The Bird Will Fly

H.L. Mencken wrote, "I hate sports as much as sports fans hate common sense." If you are an Oriole fan then today was a groundbreaking one. Late this morning word traveled across the wires that manager Sam Perlozzo had been fired. But that was not all. Andy MacPhail had been hired as Chief Operating Officer, and they weren't stopping there. The main target for manager is former Marlins skipper, Yankee catcher, Northwestern grad, and industrial engineer, Joe Girardi. Tomorrow, a delegation will attempt to hammer out a deal with him to lead the team. OriolesHangout.com, the online community dedicated the Orioles, crashed when I went to check in late this morning and I knew something had happened. Another piece of the new approach is a reported back seat role for Mr. Angelos. The baseball people will be allowed to do what is necessary to win games. It's as though the season has begun anew. It appears we may have a future. I have followed this team since 1969, when I can vividly remember watching the last out of the World Series by myself alone in a room. Everyone else had left and fans were pouring onto the field at Shea stadium. A year later, a devastating thing happened. My parents divorced but the Orioles won the World Series--all was not lost. I have stuck with the Birds over the last decade, even moved to DC to be close to my team, showing a complete lack of common sense.