Baltimore Orioles Soundoff

Baseball can run through the veins. It inhabits the every thought and feeling of those who love and embrace it.

Baseball is a game, simply a game. And baseball is special to those who hold it dear.

But for some, baseball is just a means to an end, a job, simply a paycheck. And when that happens, baseball becomes an ugly thing. Fans can tell the difference.

Pure baseball, baseball for the love of the game, is played by boys. Boys, who, no matter what their age, get giddy every time they step up to the plate or take the mound. Men play serious baseball. Men take baseball too seriously.

It is quite easy to tell when baseball is being played by boys, and when it's played by men, isn't it? The smiles vanish. The fun disappears, and baseball becomes a job, not a game.

The Baltimore Orioles have been both boys and men this season. In fact they have gone boys to men. The boys won, the men lost. The O's need a resurgence of boys.

The Oakland Athletics series may have been the right team at the right time to welcome back the good ol' boys of Baltimore.

After throwing a strikeout to the final batter to sweep Oakland in a three-game series, Todd Williams, who notched his first career save, exuberantly pumped his fist and celebrated like he had just closed out the little league championship game.

After the final out was made, Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada--smiles from ear to ear--did their crazy special handshake that was so prominent during the first half of the season, only to be absent by the all-star break.

Interim manager Sam Perlozzo clapped his hands and celebrated with his team, also with a smile on his face.

In fact...Did you notice it? Every player in a Baltimore uniform shared the same look of happiness.

Now, of course, winning is much better than losing, so obviously the players will smile after sweeping a three game set. These were not just winning smiles. The O's are starting to realize baseball is fun again.

Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada are still not hitting like they should be, and don't even get me started on Sammy Sosa. Palmeiro and Daniel Cabrera both were hurt before the final A's game, but that didn't matter.

What matters is that Mora no longer steps up to the plate every time with a scowl on his face. Or that Tejada doesn't force the weight of the world on his shoulders. What matters is that they get back to doing the one thing they have always loved to do--play baseball.

Even the pitching staff treats every start like a business meeting. Instead of going out and pitching like they have always known how, they press. They press and they tighten up and they ultimately fail. Rodrigo Lopez, Bruce Chen and now Eric DuBose has found a way to get back to just pitching. Hopefully Erik Bedard will follow suit.

The O's played this last series with a lighter heart, and it worked, didn't it? They played this series like boys, playing it for the love and not the money. They became a group tired of losing, their old manager never smiled, never did much of anything. Their new manager always has a smile on his face, and it's infectious.

They are having fun again. They are playing baseball like it was meant to be played, like it is the best game on earth.

Playoffs or not, the O's should have a wonderful end to their season if they continue down this path back to boyhood.

For losing stings boys and men of all ages, but men take it personally where boys shrug it off and go out for pizza anyway.



Next Orioles Game: Baltimore @ Cleveland; Friday August 19 @ 7:05 p.m.





Erik Bedard vs. Scott Elarton