btownoriole

I had a long drive Wednesday afternoon and listened to Newman and Garceau. It was the worst radio broadcast I’ve listened to in 45 years as a baseball fan. They were both constantly behind the play (based on the sound of the bat and the crowd reaction). On some plays I didn’t really know what happened until the play was over and they told me who was on base where and how many outs there were. I agree with other posters - have Newman and Garceau focus on studio hosting. If they need an occasional play-by-play person on the radio side bring up Adam Pohl or one of the other minor league announcers.

Irvin pitched the first game of Norfolk’s DH tonight and pitched well. But he can’t come up yet because he hasn’t been down 15 days yet.

That was two years later in ‘99. The beauty of that ‘97 sweep was that Atlanta started Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine.

This feels like about the start I expected, especially with Tate and Givens out. While the realistic goal is the playoffs, there are still pieces that will be coming (Means, Hall, Ortiz, Westberg, potential trades) and others still learning at the MLB level (Gunnar, Grayson). I think that’s why the stated goal is not the division. I’m looking forward to watching this team continue to grow and get better as the season progresses.

The whole regional sports network model is dying and it’s creating a mess for fans. In some ways it’s better to be a fan outside a team’s local market - I have no trouble watching the O’s from IN using MLB.TV (unless they’re playing Chicago or Cincy). If I lived in the Orioles’ market it would cost me a ton more money to follow the O’s, which is just wrong. If you’re interested in following where this is going, follow John Ourand on twitter or listen to his podcast. Really interesting how Manfred is trying to get out of this blackout mess. Plus Ourand is an O’s fan - he’s got an Orioles jacket hanging in the background in the YouTube version of his podcast.

I voted no, although I do feel very good about where this organization is. My rationale: The off-season “upgrades” were around the edges and may/may not be better than last year. McCann almost certainly is, but that’s a backup catcher. While I like Givens he is unlikely to be an upgrade over what Lopez provided last year. I think it’s highly unlikely that the bullpen can repeat last year’s performance. I’m hopeful but not counting on getting more from Adley this year. If he stays healthy we could, but I also worry about him wearing down given how much the O’s rely on him. I just don’t see the rotation and Gunnar making up for the expected regressions. Other contenders made bigger upgrades. All that said, I’m really looking forward to seeing Henderson, Rodriguez, and, eventually, Cowser, Norby, Westberg, and Ortiz, begin to establish themselves at the major league level.

Eovaldi should have taken the QO. It doesn’t make sense for the Orioles to take on a multi-year contract with his injury history and his declining velocity. And it doesn’t make sense to give up a pick for a one-year deal with those risk factors attached.

I gotta go with Dennis Martinez. Of course the fact that he’s 67 years old doesn’t reflect well on our recent efforts.

What I'm afraid they're going to do is start him at Norfolk so they can manage his innings there, and then bring him up once they've reached the point in the season where he can pitch the rest of the way without limits.

Do we know that he doesn't work hard? I had not heard this but I may have missed something. My sense has never been that work ethic has been an issue - it's just that he's not a good hitter.

Would love to see Grayson get that Monday start and push Kremer to Tuesday.

This. While I would like to see them play Stowers and Vavra more often starting now, my gut tells me that they're going to continue to play as they have over the next 5 games. If they come out of Toronto in the same or worse position, I anticipate we'll see more ABs for the rookies.

That’s interesting, as I’ve come away feeling the exact opposite - John is the one to be trusted and Louis has the meddling instincts of his father. But it could be because I’ve always wanted an owner with a philosophy like John’s - not one like Louis constantly hounding the GM about the moves he’s making.

I think this guy was let go by the Yankees. Might be able to address this point. https://youtu.be/DROfn0-8-r8

Elrod

Great breakdown. Just feels like the O’s are starting to run out of steam the last 10 days or so. Going 1-3 (with all losses being by one run) vs. BOS and CHC has really hurt. Hopefully Gunnar is called up this week to give the team a lift.

And I think Kevin Brown does a great job pulling this out of him. I love when Brown asks him what pitch he'd throw here and why.

Great interview Roy! We really are lucky to have him at the beginning of his career. I sincerely hope he is the voice of the O's for the rest of my lifetime but I'm sure he'll have other opportunities in bigger markets and nationally (I know he does work with ESPN already).

Similar history to you. The ESPN “bottom line” was a huge upgrade in the 90’s - it was always annoying when it disappeared during commercial breaks. The other thing I discovered in the late 80’s was the phone service George Michael offered with scores. Especially useful in the mornings when the O’s were on the west coast!

I pretty much agree with this assessment. But it is hard to grade a rebuild in the middle of it as we won’t see the actual fruits of it for a couple of more years. I do think about this one in comparison to McPhail’s sometimes. At this stage in McPhail’s (3 years in) the O’s had the worst record in baseball and, honestly, things weren’t looking promising. Then Buck was hired, they traded for JJ, Duquette became GM, Manny showed up, and they went on a terrific five year run. I think this rebuild is more sustainable because they’re building a better infrastructure but I also think the division is more committed to building their own infrastructures than they were 11 years ago.

I grew up in College Park the son of a die-hard Yankees fan. In 1978, at age 7, my dad took me to my first baseball game to the watch the team closest to home, the Orioles. I'll never forget the first time I saw the field at Memorial Stadium - it took my breath away. I became an Oriole fan immediately. I remember a couple of years later my dad was still trying to get me to become a Yankees fan. I think he truly was upset but there was no way I was ever going back. My brother followed me and became an O's fan too. My dad still says it is his greatest failure as a father. :boogie: The ironic thing, and the saving grace for my dad, is that both my brother and I married Yankees fans. In fact, at both our weddings Dad had the DJ play "New York, New York" so he could dance with the bride while he wore a Yankee cap. That's OK, he can be disappointed again when his grandchildren become O's fans!