espn calls Orioles worst sports team....

[Chelle]

Not to whine...but

Have you all seen this article yet?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hays/060417_orioles

espn "editor" Graham Hayes has called the Orioles the worst sports franchise in sports (not just baseball). Now, that's a BOLD statement. In the article, he has on the right side a bunch of teams which I guess he considered as options for "worse" then the O's. After I fired off what my friends call "angry Chelle letter" I'm stunned!

Now, we have not been the best this decade *sigh* but at least we won a world series in the past 100 years (sorry Cubs fans!!!!!). I mean...come on....

ARRRRGGGGGHHH.....just had to vent.....

[Captain Cold Nose]

As long as the Clippers are the Clippers, the Orioles don't deserve th "honor". Granted, Angelos hasn't exactly run the team very well, but I often wonder what the point of such articles is. But that's ESPN for you.

[Chelle]

I myself do not see the point of such team bashing. To be honest...if you are a fan of the team in question....:mad:

Ah well.......best revenge is to do well. Or, make a bizillion dollars and buy the team from Angelos.

[KCGHOST]

Must be ESPN's "east coast bias" in action. :D

[JohnGelnarFan]

I love the Nationals but they aren't even an organization until they have a real owner! We can't even watch them on TV. Opinions are like.......You know the rest!.................Watch out for angry Chelle!

[J W]

First off, thanks for the link Chelle.

Secondly, while the Orioles leave much to be desired as a franchise, this is clearly a personal article. I don't know if "Graham" is an embittered O's fan, or if Peter Angelos insulted him in some fashion (he tends to alienate people)--but the article is nothing but a biased attack, right down to the turkey logo. It takes effort to put that kind of picture together for an article.

He makes good points about some of the strange decisions made by the club however. How many of us actually wanted Sidney Ponson back after he went to the Giants? Anyone? Did anyone here feel Segui's contract was justified? I'll admit, I thought Sosa and Palmeiro were low-risk, high-reward moves... and I was wrong. But, frankly, if steroids hadn't been exposed in baseball and these two kept on plugging, they would have been good moves for the franchise.

I'm seeing changes in the organization this gentleman fails to see. It takes more time in baseball to resurrect a franchise than it does in football, or basketball for that matter, and the Orioles were at the bottom of the barrell. Had this article been written three years ago, I may have agreed (out of spite). But consider the following counter-arguments:

- The team stole Melvin Mora from the Mets (under Thrift's regime btw) and resigned him at a bargain price. This story needs to continue with another extention though.

- The team took Jay Gibbons (who just hit a HR as I write this) in the Rule 5 draft from Toronto. It's hard to get a player of his quality, much less a superstar, in the Rule 5.

- Erik Bedard started last season on a tear before he was injured. This season he has picked the pace back up and is turning a lot of heads.

- Chris Ray is capably filling the shoes of B. J. Ryan, a successfully developed pitcher from the St. Louis franchise. Ray has been developed in house. The team saved a lot of money (to resign Mora, right?) and still have a successful closer. This is the sign of a rapidly improving farm system.

- Don't forget the team signed Miguel Tejada and Javy Lopez to deals starting at roughly $18 mil per year combined. This when several Yankee players were making more than that by themselves. Lopez is in the final year of his contract, just in time to let his declining skills go or resign him at a lower price.

This was a winning ballclub before the clubhouse fell apart last year. They've addressed their problems and tightened the clubhouse up. Problem detected; problem solved. This didn't happen before. I hardly think this is the worst run organization in sports anymore.

[Mr. Boh]

I haven't seen the article, but the Birds are a far cry from the worst franchise in sports. Like JW said we've made so good pick-ups in the past few years along with the bonehead deals. I do not believe we have the troubles like some other franchises, hell..look at the Knicks, what a mess that is. Are the Saints gonna play in Louisana or San Antonio. The Cardinals get a 450 million dollar stadium but still a lousy team. As I continue posting on this site people will see that I will stick with my home team (The Birds)...gonna stick with 'em through this article too.

[Chelle]

Well, I actually received a reply back from Mr. Hayes. Either I wrote quite an angry letter, or this is a young kid just starting out in his career and he has time to write back to his *cough* fans.

He was actually polite enough to say that he gives O's fans credit for sticking with the team as Angelos runs it in to the ground. This leads me to believe as said above....he's got some kind of Angelos grudge. As any O's fan would.

Maybe he was a big BJ Ryan fan.

JW, I agree, we've done some VERY positive things and before the big blow up last year people were talking about how great the O's were doing. Media has such short memories. If you had allowed Rafe to keep playing...as Bonds does...

But, thats a whole different thread.

[edsachs1]

I think there is one major flaw in calling the Orioles one of the worst franchises in all of sports. Yes, 8 losing seasons is pathetic. However over those 8 seasons one team in that same division has always finished lower in the standings. I'm not sure how you can say the O's are one of the bottom 10 teams in all sports without even mentioning the Devil Rays.

[joepepsi]

I think there is one major flaw in calling the Orioles one of the worst franchises in all of sports. Yes, 8 losing seasons is pathetic. However over those 8 seasons one team in that same division has always finished lower in the standings. I'm not sure how you can say the O's are one of the bottom 10 teams in all sports without even mentioning the Devil Rays.

I think that's a good point. Still, the fact remains there are few franchises in all of sports with this many resources who has been consistently this bad for almost a decade.

I'm not sure this makes the Orioles the worst franchise in all of sport, but it certainly puts them near the bottom. It's one thing to be a small market team like the Royals and consistently fail. It's quite another to be one of the richest franchises in professional sports, as the Orioles were when Angelos bought them, and still make consistently bad decisions that run the organization into the ground; almost by design.

This was a hot, lucky team the first half of 2005. The success was despite paper thin depth. While their success was fun to watch it was, for the most part, based on outstanding early season performances by a handful of players. Once those players' performance came back to earth, or they were injured, the team tanked it because there simply wasn't a full 25 man roster of major league caliber players.

The Orioles finished 10th last year in runs scored, and 10th in ERA in a 14 team league. While the 3 teams ahead of them added All Star caliber players to rosters that were already much better than the Orioles', the Orioles could only add a good catcher (they already had one, btw), an average starting pitcher, two older, poor defensive position players (one who's 40 and the other just off his worst year ever), and possibly the worst player in the majors in 2005, Corey Patterson.

They better hope the farm system comes through for them, cause those moves ain't enough to carry them any farther than 4th place by the end of the year. If they are lucky. It's going to take All Star performances from Gibbons, Mora, Roberts, and Tejada combined with breakout years from Cabrera, Bedard, Ray, and Markakis to keep them hovering around .500.

Things are going all right for them now, with the bats really shining. But the pitching ain't very consistent, except for Benson and Bedard. It's not enough to maintain success over the entire season. Team ERA ranks 12th in the league. In June we'll see a little levelling off, if not before. In the hot post All Star summer, things will start to fall apart, just like they do every year. Why? Because this organization is poorly run and doesn't know how to build a complete team.

[Brian McKenna]

there are some legit points about the orioles system - especially their failure to develop top major leaguers over the last two decades

my concern this year lies with the pitching staff - not one member on that staff was rated within the top 100 pitchers in the majors st the start of the season - even if a couple shine this year, it's not enough - you have to have more consistent pitching - the problem is deeper than the standings - the problem is in the front office - how can an organization take a former pitcher and broadcaster and just make him president? - let's face it - it often takes more than a high school education to run a multi-million $ business - plus everything seems to need angelos' approval and frankly he seems like an absentee owner

i love the orioles but it is a struggle my friends - the most proven of all the pitching staff is really just a #3 starter on another club

[joepepsi]

t- the problem is in the front office - how can an organization take a former pitcher and broadcaster and just make him president? - let's face it - it often takes more than a high school education to run a multi-million $ business - plus everything seems to need angelos' approval and frankly he seems like an absentee owner


MOst complaints center on Angelos. I have no doubt he is the root of the problem, but you've touched on what I think is the real issue which prevents the Orioles from building a winning team. The lack of a qualified, innovative GM. From Thrift to Beattie to Flailagan, these jokers are old school. They love toolsy guys like Patterson who look fit in a uniform but don't know how to hit, Veteran Gamers/Good clubhouse leaders like Conine and Surhoff, and players with familiar names who are past their prime, like Raffy and Soso.

Flanagan seems to not understand the concept the on base percentage, the single most important factor in scoring runs, (the more you get on base the more runs you score). He thinks building a bullpen is about overpaying for names who had success years ago--Hawkins, Grimsley, Kline, Reed. He pretends to pursue Superstar Free Agents, always landing just a little short on the offer, bidding against the best teams in baseball, the places most players prefer to play. Instead he should be filling the roster with players who give good production at affordable prices.

Chen was a good pickup, and they seem to be drafting better these days, but I have yet to see any sense of understanding with modern statistical analysis or any ability to build a complete, deep 25 man roster.

[Brian McKenna]

MOst complaints center on Angelos. I have no doubt he is the root of the problem, but you've touched on what I think is the real issue which prevents the Orioles from building a winning team. The lack of a qualified, innovative GM. From Thrift to Beattie to Flailagan, these jokers are old school. They love toolsy guys like Patterson who look fit in a uniform but don't know how to hit, Veteran Gamers/Good clubhouse leaders like Conine and Surhoff, and players with familiar names who are past their prime, like Raffy and Soso.

Flanagan seems to not understand the concept the on base percentage, the single most important factor in scoring runs, (the more you get on base the more runs you score). He thinks building a bullpen is about overpaying for names who had success years ago--Hawkins, Grimsley, Kline, Reed. He pretends to pursue Superstar Free Agents, always landing just a little short on the offer, bidding against the best teams in baseball, the places most players prefer to play. Instead he should be filling the roster with players who give good production at affordable prices.

Chen was a good pickup, and they seem to be drafting better these days, but I have yet to see any sense of understanding with modern statistical analysis or any ability to build a complete, deep 25 man roster.

nice post - your remarks highlight the keys to success - develop some talent, purchase cheap, quality ballplayers ala moneyball and spend big for a few key players but spend wisely - sell your team, the city and the future - we've missed guys like vlad guererro because we couldn't do this

COMPLETE ROSTER is the key - what's the sense in having the best hitters in the universe - pennants are won on the mound - just ask leo mazzone

[efin98]

Did anyone notice that it's a series of articles and not actually bashing one team? Things aren't as bad as they seem. It's also a duelling article bit they are doing, each explaining their case as to why the team is the worst and we the "fans" are to decide in a related poll who is the worst among the teams in the poll. They aren't even the most bashed, others are ripped worse

The Warriors, Hawks, Knicks, and Trailblazers of the NBA, Blackhawks of the NHL, Lions and Cardinals of the NFL, and the Pirates of MLB are also featured in articles.

[Erik Bedard]

Actually, according to the fans, the O's are only the 20th worst.

[DoubleX]

I wouldn't call the Orioles one of the worst franchises in sports by any stretch. The Orioles have been struggling, but it's not like they are consistenly a last place team, as some other teams on the poll are; and it's not like they don't try to spend, because they do; and unlike the other teams on the poll, the Orioles are in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox. Plus the Orioles were very competitive as recently as '97. There are a ton of other teams that don't have that. In just baseball, there are a ton of teams I'd put below the Orioles. I'd probably put the Devil Rays, the Tigers, the Royals, the Pirates, the Nationals, the Brewers, the Reds, and Rockies as worst franchises.

[skeletor]

nope, and not even close...maybe the current owner could be labeled
as such...but one can deduct that teams like the marlins, royals, tampa bay,
etc are far worse than the birds...

[Chisox73]

I wouldn't put the O's in the Bottom 10 Worst Franchises.They're not even the worst franchise in thier own division.

Sure,they haven't been to the post-season since 1997.I was just reading the positve moves that they had made in recent years(Javy,Miggy,etc.).A couple of holes to fill here and there,then the O's could be contenders.

As for the worst franchise in professional sports,look no farther than Chicago and thier guys masquerading as an NHL team.