Baltimore Orioles and Dan Duquette – To Love Him or Hate Him?
Jun 01, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; General view of Eutaw Street and the Warehouse at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Since it appears that the Blue Jays / Duquette drama is now over (which may be hoping for a lot), what will now be the Baltimore Orioles fans’ disposition toward the sought-after Vice President of Baseball Operations? It is clear from the end of today’s Roch Kubatko column that DD is simply not going to talk about it. He will have a masterful political answer at the FanFest on Saturday.
It seems to me that it comes down to this: Should Duke be seen negatively as rather shallow in his loyalties since he did not squash any interests that came toward him from the Jays; or should he be seen as a reasonably-interested person approached about one of the few elite jobs in his profession – just as any of us would be in our careers?
A lot of us who work in fields that are (to varied degrees) in the public eye have naturally-associated difficulties in career advancement without risking offense being taken by the people with whom we have current association, especially if it does not work out. You end up shot in both feet. How do you explore a potential opportunity without looking like you are disrespectful of your current company and associates, with whom you have no problems and even great affection?
For MLB to take the Orioles’ side on anything, it would probably take ISIS to be the opponent against them.
I am going to make my choice here and state that I for one will give Duquette a pass on this, providing his full energies remain given to building the Baltimore Orioles franchise (which I fully anticipate they will), while also maintaining a proper degree of thanks for being rescued from the dustbin of irrelevancy.
That latter point references his decade or so spent outside the sport. Nobody wanted him, and the Orioles were ridiculed for hiring him. And now he’s the hottest date in the high school!
I have read multiple accounts in the past week that spoke of Duquette over that decade of yearly going to the annual winter meetings – wearing a fine suit, standing around in the halls, hoping to be recognized and given a job of some sort somewhere. That entire mental picture is too pitifully painful to even contemplate.
So, no … not gonna hate on our boy Dumpster Dan. If there is a place you want to take out some hate and emotion, direct it toward the Blue Jays. They deserve it. The Orioles probably should file tampering charges, though it is my understanding that such would go nowhere. For MLB to take the Orioles’ side on anything, it would probably take ISIS to be the opponent against them.
Long before the Duquette saga, I have written over the years that I have always disliked the Blue Jays – beyond even distaste for the Red Sox and Yankees. But I’ve always struggled to understand why. Some of it is their ridiculous stadium; and I know that some of it is resentment frankly that, though they were not a very good baseball team, they managed to pummel the Orioles pretty much year in and year out not very long ago.
In my current town where I’ve lived the past 21 years, there was a period where the local minor league team was a South Atlantic League affiliate of the Blue Jays. And it was certainly my impression that they were not a very classy organization in the way they treated their players – at least the ones I was able to get to know, along with their families.
An associate of mine from New York State had his son drafted by the Jays two decades ago – around about the 15th round. His boy pitched a number of years in the minors, including in my town when I first moved here – hence how I knew some players and families at the time. He made it as high as AA when the organization gave up on him. The way he was notified was a simple letter stating that his health insurance had been terminated … that’s it … nothing saying, “Hey, thanks for trying, but sorry it did not work out, best wishes.”
So, all to say, I think the Blue Jays are a vile organization. May they rot in the basement of the AL East from now until Kingdom come.
I’m not a Duquette apologist. He frankly strikes me as a boring person. But he has done a good job and will likely continue to do so.
Why are we surprised when baseball acts like a business? It is a business, even if I, along with many of you, find our greatest interest in it remains as a game associated with warm memories of childhood and youth, Americana, apple pie, and all that is good in the world.