A Bad Taste In the Mouth
The distance between success based on lowered standards and a season that’s truly successful was on display this weekend. The Janquis — who hadn’t swept us here since 2004 — are really not that good. It’s crazy that they did what they did, and I think it’s easily the worst three-game stretch of the season so far.
We’re down to one — one! — reliable starting pitcher, and the bullpen is taxed. This is the time of year when, traditionally, the Swoon begins. I’m worried.
We simply must get well against the White Sox, who arrive tonight for the bizarre completion of the suspended game from April 28th and, then, the first of a three-game set. Chris Waters takes the hill against Clayton Richard.
For the record, I agree with Dan the Man about Dave Trembley. If there was a “more with less” award at the end of the season he’d win it in a landslide. And, personally, I could give a damn if he gets fresh with the media now and then. He’s a leader, not a spokesman. His job is to put his players in a position to win and to, if necessary, go to the mat for them. As long as he keeps doing that I’m good.
Finally, on a completely unrelated note, I have to tell you that the new Walkmen album — You and Me — is utterly amazing. It’s a reverse summer jam, arriving as it does just when the weather starts to cool and setting itself up as the soundtrack to autumn and winter. Can’t recommend it enough.
“Guthrie”, says the anti-spam word.
Indeed. Cuz that’s it. Guthrie. Had it not been for a lightning-in-a-bottle waiver claim on this guy… well, I don’t even want to think about it. Cabrera is straight up injured, there’s no two ways about it. “I don’t have an answer for that” equals “I’m injured”. Palmer was going off on him during the game, apparently. If the guy didn’t give us innings (which he’s not right now), he’d be in the minors.
“Tillman, Arrieta, Matusz.” Repeat.
WATERS. We have Waters in the rotation.
The thing is, I was way more scared of the White Sox than I was of the Yankees looking at these two series. The White Sox hit more home runs than anybody and we have three pitchers going who just LOVE giving up home runs in Waters, Burres, and Liz. Folks, this could get ugly.
Winning this ridiculous suspended game would be lovely though. Hit one out, Millar.
yeah all the local news people who have sandy vaginas over dave tremblay are a joke.
they remind me of the pathetic “journalists” who just COULDN’T BELIEVE BRIAN BILLICK’S BALLS to dress them down at the superbowl in 2000 over their breathless, tabloid reporting of the ray lewis scandal.
funny thing is, these are some of the same guys who defended billick at the time. go figure.
*trembley
Ben, I think the one difference between the Billick (2000) and Trembley (08) situation is that Billick was facing people who absolutely had it out for his team, his star player and, to a large degree, were trying to stir the pot…which, obviously, could have created a distraction in Super Bowl week.
Trembley, on the other hand, doesn’t have any REAL detractors in the media room after the game because the club doesn’t allow them in there in the first place. That’s what I’ve been saying since he started getting shitty with people three months ago. Why the mean face? No one in there is really trying to take him to task for anything…they’re just asking logical, softball’ish questions like, “Is Cabrera injured?”…”What do you think has happened to his velocity?”.
People that really want to ask “educated questions” don’t have access to the team these days, so I can’t for the life of me figure out why DT gets so abrasive after games. His team is struggling. He knows that, deep down. He has ZERO starting pitching, save Jeremy Guthrie, and his bullpen might be better off employing you and I. We all pretty much realize what he’s up against and I think, to a man, we’ve all applauded the job he’s done this year.
But…his pissy fit throwing episodes are kind of laughable when you consider (as he should) that most everyone in there likes him – except the Latin players, evidently…
“Educated questions” — might be the funniest thing he’s said all year.
Nice below-the-belt dig with the latin players thing. I’m sure that’s completely accurate. I’m sure Melvin, with 22 home runs and 100 RBI, hates playing for Dave Trembley. D-Cab is terrible so it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m sure Sarfate, who DT has supported and coddled since day 1, doesn’t like him. Castro is pissy cuz he gets asked to bunt – newsflash, you’re a terrible hitter. Cintron is irrelevant. Castillo is just happy to have a shot in the bigs. Montanez likewise. Bierd likewise. Hernandez is a joke of a major league catcher. Who am I missing? Sounds like a moot point to me AKA a shot at DT for the sake of taking a shot and riling up a guy like me.
Classy media guys in this town, yessir.
Moving on..
2 on, 1 out with Luke up to bat in the top of the 14th (top of the 14th in Camden… weird). Luke walked intentionally. It’s up to Sweet Swingin Lou.
…and he gets it done!
Holy OverReactor.
To the extent I remember that suspended game at all — and I really don’t — I remember it ending with the feeling of “we don’t have much of a shot of winning this.” So, I think a split here is actually kind of a victory. We picked up a win, the loss cancelled it out. Onward and upward tomorrow.
funny thing, according to ESPN with that suspended game win it actually extended the Orioles’ 1st place status in the AL East an extra day.
Drew, listen. I hear you about the media bias the Orioles extend. They won’t put you in the same room as any player, you’re not allowed to talk to anyone at the Orioles, which makes you basically, as Will Leitch would put it “without access, favor, or discretion”. But I do not care. I really don’t. Not even a little bit. I really couldn’t possibly care less who asks the questions to the Orioles or whether or not the Orioles want that question asked. There’s no part of me that cares about that. Daniel Day Lewis cared for his son in There Will Be Blood more than I care about the Orioles media problems. I’m not a member of the media. This problem doesn’t affect me. I still get all the information about the Orioles that I could possibly want from The Sun, The Examiner, WJFK, MASN, and the various blogs around discuss everything enough that it makes no difference whether or not someone who wants to ask the so-called “Hardball” questions asks them. Because I don’t care.
You care, because it’s your job and you can’t do it and besides your in a constant anger mode with the team (and rightfully so). But me, I don’t care, and regardless of how many times I hear you write about it, or Nestor complain about it…I still won’t care.
Andrew…I DO have access. I could get a credential tonight. Going there and sitting in the press box and watching the game has zero appeal to me, from the standpont of “doing my job”. When Greg Bader told me (on March 28), “I couldn’t care less if I ever see you in the press box again”, that was the un-invite I needed from him. If the head PR guy tells the only local morning sports talk show host in town he doesn’t care if he ever sees him in the stadium again, I think that pretty much cements THAT portion of the relationship, right?
The issue isn’t access. It’s to what degree that access is provided. And that’s where you might not care, but you should care if you really wanted to know why the club has lost for 12 straight years or why the team’s attendance is down or why the manager hasn’t had his contract renewed yet or why they haven’t retired Elrod’s number or why they won’t bring Matt Wieters up or why, why, why…
And you SHOULD care if, for instance, the team was making $30 million a year on their TV network but reducing their payroll by $25 million this year. I’m not very good at math – I’m from Glen Burnie – but I think that’s a swing of $55 million.
When do you see THOSE questions asked and/or pondered in The Sun or The Examiner or on WJFK or on MASN. How about, never. Never. Never. Never. And never.
I could submit my credential request, go to the game tonight, go in Trembley’s office and ask, “what’s going on with your contract status?” and he’d bark about wanting to talk about the game and his players and then I’d be escorted out by a PR assistant.
I could ask Andy MacPhail what sense it makes for the team to get $60 million from Comcast and then lower the payroll from $85 million to $60 million. I COULD ask him that. If he were allowed to speak with me, that is. Here’s a grown ass man who has been told he’s not allowed to communicate with me. Laughable, as John Turtoro said in “The Big Lebowski”.
I went to Owings Mills today and spent 90 minutes there talking to anyone and everyone I wanted to. I asked any question I wanted, regardless of how “tough” it was. And I learned more about the Ravens today than I’ve learned from the Orioles in two years.
I get to pass that on to people who root for the Ravens. That’s where the value comes in, for me.
That’s a pretty fair assessment of everything. But I can still pick it apart!
I thought there was a story in the Examiner a while back about Trembley getting extended but the Orioles waiting until the offseason? Also I have certainly heard plenty of quotes and read plenty of stories about Trembley referencing the situation in a professional way.
Don’t we all know exactly why they’ve lost for 11 straight years? Terrible personnel decisions and bad contracts and bad drafting and a horrendous overseas presence. Is there some dark story to the underside of that that we don’t know? And doesn’t everyone assume that the attendance issues are connected to the poor play? We can sit here and talk about the uniforms or the whatever, but we sure filled OPACY in 1997, didn’t we? The attendance is connected to the performance. There’s no question in my mind.
There has been a ton of press about Matt Wieters. They talked to Trembley, Schmuck wrote about it a lot, Roch wrote about it a lot, MacPhail came on during a game to talk about it.
Payroll issues, I will give you that. We all deserve to know why the payroll is low but we’re all putting money into MASN. My opinion, however, is that right now we’re slashing payroll to get rid of the overpriced veterans in order to bring in young talent that you can build around (see: Tejada & Bedard trades, which must have slashed a good 15 million plus off the payroll this year), and of course we can’t talk about this upcoming offseason until it happens.
And hey, like I said, I understand where you’re coming from and I support you – but I’m just sick of hearing bitching about press access. I really am, because I am really, honestly, content with the amount of coverage I get right now.