With 13th Loss in Row, Orioles May Be Going From Bad to the Worst

It had looked so promising for the Baltimore Orioles.

Hadn’t the plane carrying them to Milwaukee arrived safely?

Hadn’t they then scored three runs in the first inning of Tuesday night’s game with the Milwaukee Brewers? This was a significant accomplishment in that they hadn’t scored more than one run in any of their previous 110 innings, hadn’t scored more than three runs in any of the previous 12 games and hadn’t led by more than one run in 1988?

So much for promise.

The reality seems to be that the Orioles are as bad as their record. The reality seems to be that they are linked to their past glory in name only.

They embarrassed the ghosts again by blowing the 3-0 lead en route to a 9-5 loss that was their 13th in a row, tying the major league record for consecutive losses at the start of a season.

The five runs represented a 1988 high for a team that came in hitting .186 overall and .086 with runners in scoring position, but that crumb of optimism hardly compensated for a shockingly crummy performance by the Oriole defense, which was charged with four errors and two passed balls--and that was only the official count.

None of the three Baltimore pitchers were cited for a balk, but they allowed 14 hits, including a three-run, second-inning homer by Paul Molitor that wiped out the 3-0 lead and led to the early exit of starter Mark Thurmond, who is 0-3 this season and winless in his last 51 appearances.

How bad are the Orioles?

Their inept play even drew boos from a partisan home crowd of 7,414, which normally would have appreciated a visiting team’s generosity.

It was a fitting way for the Orioles to tie an ignominious record set by the Washington Senators in 1904 and matched by the Detroit Tigers in 1920. The Senators finished 55 1/2 games out. The Tigers finished 37 out. The Orioles are already 11 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees in the American League East.

A year ago, in this same city and at about the same time, the Brewers were celebrating a 13-game streak of another kind, having equaled a major league record for season-opening victories.

They ultimately won 20 of their first 23, then lost 12 in a row. Manager Tom Trebelhorn reflected Tuesday night and said there is a considerable difference--mentally, at least--in that Milwaukee losing streak and what the Orioles are now experiencing.

“There’s all the difference in the world,” he said. “When you go out 13-0 and 20-3, you know you can play. It didn’t make our discomfort (during the losing streak) any less, but we still knew what we were capable of, there wasn’t a doubt in our minds.

“I don’t want to speak for the Orioles, but when you experience it at the start of a season, everything has to be magnified. You start to look for bad things to happen.

“I would think that you might even start to doubt your ability.”

Most of the Orioles kept their thoughts--and doubts--to themselves in a quiet clubhouse jammed with members of the media. A man with a microphone thrust it at designated hitter Larry Sheets and asked about the frustration.

“The frustrating thing about this is that we still think we can compete,” Sheets said. “I’m sick and tired of hearing how bad we are. We’re capable of competing in this division, and one of these days we’re going to prove it.”

It is yet to happen under Frank Robinson, 0-7 since succeeding Cal Ripken Sr. as manager.

In the first inning Tuesday night, Robinson watched Rick Schu, the 31st Oriole third baseman since Brooks Robinson retired in 1977, boot a ground ball; rookie catcher Carl Nichols from Compton High allow two passed balls, and left fielder Wayne Rowdon allow a harmless fly ball to fall for a double, reducing that 3-0 lead to 3-2.

Molitor erased it completely in the second, but the Orioles were trailing only 5-4 in the fifth when they gave up three more runs while making three more errors, two by right fielder Joe Orsulak--one with his glove and one with his arm--and the other by Eddie Murray, who allowed a ground ball to go between his legs a la Bill Buckner in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

In Game 13 of the Oriole nightmare, Sheets and Rowdon also missed signs, and Jeff Stone was thrown out trying to take an extra base with his team trailing by three runs, but Robinson displayed what has become a customary calm later and said he is not going to explode just because people may expect it. He added, however, that he wasn’t as calm as he looked.

“I’m frustrated, and everybody here is frustrated,” he said. “I can’t get on ‘em about their effort, but we did things tonight we can’t afford to do. We made mistakes we can’t afford to make and which I won’t tolerate.

“There were some positive things offensively, but the pitching and defense wasn’t pretty. They may be trying too hard, but there’s no excuse for the way we played.

“I’ll let ‘em sleep on it tonight and discuss it tomorrow. I have to be confident, I have to be patient. Leadership is essential.”

How long can he maintain those traits? His rotation is devoid of a stopper and includes five pitchers who totaled 24 wins last year. His team has been outscored, 79-22, and the offense has reminded General Manager Roland Hemond of the “dead ball era.”

Murray had only one RBI before he doubled in a run in the first. Cal Ripken Jr. was hitless in his last 29 at bats and 2 for 43 overall when he homered in the third.

Pitcher Mike Boddicker, who has tied a club record by losing eight straight decisions over two years, will be on the mound tonight, attempting to prevent the Orioles from taking the record for themselves.

Said Terry Kennedy: “I don’t think the Orioles will be remembered for this. I think they’ll be remembered for the winning tradition of the past and the winning tradition of the future. There’s nothing more to be said. We’ve just got to keep going, keep trying.”

THE O-RIOLES

Year Team Record 1988 Baltimore Orioles 0-13 1904 Washington Senators 0-13 1920 Detroit Tigers 0-13 1968 Chicago White Sox 0-10 1988 Atlanta Braves 0-10