I need a new hobby

[Frobby]

Baseball is supposed to make me happy.     I'm not happy.

[OFFNY]

27 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

Baseball is supposed to make me happy. I'm not happy.

 

o

 

The Otto Porter Jr. saga between the Bullets and the Nets might hold you over for a while.

 

Actually, I don't think you have a choice.

You were stuck with the Orioles from the mid 60's through the mid 80's, you were stuck with the Orioles from 1998 through 2011, and you're stuck with the Orioles now.

 

Nice try, though.

 

o

[Going Underground]

35 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Baseball is supposed to make me happy.     I'm not happy.

Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll is  all your body needs.Sounds like a song.

[Frobby]

Just now, OFFNY said:

o

 

The Otto Porter Jr. saga between the Bullets and the Nets might hold you over for a while.

 

Actually, I don't think you have a choice.

You were stuck with the Orioles from the mid 60's through the mid 80's, you were stuck with the Orioles from 1998 through 2011, and you're stuck with the Orioles now.

 

Nice try, though.

 

o

I was telling my wife that in the 1998-2011 disaster, the longer we lost, the more obsessed with the Orioles I became.     In fact, I found this website while searching for information on the Orioles farm system, to which I had never paid the slightest bit of attention before, in the desperate hope that I'd find some promising players down there to hang some hope on.

Right now, though, I'm having the opposite reaction.    I've really enjoyed the last five years, and it's made me realize how miserable I was when the team was bad and how unhealthy it was for me to obsess about it.     I'm going to try my hardest not to do that this time.    I'm not saying I'm going to stop rooting for them if they go bad for a while, but I'm going to pay a whole lot less attention.    I'm not going to plan my evenings or weekends around what time the  Orioles are playing.     I'm not going to automatically turn the games on once dinner's over.    I just don't need the aggravation.    Games like tonight just make me unhappy to my core.

[LookitsPuck]

We all do. This is brutal. It's the Dark Ages again.

[OFFNY]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

I was telling my wife that in the 1998-2011 disaster, the longer we lost, the more obsessed with the Orioles I became. In fact, I found this website while searching for information on the Orioles farm system (to which I had never paid the slightest bit of attention before), in the desperate hope that I'd find some promising players down there to hang some hope on.

Right now though, I'm having the opposite reaction. I've really enjoyed the last five years, and it's made me realize how miserable I was when the team was bad, and how unhealthy it was for me to obsess about it. I'm going to try my hardest not to do that this time. I'm not saying I'm going to stop rooting for them if they go bad for a while, but I'm going to pay a whole lot less attention. I'm not going to plan my evenings or weekends around what time the Orioles are playing. I'm not going to automatically turn the games on once dinner's over. I just don't need the aggravation. Games like tonight just make me unhappy to my core.

 

o

 

That's understandable.

 

o

[allquixotic]

My hobby (year round, but doubly so in the off-season) is socially-oriented multiplayer PC gaming. You can have a lot of fun, and if you do it right, you never really feel like you've lost even if you lose a game.  

[Chavez Ravine]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I was telling my wife that in the 1998-2011 disaster, the longer we lost, the more obsessed with the Orioles I became.     In fact, I found this website while searching for information on the Orioles farm system, to which I had never paid the slightest bit of attention before, in the desperate hope that I'd find some promising players down there to hang some hope on.

Right now, though, I'm having the opposite reaction.    I've really enjoyed the last five years, and it's made me realize how miserable I was when the team was bad and how unhealthy it was for me to obsess about it.     I'm going to try my hardest not to do that this time.    I'm not saying I'm going to stop rooting for them if they go bad for a while, but I'm going to pay a whole lot less attention.    I'm not going to plan my evenings or weekends around what time the  Orioles are playing.     I'm not going to automatically turn the games on once dinner's over.    I just don't need the aggravation.    Games like tonight just make me unhappy to my core.

Stay strong Frobby! It is just the siren call of expectations that is muddling things. Manny will make a few insane plays, we will slug a few majestic homeruns, listening to Joe Angel call a game on a lazy Sunday afternoon will be sublime. 

[Frobby]

My other hobby, besides the s Orioles, is breathing.   

[webbrick2010]

It's so hard when there is no hope for the near future. DD took the bus off a very high cliff by refusing to make any moves that could have re-tooled the roster. It was very avoidable but DD wasn't interested in building a stable long term competitive franchise. Frankly not sure he has really been interested in the team at all since the Toronto incident

[ChuckS]

Things could be fun in August and September if we actually commit to a full out rebuild.  If will be fun to watch the new pieces come in and see what they can do along with possible promotions of guys like Sisco, Mullins, and Hays in September. 

I can't imagine anything more boring than drudging through this season with this same group in tact. 

[eddie83]

We lost for such a long period of time. It was depressing. 2012 was just magical, so many wonderful moments including the statue ceremonies. We contend in 13, the great 14 season even though it ended earlier than we hoped.  15 wasn't a great year but not this bad and playoffs last year.  

I can live with a down season, my concern is the big picture. We all have seen how not to build a winning team. The owner and front office need to make smart decisions. I think my anger is a byproduct of being worried over that as much as watching us play so poorly. There is little history of success with this owner. When the Ravens have down years I still have a sense of confidence they will figure it out. 

[ChuckS]

7 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

..and by the way...Duquette at least helped get his franchise to the post season LAST season. It hasn't been like a death spiral for this franchise since the early 90's...way before Duquette.

I'm not down on Duquette the way others are.  We got five seasons of winning baseball.  That's five more than we had between 1998 and 2011. 

There has been some avoidable mismanagement along the way.  I think a lot of that can be minimized if the organization commits to a full on rebuild NOW.  In another year, our assets we will be in further decline and closer to free agency and the return won't be nearly what it could be now.  

I worry that Buck and Duquette's contract status will make a 2018 reload more appealing that a 2017 rebuild.  I worry that Peter Angelos is in his 80's and may not have the stomach for it.  

I hope they do the right thing. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, eddie83 said:

We lost for such a long period of time. It was depressing. 2012 was just magical, so many wonderful moments including the statue ceremonies. We contend in 13, the great 14 season even though it ended earlier than we hoped.  15 wasn't a great year but not this bad and playoffs last year.  

I can live with a down season, my concern is the big picture. We all have seen how not to build a winning team. The owner and front office need to make smart decisions. I think my anger is a byproduct of being worried over that as much as watching us play so poorly. There is little history of success with this owner. When the Ravens have down years I still have a sense of confidence they will figure it out. 

Before 2012, I had made my peace and assumed the Orioles would be bad until I died.  When 2012 came, I was able to enjoy baseball again without a sense of resentment and that my team had a chance. 

Much like you I'm concerned the O's are going to enter the wilderness again and not be competitive for the next decade.  My son is just getting to the age where he can start following baseball, that isn't going to happen with a 1998 to 2011 redux.

At least NFL training camp starts in less then three weeks. 

[NashLumber]

Well said, Frobby. Kind of sums up where I am. I have hung on every game, every pitch for years. But for the first time, even dating back to the dark years, I just can't give them 100% like I used to. They're so hard to watch. I find myself web browsing and other distractions when they've played so bad lately. I perk up if it's a hit or whatever. But it's draining me. It's been as bad a two months of just ridiculous baseball as I can recall. And all followed by the team and Buck's hat tipping, postgame comments on grinding and whatever "it's a long season" homilies that we are getting so used to hearing. I'm not sure they get that there are fans like us who treat the team like family. There are times when it feels like they get as much of my time and energy. Not a good situation.  I'm going to depend more on listening to the radio on my phone and just getting along with whatever is more important at the time. I think I need it to become more of a passing background noise thing than plopping down on the futon for three hours a night focusing on every twitch or death spasm of the team. I'll never stop loving the Orioles, but I can't give them as much of my time *every* night. Kudos to those who have weighed in and may have expressed it more eloquently. 

EDIT: And I was there for them every step of the "dark years". I was pretty much a low wage earner (musician with a day job) during the time, but still found a way to get up to OPACY from NC two or so times a year for 3 or more games each time. Now, I'm even more of limited means as an early retiree who teaches music, but have an understanding wife who makes far more than I do. But now I have a family for the first time and I finally have a bit more perspective than in my extended bachelor years. 

Since the dawn of the internet, I can count on one hand the games I've missed. And even with that, I caught up on the recap and box score the minute I was down with whatever was keeping me from the game. I'll just listen more on the radio and do what I need to do here at home more often. I'll keep my MASN on satellite. But if the family wants to go somewhere, the game won't stop me anymore. I'm only two years into being a dad and these girls won't be children much longer (ages 7 and 12 when I married their mother). 

 

 

12 hours ago, Going Underground said:

Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll is  all your body needs.Sounds like a song.

I wrote one several years ago during the losing years called "Take Me Out OF The Ballgame". It's how I feel now.