Connolly's Tap Room

Tap-In Question: Is this really the most frustrated you’ve been as an Orioles fan?

I’m not really sure what to continue to say about what is going on here with the Orioles.

I might just join you on the other side of the bar. No answers on this end.

These Orioles have been consistently bad in pretty much every aspect of the game.

They rarely can string hits together and, when they do, the pitching falters. Right now, the Orioles’ staunch bullpen is cratering and their starting rotation is on a constant elevator. Their defense is a shell of what it has been in recent years.

We sort of dismissed their awful start because the schedule was so brutal – having to face all five of the 2017 American League playoff teams in their first 23 games. And the Orioles were 6-17 in that span.

Well, that gauntlet ended, and the Orioles (8-22) have dropped five of seven since.

And that includes Wednesday’s 10-7 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, which was an embarrassing blowout until the ninth, when the Orioles scored five but couldn’t complete the massive comeback.

The Angels had lost nine of their previous 12 heading into the Orioles series; they’ve promptly won two straight. On Wednesday, the Angles bashed right-hander Dylan Bundy, one of the few Orioles’ bright spots in April who has now allowed 12 earned runs in his last nine innings.

It’s ugly. Really ugly.

But I believe I’ve covered worse stretches.

There was the end of 2002, when the Orioles dropped 32 of 36 to end the season. And in 2005, when the club was in first place in late June before a legendary collapse that included Rafael Palmeiro’s PED suspension, Lee Mazzilli’s firing and Brian Roberts’ broken arm. Losing 19 of 23 to finish in last place in 2017 wasn’t a thing of beauty, either.

And, though I wasn’t covering it, no one can forget 30 years ago, when the Orioles lost a record 21 consecutive games to begin the 1988 season.

Plus, this organization had 14 consecutive losing campaigns from 1998 to 2012. There were years in there when the season wasn’t over in May; it was over in February.

Yet, several fans have told me through social media that they’ve never been so frustrated with the Orioles than they are now.

That surprises me.

I mean, we all live in the moment. What we are going through in the present often seems more intense – good or bad – than our memories allow. Some made the same claim last September.

Personally, I can’t stress how brutal the 2002 stretch was to cover. Everyone around the team was miserable, which made it difficult for me to do my job.

As a journalist, it’s not at that point for me now. Not close. (Of course, we’re only in May; the potential to get historically worse is there).

But as we’ve discussed before, I’m no longer a fan. I don’t live and die with Orioles’ wins and losses like I did when I was a kid.

So, educate me here.

Is this really as frustrated as you’ve been as an Orioles fan? Or does it seem like that simply because it has been so ugly, so early.

If this isn’t your fan frustration apex, what was?

Tap-In Question: Is this as frustrated as you’ve been as an Orioles fan? If so, why?

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