The Baltimore Orioles are in sunny Sarasota, Florida at Ed
Smith Stadium for the start of spring training. As they are probably relaxing
by the pool and enjoying the warm, I am celebrating the start having to dig out
my car from the snow and doing laundry. Where would you rather be? Warmth or
chores? Trust me, I don’t take it personally.
I know that living in the NoVA area puts me within Nationals
boundaries, but I couldn’t just drop my team the second a new one came in. So
to me, Orioles are #1 and the Nationals are Top 5. Top 5 fluctuates so
sometimes they’ll be #2 and other times they’re teetering between five and six.
The Orioles have definitely become a force to be reckoned
with in the American League and all across Major League Baseball. I think part
of what is bringing on the change is the cohesiveness of the players. They’ve
been a lot like the Redskins in the past; great players but the team has not
been a unit. Now they are really working together in all aspects of the team.
This has been demonstrated in training camp already. New pitchers came in to be
evaluated and trained. Even the ones in the last group had an audience. Veteran
pitchers including Tommy Hunter and Darren O’Day took part in rookie groups and
stayed behind to watch & show support for the new guys.
When I started playing soccer as a little kid one of the
first things I was taught was that we have to learn how to play as a team if we
want to grow as a team and if we wanted to win. It was not about the one kid
who could always score a goal whenever on the field. It was just as much about
the kid who sat down by the sidelines picking at the grass. We had to learn each
other’s strengths and weaknesses as well as learn how to work with them all. We
had to learn about each other in ways more than just involved soccer. It paid
off!
As simple as it may be, professional teams don’t seem to
always understand that. The focus is on the big names and the people that are
always making ESPN’s highlight reel. They can’t be the big names without
everyone else that goes out on the field. The Orioles have embraced the lesson
and it worked out last season. Hopefully they only get better. Seeing the
couple days that spring training has been going on has given me a lot of hope
for this coming season.
Let’s go O’s!!!
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