Buck Showalter and Stating the Obvious...

I’ve always wondered what influence Buck Showalter had on the Orioles this past season. With Spring Training upon us within the next month or so, a lot of fans are looking to 2011 with increased optimism with how the team finished up last season.

The more I think about it, he had a considerable aura over the Orioles over the past two months.

Think of it, the Orioles were a horrible team – close to being historically so, until Showalter showed up.

Now, even though Showalter had pretty much the same talent that both the deposed Dave Trembley and Juan Samuel had, I think he shook up the players -- to an extent.

Really, while his record with the Orioles was impressive, the team's impressive play could be attributed to some of the players performing well above their norms, a healthy roster - the return of Roberts, Uehara (very critical), Gonzalez - in addition, to the starting pitching performing much better halted a train wreck.

Also, the batters (finally!) seemed to have a plan at the plate and hit much better in the clutch, plus in key situations in game. In addition, a lot of base running

Could the Orioles continue what they did last season? Maybe, but a lot of things really have to go right. They will need to play much better against their AL East opponents to have any chance even finishing at .500, much more competing...

but...

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