ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- All the losses and the uncertainty eat at Dave Trembley, keeping him up late into the night and pulling him awake in the early hours of the morning. Each day seems to bring another agonizing defeat and more speculation that he is nearing the end of his tenure as Orioles manager.
Trembley's fate will be decided by president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail in the next seven to 10 days, and until then, the embattled manager says he'll do what he has always done: stay positive, work hard and try to help his team win a few more.
"You worry about it, but you try not to show it," Trembley said. "I can only imagine how difficult this has been for a whole lot of other people other than just myself. It's been difficult for the people that have loved the Baltimore Orioles for a long time. It's been difficult for the fans. I've been treated wonderfully by people here, gotten tremendous encouragement. But I also understand the other side of it. There's a lot of frustration. You're always going to be tested, in good times and in bad times. It has been challenging, but I've done my best not to take it personal."
The Orioles blew another late lead and dropped Monday night's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-6. It was their 11th straight loss, and they need to go 3-3 the rest of the way to avoid joining the 1954 and 1988 Orioles as the only 100-loss clubs in team history.
Trembley's frustration reached it peak Monday night when he was asked about how difficult it is to have a prolonged losing streak with his job status up in the air.
"I've never put myself ahead of anybody," he said. "I don't feel sorry for myself. We do the very best we can. If you've seen our club, my responsibility is to prepare them to play hard, be professional, be responsible, put guys in the situations where I think they would be successful. And if anybody would have the guys to step up and tell me I haven't done that, I'd tell them they're full of [crap]."
MacPhail has said for months that the club won't make a decision on Trembley's option for 2010 until either the last weekend of the season or a couple of days after it ends. He reaffirmed that Sunday, before the Orioles were hammered, 9-0, by the Cleveland Indians to complete a series sweep.
MacPhail met with Orioles owner Peter Angelos last week to discuss Trembley's status, but he continues to say little about the situation.
