Call from the Bullpen by David Maull
The Bullpen | Orioles | Sports Front Page
Oriole Way a Distant Memory
From the May 28, 1998 TV Times
So much for "The Oriole Way."
Just hearing that mystical term used in reference to the 1998 Baltimore Orioles is enough to make one laugh out loud.
Or cry, whichever you prefer.
In fact, it's hard not to be brought to tears by watching the current crop of Orioles blunder their way to the American League East cellar. The team with the largest payroll in baseball has spent the last five weeks in a catatonic haze.
For proof, one can look to two recent events - a four-game sweep at the hands of the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays and an ugly brawl with the New York Yankees.
Last Tuesday's near-riot at Yankee Stadium commenced when reliever Armando Benitez surrendered a three-run eighth-inning homer to Bernie Williams, then took out his frustrations by drilling Tino Martinez in the back with a 95 mph fastball.
As the entire Yankee dugout stalked toward him, Benitez escalated hostilities by dropping his glove and spreading his arms as if to welcome a fight. The moment is a microcosm of a once-promising career that is now heading down the toilet.
Almost as frightening as the brawl that spilled into the Orioles dugout was the Tampa Bays series.
On Friday night, with the Orioles trailing 3-1,Roberto Alomar,Harold Baines and Rafael Palmeiro all failed in the clutch after the first two batter reached base in the eighth inning.
On Saturday, Eric Davis was picked off first base after an inning-opening single and Palmeiro committed a crucial error that opened the door for two Tampa Bay runs. Palmeiro then took a called third strike with two on and two out in the eighth.
Sunday's display was so hideous it seemed like a bad joke.
The O's managed just two hits in six innings against rookie pitcher Jason Johnson, who entered the game with a 5.68 ERA, then saw its bullpen implode after Brady Anderson's three-run seventh-inning homer put Baltimore ahead 3-2. After Norm Charlton and Alan Mills walked the bases loaded, Jesse Orosco served up a two-run double to Fred McGriff and Benitez allowed three more runs on an infield single, a walk and a hit batter.
A 6-3 loss Monday capped the debacle and marked only the second time in history an expansion team swept a four-game series on the road.
By now, it should be obvious that the "Oriole Way," a term describing the sound style of play that helped the Orioles to three world championships and six American League pennants from 1966-1983, was extinct long before the team vacated Memorial Stadium.
It's easy to pinpoint the reasons for the collapse, but difficult to understand why.
Clutch hitting has been virtually nonexistent, the starting pitching outside of Mike Mussina has been shoddy and the bullpen, anchored by a closer who is too emotionally fragile to handle the job, has been downright terrible.
All the separate parts of the engine are all failing at once.
The Orioles have the oldest roster in baseball and plenty of veterans with postseason experience. This makes the recent run of ineptitude all the more disturbing.
Talent is not the issue, there's plenty of that. Rather, the Orioles bear the dazed look of a team that has completely forgotten how to play the game. Veteran teams don't get doubled off second base on a lineout to left field or get handcuffed by rookie pitchers who should be in Double-A.
It's like watching a person drown and not being able to help.
In fairness, the loss of ace starter Mike Mussina, first from a wart on his pitching hand and then to a line drive off the face, has hurt.
But compounding the problem is the slump the rest of the starting pitchers endured after Mussina went on the disabled list the first time.
In a press conference a few days after being hit with a liner off the bat of Cleveland's Sandy Alomar, Mussina was asked to describe the impact. He replied by telling the reporter to allow himself to be hit in the face with a bat if he wanted to experience what it felt like.
If that's the case, thousands of Orioles fans already know the feeling.
The rumor mill has churned in recent weeks with reports of the Orioles being interested in all-star catcher Mike Piazza.
But it seems unlikely the organization could put together the package of top-flight minor league prospects required to obtain Piazza from Florida. Doing so would gut an already sparse farm system.
Besides, would Piazza really help that much?
Talent isn't the issue here. This is basically the same Baltimore team that won 98 games last year. Piazza would only inflate an already gargantuan payroll.
A better plan would be to trade some aging stars for an influx of youth, possibly before the trading deadline.
The front office deserves its share of blame for this season's struggles. Letting Randy Myers leave via free agency and handing the closer's job to Benitez was a monumental mistake.
The lone bright spot from last week's brawl is that Benitez's suspension gave us a few days respite from his futile attempts to hold a lead.
Just finding comfort in that fact shows you how dire the situation is.
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