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: Will a different team take on the N.Y. Mets?

This afternoon’s Baltimore Orioles game against New York at Camden Yards has been  canceled due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Saturday August 25th. The makeup game will be at 1 PM, and the previously scheduled game will begin at 7 PM. A separate admission is required for each game.

So the O’s will have the rest of today, and tomorrow off. They’ll then head to New York for a two-game set against the New York Mets. Just a friendly reminder, the Birds will have to surrender their DH in those two games. And as a person who likes the National League game better BECAUSE the pitchers hit, I’m looking forward to that.

The question is whether or not the Orioles team that heads to Queens on Tuesday night is the same team we’ve known to this point. Reports surfaced yesterday that the Orioles have expressed interest in former Boston infielder/DH Hanley Ramirez, who was recently DFA’d by Boston. Ramirez is hitting .254 on the year, and has six homers. He also has 1.000 fielding percentage (over 25 games this year at first base).

Based on the twitter reaction, this would not be a popular move to Orioles fans. However let’s look at the facts; first and foremost, Ramirez was DFA’d. That means that the $15 million he’s due this year is going to be paid by Boston. As much as I talk about the Orioles not DFAing players because they’d still have to pay them, they could kind of do that process in reverse in this case.

However the fact is that while he struggled this year, Ramirez is a better option than Valencia or Alvarez. Odds are one of those two would be DFA’d if Ramirez were brought in. And given that both of them are here on minor league deals, it wouldn’t cost the Orioles but about $100K.

The drawback with Ramirez is that he has a clause in his deal whereby if he reached 497 plate appearances, he’s due $22 million for next year. And that would be picked up by the Orioles. He’s currently at 195 PA’s – so between there and 497, could the O’s not decipher if they want to keep Ramirez? Either that or limit his plate appearances so that he doesn’t get to that point.

Easier said than done, but possible. The other option is that Ramirez might be a guy who could be included in a trade at the deadline to perhaps draw a prospect. He wouldn’t net a massive haul, however he could bring the Orioles a farmhand that might help to re-stock their system. And if all else fails and he doesn’t work out, they can DFA him – and guess what? He’d still be on Boston’s payroll!

Nothing that has happened to the Orioles this year has made sense. The Orioles have played games and made moves in a very conventional manner – and in essence they’ve been outdone by teams thinking outside the box. So if nothing else, this would be the O’s thinking outside the box.

Baltimore Orioles haunted by in-game mistakes

If there’s ever a lesson that the Baltimore Orioles are going to learn in 2018, it’s that their opponents aren’t anywhere near as charitable as they are in games. When the O’s make a mistake, they’re held accountable for it – almost tenfold. When the opponent screws up, the Orioles can’t seem to follow suit.

Kevin Gausman didn’t throw a quality start, but he pitched better than his numbers indicate. Gausman’s line: 5.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R (5 earned), 0 BB, 9 K. The zero walks and nine strikeouts kind of stand out. Gausman was dealing in yesterday’s game, although he did surrender the home run ball. And he was let down by the defense behind him.

The O’s actually took the lead early on an Adam Jones solo homer in the first. This after an hour and forty-five minute rain delay before the game even started. However New York took the led right back in the top of the second when Andujar smacked a two-run homer. One inning later New York seemingly opened the game right up when Stanton hit a two-run shot of his own to give them a 4-1 lead.

One would have thought that the O’s wouldn’t even attempt to come back from that. But the one difference in yesterday’s loss and other ones of late is that the Birds did show a pulse. And while that won’t win you any awards, it’s a start. Joey Rickard‘s solo homer in the last of the third cut the lead to 4-2. Then the sixth inning occurred.

With a runner on first Sanchez grounded into what appeared to be a tailor-made double-play. However Schoop’s throw back to first was air mailed, giving New York an extra out and a runner in scoring position. So as opposed to two outs and nobody on, they had a runner at second with one out. Kind of a big difference. Gregorius’ RBI-single would score Sanchez, and Gregorius would then take second on a fielding error by Adam Jones (who misplayed the ball).

Again, opponents aren’t as charitable as the Orioles. When the Birds make mistakes in games, they’re held accountable for them and then some. Jones would also allow Hicks to advance to second on a throwing error later in the inning after Hicks’ RBI-single gave New York a 6-2 lead.

However again, showing a heart beat doesn’t win you any ponies. But the O’s did attempt to come back in this game. And with those three unearned runs, it’s very possible that things would have been very different had those aforementioned mistakes not occurred. Manny Machado smacked a solo homer in the sixth to cut the lead to 6-3, and later in the inning Danny Valencia‘s RBI-double cut it to 6-4. However that’s as close as the Birds would get. In fact, NY would add two more runs in the eighth, while Jones’ RBI-single in the ninth brought the O’s back to within three at 8-5 (the final).

Jones really illustrated why this season makes no sense for the Orioles. People want to say that they stink and so forth, and obviously that’s what their record indicates. But Adam Jones is a perennial all-star center fielder, who we know is better than those errors indicate. (They were also made in the rain – in fairness.) So you have a roster of guys who are for whatever reason performing below what their career numbers indicate.

Some will say that they’re aging, and in some instances that’s true. But most of these guys are in their 20’s and early 30’s – and they’re performing as if they’re in their early 40’s. Ultimately you just have to ride out the mistakes as best you can, however this team doesn’t “stink.” They just aren’t performing up to where they should be. And again, they’re being held accountable by their opponents 100% of the time for their mistakes. Yet they can’t seem to do the same in return.

After the game the Orioles optioned catcher Andrew Susac back to triple-A Norfolk. A corresponding roster move is obviously forthcoming before today’s game. Who that will be still remains a mystery, however.

Weather permitting, the series wraps up this afternoon at Camden Yards. Alex Cobb gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by NY’s Domingo German. Game time is set for just after 1 PM (again, weather permitting).

Baltimore Orioles’ hitters are far too precise

Another quality start by a Baltimore Orioles’ starter, this time Andrew Cashner. And yet, another loss. And the worst part? New York looked fairly susceptible last night. The game was ripe for the taking, but the O’s couldn’t muster more than one run. Cashner’s line: 6.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K.

At first it looked like the Orioles were going to have things on track last night. Manny Machado smacked a solo homer in the first inning to give the O’s a 1-0 lead. However I’ve said this previously; it seems that all Oriole home runs these days are solo shots. And here’s the ironic part…I don’t think they’re “relying on the homer” as much as we’re being told that they are. But don’t statistics and results indicate otherwise?

Outwardly, yes. However go just a little deeper below the surface. There’s nary one hitter on the roster against whom the opponent isn’t employing some sort of shift. And true to form, the Oriole hitters are hitting the ball to almost the exact spots where opposing fielders are playing. Hence so many quick innings.

Oriole hitters have gotten so predictable that teams can position their fielders in shifts and have a great amount of confidence that the ball’s going to go to that spot. On one hand that type of precision is somewhat impressive on the Orioles’ part. However it doesn’t help when it comes to the ball finding a hole and a guy getting on base. Obviously the only true remedy to that short of adjusting your hitting is hitting the ball over the fence.

New York would tie the game at one in the third on an RBI-single by Torres. Ironically, Torres was on base after hitting directly into the Orioles’ shift. The ball deflected off of Davis’ glove at first and popped straight up into the air – enough time for Torres to get to second base. And when things are going poorly, those are the types of things that happen.

Two innings later New York had the lead on Bird’s RBI-triple. New York would also get an RBI-double from Romine in the sixth, and a solo homer from Judge in the seventh. The O’s would actually load the bases in the last of the eighth with only one out. However a Schoop strikeout and a Davis flyout ended the threat.

The series continues this afternoon (weather permitting) at Camden Yards. Kevin Gausman gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Masahiro Tanaka. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Weather looks spotty at best

With how things were going for the Baltimore Orioles, last night’s rain out may well have been a good thing. However the Birds might be on track for more weather situations this weekend for the remainder of the series with New York as well. They’re calling for scattered showers tonight, scattered thunderstorms tomorrow, and a 50% chance of rain on Sunday.

Personally I think they’ll get at least two of those games in. Just a hunch. However this illustrates how the weather has reaked havoc on the MLB schedule thus far. New York already has a doubleheader on Monday of next week to make up two games in Detroit. So that’s out if another game needs to be reschueduled.

The O’s will still send Andrew Cashner to the mount tonight, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Sonny Gray. Game time is set for just after 7 PM – weather permitting.

Baltimore Orioles postponed

Tonight’s Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards against New York has been postponed. It will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader on July 9th at Camden Yards. The first game will begin at 4 PM, with the second one starting approximately 20-30 minutes after the completion of the first one. The teams are scheduled to play again tomorrow night at 7 PM at Camden Yards – weather permitting.

Baltimore Orioles: Another quality start wasted

The Baltimore Orioles got their second quality starts in as many games against Washington this evening – this time from rookie David Hess. However the result was the same as it was with Bundy last night: an Orioles’ loss. Yet again. And this one stings just a bit more, because Hess was REALLY good. Hess’ line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Hess pitched-to-contact all night. And save for one pitch, he did it masterfully. He surrendered a solo homer to Harper in the third inning. That’s the only bad pitch he made. However Oriole bats have put this team in the position whereby their pitchers can’t give up even one bad pitch. Because it cost them the game.

Washington would nab their second run off of an RBI-single by Soto in the seventh. And THAT folks, is your ballgame. Or was it?

The Orioles put two runners on with nobody out in the last of the ninth. In fact, Adam Jones reached on a miscommunication by the Washington infield and outfield as a ball dropped in. If there’s ever a moment to make an opponent pay for a mistake, the ninth inning is a good time to do it. However in the end, it was predictably the O’s who ended up paying.

Craig Gentry was the lead runner at second base, and the Birds had Machado coming to the plate with nobody out. A home run would have won the game. Yet inexplicably, Gentry took off for third base. And on top of that, it was a tentative attempt to steal as it was. Gentry was thrown out in the subsequent rundown, which in essence ran the Orioles out of the inning.

First off let’s not blame the loss on Craig Gentry. That was an incredibly bone headed move, and the fact is that you really can’t explain it. All you can say is that he either did it on his own, or he misinterpreted a sign. In fact, you hope that it was something with the sign, because that at least is a rational explanation. If he just randomly decided to take off on his own with Machado representing the winning run at the plate, one has to question his baseball savoir faire.

The Orioles however lost this game because they couldn’t solve Washington’s Scherzer; NOT because of Craig Gentry’s horrible decision. That one thing unfortunately stood out, however it didn’t lose the game for the O’s. It may have aided in them not coming back to win it, however.

Ironically, as much as I talk about not trusting youth in games, it’s plays like that which I envision. I’d rather not have to deal with boneheaded plays like that, and in my antiquated mindset it’s young players who are going to make those types of mistakes. Gentry’s been a big leaguer since 2009. So that type of play is pretty tough to swallow.

The Orioles will now open a four-game set with the New York Yankees tomorrow night. Andrew Cashner gets the start, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Sonny Gray Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Is Baltimore a black hole for players?

The Baltimore Orioles once again wasted a quality start by a starting pitcher, this time Dylan Bundy. Now with that said, Bundy would be the first to tell you that this start had mixed reviews. Granted he only surrendered three runs, but he also allowed 11 hits. But statistically he pitched a quality start, and it went by the wayside. Bundy’s line: 6.0 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 6 K.

Bundy threw a home run to Harper on the first pitch of the second at-bat of the game, and the O’s trailed early. However Manny Machado wasn’t about to be outdone by Harper, and he smacked a first inning homer of his own to tie the game. But Washington would come right back and take the lead in the second inning on a Difo bloop RBI-single. And believe me folks, it wasn’t anything to write home about. It was one of those very softly hit balls that barely made it over the second baseman’s head.

Washington would also get a solo homer from Reynolds in the fourth, running the lead to 3-1. Adam Jones‘ RBI-single in the fifth brought the O’s to within 3-2, and in fact they had a shot to get more. Third base coach Bobby Dickerson sent Jace Peterson behind Jones in an attempt to tie the game, and Peterson was thrown out at home plate.

In general, I think that Dickerson can be overly aggressive and in essence can run the Orioles out of outs. In that instance, he should have known that Machado was coming up and thus would have had a runner on third. Now with that said, Machado probably would have been intentionally walked – and odds are Dickerson knew that. With all of that said, it took a near perfect throw to get Peterson at home plate. And Washington did just that.

The Orioles had their chances, but were incapable of putting anything else across over the course of the rest of the game, dropping this one 3-2. Interestingly enough, the winning pitcher for Washington was Jeremy Hellickson, for whom the O’s traded last year. Many Orioles fans will remember how much he struggled when he got here. With Philadelphia (prior to the trade), he was 5-6 with a 4.73 ERA. Not great, but I digress. With the Orioles he was 2-6 with a 6.97 ERA.

You also have former Oriole Mark Reynolds with Washington. Reynolds of course did hit home runs when he was with the O’s in 2011 and ’12 – 37 and 23 respectively. He also hit .221 both years, and struck out 196 and 159 times respectively. Thus far with Washington, he’s hitting .406 and he’s struck out five times (in only 35 plate appearances).

It’s just very disheartening for Orioles fans to see things like this, as it makes one wonder why it happens. Reynolds has always been a home run threat, but also one who strikes out a lot. He’s only on the active roster due to injuries elsewhere, so he may or may not be with the team the entire season. But Hellickson really is a mystery. Granted when the Orioles traded for him last year he wasn’t having a career year by any means. But the wheels came off with the O’s. Now he’s seemingly found the fountain of youth.

Let’s take this a step further; look at Jake Arrieta. His struggles in Baltimore were well-documented. And when the O’s traded him I wrote that I thought it was a smart thing to do because he had gone as far as he was going to go with the Orioles – words I stand by to this day. At the time of the trade, he had a 5.46 career ERA, and a win percentage of .444. That’s what Chicago traded to get…

…and in what was left of that season (2013), Arrieta went 4-2 and achieved an ERA with 3.66 with Chicago. When he left Baltimore in 2013 his ERA was 7.23 on the season. And we know what he’s done since then. It’s really uncanny. I think it’s so easy to put this squarely on coaching, and yes the proof could very well be in the pudding. However Arrieta was “good” literally as soon as he set foot in Wrigley Field. Chicago’s coaches wouldn’t have had time to work with him and free him of whatever bad habits he could have formed from whatever bad coaching he was getting here.

Consequently, Hellickson started trending poorly as soon as he got to Camden Yards. Whatever poor coaching the Orioles would be giving him (if you buy into that argument) wouldn’t have had the chance to take effect yet. At the end of the day, apparently playing poorly here (or in Reynolds’ case playing to your career averages) and then playing off the charts afterwards is a thing. (Again, in Reynolds’ case it’s simply playing above your career averages with another team).

As I said, it’s easy to blame coaching, and that may well be a part of it. But as I said, we’re talking about things changing on a dime as soon as a guy walks in or out of the door. For whatever the reason, there just appears to be a pall over this franchise that makes guys not only underachieve, but also makes them overachieve once they’re gone. All I can say is that there’s no reasonable answer as to why any of that should happen. In essence, it defies logic. But then again, the splits of Bundy vs. Washington and Hellickson vs. the Orioles severely favored the Birds last night. And that stat got turned on it’s head, making people like me look fairly inept.

The series with Washington concludes this evening at Camden Yards. David Hess gets the call for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s Max Scherzer. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Sometimes you have to take up for the home team

As a Baltimore Orioles writer, I try my very best to NOT be a blind homer. Yes the articles written here are from the Orioles’ perspective, but I try to call things down the middle. And I try to do the same while tweeting game highlights.

However there are some instances when you’re called to use your bully pulpit to in effect defend the home team. One of those instances came this morning for me. Overall, I like and appreciate the work of The Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell. He’s a great baseball writer, and a great sports writer overall – much in the tradition of Tony Kornheiser. (I’d throw Shirley Povich or John Steadman in there also, but I truly believe that those guys are in a league of their own.) But he wrote something this morning that came as a bit “off.”

In Boswell’s column today, he writes about how after yesterday’s game the Washington Nationals are now getting the best of the Orioles. (Chelsea Janes, also of The Post, wrote a very similar article as well.) Overall since the series started in 2006, the Orioles have won 38 games, and including yesterday Washington’s won 27. So…because of that one win, Washington is suddenly in command?

Boswell and Janes point out that there were lots of Washington fans in the stands at Camden Yards yesterday. And that might be a fair assessment. From my perspective perched above home plate, I’d say that approximately 30% of the announced crowd of 36K+ were “rocking the red,” or rooting for Washington. That’s maybe 12K fans or so.

Now if you read Boswell’s or Janes’ columns today, you get a vastly different view point. One would think that it was a total take over of Camden Yards by Washington’s fan base. That’s just simply not true. The biggest cheers of the day did in fact come from Orioles’ fans, on the off occasion that they did something good in the game.

Boswell mentions the LET’S GO CAPS cheers in his piece; the assumption is that everyone yelling that was rooting for Washington. The Capitals are given home team status with regard to the NHL in Baltimore as well. I saw quite a few people with Caps’ jerseys and Orioles’ hats at the game yesterday. And again by Boswell’s logic, both Buck Showalter (who conducted his pre-game presser in a Capitals jersey) and Mike Bordick (who wore a Capitals hat during the MASN telecast) must have had a rooting interest on Washington’s behalf.

And again, let’s not allow facts to get in the way of a good story. Yesterday was Memorial Day, and as a result it was an afternoon game. That was great scheduling on MLB’s part, because yes in fact it allowed BOTH fan bases to be a part of the game. The rest of the series will probably see the crowds slanted much more heavily in the Orioles’ favor because they’re two night games during the week.

And on that note, the Orioles will head down to DC in the third week of June, for all night games (Tuesday June 19 – Thursday June 21). In the past when the DC-based games have been weeknights, the Orioles’ fan base has ALWAYS turned out. Were there more Orioles fans in DC (and in fact more Washington fans at Camden Yards) when the series would be held over a weekend? Absolutely. But you’ll see a similar phenomenon in reverse when the O’s head down there. Heck, Showalter’s commented on the number of Orioles’ fans in attendance before.

But apparently all of that means nothing, if you read Boswell’s article. Neither does the head-to-head record of the team’s against one another to this point. If you read Boswell’s article with tunnel vision and without knowing anything else, one would think that yesterday’s game was the first the teams had ever played against one another. Not only that, but that first ever game between the two teams (because the others either didn’t happen or didn’t count) was held in Baltimore in front of nothing but Washington fans. And again as someone who covered the game in the ballpark, I can tell you that’s just not true.

I wouldn’t expect The Washington Post to make mention of the orange hue that will indubitably be in the stands at Nationals Park next month. And if they or anyone else does mention it, the commentary will be well those people live in the DC area and for some reason didn’t want to root for the Nationals so they really don’t count. No joke folks, I’ve heard arguments like that in the past.

In fairness to Thomas Boswell, that article didn’t really sound like his body of work. It almost sounded like he was told to write about a certain angle. Boswell’s still a great writer, and make no mistake that he’s one of the best of this generation. I just disagree with him here, and I think he published a piece of what’s called yellow journalism. But again, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was prompted to do so.

So your question might now be, why do you care? If you have no rooting interest per se and you’re “just a writer,” does it really matter? That might be a fair question. But as I said, I write “from the Orioles’ perspective.” I try to call things down the middle – but sometimes you do have to in effect take up for the home team. If the home team is correct or as in this case is being made the fool or the butt end of a joke, setting the record straight IS calling it down the middle. Lest you risk a false narrative such as this one becoming the unofficial truth. In D.C. they have a much simpler way of putting it: FAKE NEWS.

Baltimore Orioles: Is there a serious problem in Birdland?

Alex Cobb pitched a quality start for the Baltimore Orioles today against Washington. That’s both literally and statistically. Cobb’s line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K.

Cobb was fairly dominant of Washington’s lineup this afternoon, as evidenced by manager Buck Showalter‘s post-game comments about him (all quotes courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports):

Good, huh? I thought he was good. One pitch, so to speak. He will probably lament a walk there in that inning, but Alex gave us a great chance to win. That was fun to watch for him. That’s more like the guy we know is capable of pitching like that. We’ll take that type of outing against a good club any day. We’re just not scoring any runs. He had a feel for his changeup today, got some outs there. That’s one of the ingredients he’s capable of bringing that he hasn’t had every time. When he’s got three of them, he will have a solid outing like he had today

Cobb was the first one to admit however that one of the few mistakes he made was allowing two Washington hitters to reach with two outs in the third. That allowed Rendon to smack a three-run homer, giving them a 3-0 lead. Washington would also get RBI-singles from Adams, Taylor, and Difo in the eighth inning, and they took the first game of three from the O’s at 6-0.

As I said, Showalter was very complimentary of Alex Cobb after the game. That wasn’t all that he said, however. Later in that same press conference Showalter was asked about his team struggling at the plate, and being dominated by Washington’s Gonzalez:

Well, I think you’re being nice when you say a little (struggling). It’s been a challenge for us and I’m gonna always give credit to them. He certainly has … he’s got an ERA under 3.00 and he’s having a solid year. So to answer your original question, I’ll give him credit, but we all know it’s a little bit more than that. We’ve had some success against good pitchers before, but there’s a good situation for other pitchers right now. They’re really good and we’re not swinging the bats well – that’s a bad combination.

That’s an answer loaded with riddles, from a manager that’s well aware of how to use words to his advantage. When he says, there’s a little bit more than that, what exactly does that mean? Consequently, he went onto say at the end of the quote that in effect opposing pitchers are getting fat off of Oriole bats.

That leads me to wonder if these struggles aren’t so much physical, philosophical, etc. What if they’re mental? And in saying that, what if they amount to more than just a lack of confidence?

The Orioles’ clubhouse has always been a tight group since Showalter’s arrival. Has something changed? The answer there is a resounding YES. But all teams change a few pieces year-over-year. Are players frustrated with the franchise’s philosophy? Or direction?

I can’t really answer that, because if they are frustrated by those things players generally won’t admit it. However here’s some food for thought; the organization seems hell bent on using the Rule 5 draft, which I might understand guys questioning. One player here or there is one thing, but it’s every season (under Duquette). But it could well go further than that.

Don’t underestimate the potential affect on guys’ psyche’s of having the highest paid player in franchise history struggling the way that Chris Davis is struggling. This isn’t to say that Davis isn’t trying to get out of his funk, because I do believe that he is. But the fact is that he has four years’ worth of guaranteed money regardless of how he performs. If I were a guy who had to battle to be on the roster and perhaps is having to battle to stay there and to feed his family, I might look at that situation with a slight bit of resentment. Not to mention the perennial all-star third baseman insisting that he play SS – and the organization acquiescing.

And then there’s the direction of the franchise. Showalter and Dan Duquette are both free agents at the end of the year. As are Adam Jones and Manny Machado. Jonathan Schoop comes up after next season. I think it goes without saying that if he wants to be back with the organization in any capacity, Showalter will be here. But players know what’s going on; they know that it’s tough for Duquette to work on a trade for Machado right now, because the fact is that the Orioles don’t know what their way forward is. And part of that starts in the GM’s chair. If it’s going to be Buck moving into that seat, fine. If Buck stays in the dugout, no problem. But they need to figure out what the plan is moving forward. And that falls on John and Lou Angelos.

Players are all aware of the tension in the air in these various situations. Does it affect play on the field? That I don’t know. But players also need to compartmentalize their concerns and just go out and play. If they’re worried about who the next GM is or why they have to scrap while Davis eases by, that’s really on that individual player – NOT Duquette, Davis, or anyone else. So if any of these things among others are issues in that clubhouse, players need to force themselves to stop making these things issues. Because to borrow a line from the business world, all of it is above their pay grade.

The series with Washington continues tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Dylan Bundy gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s Jeremy Hellickson. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Memorial Day in MLB

The Baltimore Orioles will join teams across the league today in celebrating Memorial Day. Everyone will wear the special military-centric uniforms, and we’ll see various displays of patriotism in ballparks across the league. Whereas the NFL kind of gets Thanksgiving as “it’s holiday,” Memorial Day and the Fourth of July most definitely belong to MLB.

The O’s of course will play a matinee game today, as will many other teams across the league. And that’s part of the deal on holidays such as Memorial Day. It plays well with the motif of cook outs, the beach, hot dogs, etc. But we shouldn’t ever forget why we celebrate the holiday overall.

We always associate Memorial Day as being the beginning of summer. And in fact, Memorial Day and Labor Day do act as great bookends to the summer season. More specifically, we associate the holiday with the military – and justifiably so. However often times I feel that we forget why it’s associated with the military.

Memorial Day isn’t meant as a military appreciation day – per se. It is, but then again it isn’t. (There’s some hyperbole for those of you who complain that I speak in riddles!) Memorial Day is meant to honor those members of our American armed forces who died in combat. Now keep in mind, it’s ALWAYS worth mentioning and thanking our veterans. But they’re the first ones to say that their day is Veterans Day – in November. Today is about those who didn’t make it back.

And my hope is that as fans start filing into Oriole Park at Camden Yards this afternoon, they’ll remember that. We all get to sit here and watch and talk about baseball in relative freedom. And we can only do that BECAUSE of the brave men and women who gave their lives in defense of our country over the years.

I’ll leave you with two quick stories, both of which stick with me. My late grandmother emigrated to the United States from Italy when she was one year old. The family settled in a Western PA mining town, and her brother, Pfc David Berardi, served the United States in World War II. He was awarded three Purple Hearts, and eventually died in service of the United States.

My grandmother didn’t talk often about her brother, but on the occasion that she did it was obvious that his death deeply affected her. Her family thus became a Gold Star Family, and again while she didn’t speak of him often I know that she never forgot her brother. When she passed in 1999 I remember thinking of how joyful their reunion in heaven must be.

Secondly, about 15 years ago I was flying back from visiting family in Italy myself, and it was a very clear summer day. The pilot came on the PA and announced that if passengers looked out the windows on the right side of the plane they could see Omaha Beach – where the Allied invasion of Normandy occurred in WWII. I’ll never forget the image of three or four elderly gentlemen jumping out of their seats, standing at attention, and saluting out the window.

These are the things we should consider today as we make our way into ballparks, to beaches, or to enjoy a day off nationwide. The Orioles will take on the Washington Nationals this afternoon – but the fact is that we’re all on the same team. And we remain on the same team because of the so many fallen hero’s in so many wars over the course of our history. And we should never forget that.