Baltimore Orioles: President Trump to attend Fall Classic

When the Baltimore Orioles were in the World Series in 1979, President Jimmy Carter came to Memorial Stadium and threw out the first pitch in game one. Numerous other Presidents have thrown out first pitches at the Fall Classic, including Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. President Donald Trump will not be throwing out the first pitch at tonight’s World Series game in Washington – to my knowledge. But he will be attending the game.

The President announced that if the series required a game five he would attend – and here we are! While I’m not going to get into political debates here, whether you support his policies or not we’re all aware of the controversy surrounding President Trump. I recognize that he’s not just some run-of-the-mill President. Whether I support him or not is irrelevant. But I support him attending the game.

No sport has a relationship with the White House like baseball. Mainly that’s due to Presidential First Pitches. However Presidents have always taken an active role in America’s pastime. And I think the fact that the World Series is in our nation’s capital tonight almost mandates the presence of the sitting President. Again folks, this isn’t about politics. This is an act by the President very much rooted in tradition. As Americans, we should be all about that.

President Trump will become only the second President to watch a World Series game in our nation’s Capitol. President Calvin Coolidge attended World Series’ games in three different years at Griffith Stadium, original home of the Washington Senators. This happened most recently in 1925. My late grandfather, Dr. Anthony Launi (who later played semi-pro and had a tryout with the Senators), was three years old! So it’s been a long time since a sitting President has seen a World Series game in the seat of the nation’s power. My hope is that the Nationals and Astros put on a good show this evening for the Commander-In-Chief.

Baltimore Orioles’ minor league affiliates at risk?

The Baltimore Orioles are lucky in that with the exception of the Gulf Coast Orioles, all of their minor league affiliates are semi-local. The Frederick Keys, Bowie Baysox, Delmarva Shorebirds, Aberdeen Ironbirds, and Norfolk Tides are accessible by car from Baltimore. However there are rumblings that MLB might be proposing a new Professional Baseball Agreement for 2021, which would eliminate up to 42 minor league franchises.

On top of the four Orioles’ affiliates, Maryland has five minor league baseball franchises (affiliated with a big league team, that is) – the fifth being the Hagerstown Suns, the Washington Nationals’ low-A affiliate. According to an article written by Nathan Ruiz this week in the Baltimore Sun, Bowie and Aberdeen were well positioned to keep their team affiliation. However Frederick, Delmarva, and Hagerstown (which again is Washington’s affiliate) could be at risk.

In essence, those three teams could be among the 42 teams which COULD be slated for becoming unaffiliated. Mr. Ruiz’s article also went to great lengths to say that the process is only beginning, and that nothing was definitive as of yet. This process is just beginning. As written directly in Mr. Ruiz’s article:

The league also believes the proposal would allow for a better overall geographic layout for minor league baseball, generally eliminating lengthy bus rides and undesirable hotel stays for players while putting top affiliates closer to their parent clubs. The decrease in teams and players would also allow the major league teams to better compensate the minor leaguers.

Although the locations of Frederick, Delmarva and Hagerstown are favorable, MLB desires improvements to their facilities, per an MLB source.

Courtesy of Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun

It’s unclear what the intended improvements to these stadiums would be. In my view both Delmarva and Frederick have beautiful parks. I’ve admittedly never been to the ballpark in Hagerstown, however I do know that it’s older. However in terms of fan amenities, site lines, food options, etc, Frederick and Delmarva are great places to watch a baseball game.

Regardless of anything, I am in favor of every team having a setup like the Orioles – with all of their affiliates being semi-local. Washington’s triple-A team is in Fresno, CA. That’s too far. However there’s another impact that this proposal could have, and one that’s a bit more sinister in a sense – an economic impact.

A state such as Maryland which has a big league team in the state, another which is technically out of state (but only about five miles from the state line – give or take), and yet another about an hour north of the state line may not feel a major negative economic impact if they lose three minor league franchise. At the state level, that is…

…but what about at the local level? I’ve had and still have various aunt’s and uncle’s who have lived in and around Frederick, and I know it’s a great place to live and a great place to raise a family. I also know that the Keys are a huge part of living there. The local community supports the Keys, and they support the local community. What would happen if the Keys suddenly ceased to be what they are?

And you could ask the same of Salisbury (Delmarva) and Hagerstown. Salisbury I think would be okay given the fact that Ocean City is so close. But you get my point in writing this…would these communities not suffer en masse in some manner if they ceased to have viable minor league teams? Because I know Frederick would given how embedded the Keys are in that community.

So…is it really fair to contract three minor league franchises from one state? That’s part of the problem when it comes to the business of sports. Especially at the minor league level, these sports are a public trust. And when the needs of the business start to outweigh the needs of the public, these things can clash. However if three of it’s five minor league franchises ceased to be affiliated with a big league team, make no mistake that the state of Maryland would feel an impact.

Baltimore Orioles: Benefit in hiring a novice?

Baltimore Orioles fans will see the Chicago Cubs and their new manager, David Ross, in April next year at Camden Yards. (The Orioles will also head to Chicago and play two games later in the season at Wrigley Field.) Yesterday I made my view known that while Ross is a good baseball guy, he shouldn’t be given a job as a manager. Plenty of good candidates have put in their time in the minors and are deserving of an opportunity, and instead Chicago picked someone who had never coached at any level.

While this tactic worked for the New York Yankees and Aaron Boone, it’s also worth mentioning that Boone inherited a championship-caliber roster. I not only think that it’s unfair to gift a position as such to someone with no experience, but it’s also a bad idea. Chicago fans should be prepared to witness a manager who’s never coached before. My prediction is that it’ll show on the field.

But is there a method to this madness? Is there an advantage to hiring someone like this, who has no professional coaching experience? Again, I say that there isn’t. But I’m just asking for the sake of asking.

I can’t imagine what that advantage could possibly be. Unless you want to argue that a guy hasn’t had the “norms” of the game cloud his vision for what his team could be – or something to that effect. What possible advantage could come from having an inexperienced hand at the top?

Baltimore Orioles: Youth movement is now the no experience movement

Last year the Baltimore Orioles tapped former Chicago Cubs’ assistant Brandon Hyde to be their new manager. Whatever you think of year one, Hyde is firmly planted as the Orioles’ skipper now. And he had experience in the sense that he had coached for some time at the big league level, and even managed at the minor league level.

This was the equivalent of an NFL team hiring an Offensive or Defensive Coordinator as their new head coach. It’s giving an opportunity to a young guy who’s worked his way up the food chain in the coaching fraternity, and who’s deserving of his first opportunity to be the head guy in the dugout. This is part of the food chain in the coaching ranks in any sport.

However news broke yesterday that the Chicago Cubs were planning on hiring former catcher David Ross as their next manager. (Expect a formal announcement sometime after the conclusion of the World Series.) This follows in the footsteps of the New York Yankees, who following the 2017 season hired Aaron Boone, who had never coached a day in his life following his big league career. The same is true of Ross. Both men worked for ESPN between the ends of their careers, and the beginning of their managerial careers.

I see this as a disturbing trend in baseball. Obviously Boone’s hiring worked out well for New York. Boone was also gifted with a championship-caliber team, but I digress. Both Boone and Ross are good baseball men. They’ve been involved in the game their entire lives, and odds are they know what they’re doing – to a degree. Or as much as a novice could know.

But whether they know what they’re doing or not, there’s a difference between knowing the sport and knowing how to manage. It takes a lot of charisma, and it takes knowing how to position a lot of moving parts. I would never say that I could walk into a dugout and know how to manage a big league game simply because I know a thing or two about baseball. Why, you ask? Because I would never walk into an office building and say that I know how to be the CEO of that company. In my world, you have to grow into the role.

Yet it appears that the new and fashionable thing is to give the reins over to someone who’s literally never coached in his life. That’s a scary proposition in my view. In my opinion it’s saying one of two things. Either the position of manager really isn’t that important, or that anyone can do it. Again, scary proposition.

Manager or Head Coach isn’t important in some sports. I would argue that in the NBA Head Coaches are simply figureheads. It means marginally more in the NHL, but nowhere near as much as it means in the NFL, college sports, or MLB. Are we really willing to start turning these jobs over to inexperienced people en masse?

Incidentally, this isn’t an indictment on David Ross (or Aaron Boone) in terms of being a baseball guy. The instincts and savoir faire of the game is certainly there. It’s just a matter of experience and having been in certain situations. Or seeing other people in certain situations from the perspective of a base coach or bench coach, and seeing how they handled it. That’s all part of managing.

I feel badly for people such as Ryne Sandberg. He gave his entire life as a player to the Chicago Cubs’ organization. After his playing days he started working his way up the coaching ranks – again in the Cubs’ organization. He coached at various levels, rode buses, stayed in garbage motels – the whole deal in the minors. In hopes of becoming a manager someday.

When the Cubs had that position open, they went in another direction. Sandberg later got an opportunity to manage the Philadelphia Phillies, but was fired a few years ago. It has to be a bitter pill to swallow to see someone who’s never coached at any level waltz in and get the gig, whereas you put in your time and appears will not be getting the opportunity that you felt was due to you at one point.

And that right there is becoming one of the problems in our society. When people are denied positions that they deserve or have worked to obtain, only to have a novice waltz in and take it…needless to say there’s just something intrinsically unfair about that. And it happens in almost every Fortune 500 corporation in America.

Baltimore Orioles: Help vote the Oriole Bird into the Mascot Hall of Fame!

It came to my attention last week that the Baltimore Orioles’ mascot, The Oriole Bird, is a finalist for the Mascot Hall of Fame. In fact, it came to my attention last week that there even was a Mascot Hall of Fame. Fans can vote for up to four finalists through October 26th by clicking here.

The Mascot Hall of Fame is located in Whiting, IN. In looking through the web page, there are already some fascinating characters in the hall. Well-known mascots such as Mr. Met, The Phillie Phanatic, Brutus (from THE Ohio State University) are already there. However there are others which have me scratching my head.

With all due respect to the University of Delaware, how is “YouDee” the Fighting Blue Hen already a hall of famer but the Oriole Bird is not?! Same with the University of Nebraska’s “Lil’ Red.” Not to mention Utah’s “Jazz Bear.”

All mascots are fun, and they all have their quirks. In the early days of the Orioles/Nationals head-to-head games each team would bring it’s mascot to the opposing ballpark. While many people would argue that allowing the opposing team to bring it’s mascot to your ballpark makes it more “friendly” than a rivalry, I always thought that was a cool thing for the fans. Regardless of which team for which you were rooting, everyone loves mascots.

But some mascots stand above the rest. Admittedly, I’ll say that the Phanatic is probably the best known and most celebrated mascot. But I would submit that the Oriole Bird is in the tier of mascots (along with the Phanatic and Mr. Met) that are best known across sports. So again…how can mascots such as YouDee already be in the mascot hall, while the Oriole Bird is scraping to get in?!

So go out and vote, folks! You can vote once a day until 10/26. As I said, you can vote four finalists. For what it’s worth, the four finalists that I’m supporting are: The Oriole Bird, “Youppi!” (Montreal Canadiens), “Globie” (Harlem Globetrotters), and “Bernie Brewer” (Milwaukee Brewers). Fans can also follow the Oriole Bird on twitter by clicking here.

Baltimore Orioles: Former Bird Gerardo Parra spearheads Washington’s title hopes

The Baltimore Orioles acquired Gerardo Parra at the trade deadline in 2015 from Milwaukee. The hope was that he would provide an additional bat in the lineup as the Orioles contended for the American League East pennant. Unfortunately for the O’s, Parra only hit .237 for the Orioles for the remainder of the year, with five home runs.

Parra’s numbers prior to coming to the Orioles were better. They were also better after he left Baltimore – which was the following season when he signed with Colorado. He ended up with the Washington Nationals in the middle of this season, and has helped to propel them into the Fall Classic.

Parra changed his at-bat song to “Baby Shark” earlier this year, and it caught on in the clubhouse and amongst the fans. Everyone knows the story by now. While Parra’s numbers in Baltimore could have been better (or more on par with the rest of his career at least), he is a former Oriole. And the only former Oriole in the World Series at that.

Anyone who noticed Washington’s rise in the standings had to notice Parra’s part in it. His Baby Shark routine acted as a spark – for both his teammates and the team’s fans. I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of grown men prancing around to Baby Shark, however you’d be hard pressed to argue it didn’t have an affect. Time will tell if it carries Parra’s current team to a world title.

Baltimore Orioles: Could Anthony Rendon come to Birdland?

As we know, 2019 was all about finding out what the Baltimore Orioles had, and learning a few hard lessons. The 2019 Orioles exceeded expectations as set forth on this column when they won more games than the 2018 team. So more is expected next season.

The World Series-bound Washington Nationals are right down the pike, and they enter the fall classic with pieces of their future still in doubt. Mainly, third baseman Anthony Rendon is a free agent after the season. Could the Orioles be in play for Rendon, and would he be willing to come here?

First off, Rendon’s a stud. He’s a career .290 hitter who smacked 34 home runs this year. He’s also well worth the price of admission as a third baseman, and he’s a team leader. Any team would be lucky to have him.

My prediction is that he remains in Washington. He seems very happy there, and by various accounts the franchise has attempted to sign him long term. Yet he’s neglected to accept a deal, presumably because the Nationals haven’t quite reached the number that he and agent Scott Boras want. But make no mistake that Washington is the front runner for Rendon’s services past this season, as well they should be.

However…what if the unthinkable were to occur? What if Washington were to not come up to Rendon’s number? Could he be in play – for the Orioles?

It would stand to reason that a team such as the Orioles would have to blow Rendon away with an offer for him to even consider them. He’s tasting a World Series right now (or he’s about to do so). He’s going to want to go to a contender; obviously a contender who’s capable of paying him his due.

However IF the opportunity to sign a player of his caliber were to come along, I’d say that it’s one that the Orioles should consider. Those same Washington Nationals did something like that when they signed Jayson Werth in 2011. Did they overpay? By all accounts, yes. But Werth helped to put the franchise on the map, and onto a trek that’s now landed them in the World Series in 2019.

That isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, mind you. Washington was a better team in 2011 than the Orioles are now. But you get the point. Werth at the time was a guy who had been a winner in Philadelphia, and who knew how to win. He also provided veteran leadership to a young crop of players.

Again, would Rendon come here? Probably not…at least without a contract with terms well over and above what other teams are offering. But that might be something for the Orioles to consider. You put someone like him in the order with the likes of a Mancini, and that might accelerate your rebuilding process just a bit.

Baltimore Orioles looking to end FanFest?

The news came out yesterday that the Baltimore Orioles we’re considering putting an end to their annual FanFest celebration. It’s usually held towards the end of January at the Baltimore Convention Center, and by my account it’s always been a beloved event by fans. Last year the Orioles said that approximately 8K people came through the turnstiles. There have been years where there’ve been more, and years where there’ve been less.

I think this is a very bad idea. I tell people all the time that FanFest is all of the excitement and amenities of an actual Orioles’ game, without the game. It’s always been a great event for families and kids, and I fail to see the logic in ending it.

Word is that GM Mike Elias and the Front Office is considering another way to engage fans during the off season. So I would reserve rendering final judgement on this until the formally announce that FanFest is officially ending, and then announce what replaces it. However in general, I think that playing with fan outreach events like this is playing with fire.

FanFest is a very old event. It dates back a long way, and it’s something that’s very traditional in Baltimore. Lots of other teams do similar events as well. So ending it would be cutting deep in terms of what’s important to this fanbase. But time will tell what happens. I seriously doubt that they’ll just end it and have nothing to replace it.

Baltimore Orioles: Looking at free agent pitchers

Yesterday I asked whether or not the Baltimore Orioles should consider signing a free agent pitcher. My deduction was that it was something they should consider. And here’s another point to that ends; the Orioles played musical pitchers all season last year. Wouldn’t it suit them better to have at least one or two guys who they know will be mainstays in the rotation?

So today I wanted to throw some names out there. While it’s attractive to look towards the Strasburg’s and Odorizzi’s of the world, do we really think that’s feasible? Those are pitchers who will look for big money deals with longevity. The Orioles probably aren’t in a position to hand out a contract of that nature to a pitcher right now.

But there are more veteran pitchers out there who might come cheaper and for shorter contracts. The Orioles obviously traded Andrew Cashner to Boston last year – might both sides consider a reunion? Whether or not the Orioles would want that is another story. Cashner’s ERA ballooned when he went to Boston last year. Whereas with the Orioles he had a .383 ERA, with Boston that went up to .620. But he would be an option if he were willing to sign a team-friendly contract.

And there are other guys out there, such as perhaps Marco Estrada, or Gio Gonzalez. Ultimately the goal wouldn’t be to sign a pitcher who would be a big name so as to put people in the seats. While that would be a great addition, it isn’t the idea behind getting someone on the free agent market.

The goal would be to get an innings eater, and someone who could anchor the Orioles’ rotation and help some of the younger guys along. They did this in 2010 when they signed veteran Kevin Millwood to the staff. And he served his purpose very well. That’s the type of move the Orioles might consider making in the form of a Gio Gonzalez (among others).

And there are other names out there as well. Clay Buchholz, who could be an option. Again, the idea isn’t to get someone who might be an automatic ace. The Orioles are trying to grow their own ace in a sense. But someone to eat innings and to help show some of the younger guys the ways and means of being a big league pitcher. Someone who can perhaps be an extension of the manager and pitching coach on the field. Guys who are willing to do that are the types of guys you need when you’re building a team from the ground up as the Orioles are.

Baltimore Orioles: Should the Birds go after a free agent pitcher?

There are lots of pitchers who will be on the open market in 2019, in theory all pitchers that could be available for the Baltimore Orioles. The question is whether or not the Birds would be in a position to sign a free agent pitcher. Would it make sense?

Tough to say. This isn’t so much about who they might look to sign or who might be available and in play. It’s more about whether or not they should delve into signing one.

First off we need to look at who the Orioles already have that might be penciled into the rotation. I would say that Dylan Bundy, John Means, and Alex Cobb are in line to be starters going into spring training. That’s right, Alex Cobb…remember him? He’s still under contract with the Orioles until 2022. Unless he retires or is traded, expect him to be in the starting rotation. (Although keep in mind that he’s also coming off of season-ending surgery in 2019.)

I think there’s also a legitimate chance that Asher Wojciechowski will get a shot to compete for a starting job also. If his second half from this year continues into spring training, he’ll be in line as a starter. But is there anyone else on the roster who jumps out as a potential starter?

To me, the closest other person on the roster now might be David Hess. He’s started before, obviously. But it’ll take a great spring for him to earn his way onto the roster. So with all of this in mind, there could very well be space for the Orioles to get themselves a free agent pitcher going into the season…

…but who? That’s another discussion for another day.