A quick take on the O's offense from Terry Crowley

When the O's offense struggles, the message boards start buzzing with criticism of hitting coach Terry Crowley. But he can't go into the box and swing for the players. While he can and should provide help, doesn't it really become the responsibility of the guy with the bat in his hand? We could debate that for hours, but let's skip that for right now. Anyway, talking about the O's slumping offense right now is probably not at the top of Crowley's list of wonderful things. He did take a few minutes for a couple of reporters today and answered a few questions. What about the O's struggling with situational hitting? - "That depends. Some games the situational hitting has been very good. Some games the pitchers have a little to do with what we are trying to do. They can negate things you try to do. Every team has its ups and downs. Our lineup is sprinkled now with young, inexperienced people. We've had some veterans go in and out of struggles. Overall, we are doing fine, but there are occasional games where some lack of consistency might show its ugly head." Did you expect more from this offense? - "That's a tough question to answer. I like our hitters, each and every one of them. When you compare our lineup, do you look at the Yankees or other teams. What are we comparing it to. We deal with what we have here and for the most part, I'm pleased with what they do. There are occasions where we have to have some conferences and get better at doing things."