beervendor

Not sure if Brady Anderson meets the criteria, but his peak year was craaaaazy.

Spring Training, late 90's. Happened by the batting cage under the stands during a game and got to watch Cal teaching his then-very-young kids to hit off a tee and run around "bases." Just them and me. I didn't dream of interrupting, and even felt a little weird watching. But it was a heartwarming reminder that even the greatest stars are just people. Also had the pleasure of sitting next to Chris Hoiles and chatting for an entire game a few years back. Very cool dude, and a great experience.

It's not hard at all to put *BACK* on 25 lbs in 4-1/2 months. Especially for an experienced lifter with a trainer and nothing else to do all winter.

Yes, that. Sorry, just got here from 1975.

Oh it certainly could, but he was pretty good for us quite recently. And he doesn't have to be good, just serviceable. I think the upside of Cashner putting up 180+IP outweighs the likelihood of him underperforming our second best rule V arm, or whomever we find to fill the 2nd or 3rd avail SP slot. A lot like our elections - there are no good choices, you just hope to end up with the least bad option.

Throwing out a parade of young "who-knows" types will get you a whole lot of early exits. That leads to a whole lot of long relief appearances. This loads up the AAA/AA shuttle (already busy ferrying starters) with long relievers, makes establishing defined bullpen roles difficult/impossible, and forces Hyde to manage defensively instead of being able to put guys in spots where they're most likely to succeed. Failing to bring in Cashner or an innings eater like him could very likely result in a no-or-negative rebuild progress season, at least as far as pitching is concerned. There'll be plenty of opportunities for the lottery ticket types regardless.

My having spent a midsummer week in and around Vancouver, this map vastly underestimates Blue Jays fandom throughout Canada. Bars were packed for a rando (10AM start!) Sunday Jays game 2,000 miles away, and there didn't seem to be any enthusiasm for the Mariners (only 150 miles). All of Canada loves the Jays, and this map cares not one whit. EDIT: I see now I've confused previous mention of the StubHub fandom map with this driving distance map. Too many 10AM Molsons I guess.

Highly recommend Bradenton for an away game. A long time since I was there, but it's a beautiful park and an easy trip from Sarasota.

Anyone have access to a current list of the various Orioles owners and their stakes?

The stadium area is generally safe during games when there are police officers directing traffic and multiple other fans around. Once the post-game exodus tapers off, it's easy to find yourself all of the sudden alone on a dark secluded lot or side street. With declining attendance expected to continue into next season and beyond, the "safe" (or more accurately "safer") window after a game would be reasonably expected to narrow. One could be mugged - or worse - in broad daylight but after dark the largely industrial stadium area should be avoided the moment the company of other fans dwindles. O's would do well to use private security or pay for BPD overtime to make the area safer.

And the plastic gun John Malkovich made for me.

The area around the stadium and the adjacent lots is very safe until the crowds disappear. The area around the casino is well-patrolled as well and I'd be comfortable walking around at night. The stretch between M&T stadium and the Horseshoe parking lot is largely deserted and might provide a mugger (or strangler!!!) an attractive workspace. Agree with others who have said that while there are very real risks walking around Balt - or any city - at any time, you should be OK. Would I walk it at night with 2 or 3 buddies? Absolutely. Would I walk it with my daughters? Far less likely. YMMV.

Yeah there's a well-established homeless camp right there now. Maybe your car was patient zero.

That's not the fanbase, it's the internet.

Interesting look at perhaps the worst regular season day in Orioles history: August 21, 2007 Page one: .

Only guessing but I assume he should be paid as if were still playing, ie regular checks during the season and deferred money when it was originally due. The team is not breaching the contract, just releasing him from his responsibility.

Only so long as they're occupied by players with no value.

IMO the strongest justification for hanging onto Davis is for PR risk mitigation. As ugly as his contract has been for the team, it would be a giant PR disaster if he were to go to another team (for league min) and regain some or all of his slugging form. The national media and casual local fanbase would CRUCIFY the organization if this came to pass. It would be an embarrassment of Metsian proportions. He's already being paid, he's not blocking any serious prospect, and his negative production isn't costing any wins that matter. One could make the case that his 40-man spot is the biggest cost to keeping him on the team, but feels like a small price when measured against the prospect of seeing him hit 40 bombs for Oakland next year while cashing huge Oriole checks.

I don't remember (or misremember) a lot about this event. Pat Hentgen's perspective

Which never happened? He did get up in the pen but I'm not confident about the other whens and whys.

Wasn't Moose under the weather and asked not to pitch? Got up in the ninth for a side session on his own? Might have all been BS to smooth things over in the moment but this was the official account, no? Still remember the stadium rocking to "We Want Mike", then boos, and the immortal "Cito Sucks."

Open in incognito/private window. EDIT: Oops, doesn't work with Balt Sun. Does with many other sites.

Apologies if someone already did this, but I went over the schedule to see whether there was a single stretch of any 10 games with a winning record. There was one - the team went 6-4 from May 9-19 (doesn't fall into the ten game sets counting from opening day). That high point of the season was fueled by their 4 game winning streak May 9-12. Counting the green Ws among a red sea of Ls was possibly the worst 5 minutes of my own personal season. There was the single 4 game win streak, two 3 game streaks, and five two game streaks. Yes, that's a season grand total of EIGHT winning streaks greater than one game thru 9/17. That's just historically brutal. Worse than Cleveland in '17, Mondale in '84, or even Caesar in 44. On the losing side were streaks of 4 games (2), 5 (3), 6 (3), 7 (3), 8 (1), and 9 (1). Guess a nice 10 gamer vs NY, BOS, and HOU would round out this list, this thread, and the 2018 season quite appropriately.

Yes, plus the team will be facing the small matters of cratering attendance for the (hopefully only) near future, abysmal TV ratings, and the inevitable ingestion of a certain 1st baseman's contract. Have to clean some house before the rebuild begins in earnest.