“I shouldn™t have to talk to guys at the major league level about some of the very basics,” groused Orioles manager Dave Trembley (above) prior to Wednesday night’s loss to King Felix and the Mariners, but that’s exactly what the embattled skipper did during a pregame meeting described to a group of reporters that included the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec. “I’m tired of a lot of things, to be honest with you,” confessed Trembley, echoing the sentiments of however few paying customers are still showing up to watch Peter Angelos’ franchise.
I had a meeting with the team as we always do the first day of the series, and our advance [scouting] stuff was pretty precise and I thought the plan was laid pretty clearly. And what I saw last night didn™t sit well with me. I feel like I™m talking to the wall. I™ve got coaches putting in six to eight hours a day planning, video, reports and this or that. Some of the pitchers look [so tight]. They look like they are pitching totally different than what we want. It hasn™t been acceptable. I™m very patient, but I™ll tell you the truth: I didn™t have anybody come up to me afterwards and disagree.
It™s time to dial it up and get this thing going in a positive direction and quit accepting it and saying “It™s OK.” It™s not OK. It™s not OK at all. And I™m tired of covering for them. I get questions point blank, and I feel like I™m a damn presidential press secretary sometimes. Instead of telling them how it is, I got to smooth it over. I ain™t smoothing it over anymore. Everybody here is intuitive enough. They know. I love the players. There are people that want to see them fail. I happen to be one that doesn™t want them to fail. I want to see the Baltimore Orioles succeed. And I know the odds are against us, but I think we can do it. That™s how I feel.
O’s are snake bitten. I was there a few Monday’s ago for the record breaking low attendance night and it was bleak: http://www.orioleshangout.com/article.asp?id=2440.
It’s not Trembley’s fault but he’s toast, after a nightmare west coast swing the O’s have to stop by Fenway. He might not make it back to Bmore. Shit, the O’s might need Cal back at third – fuck the front office: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-cal-ripken-peter-angelos-0420100419,0,5696893.story
The problem for Trembley is that it actually is OK for this team to stink. Between the guaranteed near-sell outs when the yankees and sox visit and the revenue from MASN, Angelos doesn’t need to sell tickets to O’s fans to profit. Everyone knows this so no one cares–not the front office, not the manager, and clearly not the players. No one has any reason to give a shit when Trembley rips them. He’ll be fired and most likely another ineffectual manager will come in. It’s a Donald Sterling/James Dolan business model.
Add in an extra fee for walk-up tickets and Baltimoreans have adjusted their priorities accordingly: The Maryland-Hopkins/Army-Navy lacrosse double header drew twice as many fans as that O’s game.
I remember (or have at least mythologized) the 0-21 start in 1988. This year is so much worse as there’s no real sense of urgency. Those O’s rebounded with the 1989 Why Not? season and a Fuck Face baseball card. Unless Noland Reimold gets saucy with a sharpie or all of the prospects develop overnight, 2011 is already a lost season too.