TT: Is this really the worst season of your fandom?

[Morgan423]

Worst?  No way.  I never stopped routing for the O's, even through the Dark Ages.  There were quite a few ugly seasons in that bunch.

But one of the most frustrating?  You bet.  We've got a team that could go all the way, if not for this Achilles heel of a rotation.  I agree that it's supreme frustration to see so much potential wasted due to one fatal flaw.

[interloper]

These past two seasons haven't been the worst, but I can't remember a time when I was less engaged as a fan. There's something about knowing your lineup and your bullpen are good and your starting pitching is almost historically bad that just takes the wind out from the get go. 

[spiritof66]

11 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Dan lost a lot of power and influence after the Toronto situation from what I've heard. Buck would seem to be in a better position to remain with the organization,

I'm not sure whether this is a suggestion that Buck might replace Duquette as head baseball guy/GM, but I've seen it elsewhere.

Other than his deep knowledge of and long experience in the game, I can't think of a single quality that would make Buck a good GM. And I can think of plenty that would cut the other way: his adherence to patterns and rules learned long ago without questioning them, his apparent unwillingness to consider ideas and modes of analysis that are new to him, his defensiveness about his own decisions, and his loyalty to and insistence on using veterans after their productivity has declined.  

Buck might be useful as a special advisor or consultant, something like that.

[higgybaby]

I've gotten to the point to where I am not interested in watching unless they decide to put hays in the lineup. 

[Frobby]

40 minutes ago, Ripken said:

It's certainly not the worst record wise, enjoyment wise, or expectation wise.

It does suck though.  We have a horrendous starting rotation and a lineup full of strikeout machines because of terrible front office decisions.  This team could be young, cheap, and very competitive right now, if only for some reasonable past decisions.  Hell, just don't extend Davis and keep Davies and we're probably in the wild card spot with a smaller payroll, better future outlook, and better chance of keep Manny.

I think the "lineup full of strikeout machines" point is a bit overblown.   The Orioles are 6th in the league in strikeouts.     Yeah, Davis and Trumbo strike out a ton, but everyone else is within reason.   

[TonySoprano]

2017 isn't close to the "worst season."  It's not even the most disappointing of the last several years because that title would go to the 2015 .500 season which followed a team that went to the ALCS.   We went to a rally in late 2012, and the local TV interviewed my then 12 year old son.  He exclaimed how excited he was that the Orioles were playing winning baseball for the first time in his entire life.  1998-2011 was the worst.  From Dan's article...

Quote

By the last month of the season during most of those years, the Orioles were so far out of playoff contention that there was no such thing as a meaningful September game. Who am I kidding? During those years, there were no meaningful August games, few meaningful July games.

 

Below are the dates during those 14 years when the Orioles clinched a losing record, and their last day at .500 or better.  In ten of those years, the Orioles played losing baseball from June 2nd until the end. 

YR	82L	0.500
1998	Sep-25	Sep-21
1999	Oct-01	Apr-07
2000	Sep-16	May-09
2001	Sep-03	May-27
2002	Sep-14	Aug-23
2003	Sep-15	May-18
2004	Oct-01	Jun-01
2005	Sep-22	Aug-17
2006	Sep-12	May-02
2007	Sep-11	May-31
2008	Sep-13	Jul-09
2009	Sep-08	Apr-23
2010	Aug-24	N/A
2011	Sep-03	May-26

[Three Run Homer]

Last night's loss crushed any lingering interest I had in this team--I probably will not watch them again until next spring.  Nevertheless, this season has been nowhere near as bad as the dark age seasons of 1998-2011.  I remember when we had Deivi Cruz and Jay Payton in the starting lineup.  I remember when we kept running Russ Ortiz out to the mound even though he was getting hammered every time.  I remember wave after wave of pitching prospects compiling impressive numbers in the minors and then failing or getting hurt in the majors--Matt Riley, Hayden Penn, Garrett Olson, Adam Loewen.  

I hope the franchise keeps Dan and Buck.  We could do a lot worse.  We HAVE done a lot worse.  

[DFA_SR]

When it's April and you know your team doesn't have a chance (like the Dark Ages), well those were the worst.  This one is just frustrating.  Even the manager's decisions have stopped making sense in many cases. Our hitters (collectively) have the worst approach ever.  I actually appreciate what the Yankee and Red Sox hitters do to succeed in running up pitch counts, moving runners, etc. The starting pitching is horrible but if we listen to some smart people (and not be homers) we should have realized it wasn't going to be good enough to compete for the playoffs.

[NJBird]

What really gets me bummed here (not saying worst season) is as a franchise I think we all believe in our guts this team does not have enough to win it all due to roster construction and this has been an ongoing theme over these last 5 years.  Most fans would have been ecstatic to see a Verlander trade and you have to think the players would be too but instead we got nothing except Hellickson in July which is the same approach over these 5 years.  So without the real moving the needle type of transactions and having a big picture type of vision we are left with a flawed roster.  

I would also argue that given our line-up with too many HR or bust type of players it also leads to not really compelling baseball to watch.  At least for me watching the Royals of a few years ago where they would take a ton of pitches and play a lot more of small ball is more exciting to watch and probably more in sync with the fan base and would probably lead to better attendance.  While we have some great players there is nothing more frustrating to watch the same flawed issues year after year, and when we do spend the money we keep spending it on the wrong players or at least at the wrong price which then exacerbates our flawed roster. 

[scOtt]

Nah. 2005? We fought to get to 63-63 and then finished 4-32. That was the worst.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, scOtt said:

Nah. 2005? We fought to get to 63-63 and then finished 4-32. That was the worst.

Actually, that was 2002.    Not in my top 5 worst years, but it's up there.    

[JohnD]

Yeah any season between 1999 and 2010 were worse, especially the years like 2004 when there was hope and excitement.  

This year sucked because even as Schoop and Bundy made giant leaps, nearly everyone else took big steps back.  Gausman is one of MLBs biggest disappointments period this year.  Ubaldo was himself.  Miley was infuriating to watch.  Manny sucked the first half of the year.  Etc.

It was then made worse by bad decisions in the past.  Trading Davies away was awful in hindsight.  I know some said it at the time too.  But guys like Wilson and Wright never reached the potential they showed.  Heck they can't even replicate what they used to be able to do.  The bullpen collapsed relative to what it was.  

But ultimately it's knowing all the guys they were counting on to carry the load to contention instead fell flat on their faces is what sucked.   Been a while since that happened.

[Tbone83]

Was it 05 when the O's were in or near first up until the All Star Break then crashed and burned? That is my "worst" season of (relatively) recent times. At least 2017 was somewhat exciting up until early September. 

[Il BuonO]

Did someone already mention the 88 team which lost its first 21 games and finished w 107 losses?  Off the charts bad.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Il BuonO said:

Did someone already mention the 88 team which lost its first 21 games and finished w 107 losses?  Off the charts bad.

I had it no. 3 on my list, after 2005 and 1986.     I put those years at the top because they ended with serious clubhouse issues, on top of the losing.    That was particularly demoralizing to me.   1988 was a pathetic joke of a season, but at least it was a "team."    And it set up the thrilling 1989 season, because expectations were so low.