From today’s b, the paper

A year later, has MacPhail “fixed” the Orioles? One year ago today, Orioles owner Peter Angelos hired longtime baseball man Andy MacPhail to run the team as the President of Baseball Operations. The changes over the last 52 weeks have been noticeable, both on and off the field.

Sure, it’s easy to get excited by the fact that the summer solstice is upon us and the club is still above .500 and in the AL East race, but the signs the franchise might finally be pointed in the right direction are evident.

1. The players are having fun again. Gone are the days of the brooding Sidney Ponsons and cranky Miguel Tejadas. In are the bleached blonde hair and retro “Orioles Magic” videos of Kevin Millar. Fun on the field equals fun in the stands, even on the nights when they lose.

2. Youth has been served. By dealing malcontents like Tejada and pitcher Erik Bedard, MacPhail served notice that being a good person and teammate might be as valuable in the clubhouse as a good ERA or OBP. Enter Luke Scott and Adam Jones, who have quickly become fan favorites. One look at the brims of the squad’s caps when George Sherrill enters a game in the ninth inning would tell you that it’s still a boys’ game. Even Aubrey Huff has relented and apologized after calling Baltimore a “horses**t” town on a national radio show last November.

3. Giving the fans a better experience. From 1979 nostalgia nights to 25th Anniversary swag from the 1983 championship team to sending players out into the community to sign autographs, the team has used its “Orioles Reach” program to make some positive vibes throughout the area.

4. The manager appears as though he is in charge. As silly as it sounds, even Dave Trembley acknowledged this clear problem during a pre-game press conference on Tuesday when he said: “I figured, they’ve got nothing to lose because the way they’ve been doing it around here for 10 years didn’t work. It was going nowhere. They say timing in life is everything. I think the timing was right to come in here and say: ‘Enough is enough. It ain’t working, the way you guys have been doing it. The inmates are no longer running the asylum.”

5. They have a chance to win every night. Aside from all of the “cosmetic” differences to the team, when you go to an Orioles game or turn on the television in the 7th inning on any random night, you feel like they’re not out of it. And night after night they have found miraculous ways to win close games. Of their 36 wins entering last night’s game with Houston, an unprecedented 21 of them have been “comeback” wins, nothing short of astonishing.

6. Brian Roberts is still an Oriole. The Cubs wanted him badly. They didn’t get him.

7. Embracing the Ravens. So far, John Harbaugh, Steve McNair, Jon Ogden and Willis McGahee have thrown out first pitches. That’s four more than appeared in the first decade of the Ravens’ existence in Baltimore.

8. So monumental has the shift in the team’s “fan friendly” philosophy that it even appears that they’re going to put the word “Baltimore” back on their road jerseys next year.

So, in the spirit of my fandom and passion for the Orioles, here are a few more “requests” for making the club better over the next 365 days.

1. End the silly war with the local media and stop attempting to ban free speech. When my press pass appears at the front door – and I had one from 1986 until 2006, when they banned me for telling the truth– is when I’ll finally believe that the franchise has “changed its ways.” (I’m not holding my breath!)

2. Stop fudging the attendance numbers. We’re not stupid. If there are only 12,000 people in the stadium don’t announce the crowd at 21,000. It’s insulting.

3. Attempt to market the team in the offseason. Make some players come to Baltimore for a week and sign some autographs, do some media and show up at some Ravens games to return the favor.

4. Get more starting pitching. (At least Steve Tranchsel is gone!)

5. Find a true cleanup hitter. This might be predicated on MacPhail spending some of the millions of dollars Angelos is raking in via MASN’s quiet money machine.

Nestor Aparicio, owner of WNST-AM 1570, writes about sports and more. His column appears Mondays and Fridays. For more, go to wnst.net.

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