Kruk Bashes O's

[BaltBird 24]

Well, given the past decade, it probably isn't one of the most coveted jobs in baseball. There are only 30 jobs managing in MLB, so it'd be hard to really pass up on any of them. Also, while Baltimore may not be the best place to manage, it has the potential to atleast improve to a pretty good level with better roster management.

[frankpembleton]

man, all day on espn radio, hosts and analysts have been bashing the O's saying it's the worst job in baseball. yankee lovers, it seems like there trying to talk Girardi out of taking the job:mad:

From a national perspective, what is there to like from an organizational standpoint?

[FellsPointOsFan]

The ESPN "cool kids" crowd just wants to reinforce their status by beating up the awkward loser nerd of baseball.

Like all life, it's just high school over and over and over again.

[NewMarketSean]

ESPN is like MTV. They forgot what got them there in the first place.

That said, what else did you expect people to say about this organization?

[FarmSystem]

There are probably more guys there that have some connection to the team than most non-Yankee/Red Sox/Cubs teams. They don't hate the team, just the dolt in charge of it thats running it into the ground.

[MemorialStadKid]

man, all day on espn radio, hosts and analysts have been bashing the O's saying it's the worst job in baseball. yankee lovers, it seems like there trying to talk Girardi out of taking the job:mad:

I hate to curse, but I will in this case... f#$% ESPN!

For the most part, ESPN is just the CT-based arm of the YES Network and NESN. The majority of their coverage is Red Sox and Yankees related, and if not those two teams, they spend an inordinate amount of time on the Angels, Cubs, Dodgers and Giants (Bonds).

That's your typical episode of Baseball Tonight.

Never be surprised by ESPN.

MSK

[skornya]

What's the old line about not shooting the messenger? Or more recently, Don't Hate the Playa, Hate the Game?

We stink. ESPN is just reporting facts. And until it's proven that MacPhail has control and Angelos is out of the day to day picture, this may be the worst job in baseball.

[Deanbird]

They are homers for the Mets, Red Sox and Yankees who might as well be the only three teams playing professional sports.

Bottom line: They don't want us to compete, but we will and we will make them eat their words.

You can bet George is running his mouth all over town as well like he did with the Alomar incident years ago, working the phones. He likes having Angelos as the whipping boy. I remember talking to someone who worked in the league office who said that George called there every day.

If Angelos is going to take a back seat and let the baseball people run the show, then what's not to like? Great park and fan base. History and tradition. Good crabcakes. A great opportunity.

[skornya]

I hate to curse, but I will in this case... f#$% ESPN!

For the most part, ESPN is just the CT-based arm of the YES Network and NESN. The majority of their coverage is Red Sox and Yankees related, and if not those two teams, they spend an inordinate amount of time on the Angels, Cubs, Dodgers and Giants (Bonds).

With all due respect, ESPN is going to cover what brings them ratings. Which bring in advertisers. Which bring in profits.

You've named the most popular teams nationwide in the largest markets nationwide. They're not going to give a lot of space to the O's for the same reason they don't give space to the Royals, Pirates, or D-Rays. All are lousy teams that no one other than their small media markets care about. With Bonds, of course they're going to cover him. He's centerstage in the two biggest baseball news stories of the year; steroids and the chase for Aaron's record.

Just a question, were you pi**ing and moaning back in 1995 when ESPN was all-day, all-night, all-Ripken and jamming Cal and 2131 down the craw of the rest of America? I think not...

[davearm]

Guess what folks, it's possible for someone that's completely objective, logical and impartial to hold the sort of negative opinions about the O's that are coming out right now.

Just because someone believes these things doesn't automatically mean they hate the O's, or hold some grudge against the organization, or have some ulterior motive, or whatever other conspiracy theory you can dream up.

Many very smart, well-informed baseball people simply think the O's are a complete mess, and some of them get paid to say (or write) what they think.

[davearm]

With all due respect, ESPN is going to cover what brings them ratings. Which bring in advertisers. Which bring in profits.

You've named the most popular teams nationwide in the largest markets nationwide. They're not going to give a lot of space to the O's for the same reason they don't give space to the Royals, Pirates, or D-Rays. All are lousy teams that no one other than their small media markets care about. With Bonds, of course they're going to cover him. He's centerstage in the two biggest baseball news stories of the year; steroids and the chase for Aaron's record.

Just a question, were you pi**ing and moaning back in 1995 when ESPN was all-day, all-night, all-Ripken and jamming Cal and 2131 down the craw of the rest of America? I think not...

Post of the Day.

Don't like playing second-fiddle to the Yanks and Red Sox? Then quit whining and make your team relevant again.

[YardBirds13]

With all due respect, ESPN is going to cover what brings them ratings. Which bring in advertisers. Which bring in profits.

You've named the most popular teams nationwide in the largest markets nationwide. They're not going to give a lot of space to the O's for the same reason they don't give space to the Royals, Pirates, or D-Rays. All are lousy teams that no one other than their small media markets care about. With Bonds, of course they're going to cover him. He's centerstage in the two biggest baseball news stories of the year; steroids and the chase for Aaron's record.

Just a question, were you pi**ing and moaning back in 1995 when ESPN was all-day, all-night, all-Ripken and jamming Cal and 2131 down the craw of the rest of America? I think not...

True, we suck. So do the Royals, Pirates, Reds, etc.

But how about they talk about the Indians, Mariners, A's, etc??? Teams that are having really good years, but aren't the normal Yanks, Sox, Cubs, Mets. This is why the ratings for the World Series have been down lately. Unless the Yanks or Sox make the Series, nobody knows anything about the teams involved because ESPN hasn't said a damn word about anyone. It's why nobody cared about the White Sox-Astros two years ago, and why nobody cared about Tigers-Cardinals last year.

If ESPN would actually cover the GOOD TEAMS, and not just the BIG NAME teams, I would be fine with them not mentioning the O's at all. WE don't deserve coverage right now, but the teams playing good baseball outside of the big dogs absolutely deserve coverage.

[J.D.]

Guess what folks, it's possible for someone that's completely objective, logical and impartial to hold the sort of negative opinions about the O's that are coming out right now.

Just because someone believes these things doesn't automatically mean they hate the O's, or hold some grudge against the organization, or have some ulterior motive, or whatever other conspiracy theory you can dream up.

Many very smart, well-informed baseball people simply think the O's are a complete mess, and some of them get paid to say (or write) what they think.

That may be, but that doesn't mean that Kruk's opinion here was impartial, objective, and logical. In fact, I think it's fair to say that most of the time, Kruk has no idea what he's talking about.

I always likened Kruk to a guy you'd talk to about sports while sitting in a bar. The qualifier was, of course, that Kruk would be slobbering, stumbling drunk. Either that, or he's the guy that would just randomly chime in "Yeah, they're awful!" and that would be his contribution to the conversation.

Honestly, isn't that what he did here? Do you think he even watches O's games. Honestly, it's pretty easy for someone that doesn't follow the team whatsoever to look at the bullpen's W-L record and ERA and say, "Yep, they're bullpen is awful. That's why they suck." Same with the fact that the team seems allergic to home runs.

Yeah, the O's are a mess. There's enough young talent and enough money available in the franchise, assuming that Angelos is serious about giving control to MacPhail, that makes this job fairly appealing, especially to a manager that wants to make his mark with a franchise that has history and a gorgeous ballpark on it's side. That's what makes this job more appealing than the Devil Rays, Pirates, Reds, Royals, etc. jobs that may or may not be out there after the season.

The O's are a mess, but it's nowhere near as bad as what Kruk decided to pile on today. I think that's why people, including myself, are irritated.

[Bigbie03]

Is he trying to sway potential managers away because he's ticked at the FO?

Or is he really that stupid?

In the end, it doesn't matter what Kruk, Phillips or anyone else spewing "O's hate" thinks. It's what the true Orioles fan thinks, and for the most part,we're all in agreement that a change HAD to take place.

I hope there are intelligent, forward thinking, aggressive candidates that'll step up for the job, and change the direction this once proud organization thirsts for, and rightly deserves.

We love our team, we believe that something good CAN happen for the Baltimore Orioles, and all we want is for P.A. to wake up and make it happen or sell the team to Cal.

McPhail is a start. Girardi is a start. Trading Tejada is a start, along with anyone else on the team that stuffed their stones in their back pocket.

Brooks, Frank, Cal and other Oriole greats shouldn't have to hang their heads in shame. There are STILL many loyal Black and orange fans who KNOW what this franchise means to them, because it means the same to us.

I hope SOMEWHERE inside P.A....it exists as well.

[MemorialStadKid]

With all due respect, ESPN is going to cover what brings them ratings. Which bring in advertisers. Which bring in profits.

You've named the most popular teams nationwide in the largest markets nationwide. They're not going to give a lot of space to the O's for the same reason they don't give space to the Royals, Pirates, or D-Rays. All are lousy teams that no one other than their small media markets care about. With Bonds, of course they're going to cover him. He's centerstage in the two biggest baseball news stories of the year; steroids and the chase for Aaron's record.

Just a question, were you pi**ing and moaning back in 1995 when ESPN was all-day, all-night, all-Ripken and jamming Cal and 2131 down the craw of the rest of America? I think not...

No, I wasn't pissing or moaning. That's not something I do.

And I am fully aware of the correlation between sports markets, broadcast coverage and the politics of advertising demographics.

That said, there is still an inherent bias on a show called BASEBALL TONIGHT... when this is supposed to be a show that is supposed to cover what happened in the day of baseball with highlights, it doesn't make sense to show 15 seconds of one team, and 5 1/2 minutes of another regardless of that team's market.

If that's the case, then they should have a show called BASEBALL TONIGHT: SPOTLIGHT, where they only deal with large market teams.

Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Cubs etc... already have enough market exposure in their home areas; meaning that these fans shouldn't have to tune into ESPN to watch more coverage of the same stuff repeatedly. This is why I watch MASN on satellite. I don't need to watch ESPN because I can get O's coverage elsewhere.

And if I can get O's coverage relatively easy, then I know damn well that Yanks, Sox, Cubs, Angels, etc. are not hurting for coverage

BBTN's mission statement is to cover the world of baseball, not to satisfy the narcissism of Yankee and Red Sox fans.

In the mid 90s, when the Orioles were strong, ESPN still favored the Orioles. I will never forget the 1997 season when the Orioles went wire to wire in 1st place and the ESPN guys were still saying we weren't a good team. They seemed to celebrate when we lost to the Indians that year.

ESPN does have a bias against teams that aren't their favorites. The O's clearly aren't.

MSK