Griffey

Looks like we may miss Verlander on Sunday. I'm showing Urquidy lined up, which is fine with me. I'll be at the game!

Here we go! Very exciting stuff, this season has been an absolute blast!

It's truly amazing how predictive that "increased usage" chart is for at-risk pitchers. But I guess that's the consequences of grooming them as throwers instead of pitchers.

And right on cue, Gore goes on the IL.

Not that I'm old or anything, but I played high school ball against his dad.

Great job by the O's fans @ Wrigley! Especially the big man who seemed to be single-handedly handling the "Let's Go O's!" chant in the middle innings. Felt great to see/hear that after all the years of hearing Sox/Yanks fans taking over Oriole Park.

And we are at 5% on fivethirtyeight.com!!!

Not a fan of interleague play because to me it ruined what was unique about baseball, where the leagues only competed against each other in the World Series and All-Star games. That used to make it special and differentiated it from the other Big 4 leagues. With an odd number of teams in each league now it's a necessity, but what I'd like to see is something along these lines: 14 games vs. each division opponent (56 games) 10 games vs. every other league opponent (100 games) 6 games vs. "rival" from other league (or rotate the opponent) (6 games)

Best of luck in your retirement, and thanks for that fat 45.00 ERA against us in the 2014 ALDS and for grooving that first pitch to Delmon!

Is it just me, or does Jones just look stiff, uncomfortable and unathletic out there? He just doesn't look the part the way that Mateo does. I know that looks don't hit/field, but he certainly doesn't pass the eyeball test.

Watched on TV and it looked/sounded like a great atmosphere. I'll be there Saturday night for my first game in Baltimore in 5 years, can't wait!

Canyon Lake, just south of Austin. I have friends that live in Plano, nice area.

double post

I bought tickets 3 months ago to take my wife to the game this Saturday against the Rays, and it will be her first game at Oriole Park. We are coming all the way from Texas, and it looks like we might have a chance at seeing us tie the modern record for futility. Not what we envisioned when we bought them, but it might be historic nonetheless!

Somehow, I feel like the entire Chris Davis fiasco is my fault. A good friend of mine is a business associate of Scott Boras, and he got me a free, framed Chris Davis autographed jersey after the '15 season. During the free agency period, I selfishly hoped that the O's would re-sign him so I could proudly display my jersey (I probably would've put it in storage if he'd signed with, say, the Yankees). I got my wish, and the rest is (mostly bad) history. Be careful what you ask for, folks.... That being said, he provided a lot of great moments in Baltimore and I wish him well in retirement.

Agreed that Trey shouldn't have been the go-to interview last night (should've been Watkins), but did you hear Trey's great quote when they asked him if he was worried about his participation in the Derby messing up his swing? He responded by chuckling and saying that he wasn't worried because he wasn't swinging the bat very well leading up to the All-Star break to begin with. Trey is awesome....

An injury-prone one at that. When will they all learn?

At least according to mlb.com.... https://www.mlb.com/news/predicting-future-world-series-winners I'm assuming all of us would take this right now, correct?

In addition to his ability to hit lefties, I'm going to miss his enthusiasm and love of the game. I'm not sure advanced metrics can adequately account for any positive impact he would have on the team in that regard, but it sure seems like there was value there.

The reason he stopped taking them after locking down the big contract is the same reason he won't just walk away and retire. Two syllables, rhymes with shmoney....

I just love the old-school title-winning celebrations. There's so much to love about this video. Boog sprinting off the bag to go hug it out with the rest of the team, a fan grabbing Davey's cap and running off, and everyone immediately piling into the clubhouse to soak up the moment as a team. Then there would be the individual interviews with the players and the trophy presentation. By contrast, the elaborate on-field post-game ceremonies of today seem relatively forced and soulless.

Despite knowing that winning wasn't really our top priority this "season", I watched every game I could on Extra Innings and enjoyed every bit of it. While we continue to struggle at times, this was a fun team to watch, and it appears that we have at least a few building blocks for the future. The old saying, "you're either green and growing or ripe and rotting" applies here, and this young group was way more fun to watch than the aging and underperforming 2017 club.

I audibly groaned when I heard Bordy say that. I'll give him some credit, though, for saying it in a Bah-ston accent.

And that's not counting how much he's probably helping the team outside the lines. Hanser is a spark plug and is fun to watch. He really enjoys being out there and it's infectious to the clubhouse.

I was skeptical that they would be able to pull this off, but then the games started this weekend and I was immediately sucked right back in to the pure joy of the game and being able to root for my O's. It was odd with the empty ballparks, etc., but it was as close to real baseball as it could get, and I had a blast watching on TV. But it's pretty clear that this isn't going to work. There are just too many logistical hurdles to clear.