THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 8, 1994 TAG: 9408080139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C01 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The scenario is eerily familiar in a Steinbrenneresque sort of way.
The meddling owner calls the manager ``an insecure man,'' and publicly questions his ability to lead.
In a flurry of free-agent signings, the owner brought aboard enough talent to make his team a serious contender. But when the team failed to win the pennant in June, the owner threatened the manager's job.
Little by little, the owner has angered the manager by making day-to-day personnel moves from the executive suite. The owner ordered one third baseman to be played over another. He made the team activate a player the manager wanted released. Meanwhile, the owner is currently leaning on the general manager to execute a trade nobody else in the organization seems to understand.
As a result of the owner's heavy-handed style, three more employees have quit, the manager most likely won't be invited back next year, and the front-office baseball people are wondering when the trap door is going to open under them.
The preceding melodrama is true to life, but not to the Bronx of 1994. It is taking place in Baltimore, where, for the time being, a players' strike may be all that can stop the O's woes.
A year ago last week, Baltimore attorney Peter Angelos purchased the Orioles. It was a stroke of good fortune for Bird watchers. Angelos feels a passion for winning that previous ownership did not.
It's turning out, though, that Angelos has more than a little Steinbrenner in him. More and more, Angelos is becoming the Boss of Baltimore. When he forced manager Johnny Oates to play a slumping Leo Gomez at third, Oates called it an ``organizational decision,'' his way of denying any responsibility.
When Angelos says of Oates, ``I don't think he's a good leader,'' the O's owner could be reading from one of Steinbrenner's old scripts.
The impending strike will save Oates' job for now. But unless the Orioles reach the playoffs, Oates will be gone before next spring, not so much fired as put out of his misery.
The Orioles were one-half game out of first place at the All-Star break. But when the Yankees started on a tear, the Birds' hopes of winning the American League East went from a wing (Lee Smith's) to a prayer.
In a matter of days, Baltimore dropped from the Ozone to 10 games back. Three consecutive victories over Milwaukee bring the Birds to within eight games of the Yankees. Even so, presuming there is baseball sometime after Aug. 12, Baltimore will need to scramble to win even a wild-card spot.
The Birds have lost altitude despite a fine year at the plate from Cal Ripken Jr., Rafael Palmeiro and Harold Baines. Mike Mussina, 16-5 after yesterday's victory, has pitched better than Yankee lefthander Jimmy Key, who many rate as the favorite for the Cy Young.
Mussina and Ben McDonald, though, haven't been enough to offset the damage done by Sid Fernandez. The ex-Met's earned run average is as big around as his waistline, which seems to grow more immense each day. El Sid has gained 20 pounds since spring training while losing enough off his fastball to make him one of the league's premier gopher-ball pitchers.
If Sid is too fat, the bullpen is too thin. When Lee Smith struggled Sunday to wrap a ribbon around Mussina's excellent performance, it was more proof that the Birds' closer is closing in on the end of his career. This is the risk a team takes when it signs a pitcher who is older than farming.
Although the Orioles clearly need young and better arms, Angelos reportedly is pushing for the acquisition of another geezer - Pirates outfielder Andy Van Slyke, known this year in Pittsburgh as Andy Van Slack.
By George, this all sounds very familiar. by CNB