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: Cedric Mullins wins Silver Slugger

The accolades keep rolling in for the Baltimore Orioles’ Cedric Mullins. Tonight he was awarded his first ever Silver Slugger award. It couldn’t have gone to a better player, nor a more humble man.

Mullins hit .291 in 2021, with 30 homers and 59 RBI. He also had 175 hits on the year. This as the Orioles’ starting center fielder.

Perhaps the most inspiring part of Mullins’ story is the fact that he was sent back to the minors in 2019. In doing so, Mullins proved not only his talent, but his work ethic. His on-base percentage in 2019 (at the big league level) was .181. In 2021 it was .360. This also after improving to .315 last year (over 60 games). That’s a heck of an improvement.

End of the day, this award is indicative that the Orioles’ rebuild is working. The organization has depth now, and the “young guys in the minors” are starting to become the next generation of great Orioles. Stay tuned, good things are happening!

Baltimore Orioles’ Trey Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle honored

By virtue of the fact that Trey Mancini set foot on the field on Opening Day for the Baltimore Orioles, he was always going to be the comeback player of the year. That isn’t to say that there weren’t other great candidates out there, because there were. But nothing trumps beating cancer (during a global pandemic, no less) and coming back to play.

That came true this evening, as Mancini was voted the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year, as voted by the players. In short, these are player’s choice awards, so Mancini’s being recognized by his peers. Mancini on the honor:

It means the world. I’m so honored and humbled to receive this award. Especially when I got my diagnosis, I wasn’t totally sure that I’d be playing baseball again. So to be able to come back and play an entire season and receive this award just means everything to me.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

I don’t need to run down Mancini’s stats or accomplishments this year for Orioles fans. Everyone knows he deserves the honor based on the cancer diagnosis, and for his performance on the field. Everyone expected and knew that Mancini was the guy.

But what we didn’t know is that we’d be talking about another Oriole in a similar light this evening. Ryan Mountcastle was also chosen as the American League’s Most Outstanding Rookie. Again, this by his peers. Mountcastle on the award:

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this first full season. I had never hit that many before in the minor leagues or anything, but coming into this year and hitting 33 homers, it’s pretty cool. After the first month, I probably wouldn’t say I expected that, but I turned it back around and it feels good to be where I’m at.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

Again, these are players choice awards. But it speaks volumes about both Mancini and Mountcastle that they were recognized by their peers. The BBWAA awards in the same categories will be announced in early November.

But wait…THERE’S MORE! Former Oriole great, SS Mark Belanger (“The Blade”), was named the Curt Flood Award winner. The Flood Award goes to a former player (alive or deceased) who remained dedicated to the MLBPA, and the advancement of player’s rights. Belanger worked in the MLBPA offices after retiring, up until his untimely death from cancer in 1998.

Needless to say, the Orioles cleaned up on this round of awards!

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.

Baltimore Orioles: 2021 Season Recap

The Baltimore Orioles were forced to wait an extra day to open the 2021 season at Fenway Park due to early spring weather in Boston. But it was worth the wait; John Means pitched what was at the time his best outing as a pro, and the Orioles defeated Boston. They would go on to sweep the series. Unfortunately, that was probably the pinnacle of the season. In terms of a team effort, that is.

Not much was expected of this 2021 Orioles team. However their valleys were probably far deeper than anyone expected. Yet, their peaks were often pretty high as well. That’s often the trade-off you get when you rebuild. One week after that opening series they’d be swept by that same Boston team in their home-opening series.

This season was always going to be strange. The O’s were only allowed to sell 11K seats per game due to social distancing regulations at first. That changed on June 1st. But the Orioles struggled along to that point. They often looked somewhat respectable against some teams, but within their division, they struggled. They were swept by Boston twice in the first two months. They also struggled against New York and Tampa. They lost 15 straight games to close out May – a harbinger of things to come.

But May provided one unbelievable moment, that will be cherished by Orioles fans for generations. The Birds were in Seattle for a Wednesday afternoon matinee on May 5th, closing out a west coast road trip. John Means was on the mound, and low and behold…we saw the first Orioles’ no-hitter since the 1960’s. Throngs of Orioles fans had seen fanbase after fanbase celebrate their guys throwing no-no’s. Finally it was Birdland’s turn!

There were never too many wins built into this team. Pitching was shaky at best, be it starting or in relief. But the Orioles never gave up in games. And that speaks to their character. And at times, they seemed to learn from their mistakes. After being swept by Washington in late May, the Birds returned the favor in late July. Then they turned around and lost 21 consecutive games, two shy of the franchise record. But end of the day, they may have been bad, but they never quit.

One would think that in finishing the season 52-110, it would be tough to find bright spots (aside from the aforementioned John Means no-hitter). But the year was full of outstanding individual performances. Orioles fans got a good look at the future, starting with Cedric Mullins becoming the first 30-30 guy in Orioles’ history. That’s incredibly meaningful.

There’s also a lot of hope instilled in the likes of Ryan Mountcastle, who set a franchise record with 33 home runs as a rookie. When you look back at the players this franchise has had and you think that Mullins is the only 30-30 guy among them, and Mountcastle set a franchise record for a rookie, it would appear that there are some special guys in this current mix of Orioles. And let’s not forget Trey Mancini, who’s all but a shoo-in to be Comeback Player of the Year after returning from cancer last year.

However now the 2021 season fades to black. It’s all but a mere memory, as we watch the 2021 Postseason unfold before us. This while the Birds build towards Sarasota and spring training next February. And remember, hope ALWAYS springs eternal every season!