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ThomasTomasz

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About ThomasTomasz

  • Birthday 04/11/1988

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  • Favorite Current Oriole
    John Means
  • Favorite All Time Oriole
    Cal Ripken Jr

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  1. Are you factoring in the last 1/4, no matter if it is bottled or draft, being inedible?
  2. Also I want to add for the local places…….I have an intimate knowledge of concessions at a DI college football program in our area. The amount that they want in return from my company, which is a larger one, basically allows us to break even on what we consider our “inside sale” at the location. Not what we would deliver the product for. Please support these local businesses there, both inside and outside OPACY. They are not making a lot of money from this, and might not be making any money at all selling sodas and bottled water and stuff from the Orioles.
  3. I have to say, when I go to Nats games, my favorite food by far is the stand from the local pupusaria. I’m 110% in favor of a similar local business going into OPACY, and they will get my business for sure. Also like Squires going in. Definitely like that they are making some major changes to the food this year after seeing what worked and what didnt work.
  4. Fantastic post, and to add to this, a lot of people in the circles I’m in for sports have demonized the Orioles for their low payroll since 2019. I think a lot of people can agree there was more to be spent. Many of those people would question how Peter spent that money as the owner. But, he spent it on the MLB payroll. He was always about the person, whether it was asbestos poisoning, tobacco lobby or even MLB players. He ran the risk of losing the franchise a few years into his ownership because he didn’t side with the owners completely in 1994, and that fracture led to him never truly being accepted in league circles I think. Say what you will about those decisions affecting the ability for the club to compete with others, but he led with integrity to his own values. Everyone can learn from that.
  5. A one year, $40 million offer from the Yankees turns into $84 million with luxury tax implications, so my guess is that they have a multi-year contract out that manipulates the numbers. Orioles could offer something, but I am just not sure that it happens until an ownership change is official. It also appears that there is a hard line that front offices are drawing with Boras if you read the comments coming from some GMs/heads of operations. It’s all vaguely specific and not necessarily breaking rules and collusion and such…….but it’s an interesting off-season.
  6. Ah, the good ol’ Avian Phallic. He’s got tools but strikes out a ton. He doesn’t have great contact ability, but loads of power, decent speed and will take pitches. If any team can unlock his potential, it’s the Orioles, Dodgers or Rays.
  7. When they promoted him in 2022 to Aberdeen to close the year, he struggled a bit- a little natural considering his progression that season and age versus competition. He also didnt improve much on that performance last year despite spending the whole season there. Could be a variety of issues at play, but he made multiple top 500 fantasy lists over the 2022-23 off-season, and fell off almost all of those by the end of the season. I trust our development system to figure him out, so in those deep fantasy leagues I am holding him or looking to add him.
  8. Yeah he’s been working on becoming a pitcher. Given our success as an organization in developing a position player into a pitcher- granted it was years ago- and our time then and now in developing castoff relievers into solid weapons, I am intrigued with Guzman. Saw him in some games in 2019 while on vacation in Texas, and this dude has a cannon for an arm. So worth a flier if they think they see something, you never know what he might become.
  9. I wonder if someone was playing their first game with Aberdeen, or had some other milestone that he wanted to give them the lineup card. That kind of “authentics” collecting certainly wasn’t popular like it is today.
  10. Man, fantasy camp was something my dad and I talked about doing, and we never did it. I think that was a casualty of Covid if I am not mistaken? It’s sad that fantasy camp, fan fest, season ticket appreciation event and even early ballpark access are not a thing anymore.
  11. When the Orioles played their “minor league All-Stars” in 1998 I think, I was at the game and ended up getting Cal’s autograph. However, being 10 at the time, I failed to see a photographer there, and was surprised when a postcard from the Bay Sox arrived as an advertisement with me featured front and center on the postcard. We still have copies of that postcard laying around. Also at the BaySox, I remember Josh Towers being really cool and talking to fans of all ages, and one time he autographed the gate to the bullpen. Back in 2015, Manny threw me a game ball before the full nets took over and it popped my glove like nothing else. Got a nod from him in return. A couple years later at the Fan Appreciation event for season ticket holders, I had him autograph some items from the Cincinnati All-Star game including a Home Run Derby ball, and he looked them over and was pointing out things to the player sitting next to him. Not anything specific, but I was noted by Orioles players before Covid as someone who looks out for young fans during BP and will get kids baseballs who aren’t able to get them for themselves. So usually players will keep an eye out for me, and throw a baseball in my direction and I’ll find a kid who hasn’t gotten one yet. Occasionally, I’ll get one and they shout to keep it, but I never usually keep them unless it’s one I actually caught. I really miss this after Covid with the shortened gate times, and young fans are missing out on this interaction with players. Last year, my now-fiancée had her best friend, husband and their 9 year old come into town for the Commanders/Packers game. We’re Commanders fans, and they are Packers fans. Well, the parents were too timid to take him down to the visitor tunnel which is where my seats are, so she took him down and got a couple gold beaded necklaces from cheerleaders, and two sets of gloves from Packers players. I wish I had more. These kind of interactions are few and far between anymore with fans being so removed from the process.
  12. If people are paying for these “experiences” versus attending a free event with autograph purchases like FanFest, expect these to continue. The Orioles also discontinued season ticket holder appreciation days, as well as events like “Social Media Appreciation Day” where you could get early access to the ballpark and have a buffet dinner along with an interview of a player. Those events included Chris Davis, Darren ODay and Brad Brach, plus a media personality like Roch. The Capitals discontinued their version of season ticket holder appreciation day as well, which was a three event course throughout the year. Blamed it initially on Covid, but they never brought it back even last year, so a good friend of mine cancelled his season tickets because of it. Limiting player to player interaction to who can pay the most money to go bowling with Adley is not the best way to grow the fan base.
  13. I mean, the Orioles of the past 13 years, especially going back to the old regime, have done a surprisingly good job of doing the same thing. Britton and Matusz were failed top prospects who became relievers. Britton was dominant with his sinker, Matusz excelled as a lefty specialist. We scrap-heaped Brad Brach. Darren ODay was extremely inconsistent. Mychal Givens was a failed shortstop prospect with a big arm. We’re all familiar with the roster more recently, but we have our fair share of success stories. It also comes with players that we didn’t figure out. Webb has a live arm, maybe they do some tweaks this off-season. I was surprised that the Angels gave up on him.
  14. Probably an unpopular opinion, but if you combine Stroman’s lack of innings over the past year, and Kremer’s second half splits, does Kremer basically equal Stroman next year, while also giving you more innings? Wild card is how you view Stroman the competitor, and what slotting him into your rotation come playoff time means. For a team in our situation, that is something that the front office is going to consider. With how carefully teams are managing IPs, I can easily see a six man rotation being used here to minimize workload for Grayson and Bradish being so young, and Means coming back from major surgery.
  15. Definitely need a floor. The Orioles can give out nine figure deals, no problem, as can the other teams at the bottom of the league in payroll. The thing is that they can’t give them out like this, they have to be more selective and weigh the risk and reward. With the Dodgers, their insanely good TV rights deal and their proximity to Japan and with both YY/Ohtani, they can more than afford the risk here. Even if YY is a mid-tier starter, it pays for itself for them. Meanwhile, I dont think it would be the same for the Orioles. They do not have the same market value, and if the deal did not pan out, would be much of of an anchor for us. I will say that a contract for YY is absolutely more palatable now than 20 years ago. The numbers and data were not available to see how a pitcher might translate to MLB 20 years ago, and it would be an insanely risky move. It still has risk, because he has not pitched in MLB yet, but it is a lot less. Also, ending up in the Dodgers pitching factory is a huge plus for him as well. All of this said…….it’s frustrating that we aren’t at the very least extending our young core right now. We know from years past that Peter has given out top of the market contracts (Tejada), has extended players before free agency (Jones, Markakis) and has spent numerous times in the top half of payrolls. The money is there to make some noise and supplement the core, but for……reasons……we aren’t doing it.
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