Well, they must know what they're doing. After all, we're not there to see for ourselves what's going on. Must be a reason for it - hope it's a good one.

Yep, that's what the Oriole Faithful have been saying for years now.

Why? Because we have no choice. We're captives, tied to the caprices, the misjudgment, the bull-headedness of the Orioles' owner and the mostly incompetent minions he's chosen to lead the franchise into the hellish quagmire previously reserved for the poor fans of Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Tampa - 'Waist deep in the Big Muddy, and the big fool says to push on.'

Firing Roland Hemond because he was 'too soft' and 'not really a prime time GM'?

Well, he must know what he's doing.

Firing Johnny Oates because he's not the 'guy to take the team to the next level'?

Well, they must know what they're doing.

Hiring Syd Thrift, the brain-addled Machiavellian Great-Grandfather, and then giving him your ear...and eventually the ballclub?

Well, they must know what they are doing.

Hiring Jim Beattie to be 'co-GM' with the inexperienced Mike Flanagan?

Well, they must know what they are doing.

Hiring a YANKEE coach as the team's Manager after being 'blown away' by his interview, and then watching him sit on his hands for a season-and-a-half while the team loses respect for him and eventually any interest in playing baseball altogether?

Well, they must know what they are doing.

Replacing Beattie with ANOTHER 'co-GM' of dubious distinction?

Well, they must know what they are doing.

Gracing the 'Underdog O's' mentality with a seeming miracle - the finest ballpark in the majors, years of sellouts, and a promising future as potentially one of the half-dozen 'power franchises' in the game - since then the fans' collective psyche have been burdened with:

Firing Frank Wren after one year as GM, allegedly because he ordered a plane to take off without Cal Ripken.

The departure of Jon Miller.

Jeffrey Maier.

Roberto Alomar spitting in an umpire's face, resulting in the fan base selling their collective soul and continuing to cheer for the guy through the playoffs when we all knew he should have been suspended.

Pissing contests between the egocentric team owner and its successful but ultimately self-destructive manager.

Pat Gillick's lame-duck decision to patch up a long-toothed playoff team with Joe Carter and Doug Drabek.

The managerial tenure of the Peter Principle Personified, Ray Miller.

Albert Belle.

Sidney Ponson.

Barely beating the Cuban Nationals on their own turf and then being crushed by them at Camden Yards.

Albert Belle.

The embarrassing berserk meltdown of Armando Benitez.

The embarrassing berserk meltdown of Jorge Julio.

The embarrassing berserk meltdown of Daniel Cabrera.

Albert Belle.

Sidney Ponson again.

The Return of Raffy, who was supposed to retire as the O's last Hall of Fame player for awhile...no, wait - it didn't work out quite that way.

Jay Gibbons.

The total team collapse under Mike Hargrove.

The total team collapse under Lee Mazzilli.

The total team collapse under Sam Perlozzo.

The total team collapse under Dave Trembley.

The Jason Grimsley bust, and his fingering of Miguel Tejada and Jerry Hairston.

Miguel Tejada's phony-baloney Sammy-Sosa-Lite 'I Want to Win and I Love the Fans and I've Never Done Anything Wrong Pouting-Preening-TradeMeIfYouAin'tGonnaTryToWinAndKeepMeHittingThirdOrFourthAndPlayingShortstop' act.

The near-total takeover of the home ballpark by Yankee and Red Sox fans whenever the O's play either team on the weekends.

The 'Leo Mazzone Experience' cut short after only two seasons and mixed reviews.

...and lots more. (the Spring Training home, the AAA franchise, the BALTIMORE road uniforms, no 50th anniversary celebration for the first WS Champion...)

But there's hope.

Honest.

Look down that tunnel. Don't you see the light? Squint a little. It's there. Faint, but it's there.

It's Andy!

Andy MacPhail!

He's a baseball lifer. He understands the game, how it works. He's going to give us our self-esteem back.

Right?

He must know what he's doing.

So what is the fan base subjected to this week?

Turning on the TV to watch the Bosox-Indians finale only to see Kevin Millar, a two-year and current member of the Baltimore Orioles, throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park!

You tell yourself:

Hey, that's not so bad. The Red Sox are looking for all the karma they can get. Nothing really wrong with it, other than the Orioles play in the same division and their fans already feel like they own your place. Why not let 'em borrow one of their old players, someone they deem not good enough to play for them any more, the guy who was washed up in Boston but is one of the main cogs in your team's pathetic offense, to fire up their fans before Game Seven? Kevin's a good guy, and he's probably eating this up. No real harm done.

Wait. What's happening now? Why is he still on the screen, grinning widely next to the insert of the Bosox lineup? Don't tell me...

Oh. My. God. He's reading the Bosox starting lineup. And telling little stories while he's doing it, like he was still playing for them, or was an injured player forced to sit out the Big Game but wanted to contribute however he could.

I don't know who should be more embarrassed, Andy MacPhail for a boneheaded decision (Andy, could you imagine Lee Mazzilli reading off the starting lineup for the Yankees while he was managing here, telling little stories with an inflection in his voice that all but screamed 'boy, I wish I were back with you guys instead of with those losers in Baltimore.'?), or 'Cowboy Up' himself for his disrespect to the current fan base for which he toils and for his shameless 'Come on guys, let me in the clubhouse. I know I'm not good enough, but pretty please...' routine by showing up on the field in the first place.

In the big scheme of things, this is a tempest in a teapot. The Orioles may well be on their way to respectability again, who knows? Only time will tell. By Spring Training this will probably be all forgotten. It's not the event itself that resounds with me, it's the decision-making process that led to this. Hasn't Andy paid one whit of attention to what's been going on around here for the past ten years? Doesn't he understand the fragile psyche of the few real thinking folks left in the fan base? They aren't asking for much right now...more than anything, they are asking to not be embarrassed. Not by Miggy, not by stupid hires, not by more steroid revelations, not by behind-the-scenes intrigue. That's pretty much all we're asking for! Is it too much?

Andy, in case you hadn't noticed, the Red Sox have become Public Enemy Number Two around here over the past five or six years. In too many instances, their fans have become as insufferable as those of the pinstripers. We don't need to see one of our team's current players throwing out first pitches at Fenway, reading off Sox starting lineups on television, and acting like he'd gladly sell his soul to Ray Walston if he could get just one more crack at wearing crimson hose.

This was a really stupid PR move, Andy. This time we don't repeat our old mantra, because you demonstrated quite obviously...

You didn't know what you were doing.