Baltimore Orioles: The 10 Worst Things about the Offseason
May 11, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles mascot the bird and his mother pose on mothers day prior to the game against the Houston Astros at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
#4. The annual dissing of the Orioles in the national press – One would think that having the fourth-most total wins in all of baseball over the past three seasons combined would take the air out of the national media’s penchant for placing the Orioles in the basement in the year to come. But it is not true.
Though the Birds have gained some greater respect, each offseason the cautious front office approach on spending, physical exams, and building depth around the edges leads writers to exaggerate the reports of the O’s certain pending death.
It is the natural knee-jerk reaction of the national baseball media to proclaim the winners of the coming season to be pretty much the teams who spent the most money. As we know, it very frequently does not work out that way, but those writers get paid a lot to pump it out there – especially during the offseason.
#3. Daily speculation and rumormongering – This is especially frustrating from a writing point of view, particularly being evident by the stories over the past couple of weeks. Every day there is a new rumor to track down about yet another outfielder.
On one hand it provides new topics that generate interest, even while it has the feeling of a wild goose chase.
But here is what happens: I see or hear the rumor, I research the source and write an article about the player. Then I set a time for it to appear at perhaps 7:00 the next morning. BUT, I have to hope and check again before it goes out that the featured player has not signed an unexpected overnight deal with the Colorado Rockies or some team in Japan with an aquatic name.
It is maddening. But it is the daily beat in the offseason.
#2. The weather in Maryland – If you think about it, any day that you can’t play baseball because of the weather is a bad weather day. Growing up as a skinny kid who never liked being cold and never enjoyed winter sports (except throwing snow balls), the coming of spring and the onset of the baseball season were synonymous with the return of all the pleasant things in life.
#1. The lack of baseball games of any sort – If you are a true baseball fan, you know what I mean. I don’t need to say anything else. The good news is that we’re already about halfway through the offseason, but the bad news is that we’re only about halfway through the offseason.
So, how many of these 10 reasons to hate the baseball offseason do you agree with?
Next: Things looked worse for the Orioles a year ago than they do today