Disbelieving fan: : "Exciting? Everybody said Chris Tillman was going to be a great prospect. He's been up here almost two weeks and he hasn't won a game yet. The guy's a bust. And did you see Matt Wieters pop up with those guys in scoring position the other day?"
The angry mob breaks into a rhythmic chant. "Twelve straight losing seasons ... Twelve straight losing seasons ..."
MacPhail: : "People, you've got to give these young players time. Matt Wieters has been in professional baseball for two years.
"Brian Matusz was in college 15 months ago. We've upgraded the minor league system. We've fixed the spring training situation. We've taken some big steps in international scouting. We're headed in the right direction, but it's still going to take time to get where this organization wants to go."
Cynical fan: : "Give us a break. This team has the worst record at this point in the season in 20 years. We're not going forward. We're going backward. At this rate, it's going to take 12 more years."
MacPhail: : "If you go back to doing things the way you used to, it'll take longer than that. There's only one way out of this mess and you're going to have to endure a little more short-term pain if you ever want to compete in the American League East. Hopefully, you'll start seeing some positive movement over the next few weeks and we'll be able to fill some key holes during the upcoming offseason. And, just maybe, some of these young players will pop and we'll be significantly more competitive in 2010."
Hopeless fan: : "We'll never be able to compete with the Yankees and the Red Sox. Can't we just get Major League Baseball to realign the divisions and put us somewhere we don't have to have a $200 million payroll to be competitive?"
MacPhail: : "Maybe when I'm commissioner."
Listen to Peter Schmuck weeknights at 6 on WBAL (1090 AM) and check out "The Schmuck Stops Here" at baltimoresun.com/ schmuckblog.
Speaking of which ...
All kidding aside, the Orioles have scheduled a "State of the Orioles" event for all full-season ticket and Plan A holders Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards. Gates will open at 3:30 p.m. for an autograph session with Orioles players, then president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and manager Dave Trembley will hold a question and answer session from 5 to 5:30 p.m.
- Peter Schmuck
