The Baltimore Orioles played the last two weeks with resolve and gritty determination, playing the role of the spoiler on several occasions. As a city, we couldn't be prouder of the way the Os literally destroyed any Red Sox hopes of advancing to the postseason. Call it our own "Waterloo" if you will. We haven't witnessed meaningful baseball in this city in quite a long time, and I must add it felt great.

But before we get too giddy about their performance the last two weeks, let's step back into reality. The team played with lots of heart the past few weeks. The truth is that this team still needs higher caliber talent at certain positions (e.g. pitching) to catapult them back into a winning season. This city deserves a winning team. It is incumbent on owner Peter Angelos to make every effort this off season to attempt to fix what has been broken on this team for too many years.

Open up your profit-laden MASN wallet, Mr. Angelos, and go get the players who may prove to be the remaining pieces to the long-running Orioles puzzle. The payoff is that with winning comes the return of Orioles fans at Camden Yards.

You owe it to the city of Baltimore, sir. Bring the players here to complete the jigsaw puzzle to rid this franchise of the 14-year monkey on its back. With the return of a winning, consistently competitive team, the fans who have vowed to stay away from the ballpark will assuredly come back.

It's funny how the concept of winning has the time-proven ability to cure all that ails us.

Patrick R. Lynch, Nottingham