The Belfry and the Business of Baltimore Baseball, Part Two Bob's Backstop for February 13 , 2006

Bodies lay slumped on sofas scattered haphazardly around the room. They wore the slumped shoulders of defeat, faces as worn and haggard as the room itself.

Suddenly, Bob "Bluto" Bryant sprung to his feet, surprisingly nimble for a man of his girth, a brief echo of the athlete he once had been. Beer cans rattled underfoot as he waved his arms and began to speak.

"Come on, you guys! We aren't licked yet! Let's do something!"

Mere slits of eyes focused in his direction as heads swiveled creakily as if long-dormant radar units had detected something vague yet mildly interesting.

"Look, this isn't over until we say it's over. Who's with me?"

Scattered groans, but no direct response save for one oversized belch.

"Okay, Craig, you're with me. Who else?"

The room was momentarily brightened by laughter piercing the alcohol-filtered gloom pervading the room, but there were no other responses.

"What's the matter with all of you? We've been through tougher times before, and we've taken tougher stances. Remember Lee Mazzilli? We gave him the benefit of the doubt, but by August of the first year, we'd seen he was all hat and no cattle, and we started writing him that way - not like a bunch of fanboys, but as thoughtful baseball fans who should be taken seriously. We got links on WBAL, our Maz parodies were linked all over the Web, and we were able to stand in friendly opposition to the Orioles line on 'who Maz really was.'"

Finally, a voice rang out. "But that was different. The manager is an issue on which everyone has an opinion. This marketing thing is more difficult for Joe Fan to understand. Look what happened when you got on Sportsline that night. They treated you as if the Baltimore on the jersey was basically what you were talking about, that you were some Washington-phobe, that the decision to market themselves as "The Orioles" was a sound one because it was 'backed up by market research'. Let's face it, Bob, you're licked on this one. You sounded like Bill Veeck trying to talk to a roomful of owners."

"And that's not a bad thing to be, is it? I think you're onto something there. No one understood fans and the psychology of the masses, as well as the true allure of baseball, better than Veeck did."

"But look what happened to him. He ended up out of baseball. Want the same thing to happen to you? Want to be some old bald guy railing against the machine?"

"No! But I don't think we should give up, either! When the going gets tough ---"

Silence.

"The tough get going! What's the matter with all of you? Are you chicken? Afraid to stand up for something that people don't understand, but is very important the future health and legacy of our club?"

"It's just not worth it, Bob. Let me ask you...how many responses did you get to your plea for digital signatures to send to the Orioles protesting their marketing decisions?"

Bob's shoulders slumped. "Four. Counting the ones who just expressed views on the front page, that made about eight or nine."

"That's a real groundswell, huh? Something to build a campaign around."

"But it's important!"

"We're not saying it isn't. But we're licked, Bob. Look, Buster Olney hates Peter Angelos. He'd do anything to come up with another 'Angelos as Idiot/Satan/Shylock' story line, and he didn't even answer your e-mail."

"Well, what do you all want to do, just sit here and wait for the season to start? Sit back while those bloodless jellyfish in the marketing department suck the color out of the franchise, when the color and memories are about all we have to be thankful for at this point? Read stories about how the Orioles are continuing their twenty-odd year search for a decent Spring Training home? Is that what you want?"

"We don't know what we want, Bob. We're tired. We're tired of all the losing, we're tired of being laughed at. Sometimes we're just tired of the Orioles, period. The losing is bad enough, but the constant drama just wears you down, too. And we're not the only ones. We started this thing right in the middle of the losing streak. Our fans haven't even see a .500 season in all the years we've been here. Remember last year? During the first half, when we were getting four thousand visitors a day in here, only to drop off to about fifteen hundred a day at the end of the season?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Look, it's been a tough ride for all of us. I don't think if we knew at the beginning that the Orioles weren't even going to post a winning season in all these years, that anyone would have given us a chance to last five years...yet we're nearly there. Only a month away. That's something to be proud of, sure. But this pursuit is a loser, Bob. Not many understand, and of those, only a few can muster enough energy to deeply care. So let's move on, whaddya say? How about a 'Signs of the Times' this week, instead? We could all use a chuckle."

"No! No! This isn't over till we say it's over. After all, when the Germans bombed the Inner Harbor..."

Tomorrow...the Last Word on Marketing in Part Three

Wednesday...Spring Facility Follies

Thursday...A Hope and a Prayer

Friday...the Daily Reports Begin!