In Appreciation of Andy MacPhail

Coming into the 2014 season the AL East was projected to be one of the more competitive divisions in baseball. Surprisingly (to most), it was the Baltimore Orioles who came out on top and did so decisively, finishing 12 games ahead of the 2^nd place Yankees.

How did a team like the Orioles that was just a few years removed from 15 straight losing seasons improve to a point that they could dominate a division like the AL East? In my opinion the person who deserves the most credit is Andy MacPhail.

When MacPhail was hired as the President of Baseball Operations in June 2007 he inherited an organization that was in complete shambles. The franchise was in need of wholesale philosophical changes that started with the front office and ran all the way down to the fan base. Changing the culture of an entire organization was obviously going to be a multi-year endeavor. MacPhail had no choice but to rebuild one brick at a time.

It was obvious that Andy was not going to be able to rebuild through the free agent market even if Peter Angelos had been willing to loosen the purse strings. Any quality free agent who had a remotely viable alternative was unwilling to sign with an Orioles organization that was trapped in such an obvious level of dysfunction. MacPhail’s only option was to rebuild through the draft and trade market and that is exactly what he did.

• His 1^st order of business was to sign Matt Wieters, the 5^th overall pick in the 2007. As Wieters was a Scott Boras client, this was easier said than done. O’s fans will remember the tense situation as the clock ticked down on the window to sign Wieters before a deal was finally struck.
• He then traded Eric Bedard to Seattle for Adam Jones, Chris Tillman & George Sherrill (Sherrill was later traded to the Dodgers for Steve Johnson & Josh Bell).
• He signed Koji Uehara from the Japanese League.
• He drafted Manny Machado 3^rd overall in the 2010 draft.
• He acquired JJ Hardy from the Twins for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson.
• Andy then traded Koji Uehara to the Rangers for Chris Davis & Tommy Hunter.

Those are just a few of the most notable of the moves that MacPhail made. Since arriving in Baltimore those players have combined to win a total of 10 Gold Glove Awards, 1 Platinum Glove Award, 3 Silver Slugger Awards and have made 12 All Star appearances. All of the players who earned those awards will be wearing an Oriole uniform again in 2015 and will certainly add to that long list of accolades. Those moves created the nucleus of a re-born Orioles organization.

As impressive as those acquisition were, MacPhail’s most impactful move came in July 2010 when he hired Buck Showalter. The impact that the hiring of Showalter had on the franchise is undeniable. Buck finished 2^nd in the voting for the 2012 AL Manager of The Year and went on to win the award in 2014. Buck took the pieces that Andy put into place and got the most out of them game in and game out. Buck was the perfect managerial hire at the perfect time for an Orioles franchise that was in desperate need of a complete change in culture.

The body of work Andy put together in his time in Baltimore took the organization from being a shell of the proud franchise that it once was back to a team of respectability and success. The Orioles would not be entering the 2015 season wearing the AL East Division crown if it was not for the monumental accomplishments that MacPhail made in his time as the Orioles President of Baseball Operations.

Ironically, when he left the team at the end of the 2011 season the general sentiment from the fans in Birdland was one of “good riddance.” The majority of the fan base did not recognize the seeds of success that he had planted. Fans were unwilling to wait for those seeds to blossom.

After 15 consecutive years of failure there was no longer any hope left in our hearts. It was completely depleted after a decade and a half of trying to convince ourselves that “things will get better because Hayden Penn is almost ready,” or “it is OK because Ryan Minor is going to be a superstar,” or “the kids are coming to play,” etc. We did not just hit rock bottom as a fan base – we bounced 15 times.

We may have been too beaten down as a fan base to recognize the magnitude of MacPhail’s accomplishments at the time of his departure but that doesn’t mean we cannot and should not recognize them now. It is tragic that MacPhail’s name is rarely ever mentioned. We owe him so much more for what he has done for baseball in Baltimore. Andy MacPhail resurrected our franchise and allowed us to once again be proud to say we are Oriole fans.

Feel free to move on from where we were – Feel free to embrace where we are – Never forget who got us here.

THANK YOU ANDY!