Orioles Organization

O, say can you see relief (pitchers) in the future of professional baseball in Maryland? The losing team's fan's simultaneous lament and cry of hope that there's always next season has grown a little more poignant as the years have gone by. The Baltimore Orioles have been in a slump that will soon be measurable in decades rather than years. The bright star of Cal Ripken Jr. and his exemplary work ethic kept fans interested locally even as the Orioles organization closed up shop before the start of the postseason year after year.

Right-hander Jeff Robinson has performed well in his first two appearances for the Class AAA Rochester Red Wings, leaving room to wonder whether he can pitch his way back into the Baltimore Orioles rotation.Robinson said when he was optioned to the Red Wings that he did not want to come back. He also had some choice words for the Orioles organization. But general manager Roland Hemond said that if Robinson continues to pitch well, all would be forgiven."You recognize that there are strong emotions when you send a player down," Hemond said.

New Orioles manager Davey Johnson apparently will have final say on the makeup of next year's coaching staff, but he was not ready yesterday to say whom he may bring in from outside the organization and who may be carried over from last season.The staff almost certainly will be overhauled, but Johnson would only say that he hopes to stock it with coaches who have local roots or a history with the Orioles organization.That bodes well for bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks, who is likely to stay, and could even mean a reprieve for pitching coach Mike Flanagan, who got little chance to prove himself under hands-on manager Phil Regan.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rafael Palmeiro loves Texas. He built a home here. He tried to build a career here. He wanted to stay here, but signed with the Orioles after the Rangers ended contract negotiations with him in 1993 by signing veteran first baseman Will Clark to take his place.Palmeiro has had the last laugh, of course. He has thrived in Baltimore while Clark has struggled to stay healthy in Arlington. If you could force Rangers president Tom Schieffer to submit to a polygraph test, he would have to admit that it was one of the worst moves the club ever made.

By the time the Orioles got top draft choice Matt Wieters to sign on the dotted line last night, it was no longer only about the can't-miss college catcher with the sweet swing from both sides of the plate. It was about the Orioles keeping faith with their fans. It was about the front office proving that the past isn't always prologue. It was about maybe - just maybe - the franchise turning a corner after nine years headed in the wrong direction. And maybe it was about redemption, because Wieters was on the verge of becoming the newest symbol of everything that has gone wrong with the Orioles organization over the past decade.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- It took Todd Frohwirth more than 10 years to decide who he was going to be. First, it was sidewinding Kent Tekulve. Then, it was submarining Dan Quisenberry. Then, Tekulve again.That's where he was when he arrived in the Orioles organization last year, not really knowing which way to turn until he hooked up with pitching coach Dick Bosman."I've always thrown sidearm," Frohwirth said, "but, when I saw Tekulve in the World Series in 1979, that's when I started thinking about what I was doing."

SARASOTA, Fla. -- What else could go wrong? The second half of the 1993 season turned against Brad Pennington with a fury. The top relief prospect in the Orioles organization was riddled with self-doubt and rattled by the realization that his biggest step forward had become a step back.What else could go wrong? How about a winter trip to Puerto Rico and another crisis of confidence? Pennington was released abruptly by the Mayaguez club of the Puerto Rican Winter League after a handful of rocky relief appearances, leaving room to wonder if his professional career was beginning to unravel.

Johnny Oates has worked the past 10 years for a chance to manage at the major-league level, but when the call finally came yesterday afternoon, the feeling was not quite what he expected."

It is the area directly behind the home team's on-deck circle at Camden Yards, in between the Orioles' dugout and the netting that protects well-seated fans from foul balls. Frequent visitors of the ballpark know the area simply as "Ellie's Place." Since the ballpark on West Camden Street opened, it is where the Orioles' beloved bullpen coach and the organization's biggest ambassador held court before games on so many days and so many nights. He tirelessly posed for pictures, signed autographs, delivered hugs and handshakes and shared stories from a baseball career that spanned 45 years, all but nine in an Orioles uniform.

As the 1976 baseball season began, it was not entirely apparent where the Orioles were headed as a franchise. Few remnants remained from their 1969-1971 juggernaut. Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Dave McNally had departed. Mike Cuellar no longer had his best stuff. Brooks Robinson was on his last legs. Only Jim Palmer still chugged along. The Orioles had reloaded enough to remain a winner, but they stood a tier below the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics - a threat for sure but no longer the odds-on favorite.