What happened to Orioles Magic? A once respectable franchise has turned into a complete joke, to put it frankly.
The Orioles are on their way to their 13th consecutive losing season. They haven’t had a winning season since 1997, when they went 98-64, and they have changed managers eight times in that 13-year span, with names like Lee Mazzilli, Dave Trembley, and Sam Perlozzo.
The days of Earl Weaver losing composure with umpires and the “Oriole Way” seem like distant memories. The “Oriole Way” was a term coined by Cal Ripken Sr. to describe the organizational style/ethic that bred success from 1966-1983, a time period where the Orioles won two world titles (1966, 1970) and six AL pennants (1966, '69, '70, '71, '79, '83).
In other words, it was a time when the Orioles prospered with players such as Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Ken Singleton, Cal Ripken Jr., and Weaver at the helm leading the club.
The Orioles even opened a brand new, state of the art stadium, Camden Yards, in 1993, a ballpark that many teams have used as the basis for many of the new ballparks today. Camden Yards is a beautiful facility that offers easy access, beautiful scenery, and a friendly atmosphere. In my opinion, Camden Yards is the best MLB ballpark in the country.
With all of that in mind, what went wrong?
To point a finger at one aspect of the team and say this is the reason why the Orioles are an embarrassing franchise is simply unfair. It has been a combination of things, ranging from poor front office decisions to lack of talent on the field and the lack of an organizational system.
Current teams that thrive have organizational systems that begin in rookie ball, notably the Twins, Angels, and Yankees. The Angels are the most fundamentally sound team in the league, and that can be credited to Arte Moreno and Mike Scioscia. Angels players learn to play baseball the Angel way, and they have had success playing aggressive Angel baseball.
The Twins also have a similar system in place to the Angels. The Yankee system is a system that also breeds hard-working, smart, and passionate baseball players.
With everything negative that is known about the Orioles, they do have something positive to look forward to: the Buck Showalter era. Buck is known to be the most prepared baseball man in the history of the game, as well as a notable disciplinarian. He has transformed losing teams into respectable winners, such as the Yankees, Rangers, and Diamondbacks.
It is also rumored that Buck has outlined an organizational plan similar to that of the Angels, Twins, and Yankees. Buck is the perfect guy for this job, and this may be one of the best front office moves the Orioles have made in a long time.
The front office needs to let Buck do his work. They need to help him out by spending money, and if they do that, the Orioles will turn their dismal franchise back into a respectable one. They need to listen to what Buck has to say and allow him to have his input on the team, something that Peter Angelos has not allowed from his managers in recent years.
The city of Baltimore and the fans of the Orioles need a team. The organization owes it to their fans. They have deprived that city of a quality baseball team for 13 years.
Having been to Baltimore and Camden Yards many times, the people of Baltimore do love their Orioles, but it does not show with Camden’s recent attendance. But can one blame them? Would you go and spend a substantial amount of money to watch a team 40 games under .500?
Mark my words: If the Orioles put a decent team on the field and let Buck run that team, they will turn it around, and Camden Yards will be full of jumping and passionate Orioles fans once again.
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