Birdland Crush

As I’ve said before, the Baltimore Orioles don’t seem to be signing anyone. But neither does anyone else. It’s a perennial tug-of-war between teams and players. However let’s keep in mind that MLB is in a good spot right now. And one of the only things that can ruin that is labor unrest.

And you have to hope that we aren’t headed in that direction. Unlike the NFL, baseball has strayed away from controversy of late. The NFL on one hand appeared to embrace players kneeling for the national anthem. And then on the flip side they wouldn’t accept a Super Bowl ad from a veterans group asking people to stand for the anthem – because they didn’t want to be political.

Regardless of where you find yourself on that issue, there’s no question that there’s the impression of taking one side over the other. And again regardless of your views, there should be no question that people don’t tune into a sporting event in order so that politics can be shoved down their throats. They tune in for the love of the game and in order to see their teams win.

Now in fairness, people might ask what else the NFL could do in that situation. If they had required players to stand, they would have been taking the other side. So maybe it was a bit of a Catch-22. But the fact is that the entire issue was mis-managed. And that’s taken it’s toll on a lot of fans.

Again in contrast, MLB has stayed out of political issues like this. Furthermore, baseball has a unique advantage in that the meat of it’s season comes at a time where there’s no competition. For the most part, from June until September it’s the only sport. Yes there’s the NBA and NHL playoffs, but those seem to drag on and on – and eventually it’s only the cities involved who are truly paying attention. And while the stretch run of the season and the playoffs go up against the NFL, September and October baseball is usually as compelling as it gets.

But only labor unrest could possibly ruin this. Players and owners alike should take that into account. I might remind folks that the 1994 World Series was canceled because of a players’ strike. The first part of the 1995 season was as well. And as a result when baseball did come back, many fans did not. It took a guy named Ripken going to work everyday to fully bring baseball back into our national discussion. Is there another Cal waiting in the wings to rescue the sport this time around?

I always question why people are reading about the Baltimore Orioles on Super Sunday. I mean – IT’S SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, people! I’m not putting much into this column today, so I would recommend you don’t either.

However I will point out that Baltimore has a history all on it’s own regarding NFL titles. Before the Super Bowl even existed, the Baltimore Colts (my Dad’s team) won numerous NFL Title Games, including of course the 1958 Championship Game. You know, the greatest game ever played, in which the great Johnny Unitas invented the two-minute drill, drew the play in the dirt, etc.

Incidentally, I hope that fans remember that this evening while watching the Eagles and Patriots. As great as Tom Brady is and so forth, it was Baltimore’s Johnny U who invented the modern version of the position. Now teams move up and down the field all the time with ease. But until that game, nobody had ever seen someone doing that…literally with no time on the clock.

The Colts of course lost in their first Super Bowl appearance to the NY Jets back in Super Bowl III. However they defeated Dallas in Super Bowl V to once again become World Champions. Not to be outdone, the Baltimore Ravens of course have their two Super Bowl victories as well.

Baltimore’s the only city in the world to boast an NFL Title, a Super Bowl championship, and a CFL Title. Throw in the Orioles’ three World Series titles, and needless to say Baltimore’s a special place. So I suppose you want me to predict a score while I’m at it, don’t you?! Philadelphia will keep it close in the first half, and possibly even have a slight lead at halftime. But Brady isn’t losing this game; 42-27, Patriots.

Fans around the mid-Atlantic region complain about the Baltimore Orioles’ off season thus far. However as I’ve said before, with the exception of a couple of teams (such as New York), everyone’s off season has been similar. There are over 200 free agents out there to be signed. And time is winding down.

I’ve heard rumblings to the effect that many of these players might be ganging up and having their own mock spring training if they haven’t signed with teams. But the fact that players en masse aren’t signing means that there must be some sort of tactic on the part of players. And possibly agents.

Why this is happening, I’m not sure. However the fact is that unless some of these guys wise up, they’re going to end up costing themselves a lot of money. Pitchers and catchers report not next week, but the week after. Grapefruit/Cactus League play begins on February 22-23. So sometime between now and then, players are going to ideally want to get signed so they can get into camp. I say ideally because at least that way they can make arrangements as to where they’re going to live and so forth, as well as get some workout time in before games begin.

Players can obviously sign after exhibition games have begun as well, however that’s when the prices go into the bargain basement. Players start realizing that they’d better get themselves a place to play for the season. And that means that a lot of one-year deals on the cheap are handed out.

Could you imagine someone the likes of an Arrieta having to sign a one-year contract for peanuts? That’s what we’re starting to go towards this year, because nobody seemingly wants to sign with anyone.

First off some housekeeping; the Baltimore Orioles and their radio flagship station (105.7 WJZ-FM) announced that there would be 13 spring games heard on local radio this spring. Most of these games are home games in Sarasota, but the Orioles’ radio crew will hit the road a couple of times. For the full list visit MASN Orioles.

Major League Baseball leaked earlier this week that they were considering the act of tapping dugout/bullpen phones to ensure that teams aren’t stealing signs. Anyone who’s read my column both here and on other previous sites where my writing has appeared knows that I believe wholeheartedly in baseball’s unwritten codes. One of them of course is that you don’t steal signs.

However this is not to say that I think there should be draconian enforcement of these unwritten codes. And in my view, tapping phones is just that. In short, the rule is that teams can’t use electronic means to steal signs. Years ago the Chicago White Sox utilized a light on their scoreboard during home games to signal pitches, and there have been a few other similar situations. This of course culminated last year with the Boston Red Sox stealing New York Yankee signs by an aide relaying them over an Apple Watch.

Again, these things are inexcusable in my mind. It interferes with the integrity of the game and so forth. And yes, all of the aforementioned tactics are against the written rules, and thus a team could find itself disciplined in the form of a fine, or perhaps a manager suspension. That includes phoning the signs in from the bullpen.

Now that said, stealing signs by the naked eye and using a “secret signal” to relay the sign to a teammate is still a deplorable act in my view. However it’s not against the written rules. One way or the other, baseball has always policed itself in these situations. And yes, I’m talking about burying a fastball in someone’s back, or something along those lines. It’s easy for people to say that type of thing shouldn’t be done. I disagree with that; if you don’t want one of your players to be subject to that, don’t steal signs. But I digress…

…do we really think that tapping phones is going to ensure that these types of incidents don’t occur? Because I suspect that’s MLB’s ultimate goal; preventing beaning incidents and fights. Some would say that’s a good thing, but in reality you just can’t let things like that fester. Because eventually as anger builds up guys will lose their heads and you could end up with a knock-down-drag-out fight like the Orioles and Seattle Mariners had in 1993. Point being, ultimately you sometimes have to allow for a dust-up to avoid a bench-clearing melee.

And here’s the other thing; what happens if in this process phone lines get crossed? Seriously folks, that could happen. Anytime you’re dealing with electronics, there’s always a chance that something like that could occur, or that something could be hacked. What if one team ends up being able to hear conversations between the opposing manager and his bullpen coach as a result?

Sign-stealing is an abhorrent practice in MLB in my opinion, however I’m not in favor of draconian measures to prevent it. You can bet that opposing teams are always watching one another (such as the Apple Watch situation). If there’s anything funny going on, odds are they would know if before the league would.

We’re now under two weeks before the Baltimore Orioles’ pitchers and catchers report for spring training in Sarasota. February 13th is the date, to be exact. But there’s still some time, and as we know the regular season (which is what really counts) begins on March 29th.

And on that day when the O’s take on the Minnesota Twins at Camden Yards, they’ll begin on a five-game losing streak. Uh, come again?! Yes folks, you read that correctly. The Orioles were swept in a two-game series in Pittsburgh, and then again in a three-game set in Tampa to close out the 2017 regular season.

Now that’s most certainly in the distant past. Even if the Orioles lose on Opening Day, it certainly isn’t going to be looked at as a six-game losing streak. However more realistically, it shows that this is a team that has extreme peaks and extreme valleys. When the Orioles’ offense is going poorly, it’s going really poorly. Live by the home run ball, die by the home run ball. This much we know.

However the flip side of that commentary is that when they’re going well, things are going really well. The idea is that teams look to achieve consistency, which is not something the Orioles were capable of doing last year. While most people are going to remember the valleys, this is also a team that had some high peaks as well. And hey, it’s a heck of a lot better than consistency in the sense that you’d rather be inconsistent than consistently poor.

By the time this team entered that final week last year, they were out of contention and really just a shell of their former selves. There were a lot of tired bats and arms. Odds are, that won’t be the case come March 29th. However again, as much as a loss won’t indicate a six-game losing streak, a win on Opening Day won’t snap a five-game losing streak. Although I suppose on paper it would.

Baltimore Orioles’ spring training in Sarasota is basically a season all on it’s own. And that’s true of most teams. The Orioles sell “season ticket” packages for spring training, and they have different categories of games – much like they do at Camden Yards for the regular season. For information, fans can visit http://www.orioles.com/spring, or call the Ed Smith Stadium Box Office (hours: 10 AM – 4 PM) at 941-893-6300.

Most of these spring games are in the afternoon, which makes it very convenient for local seniors and for fans traveling down from Baltimore to get a look at their team this season. However the Orioles do have four (out of sixteen) home games that are 6:05 PM first pitches. And I think that’s a good thing given that the majority of the games in the regular season are under the lights.

That aside, like any “season,” there are some games down in Sarasota which come with promotional giveaways. On “opening day” against Tampa on February 23rd, all fans in attendance will receive Orioles Spring Training magnet schedules. (Incidentally, all fans who attended this past weekend’s FanFest already have one.) The first 1K female fans through the turnstiles will also be given a Birds of Paradise Flower.

The next night vs. Minnesota, the first 7 K fans will receive an Orioles Greyscale Cap. March 10th vs. Pittsburgh is Manny Machado Starting Lineup Figure day for the first 5 K fans, and March 11th vs. Philadelphia is Youth Baseball Night. The final home game of the “season” (March 24th vs. Minnesota) is Fireworks Night – following the 6 PM game that night.

Similarly to the regular season, all three Sunday home games will feature kids run the bases after the game, for fans ages four to fourteen. Additionally in a special “Florida twist” to that, February 26th, 28th, and March 8th will be Seniors run the bases games, for fans over sixty. Ultimately the idea is to get people excited for Orioles baseball, and all of this is just evidence of how the Orioles and the Sarasota community have embraced one another since the Birds have trained there. It really is one of the best partnerships in the major leagues, which is to the benefit of all involved.