Even as they watch their team limp toward an all-but-inevitable 13th consecutive losing season, Orioles fans are cautiously optimistic that the hiring of Buck Showalter as manager Thursday will finally get the club moving in the right direction.
Those fans, many of whom have long criticized the Orioles' ability to get production out of veteran players and ensure that their prospects realize their potential, believe Showalter can reverse that trend.
"The Showalter hire is definitely a ray of hope for the Orioles," Greg Arnold of Westminster said.
Showalter showed his acumen for quickly putting together a successful team when he managed the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1998 to 2000, the expansion club's first three seasons.
Winners of just 65 games in 1998, the Diamondbacks won 100 games the next season and captured the National League West crown.
"I think he's got a good eye for talent," Towson native Joe Sistoblo, 50, said. "Hopefully, we can build a team from its infrastructure."
Other fans were pleased to see a manager hired from outside the organization; the previous two full-time managers, Sam Perlozzo and Dave Trembley, were initially interim solutions who had been with the organization before being promoted.
"I'm excited because we keep doing the interim manager thing and then keeping him," Baltimore native Kurt Bragunier, 44, said. "We needed to have an outside voice, and I like Buck Showalter a lot."
Said Kenny Houck, 47, a Frederick native: "[The Orioles] need to try something. [They have to] make a change, and I think Showalter will be a good asset to the team."
Still, while the reaction to the news of Showalter's hiring was largely positive, one fan lamented that interim manager Juan Samuel, who has guided the team to a 16-31 record, won't get a longer turn at the helm.
"I think Juan Samuel has done a good job with what he's had," said Nate Scrodgins, 32, of Baltimore. "I think he deserved a shot to manage."
Scrodgins added that the most important aspect Showalter, who had been working as an analyst for ESPN, will bring to Baltimore is his wealth of baseball experience.
"I think his expertise of being around the game" is most important, Scrodgins said. "It seems like, mentally, [the Orioles] just have lapses at times. It's really exciting, and I think Showalter will do a really good job."
But with all the excitement surrounding the new face in the Orioles clubhouse, Arnold reminded others that the team still has a lot of work to do.
"It certainly doesn't mean an immediate turnaround where suddenly the O's are a playoff team in 2011," he said.
But, Arnold added, "it does give hope to fans who have stuck with the team over the last 13 years."