Brittany Ghiroli on frustration in O's locker room

[Going Underground]

So if Cruz was not on the Mariners they would be 17 games under .500?

[islandecho]

Could't agree more with some of this. I'm not going to argue my point but if Cruz was on this team, regardless of what fangraphs says, we'd have 6-8 more wins. Now, that's not an endorsement of his contract, merely my opinion on what, among many, the primary difference is this season from last season.

Yes. Baltimore was not 12 games better than the rest of their division last year. However the very same thing that led them to a 12 game division lead is the exact same thing that is happening now, just in reverse. Baltimore had all the confidence in the world last year, and when the other teams in the East saw this, especially in Sept, they more or less gave up, while Baltimore blew up with confidence like a 14 year old boy after his first kiss. They were on top of the world. Nothing could stop them.

Now? They know, deep down, that they do not have the tools to win. And they have known this since spring training. So when the heat gets turned on in late Aug and Sept, when the foot is applied to their throats by teams like Toronto and others, they caved in like a sack of potatoes. Why? Because that inner strength, the inner where with all to know that YOU ARE THE BEST TEAM OUT THERE, is not there.

Some can sit here and say these are professionals, they should over come that. If anything these guys are even more prone to swings in confidence. They are playing the best of the best, and even a slight change in their belief in their own ability can have major implications. Major swings. As we are seeing this year.

[Going Underground]

Yes. Baltimore was not 12 games better than the rest of their division last year. However the very same thing that led them to a 12 game division lead is the exact same thing that is happening now, just in reverse. Baltimore had all the confidence in the world last year, and when the other teams in the East saw this, especially in Sept, they more or less gave up, while Baltimore blew up with confidence like a 14 year old boy after his first kiss. They were on top of the world. Nothing could stop them.

Now? They know, deep down, that they do not have the tools to win. And they have known this since spring training. So when the heat gets turned on in late Aug and Sept, when the foot is applied to their throats by teams like Toronto and others, they caved in like a sack of potatoes. Why? Because that inner strength, the inner where with all to know that YOU ARE THE BEST TEAM OUT THERE, is not there.

Some can sit here and say these are professionals, they should over come that. If anything these guys are even more prone to swings in confidence. They are playing the best of the best, and even a slight change in their belief in their own ability can have major implications. Major swings. As we are seeing this year.

Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.

Yogi Berra

[Reboulet'sStache]

If this team required us to overpay for below average players like Markakis and Young, then that says more about this team than it does the FO not keeping those players.

We have been bad all year against good teams. Not just in August. That was just when we started playing a bunch of good teams in a row. Markakis couldn't have done a single thing. If people want to argue he would have been a calming influence, that's fine. But so were the musicians on the Titanic who were playing as the ship was sinking, and that didn't change the fate of the ship any.

[islandecho]

Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.

Yogi Berra

Very true haha. Yogi was the man.

[jjnono]

Also, I just read the article. The only thing Britt said that was accurate is that the O's are not a playoff team.

The whole bit about "keeping guys from panicking"? What, do you think losing a few games is going to cause Machado or Flaherty to run around like a chicken with his head cut off and totally fall apart as a hitter and fielder? And how is an older presence in the clubhouse going to improve that if it is indeed happening?

They already have one of the most inspiring, most experienced and encouraging old guys in baseball right under their noses. His name is Buck. Don't stand there and tell me that they need a Delmon Young or a Vladimir Guerrero in the clubhouse to keep them from flailing wildly when they lose a few games. Ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure you have no idea what a major league clubhouse is like...

[Phantom]

"I was going to hit a homerun, but then I remembered we didn't sign some of our free agents last offseason so I struck out instead"

[islandecho]

I'm pretty sure you have no idea what a major league clubhouse is like...

I am absolutely convinced that many, if not most, of the people on this site who downplay chemistry, confidence, and that "it' factor, have never played organized sports of any kind. If they had, they could not possibly make those kinds of statements.

[islandecho]

"I was going to hit a homerun, but then I remembered we didn't sign some of our free agents last offseason so I struck out instead"

It's all about inner mindset. Not what you are consciously thinking at that exact moment, but your state of being. Your energy flow, either positive or negative. I cannot believe anyone who has ever played sports, serious sports, could make the statement you made above.

[Reboulet'sStache]

It's all about inner mindset. Not what you are consciously thinking at that exact moment, but your state of being. Your energy flow, either positive or negative. I cannot believe anyone who has ever played sports, serious sports, could make the statement you made above.

The Dude abides.

[Phantom]

I am absolutely convinced that many, if not most, of the people on this site who downplay chemistry, confidence, and that "it' factor, have never played organized sports of any kind. If they had, they could not possibly make those kinds of statements.

OR we understand the power of confirmation bias and hindsight legend building. If this team were winning, there would be no stories about bad chemistry. Hell, maybe the bad chemistry wouldn't even exist. Great teams don't get taken down by bad chemistry. In this case, it's a tool being used to explain a mediocre team not living up to unreasonable expectations.

Say all you want about sabermetrics, but the stats told us exactly what this team was, so I fail to see what chemistry has to do with anything.

[Aristotelian]

I am absolutely convinced that many, if not most, of the people on this site who downplay chemistry, confidence, and that "it' factor, have never played organized sports of any kind. If they had, they could not possibly make those kinds of statements.

We had chemistry with the club as constructed through July 2. Do these guys look like they are hanging their head pining for veteran leadership?

Then Ubaldo lost his groove, Miguel got hurt, JJ collapsed, Wieters never got going, Tillman and Gausman were meh, etc. All the chemistry in the world does not overcome that. Especially without a shred of evidence that chemistry is at all an issue.

[Rick_Schu]

Personalities do affect a team. Pro sports or kitchen crew at a restaurant and everything in between. The right mix is really hard to find, but synergy is a real thing.

[ReclaimTheCrown]

OR we understand the power of confirmation bias and hindsight legend building. If this team were winning, there would be no stories about bad chemistry. Hell, maybe the bad chemistry wouldn't even exist. Great teams don't get taken down by bad chemistry. In this case, it's a tool being used to explain a mediocre team not living up to unreasonable expectations.

Say all you want about sabermetrics, but the stats told us exactly what this team was, so I fail to see what chemistry has to do with anything.

At the risk of wading into a debate that I've got neither the time nor the energy for, I would offer that just because we can't measure the importance of human factors such as chemistry and confidence, doesn't mean they don't exist. I think the truth is somewhere between the "rely heavy on the numbers" crowd and the "Saber is bull" crowd.

Additionally, we still have the fifth best run differential in the American League, significantly better than our Wild Card competition (if we can call it that anymore). That is despite the nosedive it's taken in the last week or two.

[Frobby]

This is exactly, Exactly, EXACTLY what others (me?) talked about last winter. It was said that losing Miller, Cruz, and Markakis, and doing nothing to replace them, went far beyond just the numbers. It went to the swagger, the confidence, the very core of the team and it's belief that they were the best team out there. It gave hitters extreme confidence knowing that Cruz was there, ready to hit one out at anytime. No pressure. It gave pitchers confidence knowing that all they had to do was get to the 6th inning or so and the bullpen, led by Miller, was there to shut the door. No pressure. As an athlete, confidence is EVERYTHING.

Not replacing these guys? It basically told the players that no matter how much they try, the FO was not going to support them in their quest for a WS title. It placed a HUGE black cloud over the season before it even began. People were poo poo'd b y some on this site for suggesting such a thing. People were bashed, made to feel ingnorant. Some were even banned.

Who's right now?

Hmmmm, were you posting under another screen name? Because your profile says you joined in August 2015.

I don't really subscribe to the "confidence" theory. For example, our bullpen has a 2.84 ERA this year, much better than the 3.43 ERA they posted last year. Their save rate is 77%, better than 74% last year. The starting pitching this year sucks because it sucks, not because the starting pitchers lack confidence in their bullpen because Andrew Miller isn't here.

I don't really buy it on offense, either. Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop and Caleb Joseph are all hitting better than last year. It seems their confidence is just fine.