So Long Sammy

Wow. I had this great post ready about the movie Groundhog Day and how the Orioles last month has resembled that storyline (Bill Murray's goes through the same exact day over and over). Starter goes 7. Offense scores just enough to make it a game. Then the bullpen blows it. The D-back series captured that all in a nutshell. I'd have tossed in some vitriol about lack of clutch hitting and more power droughts, while lauding the gutsy performances of Bedard, Cabrera, and Burres.

But then came Monday's news. Sammy is out.

Shocking? I guess not. Unfortunate? Hard to say. I've certainly had my vitriol against his performance. I saw John Kruk do a Baseball Tonight commentary on the Orioles decision and said that the manager isn't at fault and that the Orioles are simply a mess and that the offense was to blame. Umm. OK John. I don't disagree with sending blame to the offense, but it might help if you actually watched a couple of games. Yes, the orioles are a mess. Yes, they are have underachieved. Yes, I don't know where the power has gone. But whenever we talk about a manager being fired, we always say "they're not the ones that pitch the ball or hit the ball." Thanks for the insight. In the history of baseball, there are rarely times when manager have hit the ball (they usually call themselves "player-managers" and I can'r remember one since Pete Rose). But managers do get fired and some of them desreve it. In this case, if you isolate the manager's performance, Sammy has made a LOT of questionable moves. In an interview, he said he never felt a move he made cost the team the game. Apparently that includes pulling Guthrie in the 9th inning of the Mother's Day massacre. Or letting Baez pitch to Giambi at Yankee Stadium when Walker was ready. Or letting Gibbons hit against Embree even though Gibbons was struggling and right-handed Melvin Mora was sitting on the bench. Bradford and Walker were being used and abused while Scott Williamson was checking into the witness relocation program. Players defended Perlozzo on Sunday, but their defense almost seemed to be a by-product of the media constantly reminding everyone that no one was defending him.

So, Perlozzo-haters, are we saved? No, probably not. Personally, I do still think this team can have a successful season. Of course, I am a bit of an optimist (let's call me the "frustrated optimist"). The offense and bullpen can't continue this way and if ONE of them plays to their capaibility, this is a 500 team if the starting pitching continues. Kruk points out the anemic offense, but the A's and Braves have been winning for years with so-so offense. They just have had untouchable starting pitching. With Bedard and Guthrie (assuming he can maintain momentum), there's no reason this team can't finish 500. Can Joe Girardi do it? I don't know. I do know this--the last two Oriole manager were first time major-league managers and it showed. Grover wasn't great, but given the talent he was given , he may have been the best of the not-so-fab four that have managed since Davey Johnson left (when do we start calling this schneid "The Curse of the Davey" the way Boston lamented over "the curse of the Babe" for years?). The orioles needs someone with experience. Someone new to the org. Maybe Girardi, but I wouldn't say no to Davey Johnson or Dusty Baker (wiht all that has happened in Baltimore in 10 years, Davey might as well be new). I'm sure Dave Tremblay would be a legitimate candidate, but I don't know if he is what the team needs now.

So, the post-Perlozzo era begins tonight in San Diego with the Orioles taking on arguably the National League's best pitcher while on an 8-game losing streak. Great. How long before we start calling for Tremblay's head.