Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 27, 1990 TAG: 9005270072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID GINSBURG ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BALTIMORE LENGTH: Medium
What really irks him is that Baltimore is playing so . . . so . . .
"Inconsistent," says Robinson, asked to describe the Orioles' 1990 season in one word.
Robinson is at his desk, sipping a soft drink and talking baseball. The subject turns to Baltimore catcher Mickey Tettleton, who finally has broken out of a six-week slump.
"He was putting too much pressure on himself to prove last year was no fluke," Robinson says. "He finally learned to just relax and forget about all that."
Robinson pauses, apparently reflecting upon what he has said. He leans forward.
"I wish all our guys could do that," he mutters.
Last year was easy for the Orioles. Coming off a 54-107 season, Baltimore's only challenge in 1989 was to be respectable.
The Orioles, though, went on to become the storybook tale of the year. Baltimore spent 116 days in first place before losing the American League East flag to Toronto during the last weekend of the season. The Orioles' 87-75 record was 32 1/2 games better than their 1988 campaign and matched the 1936 Boston Braves as the third best improvement in modern major-league history.
Their mission this year was to prove that 1989 was not merely an aberration. It has been an arduous task.
The Orioles, who fell into last place Wednesday, haven't been above .500 since April 23. They are the worst-hitting team in the AL, own the league's lowest stolen base success rate and appear to be wearing iron gloves in the field.
Last year, Baltimore set a major-league record for fielding percentage (.986). This season the Orioles committed 26 errors through 38 games, a figure they didn't reach last year until the 60th game.
Jeff Ballard, 18-8 last year with a 3.43 ERA, was 0-5 with a 4.05 ERA entering the weekend. Cal Ripken was battling a slump that dropped his average to around .220, and Tettleton had 13 homers through May last year compared to four as of Thursday.
The problem? The Orioles are having difficulty with living up to expectations.
"Last year nobody expected much from this ballclub," Robinson said. "They would accept whatever happened. But we were much more successful than anyone ever dreamed or could have rightfully expected.
"What that did is put the pressure on the players to come back and have as good, if not better, years."
Robinson has seen enough instant success stories to know it would be virtually impossible for the Orioles to pull off an encore.
"Realistically, you could just not expect this year's ballclub to come back and perform at that level," he said.
All he wanted was a little consistency. He hasn't gotten it.
Reliever Gregg Olson, one of few Orioles playing up to last year's level, goes with the theory that each player is trying to do too much to help the team get on a roll.
"Everybody is putting pressure on themselves," Olson said. "It's like the quarterback who says he's got to throw for 400 yards or else his team loses. That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself, but that's what we've been doing. You're supposed to have nine guys working together - like last year."
Ballard, who led all AL left-handers in wins in 1989, underwent offseason elbow surgery and has not been the same. However, he refused to blame the operation.
"That's just speculation people like to make when you don't win games," he said. "Sometimes you don't get the breaks, but that has nothing to do with the surgery or anything else."
Robinson sees things differently.
"I know he's not 100 percent," he said. "I've seen Jeff Ballard before surgery and I know what he looks like now, and there's no comparison."
With Ballard struggling, the Orioles starters were 10-16 with a 4.10 ERA after 40 games. While the pitching hasn't been up to par, the team's most obvious shortcoming is its hitting.
Over the first 40 games, Baltimore was held to six hits or less 17 times. They won only one of those games.
"We're struggling," said hitting coach Tom McGraw. "We just can't get a few guys hitting well at the same time yet. But I think this ballclub will eventually become an exciting offensive club."
There is reason for optimism. After all, the Orioles got off to a slow start last year, too.
"There's no sense of urgency," Robinson said, "but hopefully we can soon get something going to where we can keep ourselves above water and don't sink to where we start drowning."
by CNB