Category Archives: Baltimore Orioles News

Baltimore Orioles: A Knight in Birdland

Whether or not any Baltimore Orioles’ games are played at Oriole Park at Camden Yards this year remains to be seen. Commissioner Rob Manfred informed teams yesterday that a new CBA must be agreed upon no later than February 28th in order for the season to start on time. But we do know for a fact that there’s at least one date that Camden Yards will be packed.

It was announced this morning that Sir Paul McCartney will be playing a live concert at Oriole Park on June 12th as part of his “Got Back” tour:

Tickets will go on sale next Saturday, February 25th at 10 AM.

McCartney’s played in Baltimore on two other occasions, but not as a soloist. As a member of the Beatles he played two different concerts on back-to-back nights at the Baltimore Civic Center (now Royal Farms Arena) in 1964. This at the height of Beatlemania. And now he’s coming back to play at the BALLPARK THAT FOREVER CHANGED BASEBALL.

For the record, June 12th is a Sunday, and the O’s will be in Kansas City for a 2 PM game. If the season starts late and the league shuffles the schedule around, that weekend will have to remain an away weekend. Because Paul McCartney’s coming…so “Let it Be!”

Baltimore Orioles: Super Sunday

The Baltimore Orioles and the rest of MLB are still hammering out a solution to the current lockout. Commissioner Rob Manfred still thinks there’s a shot that the season starts on time. We wait, with baited breath.

But today is Super Bowl Sunday. One of my favorite days of the year! Baseball is my favorite sport (obviously, as I cover it), but football’s a close 1A. And today is the NFL’s day to shine.

Baltimore has a rich history on Super Sunday. Obviously the Colts fell to the NY Jets in one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history in Super Bowl III. They would go on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V, two years later. Jim O’Brien, a rookie kicker, kicked the winning field goal as time expired.

However the Colts left in the middle of the night in 1984. But Baltimore returned to Super Sunday lore in Super Bowl XXXV, boat racing the New York Giants. And that in and of itself was kind of noteworthy, as it once again pitted Baltimore against the New York Football Giants, similar to the greatest game ever played – the 1958 NFL Title Game. But this Super Bowl wasn’t close; Jonny U drawing plays in the dirt like on a sandlot wasn’t necessary!

Which brings us to Super Bowl XLVII, when the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers. Obviously the storyline in that game was that Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh was coaching against his brother Jim – the coach of the 49ers. It had to be a very unique experience. But the better side won, and that was Baltimore.

My hope for everyone reading this is that you enjoy tonight’s game with family, friends, and good food and drinks. Getting to attend a Super Bowl game is on my bucket list for sure – but it won’t be this year. If you’re asking, I’m pulling for the Rams. But I think the Bengals have momentum going right now. I’ll take the Bengals and give four. Enjoy the game!

Baltimore Orioles: Ch-ch-ch-changes in left field

In my personal opinion, the Baltimore Orioles ply in the premier venue for sports in America. That being Oriole Park at Camden Yards. And this being the park’s 30th anniversary season, some changes are coming.

The Orioles’ Operations and Analytics Department has come to the conclusion that the left field dimensions and the left field wall itself are doing more harm than anything else to the team. So in time for the start of the 2022 season they’re going to push the wall back, in some places by as much as thirty feet. And the wall itself will be raised by as much as five feet.

The Orioles were very quick to say that Camden Yards will still be a hitter’s park. And I feel that’s important. Despite the inaugural game being a 2-0 shutout (of Cleveland), Camden Yards has always been a hitter’s park. And I would submit that especially in the 30th anniversary season, it’s important to keep up the integrity of what the park has always been.

This isn’t the first time that the dimensions of the park will have changed. There was a season 15-20 years ago where they pushed the entire outfield wall back seven feet. But eventually that was corrected back because it made little to no difference.

I think you have to remember that Camden Yards was molded to fit the hitting style of Cal Ripken Jr. However at the time the Orioles also had other guys who were great hitters. And their lineup got better still in the years after the park opened. So for a good number of years, the O’s took full advantage of the dimensions of their home yard.

But in recent years it’s been opposing teams who’ve gotten the upper hand. How often have we seen Boston or New York hitters slide balls into the first or second row? Balls that would have been caught in other ballparks? That won’t happen as often now. The wall will be further back, and it’ll be higher.

The one question is how will this affect guys like Trey Mancini, Ryan Mountcastle, and Cedric Mullins? Maybe it does cut down on their homer totals just a bit. However I suspect that the analytics department took all of that into account when they made these recommendations. They probably arrived at those numbers because they maximized helping Oriole pitching, while minimizing the affect on Oriole bats.

It also serves to mention that this sort of thing could help the Orioles attract free agent pitching. If a pitcher knows he may not be giving up cheap homers, he might be more inclined to come to Baltimore. It’ll be interesting to see how the season plays out given these adjustments. Also, will they be adjusting the fields in Sarasota, so as to get their pitchers (and hitters) ready for the new dimensions? Time will tell.

Baltimore Orioles: Welcome to 2022, Birdland!

2022 is now “this year” for the Baltimore Orioles. Happy New Year, Birdland! We made it!

In my case, I kind of struggled across the finish line. Here I am, minding my own business, and then a week before Christmas I tested positive for COVID-19. From my standpoint it was a bad cold. And I started feeling progressively better after about 24-36 hours of being miserable. But I did the FaceTime Christmas with my family during my isolation – so our “formal” Christmas gathering is today. On New Year’s Day.

So add COVID survivor to my litany of titles! Nevertheless, here we are, with “this year” being 2022. But is it really?

Major League Baseball remains in a lockout. That means until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is reached, the owners aren’t allowing the players to play. And the real victims of this are the fans.

Nothing happens until that’s fixed. At what point does Spring Training become at risk? Or even the regular season. My recommendation to both sides would be to get this wrapped up – and quick. Because missing even one spring game could do irreparable harm to the game. You’ll have fans who won’t come back.

Today’s a holiday; so it’s not getting fixed today. But they need to get it worked out. Because if fans suffer, so will the game. And that’s a huge problem.

Baltimore Orioles: MLB officially in a lockout

Baltimore Orioles’ players and their counterparts across the league were officially locked out as of midnight this morning. The previous collective bargaining agreement expired at 11:59 PM last night. So now we enter an abyss of sorts.

In short, the owners are “locking the players out” of the facilities. Meaning that no work can be done. This means that free agency, trades, winter meetings, and the Rule 5 Draft are all canceled or postponed.

Most of this affects league operations more than anything else – for now. Previous lockouts have not affected regular season games being played, although the start of the 1990 season was deferred a bit. If this goes on to the point that regular season games are affected, that’s when it becomes critical. That’s when baseball the business could be doing irreparable harm to baseball the game.

The good news is that the negotiations will continue. They could come to a deal at any time – or not. Hopefully they’re able to come together for the good and the love of the game. Because the alternative would be UGLY.

Baltimore Orioles sign Rougned Odor

The Baltimore Orioles finalized a one-year contract with free agent utilityman Rougned Odor last night. An eight-year major league veteran, Odor has played most of his career for the Texas Rangers. He was a New York Yankee last year. He’s a career .234 hitter.

This doesn’t sound like the splashiest move on paper. However Odor’s a veteran, and he’s been on winning teams. He’s expected to compete for the starting job at second base.

It’s also a very astute move in terms of cost-effectiveness. This past April Odor was traded to New York, but were still paying his salary of $12 million (for 2022). So the Orioles signed Odor for the league minimum, and Texas will be kicking in the remainder of his salary up to $12 million.

The MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at 11:59 PM this evening. Assuming that the league and the MLBPA don’t reach an agreement before then (and the two sides don’t appear to be anywhere close), that means an official leaguewide lockout will begin at midnight tonight (tomorrow). This isn’t anything good for the game for sure, however it won’t truly affect anything unless games are missed – even spring training games. Hopefully the two sides get their act together before then.

Baltimore Orioles: Trey Mancini voted Comeback Player of the Year

Trey Mancini basically won Comeback Player of the Year by virtue of the fact that he stepped on the field with the Baltimore Orioles this year. But last night it became official, as he was voted to that honor by the Baseball Writers Association of America. You might remember he was given a similar award a few weeks ago. That was voted by the players. This one comes from the writers.

Mancini of course came back after being treated for stage three colon cancer in 2020. His story was about as uplifting as uplifting can be. Not only did he come back, but he had a great season in doing so. However neither playing this year, nor winning this award is the highlight of Trey Mancini’s FY2021. He also got engaged to his fiance, former MASN reporter Sara Pearlman. Congrats to the happy couple, and to the 2021 Comeback Player of the Year, Trey Mancini!

Baltimore Orioles: Former Bird Julio Lugo passes away

In a time of year all but void of Baltimore Orioles’ news, unfortunately this qualifies. Former Oriole Julio Lugo‘s family has announced that he has passed away. It’s believed that Lugo died of a heart attack.

Lugo was acquired by the Orioles via a low level trade towards the end of spring training in 2010. He appeared in 93 games for the Birds that year, hitting .249. At the time he was a journeyman utility guy just looking to extend his career. However that was a transitional year for the organization. He was one of the guys I always semi-credited with showing the eventual team leaders of the 2010’s the way, and how things should be done on a big league roster.

However whatever he was to the organization during his short tenure, he’s now gone from this world. Deepest of condolences to all who knew and loved him, especially his children. Julio Lugo was 45 years old.

Baltimore Orioles: American League Cheaters Series?

The Baltimore Orioles can take solace in the fact that they swept both ALCS participants (Houston and Boston) at their respective parks. At different points of the season, that is. That did happen.

That aside, Major League Baseball has a problem. I suspect that after the cheating scandals of 2017 and 2018, the last two teams MLB wanted squaring off in the ALCS are Boston and Houston. Yet, that’s what we have.

Mind you, both franchises received discipline for their transgressions prior to last season. I personally thought that the punishments were fair. What I didn’t expect was that these two teams would be meeting in 2021 for the right to play in the Fall Classic.

There’s no evidence of anyone having cheated this year. But the optics of this are poor for the league no matter how you spin it. This despite both teams being very good.

At the time (and we’re talking immediately prior to the pandemic), many fans thought the teams should receive postseason bans. I personally did not agree with that. This isn’t a college sport where you’re chosen by a committee for postseason play. You earn your way there by having a better record than anyone else.

So I’m not saying these teams shouldn’t be at this stage. Unless evidence of further cheating is brought forward, they earned it. I’m just saying the optics are bad. And given how much gambling has come into sports of late, that makes it even worse. But can it be helped? Not in the least.

Baltimore Orioles: Calls for mercy on a day of infamy

Today is a day most Baltimore Orioles’ fans won’t forget. It’s the anniversary of the famous “Jeffrey Maier home run” against the Birds in the 1996 MLB playoffs. It vaulted the New York Yankees to victory over the O’s, and an eventual victory in the series.

I’ve always said that if not for that botched home run/fan interference call, the Orioles would have won the World Series that year. The ‘96 team was that good, and they had that sort of synergy. Furthermore, I’ve always said that Orioles’ manager Davey Johnson should have played the game under protest. Let the league handle the matter – you just never know what would have happened.

I remember watching the game with my Dad and my sister that day. It was a late afternoon game, and my Dad came home to watch it with us; I was in high school. When Maier reached over the wall and gave Derek Jeter a home run, my Dad jumped off the sofa screaming right along with Orioles’ outfielder Tony Tarasco. I did something similar. It was a terrible call and it should have never been allowed to stand. But it did, and it cost the Orioles a World Series (in my view).

However the next day something happened which softened my view of umpire Al Garcia, who made the call: he apologized. He flat out admitted that he botched it. He said that if he could do it over again, he would have ruled fan interference.

Umpires don’t do that – for the most part. They didn’t do it then, and they don’t do it now. I’m sure that the stakes in the game played a role as to why Garcia came out and said that, but he said it. And that’s to his undying credit.

It doesn’t change what happened. And Garcia knew that. But for a guy to do that in a field of work whereby it’s expected that you don’t have to address your mistakes, I always felt that spoke volumes about Al Garcia as a person. And as an umpire.

Quite frankly, it’s that sort of integrity that Orioles fans should expect out of today’s umpires. I use the word integrity because Garcia proved he was fair by calling himself out like that. And that’s all anyone wants in officiating: FAIRNESS.