On Baseball | Can Orioles thrive under MacPhail?

Baltimore Orioles fans should not be pleased that their team is bearing down on a 10th straight losing season. They should not take delight that a good man such as manager Sam Perlozzo was fired mostly for the sins of others - the players, a pitching staff that even Leo Mazzone can't fix and the people who put together the team.

Nonetheless, these should be happy days for O's fans.

Perlozzo's long expected firing last week was followed by a more significant transaction - the hiring of Andy MacPhail as club president.

MacPhail, 54, is a level-headed, respected baseball executive who presided over two World Series winners as general manager of the Twins. He was president of the Cubs for 11 seasons before stepping down last year and being man enough to admit that zero trips to the World Series meant he didn't get the job done. He is often mentioned as a candidate to become the game's next commissioner.

But who is running the team shouldn't excite Orioles fans as much as who might not be running the team anymore.

MacPhail's hiring is a sign that meddlesome owner Peter Angelos might finally be getting it. After all these years, he may finally realize that the team would be better served with an actual baseball man running the show.

Now, no one is naïve enough to think a strong personality such as Angelos won't still have influence on the O's baseball operation. After all, he does own the club, and owners are allowed input. But you have to believe MacPhail when he says he is confident that he will have the autonomy to run the Orioles baseball operations the way he sees fit.

"If I didn't feel that way I wouldn't be here," he said at his introductory press conference.

Angelos, a high-powered, billionaire trial attorney, bought his hometown Orioles in 1993. He's hired some good people but seldom lets them do their jobs. Pat Gillick, who presided over the O's last winning season in 1997, couldn't wait to get out of Baltimore. In recent years, Angelos has tried to re-invent the GM position by having two of them. Of course, neither ran the team's baseball operations. Every move had to be run through the owner's office, and that not only frustrated Orioles officials but opposing teams as well.

"They're impossible to do business with," one rival general manager said as he pursued a possible deal with the Orioles two winters ago.

Last summer, the Orioles baseball people thought the team could improve by sending shortstop Miguel Tejada and his hefty contract to Anaheim. Angelos nixed the deal at the last minute. Last off-season, Angelos killed a deal that would have sent second baseman Brian Roberts to Atlanta for Adam LaRoche. Angelos shot it down because Roberts was one of his favorite players. Hey, the O's are Angelos' toy, and he can do as he pleases. But his micromanaging has only produced losses, frustrated fans and drawn ill will in one of America's great baseball towns.

There are reasons - as many as two million - why Angelos may finally be getting the message that he needs to back off and let someone else make the calls.

Fifteen years after it ignited baseball's stadium boom, Camden Yards is still one of the best places to watch a game. But attendance has fallen sharply as the losing seasons have piled up. In 1997, the O's drew 3.7 million. This year, they're on pace to draw 1.7 million. That's a lot of lost ticket revenue.

Another big reason why Angelos might finally be seeing the light is that team that moved in down the street in 2005. The Washington Nationals are led by an accomplished big-league executive in Stan Kasten. They have a plan and a new stadium opening next year. A successful Washington franchise could cut into the Orioles' fan base, and thus, its revenues. Angelos has to see that.

MacPhail has a formidable task in front of him. He is still looking for a manager after being turned down by Joe Girardi, who would probably rather take his chances that the Yankees, White Sox or Cardinals come calling after the season. He must decide if he wants to continue with the two-headed GM position that is shared by Jim Duquette and Mike Flanagan. He must lock horns with agent Scott Boras and try to sign catcher Matt Wieters, the team's first-round pick who is considered a franchise talent. He must rebuild the Orioles.

These are big jobs and big decisions but nothing MacPhail can't handle, provided that Angelos is finally ready to stay out of the way.

Going nowhere

The Baltimore Orioles, winners of three World Series (1966, '70, '83), have fallen on tough times since Peter Angelos, right, bought the team before the 1993 season. In fact, Baltimore hasn't had a winning season since 1997, Pat Gillick's last as general manager.

Decade of decline

1998: 79-84 (4th)    1999: 78-84 (4th)    2000: 74-88 (4th)      2001: 63-98 (4th)    2002: 67-95 (4th) 2003: 71-91 (4th)

2004: 78-84 (3d)    2005: 74-88 (4th) 2006: 70-92 (4th)

Unlucky seven: Angelos' managers

                     Years                Record

Johnny Oates          1993-94            148-126

Phil Regan             1995                 71-73

Davey Johnson          1996-97            186-138

Ray Miller             1998-99            157-167

Mike Hargrove          2000-03            275-372

Lee Mazzilli             2004-05            129-140

Sam Perlozzo          2005-07            122-164