The Orioles have seldom displayed a sense of urgency during eight straight losing seasons. Attendance has never plummeted too far, after all.
Critical newspaper columns and angry talk show callers haven't stirred a significant response from them. Neither has a little booing from the home fans, or the odious sight of Red Sox and Yankees fans taking over Camden Yards.
As the losing seasons have piled up, the Orioles have continued to take few chances, sign primarily B-list players and avoid last place only because baseball expanded to Tampa Bay.
They desperately need a jolt, a slap in the face that actually stings, a thump to the head that makes them wake up and recognize how disappointing and depressing they've become.
Anyone who cares about the team can only hope that jolt came Thursday in the form of All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada's comments about being so frustrated that he wants out.
The Red Sox go through such emergencies five times a year with Manny Ramirez because the unpredictable slugger lives in his own world, and the Yankees are forever dealing with similar (and usually pointless) brushfires because they play in a tabloid town, but the Orioles are unaccustomed to having their placid, see-no-evil world view contested.
Bully for Miggy, who just couldn't take it anymore, just couldn't keep spouting the party line.
With any major sports franchise, there is a perceived reality - the one in the media - and the actual reality played out behind the scenes. The public seldom gets a view of the real thing, but Tejada's comments, which third baseman Melvin Mora backed up and advanced ("Who is going to pitch for us?"), unmistakably offered a window into what is really going on.
The players are just as upset as the fans and media about the organization's perpetually sluggish response to losing.
When the team-oriented Tejada is upset enough to ask for a "change of scenery," things are bad.
Some people will say he should just shut up and be a well-paid employee; the team's conservative approach was already established when he signed in 2003, after all.
But anyone who believes that is just apologizing for a team that seemingly would rather shut down than overspend to sign a couple of pitchers who would make the season more interesting, as Toronto just did.
Don't get on Tejada - he's the messenger here. My guess is you could canvas the clubhouse and get the same response from most players.
