Author Archives: Domenic Vadala

Welcome to Birdland Crush! Yes folks, for the record it's a spin off of the popular summer beverage native to the Mid-Atlantic Region - "orange crush." Nevertheless, I've been covering Orioles' baseball since 2009 in some capacity, and it's basically the greatest gig of all time so far as I'm concerned! But for those who aren't familiar with my work or bio, I'm familiar with pretty much every sport out there. But baseball is king - we all know that. So my hope is that you come back and check in after every Orioles' game, and throughout the off-season. I'm always on duty!

Baltimore Orioles: Remembering the late Don Imus

With not much to say about the Baltimore Orioles here during the holiday season, I wanted to take a moment to remember the late Don Imus, who passed away yesterday. Imus was a radio pioneer, who while controversial was also one of the most philanthropic people on earth. We know his faults, specifically the remark about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team years ago. But does that outweigh his merits? I don’t think so, and I hope not.

Imus has the interesting distinction of having the vast majority of his career on the same frequency in New York: 660-AM. However it was for two vastly different stations. 660 was home to the legendary WNBC forever and ever, also home to names such as Howard Stern, Soupy Sales, Alan Colmes, and “Cousin Brucie.” However in 1988 660-AM became WFAN radio, the nation’s first true sports station. Imus traveled with the frequency, and continued his program.

I listened to Don Imus on WTEM out of Washington DC (now an Orioles’ radio affiliate) for years. I was a fan. I also respected his career, especially his Imus Ranch for kids with cancer. Did he have faults? For sure. But Don Imus also gave back to society.

To tie this to baseball a bit, as I said Imus worked for the first sports station in America (which existed on another frequency previously). Obviously that was out of NY. Yet Imus wasn’t a Yankee fan if you followed him. He followed the Yankees because they were relevant to his job and the city in which he lived. But he wasn’t someone who took to rooting for the New York Yankees. For anyone other than Don Imus, that could be a death sentence in a market such as NYC!

Don Imus was a radio pioneer, and someone who made a huge impact on the radio industry over a long period of time. He was a true American original. His brother, Fred, was a frequent caller to the show. Fred passed away in 2011; I remember Don being devastated, and quite frankly he was never the same. So when I heard of Don Imus’ passing last night, I immediately thought to myself how happy I was for him that he was with his brother again. May Don Imus Rest In Peace.

Baltimore Orioles: Is New York powering down?

The Baltimore Orioles play in a division that had New York as it’s class in 2019. The question is whether or not that will continue to be the case in 2020 and onward. I only say that because New York has lost some powerful players thus far this off season. They lost Didi Gregorius to Philadelphia earlier this off season. And the other day Edwin Encarnacion signed with the ChiSox earlier this week.

Make no mistake that both of these players were role players. The Judge’s and Stanton’s of the world are still on the roster. New York in theory should be good for some time. But will they be as good?

Again, I want to be up front. Unequivocally, New York is the favorite to win the AL East. However between Gregorius and Encarnacion, that’s almost 30 homers that they’re going to be missing. Now knowing New York, they’ll replace that with guys of whom we’ve never heard who’ll produce 40 home runs. That’s generally how things work for New York. But you get my point.

Is it not possible that they feel the burn just a bit in losing those two? Between the two of them, they produced just shy of 100 RBI as well. So there’s a semi-decent amount of runs that are being lost by way of them no longer being there.

This is not to say that a team such as the Orioles will contend for the division crown. I just don’t see that happening, unfortunate as it is for most readers of this column. But it could make the division more competitive, and perhaps a team such as Boston could make a run at it. Whether they’re in a position to contend remains to be see, however anything’s possible.

Baltimore Orioles: Should Trey Mancini go?

The Baltimore Orioles have made it clear that they’re still somewhat in sell mode. Maybe that’s the wrong way of putting it, however they’re willing to sell pieces off if they’ll net a return. This seems to bother a lot of fans, but that’s the tactic that the Orioles are taking.

Trey Mancini, is a guy who people wonder is possibly for sale. The question is whether or not the Orioles would trade him. And the answer to that is that I think they would. But that doesn’t mean they’re actively trying to unload Mancini.

I suspect that they’re willing to listen to offers – as they should be. But are they actively shopping Mancini, who’s a budding star for the Orioles? One would hope not. He’s the type of player that can congeal a clubhouse together, and one for whom people should pay admission to see play.

Again, hopefully they’re willing to listen to offers. But the deal should be that a team would have to blow the Orioles away in order to pry Mancini away from their grasp. This front office has proven that they’re unwilling to leave any stone unturned in order to make the organization better – in the future.

Baltimore Orioles: Merry Christmas, Birdland!

Baltimore Orioles fans have better things to do than to read this column today. So let me just say wish everyone a Merry Christmas here on this Christmas morning. May there be lots of orange and black under the tree for you today, and may all of your wishes come true. There’ll be plenty of days to talk baseball in the future – but today isn’t that day!

Baltimore Orioles: Best utility man of the decade?

With the 2010’s ending next week, I wanted to take some time to look back on some of the best players and aspects of the decade for the Baltimore Orioles. These will be “quick hits” in a sense, but I digress. I thought I’d start off with utility players, because quite frankly they get next-to-no respect.

And with that, in my view the best utility player of the 2010’s for the Orioles was Ryan Flaherty. This distinction isn’t so much about statistics or anything along those lines, because utility players are always going to have slim stats. However Flaherty was an instant fan favorite in Baltimore, and I would bet that as time goes on he’ll be very well-remembered as an Oriole among fans.

Ironically, Flaherty was a Rule 5 draft pick. He made his big league debut as a defensive replacement at third base in the top of the ninth inning in game two of the 2012 season. He made something happen every time he was on the field, and he did everything that was ever asked of him.

I suspect that Flaherty is so well-remembered in Birdland mainly because he showed up right when the team started winning. So the fans equate him with good tidings. But again, he became an instant fan favorite. And I know that I speak on behalf of Orioles fans worldwide when I wish him the best as a San Diego Padres coach.

Baltimore Orioles: The day before the day before

The Baltimore Orioles, like the rest of society it seems, are nestling into a nice quiet spot as we move into Christmas week. So the question is whether or not there’s anything of note to report on a team, who’s primary season is summer, on the day before Christmas Eve. And the answer for the most part is a resounding NO.

This week may be the nadir of the year in terms of news about any Major League Baseball team. Just as is the case in most of your offices I presume, most of the front office staff is off until after the new year. That isn’t to say that news can’t break, because that could always happen. I just wouldn’t bet on it.

As we creep towards New Year’s Eve we’ll be taking a look back at some of the key moments on the field for the Birds this decade. After all, this isn’t just any New Year’s Eve coming up. It’s the end of one decade and the beginning of another!

Baltimore Orioles: Should the Birds be more aggressive?

We know that the Baltimore Orioles are committed to building their organization from the bottom up. GM Mike Elias has made that clear every time he speaks on the topic. The Chicago White Sox are in a similar position in terms of rebuilding. But they’re taking a different approach.

The ChiSox yesterday signed starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel to a three year, $55.5 million contract. So what they’re doing is still rebuilding, but they’re employing just a little bit of star power along the way. Similarly last year you may remember that they were in on the Manny Machado sweepstakes.

Should the O’s consider doing something along these lines? The idea behind what the Orioles are doing now is that perhaps some of the young players grow into stars. However that’s something that could happen down the line. What about the here and now?

Personally I think that you have to keep your eye on the future. When you commit to rebuilding you have to do it all the way. That’s what the O’s are trying to do. Am I suggesting that putting money into a star player would be a waste of resources right now? Perhaps.

Keuchel won’t be bad for the ChiSox. He’s a guy who can go deep into games and will make their pitching staff better. He’s also a guy for whom people will pay the price of admission to see. None of these points makes them right and the Orioles wrong – or vice-versa. It’s just a different manner of doing things.

Baltimore Orioles should host a college bowl game

For really one of the first times in history, the Baltimore Orioles hosted something at Camden Yards in 2019 other than a baseball game. No, I’m not talking about last week’s Winter Warm-up. I’m talking about Billy Joel performing there back in July. (Who also happens to be my favorite singer.)

Camden Yards was used for a Papal mass during Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1994, however in my recollection that’s the only other non-baseball game event that’s been held at the park. However it appears that they’re aiming to host more things at Oriole Park, which I feel is a good idea. It’s THE BALLPARK THAT FOREVER CHANGED BASEBALL; why not have events there? It showcases the ballpark and the city of Baltimore.

I’m the first one to say that there are too many college bowl games. To the point that we’re cheapening the college bowl “experience.” But would Camden Yards not be the perfect spot to play a bowl game? I’m not sure what you would call it, but perhaps the HERRS Potato Chip Crab Bowl?!

One might argue why they wouldn’t just play a prospective Baltimore-based bowl game at M & T Bank Stadium. Fair point. But why do they play a bowl game at Yankee Stadium instead of across the river at Met Life Stadium? Because first off that’s called the Pinstripe Bowl. But the fact is that it’s cool to play a bowl game in somewhat of a strange spot – like a baseball park.

On second thought, maybe you call it the Oriole Bowl, or something like that. I’m not suggesting that this is ever going to happen, however I think it would be a cool spot for a bowl game. Heck, they play plenty of them everywhere else; why not Camden Yards?!

Baltimore Orioles complete 2020 coaching staff

The Baltimore Orioles yesterday rounded out their 2020 coaching staff. According to a source, manager Brandon Hyde is hiring Darren Holmes as the Birds’ bullpen coach. He had previously held the same position with the Colorado Rockies.

The bullpen coach was the final piece of the coaching staff that needed to be filled for the coming season. It’ll be interesting to see how the relievers out in the pen react to Holmes as their new position leader. The bullpen’s obviously been a bit of an issue for a couple of years.

However here’s an interesting manner by which to look at the Holmes signing. As I said, he held the same position in Colorado…where the ball flies even more so than it does in Baltimore. So he’s used to training pitchers to pitch in tough environments. Time will tell what results we see.

Holmes has been in Baltimore before, albeit briefly. He appeared in five games as an Oriole in 2000, surrendering 13 runs. His ERA was north of 25 in those five games. Hopefully he’s learned a thing or two since then!

Baltimore Orioles: The importance of spring games

The Baltimore Orioles will take the field in Florida on February 22, 2020 as they visit the Atlanta Braves’ new spring training facility for game one of Grapefruit League play. The following day on February 23rd they’ll have their own home opener at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota against the Boston Red Sox. And on we’ll go in the schedule from there.

However make no mistake that those games are more important to this franchise than perhaps some of the final games in 2019. At that point the team was in essence just playing out a string. These spring games will mean something going forward.

It’s out of the spring training games that the 2020 roster will come. If a player just blows coaches away, he’ll be a big leaguer with the Orioles in 2020. We’re conditioned to believe that exhibition games don’t mean anything, and that they don’t count. They certainly don’t count towards the team’s final record in the regular season. But to suggest they don’t mean anything is misguided.

They allow a team to gel before things truly get started. They also can affect the makeup of the team, as I said above. In terms of the future of the franchise, the games played this past September really meant nothing. They had no true affect on the future. The coming spring games in a couple of months won’t be that way. They both can, and must affect the future of this franchise.