Operation: Third Place

Dave Trembley, you son of a son of a gun, you. Your Orioles have me believing -- kind of.

The Trembley-led O's are a whole different team, and they played most of that stretch without their shortstop, who also happens to be the highest-paid player on the team. Trembley's Orioles now sit at a mere six games under .500. Not much of an accomplishment if you're a fan of the Yankees or some other stupid team that wins games routinely, but to me, that's sounding good.

So now I'm getting a little anxious. I want third place.

Did you ever see Mr. 3000? It was an OK baseball movie, Bernie Mac was funny enough. Anyway, if you haven't, here come spoilers. I'm sure you're devastated. That movie winds up being less about the Bernie Mac character than it does a team with a losing culture coming together late in the season to try to get to third place. It's respectable-sounding, you know? "Third place." When you've lost for a decade, it's a real goal, and one that requires work.

We're four games behind Toronto with 52 games left to play. It's something that can happen. And I'd be thrilled with a solid third-place finish out of this team.

Bedard, Guthrie, Roberts, Walker, Bradford, and Millar are the guys that have saved this season for me. Under Perlozzo's watchful eye, the team was cruising into the center of the earth, just another horrible, forgettable (oh, if only) Orioles team on their way to 90 losses. With Trembley in charge, they've been a real baseball team.

I'm in, man. Do it, Dave. Take this team to that elusive promised land. .500 can happen, third place can happen. LET'S GO O'S!

(By the way, I may be out of action for a few more days. My cable/internet is working for now, but with Comcast I have no idea if that'll stay the same way. Honestly, it shouldn't be working right now, but it is. It could be two or three days where I'm totally gone.)