Baltimore Orioles: Fan Fears about the Ups and Downs

What is the Baltimore Orioles fanbase to make of a team that looks so good when winning, but so bad when losing?

Every team does indeed go through periods and seasons of the year where their total play is substandard. Whereas a club can endure a couple of players wrestling through a slump, it often seems that a majority of the Orioles offense can get stuck in the dumps at the same time. Sometimes it is a matter of running into a series of pitchers at the top of their game, but other times – like recently – it is simply a matter of systemic inability to get a critical hit at a critical moment.

Thankfully, J.J. Hardy was able to get enough of a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded to give the O’s a 2-0 early lead on Thursday afternoon in New York. And Jonathan Schoop came through with a critical two-out, two-run double to assure the 4-1 win. A couple more of these sorts of moments may have helped the Birds have a better road trip than three wins and four loses.

Are the fans of the team unreasonable to worry and fret and complain about these times when their Birds go into a total funk? Without doubt, difficult times are going to happen, and the Orioles have some nagging injuries along with the effects of the flu bug. But at the same time, it seems like these team-wide slumps are a bit over the top even relative to other teams. As we’ve said all year, the nature of the power-hitting, strikeout-prone lineup is to be vulnerable to some dramatic lows, even as there are some incredible highs.

This Orioles fanbase is now beyond just hoping that their team can be competitive. In 2012, it had been so long since the O’s were playing significant games in August and September that simply getting into the playoffs was more than could be hoped for. But now, the fans of the team have hopes of seeing their beloved Birds having a legitimate shot at winning it all. And when the club goes into these 4-for-38 sorts of RISP periods, along with other times where starters can’t get deep into games with any consistency, is it unreasonable to fear that this squad can be more than a marginal team to just make the playoffs?

I will come out at this point and say that I find the condescending criticism of the passionate fanbase by Orioles beat writers and broadcasters to be elitist and a bit arrogant. Without doubt, there are some fans who write some crazy and over-the-top remarks on boards after every loss. But some of the cracks in the hull of this ship look fearfully like the water seeping in is more than what is going to enable the boat to float through the month of October.

Some Amazing Road Trip Statistics

The Baltimore Orioles have made a total of seven multi-game road trips this season (and a single-game trip to Texas beyond that). These trips have started well on pretty much every occasion. For the first two games of these trips, they have a combined road record of 12-2. That is impressive! But … the road record for games three and following in series away from Baltimore is a combined 9-24. Not good.

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Road trips are difficult for any professional team. The travel, the hotels … it is all a pain that messes with life rhythms, diets, sleep, etc.  But 9-24 is really a terrible stat for these games. You can understand why these would be the most difficult to win, but that stat is simply awful. I don’t know what are the schedules and routines the Orioles take as a pattern when travelling, but these numbers would seem to me to call for some thought and analysis to determine if there is not a better way of doing things.

Well, the Orioles are home again. Excellent! With 94 games in the books and a record of 54-40, the Orioles have now played an equal number of 47 games both at home and on the road. Let’s see what they can do with Cleveland, which is a good outfit. Though they were outscored by the Indians in Ohio 19-16, the Birds won two of the three games.