With six weeks to go in the 2002 season, the Baltimore Orioles finally looked like a franchise making some forward progress.

The Orioles had uncovered two pitchers from Mexico -- starter Rodrigo Lopez and closer Jorge Julio -- who had provided a measure of respectability for a team which had suffered four consecutive losing seasons after its last playoff appearance in 1997.

Moreover, the continued development of outfielder Jay Gibbons and catcher Geronimo Gil helped to further inspire optimism that the O's had finally begun to emerge from the post-Cal era.

	Bright note: Jorge Julio had 25 saves and a 1.99 ERA in his rookie season.

Then came the final month and a half.

For weeks in midseason, the Orioles had inched toward the .500 mark, only to drop further each time they drew closer. However, on Aug. 23, the O's beat the Blue Jays for their fourth straight win to climb to 63-63.

But no one was prepared for what happened in the middle of August. The Orioles, having finally reached the break-even mark, began a freefall that seemed unending. The O's nosedived like the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, dropping 32 of their final 36 games, negating any sense of accomplishment that had been built throughout the summer.

Those final 36 games, during which the O's fell far behind the improving Blue Jays and into company with the hapless Devil Rays in the AL East basement, did more than leave a bitter aftertaste which lingers well into the offseason. It also highlighted just how far the Orioles have to go in their climb back to contention.

The Orioles, some 3000 miles from Anaheim, are nearly that far from the the world champions when it comes to duplicating the Angels' remarkable turnaround.

The mere fact that the Orioles had begun to go with some younger players -- some obtained on waivers, some through trades, some from their own system -- was a positive development for a club that had long tried the quick fix with mediocre veterans.

"I thought they were going in the right direction," offers a rival AL executive. "Now, I'm not so sure."

	Rodrigo Lopez Starting Pitcher Baltimore Orioles Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM W-L IP H K ERA 33 15-9 196.2 172 136 3.57

For too long, owner Peter Angelos, believing that the team's fan base wouldn't be sufficiently patient enough to endure a rebuilding effort, insisted the team buy itself back into contention, maintaining that the sellout Camden Yards crowds deserved a playoff-caliber product on the field.

The O's took expensive and ill-advised forays into the free-agent market, hoping that a patchwork of veterans could produce a competitive club. Instead, they found themselves with a bloated payroll and an old roster which effectively retarded the development of what few prospects were on hand.

Ripken's retirement at the end of the 2001 season seemed to signal the perfect opportunity to implement a different philosophy. No longer did the Orioles feel a sense of obligation to surround Ripken with established players in pursuit of a hollow .500 finish. His departure could force the franchise into an approach which should have been taken years earlier.

Instead, the Orioles got older and more hamstrung. After giving fragile first baseman David Segui a four-year deal before the 2001 season, the Orioles compounded things by extending Jeff Conine's contract last spring and signing Marty Cordova to a three-year deal.

That gave the Orioles three limited veterans, all of whom were essentially first basemen/DH types. Worse, Gibbons and Chris Richard were similarly one-dimensional.

Compounding matters is the relative lack of discipline shown by the more than a few of the Baltimore veterans. Conine, Segui, Cordova and third baseman Tony Batista are free swingers who fail to walk much or even work counts. If the enduring memory of the Angels is a team full of determined battlers, fouling off pitch after pitch and frustrating opponents, then the O's were typified by an overly aggressive approach, resulting in the lowest team batting average, second-lowest on-base percentage and second-fewest walks in the AL.

Little is coming through the system. The best everyday prospect is outfielder Larry Bigbie, a corner outfielder with power potential. Tellingly, when Baseball America compiled the organization's Top 10 prospects recently, it chose Erik Bedard as the No. 1 player -- despite the fact that Bedard will miss the entire 2003 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer.

The Orioles may be forced into bringing back Mike Bordick to play short, for lack of other options. Bordick was spectacularly steady and surehanded at the position last season, setting a record for consecutive errorless games at short. He's clearly lost some range and offensive ability, but there are no other in-house possibilities at shortstop.

The returning rotation, anchored by Lopez, who was second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting, offers the Orioles a chance at respectability. Pat Hentgen, himself rebounding from surgery, joins veterans Scott Erickson, Sidney Ponson and Jason Johnson to give the club a decent chance to compete. But after Lopez, the rotation lacks the likes of a Ramon Ortiz or Jarrod Washburn around which to build.

Additionally, while Julio -- third in the AL voting for Rookie of the Year -- took to the role of closer, the O's don't have the collection of versatile hard-throwing arms the Angels do in their pen.

There's much work to be done this winter. The Orioles still need to find a general manager to replace Syd Thrift, who's being eased into retirement. In all probability, the O's will take a committee approach, which is all but certain to include former pitcher Mike Flanagan, and surround him with experienced evaluators and advisers.

Then comes some important personnel decisions. In addition to rebuilding the system which has produced so little in the last decade, the Orioles must avoid more costly free-agent mistakes. Already, whispers have Angelos eying Pudge Rodriguez and/or Frank Thomas, two veterans with declining skills who won't sign cheaply.

The Orioles as next year's storybook Angels? They'd settle for a happier ending to the season.

Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal covers baseball for ESPN.com.