When put in alphabetical order, the Baltimore Orioles will always find themselves ahead of everybody else. While that makes them easier to find when clicking on an internet link or passing a second grade lesson, it doesn’t make them any better when it comes to the standings. They’ve found themselves the furthest thing from the top of the class this season, and while the expectations were thought to have put them around the .500 mark, reality has them wearing the dunce cap of the AL East.

Most recently, the problems have seemed to stem from the offense. While the pitching hasn’t been so great either, the distraction of the cold bats has been a welcome relief to players such as Jason Berken, Jeremy Guthrie, and, mainly, Rick Kranitz. Over the past six

games, the Orioles have scored 18 runs. The kicker is that seven of those runs came in the one game they won in Toronto. That leaves an average of 2.2 runs per game during those other five, very pitiful showings.

It doesn’t matter whether your name is Roy Halladay or Carl Pavano, Zach Greinke or Andy Pettitte, if your offense can’t give you more than two runs a game, nothing good is going to come from it. It’s truly unfortunate for the bats to fizzle while 80% of the starting rotation is made up of rookie pitchers with such high expectations. David Hernandez, Brian Matusz, and Chris Tillman can’t afford to not have the support of the rest of the team while they learn the ropes of the major leagues. Even Brad Bergesen, who has been injured through this most recent dry spell, has felt the impact of a lineup that is not performing. In five losses this year, Bergesen has not given up more than four earned runs in any outing. In fact, in three of those losses, Bergesen has given up three or fewer earned runs.

Where is the offense?

Well, for starters, we’ve suffered through the disappointing seasons of Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff. When it comes to drops in slugging percentage from last season to this one, Mora and Huff are both in the top three of individual players. The heart of any lineup will suffer from a slump that those two are facing, but a young team such as the Orioles will feel the bumps and bruises even more.

The Orioles also went through a streak of 44 innings without a home run (that number may be off a tiny bit since I had to go through box scores and add numbers, math being a skill that I have not quite honed). Luke Scott was nice enough to end that streak tonight in a 9-1 losing effort to the Oakland A’s. While the home runs were frustrating, the bigger problem is the lack of hitting with runners in scoring position. Recently, the Orioles have lacked both power and finesse. The middle of the lineup has been just short of horrible, and relying on players like Caesar Izturis to provide offensive production is not going to make this team any better.

Last year, Aubrey Huff hit .304 with 32 home runs and 108 RBI’s. Those are offensive stats that any team would die to have in the middle of their lineup. You can compare that to his previous, defining career year in 2003, when he hit .311 with 34 home runs and

107 RBI’s. Aubrey has been facing adversity all season, trying to match his defining career season while playing for a team where the focus won’t ever really leave him. He’s one of the few faces of the organization that the common fan can recognize.

In 2003, Huff put up strong numbers, and two years later saw a drop off in production. While it wasn’t as quick of a turnaround as this season has been, it’s obvious that being the centerpiece of  a weak team can be a stressful job. In ‘03, Huff played for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, a team that, at the time, was competing with Baltimore for the worst record on the east coast. He put up impressive offensive numbers, just to find himself struggling in 2005. A year later, he was traded at the July 31st deadline because it was thought within the Tampa Bay organization that he wasn’t worth the talent they could get for him.

The similarities are tough to avoid noticing. Aubrey has shown signs that his skills aren’t disappearing, just struggling to show motivation to continue. As fans, we can only hope that he, along with the rest of the offensive power, can find themselves again soon. But, even more so, we can hope that the Orioles front office sees his value, both on the field and in the club house, and that they don’t give up too quickly on one of the few veterans left.