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WP: Nationals' progress is making struggling Orioles easy to forget

Mooney

By Mooney
in The Tailgate

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Mooney

Mooney

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/02/AR2010060202261.html

Nationals' progress is making struggling Orioles easy to forget

By Thomas Boswell

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, June 3, 2010

For Washington baseball fans who still cling to some of the affection they had for the Baltimore Orioles during the 33 years when D.C. had no team, it's getting really tough to hang onto faded memories. That past can retain its value. But the current O's, baseball's worst team, are evaporating from our future. That's especially true as the Washington Nationals prepare to take center stage in the baseball world next week.

Since the Nats came to town, they've wrestled with the O's for undecided voters, especially in wealthy suburbs in Maryland between the two ballparks. This season has finally done the trick.

By the All-Star break, the Nats may be the only logical summer choice for those without masochistic tendencies.

For the Nats to match their nadir last season at 26-66, they would have to lose their next 39 games. That's hard to believe. But for the O's to get to 26-66 this year, all they have to do is keep playing exactly as they are. That's even harder to fathom.

And next week, when the Nats presumably draft heralded 17-year-old Bryce Harper on Monday, then unveil Stephen Strasburg on Tuesday, we'll probably see another crucial pivot point in allegiances.

Each team faces a decision that defines where it sits. If the Orioles, who face .500-or-better teams in 45 of their next 48 games, keep plunging, they'll probably fire a manager they would rather keep. Dave Trembley is where Manny Acta was with the Nats a year ago.

As for the Nats, they've now entered the friendliest six weeks of their schedule. If lots of lame foes and 22 home games by the All-Star break can get them comfortably above .500, they'll have to decide whether to make trades, especially for a right fielder with power, so they can attempt a run at the playoffs.

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fullnelson9999

fullnelson9999

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Trembley has to go. Thats really all I can say. Its not all his fault, but he certainly isnt helping. I have no faith in him. This team needs a manager with real experience, not a work in progress. IMO they need to go outside the organization next year and find someone fresh, but I dont know if that will happen.

Im going to be there to see Strasburg's debut, but thats just to see the potential history in the making. I will always and forever be a Oriole fan.

It will be nice to see DC have a good baseball team, and I will always wish them well and want them to succeed. Lord knows the city needs it.

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Sniffler

Sniffler

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As a lifelong O's fan... I tried to root for the Nats. Hell, I even bought some Nationals stuff. Now that they're progressing in the right direction, I can't see myself rooting for them anymore. Maybe I'm just used to being a loser... thanks Peter Angelos.

LET'S GO O'S!!!!

:thumbsup:

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TheDoyler23

TheDoyler23

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The O's have been shuffling the deck since OD this year. The back half of their pen (JJ, Uehara and Gonzo) all hurt, injuries to Roberts, Pie and Reimold (plus his offseason story is bananas).

Bergesen hurts his arm filing a commercial. Jones, Wieters and Matusz have been mediocre. The two young bucks in AAA Bell and Snyder....both having bad years.

It's just a disaster. Besides Jake Arietta in AAA, who should get called up soon. Hopefully Tillman will get it going now that he is with the big club, and with Roberts, Pie and Gonzo returning pretty soon, they may actually field something close to the correct roster...

Probably going to get worse before it gets better.

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MattFancy

MattFancy

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Nah, I'm still and will always be an O's fan. I have nothing against the Nats and hope they do well for the sake of having a team playing well around here, its been a long time since there has been a winning baseball team in the area. But I can't give up on the O's, I saw the good years when they went to back-to-back ALCS's and now I've seen the lowest of the low. So hopefully things can only get better from here. But good luck to the Nats! Hopefully the O's will be competing soon.

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Forehead

Forehead

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and with Roberts, Pie and Gonzo returning pretty soon, they may actually field something close to the correct roster...

Definition of struggling. When an O's fan looks forward to Felix Pie returning, a guy who has managed to bat .250 with 13 homers over a span of 239 games in parts of 4 seasons. He wouldn't start most teams in the league. That my friends, is struggling.

Thank God the Nats have something to look forward to.

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Boss_Hogg

Boss_Hogg

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I'm still an O's fan.

I can't abandon a team I grew up cheering for. It's like switching my "fan card" to the Ratbirds. Lord knows I could have done it being that the Redskins have sucked for many years.

Guess I like misery, Go O's!

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TD_washingtonredskins

TD_washingtonredskins

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I'm stuck with the O's too but don't have any ill-will toward the Nats. I'm from (and still live in) Northern VA, so I tried to jump to the Nats when they came to town. I just couldn't do it. Trust me, I wish I could avoid rooting for a Baltimore team, but the O's are ingrained in me. They were the DC-area team from the time I started following baseball (mid-80s) so it would be tough to just stop caring or try to care about another team more.

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TD_washingtonredskins

TD_washingtonredskins

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Support both

This isn't Mets - Yankees or Cubs - White Sox here.

I can't root against local teams unless they play each other

See though, it's tough. I guess I've forgotten how to BECOME a fan of a team since I've been married to all my teams since childhood. I like when the Nats win, but I don't find myself actually following them or investing myself in their games since I don't have those ties to them.

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Popeman38

Popeman38

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I'm still an O's fan.

I can't abandon a team I grew up cheering for. It's like switching my "fan card" to the Ratbirds. Lord knows I could have done it being that the Redskins have sucked for many years.

Guess I like misery, Go O's!

There is a difference. There was no Washington baseball team (for 33 years at least). That is my entire life. I grew up an O's fan, and still root for them. But the Nats are my hometown team. I bought season tickets the minute they went on sale for their inaugural season. It was priceless taking my dad to opening day and watching him as the old Senators took their positions and then the Nats came out to relieve them. The Nats became our team, and I think that theme has repeated over and over.
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TheDoyler23

TheDoyler23

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Definition of struggling. When an O's fan looks forward to Felix Pie returning, a guy who has managed to bat .250 with 13 homers over a span of 239 games in parts of 4 seasons. He wouldn't start most teams in the league. That my friends, is struggling.

...He actually wouldn't be an everyday starter for the O's.

His second half split was excellent (something like an .840 OPS) in 2009 and he finally looked like the player who was the Cubs #1 prospect. He totally rebuilt his swing and game. 2010 was supposed to be huge for him.

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@DCGoldPants

@DCGoldPants

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I told myself when I stopped rooting for the O's that it would only last until Angelos sells the team. Once that happens, I will be rooting for them.

However, being D.C. through and through, I was never this huge O's fan in the 1st place.

Angelos doubled down that putting a ****ty team out there would help keep a team out of D.C.. He lost, and now that team in D.C. appears to have a brighter future, AND his team is awful in a crazy hard division.

They said there was one of Strasburg's minor league starts that had more fans than when the O's hosted KC a few weeks ago.

I'll never doubt O's fans. They are diehard till the end. I wish them well, especially once Angelos is gone one way or another.

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Forehead

Forehead

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...He actually wouldn't be an everyday starter for the O's.

His second half split was excellent (something like an .840 OPS) in 2009 and he finally looked like the player who was the Cubs #1 prospect. He totally rebuilt his swing and game. 2010 was supposed to be huge for him.

I'll willingly eat squash or zucchini the day Felix Pie ever becomes a worthwhile contributor for any team. Worthwhile defined as everyday starter, average at least in the .270 - .280 range, etc. Even his name sucks. Pie.

Oh, and regarding your sig, athiests may need something new to believe in, that .246 - 4 - 16 is looking awesome right now. I have a new potential idol for them (atheists). His name is Bryce Harper.

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TheDoyler23

TheDoyler23

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I'll willingly eat squash or zucchini the day Felix Pie ever becomes a worthwhile contributor for any team. Worthwhile defined as everyday starter, average at least in the .270 - .280 range, etc. Even his name sucks. Pie.

Oh, and regarding your sig, athiests may need something new to believe in, that .246 - 4 - 16 is looking awesome right now. I have a new potential idol for them (atheists). His name is Bryce Harper.

Pie had an OPS of .763, which is nothing to sneeze at and he really turned in on as the season progressed. Having a player like him as a 4th OF is worth GOLD to a MLB club. Otherwise, when a guy goes down, you trot out a Lou Montanez or Pete Orr of the world. Guys who are OUTS in the lineup. He can give guys days off, mix and match as a PH and be a D replacement.

(Squash is delicious, too!)

As for my sig. I turned them off a few months ago when I got my phone. I didn't know I still had that sig. Wieters is KILLING me...

Oh and Trembs is probably getting fored today. That's the rumor.

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TD_washingtonredskins

TD_washingtonredskins

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I jumped off supporting the O's when it was clear Angelos would do everything in his power to prevent a team from coming to DC. This was around 2002ish.

Its been very easy to forget about that team, even if I was a super die hard in the 90s

That's where I can't agree. I think I still root for my teams like I was an 11-year old kid. I'm very emotional in my support for my teams...it's not really a choice. I love the Skins and O's despite the owners and other factors.

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RedskinsNation

RedskinsNation

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Its easy for me...i DESPISE the Orioles nearly as much as the Dallas Cowboys.

Anyone that trashes DC and says that we dont deserve a team AND fights to keep baseball out of DC is my #1 enemy....and I dont care if Angelos sells the blO's tomorrow...I will still despise the blO's forever. Getting forcefed wO's games all these years...STILL TO THIS DAY EVEN angers me. And the fact that they hold the Nats TV rights hostage is still absurd.

If the blO's would have welcomed the Nats with open arms and not made such a big hoopla about the TV rights and now holding the tv rights hostage I wouldnt have a problem with them but I despise them like no other, it will never end. Seeing them in their current state makes me more than happy.

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