Rebuilding the Orioles - One Game at a Time

In Dave Trembley's first full season at the helm of the Orioles, in 2008, his charges started out fast, building an unexpected 15-11 record to stay near the top of the AL East. The skipper, while keeping it in perspective, wanted to focus on what the team was doing right rather than how unexpected it may have been. He re-emphasized his focus on "team, attitude, fundamentals, do it right, stick together." Here's an April 2008 report from MLB.com.

BALTIMORE -- When Orioles manager Dave Trembley was asked if he felt surprised by his team's early success, the normally sunny skipper became surly for a second.
Trembley has been asked several times during the Orioles' good start if he felt the early wins were proving the so-called "experts" wrong. That's when the skipper voiced his opinion.

"You know, with all due respect, I don't listen to that, and I don't care who predicted what," Trembley said. "This team has played as well as could be expected. They've played hard; they've competed; they've won one-run games; they've come from behind. We've had contributions from a whole lot of different people. Let's start getting a little bit of credit instead of that other [stuff], how terrible we are, no one expected anything."

The Orioles started Wednesday's game with Tampa Bay tied with Boston for first place in the American League East. Baltimore was percentage points ahead of the Red Sox (.577-.571) with a 15-11 record; Boston is 16-12.

Trembley said he's keeping things very simple for this year's team. He wants the Orioles, a young team admittedly in the midst of a rebuilding process, to take things one game at a time.

"Team, attitude, fundamentals, do it right, stick together, don't let anybody tell you you can't," Trembley said. "The team has been tremendous. I'm not surprised. I know they're winning the fans over."

Trembley likes how the Orioles have gotten a little help from a lot of places. The starting pitching has been getting better, most notably Daniel Cabrera and Brian Burres. The bullpen has remained strong, and they've gotten enough timely hitting to win.

"I think you have to give them credit," Trembley said. "We may fall flat on our face; when we do, I'll eat it ... and I'll deal with that. Expectations are, we didn't say we're going to win the World Series, but our expectations were we were going to compete; we were going to play hard, establish an identity, do things right and try to take it one game at a time, and I think we've done that."

Trembley wants the entire team to contribute, something he's talked about all season. He's hoping to see some of that in Wednesday's game by giving right fielder Nick Markakis a day off and moving struggling left fielder Luke Scott into the No. 3 spot.

Trembley also rested first baseman Kevin Millar a couple of days ago. He made it clear that he wants everyone on the team to have a role and understand it, so contributions can come from many places.

And that's what's made Trembley very happy so far.

It's also what's proved the "experts" wrong.

"These guys have pride," Trembley said. "They don't want to be embarrassed. [But] it's been fun, good fun."

Jeff Seidel is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.