We are officially one month out from “pitchers and catchers” ladies and gentlemen! WOOOOOO, right? Woo?
After making two fairly quick and well-received moves the Orioles have been largely dormant. Rumors put them in the Matt Holliday running, but logic dictated otherwise. The Orioles were legitimately in the Adam LaRoche running and according to Roch the Orioles offered the same money that he took from the D-backs, but he opted for Arizona. Fair enough I suppose, but I genuinely thought that he would be an Oriole.
Aside from that there has not been a lot of action to talk about. On top of all of this the Orioles announced the “walk-up” surcharge which is pretty stupid but not something I am sharpening my pitchfork over. Most fans plan in advance to go to the game nowadays, but there is still a walk-up crowd of city-dwellers. They probably make up something like 3-7% of the crowd on a good day so the fees impact a relatively small portion of the fanbase – but that just so happens to be me this time. I guess that my girlfriend and other friends decided on a spur of the moment game at least 10-12 times last year. Will the extra buck stop us from doing that? Nah, don’t see that happening but it is still a bit of a let down.
The real bad thing about this price-change is that, with no other real Oriole news to talk about, it is the focus of the reporting and the negative nancies re coming out of the wood-works using this new policy as a launching pad to dredge up every slight, real or imagined, against them. That can be rather tedious.
An interesting thread was started over at Orioles Hangout the other day. “Assuming the Orioles make no other moves…are you still excited [for the start of the season]?” Of course I am always excited for the start of any baseball season. Yesterday I was at the mall decked out in my Adam Jones orange shirt and ’88 Orioles hat (the best looking hat ever made in baseball history) and a young lady making me a coffee asked me if I was a “big Oriole fan?” Now, I wear my Oriole swag so often that I don’t think of them as “Orioles” shirts anymore, they are just part of my average rotation. My girlfriend chuckled as I began to awkwardly answer the question – fighting the urge to go into full level five fanboy mode. We were in public and decorum must be respected. Her older manager then began to regale us of stories of Memorial Stadium and the good’ol days.
I went through that little diversion to better explain my answer – I am always excited about baseball, but I am VERY excited about this team. I can honestly say that I am as excited about this team as I was at the beginning of that glorious spring of ’05. In fact more-so. The Orioles may not make another move before Spring Training, though I am sure they will, but that was never the point of 2010. Success in 2010 will not hinge on any of the potential acquisitions – it all rests on the shoulders of the Orioles’ young players.
As outlined in this recent Boston Herald article:
While the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are rightfully viewed as the Red Sox chief competition in the division, the Baltimore Orioles have very stealthily, and quickly, laid the groundwork for what could be a long-awaited Camden Yards renaissance…
The Orioles have no shortage of building blocks. Right fielder Nick Markakis is a legitimate No. 3 hitter whose power should blossom at age 26. Center fielder Adam Jones is coming off his first Gold Glove and All-Star appearance. Second baseman Brian Roberts is a two-time All-Star. Left fielder Nolan Reimold made a push for 2009 AL Rookie of the Year.
Then there’s Wieters…
But more importantly than that group of players is the young pitching. The Orioles pitching staff was the worst in the American League last year. With some valuable experience under their collective belt and an an entire year on the mound one can get positively giddy at the what Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman can accomplish. Not to mention a healthy Brad Bergesen and don’t forget Jake Arrieta in the minors. It is very easy to get excited about this core group of players.
There are always going to be people that sit on the sidelines and whine when the Orioles fail to make a big “headline catching” move during the offseason. And those fans are right to a point. Would Matt Holliday have made the Orioles better? Most certainly, it is impossible to really disagree with that. Would Roy Halladay have made the Orioles better? Most certainly. If those things had happened would people have been complaining about a day-of-game surcharge? Probably not nearly as loudly. But things are what they are. The Orioles were not in a position to go all in on one or two of these guys – the season does not rest on the shoulders of Matt Holliday, with or without him the season will be carried by the above names. And that is a very exciting prospect.
Those who wish to continue to help the nation of Haiti I strongly suggest donating to Doctors Without Borders, an organization that does a lot of good and does not nearly get all the press it deserves. Also, while you donate your dollars to the American Red Cross, why not donate a pint as well. That blood will most likely remain local, but it is always needed.
