This team has no baseball soul

[tsand72]

Throw out the stats.

Open your eyes.

Every time I sit down to watch the O's I'm looking for one thing: Soul. Grit. Grime.

I saw it in the first few days of the season. Jones had it. The veteran Zaun was ooozing it. It was infectious and actually made the first week or so fun to watch. There isn't much of it there, though. What was there during the first few weeks of baseball this season started to dwindle... and guess where it was completely LOST... ??.... it was the day the Red Sox staged a 2 out rally to tie the O's and push them into extra innings. Guess what? In that game, Bergeson had it. And Trembly ripped it out of him and stomped into the dug out floor. That was the end of the season... right then and there... on many levels.

Since that day, the Orioles have been flying around firing a bunch of blanks. They sorely lack what winners have: Gamers.

Example: The Mets. On paper they are winners. On the field? They don't got it. Therefore, they are losers. Their talent doesn't overcome the lack of baseball grit. The Phillies? Well, going into last year they were hardly the favorites. But guess what... they have it. Shane Victorino is case and point. He's got the baseball mojo and he uses it to his advantage. Grit and determination... and this all comes from a guy that who was hardly heralded (and when I lived in Philly no one counted on him as a possible "real" replacement for Bobby Abreu (incidentally... Abreu is the perfect example of a player that doesn't have it. He's a stat sheet stuffer that brings nothing onto the field. No drive to dive or go hard into the wall... he's the first to hit bombs in 6 run game... but the last to be clutch when the team needs it).

Don't get me wrong... Victorino has talent. But his baseball mojo pushes him to a higher level.

You want some Mojo? Watch a Dustin Pedroia. I personally really DISLIKE (read: loathe) the Red Sox. But they are a team that rides on a lot of talent and uses their mojo to push themselves to the limit.

The Orioles are absolutely flat. Roberts? Flat. Weiters? Relatively Flat. Jones? He can have it... but he's not sure if he wants it. Markakis? Flat.

As far as I can see, Reimold looks like he could be a gamer. Bergeson looks like he could be a gamer...

But what is left after that?

I have a buddy who does work for MLB TV. He's been in and out of the O's clubhouse and other team's clubhouses up and down the east coast for the last few years... and when the team let go of Millar he spoke up. He told me that, as far as he could tell, Millar was the only baseball "force" (again, we're talking "baseball in the blood" kind of a leader) in the clubhouse. According to him it was painfully obvious that Roberts and Markakis were dead-as-doornails when it came to leadership.

Frankly, that's one person's opinion. But it shows.

The Orioles have a lot of deficits to overcome. Payroll limitations (as compared to the beasts of the east). A relentlessly competitive division. A bad owner. The landing of a new organization in the dc-bmore metro area. And 12 straight seasons of losing. Yes, 12. One-Two. The Pirates just set a sports record by nailing down 17 straight losing seasons. A laughable sight... but we are right on their hind-quarters. And we are picking up speed.

But, IMO, one of the biggest deficits on the Orioles isn't a lack of young talent... it's the lack of players that know how to PLAY to win. Lack of players with the baseball mojo. Players with grit. Outside of Greg Zaun, who is an old-school roll-up the sleeves blue-collar kind of player, there really is no veteran who "has it" that can pass it on to the younger kids. There is no "Ray Lewis" type of personality that forces it upon the newbies.

We need it so freak-in bad.

The Orioles gracefully submit to the Red Sox and have done so on a yearly basis. The Red Sox, on the other hand, are like a wolf that stumbles across a wounded rabbit... and their players, despite their dominant record, are all too happy to roll up their sleeves, get down-and-dirty, and scrap/pound on the baseball diamond to pull out victories from an inferior opponent.

I just don't see this ship righting itself until the Orioles "get it." It just ain't lookin' good.

Of course, that's just one person's opinion. But it shows.

[wickedwitch]

This is the greatest post ever.

[Lucky Jim]

Greatest. Parody. Ever.

[Babypowder]

Roflcopter

This post is epic.

[RShack]

Of all the posts I ever read, that was one of them.

[JTrea81]

We seriously need to have a chip on our shoulder when playing the Yankees and Red Sox.

A bench clearing brawl would do wonders for this team IMO. I can't remember the last time we had one except for Benitez vs. the Yankees in 1998.

There have been a lot of times when the benches emptied, but never a brawl.

In 2008 the Rays brawled vs. the Yankees in ST and then the Sox in the regular season with the Coco Crisp incident. The team played with a chip on their shoulder the whole time vs. those two teams, and it showed.

I agree that we need that fire that the Rays have, that chip. And it really isn't there. Our players don't seem to want to challenge those two teams.

What I wouldn't give for McGraw to be managing this team right now, though he'd be arrested before the opening pitch...

[NewMarketSean]

2011 is the endgame. We shall see.

[makoman]

The 2007 Orioles were 9-9 against the Yankees.

That 69 win team's best player was probably Erik Bedard, a guy many (especially around here) labeled as "heartless" or the like.

Did that team somehow have "grit" or "baseball soul?"

[ChaosLex]

Originally Posted by Lucky Jim

Greatest. Parody. Ever.

Moose and Jim are back in the same week.

[Lucky Jim]

Mojo count: 5.
Grit count: 4.
Gamer count: 3.
Roll-up-their sleeves count: 2.
Dirt count: 1.
Scrap count: 1.
Clutch count: 1.
Undefined "it" count: 13.

Total cliches: 30.

Word count: 789.

Ratio: one cliche per 26.3 words.

[ChaosLex]

Originally Posted by JTrea81

We seriously need to have a chip on our shoulder when playing the Yankees and Red Sox.

A bench clearing brawl would do wonders for this team IMO. I can't remember the last time we had one except for Benitez vs. the Yankees in 1998.

There have been a lot of times when the benches emptied, but never a brawl.

In 2008 the Rays brawled vs. the Yankees in ST and then the Sox in the regular season with the Coco Crisp incident. The team played with a chip on their shoulder the whole time vs. those two teams, and it showed.

I agree that we need that fire that the Rays have, that chip. And it really isn't there. Our players don't seem to want to challenge those two teams.

What I wouldn't give for McGraw to be managing this team right now, though he'd be arrested before the opening pitch...

You know you're going to get crap for this, right?

[olehippi]

You mean the only real mojo man on the team was Gregg Zaun....and we shipped him off to Tampa Bay? Are we doomed for eternity?!!!

The new team song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V25iA2XPzuA

[tsand72]

OregonBird knows it... he sees it in football:

Originally Posted by OregonBird

I think Boise State is a reasonable program to benchmark against.

There aren't many 4-5 star recruits in their classes, afterall its hard to get players to come to Boise. However, they find players with attitudes, they coach them up and they get the best out of them. Their teams play fast and physical.

Attitudes.

Chips on their shoulders.

I like it... and we don't have anything close to it in black and orange.

[TonySoprano]

An organizational meeting at 333 West Camden Street, the day after loss # 82.

[Old#5fan]

Originally Posted by tsand72

Throw out the stats.

Open your eyes.

Every time I sit down to watch the O's I'm looking for one thing: Soul. Grit. Grime.

I saw it in the first few days of the season. Jones had it. The veteran Zaun was ooozing it. It was infectious and actually made the first week or so fun to watch. There isn't much of it there, though. What was there during the first few weeks of baseball this season started to dwindle... and guess where it was completely LOST... ??.... it was the day the Red Sox staged a 2 out rally to tie the O's and push them into extra innings. Guess what? In that game, Bergeson had it. And Trembly ripped it out of him and stomped into the dug out floor. That was the end of the season... right then and there... on many levels.

Since that day, the Orioles have been flying around firing a bunch of blanks. They sorely lack what winners have: Gamers.

Example: The Mets. On paper they are winners. On the field? They don't got it. Therefore, they are losers. Their talent doesn't overcome the lack of baseball grit. The Phillies? Well, going into last year they were hardly the favorites. But guess what... they have it. Shane Victorino is case and point. He's got the baseball mojo and he uses it to his advantage. Grit and determination... and this all comes from a guy that who was hardly heralded (and when I lived in Philly no one counted on him as a possible "real" replacement for Bobby Abreu (incidentally... Abreu is the perfect example of a player that doesn't have it. He's a stat sheet stuffer that brings nothing onto the field. No drive to dive or go hard into the wall... he's the first to hit bombs in 6 run game... but the last to be clutch when the team needs it).

Don't get me wrong... Victorino has talent. But his baseball mojo pushes him to a higher level.

You want some Mojo? Watch a Dustin Pedroia. I personally really DISLIKE (read: loathe) the Red Sox. But they are a team that rides on a lot of talent and uses their mojo to push themselves to the limit.

The Orioles are absolutely flat. Roberts? Flat. Weiters? Relatively Flat. Jones? He can have it... but he's not sure if he wants it. Markakis? Flat.

As far as I can see, Reimold looks like he could be a gamer. Bergeson looks like he could be a gamer...

But what is left after that?

I have a buddy who does work for MLB TV. He's been in and out of the O's clubhouse and other team's clubhouses up and down the east coast for the last few years... and when the team let go of Millar he spoke up. He told me that, as far as he could tell, Millar was the only baseball "force" (again, we're talking "baseball in the blood" kind of a leader) in the clubhouse. According to him it was painfully obvious that Roberts and Markakis were dead-as-doornails when it came to leadership.

Frankly, that's one person's opinion. But it shows.

The Orioles have a lot of deficits to overcome. Payroll limitations (as compared to the beasts of the east). A relentlessly competitive division. A bad owner. The landing of a new organization in the dc-bmore metro area. And 12 straight seasons of losing. Yes, 12. One-Two. The Pirates just set a sports record by nailing down 17 straight losing seasons. A laughable sight... but we are right on their hind-quarters. And we are picking up speed.

But, IMO, one of the biggest deficits on the Orioles isn't a lack of young talent... it's the lack of players that know how to PLAY to win. Lack of players with the baseball mojo. Players with grit. Outside of Greg Zaun, who is an old-school roll-up the sleeves blue-collar kind of player, there really is no veteran who "has it" that can pass it on to the younger kids. There is no "Ray Lewis" type of personality that forces it upon the newbies.

We need it so freak-in bad.

The Orioles gracefully submit to the Red Sox and have done so on a yearly basis. The Red Sox, on the other hand, are like a wolf that stumbles across a wounded rabbit... and their players, despite their dominant record, are all too happy to roll up their sleeves, get down-and-dirty, and scrap/pound on the baseball diamond to pull out victories from an inferior opponent.

I just don't see this ship righting itself until the Orioles "get it." It just ain't lookin' good.

Of course, that's just one person's opinion. But it shows.

You have flat out nailed it with this assessment. Spot on.