Mazzone: Then I went to Baltimore....

[Dipper9]

Leo is a current radio talk show host in Atlanta. Mike and Mike brought him on to talk about Steven Strausburg's innings limit but asked him about the situation in Boston first.

Here's a transcription of the beginning part of that conversation:

------

"It all starts at the top, it's called the chain of command. And with the chain of command I got to expirence both ends of it. When I was with the Atlanta Braves there was a chain of command that was in place, that was never broken. It was never broken by the players. It started with ownership, with Ted Turner, then it started with the general manager, with John Schuerholz, then Manager Bobby Cox, then the coaching staff and the players. So you had a chain of command that was never broken.

Then I go to Baltimore and find out why they're losing. The chain of command was always broken... where players got to voice their displeasure to the front office which took away the power of the manager and nobody really knew who was running what. Basically what it was, was a bunch of players finding excuses for losing. So this is what's going on."

*Golic chimes in with some babble and a question ending with "doesn't the onus fall on the players to just get the job done?"*

"Absolutely they do. We had situations in Atlanta where if you didn't act a certain way or play a certain way you were gone... or you were told 'this is the way it's going to be'. Then when I went to another organization, it was, 'oh why are we doing this?' and questioning everything, and 'how come we're doing this and how come we're doing that?'

So they bring in Bobby Valentine to change the atmosphere there. And I know Bobby, I've known him a long time, and he's very... he's different, ok *laughing*. But you know what, he's one of the brightest individuals I've ever been around, one of the smartest guys I've ever been around. And I think he knows exactly what he's doing. And I think back on it, I remember what Pedroia said that one time, he said "We don't do things this way around here." Oh we don't, huh?! Well you're not winning, you're doing this and you're not doing that... I think it goes back to what's going on in the clubhouse and I do put it on the players, and I do think there are certain ways to handle it and certain approaches to take. You have to be in the clubhouse to really experience it... but... it all starts at the top."

*Greeny then turns the discussion to Strausburg.*

Thanks!

Reading that, the words themselves don't sound too harsh, and I guess you could attribute the tone to still being upset at the way Perlozzo was handled. No big deal here I guess.

[BmoreMatt]

I don't disagree with anything he said. It's harsh to hear it, but that was a big problem. I hope that problem has now been isolated and fixed. The whole thing makes me grateful for Buck.

I think he avoided a very factual point. In Atlanta, he had amazing talent to work with. In Baltimore, he had next to nothing. No matter how messed up our chain of command was, that had at least something to do with the contrast.

[isestrex]

I don't disagree with anything he said. It's harsh to hear it, but that was a big problem. I hope that problem has now been isolated and fixed. The whole thing makes me grateful for Buck.

I think he avoided a very factual point. In Atlanta, he had amazing talent to work with. In Baltimore, he had next to nothing. No matter how messed up our chain of command was, that had at least something to do with the contrast.

Yeah but he wasn't talking about his own personal success in Atlanta vs Baltimore. If so, bringing up the talent would be a relevant fact. But he was just commenting on the structure of both organizations.

When I heard this live, it was a small jolt of realization but it wasn't a shock. It makes total sense given how poor the organization performed that it was in chaos, and, like you, made me all the more grateful for Buck.

[Dipper9]

I don't disagree with anything he said. It's harsh to hear it, but that was a big problem. I hope that problem has now been isolated and fixed. The whole thing makes me grateful for Buck.

I think he avoided a very factual point. In Atlanta, he had amazing talent to work with. In Baltimore, he had next to nothing. No matter how messed up our chain of command was, that had at least something to do with the contrast.

He also failed to mention that his pal Sammy Perlozzo (and I love Sammy, I really do) is a FAR cry from Bobby Cox!!!!!

[jcarm]

I live in Metro Atlanta and Leo has a regular spot on the morning show of one of the sportstalk radio stations here. He definitely dislikes the Orioles and takes just about every opportunity that he has to make this known to the listening audience.

[Tony-OH]

Leo is a current radio talk show host in Atlanta. Mike and Mike brought him on to talk about Steven Strausburg's innings limit but asked him about the situation in Boston first.

Here's a transcription of the beginning part of that conversation:

------

"It all starts at the top, it's called the chain of command. And with the chain of command I got to expirence both ends of it. When I was with the Atlanta Braves there was a chain of command that was in place, that was never broken. It was never broken by the players. It started with ownership, with Ted Turner, then it started with the general manager, with John Schuerholz, then Manager Bobby Cox, then the coaching staff and the players. So you had a chain of command that was never broken.

Then I go to Baltimore and find out why they're losing. The chain of command was always broken... where players got to voice their displeasure to the front office which took away the power of the manager and nobody really knew who was running what. Basically what it was, was a bunch of players finding excuses for losing. So this is what's going on."

*Golic chimes in with some babble and a question ending with "doesn't the onus fall on the players to just get the job done?"*

"Absolutely they do. We had situations in Atlanta where if you didn't act a certain way or play a certain way you were gone... or you were told 'this is the way it's going to be'. Then when I went to another organization, it was, 'oh why are we doing this?' and questioning everything, and 'how come we're doing this and how come we're doing that?'

So they bring in Bobby Valentine to change the atmosphere there. And I know Bobby, I've known him a long time, and he's very... he's different, ok *laughing*. But you know what, he's one of the brightest individuals I've ever been around, one of the smartest guys I've ever been around. And I think he knows exactly what he's doing. And I think back on it, I remember what Pedroia said that one time, he said "We don't do things this way around here." Oh we don't, huh?! Well you're not winning, you're not doing this and you're not doing that... I think it goes back to what's going on in the clubhouse and I do put it on the players, and I do think there are certain ways to handle it and certain approaches to take. You have to be in the clubhouse to really experience it... but... it all starts at the top."

*Greeny then turns the discussion to Strausburg.*

Nothing shocking here in my opinion. There was little accountability before Buck got here and now Buck has a GM in DD who is aggressive and not afraid to require accountability throughout the organization.

[isestrex]

I live in Metro Atlanta and Leo has a regular spot on the morning show of one of the sportstalk radio stations here. He definitely dislikes the Orioles and takes just about every opportunity that he has to make this known to the listening audience.

I'm not surprised. The organization was poorly run and it put his best friend in a position to fail. I hope Leo has the persective to recognize that this was the Orioles of the past. But he did say multiple times it all starts at the top.... and Angelos hasn't gone anywhere.

[Ohfan67]

I find some of the response shocking. Posters who are defending the O's organization in this thread have, along with basically 100% of the board, openly criticized the Angelos run fiasco for years, but as soon as someone with FAR more detailed knowledge of how the organization has functioned criticizes the Orioles they get defensive and even insult the critic. Buck is the first person in over a decade that Angelos seems to trust and has allowed to have real authority. But I'm certain that could end very quickly if the O's weren't playing well or even on some whim. It's the Angelos family we're talking about here.

Mazzone wasn't criticizing the current O's, by the way. He said this is the way the O's organization functioned when he was there. And of course it's totally believable.

[Dipper9]

I live in Metro Atlanta and Leo has a regular spot on the morning show of one of the sportstalk radio stations here. He definitely dislikes the Orioles and takes just about every opportunity that he has to make this known to the listening audience.

I find some of the response shocking. Posters who are defending the O's organization in this thread have, along with basically 100% of the board, openly criticized the Angelos run fiasco for years, but as soon as someone with FAR more detailed knowledge of how the organization has functioned criticizes the Orioles they get defensive and even insult the critic. Buck is the first person in over a decade that Angelos seems to trust and has allowed to have real authority. But I'm certain that could end very quickly if the O's weren't playing well or even on some whim. It's the Angelos family we're talking about here.

Mazzone wasn't criticizing the current O's, by the way. He said this is the way the O's organization functioned when he was there. And of course it's totally believable.

Read the above quote. Apparently Mazzone takes shots at us often, which tells me he's just a bitter dude.

As for the point of your post, you're right, people (unfairly in my mind) still criticize Angelos all the time, and that won't change until he's gone. We could win the World Series, and a lot of people will still bash him and will give him no credit at all, but yet when we lose, they give him all the blame. Its hypocritical, but its the way many fans feel about the old fella!

[BrunoCherrytown]

Let's look at it as a major positive. I'm not going out on a limb in saying that I'm probably one of the more negative posters on here.

But maybe Mazzone's rant can be looked at as a great sign of changing times.

I made fun of MacPhail basically every day. I ridiculed the GM search. I doubted DD when he was hired because frankly it was a train wreck his path to getting here.

But I really believe I was wrong to doubt him. I still loathe Angelos as an owner and respect him as a philanthropist.

But if they re-wrote Moneyball it seems like this team would be the story not the A's. Didn't the movie actually call out DD in the Damon bit at the beginning?

Can you imagine if DD walked into this team with what 3 #1 caliber pitchers like Beane had in that Moneyball year? Plus an in his prime Tejada and Chavez and he made the kind of pick-ups like he did this year.

I'm crazy happy Mazzone can tell those stories so we can appreciate how things may be finally turnin the corner.

Even if we still have the worst, or second worst owner, in professional sports.

[jcarm]

I find some of the response shocking. Posters who are defending the O's organization in this thread have, along with basically 100% of the board, openly criticized the Angelos run fiasco for years, but as soon as someone with FAR more detailed knowledge of how the organization has functioned criticizes the Orioles they get defensive and even insult the critic. Buck is the first person in over a decade that Angelos seems to trust and has allowed to have real authority. But I'm certain that could end very quickly if the O's weren't playing well or even on some whim. It's the Angelos family we're talking about here.

Mazzone wasn't criticizing the current O's, by the way. He said this is the way the O's organization functioned when he was there. And of course it's totally believable.

I hear what you are saying-but I do have to say that Mazone does still criticize the current Orioles on the local sportstalk radio station in Atlanta. I do not think that he believes that anything has truly changed.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Mazzone has a right to be bitter imo. Hopefully he doesn't let it affect his personal life. Amazing how dysfunctional this organization was in the past. Not the biggest AM fan, but I do think he helped changed a lot of that.

[jcarm]

Mazzone has a right to be bitter imo. Hopefully he doesn't let it affect his personal life. Amazing how dysfunctional this organization was in the past. Not the biggest AM fan, but I do think he helped changed a lot of that.

I definitely agree that Mazzone has a right to be bitter. I know I would be.

[LookinUp]

I hear what you are saying-but I do have to say that Mazone does still criticize the current Orioles on the local sportstalk radio station in Atlanta. I do not think that he believes that anything has truly changed.

So what? Is he supposed to turn off his human trait?

The O's get criticized because they deserve it. Truth be told, we have to hope Buck and DD are strong enough to fix things because the people before them certainly weren't, and the stench of this ownership still floats down the organization every single day. If people don't think that's a fact, you live in a dream world. It's the omnipresent higher bar the O's always have to jump if they want to succeed, and that didn't go away just because we're finally having a good year.

[Pedro Cerrano]

While I'm sure his comments have merit I'd wager that a lot of this is sour grapes over Perlozzo's (rightful) ouster.