Possibly Apocryphal

A long time friend of mine is a Denver Broncos fan. Before they finally won it all, he used to lament about how the team just couldn't take that next step in the big game. One of his favorite things to say whenever anything was going wrong (no matter the situation) was a quote he attributed to a David Letterman Top Ten List of things Dan Reeves said to the Broncos at halftime during one of their Super Bowl collapses:

Okay boys, start sucking!

As I have watched the Orioles over the last few weeks, part of me keeps wondering if Buck said something along those lines to the team. How else do you explain bases loaded, no outs, your 2-3-4 hitters coming up, and NO runs scored?

Not scoring any runs after loading the bases w/no outs is no way to go through life, son

It has been INCREDIBLY frustrating. Peter Schmuck is calling for Vladimir Guerrero to be removed from the cleanup spot. The starting pitchers' inability to give a quality start cost the team a highly effective matchup reliever in Clay Rapada. And many people (including myself) have been calling for the team to bench / DL Luke Scott and his bum shoulder and get Nolan Reimold and Felix Pie more playing time. This is a team that is now looking like they are going to be sellers at the trade deadline, and no matter how much money Peter Angelos is pocketing in the Exxon gas leak settlement, it probably won't be enough to lure Prince Fielder here if they can't even promise to be within sniffing distance of .500 without him.

The problem is that there is really nothing left in the minors. The Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada trades were great, and they gave the team a lot of good players (possibly a couple great ones). But the position players closest to the majors are not looking like the kinds of players that will make a difference (which is especially disheartening in regards to Brandon Snyder, because he is one of those kids who you can't help but root for), and even then there isn't a whole lot after Manny Machado (and it is way too early to make any kind of prediction on how he will end up). The kid they drafted this year w/the #4 pick, Dylan Bundy out of Oklahoma, looks like he is going to be the real deal, but he is a high school pitcher, and there is nothing more dangerous in the MLB draft than a high school pitcher. Add to that there isn't a whole lot on the big league team that will net anything really special in the trade market unless some bubble team is REALLY close to the playoffs for the first time in a long time and they overspend in order to get "the missing piece" and you have a recipe for what is quickly turning into a long season without even the glimmer of hope in the future that has been there the last few years.

Screw it. It's time to drown my sorrows in $6 Natty Boh drafts at the Yard. This might just be the last non-oppressive heat game until September, so if you can make it out tonight, look for me leaning against the scoreboard wall, weeping quietly.