On September 12, 2006 the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox clinched the 9th consecutive losing season for the Baltimore Orioles. They haven't won more than half their games since their AL-best 98 wins in 1997. During Thursday's make-up game with the Detroit Tigers, many fans dressed up in black T-shirts reading 'Free the Birds' to protest Peter Angelos' mismanagement of the Baltimore Orioles. The fans sat in the left field upper deck, always cheering the O's and at 5:08 PM, they all left in unison (the significance of the time is that of the two most beloved Orioles' players ever, #5 Brooks Robinson and #8 Cal Ripken, Jr). Overall the event should've been an embarrassing wake-up to the Orioles' management to shape and start competing. Instead, Angelos responded with this:

"Whoever joins that protest has no comprehension of what it costs to run a baseball team. When you get down to facts, putting together a team that can compete in the AL East means having a payroll between $100-110 million. That money comes from the consumer, and I have chosen to keep ticket prices to a minimum. "

This comes from an MLB.com article. Surely we can all understand that the AL East is usually the toughest division to compete in the league. Although this year that is a exception, when you consider that the AL East has put two teams in the playoffs in six of the previous ten seasons, you can see what I'm saying. Angelos is correct in that regard. If we consider the numbers, Baltimore is 8-23 against the Yankees and Red Sox this season, for a stunning 25.8% winning percentage. To compare, there are 11 teams in the American League that have a better record against those teams. For anyone who's not paying attention, that's the *ENTIRE* American league. Do I honestly expect the Orioles to win the division against New York Yankee money? No. Do I think its reasonable to be able to win more than 78 out of 162 games in any season over a 9 year span? Yes. The Tigers found a way to win this year. So did the Twins. And the White Sox did it all last year. Anyone who thinks that a good farm system is not a way to compete in modern major league baseball is just plain blind. Besides, even if the Orioles can't be a playoff team, they can still manage to outplay the Kansas City Royal against the big two ... right? The Toronto Blue Jays have found a way to field a team with a winning season despite the weak Canadian dollar, the weak Canadian TV contracts and being stuck in the horrible AL East. Meanwhile, the Orioles are in a very lucrative east coast market and control the TV revenue of essentially two MLB franchises (the MASN controls rights to the Orioles and Nationals, with the majority of the money going to the Orioles ... a consession for the Nationals move into Oriole country). And they continue to suck. Despite that, the Orioles fans continued to support their franchise. Through 2005, the Orioles were still averaging over 30,000 fans a game; a stellar mark for a team that hasn't been a winner in years. This year it seems the fans have had enough. I was lucky enough to hear some of the sports radio guys in Detroit commenting on the protest this morning. There were actually proud of it and some suggested that Detroit should do the same to the Lions. The city of Baltimore is used to winners and they expect to be a winner. The Orioles used to be one of the storied franchises in the baseball world; a small-town blue-collar team that took the world by storm with the Oriole way. Its not like my beloved Redskins have had much success to speak of in the past 14 years. But at least Dan Snyder tries to win (albeit he's simply terrible at actually doing it). But at least the Redskins have a pulse. The last time I saw the Orioles in May, the team and Camden Yards were dead. The Orioles thrilled fans on 33rd street with the Oriole Way for many years. They had the best winning percentage in baseball from 1969 to 1985. And now with one negligenct owner, they've managed to waste all of it. For many Orioles fans, the 1983 World Championship is a distant memory. For me, the 1996 and 1997 playoffs runs are as close as I've come to any baseball glory. I finally gave up and popped champagne in 2005 for the Chicago White Sox; a team that I like (and follow) but isn't nearly as dear to my heart. In my short lifetime I can actually remember the Redskins winning the Superbowl, the Illini football team winning the Big Ten, and the Illini basketball team going to the final four. But my fondest memories of the Orioles are a couple of ALCS heartbreakers and a great surprise season that ended with a dissapointing weekend in Toronto. Peter, it's time for the Orioles to become competitive again. Do what's best for the franchise and rid it of it's weakest link; YOU! (Read the MLB.com article here.)