, and Loewen), or failing miserably (Daniel Cabrera) perhaps to an even greater extent than Sidney Ponson ever did?

At least Sidney would pitch a complete-game gem every now and then to restore our faith.

Daniel has done nothing significant this season except the one game in which Sam coddled him into going a few more innings after he had surrendered an initial lead which our batters uncharacteristically overcame.

Who went out and signed Paul Bako to back up Ramon Hernandez so Ramon could get "more rest" this season... and then grabbed Alberto Castillo "just in case" a situation arose in which Hernandez, who had a career year last season, went down and Bako needed to take over for any extended periods?
This tandem has not only done a remarkably better job than any previously acquired duo I can recall from recent years, but the fact that Hernandez has gone down not once, but twice this season and we were prepared for it shows impressive foresight on the part of the guys who do the scouting and signing.

Which team is leading the American League in overall defensive play so far this season?

It's the Orioles. And they're doing it with those two backup catchers.... Kevin Millar and Aubrey Huff (with an occasional Chris Gomez) at first base..... a very capable Jay Payton with an occasional Jay Gibbons in LF..... a superior fielder with superior speed (Corey Patterson) with an occasional Jay Payton or Freddie Bynum in CF..... and a very solid and steady Nick Markakis in RF.

These unexpected starting pitchers all field their positions very well, also, as does Erik Bedard.

The slightly adjusted coaching staff has been exempliary..... and the manager (though he has made a few memorable decisions only because his failing players have made them so) has worked hard and logically, and handled the extra scrutiny which the media always insures that the manager of a team with a losing record always gets, with amazing grace, dignity, and professionalism.

Could we use Mark Texiera at first base?
Damned right we could.

I think we should make a trade with the Rangers ASAP. I mean right now.
With his impending free agency, I think the Rangers would be foolish not to take a couple of established players (maybe even a promising but struggling one, like Daniel Cabrera) plus a prospect or two for him.

Forget the guaranteed 2008. The guy wants to come here.
One thing at a time. Get him here first.

He could impact this club as significantly as Frank Robinson did in 1966 when we already had Brooks Robinson (we have Tejada now), Boog Powell (we have Markakis now), Luis Aparicio (we have Roberts now), Curt Blefary (we have Huff now), Paul Blair (we have Patterson now), Russ Snyder (we have Payton now), Dave Johnson (we have Mora now), and great bench players like Bob Johnson, Sam Bowens, and Charlie Lau (we have Gomez, Bynum, and Bako now).
They also had McNally, Bunker, Barber, and Palmer (we have Bedard, Trachsel, Burres, and Guthrie now).
Their bullpen included Watt, Richert, Drabowski, Brabender, and Miller ( we have Ray, Walker, Williamson, Parrish, and Bradford.)

If we had acquired Frank Robinson during the 1965 season, we'd have gone to the World Series a year earlier.

He was one player.... and he was that significant.

I believe Mark Texiera would be that significant to the 2007 Orioles.

This is not a bad team. Plus it has been assembled and is both managed and coached by probably just as much if not more compitent people than the '66 team was.

That year we had Lee McPhail as GM..... Hank Bauer as manager, Luke Appling, Sherman Lollar, and Harry Brecheen as coaches.

Now we have Duquette and Flanagan, not yet as legenday as McPhail of course..... but Perlozzo, Samuel, Mejias, Crowley, Treblehorn, Trembley, and Mazzone.... all far more experienced and proven than the '66 bunch.
Which would seem to prove my overall message here that it's the players who are not living up to their capabilities..... not management.

But even if they were playing to their capabilities..... they're still not quite a campionship team.

Perhaps all this 2007 puzzle needs is that same kind of single missing piece which catalyzed the 1965 also-rans into 1966 World Champs.

It's time to stick your necks out, Flanagan and Duquette....... here's your chance to become the same kind of Baltimore Oriole legend as Lee McPhail.