InsideCoroner

I guess he wasn't very good about blocking that, either.

Anyone catch that? At the game’s crucial moment (8th inning, up by a run, Cleveland had the bases loaded with 2 outs, Naylor at the plate), Lopez bounced a curve in front of the plate that Chirinos kept from getting too far away, holding the runner at third). Palmer said, “Nice block. Really nice block… I don’t need to tell you where this would have been last year, back to the backstop. Not this year.” I had to chuckle (because it’s true).

It’s a bad team, but it’s an eminently more watchable one. If they lose 95 games but are only losing most of those by two runs or less, I would consider that serious progress. Many signs of encouragement, even if we might still be drafting high next year.

That was an ugly one, like 2021 all over again. I was excited to watch Zimmerman pitch, but he seemingly had no out pitch working for him, and teed up way too many fastballs at 90/91 mph down the middle -- and boy, they did not miss them. I was hoping at least Sedlock's debut would offer some redemption, but even that wasn't pretty. At least you can be glad he kept the ball in the yard?

I'm not all that concerned if Mullins and/or Mountcastle have an off year in 2022. It's next year that I really want them to come through when the games will hopefully matter.

Geez, didn’t we hear that last year with Valaika? I like Gutierrez (especially the glove) but I’m not sure he can hit righties well enough, and his OPS is never going to justify him playing a corner position. If he played short or second I would be more lenient.

I sat down to watch a replay of the game the next morning (having avoided the score), but after a couple innings I couldn’t take it and just watched the highlights instead. The 1080p picture quality was great, but the constant betting odds on-screen (“chance to strike out: 29%”… riveting), the Zip Recruiter logo digitally imposed on the pitching mound, and Melanie’s nonstop verbal torrent really put me off. I’m sure that’s the future (or present) of sports broadcasts but I resented being forced to watch it that way.

He's on pace for a career year, absolutely torching the ball and with a .441 OBP. I don't think that Manny is quite the fielder he used to be in his days in Baltimore, but he does seem to have matured (somewhat) and hopefully he can keep up his torrid start.

I can’t believe they won this game. Once they lost Watkins and Krehbiel gave up the homer to make it 4-0 in the first, I thought they were finished. It easily could have become one of those blowouts where someone like McKenna needs to get on the mound for a couple innings.

Sometimes you get Andrew Miller and McLouth, sometimes you get Gerardo Parra or Michael Morse. I did enjoy Nate’s contribution to the team in 2012 and 2013, though.

Red Sox fans remind me of RB Leipzig fans in the Bundesliga. You might well know the story, Drungo, but for anyone who doesn't, in 2009 Red Bull bought RB Leipzig, a floundering team in the fifth league, which is the soccer equivalent of single-A ball, and pumped ridiculous money into the team. In the German football league, the major-league clubs don't own the lower teams or their players, each team is separate. At the end of the year the top 2 or 3 teams in a division move up a level, and the bottom 2 or 3 move down, which makes it pretty interesting. RB Leipzig went from their lowly division, drawing a little over 2,000 fans per game, and within eight years they had made the "majors" and have never had a losing season since their purchase, now drawing about 40,000 fans per game (pre-pandemic). Their fans can be absolutely insufferable because after years of being a joke, they now act entitled (Red Sox style) and are therefore among the most hated fans in football. That said, would I mind if Warren Buffett bought the O's and brought them back to greatness simply because he liked the way the World Series rings looked on display in his office? Not really, if he didn't mess with the integrity of the team. Would I then act entitled after so many years of suffering? I sincerely hope not.

A weird but honest question — if a team found a way to make their stadium walls adjustable, would it be legal to move the fences mid-season? Either to adjust for roster moves/acquisitions, or even to gear up for a specific team coming to town?

Once I saw the 4-thru-9 slots in the batting order were made up of Urias, Odor, Nevin, McKenna, Bemboom and Owings, I mentally wrote off this game as a loss and hoped in vain they could prove me wrong.

A few minutes earlier, I had paused the game to show my wife, who is Croatian, the “beer bats” they sell in Detroit, and she was laughing at the absurdity of it all (and impracticality… Do you get them refilled? What do you do with the bat after it’s empty?). She laughed and said “Only in America.” After Ben’s story about his logger grandfather, I caught her attention again and said, “Speaking of America”, and recounted the tale to her utter bewilderment.

I had to laugh when he said that.

The game-ending DP was great in a nail-biter of a game, and hia solo homer helped make the difference, but aside from that: the play he made in the 6th inning up the middle on a hard grounder by Edman (grab behind the bag, spin throw, a good pick from Mancini) was a play that I seriously don’t think any Orioles SS could have made in recent memory, Hardy or Iglesias included, because neither were that quick. It didn’t look amazing but I think that’s only because of his athleticism.

LECOM = Lengthy Exchange of Curious Oriole Marketing i might have once worked with a record label who were in bitter competition with another slightly larger label, and it got heated and personal. The larger label had their impressive headquarters in a small rural town, and would bring every prospective new signing there, as well as artist management. The smaller label, feeling vindictive, spent a sizeable amount of money on advertising and marketing their own artists in this small town. Subway posters, street teams, billboards… every time a potential signing came in by train, plane or car, they were inundated with marketing for another label. They booked long term ad contracts to prevent the bigger label from regaining some prime advertising locations. This went on for years. It was petty, to be sure, but it was gloriously petty.

I think in the past a few brands benefitted from close ties to a team. I’m pretty sure some kids years ago wanted Esskay Franks because they associated it with the team. But nowadays with information coming from so many different directions, I do agree little if any of it has a conscious or even subconscious effect. If anything I tend to shy away from brands with excessive or annoying advertising. But there can be myriad reasons for those ads. Maybe those companies entertain corporate clients with season tickets or suites and want to look good. Or maybe one of those companies know that their *competitors* often attend games, and they want to rub their name in their face. Or yeah, maybe they just got “Drapered”.

That story is pretty bizarre. He claims he took a medication that contained Clomiphene (classified as a PED) in order to improve the chances that he and his wife could finally have a child. Except… the medication he took helps improve ovulation (?!).

As opposed to all that good gas station sushi.

He’s a guy that I would love to see cut down his swing just a little bit and drop that strikeout ratio from the 30% or so he’s at now. It seems like half his extra base hits are coming from his legs rather than his bat anyway. But I realize asking any modern hitter to try to focus on making contact is probably a fool’s errand. Either way, he’s fun to watch.

I can’t imagine that anyone could foresee the O’s having a team ERA two full runs per game lower than last year (from 5.85 to 3.76). If/when the pitching falters, the wall will come more into play on defense.

Definitely. I’ll take an all-Carney Lansford team over an all-Jose Canseco team every time.

I’m more a balk maven myself.

Do they, though? Homers are up in recent years across the MLB but attendance is dropping. I personally find the three (or two) true outcome style of baseball a little boring.