Does anybody REALLY care any more?

[NashLumber]

Spiritof66, I agree. It’s hard to care, but I do. It’s just that it’s a train wreck right now that I just do not wish to view, especially when it’s on TV. And I can’t be bothered to read Roch, Melweski or Connolly right now. I’ll check here (more often than I said I would a week ago) because I care. And I also have the radio feed on when practical. And some of my favorite O’s related podcasts are on when I’m driving (what happened to Baltimore Sports today with Jabby Burns and Zach Wilt? No new podcasts since late April). I’m just hoping for a rebuild, a strong one. I won’t hold my breath, but new ownership would go a country mile for me. No Brady (useless outside of training and even then I wonder since his role is so ill-defined). Let Buck finish the year and return in some other role  than talent evaluation decisions. This is a change for me as I’ve been so disppaonted in his decisions for over a year as they relate to his stubborn ways, but I think he’s earned the right to finish his contract.  I couldn’t care either way regarding Duquette, as I think his hands were tied for so much of his tenure, so him coming back with Angelos in the meddling ownership mode (or his sons) is no change. 

Yes, it’s hard to care. Dylan said it well:

 

Sometimes it gets so hard to care
It can’t be this way ev’rywhere
And I’m gonna let you pass
Yes, and I’ll go last
Then time will tell who has fell
And who’s been left behind
When you go your way and I go mine

 

 

 

[tntoriole]

My day to day emotional involvement is about where it was when the team was in the midst of the last major downturn.  Namely, I expect losing every day and try to appreciate the occasional good games and the things that happen as pleasant surprises- the well pitched games when they occur, the performance of Manny at the plate, David Hess and Richard Bleier etc., the improvements Chance Sisco has made behind the plate, etc. .    while mainly impatiently waiting for this organization to get about doing things which more progressive organizations would have done two years ago and would have been doing as part of their long term business strategy that we never do under this regime. 

The long term hindrance for my enthusiasm is Peter Angelos.    He has not completely exterminated my love for the Orioles but has made watching his same dysfunctional movie play out over two decades much more difficult to stay enthused about.    Jerry Hoffberger was my owner....when I was most an Orioles fan- from 1965-1979....Edward Bennett Williams did some good things and some not so good things...Jacobs was a short timer....but this organization has been too long in the hands of this owner for me to remain as enthused as I might otherwise still yet be under different management.  

[MMussina35]

I come on here hoping to see the news broken that team has been put up for sale or there will at least be some accountability for all the bad signings, bad roster construction, bad player usage, failure to make trades of guys you have no hope of extending, etc....

[Frobby]

So what’s worse, watching a team that can’t pitch or watching a team that can’t hit?   In this case, we have both!    But I find the lack of offense harder to take.     It’s just so damned boring.  

[Moose Milligan]

Sure, we all care.  We're all on this board, posting every day.  And have been doing it for years.

I know I said I want that #1 pick but I was still hoping they'd figure out a way to win that game last night.  I get to work from home now, you know where I'll be at 3pm tomorrow.

I look at it a few ways:  The more I watch and pay attention, the more informed I can be to bash and rip this team to shreds for constantly wetting the bed.  On the flip side, on the off chance that they do get it together and figure out a way to win a World Series sometime in my life, I will have endured more crap than most sports fans should have to.  Of course, I am a Redskins fan as well so I am screwed in the spring, summer and fall.

But I just watched the Capitals win a Stanley Cup.  And while I watched and cheered them on because I am a DMV native, I don't feel right in partaking in the celebration as much as the diehards who have had their hearts shattered for years and years.  But I got to see their joy.  The Skins board I post on, there's a Caps contingent there, they were so elated.  It was great.  

I don't take much seriously, but I do take sports fan-ship seriously because I think it CAN paint an accurate picture of what a person is about.  If you're going to stick with something as dumb as the Baltimore Orioles through thick and thin, you're probably a pretty good person.  You're probably a good husband, father, son, brother (vice versa if there are any females on the board, pretty sure this place is a sausage fest though).  So I'm happy we're all here to share this misery together.  Wouldn't want it any other way.

One thing that I was reminded of when I was watching the Caps win the Cup...I have a Yankees fan friend who's a good dude.  He's from the NoVa and his ties to the Yanks are that his dad is from Jersey and that's how he was raised.  Fine.  

So one day he was getting on me about how terrible the Orioles are, how great the Yankees are, the Baby Bombers, how they'll be great for the next 5-10 years, etc.  And I told him "Yeah, you're exactly right.  But you'll never know my pain and suffering as a baseball fan.  You'll never have endured anything like I have because on average the Yankees win a title once every 4 years.  You'll never know what it's like to have a jerk like Angelos own your team, who sabotages it every which way and has basically sunk this team into the toilet.  You'll never know what it's like to endure 14 straight years of losing baseball and still stick with your team each year and obsess about them because anytime you guys want, you just spend more money.  You'll never know what it's like to be grateful for a Division Title because I've waited since I was a senior in high school for it.  So if and when the Orioles break through and win a World Series, the joy I feel will be ten times the amount you've felt when the Yankees won because it actually means something."

He had no idea what to say.  As I watched the Caps fans (the diehards, not the Johnny come latelys) celebrate last week, I thought of that and thought how good it'd feel if the Orioles ever get there.

 

 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Frobby said:

So what’s worse, watching a team that can’t pitch or watching a team that can’t hit?   In this case, we have both!    But I find the lack of offense harder to take.     It’s just so damned boring.  

But games are over faster when they can't hit.

[GuidoSarducci]

When they play the Yanks or Red Sox, yes.  As bad as the Orioles are, beating either of those teams will always bring a smile to my face.  In a way, its almost more satisfying given how bad the Orioles are compared to them.   

[DirtyBird]

We had a starting pitcher just go on the DL and there isn't a thread about it yet. That might indicate how much caring there is.

[VickRoznovsky]

I have battled with this all year, the caring part that is.  Of course I care about the Orioles; I have rooms of my house with memorabilia, boxes in the basement of lineup cards and programs from every game I've gone to, pictures of me, my four girls and other family at games.  The Orioles are a part of my life and I have invested emotionally and financially in them for some four plus decades.  They have me hooked, well at least the team and the tradition...

What I battle with now is that there seems to be a breakdown in our mutual respect, that is to say, the corporate brand of the Orioles still wants/needs me to remain invested, yet the product is noticeably deficient.  That shortcoming may be in coaching; it may be in front office decision making.  It may be in the assembly of the team, but it is not a good product other than my love for all thing Orioles.  As a businessman, when I deliver something not to standard, I may take an internal audit and give it time to correct, but when you are the last team to win it's 20th game; when you are putting players on the field that are having historically bad seasons and in this case, possibly the historically worst season ever, and you do nothing about it, then your apathy sadly deserves mine in return.

It would be different if these were younger men looking to improve their skills to make a better team down the road.  We could invest in their growth, their youth, their excitement and most importantly their hope, but these aren't those players.  We have veterans who deserve a chance to go win elsewhere, not because we want them to go, but because it is good both for them now and us later.   I do not see the financial logic in putting Chris out there.  I understand he is a good man and I believe completely that he wants to succeed and finally that we agreed to pay him considerable money, but how much revenue is lost in trotting out this lineup?  The stands are empty, concessions, parking, merchandise sales all must be down.  Area business sales must be down.  National merchandise sales must be suffering as well.  I'm not saying that anything recovers the financial burden of a contract we cleverly outbid ourselves for (noted sarcasm) but being the single worst team in all of baseball only exacerbates the problem.

I am invested either way, my love of the Orioles and all things Orioles will always be as I said.  But it really does irritate me almost as much as any song by Nickelback that there has been no accountability to this point and further no real attempt at correction.   

[foxfield]

I care.  I find I am doing things differently as it has been 2007 since I felt the team was this poorly situated.  I honestly had allowed myself to forget that the years of total ineptitude were this gut wrenchingly painful and embarassing.

I dont read the news or check the wires.  If we are making trades...I'm terrified we don't have a plan.  

I don't dislike Buck, DD or Brady, but do not wish to see any of them making decisions going forward.

I appreciate that PA can do intelligent baseball things, but he consistently thinks he is the smartest person in the game and thinks himself into unforced errors that cripple the team for years.

I root for the players, and for the game and to humor myself I voted for the all stars online today and I dont even usually do that.  I voted for the Orioles to have 3 starters.  Manny, because he deserves it and I'd like to see him in our uniform on a big stage one last time.  AJ because he has been a great Oriole and I wish him nothing but the best in the future.  And Chris Davis, because every fan of baseball should be watching his season.  It's Joe DiMaggio or Pete Rose streak worthy except instead of excellence it is a mark of futility.

Mostly, I regret that we half assed our window of opportunity and took it for granted.  I'm sad that we rolled into a year with no plan and no one in full charge and no one accountable.

But I am holding on like I did and remembering 2007.  When we hired AM and admitted we were rebuilding, it was immediately a relief and it was immediately more fun.  AM and DD and Buck and PA and some others finally did some things right.  It was the best of times, until it was the worst of times.  It's gonna be fine and we will all be better when accountability is brought back and someone takes the wheel.

We have read this book before....I just want to turn the page!

[SteveA]

If I didn't care, would I be composing songs about the team?

 

[TouchemAll]

Yeah I still care, granted with a lot less enthusiasm then on April 1st, I watch less to keep some sanity.

BUT DAMN IT I STILL CARE... Anybody dumb enough like me to still sit and watch games and get in the game threads, DAMN WELL STILL CARES LOL

[foxfield]

3 minutes ago, SteveA said:

If I didn't care, would I be composing songs about the team?

 

Mr. We could use a man like Nick Markakis again....

 

That is gold sir...

 

GOLD

[BirdinBama]

Of course we care. We're fans. I'm just not watching or listening as much. And I usually make two or three trips to Baltimore per season from here in Alabama. Not this year. 

I think I would care a lot more if they brought up Hays and Mullins. Just something different. And I am watching to see what, IF ANYTHING, we do in trades.

[TouchemAll]

40 minutes ago, Frobby said:

So what’s worse, watching a team that can’t pitch or watching a team that can’t hit?   In this case, we have both!    But I find the lack of offense harder to take.     It’s just so damned boring.  

OH man, wasting Bundy's effort last NIGHT was criminal, it just tore me up. So I'll go with this shutout crap and NO offense is just killing me.