The start of the decline

[bgfield]

The O's aren't a great team; they'll have games like this. They also have some talent and will win their share of great games.

But the thing is you don't have to be a great team to win games like this.

The Mora error was excusable. Mora, defensively, has been pretty good this year and I don't mind at all that he makes an error; everyone is going to do it.

The lack of clutch hitting was excusable. I think it sucks that season after season we see teams bring up rookie lefty junkballers that shut us down entirely, but the guy was throwing strikes, and he was changing speeds well, so it's understandable that he would have a good game.

John Parrish loading the bases was excusable. He's not perfect, and it's expected that he'll have his bad games here and there.

Having said that, there were two things that happened in this game that you should not see when watching Major League Baseball, period. Mora should NOT have gotten mad at himself, thus allowing a runner to advance to third (who would later score on a sac fly). This wasn't something that happened because Mora's bad defensively, it happened because he was an idiot.

And then, the Roberts flip to second. There is no reason to throw to second in that situation when the runner would be moving on contact and the shortstop was playing so far in the hole, when he could have EASILY gotten the final out at first. Also, Miggy could have been running faster to get to the bag before the runner. Two runs scored because of this.

You take these stupid plays away, and suddenly the A's only scored one run, and we win. Errors are excusable. Bad hitting is excusable. Bad pitching is excusable. You can only do so much with the skills you have, and we all know that we don't have as much skill as other teams. But boneheaded plays are something you just can't excuse, not when the team's been commiting them over and over again, season after season.

[mweb]

Some have gotten it, while others would rather just ignore the fact that we just lost two very winnable games by making mistakes that have become commonplace within the organization.

Poor managing, boneheaded errors, lack of clutch hitting, etc etc

An avalanche starts with a tiny pebble falling and I happen to think this pebble was it. These last two games were freighteningly reminiscent of what has been wrong with this team for a decade so EXCUSE ME for calling a spade a spade in April.

Who's ignoring that? You can get on the team for that, but that doesn't mean the season is over.

[forest leech]

Who's ignoring that? You can get on the team for that, but that doesn't mean the season is over.

Exactly. You are overreacting, plain and simple.

[Mackus]

Who's ignoring that? You can get on the team for that, but that doesn't mean the season is over.

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure they've already cancelled the rest of the home games. Not sure about the road games.

[Flip217]

Wedge, have you ever known me as a doom and gloomer on this board? All I'm saying is that I anticipate being below .500 again come October and I think we will be able to point to this series as the start of what went wrong.

Then I get crucified for it, saying I'm overreacting by people that have six posts on this board. Give me a break.

I don't get what you mean by "this series as the start of what went wrong." We know there are things wrong with this team, but they didn't just come into existence in the last 2 games, did they? I mean, it's not like I think we're a lock for the Series -- but we're not out of it yet.

And where in the rules does it say you have to have a minimum number of posts before disagreeing with someone?

I think you're angry with your team and overrea- uh, you're unhappy. Have a cold one, take a deep breath, and who knows, maybe this time next week you'll be surprised at how well the O's are playing...

[mweb]

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure they've already cancelled the rest of the home games. Not sure about the road games.

Well I hope they keep the road games because I'm going to some games in SD and Phoenix.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure they've already cancelled the rest of the home games. Not sure about the road games.

Great more empty sarcastic posts. Just what this thread needed. I'm not saying the season is over, nor am I saying the rest of the games should be canceled. All I am saying is that, in the end, I think this team will again be under .500 and that this series will be the point we can all look at (those of us that want to anyway) as the start of it.

Do I think that they can still succeed? Sure. Do I think the odds of that happening are as good as they were before these past two games? Nope.

[forest leech]

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure they've already cancelled the rest of the home games. Not sure about the road games.

Just announced, the team will play Wii baseball for the remainer of the season on the road.

[section34]

All teams lose like this at one (or more) point(s) in the season.

For 9 years with our payroll?

[mweb]

Great more empty sarcastic posts. Just what this thread needed. I'm not saying the season is over, nor am I saying the rest of the games should be canceled. All I am saying is that, in the end, I think this team will again be under .500 and that this series will be the point we can all look at (those of us that want to anyway) as the start of it.

Do I think that they can still succeed? Sure. Do I think the odds of that happening are as good as they were before these past two games? Nope.

If you had put it like that to begin with, you wouldn't be dealing with nearly as many sarcastic posts and people ripping you, instead, you basically did say the season is over.

[Flip217]

The point, since you obviously missed it, is that playoff teams don't lose like this.

Boy, I may regret this one, but...

How do playoff teams lose?

[bgfield]

Just announced, the team will play Wii baseball for the remainer of the season on the road.

I rock at Wii baseball. If I was that good at real baseball, I'd sign with the O's and our problems would be solved.

Seriously. I'd go 4-4 every game with at least two homers.

[oriole_way]

Playoff teams have lost IN the playoffs like this.

Not trying to suggest the Orioles are just having a rough patch. They've got holes and most of them are in the fundamentals/mental department. Not to mention shoddy leadership. But don't hyperbolize like that.

This is what bothers me. If the team just isn't that talented, that's one thing. But I've come to realize over the past few seasons that not only are they not super talented, they are also very poor fundamentally, mentally, defensively.

Even when they win, you can still usually count on a poor play or two, or a dubious managerial decision. It's just not noticed as much because the team won.

After watching this year's team, I actually think that this is a somewhat talented bunch. Not an all star team, but they have some pieces. The pitching has mostly been great and the lineup will be relatively deep once Hernandez comes back. There also appears to be some depth in the pitching corps and some mix and match capabilities with the batters.

However, they will continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

Look at today's game with all the poor defensive plays. Could that have made a difference between a W and a L. How about if Payton was in CF today and Knott was in LF? (Patterson is batting .176 against lefties, .324 against righties. Lest you think small sample size, these numbers were .207 vs .301 last year.)

[forest leech]

For 9 years with our payroll?

I didn't realize this exact team had been playing together for 9 years

[Mackus]

Great more empty sarcastic posts. Just what this thread needed. I'm not saying the season is over, nor am I saying the rest of the games should be canceled. All I am saying is that, in the end, I think this team will again be under .500 and that this series will be the point we can all look at (those of us that want to anyway) as the start of it.

Do I think that they can still succeed? Sure. Do I think the odds of that happening are as good as they were before these past two games? Nope.

What about the team is so different right now than 48 hours ago?

The answer is absolutely nothing. Two losses. Frustrating ones sure, but it doesn't change what this team is, which is a team that'll be within 4-5 games of .500 give or take.