The Season: They had a good April, and had a winning record as late as July 8 before the wheels fell off. With the Rays stepping forward, the Orioles are all alone in the battle for last in the division.

High Point: After losing opening day, the Orioles won six in a row and took an early 2-game lead in the AL East.

Positive Trends: Nick Markakis, age 24, improved upon a fine sophomore season (which itself was an improvement on a fine rookie season).

Pleasant Surprises: The Orioles' offence is 4th in the AL in runs scored. Aubrey Huff, at age 31, had almost the same season that he had at age 26, and ranks among the leaders in many offensive categories.

Melvin Mora, 36 years old and coming off of two weak seasons, got real hot during the summer, including a .418 average in August, and has 100 RBI

Disappointments: The pitching staff, both old and young, has been an unmitigated disaster. They're 13th in the AL in ERA, ahead of Texas - but they've been by far the worst staff in the league since the break.

(hey, how's Ray Miller feeling these days? I know he had an aneurysm, but this has been the Year of Comebacks, and there's always room for one more)

The Orioles tried out five different shortstops during the season; they collectively posted the worst OPS in the AL - much worse than even the Royals, who gave 200 at bats to Tony Pena Jr.

The Predictable: Jay Payton has received 320 at bats, and has produced a woeful .655 OPS.

Daniel Cabrera leads the AL in wild pitches and hit batsmen.

Steve Trachsel posted an 8.39 ERA in eight starts.

Epitaph: As I've written in the past, I hate the Orioles, more than any other team. Partly because, when I was young, they did horrible, horrible things to the Blue Jays. And partly because, in recent years, they've become perhaps the worst organization in baseball. This will be their 11th straight losing season; and they are far, far back of the other four teams in the division.

But of course, we've reached a crossroads. On the one hand, you can't hate a team this bad; first they become irrelevant, then you start to pity them, and over time they become lovable losers.

On the other hand... there's always the chance that they will get better. They have some nice young players. They have a real GM who made a bold trade last winter, one that could keep paying off for a few years. There's plenty of work to do still, and they will need an owner who provides the resources to compete in a tough division, but who is also patient enough to let the GM do his job. Whether or not they finally have that owner... well, likely not. But humans are unpredictable.

So I will enjoy their misfortune while it lasts. Either it ends, or it stops being enjoyable.