Orioles Shake Things Up

Well the Orioles certainly made some news today, despite not winning a game in over a week. First thing is Sam Perlozzo was fired. I think people saw this coming. The O's are playing awful, and the issues with Gibbons, Millar, and Perlozzo have been in the paper for a while. Perlozzo certainly seems like a good guy, and while he hasn't really been given a great team to work with, I don't see a problem with the firing right now. He doesn't seem like the guy who will lead them back to glory.

The O's managerial situation has been awful over the last decade. Davey Johnson did a great job in 96-97, but that was when the team was actually paying for the services of superstars while they were in their prime. Since then Ray Miller, Mike Hargrove, Lee Mazzilli, and Sam Perlozzo have all come and gone. Hargrove somehow managed 4 losing years at the helm, but the others didn't receive more than 2 years to get the job done. The Orioles just haven't given most guys enough of a chance to get the job done. Davey Johnson never should have been run out of town. Miller wasn't given enough time. Mazzilli wasn't given enough time or enough control. Perlozzo wasn't given much time.

The rumor now is that Joe Girardi is the frontrunner for the job. That would be great news for the O's to take a guy who has been successful as a manager before at the Major League level. However, I hope they don't give him a raw deal like Mazzilli. Lee wasn't allowed to hire his own assistants, and had to change the environment around him with those who were carried over from other losing regimes. If Girardi comes in it would be wise to give him total control over personnel. If he wants his own coaches...let him have it. The O's coaches that are around now aren't coming from a winning tradition anymore. They have all been part of a losing organization for a decade, and I wouldn't mind seeing them go at all. Supposedly Girardi meets with O's management tommorow. O's fans need to pray they don't let this opportunity pass them by.

The other news today is that Andy McPhail, formerly of the Cubs, will be the new COO. Seems like an important job to fill. Good work O's. Hopefully hiring an outsider to run things will bring some new ideas and some positive change into the organization.