sOmeplace

Team is someplace bad. Someplace between 1988 and 2005, where tender hopes met with crushing defeats, sparse attendance and little for fans to hang hats on. Loss of Brian Roberts clearly has caught Team off-guard, and maybe wasn't handled right, and has helped gut offense output. Adam Jones looks lost. Last night's "new" lineup scored six runs so Manager has done what he can. Starting rotation has been more than acceptable. But there's just low-grade play and probably low-grade talent at too many key offensive positions right now. Wayward O, long a critic of Luke Scott, tried to find way to like him as player this Spring. It hasn't worked. Blog feels he has no business on Team, his home run last night notwithstanding. It's not personal or anything with Luke, it's just that he doesn't have any real ability to contribute with glove and his bat is just not reliable. Ty Wigginton and Garrett Atkins are OKish but, again, just not inspiring. Scott, Wigginton and Atkins are good enough, however, to help team back away from precipice, hopefully.

It's probably important to note that Tampa Bay Rays, who are beating Team up and down, are very good. They pitch well. They play good D and they hit up and down lineup. Getting swept at home by Toronto, however, is not to be explained away. Team doesn't seem to know how to finish games; you can feel it coming almost every night -- they'll spin a poor running play into a quick inning on offense and parlay same into a pitching meltdown in top of next. Closer Mike Gonzalez, having come back from excused road trip, is all but jobless, which means Team may have reason to doubt his physical ability or just his ability period.

If Team comes back from West Coast / Boston without putting a couple wins together, as Wayward O noted back in February, you might see bigger and bigger shakeups. Players, manager, coaches and front office, Wayward O believes, are standing on edge of precipice. Optimistically, this April debacle will yield to hope later in season, provided pitching continues above expectations. But if losses continue to pile up it's unclear what drastic measures will come by June.

set in stOne

This has been a crap September for baseball.

There, Wayward O said it.

It did not help that my man Nolan Reimold was shut down for year.

But also, too, has any division or wild card race even changed hands a single time?

It all feels like it's been set in stone for six weeks now.

Wayward O supposes there could be a last-minute surprise in the National League Wild Card race and / or the American League Central.

At last we we hit reset button in a couple more days...

there is nO respite

Wayward O was reading Dempsey's Army and other blogz a couple days ago to catch up on Team news after relaxing vacation and he was struck by this thoughtful post in which Heath writes:

[I]f you are writing a blog strictly about the Baltimore Orioles, there is no respite. You suck it up, keep writing about the losing or fade away.

So very true. This is a losing organization and yesterday Team -- again -- dumped last real shred of proven, non-organizational agent talent by trading the very productive, often inspiring and always entertaining Aubrey Huff to Detroit for some guy Wayward O guarantees you no Oriole fan ever heard of.

Reading the defenses of this ill-conceived trade made Wayward O wonder whether, perhaps, certain fans simply don't know the difference between a re-build and an endless churn.

So here's what Wayward O has to say about MacPhail and the rest of the people who own and run this Team, which apparently can't get enough of losing: Your home-grown talent, so much hyped over last two or three years, is, at this point, LARGELY ON FIELD.

And BOY DO THEY NEED REINFORCEMENTS.

What's missing? FREE AGENTS. QUALITY, EXPENSIVE STAR PLAYERS. So get out there and sign some. Sign a top-flight pitcher, re-sign Aubrey -- or a comparable talent -- and sign a closer. Give Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Brian Roberts and the rest a chance to win.

Otherwise this high tide of losing, which has lasted twelve years, will just get worse and more boring, and we'll see more bloggers turning out lights and, if you can imagine it, more empty seats.

Wayward O doesn't want to hear anymore DITHERING about THREE YEAR PLANS or ORGANIZATIONAL PHILOSOPHY or whatever tripe front office has cooked up.

It's time to field a winner or get out and let somebody else do the job.

To sum up my feelings (in capital letters):

SIGN SOME GUYS WHO CAN PLAY WIN SOME BALLGAMES
STOP GIVING UP EVERY AUGUST
OR GTFONO MORE EXCUSES
The home grown talent is here. Where are the guys who can put us over the top?

cast-Off

and you thought Team had bad night


Yankees 9, Mets 8
still, which is worse .... losing a stunner in 9th or never being in the game at all?

all caps super teamatrOn pudates!!

IF AUBREY HUFF WANT TO LIFT WEIGHTS UNDER TENT IN PARKING LOT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN MALE MODEL IN VENICe BEACH!!!!!

MATTY WIETERS IS ABOUT TO BLAST OFF THE T TOP SON!!!!

SUBTLE BUTT SON!!!

HAYDEN PENN GONE! CHRIS GOMEZ GONE!

OH....

AND LAST YEAR TEAM HAD SIX SHORT STOPS NOW ONLY TWO .... WTF???

SPEAKING OF WHICH ... ROBERT ANDINO HAS SENSE OF HUMOR!!!

"I've been in Maryland, but I've never been to Baltimore," Andino said. "I heard it's a real nice city."

ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE THE MANHORSE LOOKS BAD??? HORSE SH$T TOWN DOESN'T NEED YOUR SIMPERING FLATTERY!!!

ALSO CAN YOU PINCH RUN?

BRING ON tEh RICH FAT YANKEES!!!

it's nOt his fault

it's not yankees fault! it's nobody's fault!!!!


Shit-eating grins via NYT
it's kind of like global warming: IT'S NOBODY'S FAULT! so go ahead, leave the dryer on all day and crank up the a/c just to negate it!!!

there is NO MORAL COMPONENT TO FREE AGENCY!!!!!


or IS there???

tis the seasOn to be greedy

wayward O does not have time to do photoshop of mark teixeira sneaking down every chimney in BW CORRIDOR and stealing people's DISCRETIONARY DOLLARS so please use imaginations.

in MEANTIME, btw, if you'd like to watch state-of-art PRO-STEROID movie, watch this.

though we don't recommend, truthfully. escapism is the dish of the season ... that's why florida is today's destination. SARASOTA ACTUALLY. will finally get inside scoop on grapefruit league shenanigans.

MERRY HOLIDAYS!

flOwchart

wayward o loves team more than almost everything in world except for following things:

• family & friends
• dip n dotz
• potato chips

anyway it made wayward o very sad that wayward o called team "pants crappers" and then left up nasty remarks at top of blog throughout entire all-star break even after flatbrim acquitted himself and team very proudly in all star summer classic.

so and then wayward o starting thinking ... thinking ... tossing and turning ... trying to come to grips with own shame of yelling at beloved team despite love for team and so wayward o devised following chart to properly express feelingz:

See? Not all that complicated.

anyway wayward o apologizes to team for being mad. and he's going to beach to drink beer and relax. good luck, team! xoxo

ps. beat detriot. kick pudge where da sun don't shine.

the lOsing streak in which we find us

is it wayward O or is hillary clinton like the random dude at the sunday barbeque who won't go home even though it's 10 p.m. and everybody has to, like, work in the morning? HEY MAN UM should i go on a beer run? uhhhh ... i dunno maaaan. it looks like things are kind of tapped for tonite. don't be that guy hillary. it's laaaaame. we all know you don't have much to go home to but still.

anyway, wayward O did not come here to shout today. or to throw anybody under the bus. or even to point out that may, our cruel mistress, is upon us like a pack of wolves.

no.

nor did wayward o come here today to point out that team lost 5 straight after very promising win on first game of road trip vs. Ol Man Vladdy and his merry band of Angels. and he did not come here to point out that a bunch of those losses were 1-run losses in which team's poor play was crucial factor.

no, today Wayward O is merely content with the sight of a blooming flower; and the miracle of a puppy at play. the sweet warmth of the spring sunshine gives Wayward O great optimism and he sees good things to come, not just for team but for entire world...


Uhhhh.... what?
oh. sorry butt-head. i didn't mean that. uh. yeah. so here is some ANALYSIS of team for you, to help cut through the misery and see the "whys" and "hOw comes" ... etc.:

ANALYTICAL POINT NUMBER ONE: About all this baserunning business. TrembO gave a revealing answer on yesterday's "Wired Wednesday" segment. He basically has told team to be aggressive and is leaving it to the players to use their "instinct" to make decisions. This is probably a good philosophy for a rebuild team. Guys need to learn how to deal with certain situations. Meanwhile, it's clear other teams in majors now know Orioles are going to be targets on base-paths because they've been told to push. At some point TrembO is going to have to get a handle on the steady green light and manage certain situations -- and certain guys -- from the dugout.

ANALYTICAL POINT NUMBER TWO: The offense lacks exactly one cleanup hitter, which presumably would be the DH/1B guy at some point. A powerful catalyst in heart of lineup would be a blessing for the Aubreys, the Lukes, the Brians, the Adams and the Melvins who are struggling to find themselves at the plate. We have plenty of singles and doubles guys but no home run threat. Ideally you have at least two legitimate HR threats in four/five holes. The Young Savior is probably one of those guys. Who's the other? In short, the Os keep bringing pea shooters to the gunfight. (OK, see rebuilding. But we needed same last year too.) It's getting old.


NOW PRETTY PLEASE
WITH SUGAR ON TOP
SIGN A F*CKIN DH
lapsed into some weird inner harvey keitel zone there for a minute. happy thoughts .... happy thoughts .... we coulda had carlos lee .... happy thoughts. calm, rebuilding for ten years happy thoughts.

ANALYTICAL POINT NUMBER THREE: overall though, it's fun watching the young guys, even luis hernandez, who may --- MAY -- not be the answer at short but we'll see. he's so youthful, so beautifully clueless sometimes -- but you get the feeling that he one day could be a great defensive and occasionally offensive spark for team. what can wayward O say? wayward O likes the guy. the young pitchers and other doods are fun to watch, even if they're sometimes outmatched.

ANALYTICAL POINT NUMBER FOUR: Every Orioles announcer except Fred Manfra is drunk. Which probably isn't such a bad thing. Did you know Manfra is ten feet tall?

ANALYTICAL POINT NUMBER FIVE: What's the perfect cure for what ails us? SOME KANSAS CITY BBQ!

Con queso por favor.

that Ol man vladdy

oh lawzy lawzy just three days ago wayward O was pretty sure team was HEADING FOR FALL CLASSIC but then ....

metaphOr for last two gamez
tampa bay whomped us but good. tampa bay is good team? incidentally you know who is not good team? yankees. wayward O watches them a lot here in big city and he can assure you: much-hyped young pitchers are junk except for the big, fat one jabba the hut or what his name is.

yankees should have pulled trigger on johan santana. OOOOOOooooopsie!

anyway wayward O digresses. remember how anaheim right fielder uses team for personal piñata? it's too bad team didn't steal yesterday's game because team must contend with tough roadstand now and we hope they come home over .500.

GO TEAM BEAT ANGLES!

feeling b.l.u.? get the O.r.n.j. & b.l.a.k.!

wayward O was trying to cheer up after last night's double header. What better way to do so than, you know, to get a little exercise?



Plus also this lady has PERFECT PHILOSOPHY for life!

"Without a little motivation in your life, you can quickly become a stagnant pool of drainwater..."

Three cheers for the Ornj & blak!

dingety dingety dang dOing

wayward O doubts he can write 162 haikurls for team but here is haikurl for opening day:

guthrie gets the squeeze
as the lost season begins
warning-track power
drive safe! have pleasant evening...

ps. the Nats are 2-0

meat, beef Or chicken

wayward O asks diaspora for some help today. he is baffled by esskay radio ad in which following claim is made:

"oriole hot dogs, available in meat, beef or chicken."

is not chicken meat?

is not beef meat?

if beef and chicken are not meat, what is meat?

mlb.incOmpetent

wayward O can live with the steroids and the lying and even the $5 dip n dots but this, friends...


They're making my experience better
by not letting me hear the game!

... this is unacceptable.

if gamecast simply didn't work, well that would be one thing, but who wrote this?

We apologize for the inconvenience.
We are currently undergoing maintenance
to make your experience better,
please try back later.
is this a george Orwell novel???

2:10 p.m. update: after 20 minutes on hold wayward O reached an operator for mlb.com "technical support" who says she has "no information" on cause of outage or estimated time for return of services. she was able to confirm, however, that wayward O is a PAYING CUSTOMER. wayward O urges you to take the time and call mlb.com at 866-800-1275 if you are unable to listen to games today! don't let them get away without at least giving them a (polite but firm) piece of your mind.

2:26 p.m. update: got in finally via a minor workaround: chose an old video from O's page, then clicked "Use old player", i.e. not silverlight player, then clicked "today" and found the game stream there. wayward O never thought he'd be so happy to hear Manfra's sweet baritone!

2:55 p.m. update: as if on cue team gives up a 5-run top of fourth -- welcome to lost season!

nick markakis, meet marcel prOust

Wayward O was thinking of doing "year in baseball" post today but decided to focus on "year in Orioles Baseball" instead. Can you believe threshold for rememberance of indignities past? Wayward O is wrapping emotional tourniquet around psychic wounds, strapping on pain shield and taking ride in Battered & Brokebacked Orange and Black Wayback Jammy Pack ...

Come along for ride!

January - Wayward O is very shaky on January. He thinks team may have signed free agent pitchers or something. On Jan. 9, Cal Ripken Jr. elected into Baseball Hall of Fame. Team picks up Jeremy Guthrie from Cleveland off waiver wire.

Feb. 13 - Balloons fall! Small children dance with glee! Along the reeds of the cold-flowing Patapsco, a Baltimore Oriole takes flight! Wayward O launches WEB SITE!!!!!!!!

Feb. 20 - Miguel Tejada vows new attitude, saying, well you can read it here. If you weesh.

Feb. 22 - Baltimore sage Peter Schmuck, second only to JOE ANGEL in WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TEAM, gets in fight with feral parrot at spring training complex and uses FROZEN BEVERAGE to soothe pain where bird bit NOTE-TAKING HAND.

Feb. 25 - Wayward O takes bite of Happy Apple, writing:

Os have balanced lineup with 5 or 6 guys who will hit 20 hrs ... tejada, mora,
huff, payton, the cake --- but do we lack the HULKING kent hrbek-like slugger
who casts a shadow like the mountain at sunrise? yes. but all is not lost.
because we have a LOT OF YOUNG PITCHING AND OUTFIELD TALENT.

March 22 - The Young Savior, Nick Markakis, hits two home runs in spring training tilt versus Los Angeles Dodgers and also pulls back would-be home run at wall in right. Sports Illustrated, Baseball Prospectus, and other big sports publications too many to count, say Orioles will finish fourth or last. Wayward O gets mad at them! But really he is only mad at self for optimism!!! Wayward O is like Achaean warrior, marching off to certain defeat on plains of Peloponnese, all the while refusing to accept fate; Wayward O's blood will run cold in winedark sea.

March 29 - V.P. of Baseball Ops Jim Duquette says team would "sign for .500 right now"; sets tone for what turns out of be another miserable season. Who said winning in AL East was easy? As we saw this year, however, Duquette would have comeuppance in form of demote-ance.

April 2-4 - Team begins 2007 campaign on wrong end of sweep at Minnesota. Ramon Hernandez, beset with mystery "oblique" ailment, refuses to play but resists DL. Team's backup catchers (Paul Bako and Alberto Castillo) are hitless in series versus Twins.

April 7 - It's going to be a long year for closer Chris Ray. Alex Rodriguez, on way to MVP season, belts Grand Slam off team's no-longer-inscrutable closer in 10-7 Yankees win. However, Orioles take rubber game next day, seemingly righting ship with series win in Bronx.

April 28 - Hapless Orioles manager needs alert coach's help to set straight poor umpire's decision after Young Savior's tag-up run is waved off by umpire in win at Cleveland. Indians play game under protest. Despite win, Sam Perlozzo's fate is sealed, though axe would not fall for many more weeks.

April 30 - Gary Sheffield goes toe to toe with big Daniel Cabrera during nasty one in Detroit. Sheff isn't big enough to fight Cabrera, so he does even better, taking Cabrera deep on the next at-bat in 8-4 Tigers win. Tejada gets into minor scuffle with Pudge Rodriguez after Jeremy Bonderman comes too far inside.

May 4 - Team shuts down "the Wing Man," aka Adam Loewen, for season because of stress fracture in pitching arm. Wayward O looks forward to return, someday. Maybe. Or maybe not. Who knows?

May 13 - Mother's day. Scrappy Orioles begin inevitable spiral into doom by blowing 5-0 ninth-inning lead in Boston, Massachusetts to eventual World Series Champions. Team's record falls to 18-20 and .500 disappears into the mists, not unlike fabled village of Brigadoon. Once again, Ray is on hill as disaster unfolds...

May 30 - Height of Mark Teixeira trade rumors ... but Tex ends up in Atlanta, probably through next year.

June 7 - Just added! Thanks to alert reminder from Birds of Prey forumers! With fifth pick in draft, team selects Georgia Peach Matt Wieters...


Wayward O catches historic moment on camera!
But negotiations with super-prospect cause great consternation. Many fans stake entire fandom on signing young catcher! Orioles and Wieters make a deadline deal in mid-August and everybody is happy! Major hope for future is built-in with signing.

June 18 - Five long weeks after Mother's Day Massacre, Sam Perlozzo is fired. Bullpen coach Dave TrembO is promoted to "Interim Manager." Negotiations with Joe Girardi fail, thank goodness. Trembley looks like Captain Kirk, has spark, Wayward O is at first disgusted but slowly grows intrigued.

TrembO channels Earl.
June 20 - Busy day! Doug Brocail breaks Miguel Tejada's wrist, jeopardizing short stop's run of 1,152 consecutive games in MLB and stalling team's deadline effort to trade star player.


Doug Brocail you @*&^!
Stubborn crazy Miggie tries to keep playing to no avail and finally takes seat on June 22. Apparently looking for things to grouse about, some members of DiaspOra get mad at TrembO after Miggie tries to stay in the lineup. Orioles end 9-game losing streak - all losses at Camden Yards - behind Jeremy Guthrie's 8 innings of road warrior. Team says Andy MacPhail is now calling shots; fanz have their doubts.

June 28 - With Derek Jeter at bat in driving rainstorm, umpire refuses to call game and Orioles get jobbed out of win versus hated Yankees. A month later, Orioles almost come back to win suspended game...

June 29 - Aubrey Huff hits for cycle in losing effort versus Anaheim Angels of Anaheim. An inspired Melvin Mora tries unsuccesfully to bunt for cycle.


Not so nice...
July 21 - No Mas! Chris Ray goes on 15-day DL, never to return.

July 31 - Erik Bedard outduels Josh Beckett in Boston, 5-3, as team finishes nice two-week period before heading into August swoon. Bedard officially becomes star MLB pitcher. We believe this was also game where Young Savior made following catch:


Ball. Player.
Aug. 12 - Team sticks it to Boston and Amber gets chilly shower with Kevin Millar! Wayward O catches image on camera and now Amber lives forever in blogosphere!


Icy Hot!
Aug 21. - DiaspOra mourns death of Wild Bill Hagy.

Aug. 22 - The blue period begins. Team loses to Texas Rangers by score of 30-3. TrembO named real Manager. Other losses during this period include 11-3 at home to Minnesota on 8/26; 15-8 at home to Tampa Bay on 8/27; 17-2 at Tampa Bay on 9/5; 18-6 at Angels on 9/12 and a couple other significant blOwouts, the most ignominious of which being...

Sept. 1 - Young Red Sox hurler Clay Buchholz no-hits Orioles during 10-0 win at Fenway. Pollyanna radio announcer Fred Manfra concedes team may not be heading for playoffs.

Sept. 4 - After a nightmarish year, Ray is placed on 60-day disabled list. He's likely done for 2008 as well. About a week later, on Sept. 12, fellow bullpen exploder Danys Baez climbs aboard the surgery train; we likely won't see him until 2009 either.

Sept. 22 - Markakis goes three-for-five with a walk and a home run in team's 11-9 win over Texas. Just another day at the park for the Young Savior, team's brightest light, who plays hard every day and finishes with 23 HRs, 112 RBI and a .300 BA. Nick's toils in Os-scurity get YouTube props from Os fan Natalie Black:


Need hanky after watching!
Sept. 29 - Cabrera runs win-loss record to 9-18 in meltdown at Yankee stadium. Team gives up a 10-spot in fourth on road to 11-10 loss.

October - Nothing of significance happens to team during uneventful month.

Nov. 6 - Fleet of new coaches comes on board in wake of TrembO / MacPhail housecleaning. Wayward O marvels at lack of Major League experience, prays for divine inspirations instead.

Nov. 13 - Drunky Huff provides week of entertainment after word of his Salty Dundalkness leaks out on Blogosphere. Orioles free agent waxes blue on such topics as drinking, ladies of the night, pleasuring self, and Baltimore's "horseshit" nightlife on Tampa Bay-based satellite radio show. Holier-than-thou Crabtown bloggers vent frustrations in Land of Pleasant Living but to Wayward O's ears it sounds like jealousy!


Clearly not on steroids.
Dec. 6 - Jay Gibbons suspended by baseball for 15 days beginning next season for hGH. GibbO admits he did it but says it was to heal up from injuries. Diaspora yawns.

Dec. 12 - Tejada is traded to Houston Astros for five doods. Also playing for Astros is Carlos Lee, who could have helped team during 2007 season. Free-spending Astros shelled out $100+ million for Lee, however, a sum not likely to be ever again matched for a free agent by Orioles. At press time it was unclear whether five doods acquired in Tejada trade would amount to hill of beans.

Dec. 13 - Tejada, Brian Roberts and Gibbons are key Orioles named in Mitchell report, investigating performance-enhancing drug use in sport. Roberts subsequently cops to using steroids ... once.

Dec. 21 - Roberts says he "likes the atmospheres" at Wrigley Field and makes reference to Bartman game. Will he be next to be shipped out of town?

That about sums up year! Please let Wayward O know what mOments he missed by using handy, easy-to-operate comments section below...

jay cOmes clean, kinda

on sept. 10 of this year, here is what wayward O said about jay gibbons:

wayward O wants gibbons to differentiate himself from this sorry lot by standing up in public like a man and giving a full accounting of his cheating ways.

and you could look it up. today we learn that gibbons has done some of that. here is what he tells the baltimore sun:

"I am deeply sorry for the mistakes that I have made," Gibbons said. "I have
no excuses and bear sole responsibility for my decisions. Years ago, I relied on
the advice of a doctor, filled a prescription, charged the hGH, which is a
medication, to my credit card and had only intended to help speed my recovery
from my injuries and surgeries. I hope that my family, teammates, fans and
[Orioles owner] Peter Angelos and the entire Orioles organization will accept my
apologies and that we can all move on."

so now what do we do? well, i think it's best to trade gibbons if some other team will have him. try to sell him as a reclamation project and give him away -- even if it means eating some of his contract.

because while most of what gibbons says is admirable, wayward O wonders about his stated motive for juicing ... and finds it difficult to swallow the notion that jay simply wanted to heal from an injury.

in silence we click, seeking hOpe

SO MUCH NOT HAPPENING with Orioles team right now!


why just last week ROCH's blog was OVERWHELMED by traffic of DIASPORA seeking ANY NUGGET of hope for team now ten years in crapper.

So for your offseason entertainment, Wayward O offers you NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED SCREENSHOT of Miguel Tejada about to beat up JEREMY BONDERMAN.

Wayward O asks you ... if Team has young short stop named Luis Hernandez, and Tejada to play third, why not just trade Mora to Mets for Bag of Ballz? David Wright Can't play 3rd base each and every day, can he?

metaphOr

this made wayward O think of favorite baseball team!



unlike Orioles crashes, however, there were no serious injuries in this crash!

saying bye bye fOr year

wayward O went up to bronx last night for 12-0 drubbing. just to say farewell* to team in person, kind of. it was nice to see "first team"** out there; wayward O mistakenly thought that meant Orioles would have fighting chance.

during 6-run janqui fourth, mora and huff couldn't catch grounderz. they were hard-hit balls but three of 'em ... a liner and two grounders ... and none caught.

seats costed $60 a pop.

yankee stadium is down to last 100 ballgames or so ... depending upon how many playoff games. the place has stately charm, but it's really quite a mess. lots of crud everywhere. lots of it on wayward O's seat. seat was so filthy t.w.o. had to sit on cardboard deal you get when you buy concessions.

guess how much 24 oz. coors light costs from vendor? first correct guess wins a prize. and -- this was highlight of night -- only at yankee stadium:

that kills wayward O .... iccce creaaaaaam of theee fyooooOOOOOO-ture!

five bucks. a buck more than camden tards.

at one point wayward O's lovely girlfriend asked wayward O, as yankee celebrations abounded, "are you sad they're losing?"

"don't even go there right now," was all wayward O could say.

and after 6-run rally wayward O went to get beer and yankee fan said to wayward o, "tough night."

in reply, wayward O said, "tough ten years."

ten years is blink of eye in overall expanse of this great and beautiful game that we all love and some of us must endure pain before we can experience victory.

back in mid-90s when wayward O would visit bronx, hostile yankee fans were threatened by Orioles and there was lots of venom. now they just kind of tolerate Os fans like you would a retarded cousin.

meh. he's harmless and i only see him for a few hours a year.

that might be saddest part of it all. wayward O will know Os are good again when yankee fans get sour again.

prior to season wayward O predicted big year from curtis granderson. he's become wayward O's favorite ballplayer. it is too bad bonderman was ailing and tigers don't appear to be able to upend yankees. especially because it gets the traitOr another chance to glom on for a world series ring.

now that would be depressing.

* this doesn't mean wayward O will cease to blog about orioles it just means no more trips to the yard this year

** sort of

the trembO in full

yerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Out!

Balt. Sun photo

no, sir, it is you who are out!

i do verily beg to differ with you, sir, since it is in fact you who are out.

vOid his deal

lol

jay gibbons took steroids

gee, really?

best thing that's happened to orioles in three weeks.

kick him to the curb.

fenway is the chamber Of pain

no matter how painful, wayward O brings you the incites you need to cling to your sanity as an Os fan in the face of a very painful late-season swoon. today, wayward O catches up with red sox fan and sometime blogchat buddy ted williamsburg to hash out the events of last night:

Ted Williamsburg: You want to talk about It?
The Wayward O: Sure
The Wayward O: my team failed to procure a hit in last night's contest versus your team
Ted Williamsburg: That's true
Ted Williamsburg: Did you watch any of it?
The Wayward O: i saw it on the radio ....
Ted Williamsburg: TV On the Radio?
The Wayward O: lost Os broadcast in jersey but picked up 1080 a.m. out of hartford
The Wayward O: for nyc home stretch
Ted Williamsburg: The kid's curve and change up were filthy
Ted Williamsburg: And he was throwing 'em for strikes on 2-0 counts
The Wayward O: yeah.... he struck out scott moore on 3 consecutive change ups
The Wayward O: at one point
The Wayward O: in addition to the fireworks at fenway, I saw the fireball
The Wayward O: no lie, cuz. i was at exit 8a on NJ TPK and the whole sky flashed this weird red / orange color
Ted Williamsburg: Weird
The Wayward O: and joey ramone came back as a shark off rockaway
The Wayward O: so all in all .... not your average day
The Wayward O: you know what's cool about the Os?
Ted Williamsburg: No. What's that?
The Wayward O: they're not just bad ... they're galactically bad
Ted Williamsburg: They're like "30-3" bad
The Wayward O: they have taken the art of sucking to levels not seen in decades
Ted Williamsburg: You mena since the '87 O's?
The Wayward O: 88 ---- yeah
Ted Williamsburg: Sorry
Ted Williamsburg: No disrespect
The Wayward O: s' alrite
The Wayward O: oh i just watched the pedroia play on the videos
Ted Williamsburg: That was sick
The Wayward O: it was a nice play -- now dustin and clay can get a room
The Wayward O: instead of just pointing at each other with obvious longing
The Wayward O: i kid. that shit was mint.
Ted Williamsburg: I couldn't believe how quickly he got up and unloaded that ball
The Wayward O: it seems like there's always one of those ridiculous plays in every NO No
Ted Williamsburg: There has to be, that's how you get a no-no
The Wayward O: hey .... how's lestah?
The Wayward O: i mean i know we'll see today
Ted Williamsburg: Cancer free, but kinda spotty on the hill
The Wayward O: hypothetically speaking, would you trade the no no for a series win?
Ted Williamsburg: Of course
Ted Williamsburg: Wait .. do you mean World Series or weekend series?
The Wayward O: this here series
The Wayward O: not world series
Ted Williamsburg: Yeah, probably
The Wayward O: i don't think i would honestly
Ted Williamsburg: I can't afford to give away wins right now
Ted Williamsburg: My magic number is 22 with 26 to play
Ted Williamsburg: Clock's ticking
The Wayward O: yeah but now your boy clay thinks he's da man. and if you think you're da man, it's easier to really be da man
Ted Williamsburg: [declines comment]

please gOd

"I was just saying, 'Please God, kill me.' I wanted the Earth to open and for me to go and, poof, sand just to go on top. This was the last thing we were waiting for, especially when they hit it to me. Bad things are happening to us right now. But I'm glad we got this one." -- Melvin, Os third baseman, via Sun

"When that inning started, I said, 'Please God, don't start another one. We don't want to be in the same situation as what happened last time.' What can I say? Our pitchers are trying to make the best pitches they can. Right now, we're in a tough time." -- Miguel, Os short stop, via Sun

"I’m really excited about what I’ve heard from MacPhail so far. Don’t worry, I haven’t chugged the Orange kool-aid. Everything sounds great, but I still need to see the actions to back it all up. (Especially the whole bit of Angelos staying out of baseball operations. Oh please God let it be true.)" -- Heathir, Os fan, via Orioles Magic

"Please God let us get someone." -- Tom, former Os blogger, 2005

"Please God, let us get a hit today." -- Wayward O, via Wayward O

if the real wOrld applied

let's say you had a job at a struggling business. and you were an employee of several years' good standing and had a reputation for good work. but lately you were sort of slacking off a bit -- maybe you stopped caring a little -- and maybe you had a run-in with another employee or something. in other words, your golden-boy image had a little mud on the hubs.

then, noticing your unit's lack of performance, and unable to fire the whole staff, your boss was fired by the corporate bigwigs and replaced.

then a strange thing happened: everybody liked the new boss and wanted to do well by him. and sure enough the new boss came in and he was a fresh-faced winner. he energized the staff and there were a couple of good weeks. and your numbers came up a bit and wow you even beat the competition a few weeks; sold more widgets or what-have-you.

and a few weeks after that the big big boss came down from central HQ and gave a big speech about the new bossman. he said stuff like, 'well we weren't sure if jenkins was going to be the man for this job, but based on your feedback and his own performance, we think we've found him. we're pleased to announce jenkins has got the reins and he's the boss. we look forward to continued success.'

and everybody clapped and ate a slice of cake. and then later in the afternoon the company lost a big contract to the competition because the competition gave 30 reasons why it should have the account and your company gave only 3.

and then, right then, you called out sick three days in a row to go fishing and got caught in the pantry looking at digital photos of the girl who works in the next cubicle. and then after that you arrived unprepared for a big junket in toledo and ended up looking like a fool in front of the competition's sales staff.

and you got called into your "new" boss's office. what do you suppose would happen?

you'd get shitcanned

that's right. because your new boss would have plenty of political capital and he'd be desperate to clean the barnacles off his boat.

well, dear fans, none of that will happen to orioles players.

because they have big, guaranteed contracts.

this team is unwatchable and it's most depressing since word on the street is they weren't going to lay down.

the stink is On

watching orioles sunday, with journeyman catcher playing & starting catcher "hurt," again, with 2nd phantom injury of season; with "freebie" the rookie -- exuberant like puppy -- half-assedly patrolling center field; and rest of team mailing it in including highly paid third baseman who didn't feel like playing; and losing series to colorado rockies, wayward O couldn't help feel the strains of old dirge, another seasOn melting away in the merry month of june.

.500 may as well be brigadoon. it's gone and not coming back.

it's kind of like 2005 all over again, except orioles never had a lead in division and injuries aren't even real. it's like if 2005 were a real orioles season, with all the drudgery and no hope.

june is when other teams start playing and when orioles quit. luckily, june is also a very nice month to be on planet earth. there are lots of nice days and many things to do. there are beaches, weddings, music concerts, other sporting events, and lots of delicious fresh produce to eat. wayward O isn't going to lie; wayward O will rock an ice cream cone any time of the year; but in june you can eat an ice cream cone any old time and nobody is even going to ask for an explanation.

wayward O will destroy a chipwich.

of many crushing disappointments so far, wayward o cannot understand this one: what is behind team's complete lack of home run power? wayward o was sure before season started orioles would have six guys hit 20 home runs but now it appears only two guys will or maybe three.

wayward O knows real answers are organizational and systemic. he knows peter angelos's cowardly soul is engine driving jalopy off cliff year in and year out. he knows cal ripken jr. needs to be the man again and save team. but in interim, while rip is apparently still contented to watch daughter's high school hoops and show up once a year for ritual baseball homage to feats of 80s & 90s, what should team do to at least make it interesting?

-- can Os get adam dunn in here to DH somehow? maybe reds take gibbons as reclamation project if Os sweeten deal with some relievers

-- maybe it is time to trade tejada. get an ace for top of rote next year. no. wayward O doesn't think tejada should be traded; anyway value is dropping

-- trade mora for a solid relief pitcher; or trade mora straight up for dunn. stick huff over at 3rd to play out string. mora turned rotten as soon as he signed star's contract. he was always sweetest when he had something to strive for

-- trade ramOn for somebody who wants to play. nobody likes to get hit in da bawlce but nobody takes two weeks off for it either

meanwhile yankee corpse is awake and walking; bolts in neck seem ready to burst open, spewing foul bile, but wayward o wonders whether somehow frankenyanks will manage to keep monster walking for a few more months ... and make run at playoffs. as for orioles, wayward O no longer cares for this bunch of fakers and doesn't care if they mail it in through every other game as long and they at least try to keep frankenyanks out of postseason.

the way this is shaping up, Os are going to be looking up at tampa bay when it's all played out.

sunday mOurnin' comin' down

I tuned in Sunday afternoon,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
The Mother’s Day Massacre was oh-so Bad,
And the DC debacle had been, even worse.
Then I fumbled through my closet for my Os hat,
And donned my cleanest dirty shirt.

An' I shaved my face and combed my hair,
An' turned on MLB.tv, to see the game.
I'd seen it happen twice before,
Late-inning disasters and poor relief pitchin’
But I figure how could it happen again?
Surely butts in Anaheim would get a kickin’

Then we crossed into the late innings
and Wayward O caught the sight of someone going to the bullpen.
And it took me back to somethin',
That I’d seen twice before, somewhere along the way.

On the Sunday evening gamecast,
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cos there's something in a Sunday,
Makes an Os fan feel alone.
And there's nothin' short of dyin',
Half as lonesome as the sound,
On the sunny green baseball diamond:
Sunday mournin' comin' down.

In the park I saw Vladdy,
With a laughin' little grin and a bat that he was swingin'.
And I held my breath to watch the ninth,
And pray Orioles could escape the innin;
Then I watched the slugger heading home
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'.
And it echoed through the ballpark,
Like the disappearing dreams of Jeremy Guthrie

(sing it with the Wayward O…)

On the Sunday evening gamecast,
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cos there's something in a Sunday,
Makes an Os fan feel alone.
And there's nothin' short of dyin',
Half as lonesome as the sound,
On the sunny green baseball diamond:
Sunday mournin' comin' down.

with apOlogies to johnny cash and kris kristofferson...

even sawx fans got to shOut

wayward O asks: is it okay for root for sammy now that the diaspOra has called for his ouster? let wayward O know in comments area! it is a moral quandary of the highest order. wayward O says he will root for team to get it together and go on a tear over next month. wayward O also says if Orioles aren't above .500 on 26 june you will see shake-up.

more importantly, wayward O knows a fella who is a rare breed: a thinking man's red sox fan. we had following chat after mother's day massacre and a good deal can be inferred herefrom.

Ted Williamsburg: You wanna talk about it?
The Wayward O: hehe.
The Wayward O: i had a feeeeling i might hear from you today.
Ted Williamsburg: I was relieved when neither the Times or NY1 had a story about a white, mid-30s jumper on the Brooklyn Bridge
The Wayward O: tell me this, honestly.... when i pinged you [Sunday] ... i never claimed victory right? i just basically said Guthrie was having a great game and i was enjoying it
Ted Williamsburg: That's true, in discussing it with GF and one other person I noted that you weren't jinxing yourself or your nine
The Wayward O: excellent. i'm glad to hear that.
Ted Williamsburg: If you had, you'd a heard from me a lot sooner
The Wayward O: i think -- aside from the ortiz and varitek hits -- the sawx were bystanders, witnesses to a self-inflicted calamity.
Ted Williamsburg: Oh, totally
Ted Williamsburg: That said, Yukes was safe
The Wayward O: i didn't go back and really eyeball the force at home.
The Wayward O: but it's the kind of thing that can propel a team like the sox and give 'em a sense of destiny
Ted Williamsburg: Absolutely
Ted Williamsburg: I said to a Yankee fan that if the Sox hold onto the division, that will be looked upon as the day they took control
Ted Williamsburg: Especially with NY wasting a nice effort by Andy while getting cuffed by a no-name
The Wayward O: true that. the only bright spot is Os are about to hit the easiest portion of their sked.
The Wayward O: if we're not at .500 or above it on june 26, then heads will roll.
Ted Williamsburg: Sox next 22 games are against teams with a win percentage of .560
The Wayward O: yeah.
Ted Williamsburg: They Yanks are against teams .590
The Wayward O: Os had a tough sked in april. now they get the NL West and the Nats.
Ted Williamsburg: Nats can do wonders for a team
The Wayward O: so --- if perlozzo hasn't lost the clubhouse maybe they shake off the Mother's Day Massacre and keep playing hard.
Ted Williamsburg: Pulling your pitcher because your catcher dropped a pop out is f*cking retarded, I can't imagine him hanging too much longer
The Wayward O: you should see the balto blogs. to a man they're calling for his head.
The Wayward O: folks are comparing to the maier game in terms of level of agony.
Ted Williamsburg: How do you not?
Ted Williamsburg: Higher stakes in the Maier game, but SUnday was totally self-inflicted
The Wayward O: right .... and as i said on the camden chat blog (prior to collapse) "This is as big as it gets in May"
Ted Williamsburg: big = bad

the critics rave

wayward oriole woke up early. he heard birds chirping and saw may sunshine. then reality hit a few moments later... DID. That. HAPPEN????

yes. yes it did.

wayward oriole could not go back to sleep. so he took a spin around the internet just to see how the mother's day massacre resonated with bloggers, players, managers, and writers:

"Jeremy Guthrie probably should have stayed in" -- ap wire's game recap, lead sentence

"Guthrie had thrown 91 pitches and given up only three hits. The Red Sox were certainly happy to see him go." -- jeff zrebiec, baltimore sun writer

"what if Guthrie had given up a 420-foot out? That would have been OK?" -- bob ryan, boston globe story

"...we had no chance" -- david ortiz, on jeremy guthrie's performance

"I'm glad he got taken out" -- kevin youkilis, on perlozzo's decision to pull guthrie

"I’ve been reluctant to criticize Perlozzo too harshly ... you have to lay the blame for this one squarely on his shoulders." -- the loss column

"I really feel terrible for Guthrie." -- kevin millar

"Unconscionable ..."

"There is no adequate English for what I saw last night."

"They deserve a playoff worthy manager"

"I never think it's the manager. Today ... it is."

"Perlozzo said he would have made the same decision again ... That is a cause for concern, there should be a learning curve somewhere."

"Perlozzo ... has no business running a major league baseball team"

"Normally I'm not the guy calling for anyone to get fired ... Sorry Sam"

"As soon as I saw Perlozzo come out of the dugout, God as my witness, I said, 'We're going to lose this game. You watch. ... Ask my mother-in-law: that's what I said."

"Second-rate management" -- commenters on Kubatko's Balt. Sun blog and Camden Chat

and, last but not least:

"Game should have been over" -- orioles manager sam perlozzo

indeed.

and lest, dear reader, you think wayward oriole is cherry picking, wayward oriole sought comment from those who did not think perlozzo is to blame. there were a few -- and far between -- but what they offered were essentially two points: hindsight is clear and it's more angelos than anything else. not really, but even so that doesn't negate any of the above.

the wing-man

yankees cry. but they no nothing of injuries. Os too have minus three starters now. minus four if you want to count John Maine. dagger!

adam loewen is not the yOung savior. he is the second canadian; he is the unheralded hero; he is like the guy in 'the last king of scotland' who frees the creepy doctor to save uganda and is shot dead.

he is the second vector.

the unseen force of change.

the quiet mollusk waiting in the sand.

and in 2008 when Orioles bring back same 2007 squad minus a certain red-haired DH and plus a real DH then lOewen will reclaim his position as the Canadian Coronator or as some of you may know him: Lefty No. 2 from the Great White North. The cold cut clipper.

The Wing-Man.

Wayward O feels like the 2007 team is gelling; toughening up; relearning what it means to inherit the mantle of Brooks Robinson, Earl Weaver and Eddie Murray. Except they can't get a hit ... last night's win over Cleveland was a rare gem to be savored when the darkness sets in.

Meantime ... Wayward O feels like Brian Burres might have a little bit of fight in him. Four inning's worth apprOximatley.

wing man. please rest your fracture
and when you make your return
orioles will hit the ball to the outfield
with a man on third
and a Win shall be yours.

detrOit rock city

wayward O trifled with hope as Os had nice first two weeks but now he sees that without a real DH Orioles are officially not having even a small chance of a miracle run later in the year.

what wayward O is saying is ... Os are done. done for another year. ok play hard, see how the pitchers pan out. then get a fucking DH for lineup. or get one now and try to contend.

this isn't all bad news because now t.w.O. can focus on important things, such as how molly ringwald did the anthem before today's um sweep in detroit. this is molly from today, along with a certain other fellow who came to mind when wayward O saw molly's picture:



um. that's molly on the right. oh say can you see the resemblance?

chernObyl

wayward O feels great exhaustion at watching Orioles last two days vs As because As were all, "here, please win," and Os were all, "no. you. i insist." in fact, play was so poor, wayward O feels he can say little when NY and RedSox fanZ smirk smugly and say, "ha, Orioles." just like that. wayward O wishes to purge the following images from last two losses:

· tejada standing near, not stepping on, second to force out runner
· roberts not taking easy out at first
· mora bunting w/ man on 3rd and one out
· corey not running from 2nd on base hit
· walking in runner
· shitty at-bats; first-pitch grounderZ
· mora booting EZ groundballZ and then not covering 3rd
· Jim Palmer's shmoozy little takes

As DL'd their ace and then also lost their Swishy Swisher today and Os ... are giving Wayward O an existential meltdown not unlike when Raskolnikov almost blew up Death Star but realized he forgot proper ID and he was naked and failed his midterm exams because he was being chased by crocodiles and kept slipping in mud and couldn't run away...

two dead endZ

two days. two blown leads. oh and two. twos are wild! daniel cabrera looked good last night. but there wasn't any clutch hitting.

orioles really really need ramOn behind the plate and in the lineup.

comment update: yesterday we cavalierly promised to abandon google comments and install haloscan. but aytch-scan's blogger install wizard goes off the rails right at step one and there's no satifsying answer to the problem in haloscan's forums.

on the blogger forums, wayward O spies this warning:

Just letting everyone know, the auto Installer for the New Blogger that Haloscan
has, is BROKE and The guy that runs Haloscan, doesn't seem to be interested in
fixing it either. I've e-mailed him, tried leaving feedback in the forums, he
even went as far as to put my postings on moderate, so, I couldn't post that it
was broke. So, the word to the wise... Don't use Haloscan, unless you know how
to manually make it work with the new blogger!!!!

wayward O is either:

• one of several newbie jackasses who can't figure out how to make it past a screwed up install wizard or
• just bystander in a war of passive aggression between google and haloscan

either way he isn't going near any massive template changes until he's sure he'll be able to back out of things go badly. (wayward O wishes he could say same for 2007 Os but there's no backing up now.)

so for now we stick with google's lumbering, crappy comments system.

oh and One

so we lost to twinks last night ... wayward o just took a spin around the BaltoSphere and what he sees is a bunch of despondent fans ready to fall on their swords already.

relax. it's hard to beat the twins in the metrodome ... especially behind their ace.

erik bedard had a shaky outing but the bullpen surrendered only one run in 3+ innings.

wayward O was excited to see gibbons seeing the ball well (two doubles) and the Cake throwing out runners from right field.

wayward O was sad to see ramOn out of the lineup ... paul bako played hard but he was clearly shook after his collision with morneau and somehow we think the critical passed-ball later in the game was a result of the collision.

wayward O didn't know this: the devil rays do not have a left-hander in their bullpen! maybe Os can send todd williams over there, he's a righty too!

a programming nOte: Wayward O is dumping google comment as soon as there is time and going to haloscan.

steaming viddy O

folks have been getting their mlb.com re-up emails this week. despite being a longtime customer, wayward o did not receive his.

last year the wayward o did not know mlb would automatically renew subscription to gameday audiO. so wayward o went ahead and re-subscribed. then wayward o was charged twice!!! wayward o chirped and chirped but nobody would listen. wayward o ate the extra charge just like that. it made wayward o think of his favorite movie poem:

fifteen bucks, little man
put that shit, in my hand
this year wayward o is more wary. he calls mlb.com friday and waits on hold for 35 minutes. he gets a customer rep on the line, who explains the site isn't re-upping automatically this year because of the firestorm the automatic re-ups created between the 05 and 06 seasons. apparently t.w.o. wasn't the only sucka who got billed twice.

wayward o suggests to the customer rep, let's sign me up for a package over the phone just to make sure we don't have repeat of the double-billing fiasco. sure, says mlb.com rep ... let's do that.

but wait ... despite the fact that wayward o can log in to the mlb site, customer rep has no information on file about wayward o. rep explains, 'our database only goes back six months.' rep also says wayward o's current subscription is valid until march 31 2007. rep makes these claims despite the fact that wayward o CAN login but CANNOT listen to audio streams.

wayward o points this out, rep confirms, rep has no explanation. wayward o says to rep, 'i know this isn't your fault, but your system is really awful. just terrible.' rep says, more or less, 'yes, yes it really is...'

meanwhile, springtime happy winfest is going on as they speak. and wayward o wishes to harness the power of the internets and watch said happy spring winfest. so what does wayward o do? he signs up for the mlb tv online package and says, in effect, damn the torpedOes.

wayward o remarks to a friend at the office: they got what i want. and there's not a damn thing i can do about it except pay the money and wonder how many times they'll charge me this year!

on a postive note, the signup was easy and within seconds of handing over the wayward credit card number t.w.o. was streaming friday's game.

just to recap:

--- mlb.com's customer interface is an unmitigated disaster
--- and it's not a secret to them
--- they may or may not bill you twice
--- you won't know until you are billed twice
--- it takes half a day just to get someone on the phone
--- if you do get them on the phone, it won't help
--- they will take your money, however, without any problems

i guess that's what happens when you deal with the monopoly.

happy spring winfest

so many positive vibrations emanating from Os camp!!

eras are low, batting averages are high and nobody on the roster has been fingered in the latest steroid miasma!!!

we're so used to the wheelz coming off, however... will steve trachsel get in a bar fight with an everglades airboat captain? will hayden penn run over a manatee and flee the scene? will kevin millar make fun of melvin mora's threads and ruin the lockerroom happytime?

the wayward O is excited! the wayward O is worried! the wayward O is cold because it's 13 degrees in brooklyn.

do the yankees really jump up and down at home plate when they win a spring training game? yet another reason to loathe them.

trembling...

miguel tejada is running up and down the bleachers like rocky

jay gibbons is taking extra fielding practice

brian roberts is finally healthy

corey patterson apparently slept on a park bench in lauderdale all winter he was so excited for the season

chad bradford is knuckle dragging

chriz gomez is bragging about his magic johnson gameworns

millar is cracking on everybody, hoping nobody notices a) his hair and b) how over the hill he is

kris benson swears he and steve trachsel were like 'ships in the night' at shea and promises to play baseball for years and years to come once they weld his arm back on

peter schmuck is listening to the parrots and pondering boredom, yankee spies and the bigger things in life

the manager says the Os will fight for a playoff spot

the hope is palpable. so is the fear

mazzOne

rumor has it that hayden penn has ALREADY SHAVED his youthful moustache but from the what the wayward O understands about the teams facial-hair policy, moustaches are not taboo. is it possible hayden plans to trade in the "pushbroom" for the "waterfront"?

this baffling development led us to a wild bout of googling, and our curiously quickly turned to depression when we ran into this little nugget from june 25, 2005 in the washington post:

The Orioles have lost four of five and are out of first place for the first time since April 22. Meantime, the Red Sox have won 10 of 11.

featuring this heartbreaking photo of the moustachio-non moustachoied golden child!!!

how i remember that day. as a member of the diaspOra, i felt powerless against all the new york media types who for months had sanguinely predicted the birdies' downfall. and then we all had to LIVE IT. even though we know it didn't have to be that way ... bedard had a phantom injury and matos and lopez both had real injuries. and ... THE WAYWARD O DIGRESSES. let us not wallow in this bit of history.

who will take the golden child from the realm of young promise to the cold, hard reality of october? unlike john maine he's not likely to be traded, at least at this point, to the mets or another contenda. the answer?

the mazzone!!!!!!!!


if depth of experience and ampleness of backside has anything to do with success in the big leagues, which judging by the yankees and red sox it does, then he's got us covered. he will get penn to beef up, and leave his slender, youthful days behind, and win us some damn ballgamez!!!!

make ya do a double take

just when you think the wayward O has suffered enough, spring training starts.

and then there's this:



did the oriole bird just lick the foot of RAYMOND the TAMPA BAY DEVILRAY MASCOT?

MY EYES! THEY ARE BURNING !!!

and don't even get me started on erik bedard.

still in beta, thanks and getting closer....

hi Os fanzzzz!! thanks to darvin from wizznutzz a billion dollars for helping with the header graphic. t.w.o. still hasn't figured out how to kind of put it up there without basically klooghacking the google css sheet but you get the idea.

LOOK AT HIM. he has wandered too long. nine year in the cold with out a sniff of octOber. one day we shall return to the glorious lights and bask in tim mccarver's rambalingz. and Jeanne Zelasko with her funky hair do will be all "this is a team that has been dogged by CONTROVERSY" since the laywer with the GIANT Head bought it and turned it into an asbestOs removal project instead of removing asbestos we removed the heart and soul.

also WE HAVE DOGGEDLY UNCOVERED THE FACT that the washington post still actually covers the orioles even though the snoottiness of REMOVING Os from its SPORTS NAV is not lost and time shall not diminish the greatness of this ignOminy-ous betrayal!!!!!!

the WAYWARD O and the WAYWARD BRO hereby promise to shout OOOOh real loudlike at rfk during a Narts game anthem again in OH SEVEN.

first pOst

the wayward oriole is in beta. but there are already so much things happening!

kris benson is tougher-outer. i liked him in the rote. not invincible, but definitely plays hard. steve trachsel has shown flashes of brilliance interspersed with long stretches of dulderness.