There is no blood on the O’s hands

Mike Flanagan’s death was a horrible tragedy for his friends, his family, and a community that loved him. If one of the measures of a man is the company they keep, then the outpouring of loss and touching eulogies from the people that knew him best speaks volumes. Every single story I read in remembrance of Flanagan, glossed over his many on-field accomplishments, and spoke about his intelligence, humor, and character. That commentary brought home what a loss this was for anyone that knew him.

I have plenty of respect for Gerry Sandusky, and what he has accomplished as a Sportscaster for WBAL TV & Radio, the Radio voice of the Ravens, and his communication company – The Sandusky Group.  I also understand Sandusky was a neighbor and friend of Flanagan, and the Flanagan family. Even with knowledge of that personal relationship, I think it was a mistake for Sandusky and WBAL to stick with their commentary that Flanagan’s death was the result of the former pitcher being “despondent” over being perceived as having failed the team and fans during his time in the O’s Front Office.

No matter how intolerable the grief, it is wrong for anyone to hold the Baltimore Orioles responsible. It is ghoulish to discuss why Mr. Flanagan may have taken the actions he did. The fact is, only he will ever truly know. Discussion from anyone else is just conjecture. Frankly, even if a note had been typed out specifying exactly what the rationale was, it would still be the commentary of someone that was deeply depressed and not thinking straight.

Further to that, Mrs. Flanagan has made known that her last conversation with Mr. Flanagan, showed her Husband to be irritated about financial issues. Again, it would be wrong for me or anyone else to say that definitively was what pushed him over the edge. That will never be known, and even if it was, would not bring the man back to his family and friends.

In the coming weeks, I suspect we will hear commentary from those closest to Mr. Flanagan, of the grievances the former pitcher had with the Organization. I’m sure we will accurately hear details of things Mr. Flanagan wanted to accomplish internally, but was blocked from doing so. Nothing that comes out (and to be clear, I’m not currently privy to any specific details) is going to be something that any sane person points to as a true catalyst for Mr. Flanagan’s death.

Like any fan of the O’s, I have a million issues with the organization. Here are ten of them, not in any particular order:

1) The team has been a joke since ’98. I’m bothered that the O’s never actually tried to rebuild until the 2007 season, and I’m annoyed that a full-commitment to that rebuilding has yet to take place.

2) I’ll never understand why there has not been a stronger impetus from the O’s to build their Player Development and Amateur Scouting Departments to be the best in baseball.

3) With the troubles the O’s have in obtaining talent, the half-stepping undertaken by the O’s in International Scouting is puzzling at best.

4) Where is the Sabermetic influence within the Organization? Some might point to Matt Klentak, but my understanding is that the Director of Baseball Operations specializes in contract negotiation. Which in and of itself would not negate any sabermetric knowledge he may bring to the table, but would mitigate the potential impact. There should be an entire Department dedicated to Sabermetrics anyway.

5) The lack of  the O’s compensatory picks compared to their divisional foes over the last 5-6 years is startling.

6) The O’s do a lot of good things in the Community through Orioles Reach, and they typically have discounted tickets available via multiple promotions. The O’s do a horrible job of advertising their community endeavors, and their bargain tickets.

7) In the immediate years prior to the Nationals moving to DC, roughly 25% of the O’s season ticket holders, and 20% of their individual game sales were to people that lived in Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, D.C., or Northern Virginia. Some of us who were working for the O’s at the time, suggested the organization needed to make a more concerted attempt at wooing the Pennsylvania population within a 2 hour drive of the park. If I am incorrect, I am sure the O’s will correct me, but I do not think the Group Sales Department has ever significantly increased the percentage of PA fans (particularly with their Sunday plans).

8) There are 20+ games a year at this point where there might be upwards of 20k seats sold, but there are 10k people in the ballpark. The O’s will know in December of 2011, which 20 games of 2012 figure to be their lowest attended. Does not take an abundance of IQ to realize that additional promotions are required for those days. Give away the tickets. Bring people into the ballpark. Let them have a good time, and want to return. Let them spend money and increase the concession sales, while also improving the in-game atmosphere for everyone.

9) The leadership of the O’s organization (starting from the top with Mr. Angelos) needs to make themselves more readily available to the people that want to cover the O’s. While I would like that to include Baltimore Sports and Life, I understand I’m a relatively small and unaffiliated blog. Even though WBAL currently holds the rights, the organization needs to be on 105.7 FM The Fan, and 1570 WNST engaging the hosts and the fans. That same argument can be extended to CSN Baltimore, Orioles Hangout, Camden Chat, Press Box etc.

9a) It is well established which blogs cover the O’s locally at this point. If you read the content, it should also be clear that sites like Camden Depot, Camden Crazies, Dempsey’s Army, Oriole Post, etc. (and yes, Baltimore Sports and Life) bring as much to the table as anyone else. The temporary Media passes the O’s have been willing to provide these sites is a positive. There should be no reason why full credentials are not provided to these sites for the 2012 season.

10) I don’t begrudge the O’s making money off of MASN, in fact as a fan of the team – I hope it is as profitable as can be. Still, the O’s could be a bit more transparent about their revenue streams. It is my understanding that going into the 2010 season, MASN had yet to be profitable. In 2011, we have someone estimating the revenue of MASN could be $158.7M this year. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/sports/regional-sports-networks-show-teams-the-money.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&ref=richardsandomir) Even with understanding this estimate was revenue and not profit, and did not clearly indicate the current split to the Nationals; it provides ammunition to the idea that the O’s are now sitting on a cash cow. If MASN is not anywhere near that profitable, the O’s should make it known. If MASN is that profitable, there is no excuse for Amateur Scouting, Player Development, and International Scouting to not be funded as well as any team anywhere.

Bonus) While I agree with the idea that it is ludicrous that Tampa’s Management has to be that much better than New York, and Boston’s – Tampa has shown with far less salary, a well managed team can be competitive in the American League East.  The O’s 2011 payroll is $87M, which is good for about 17th overall in MLB. The way that money is being spent is a far bigger issue than the disparity in salaries. There are major equitable challenges in Baseball, and they are made evident in this Division. Still, you have to get your own house in perfect order before anyone outside this City is going to fully listen to legitimate complaints about the salary disparity (The difference in the Yankees’ salary and the O’s salary is roughly equal to the three lowest payroll teams – San Diego, Tampa, and KC), and the unbalanced schedule.

All of that is a long-winded way of stating we know the many things that are wrong with the O’s organization. There are plenty of issues you can hold the Orioles and Mr. Angelos responsible for.  I worked there, I saw it first hand. I had plenty of contacts within the organization, and I knew their frustrations as well. Any organization starts with who is in charge at the top, so of course Mr.Angelos bears the most responsibility for the current state of the O’s. That all said, the O’s problems are currently more tied to the development of their young pitching staff vs. any deeper skeletons existing in their closet. Anyone that attempts to pin Mr. Flanagan’s death on the O’s is making a flawed argument. Hold the O’s accountable for improving the things they can, and do not rake them over the coals for conjecture.