4-29-88 . . . The Baltimore Orioles finally won a game. Yesterday the Os lost their twenty-first consecutive game at the beginning of a season, setting the major-league record. Now they’re 1-21. It’s hard to believe. In my lifetime, the Orioles have been one of the most successful teams, never finishing near the bottom and often winning the divisional title. Just five seasons ago (1983), the Orioles won the World Series. But they’ve hit bottom. A Baltimore disk jockey stayed on the air for over 200 hours waiting for a victory; there are Oriole jokes going around; and Oriole memorabilia is selling like mad—nationwide. The Os are the laughingstock of baseball and the sports world. I couldn’t be happier. I’ve never liked the Orioles, though I have nothing against their current manager, Frank Robinson. Strangely, Robinson replaced Cal Ripken, Sr, when the latter lost his first six games. What did Robinson do? He went on to lose another fifteen in a row! That should tell you something about managing. Teams win and lose in spite of their managers, not because of them. [The Orioles have not been to the World Series, much less won one, since 1983.]