After capping off an amazing week with a thrilling extra inning win against the Red Sox on Sunday, the Orioles are turning things around in a hurry. After sweeping the Yankees earlier in the week, they then swept the…whoa, that was a crazy dream.
The Orioles began their slide on Opening Day. (Photo by Shawn Levin)
I just had a dream where the O’s actually were improving. Obviously that was a dream. They did beat the Sox on Sunday in extra innings thanks to a Nick Markakis single to drive in the winning run, but that win only broke their 10-game losing streak, or their first win since May 25, however you’d like to word it.
This past week was busy for Baltimore. After a horrendous start, Orioles’ management decided to fire manager Dave Trembley and name Juan Samuel interim manager.
That move didn’t pay off right away, as Samuel’s first game was an 11-0 beating at the hands of the Red Sox. Before their win against the Sox, the O’s were busy getting outscored 37-7 during month of June.
Hopefully more changes are imminent. But what changes should be made?
First off, ownership shouldn’t be worried about spending money. Right now, their payroll sits around $73.8 million. So far this year, the Orioles are averaging 22,757 fans per game. What do those numbers have in common, you might be asking?
Well, when you consider the last time Baltimore was somewhat competitive (2004 when they finished 78-84), the gorgeous Camden Yards saw an average attendance of 33,877. That’s a difference of over 11,000 fans per game. If you do the math, that works out to 891,000 fans per year.
When you consider the average cost of a ticket at Camden Yards is around $25, that’s a loss of $22.7 million from 2004. Bottom line: a payroll of about $100 million won’t cost the club much because the fans will pay the extra freight with increased attendance.
C’mon, Peter Angelos. Isn’t it embarrassing that the Enoch Pratt Free Library is outdrawing the Orioles this year?
And the road attendance is higher on average than the home attendance. That’s the very definition of a patsy.
Now is a time to bring up young talent. I would like to see Jake Arrieta getting a phone call soon telling him to pack his bags for Baltimore. Next it would be nice to see the O’s seriously look for that big bat in the middle of the lineup that actually might scare some pitchers.
Hopefully with those moves and key players getting healthy, we can then see some improvement.
Oh, and IM to Peter Angelos, let me know if you need Phil Garner’s number. You’ve heard of ol’ Scrap Iron, haven’t you? Jimy Williams was managing Houston in 2004 and getting booed because the underachieving Astros were 44-44 at the All-Star break?
And Garner managed them to a 48-26 record the rest of the way and took them to the playoffs?
And then won the National League pennant with the same team in 2005?
Yeah, that Phil “Scrap Iron” Garner. You might want to give him a call.
—by Andy Mindzak
Finally!!! Jake Arrieta is pitching tonight. It’ll be tough going against the Yankees, but at least they called him up and are giving him a shot!!!!