Watching the 2010 O's Reminds me of Swingers

There's a scene in the film Swingers where the character Mike, played by Jon Favreau, decides to call the girl he just met at a bar that night.  It begins innocently enough, but then he's not sure if the answering machine cut him off or not before leaving all of his digits. So he calls back again, and again, and again. And just when you think it's over, he calls again.  And finally a last time when the girl picks up and says, "Mike, don't ever call me again!"  While hysterical, the scene is so painful to watch.  So are the 2010 Orioles.

Just when you believe they cannot possibly think of another way to lose, they surprise you.  Let's see... yesterday...17 hits, a lead and then two three-run homers by Boston in the seventh.  Friday, I believe the bullpen walked in the winning run.  Opening Day in Tampa, their closer can't hold a lead with one out in the ninth.  That's just three; there's probably at least a half dozen more losses like this in the O's dreadful 2-16 2010 season, the worst start since 1988 when they went 0-21.

I'm not sure what the problem is.  Sure, their bullpen is the primary culprit.  But there is a lot of talent on this team; and from what I understand some real solid young players in the farm system.  So what gives?

Prior to the start of this season, pundits in newspaper columns and radio shows said the O's were good, but would be better in another division.  That's a load of &^%%$$.  You play up to your competition.  Just look at all the teams that play Duke in college basketball. Every team plays their best against them.  So it should be true for the O's against the Red Sox and Yankees.  One only needs to look at Tampa, a team that almost won the World Series two years ago. 

I heard another pundit say that O's Skipper Dave Trembley needed to have at least a .500 season to keep his job.  .500!  Are you kidding me?!  What kind of goal is that?!  That kind of mentality has kept the O's in mediocrity and loserville since 1998.  I truly believe that their woes are primarily due to a lack of leadership from players, coaches and ownership.  Their mission and culture needs to be about winning as a team and nothing else.  If that means letting Trembley go to send a message or find a replacement who can light a fire in players' bellies, then so be it. They need someone like a Davey Johnson.  Oh wait...Peter Angeles fired him after the 1997 season when the O's were AL East wire-to-wire champs.

And apparently Angelos allegedly shunned Cal Ripken's offer to help the younger players.  A report that I believe is true because Angelos rarely talks to the press.  However, he made sure to come out and immediately deny the reports.  By the way, are we still paying Albert Belle's contract?