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The Weekend Buzz while you were studying your horses before the Kentucky Derby:
1. Wild Bill Hagy would be proud: It was a very quiet moment over the weekend in Anaheim, no bells, no whistles, no wild-and-crazy folks spelling out "Orioles" in the background.
First-year Baltimore manager Dave Trembley pulled veteran catcher Ramon Hernandez into his office, away from the spotlight, away from the other players, and quietly told him: Hey, stop with the storming around every time you don't like an umpire's call. Don't toss your equipment. You're a very good player, and we both know it. But when you behave like that, I can't put you in the lineup.
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| Dave Trembley stresses fundamentals with his club. (US Presswire) |
No, the most important thing is that a franchise that had grown toxic is in the midst of changing its culture.
"What's really been different, with Andy (MacPhail, Orioles' president of baseball operations), we've been saying since day one how we have to do things here and, for the most part, we've done it," says Trembley, the affable, 56-year-old skipper finally (and deservedly) getting a major-league chance after managing close to 3,000 minor-league games since the 1980s. "Pitching, defense and a return to fundamentals.
"All those things people say get lost in the shuffle."
You know, all those things that once were easily identifiable as part of the Oriole Way, way back in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s before the Orioles lost their way.
"People have been asking, 'The way you do things in the minor leagues, you can't do that in the big leagues, can you?'" Trembley says. "Why not? Why can't you?"
This guy is such a renegade that the Orioles actually were seen taking infield after batting practice Friday in Anaheim. Infield! Some 60 minutes or so before first pitch, just like in the old days!
The Orioles take it on the first day of every road trip and before the first game of every home stand. Earl Weaver and Cal Ripken Sr. would be proud.
"I've never met the man, but John Wooden was the greatest teacher of all time, there's no doubt," Trembley says. "And one of the things he always said was, 'There's no substitute for preparation.' I tell the team, I'm not here to punish you. I'm held accountable. If we fail and you're not prepared, it's my fault."
Trembley, who was named full-time to the job Aug. 22 last summer after managing well enough as interim skipper, stresses accountability. There are no separate rules. Everybody comes out for stretching at the same time. There is no player on his own program.
"He's doing a fabulous job," veteran hitting coach Terry Crowley says. "He respects the players, and they respect him. You can't B.S. the players. Not at this level. They see through it."
Part of the culture change emanates from MacPhail's offseason moves, trading Miguel Tejada and pitcher Erik Bedard for a bushel of prospects. Closer George Sherrill, obtained from the Mariners in the Bedard deal, already has racked up 11 saves. Sherrill, Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate have combined to go 5-2 with 11 saves.
The Orioles are the fourth-youngest team in the AL with an average age of 28.74 years (based on the opening day rosters). Only Oakland (28.20), Tampa Bay (28.24) and Minnesota (28.28) are younger. And what the newcomers and the holdovers have learned is that the one-rule thing applies to everyone -- both off the field and on.
"The basics," Trembley says. "Run when you hit it. Hit the cutoff man. This game is life. In life, you have to eliminate your mistakes. And you eliminate your mistakes by making the right decisions."
MacPhail made a right decision a couple of decades ago when, as the Minnesota Twins' general manager, he handed the job to a young man with lots of minor-league managerial experience but precious few big-league innings. Tom Kelly went on to manage the Twins to two World Series titles.
Based on what he observed when he was hired last summer, MacPhail, who saw a decrepit big-league club with a barren farm system, saw a scenario eerily similar to what needed to be done in Minnesota when he went with Kelly.
"I was looking for someone to get the team as prepared as he possibly could," MacPhail says. "Respecting the game, executing fundamentals.
"I think that's the persona this team has to have to win in this division. We have to have a certain mentality. We're not poor, but we're never going to be on an equal footing with (the Yankees and Red Sox)."
MacPhail arranged a Trembley-Kelly meeting this spring when the Orioles traveled to the Twins' home in Fort Myers, Fla. The former Twins manager emphasized two things.
"Take care of the team, and take care of the fans," Trembley says. "I asked him, 'How do you take care of the fans?' He said, 'Fundamentals and effort.' The fans don't expect the '27 Yankees. But they expect effort, energy and enthusiasm. They expect a team with an identity."
So far, the Orioles mostly are playing hard and smart. Position-by-position, they're still out-talented on many nights. The job in front of MacPhail and Trembley remains enormous.
But pluck can go a long way, too, and what's especially notable about this year's Orioles is that they're 8-3 in one-run games. Last year's team posted a worst-in-the-majors 13-31 record in one-run games.
"I think we've probably surprised some people," Trembley says. "Some people probably have underestimated us. There will come a point-in-time where we won't be underestimated, and that will be another boundary we'll have to cross.
"But belief comes from doing things right and playing as a team."
Sherrill, who wears the brim of his cap in a funky, flat style, wobbled but held on to collect the save in Friday night's road-trip opener, a 4-3 win over the Angels that easily could have gotten away.
Afterward, as the Orioles spilled out of their dugout to shake the closer's hand, each player had folded the brim of his cap upwards, mimicking Sherrill's style (if that's what you want to call it).
It was a small moment. It was a fun moment.
It's a start.
2. Colorado loses shortstop Troy Tulowitzki: This hurts. Badly. Losing Tulowitzki until July with a torn quadriceps muscle is like Colorado losing the "R" in "Rockies." He's that important.
Meanwhile, the Rockies already are nine games behind desert-hot Arizona and, understandably after the Tulo injury, becoming more grouchy by the day.
Asked after Friday's loss to the Dodgers whether the losses were especially difficult to take following last year's success, starter Jeff Francis told reporters, "I don't think anybody cares anymore about last year."
3. Squeezed in Toronto: Life is not great as the Blue Jays remain in last place, but winning three this weekend over the suddenly slumping Chicago White Sox (losers of five in a row) at least puts things into perspective.
That perspective is: Despite the speculation on manager John Gibbons' job status, that recent streak of losing eight of nine wasn't as grim as it appeared. The Jays, behind ace Roy Halladay, Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan and Jesse Litsch, were pitching ridiculously well to be losing that regularly. During the stretch, the Jays lost games 2-1 (Kansas City) and 1-0 and 2-1 (Boston). Halladay, in fact, threw four consecutive complete games -- and the Jays lost three of them.
During that stretch, through last Thursday's trip finale in Boston, the Jays had combined to go 12-for-110 (.109) with runners in scoring position. Even Rance Mulliniks could have done better than that.
4. Metrodome magic: Look who's in first place in the AL Central by 1 1/2 games after laying a three-game sweep on the inconsistent Detroit Tigers. Minnesota overcame a 6-0 deficit during Sunday's wild game -- a game which, by the way, Twins closer Joe Nathan scooped up his 11th save in 11 opportunities after signing a four-year, $47 million extension in late March. Yep, and some folks thought general manager Bill Smith should wave the white flag, trade Nathan and concede 2008. It's why Smith succeeded Terry Ryan as GM, and those folks didn't.
5. The Yankees: So Phil Hughes has a fractured rib, needs glasses, is 0-4 and has a 9.00 ERA. Not only that, he chews with his mouth open, too.
6. Max Scherzer on deck Monday: The Diamondbacks can't wait to see what Scherzer, their No. 1 pick in 2006, does in his first big-league start Monday night against Philadelphia. Especially after he debuted in relief last week by retiring all 13 Houston Astros he faced, fanning seven of them while throwing 35 strikes in 47 pitches. In 23 Triple-A innings this season, Scherzer struck out 38 hitters and walked only three.
7. Josh Hamilton: Did you see the Texas center fielder's running, sprinting, lunging catch to end Oakland's threat in the seventh with Eddie Guardado on the mound Friday night? Oh ... my ... goodness. Proof positive that the guy can do a little more than just hit. Look for it on the local highlight show in your neighborhood soon. They'll be re-playing it all summer.
8. Here come the Dodgers: No, really. They won eight in a row before Sunday to emerge as that speck in Arizona's rear-view mirror. Hey, at least something now is in Arizona's rear-view mirror. And All-Star catcher Russell Martin even played third base the other day. Loved it, too. "A treat," Martin said. Manager Joe Torre, who knows from his own experience catching, simply called it "a mental day off."
Mental or physical, it's about time somebody started taking care of Martin. Leave it to him, he'll play every day. But the guy caught 145 games last season, and played in 151, and even if he was only 24, there was a reason why he looked and played tired down the stretch in 2007.
9. Julio Franco actually retires: Get out! Seems like only yesterday when Franco was breaking into the big leagues ... and Steve Carlton was pitching for that Phillies team, Pete Rose was playing first base, Montreal's Al Oliver was winning the NL batting title (.331), the Mets' Dave Kingman was leading the NL in homers (37), Atlanta's Phil Niekro was leading the NL in pitchers' won-loss percentage (.810). ...
10. Cat in the Hat Team of the Week: As if San Diego, with baseball's worst record, isn't struggling enough, things aren't exactly all green eggs and ham for the Padres' minor-league clubs, either.
Lake Elsinore, the Padres' Class A affiliate, had planned a Dr. Seuss night on Friday until Dr. Seuss Enterprises delivered a cease-and-desist letter, with several demands attached (including payment of a $1,000 one-time licensing fee and a $4,000 security deposit to use official Dr. Seuss character costumes). The Storm was ordered not to use any non-licensed Dr. Seuss costumes.
So what the heck was a minor-league affiliate to do? Why, cancel the promotion completely, with regrets. In the form of a rhyme:
"The Padres affiliate, the Lake Elsinore Storm
"Tried to put on a promotion that wasn't the Norm
"We called it Dr. Seuss Night on our website
"But something about that didn't seem right
"Dr. Seuss Enterprises didn't see it as funny
"They said we could do it but we didn't have the money
"They didn't appreciate our publicity ploys
"So we have to inform all the sad girls and boys
"Through the face of it all we thought we'd persist
"Until we were served with a cease and desist
"The theme has been cancelled but the game will go on
"Perhaps it wouldn't matter if we were in Taiwan."