Build it Anyway

I was sitting in the Doctor's Office, waiting for the doc to call me in for my throat exam. So, like any self respecting blog owner/operator, I looked in the Sporting News to steal a story. Of course, I am just kidding.

Wink Wink.

So, as I was saying, I fished through all the old editions of Home and Garden and The Cosmopolitan until I came across salvation in the form of the February Edition of the Sporting News. So I am flipping through the articles, skeptically analyzing the moronic writing styles of less gifted journalists, when I come across a ranking of each major league's infields. I read each analysis intently until I reach the fifth or sixth ranked infield. See, cause thats when I realized the Orioles had not yet been mentioned. I feared the worst. I reluctantly turned my attention to the bottom right corner of the page. There, the regular black ink used in the magazine seemed to glow a bright neon orange. To the right of the number 14, the number of teams in the American League as well as the number of teams listed on the page, was the name Baltimore Orioles.

I sighed. What else could I do? I was in public. I closed the magazine and put it down. I tried to deny it. It couldn't be true. A strong infield (both fielding and hitting) was always part of the Oriole Way. Think about the great infielders the Orioles have produced: Cal, Eddie, Dave Johnson, Roberto Alomar, and of course Mr. Oriole, The greatest fielder ever, Brooks Robinson. And thats when I realized, that is the past. The Orioles aren't the Orioles of Old, the "gritty but suave", "pitching and defense", "Oriole Way" Birds that we wish they were.

Angelos is rebuilding. We can all see that. He trades away our two most well known players (Miggy and Beddy) for a bunch of rookie/washed up pitchers and light hitting outfielders. He is sifting through mud and hoping to find diamonds. He has the right idea, but the wrong execution. The thing that made the Orioles so great in the past was the Farm System. Most of the best O's of all time were playing for the Rochester Red Wings at some point, or maybe some other O's affiliate. Cal did it. Eddie did it. Brooksie did it, too. Bedard was brought from the farm, and so was Markakis. Looking for diamonds is smart, but taking coal and turning it into diamonds is, in many ways, smarter.

So where do we go from here? I think we should take a page from Shaq's newest book and start to focus on defense. But what do I know. I 'm a traditionalist. This is a new kind of baseball that we are heading into. But maybe not as new as you'd think...

Thanks to the Mitchell Report, steroids use is going to crawl back from wheres't it came. The game will be less power and more finesse, more speed, more pitching, more defense. A nice change of course as far as I am concerned.

Let's be honest, we aren't exactly a frightening spectacle. B Rob is our only threat on the base paths(because we have yet to resign Corey Patterson). Power Hitting Responsibilities falls onto Markakis and Millar. Fielding is solely displayed through the miraculous works of Ramon Hernandez. Beddy was traded away for five Mariners (Help me Daniel Cabrera, your'e my only hope). It's not hard to say we are in need of some reconstruction( is this how the people of New Orleans feel?)

I just realized how many parentheses I used in that last paragraph.

Let's stop examining my choice in grammatical punctuation and get to the point. The O's are rebuilding, and this building may take a few years to finish. And who knows what could happen? The building could go up without a hitch, or is could crumble and fall onto the unsuspecting construction workers below. But I am willing to put my faith in the possibiity that, despite the evidence that surrounds me that proves otherwise, the building will be built strong and tall, with corner offices and classy elevators with descent music, with a big penant that stands proudly at the top, blowing marvelously in the wind.

I am so naive.