I think it's time to unite around a common cause, and that cause is getting Terry Crowley canned.

I'm sure he's a nice guy and I know the economy's rough right now but I don't know if anyone in baseball gets more credit for doing less than The Crow. I cringe every time Jim Palmer talks about someone coming up from the minors and working on their approach with Crowley. I know that's not Palmer's intent, but it's the result.

And before you say I'm going overboard (although I doubt that'll be too many of you), here are some numbers:

Terry Crowley is in his 16th year as the Orioles hitting coach, with 11 of those coming in his second stint on the staff. His first stint was 1985-1988. Yes, that 1988.

Orioles records with Crowley as hitting coach:

1985: 83-78, 4th in AL East. Managers: Joe Altobelli (55 games), Cal Ripken Sr. (1 game), Earl Weaver (105 games)
1986: 73-89, 7th in AL East. Manager: Earl Weaver
1987: 67-95, 6th in AL East. Manager: Cal Ripken Sr.
1988: 54-107, 7th in AL East. Managers: Cal Ripken Sr. (6 games), Frank Robinson (155 games)

Then there's an 11-year Crowley-less stint, which included our only two playoff appearances of the last 25 years. But then...

1999: 78-84, 4th in AL East. Manager: Ray Miller
2000: 74-88, 4th in AL East. Manager: Mike Hargrove
2001: 63-98, 4th in AL East. Manager: Mike Hargrove
2002: 67-95, 4th in AL East. Manager: Mike Hargrove
2003: 71-91, 4th in AL East. Manager: Mike Hargrove
2004: 78-84, 3rd in AL East. Manaager: Lee Mazzilli
2005: 74-88, 4th in AL East. Managers: Lee Mazzilli (107 games), Sam Perlozzo (55 games)
2006: 70-92, 4th in AL East. Manager: Sam Perlozzo
2007: 69-93, 4th in AL East. Managers: Sam Perlozzo (69 games), Dave Trembley (93 games)
2008: 68-93, 5th in AL East. Manager: Dave Trembley
2009: 64-98, 5th in AL East. Manager: Dave Trembley
2010: 12-26 (as of May 17), 5th in AL East. Manager: Dave Trembley (as of May 17)

So how have there been nine managers in this time, yet somehow The Crow has never been forced to pay for the team's lack of success? Is it because the offense has never been the problem? Let's dig deeper...

AL Ranks under Crowley:

So now in his 16th season, Crowley has only gotten us CLOSE to the top of the AL in any significant offensive category three times: The first year in each of his two stints and the fluke in 2004 that ended up in disaster after the Rafael Palmeiro positive steroid test. For the most part the other years haven't even been middle-of-the-pack. Those numbers don't really support the notion that Crowley is a positive influence on the Orioles, and if anything seem to show that The Crow was only good for the Birds' bats when he was a new voice in the locker room. So why not go out and get a new voice now?

Now I'm not saying that firing Crowley will instantly solve all this team's problems or that he's to blame for all these years of crap baseball, but the bottom line is he's not getting the job done and never has gotten the job done, and anyone else in Major League Baseball showing such a consistent lack of success would have been shown the door years ago.

That's why I've changed my sig to what you see below. Join me in fighting the good fight! CROW MUST GO!!!