It's easy to get all romantic about the great Orioles teams of the past, especially when the alternative is a current version of the team that is so far under water that it's almost eligible for a federal bailout.
Who wouldn't wax nostalgic about the guys who represent everything that was ever good and true about the franchise — who were the cornerstones of a team that would run off 18 straight winning seasons — when they are placed in juxtaposition with the guys who are well on their way to a losing record for the 13th straight year?
The Orioles honored the members of their 1970 world title team during pregame festivities on Saturday afternoon, but they couldn't avoid the stark contrast between the best team of yesteryear and the sorry state of the franchise today.
In fact, the Hall of Fame manager and some of the stars of that team were only too willing to help with that comparison, spending a chunk of the pregame news conference pointing out what has gone wrong since the last time the Orioles were a truly competitive organization.
Earl Weaver didn't mince words, tracing the decade-plus of despair to the Syd Thrift era. Gold Glove center fielder Paul Blair pretty much indicted everybody but the current grounds crew. What was supposed to be a celebration of the franchise's rich heritage turned — for the final minutes of the media session at least — into another citizen's revolt against the current front office and ownership.
I guess it wasn't surprising, but it wasn't particularly polite, either.
Frank Robinson was a little more circumspect when he stopped by the press box during the game.
"I just think there have been too many changes and too many people with different thoughts and ideas of how they want the team to play," he said. "Before the players can absorb that, they send somebody else in. I think that confuses the players. You have to get a philosophy and be patient."
Robinson managed the Orioles for all but six games of the frightful 1988 season that has become the measuring stick for the futility of 2010. He also managed the 1989 "Why Not?" team that bounced back from the worst record in franchise history to take the American League East race down to the final weekend. He didn't exactly say the current team is in a similar darkest-before-the-dawn scenario, but he clearly does not think it's time to ditch Andy MacPhail's rebuilding plan — even if it looks like it has come unraveled.
"It hasn't fallen apart," Robinson said. "You have to stay the course. You have to spend your money wisely. If you can't bring in a real quality free agent, keep the money in the bank. One or two guys aren't going to make the difference. Develop your players and when they are ready to step up, then you can spend that money."
Robinson understands why the fans connect with the great teams of the past, but he doesn't live there. He knows that the baseball world has changed dramatically since the early 1970s, and that the terms and conditions that apply to the game now would have made it very difficult to keep together the team that won the first O's title in 1966 and reeled off a string of 100-win seasons from 1969 to 1971.
In fact, if the current labor agreement had been in effect in the mid-1960s, Robinson might never have played for the Orioles. He would have been a "10-5" player (10 years of major league service, five years with the same team) and had veto power over any attempt to trade him following the 1965 season.
If the Cincinnati Reds had been required to ask him if he would accept a trade to Baltimore, do you know what the answer would have been?
"No," said Robinson, who weathered an unwelcoming racial climate during his first year as an Oriole. "I had gotten a taste of that in '58 when the Reds came here to play some exhibition games. I would have stayed in Cincinnati, but I wouldn't have been happy there either."
That doesn't really change anything. That Orioles team was as good as any of its era. This Orioles team has a chance to be the worst O's team of any era.
Unfortunately, in this case, the past is not prologue.
Listen to Peter Schmuck on WBAL (1090 AM) on Fridays and Saturdays at noon and with Brett Hollander on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6. Also, check out his blog, "The Schmuck Stops Here" at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.