Alas, it's true....

[MDtransplant757]

Thanks. Like I said, it wasn't meant to be snide.

It's true. Good scouting plus stats are what make dynasties and help the game be more competitive. I think stats a over used by fans, but stats plus baseball wisdom and a scouting department who does what they do well is what makes teams special. Look at us back in the 50's to the 80's. That's how we got so many good players, and great teams.

Sent from Neverneverland using James Hetfield's voice

[tntoriole]

There was a team once. A team that a little boy first went to see with his father. In a place that was dedicated to the brave men who had lost their lives serving this country. His father made sure that the young boy stopped and remembered that each time he took him to that place. A place called Memorial Stadium. It had the greenest grass the little boy had ever seen. The men who he watched play baseball in that place were heroes to the little boy. A white man named Robinson from Arkansas who hugged and played and won many games with a black man also named Robinson from California and taught the little boy a lot about the stupidity of racism. They were brothers. People in Baltimore named their children Brooks for a generation because of the humble, quiet nature of this man who never let a groundball get past him. The team won, and won, and won. It won more games during his childhood than any team in baseball. For twenty years it won more games than any other team. The little boy went to World Series games at Memorial Stadium in 1966, and 1969 (and cried himself to sleep that year) and 1970 and 1971 and 1979 and 1983. He loved the men who wore the orange and black Bird. The little boy grew into a man and went to work every day in the world. One young player started going to work at the ballpark just about the same time. Every day the young player played. Every game. Every game. Every game. Year in. Year out. He played and played and played. He signed autographs every night for hours for every little boy and girl. One night, he reminded the entire world of baseball why this game was good once. The young man was there that night with his own children and with his Dad who had taken him to that first game so many years ago. Cal’s Dad was also there and was proud. His Dad would not live much longer, but he was proud that night. Very proud. The team that young boy loved had moved into a new park by that time. A place that reminded the whole world about the joys of playing baseball in a park, out in the open air, where grass was green. A park that many others would want for their own teams. A time of being in the desert came upon the team and its fans. The days of Brooks and Frank and Boog and Jim and Earl and Cal and Eddie seemed far, far away. But one day, a new manager came to Baltimore. Someone who knew of the days of glory for the Orioles. Who brought Brooks and Frank and Boog and Jim and Earl and Cal and Eddie to Florida in the early spring. And games have been won. Again. As in the days of old. Statues of the young boy’s heroes were built and now grace the park where the little boy, now an old man, takes his grown children and his granddaughter. The grandpa will tells her the stories of these men and of the game. These Orioles. And they love them. Together.

[weams]

There was a team once. A team that a little boy first went to see with his father. In a place that was dedicated to the brave men who had lost their lives serving this country. His father made sure that the young boy stopped and remembered that each time he took him to that place. A place called Memorial Stadium. It had the greenest grass the little boy had ever seen. The men who he watched play baseball in that place were heroes to the little boy. A white man named Robinson from Arkansas who hugged and played and won many games with a black man also named Robinson from California and taught the little boy a lot about the stupidity of racism. They were brothers. People in Baltimore named their children Brooks for a generation because of the humble, quiet nature of this man who never let a groundball get past him. The team won, and won, and won. It won more games during his childhood than any team in baseball. For twenty years it won more games than any other team. The little boy went to World Series games at Memorial Stadium in 1966, and 1969 (and cried himself to sleep that year) and 1970 and 1971 and 1979 and 1983. He loved the men who wore the orange and black Bird. The little boy grew into a man and went to work every day in the world. One young player started going to work at the ballpark just about the same time. Every day the young player played. Every game. Every game. Every game. Year in. Year out. He played and played and played. He signed autographs every night for hours for every little boy and girl. One night, he reminded the entire world of baseball why this game was good once. The young man was there that night with his own children and with his Dad who had taken him to that first game so many years ago. Cal’s Dad was also there and was proud. His Dad would not live much longer, but he was proud that night. Very proud. The team that young boy loved had moved into a new park by that time. A place that reminded the whole world about the joys of playing baseball in a park, out in the open air, where grass was green. A park that many others would want for their own teams. A time of being in the desert came upon the team and its fans. The days of Brooks and Frank and Boog and Jim and Earl and Cal and Eddie seemed far, far away. But one day, a new manager came to Baltimore. Someone who knew of the days of glory for the Orioles. Who brought Brooks and Frank and Boog and Jim and Earl and Cal and Eddie to Florida in the early spring. And games have been won. Again. As in the days of old. Statues of the young boy’s heroes were built and now grace the park where the little boy, now an old man, takes his grown children and his granddaughter. The grandpa will tells her the stories of these men and of the game. These Orioles. And they love them. Together.

http://www.orioleshangout.com/article/5447/the-team

[weams]

http://www.orioleshangout.com/article/5447/the-team

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Team. Why it matters. tntoriole <a href="https://t.co/tir6lAi4Ic">https://t.co/tir6lAi4Ic</a> <a href="https://t.co/vurgcBrf0E">pic.twitter.com/vurgcBrf0E</a></p>— Orioles Hangout (@OriolesHangout) <a href="

">February 28, 2016</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[foxfield]

Interesting article. The Orioles are weird. Because they keep doing what everyone thinks they should not do.....Win!

Here is a brief summary of the article...Oriole Offseasons

2012...Orioles suck but somehow manage to win anyway....It's just luck.

2013...Orioles do nothing so surely they suck more now....except they don't. They don't win as much, but they still win.

2014...Orioles do nothing except look for cheap options...surely the suckitude exuding from our projections will prove us right. Except, that's right...AL East Champs

2015...Orioles AGAIN do nothing but they do spend a bazillion dollars to keep a .500 team together. They will finish last again. They suck!

It is in fact all true right up to the part where the Orioles suck.

[FanAddict]

These types of articles really rub me the wrong way. I think the way the team has been assembled from AM's trades to DD's aquisitions and Buck's team philosophy, is rather unique. Call it weird, or whatever, but it's worked.

The projections have never really liked us (inability to quantify our defense?), but we've managed to put a solid (sometimes great) team on the field every year since 2012. I don't see 2016 being the end of that. I've said before, things are a bit murkier after 2018, but until then, the team is solid. If SBnation wants to call us weird, then whatever, but their article doesn't hold a lot of water when you look at the results.

[2010BUCK26]

I'm with this. I think the proof is in the pudding and frankly, I'm tired of the national media snark, predicting our imminent crash and burn every year.

As some have pointed out, we are somewhat leveraged right now with our "older" core, but Dan and Buck have done a great job slowly adding to the core with unheralded prospects and a handful of shrewd pickups. A core that used to be Jones, Davis, and Hardy, Machado and others has been supplemented with Schoop, Britton Guasman and givens. We've been fortunate to see a window that has been open since 2012, and at this point, could remain open through 2018.

Our farm has supplied the team talent beyond just Machado and I think it has the potential to continue to add solid players to the club if some of our under the radar guys can take another leap (sisco, Mancini, lee, mountcastle, Reyes and maybe even Bridwell) and Harvey and Bundy can stay healthy.

I always envisioned our core transitioning from a bat heavy one to one composed of high quality, cost controlled pitching, but injuries to bundy and Harvey have drastically impacted that. I have no idea what the team will look like after 2018 but with Dan and Buck at the helm, I'm confident that we have put the 14 year losing streak in our rearview mirror

It's easy to forget that every year our farm system seems to produce one guy who comes up and contributes. I'm excited to see who it is this year!

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk

[SilentJames]

Interesting article. The Orioles are weird. Because they keep doing what everyone thinks they should not do.....Win!

Here is a brief summary of the article...Oriole Offseasons

2012...Orioles suck but somehow manage to win anyway....It's just luck.

2013...Orioles do nothing so surely they suck more now....except they don't. They don't win as much, but they still win.

2014...Orioles do nothing except look for cheap options...surely the suckitude exuding from our projections will prove us right. Except, that's right...AL East Champs

2015...Orioles AGAIN do nothing but they do spend a bazillion dollars to keep a .500 team together. They will finish last again. They suck!

It is in fact all true right up to the part where the Orioles suck.

In 2015 all the things that went right for the Orioles the previous years, did not go right for them. The young starers kinda regressed; Bud Norris simply fell off the face of the Earth; help from the minors was hampered by untimely injuries; the roleplaying "nuggets" didn't play their roles well; Snider was a waste; Schoop got hurt; Wieters wasn't really playing full time; and they STILL pulled out a .500 season and were really in the playoff hunt well into September.

And that was with not a whole lot going right for them.

The Orioles have been within two games of their Pythagorean W/L each of the last three years. Basically, the baseball world has continually underestimated them and they aren't breaking their stats, they are just breaking predictions.

[UpstateNYfan]

Stats are nice and a useful guide, but sometimes, as the saying goes, the sum is greater than its parts. The hardest thing to measure accurately are the intangibles.s

[abbott]

Interesting article. The Orioles are weird. Because they keep doing what everyone thinks they should not do.....Win!

Here is a brief summary of the article...Oriole Offseasons

2012...Orioles suck but somehow manage to win anyway....It's just luck.

2013...Orioles do nothing so surely they suck more now....except they don't. They don't win as much, but they still win.

2014...Orioles do nothing except look for cheap options...surely the suckitude exuding from our projections will prove us right. Except, that's right...AL East Champs

2015...Orioles AGAIN do nothing but they do spend a bazillion dollars to keep a .500 team together. They will finish last again. They suck!

It is in fact all true right up to the part where the Orioles suck.

I disagree with your premise. You confuse having a winning percentage with winning. Maybe it's semantics and maybe it's not but over the last 4 years they have indeed had winning records each year. Only in contrast to their previous 14 years is that considered winning, IMHO. Playoff success is winning. But they've won 4 playoff games in 4 playoff series (3 series really and a WC game.)No ALCS wins, and no, obviously, WS appearances.

THe bar set by ownership and upper management is low. Ask Buck if he thought 2013 and 2015 were successful seasons.

1 playoff appearance in the last 3 years is not a team on a winning trajectory, but it's a nice change of pace over the previous 14 years and for much of the last 30 years.

Winning? No, we're not really winning, we're just not losing as often.

[foxfield]

I disagree with your premise. You confuse having a winning percentage with winning. Maybe it's semantics and maybe it's not but over the last 4 years they have indeed had winning records each year. Only in contrast to their previous 14 years is that considered winning, IMHO. Playoff success is winning. But they've won 4 playoff games in 4 playoff series (3 series really and a WC game.)No ALCS wins, and no, obviously, WS appearances.

THe bar set by ownership and upper management is low. Ask Buck if he thought 2013 and 2015 were successful seasons.

1 playoff appearance in the last 3 years is not a team on a winning trajectory, but it's a nice change of pace over the previous 14 years and for much of the last 30 years.

Winning? No, we're not really winning, we're just not losing as often.

Sir, I think I actually agree with what you are getting at in spite of the fact that I don't think I have confused anything. That said, your post disproves nor dispells none of what I said. However, when you start off by saying there is a semantic issue with the definition of winning...you lose the argument.

If you start with the premise that the only real winner in baseball is the World Series Champion, well then sure. But given the fact that you selectively parsed even the last 4 years to fit your 1 playoff appearance in 3 seasons I think you have a definition that even Buck would chuckle at. By the way, stats can be what YOU want them to be. The fact is you are correct. The Orioles have made exactly one playoff appearance over the last three years.

Of course it is also a fact that the Orioles have the best record in the AL East over the last 4 years and have won the Division once and a wild card once while never finishing worse than third. Described that way, the trajectory seems more than a change of pace. Again, not saying you are even wrong. But your argument is just straw at best and disingenuous at worst. But that is just my opinion.

[FanAddict]

I disagree with your premise. You confuse having a winning percentage with winning. Maybe it's semantics and maybe it's not but over the last 4 years they have indeed had winning records each year. Only in contrast to their previous 14 years is that considered winning, IMHO. Playoff success is winning. But they've won 4 playoff games in 4 playoff series (3 series really and a WC game.)No ALCS wins, and no, obviously, WS appearances.

THe bar set by ownership and upper management is low. Ask Buck if he thought 2013 and 2015 were successful seasons.

1 playoff appearance in the last 3 years is not a team on a winning trajectory, but it's a nice change of pace over the previous 14 years and for much of the last 30 years.

Winning? No, we're not really winning, we're just not losing as often.

Dude, this is just ridiculous. As a previous poster said, if you are going to play semantics, then sure, I guess you're right.

But in the real world, 4 teams (3 if you count KC winning twice) have won the AL pennant in the last 4 years. If, by your definition, winning the pennant and/or World Series is the only measure of winning, then I guess we're definitely losers.

I define winning as contending. Having an opportunity to play October baseball and a team that is capable of winning it all. By my definition, I'd consider us winners over the last 4 years.

[PaulFolk]

I disagree with your premise. You confuse having a winning percentage with winning. Maybe it's semantics and maybe it's not but over the last 4 years they have indeed had winning records each year. Only in contrast to their previous 14 years is that considered winning, IMHO. Playoff success is winning. But they've won 4 playoff games in 4 playoff series (3 series really and a WC game.)No ALCS wins, and no, obviously, WS appearances.

Haven't the O's won 6 playoff games? The WC game against the Rangers in 2012, two ALDS games against the Yankees in 2012, and three ALDS games against the Tigers in 2014.

[weams]

I disagree with your premise. You confuse having a winning percentage with winning. Maybe it's semantics and maybe it's not but over the last 4 years they have indeed had winning records each year. Only in contrast to their previous 14 years is that considered winning, IMHO. Playoff success is winning. But they've won 4 playoff games in 4 playoff series (3 series really and a WC game.)No ALCS wins, and no, obviously, WS appearances.

THe bar set by ownership and upper management is low. Ask Buck if he thought 2013 and 2015 were successful seasons.

1 playoff appearance in the last 3 years is not a team on a winning trajectory, but it's a nice change of pace over the previous 14 years and for much of the last 30 years.

Winning? No, we're not really winning, we're just not losing as often.

You can say these things, but that does not make them so.