Call from the Bullpen by David Maull
The Bullpen | Major Leagues | Sports Front Page
Think New Orioles Will Contend?
Think Again
From the Jan. 7, 1999 TV Times
Like a fool, I led my soul to love, and it paid me back in change.
God help me, am I the only one who's ever felt this way? -- The Dixie Chicks
Is there any reason to honestly believe the Baltimore Orioles will contend for the American League East title next season?
Go ahead, pontificate about the impact of Albert Belle, Will Clark, Charles Johnson and Delino Deshields. Claim that the new players will more than make up for the talent the team lost to free agency this winter. State that by signing Belle, the team now has one of the premier power hitters in baseball.
While all that may be true, this team is sorely lacking in one area that is more important than you think team chemistry.
Belle's surly attitude is well documented and Clark's fiery disposition has occasionally led to a batting helmet or two going airborne. How these guys mesh with their new teammates may determine where the team finishes in the A.L. East this season.
Scoff if you want, but take a close look at last year's New York Yankees.
Winners of 125 games, the Yankees were consummate professionals. No complaints about playing time or questions about manager Joe Torre's decisions. No shouting matches or fist fights among teammates. No superstar egos running rampant in the clubhouse.
The Yanks were a close-knit group that destroyed everything in its path.
Do you think Ray Miller is capable of accomplishing the same thing with the likes of Belle, Clark, Cal Ripken and Brady Anderson?
In his first year, Miller presided over one the worst seasons in recent team history. The 1998 debacle drew more than one comparison the Titanic.
Miller also butted heads with certain players over a perceived lack of hustle and watched his team flat-out quit during the final month of the season.
And this is the guy who is going make Belle a model citizen?
Yeah, right.
The belief here is that Orioles will never be a contender as long as Miller is at the helm. He's already proven he couldn't manage during his first try in Minnesota and he's proving it again.
But because he doesn't pose a threat to owner Peter Angelos' ego, he will continue to guide a once great team into oblivion. Those who tend to survive in this organization are the ones who knock themselves over rushing to bow at Angelos' feet.
Davey Johnson, the best manager the Orioles have had since Earl Weaver, refused to do that and is now managing elsewhere.
Angelos deserves credit for doling out the money each year to field a contending team, but he doesn't understand that throwing cash at a problem doesn't always make it go away.
Sure, Belle is a premier talent, but he's not the type of player who will embrace Baltimore and run through walls to please some of the best fans in the game. This just seems like another stop on the way toward his next big contract. The same can be said for Clark and Deshields.
This will be a talented team, but it won't be one in which fans can fall in love with and call each player by his first name.
Baltimore fans have high standards concerning the type of player that wears the Oriole uniform and many took the Belle signing as an insult rather than an improvement.
The Orioles quit developing quality players in their farm system years ago but until recently took a player's disposition into consideration before inking him to a free agent contract. The addition of Belle has killed that practice.
Of course, there aren't many teams that can be embraced anymore. Free agency deprives fans of their favorite players every year and turns rosters into turnstiles.
The small-market teams with no money and no chance of contending are the only ones who field home-grown talent and make any genuine connection with the fans. Of course, being 20 games out of first place on June 1 tends to keep fans away.
The teams with the resources will always shell out the big bucks for an instant pennant run. If the money is there, it will be spent.
The Dodgers gave pitcher Kevin Brown an insane $105 million contract covering seven years. No one -- not the president, not the Pope, not the person who finds a cure for a crippling disease -- is worth that kind of money.
The Orioles have gone that route as well, and fans will be left to watch the sinking of another great ship. Things may look good on paper, but paper doesn't win pennants.
And if the Orioles do contend, it will be hard not to have a hollow feeling inside. I guess that's what happens when you sell your soul.
CAFE LOCALE HOME PAGE
User Pages | Businesses | Chat | Classifieds | Entertainment | Forums
Restaurants | Sports | Weather
Brought to you by:
Mid-Atlantic Beach Guide
Copyright© 1998-1999 Coastal Images Inc.