Orioles Poised For Greatness--Is Trembley Ready To Lead?

Sam Dingman — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:52:26 -0400

It was disappointing to see the O's lose a winnable game, but I also don't think the defensive issues that cost them the victory last night are going to be a long-term problem.

Then again, perhaps it is a noteworthy issue, since the club's principal struggle (besides an almost total lack of capable starting pitchers) seems to be putting all of the parts of the game together. For the most part, they get terrible pitching when they score enough runs to win, or fail to score any runs when they get decent pitching,

Or in this case, make stupid defensive and base-running mistakes in close games they ought to win. My feeling is that the kind of cohesion required to correct this kind of thing can only come from an overall attitude shift—the team has to play with an awareness of its youthful potential. I'm not saying that won't come soon enough--but it ain't here yet.

A thornier question might be whether or not Dave Trembley is the right manager to bring about such a large-scale emotional sea-change. Not that Trembley isn't a capable manager—I think he does an extraordinary job with young players, providing them with patience and support rather than pressuring them into feeling like their jobs are on the line every second of every game.

At the same time, he made the right call with Felix Pie, who couldn't get the job done when Reimold did, and was accordingly benched. He also seems capable of managing the egos of his veterans. Both Luke Scott and Ty Wigginton have complained in print about certain team decisions this year, but it doesn't seem to have infected the team dynamic or adversely affected either players on-field performance.

His recent lineup-tinkering, batting Markakis second and Jones third against lefties, is both strategically shrewd and well-timed. The Orioles somnambulent offense is in need of a shake-up. He has also shown himself to be extremely adept at using the bullpen to its maximum capacity without running everybody down—and that's with a starting rotation that forces him to turn to the 'pen far more than he should have to.

So we can be certain that Trembley is an excellent manager in the truest sense of the word—his ability to manage his players to play at the peak of their potential is unquestionable. However, this much is to be expected from a man who spent twenty-some seasons toiling in the minor leagues, where his principal role is to do just that—bring players along to the point where they are ready to compete at the major league level.

The thing that Trembley has never been asked to do is win. After twelve excruciating seasons, Orioles fans suddenly find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having a team that is capable of winning at least as many games as it loses. And dammit, they're ready to see what that feels like.

None of this is to say that Trembley should lose his job, necessarily. But it does seem, to this life-long O's fan at least, that Trembley may be a more ideal bench coach, whereas someone like Art Howe, say, who guided the youthful Oakland Athletics to four consecutive winning seasons and three playoff berths from 1999-2002, may be better-suited to a team like our Orioles, perched ever so precariously on the cusp of greatness, and in dire need of a kick in the ass.

Mine Is a World of Maddening Intrigue

Sam Dingman — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:47:11 -0400

With just a few more days to go before the regular season begins, I am obsessively checking the SEAL (Semi-Employed All-Stars League) home page in hopes that BREAKING NEWS will await me.

Other than Brian Roberts' bizarre ailment, which does not look like it will keep him out of the Opening Day lineup, my current fantasy league strategy is sitting on my hands to prevent myself from pointlessly signing free agents.

Jeremy Hermida has had a monster spring! But he hit .249 last season! And how will his production be affected by his placement in the lineup relative to Cameron Maybin and HanRam?

There has been a distinct dearth of news regarding Jay Bruce of late–THIS CLEARLY MEANS I SHOULD DROP BRUCE IN FAVOR OF HERMIDA, right? No? How is Jim Thome’s back today? Maybe I should drop him–WAIT A MINUTE, I can’t drop a first-ballot Hall of Famer in favor of a 25-year-old with just two full seasons under his belt, can I?

Of course I can–fantasy baseball is all about gambling on breakout seasons, right? AAAH! Hands...off...mouse...NOW! Must...read...about...um...politics?

I followed the most recent presidential cycle obsessively, allowing entire days of my life to be swallowed up by various campaign intrigues which I cannot now remember.

I would feel bad about this, except that the guy I voted for got elected President, and it’s relatively easy to make the mental leap to presuming that my hyperventilated mashing of the Refresh button on various political blogs had something to do with his success, and is therefore somehow related to the General Well-Being of the World.

So what does it say about me that I am, if anything, even MORE consumed by the pre-season minutiae of the upcoming baseball season, about which there is far less news–to say nothing of its decreased significance regarding the General Well-Being of the World?

I am too busy to think about this at present; I am currently attempting to determine the relative weight of Jered Weaver’s potential statistics as compared to Gil Meche, who is still unsigned and has far superior stuff, but pitches for a far inferior team and received mysteriously mediocre stat projections from both Bill James and Baseball Prospectus.

Additionally, I am deeply involved in my planning for Opening Day of the 2009 Prospect Park Wiffle Ball League, which will be played according to the Official Wiffle Ball Rules–which, interestingly, are quite different from the rules of Regular Baseball.

What the rules fail to mention is whether or not the use of a strike-zone/backstop is recommended, and if so how large it should be. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS AND IMPORTANT QUESTION.

The site says each team should have a catcher, but if this is the case then who serves as umpire? ALSO, what is the meaning of this:

The batter can strike out only if he/she swings at a pitched ball and does not foul tip the third strike. Foul tips count as a strike for the first two strikes only. A foul tip caught in back of the batters box does not count as an out.
Fly balls caught in fair or foul territory
Ground balls caught while the ball is in motion, in fair territory. Bunting is not allowed and the batter cannot obtain a base on balls.

Am I to assume, then, that no strike zone is in fact necessary? That an at-bat continues until the batter either strikes out or puts the ball in play? Plus, here is the real question: does it really matter, since a world in which Felix Pie gets the starting left-field job over Ty Wigginton is not a world in which I care to live?

Bleacher Report - Articles by Sam Dingman

Orioles Poised For Greatness--Is Trembley Ready To Lead?

Mine Is a World of Maddening Intrigue