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Former Royals manager Tony Pena understands the box Orioles manager Dave Trembley is in: You don't want to lose games in September, but you need to give your young players as much field time as possible. (Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron / August 2, 2009) |
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With two more losses, the Orioles will clinch their 12th consecutive sub-.500 season, the second-longest active losing streak in the majors behind only the Pittsburgh Pirates.
If the Orioles (54-80) drop 10 of their final 28 games, they will register their seventh season of 90 or more defeats in their past nine campaigns. They had lost 90 or more games only five times from the club's 1954 inception through 2000.
Yet, throughout the darkest period in team history, there has been one silver lining: The Orioles have managed to avoid the 100-loss mark in each of the past 11 seasons.
The Orioles have plummeted to 100 losses, considered the benchmark of futility, only twice in their 55-year history: the 1954 inaugural season and in 1988, when they started 0-21 on their way to a franchise-worst 107 defeats.
Given the club's current record, its brutal schedule the next few weeks and a roster lacking experience and depleted by trades and injuries, 2009 has the potential to become the first 100-loss season in Charm City in 21 years.
"It's not a number to be proud of," said veteran infielder Ty Wigginton, who played on a 101-loss Tampa Bay Devil Rays team in 2006. "But I don't see us getting to 100 this year. And, hopefully, I am not on another one of those teams."
Since 2000, 14 teams have lost 100 games or more in a season. Besides the Orioles, the Washington Nationals, Kansas City Royals and Pirates are the prime candidates to hit the dubious mark in 2009.
The Orioles are a major league-worst 14-32 since the All-Star break, a .304 winning percentage. In the second half, the club has traded its closer ( George Sherrill) and cleanup hitter ( Aubrey Huff), lost its most effective starter (Brad Bergesen) and lone All-Star (Adam Jones) to injuries and announced that its most promising pitching prospects (Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz) will be shut down later this month.
To make matters worse, the Orioles' next 15 games - and 19 of 28 - are against four of the five best teams, record-wise, in the American League. They will have to close the season at 9-19 to avoid 100 losses; incidentally, in their past 28 games, they went 9-19.
"Nobody wants to lose 100 games under any circumstances," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "Despite whatever our won-loss record is, this was going to be a season that had real purpose for this franchise. ... It's going to be a season that we look back on favorably to the extent that we were able to introduce nine players who are 25 and under to the major leagues and to our fans."
Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts hasn't been on a winning team in his nine-season big league career. This year's club, regardless of its final record, is better than some of the previous incarnations, he said.
"It's hard to win with five 20-year-olds pitching or whatever we have," Roberts said. "But talent-wise, heck no, it's not even close to the worst team that I've ever been on."
Still, Roberts said, losing 100 doesn't hold any significance within the clubhouse.
"It's just a number," Roberts said. "You don't make the playoffs, what difference does it make? In the long run, if Boston were to miss the playoffs, they didn't have any better year than we did. I don't think the number 100 really matters to any of us. Maybe, if we lost more than any team has ever lost, it would matter."
The 100-loss valley likely matters more to a manager than to players, since it might be his name forever linked to it in the history books.
Orioles manager Dave Trembley, usually effusive on baseball subjects, politely declined to comment on the possibility of losing 100 games, saying he preferred to concentrate on the positives.
Really, that's all he can do, said New York Yankees bench coach Tony Pena.
Pena took over as Royals manager in May 2002, when the club was 13-23. The Royals finished that year 62-100, then went 83-79 in 2003, earning Pena the AL Manager of the Year Award. But the Royals lost 104 games under Pena in 2004 and he resigned the next May.
"Of course, you don't want to lose 100 games. You try to avoid that. You try to touch every single option to stay away from that," Pena said. "When you manage, you only can do so many things. It's also up to the players to execute. If you have players who can't execute, you are going to lose 100 games no matter what."
For an overmatched, rebuilding team, September becomes a balancing act between attempting to win and giving young players valuable experience, Pena said.
If the Orioles (54-80) drop 10 of their final 28 games, they will register their seventh season of 90 or more defeats in their past nine campaigns. They had lost 90 or more games only five times from the club's 1954 inception through 2000.
Yet, throughout the darkest period in team history, there has been one silver lining: The Orioles have managed to avoid the 100-loss mark in each of the past 11 seasons.
The Orioles have plummeted to 100 losses, considered the benchmark of futility, only twice in their 55-year history: the 1954 inaugural season and in 1988, when they started 0-21 on their way to a franchise-worst 107 defeats.
Given the club's current record, its brutal schedule the next few weeks and a roster lacking experience and depleted by trades and injuries, 2009 has the potential to become the first 100-loss season in Charm City in 21 years.
"It's not a number to be proud of," said veteran infielder Ty Wigginton, who played on a 101-loss Tampa Bay Devil Rays team in 2006. "But I don't see us getting to 100 this year. And, hopefully, I am not on another one of those teams."
Since 2000, 14 teams have lost 100 games or more in a season. Besides the Orioles, the Washington Nationals, Kansas City Royals and Pirates are the prime candidates to hit the dubious mark in 2009.
The Orioles are a major league-worst 14-32 since the All-Star break, a .304 winning percentage. In the second half, the club has traded its closer ( George Sherrill) and cleanup hitter ( Aubrey Huff), lost its most effective starter (Brad Bergesen) and lone All-Star (Adam Jones) to injuries and announced that its most promising pitching prospects (Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz) will be shut down later this month.
To make matters worse, the Orioles' next 15 games - and 19 of 28 - are against four of the five best teams, record-wise, in the American League. They will have to close the season at 9-19 to avoid 100 losses; incidentally, in their past 28 games, they went 9-19.
"Nobody wants to lose 100 games under any circumstances," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "Despite whatever our won-loss record is, this was going to be a season that had real purpose for this franchise. ... It's going to be a season that we look back on favorably to the extent that we were able to introduce nine players who are 25 and under to the major leagues and to our fans."
Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts hasn't been on a winning team in his nine-season big league career. This year's club, regardless of its final record, is better than some of the previous incarnations, he said.
"It's hard to win with five 20-year-olds pitching or whatever we have," Roberts said. "But talent-wise, heck no, it's not even close to the worst team that I've ever been on."
Still, Roberts said, losing 100 doesn't hold any significance within the clubhouse.
"It's just a number," Roberts said. "You don't make the playoffs, what difference does it make? In the long run, if Boston were to miss the playoffs, they didn't have any better year than we did. I don't think the number 100 really matters to any of us. Maybe, if we lost more than any team has ever lost, it would matter."
The 100-loss valley likely matters more to a manager than to players, since it might be his name forever linked to it in the history books.
Orioles manager Dave Trembley, usually effusive on baseball subjects, politely declined to comment on the possibility of losing 100 games, saying he preferred to concentrate on the positives.
Really, that's all he can do, said New York Yankees bench coach Tony Pena.
Pena took over as Royals manager in May 2002, when the club was 13-23. The Royals finished that year 62-100, then went 83-79 in 2003, earning Pena the AL Manager of the Year Award. But the Royals lost 104 games under Pena in 2004 and he resigned the next May.
"Of course, you don't want to lose 100 games. You try to avoid that. You try to touch every single option to stay away from that," Pena said. "When you manage, you only can do so many things. It's also up to the players to execute. If you have players who can't execute, you are going to lose 100 games no matter what."
For an overmatched, rebuilding team, September becomes a balancing act between attempting to win and giving young players valuable experience, Pena said.
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"It's just a number," Roberts said. "You don't make the playoffs, what difference does it make? In the long run, if Boston were to miss the playoffs, they didn't have any better year than we did. I don't think the number 100 really matters to any of us. Maybe, if we lost more than any team has ever lost, it would matter."
Hey Brian....
Keep up the good work and maybe the team WILL lose more than any team has ever lost. You're still going to be an Oriole for quite awhile. Nothings impossible!
Why didn't you go to the Cubs when they wanted you? You wearing that "C" on your cap would have been SWEET! Far as I'm concerned, The O's will lose 90 every year as long as your around.
mrohde11 (09/05/2009, 9:48 AM )