Matthew Taylor: An interesting conversation with my 2011 self

Have you ever heard someone talk about the advice they would share with a younger version of themself if they had the chance? Here's what a conversation with the 2011 version of myself might look like if we got to talking Orioles baseball.

2011 Me: I don't know how much more of this I can take. Fourteen consecutive losing seasons! I thought this was the year, and we still lost 93 games with Buck Showalter in charge. We're hopeless.

2016 Me: I think you'll be happy with where things go from here.

2011 Me: Do we finally get to .500? Tell me we win 81 games. I don't want to be greedy, but maybe 82 wins? That would be amazing.

2016 Me: Even better. The Orioles will be the winningest American League team from 2012 until now.

2011 Me: (confused silence)

2016 Me: You still with me?

2011 Me: Sorry, I must have fallen into a temporary state of shock.

2016 Me: I understand.

2011 Me: So are the O's battling it out with the Rays? How many World Series has Tampa Bay won?

2016 Me: Actually, the Rays are in last place. They never won a World Series.

2011 Me: Does Joe Maddon die?

2016 Me: No, he goes to Chicago to manage the Cubs. Theo Epstein's there, too.

2011 Me: Don't tell me that the Cubs win ...

2016 Me: Not yet.

2011 Me: So Maddon and Epstein, huh? Boy, Tampa Bay and Boston sure got burned. Joke's on them.

2016 Me: Jake Arrieta wins a Cy Young for the Cubs. Joke's on us, too.

2011 Me: So does Zach Britton become the ace for us then?

2016 Me: He's the closer. One of the best in the business, actually. Chris Tillman is our ace.

2011 Me: But Brian Matusz still stinks, right?

2016 Me: Yeah. He's on the Cubs, too.

2011 Me: I thought you said they were good.

2016 Me: The Iowa Cubs.

2011 Me: Gotcha.

2011 Me: So O's fans must be ecstatic. Sellout crowds like the late '90s. Baltimore's a baseball town again. That's awesome.

2016 Me: About that. The O's rank 20th in attendance this season. They're drawing about 27,000 fans a night.

2011 Me: Are they still mad at Peter Angelos for not spending any money?

2016 Me: The O's spent a bunch of money in the offseason. They signed Chris Davis to a seven-year, $161 million contract.

2011 Me: Davis? The guy they just traded for? Isn't he like a AAAA talent who will average 20 homers at best?

2016 Me: He hits 53 homers in 2013. Forty-seven in 2015.

2011 Me: They still don't sign pitchers for more than three years, though, right?

2016 Me: Ubaldo Jimenez gets a four-year deal.

2011 Me: Makes sense. He won 19 games last year and was an All-Star. Finished third in Cy Young voting. But wait, I thought you said Tillman was the ace?

2016 Me: It's complicated.

2011 Me: It sure is, but at least the team's winning. That's what really matters. What's their record right now?

2016 Me: 70-57. They're a game out of first place.

2011 Me: That's amazing! I can't imagine how excited fans must be after all this losing. Never a bad day in Baltimore.

2016 Me: Like I said, it's complicated.

Matthew Taylor blogs about the Orioles at Roar from 34. Follow him on Twitter: @RoarFrom34. His ruminations about the Birds appear as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.