As an Orioles fan, I was absolutely thrilled the day the Orioles finally dumped the excess baggage that was Miguel Tejada, shipping him off to Houston in a six-player deal. I was so sick and tired of his negative attitude. Not once did I ever feel sympathy for a guy who supposedly was a great player stuck on a bad team. His involvement in the Mitchell report, lying about his age (which came out after he had left Baltimore), and his constant pouting never prompted me to feel bad for him.
The day he left, the Orioles clubhouse became more unified, thanks in large part to a youth infusion that was boosted by the arrival of Adam Jones in the Erik Bedard deal with Seattle. Bedard is a fantastic pitcher, but even he was a bit of a sourpuss, mostly keeping to himself.
The Orioles are 22-19, and I am not drinking the Cool-Aid and feeling false hope. The O's are notoriously fast starters and slow finishers, but it's more the fact that they are a young team with very few expectations that leads me to believe they are playing a little over their heads right now. Nevertheless, first-year manager Dave Trembley has the O's playing hard every game, and there is no doubt the team chemistry is much improved. The thing that has impressed me about this year's Orioles, believe it or not, is how they've handled themselves in defeat. They have kept most of their games close and have battled back on a number of occasions. They have also managed to stay upbeat and have, to this point at least, avoided any major losing streaks.
As the season progresses the Orioles will be tested more and more. They may crumble as they seem to do almost every year, but at least they will stick together. Even if they fall apart.
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2 comments:
Agreed, it was good for the O's to ship Tejada southwest to Houston via a trade. And it was good for the old guy. Age was not the issue as we learned he had peeled a few years off of his real age to make him a bit younger. What the problem was simply - he was a good hitter on a team that had the wrong chemistry for him. He needs to be surrounded by hitters who can make him more effective in his power-less role as a doubles hitter. I've heard he is doing well in Houston and that works for him as well as the team. The O's will probably be lucky to finish close to .500 this season if they don't fall apart and lose their feathers. This, however, is just the beginning for them as they climb the bird perch to become a better team bringing renewed youth and energy to Camden Yards. However, as the O's slowly improve, we need to watch out for the Yankees as they are building a stadium that will be the largest cash register in the league. Kachinga chinga! The organization will have the filthy lucre to buy a dominant team without bankrupting them. Yep, they will have mega priced skybox and field box seats for those wealthy corporate tycoons to buy. Oh say can you see those pinstripes in first place forever!
Agreed, it was good for the O's to ship Tejada southwest to Houston via a trade. And it was good for the old guy. Age was not the issue as we learned he had peeled a few years off of his real age to make him a bit younger. What the problem was simply - he was a good hitter on a team that had the wrong chemistry for him. He needs to be surrounded by hitters who can make him more effective in his power-less role as a doubles hitter. I've heard he is doing well in Houston and that works for him as well as the team. The O's will probably be lucky to finish close to .500 this season if they don't fall apart and lose their feathers. This, however, is just the beginning for them as they climb the bird perch to become a better team bringing renewed youth and energy to Camden Yards. However, as the O's slowly improve, we need to watch out for the Yankees as they are building a stadium that will be the largest cash register in the league. Kachinga chinga! The organization will have the filthy lucre to buy a dominant team without bankrupting them. Yep, they will have mega priced skybox and field box seats for those wealthy corporate tycoons to buy. Oh say can you see those pinstripes in first place forever!
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