Category Archives: Baltimore Orioles News

Baltimore Orioles’ FanFest a rousing success

Yesterday the Baltimore Orioles hosted an estimated 8,000 fans at the Baltimore Convention Center for their annual FanFest. That’s down from previous years; there have been FanFests which have drawn 12,000 or so people. However given the fact that many players on the team wouldn’t have even been recognizable on the street, I think that’s a decent number.

You have to take into account the rebuilding process that the Orioles are going through, and then put the dip in attendance into that context. And the fans who came were genuinely excited and enthusiastic to be there. The way I see it, the current state of the team gives folks an opportunity to get in on the ground level so to speak on the next era and generation of Orioles baseball.

Folks don’t know what to expect going into this year with a new manager and almost an entirely new roster. Yet the fanfare around the club was familiar to people yesterday. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is still a great place to spend a summer evening or afternoon. Not everything will be different – the beer will still be cold!

One thing of note, it’s interesting to hear first baseman Chris Davis speak to some of the changes he’s made (mainly in his offseason workout regiment) going into 2019. Davis, it appears, is fully on board with attempting to reverse the disastrous 2018 season he turned in:

It was a lot different this year. Unfortunately, I’m not getting any younger and I think this past season more than anything just really taught me a lot about taking care of my body, the way it looks like as I get older. I can’t go in there and crush arms all the time or just load up and attack training the way I have in years past. So I’ve had to do some different things this offseason.
I’m a little bit lighter and everybody keeps telling me that I look skinny, so I guess that’s a compliment. But I feel good. I feel more ready this time this year than I did last year. That’s saying a lot because I felt like I was really going to have a good year going into spring training. I’m ready to get it started, I’m ready to put last year behind us and start this season off. We’re actually going down to Sarasota a little early.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

Whether Davis’ new manner of working out and treating his body makes a difference remains to be seen. However that might well be the key to whether the Orioles show marginal improvement or decent improvement in 2019.

Baltimore Orioles’ Fanfest is today

Today Birdland unofficially opens for business in 2019, as the Baltimore Orioles will hold their annual FanFest. The event, as always, will be at the Baltimore Convention Center- right across from Camden Yards. Admission is $12.

I always tell people that FanFest is eveything you love about Orioles games, except the baseball game itself. There are autograph signings, free giveaways, media panels, and other things. FanFest is a beloved event in Birdland, and while there’s a long way to go it always reminds folks that the season is drawing near.

So that’s it for today. Will there be a surprise signing that’ll break news literally as the team entertains it’s fans for the first time in 2019? Could you, you never know. Only way way to find out!

On an unrelated note, former Oriole Mike Mussina won’t wear a hat in his MLB Hall of Fame is induction. Probably the best all-around decision that could have been made.

Baltimore Orioles: Can success make you soft?

The 2014 Baltimore Orioles were the most successful version of the team in a generation. This much we know. However if you ask some people, part of the reason that Buck Showalter‘s team ran away with the division that year was because the AL East was weak.

In essence, they won by default. I don’t buy that, as that team was as solid as anyone else. They won the division at home in dramatic but semi-anticlimactic fashion two weeks before the end of the season. They then swept the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS, a series that included a blowout in game one, and a dramatic bases-clearing double by Delmon Young in game two.

But after that, they were swept in the ALCS by Kansas City. And they looked fairly inept in doing so. Now there are technical reasons why that series swung the way that it did. But…did the success already sustained distract the Birds to an extent?

Sports is a business in which you can’t really celebrate success for too long. Especially in baseball where you play everyday. It’s the ultimate what have you done for me lately sport. If you go 0-for-4 one night, it isn’t acceptable to respond by saying yeah but I hit two grand slams last night. Nobody cares. You have to keep your foot on the gas.

Only the players involved know if they became “overly-satisfied” in that moment. I don’t think they did, because as I said there were technical reasons as to why they lost that series. But the key to sustained success in effect is sustained hunger. If you cease to be hungry, it becomes easier to defeat you.

Again, I’m not saying that happened to the 2014 Orioles. But that is a fact. You have to keep the pressure up in sports, otherwise someone else who’s hungrier will come along.

Baltimore Orioles: Should the Birds reunite with Adam Jones?

Former Baltimore Orioles’ center fielder Adam Jones remains unsigned. So do a lot of decent free agent players. This question has been asked various times this off season thus far, but should the Orioles consider a reunion?

Earlier this off season my response was perhaps, but with a caveat. That caveat was that he would have to be willing to sign for relatively cheap, and on perhaps a one-year deal. (My thought process in general would be that perhaps they could unload him at the deadline, however keep in mind that he’d return to the Orioles with the ability to nix a trade, which is what he did last year.) However I think it’s worth re-visiting the idea at this point.

I think that any deal with Jones should still be short(ish). Perhaps two years with a club option for a third, or something along those lines. However when I wrote about this earlier this off season I expected that by now the log jam of free agent players would be broken. That seems to be as true as the Federal Government re-opening sometime soon. So for the second year in a row, the teams are at this point in a power position in terms of dictating contract terms.

My hope would be that any deal offered would still take into account the fact that Jones is an Orioles’ legend. However one thing that he would have to accept would be that he’d be playing right field. And knowing Jones, I don’t think that would be a problem. He was widely lauded around baseball for how he handled handing off the center field duties to Cedric Mullins last year. That isn’t an easy thing to do.

If Jones understands that he’ll be primarily a right fielder, is willing to sign a club-friendly contract, etc, the Orioles should consider bringing one of their own back home. (And in reality he’ll have never left.) That would also give manager Brandon Hyde a decent amount of flexibility when it comes to the lineup. Trey Mancini and D.J. Stewart could platoon in left field, and Mancini and Chris Davis at first base. And perhaps all of the above as well as Jones (and Mark Trumbo) could rotate at designated hitter.

Having Jones back would also give the Orioles a larger veteran presence in the clubhouse. And that can be huge. While the direction of the team has definitely gone to the youth movement and will stay there, you still need veterans in the clubhouse. Who better than Adam Jones to fill that role?

Is it something that the Orioles and Jones are considering? That I can’t tell you. But it’s something that they should consider. Both parties would benefit, and both would be in a position to help the other out. Plus I think the fans would kind of dig having Jones back at Camden Yards everyday.

Baltimore Orioles: Mike Mussina gets the call from the hall

Former Baltimore Orioles’ pitcher Mike Mussina has gotten the call. In other words, he’s going to the hall of fame. Mussina will be enshrined in Cooperstown as a member of MLB’s best team in July.

It’s been a long time coming for the former Oriole pitcher, who of course famously defected to New York following the 2000 season. Rumor has always been that New York offered approximately half a million more than the Orioles – but he got the number he wanted and didn’t turn back. There was semi-bad blood for awhile, especially as Mussina was never fondly received at Camden Yards in pinstripes. But in recent years he’s been seen at Orioles games here and there. And I think that Orioles fans have forgiven and forgotten as well.

Mussina was drafted in 1987 by the Orioles, and made his debut in 1991. Over ten years with the Birds, he won 147 games and had a win percentage of .645. He also pitched to an ERA of 3.53 over those ten years. For the record, those numbers are all better than the numbers he accumulated in his eight years in the Bronx.

For his entire career, Mussina won 270 games with a win percentage of .638. Not to mention an ERA of 3.68. As I said, Mussina’s Orioles numbers were better than his New York numbers. He also pitched for the Orioles for two seasons longer. Far be it from me to suggest which hat Mussina wears into the hall, but…them’s the facts!

Baltimore Orioles: What’s up behind the dish?

Who’s the starting catcher for the Baltimore Orioles in 2018? Is there even a designated starting catcher? The Orioles currently have Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns on the 25-man roster.

Both saw action last season – both with the Orioles and in the minors. My personal opinion is that both of them could perhaps benefit from just a little more time in the minors. That isn’t to say that they both shouldn’t or won’t be on the roster come Opening Day.

My personal opinion is that much like other positions, the starting catcher spot will be decided in spring training. And again just a prediction, I think it’ll be Wynns and Sisco in essence platooning the spot. But there’s another side to this as well…

…catcher isn’t just a run-of-the-mill position. People like to compare pitchers to quarterbacks in football. For sure, both positions find themselves throwing the ball. However in reality the quarterback is really the brains of the operation – as is the catcher. The Orioles are a young team and that’s true across the board. But catcher is a spot where the O’s could perhaps benefit from having a steely veteran leading things.

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. Again, I wouldn’t be surprised if they go with the two young guys in a platoon setting. But one way or the other, catcher is a position battle on which to keep an eye.

Baltimore Orioles: Umpiring and officiating

The Baltimore Orioles have been victims of poor umpiring in the past. Every team in baseball has. You’ve probably seen #umpshow on twitter. MLB, along with every other league out there, is usually fairly guarded in terms of how it deals with it’s umpires and officials.

In watching yesterday’s NFL games, I have to admit that I was outraged at some of the calls. The New Orleans Saints flat out missed out on a shot to go to the Super Bowl due to what should have been a clear pass interference call that was let go. In the AFC game, New England quarterback Tom Brady was the beneficiary of a phantom roughing-the-passer call when a defender’s hand passed in front of Brady’s face mask – without touching it.

These are all judgement calls – much like balls and strikes. I’ve never been one to suggest removing the human element from officiating in sports. Not only that, but if leagues introduced some sort of robotic officiating system that could always be hacked. Are we really thinking that some fan with the means and know-how wouldn’t hack and corrupt the system in favor of his favorite team?

However one thing I noticed on my twitter feed last night was that a lot of people were saying that the NFL has an officiating crisis. I might agree; officiating this season was atrocious. I’m not one to suggest games are fixed; however the two teams who benefitted from bad calls yesterday were New England and Los Angeles – both big media markets. Interesting twist to say the least.

I suspect that leagues can keep up the charade that these are judgement calls and so forth only until it affects their bottom line. When ratings start to go down, that’s when leagues will take notice. No, I’m not suggesting that people stop watching sports – because I’m not doing that myself. However that’s when leagues would take notice. And I’m talking something major – such as horrible Super Bowl ratings, or even a non-sold out Super Bowl or World Series game.

Of course, the alternative is that leagues could recognize the issues for what they are and fix them. Pool reporters are allowed in officials’ locker rooms across sports after games. The refs/umps have the option of giving statements if they so desire. That also means they don’t have to do so if they opt not to.

How exactly is it fair that players and coaches are required to speak to the media, but officials can hide? Perhaps a place to start is to force these guys to speak to the media. If the media wants to talk to them, that is (not every game is going to have blown calls and require a statement). Perhaps that would garner some accountability on the part of the officials. If they know they’re going to get grilled for their mistakes, that is.

Needless to say, all of this is a tough sell. Leagues don’t want to make changes, but as I said…the New Orleans Saints flat out lost a shot to go to the Super Bowl yesterday. As hard as teams work to get to that point, that’s tough to rectify.

Baltimore Orioles: Interleague play, 2019

The Baltimore Orioles don’t start interleague play until the end of May this year. That’s when the San Francisco Giants come to town, for a weekend series. The American League East plays the National League West this year.

And as a result this might be one of the more fun years in terms of interleague games, because we’ll see matchups that we don’t see often. A month or so after that SF series, the Orioles will entertain San Diego for two games. However on the flip side, it also means more travel.

Towards the end of July the Birds will make a supplemental visit out west to drop in on NL West teams. The road trip will take them through Phoenix, Los Angeles (actually an AL series, against the Angels), and San Diego. So as a result, the Birds also get a visit from the zoos Angeles Dodgers in September.

Incidentally, the Orioles will get a visit from the Washington Nationals in July, and they’ll head down the pike to D.C. in August. Both series’ are in the middle of the week – not ideal for fans on either side. I was always a proponent of how they originally did these series’, three games in each park – and over a weekend. From the perspective of the fans, that was the best way to do it.

Baltimore Orioles need to honor Buck Showalter in 2019

The fact that 2019 will be a strange year for the Baltimore Orioles and their fans should go without saying. And it’s not just limited to the players on the field. Fans will have to get used to peering into the Orioles’ first base side dugout at Camden Yards and not seeing Buck Showalter manning things.

That’s not a dig at new manager Brandon Hyde. It’s merely stating a fact. As I said when Hyde was hired, fans shouldn’t dislike him simply because he’s not Buck Showalter. Because I can guarantee you that Showalter probably wouldn’t take that attitude.

That aside, the manager will simply be one difference this coming year. However I would submit that the Orioles do need to make Buck a small part of this season. I would hope that it goes without saying that he’ll be in the Orioles’ hall of fame at some point. But that’s not what I’m talking about…

…the Orioles owe it to Buck to have a “Buck Showalter day/night” at Camden Yards in 2019. I’m not sure how exactly that would work, but in essence everyone in attendance gets some sort of Buck Showalter souvenir, and have a ceremony on the field before the game honoring Buck and presenting him with some sort of award.

Let’s not forget that Buck took the organization and brought it further than it had ever gone in years. However perhaps more importantly, he restored pride to the Orioles’ organization. The same pride that Brandon Hyde is now taxed with restoring.

Too often we remember figures for how they left us – and Buck is no exception. However the Orioles and the city owe it to him to show their appreciation this year. Some of these theme nights can come across as corny for sure. But it’s an honor that Buck deserves – sooner rather than later.

Baltimore Orioles: Can Chris Davis regain his stroke?

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Baltimore Orioles in 2019 will be whether or not Chris Davis can improve his offensive output. Davis’ current contract, worth $161 million, is the largest in team history. It hasn’t paid off as of yet per se.

If Davis can turn things around, the “new administration” will immediately get props from the fan base. But either way, that’a a big if. Davis is doing his part however, as he’s changing up his workout regiment this off season. Davis has been working out in Texas for the past month or so. The hope is that he can regain the stroke he had a few years ago.

But what if he does regain some sort of power? That obviously bodes well for the O’s, but what would that mean for the rebuild? Odds are it would mean that the young hitters around him would become better in shorter time. No pressure there for Davis.