Birdland Crush

I’m kind of easing back into reporting on the Baltimore Orioles – so bear with me! The fact is that most MLB teams don’t make too many waves this time of year. The league wants teams to lay low so as to keep the focus of the baseball world on the playoffs and the teams still in contention.

However I saw something over the weekend that’s somewhat relevant in MLB. This past Sunday when the Washington Redskins were playing the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, a Redskins’ player celebrated a touchdown by pretending to do a jump-shot with the football over the goal post. The player was immediately flagged for taunting, and the Redskins penalized 15 yards.

Now first off any of you who have read me for some time know that I’m not huge on celebrations in sports. So I’m in favor of reigning some of this stuff in – regardless of what anyone might say or think, we don’t want to see endzone-style dances after home runs in baseball. However that’s not the point – in this case, the NFL has done something of which MLB has been guilty several times as well: over-legislation.

What the Redskins’ player did was not something that was on the “list” of banned celebrations. However there’s also a rule against using the ball as a prop in a celebration. So the official interpreted that as using the ball as a prop, which is why he threw a flag. When you leave things open to interpretation, sometimes rules get bent out of wack.

We’ve see this in MLB – and sometimes far too often and at far too important moments. Look at instant replay for instance; while the term irrefutable evidence to overturn the call on the field is a good intention, it’s also far too broad. It allows us to wonder what exactly constitutes irrefutable evidence? What’s irrefutable to one umpire might not be to another.

You get the idea. My point in saying all of this is that in many cases the calls in games are worse than they were prior to replay being a thing. I can’t say how many times this past season I tweeted something along the lines of if it’s taking this long the evidence is inconclusive, only to find out that the call had been reversed. And I suspect that part of that is due to the fact that the umpires are trying to figure out if the evidence is irrefutable. Was the ball moving in the first baseman’s mitt, or was it in the back of the glove? Did the catcher have the ball when he blocked home plate, or was it not in his mitt?

Every rule or policy has it’s downside. However when you start over-legislating things, it’s almost worse than having no rules at all. And the player doing the jump shot after a touchdown is a prime example. That act in and of itself isn’t against the rules. But if one official interprets it as using the ball as a prop, he has the option of throwing a flag. And the same could be true in baseball…remember the takeout slide rules at second base?

The point is that in many cases the more we legislate, the more we see unintended consequences. Again as an example, in baseball a tie goes to the runner. However that’s not an “official rule.” So on replay if a runner is shown to have been tied with the ball, the call is not supposed to be overturned. Because since a tie isn’t written into the rules, technically that’s not hard core evidence to overturn the call on the field. So as opposed to having all of these rules, why not just say if it’s a tie or the runner arrives to the base first he’s safe?

At the end of the day, I agree with instant replay. But leagues are muddying the waters across the board by having too many regulations. The more that’s written in the rules, the more can be misinterpreted, or interpreted in the opposite manner in which it was intended.

Greetings Baltimore Orioles fans! Do I really need to introduce myself? Many of you know me from various other sites – mainly Birds Watcher. I spent five years as the Senior Editor there, all for which I’m very grateful.

As I’ve said on numerous social media outlets, I’d like to thank each and every person who ever took the time to read my coverage of the Orioles and/or comment on it during that time period. And please know that I sincerely mean that. No column is anything without readers – otherwise it’s just empty space out in the cyber-world. So to my “longtime readers,” know that you’ve made a positive difference in my life.

If you’ve made it this far, I gather that you’re either a new reader or you’ve followed me over. Funny how that happens! So you might have a few questions, and I’m going to attempt to answer them. First off, the title; I have an admitted affinity for the Mid-Atlantic region’s “native summertime beverage.” So given that one of the Orioles’ primary colors is orange, I felt it was a nice play on words – you get the idea, I’m sure.

Secondly, what can you the fans expect from this new column? And the answer to that is very simple: I don’t attach my name to unprofessional writing – at least I try not to do so. That’s not to say that I don’t have an opinion on what’s going on with the Orioles at any given time, because that’s part of my job. But if you’re looking for a column that’s going to say rah rah, look at the Birds fly!, this isn’t for you.

In the same respect, if you’re looking for the type of crass and in your face type of negativity that you sometimes see on other columns and on the streets, this isn’t for you either. As an example, one of the big stories of the abrupt end to the Orioles’ season was whether or not Buck Showalter should have inserted Zach Britton in the AL Wild Card game. My personal opinion was that it was best to leave Britton until he was meant to pitch – at the end with a lead.

Many fans saw things differently – and that’s okay. But you won’t see the type of sensationalized coverage that you see in other spots here at The Orange Crush. That’s not how I fly. It’s always fair to ask questions, but I also try to call it down the middle. So had this column been up and running at the time, you wouldn’t have seen an article from me saying fire Showalter.

So what can fans expect in the immediate interim? Well, spring training is unfortunately a long ways away! But the Orioles have always been able to keep me busy throughout the off-season. So check back on a daily basis for news and updates as it comes. I anticipate a very active and interesting hot stove season this year, so stick with me!

Oh, one other thing; I’m not the most creative guy in the world when it comes to graphics, pictures, etc. But I’d like to think that I know a thing or two about baseball and I’d like to hope and believe that the coverage of the team that I’ve provided over time in print is accurate and fair. So you probably aren’t going to see fancy polls, pictures, graphics, etc. here at Orange Crush. But I stand behind the product I put out in print – to me that’s the most important part of any article. Is it possible that the look or feel to the site will change at some point? Sure. But the content is always more important than anything else in my mind.

Let me be frank; this isn’t Birds Watcher. I was privileged to write for the Fansided Network for so long, as their readership is vast. However I never felt that I “worked” for Fansided or anyone else – except for the people of Baltimore and Orioles fans. That’s who I’m here for, and that’s on who’s behalf I’ve always written. So once again to all who are reading this today, stick with me – it’s going to be a fun off-season! Every year I wonder how we’re going to make it through until spring training once again, but we always do. So in closing on this maiden post, I once again welcome one and all to this new site, The Orange Crush! And as goes my traditional conclusion to comment replies, THANKS FOR READING!