Another September swoon

The O's can only hope the saying "it's darkest before the dawn" might apply to baseball as well. It's getting pretty dark around here lately. Until this ten-game losing streak, the Orioles were not only competing with but they were beating good teams. They took two of three from Texas and won back to back series over the Yankees (on the road) and vs. Tampa. That all happened in September, although it seems years away now. With some recent blowout losses, the teams' effort can be questioned for probably the first time all year. Now this has the feel of just about every other September in recent years. This could be a big week for the doom and gloomers on the air in Baltimore and among the fan base. If the O's lose 100 games, they'll harp on that until they get laryngitis. Before winning 97 games last year, Tampa lost 96 games the year before and 101 the year before that. No one is saying, certainly not promising, that the 2010 O's can do that. Or even come close to that. But after the last week and a half, I can't wait to see this team full of youth back at full strength and beginning the year with a record of 0-0. What happens when Bergesen, Tillman and Matusz start the year in the rotation? When Reimold starts the year in left, along with Wieters catching and Jones in center? It should look a whole lot better and significant improvement is possible. Hopefully the young players still around and not hurt are seeing how miserable a finish like this can be. Hopefully they, or someone in that clubhouse, is determined that it not ever happen again.