HHP: Reporting from Fanfest

[weams]

Could it be he is a little bit shy? Maybe him being so popular with O's fans he really doesn't know

how to handle it so he won't say very much.

I agree with scOtt. I think he is very polished. A pro.

[luismatos4prez]

I asked Adair if he thought Matusz's success in August and September was due to changes in mechanics or change in his role. He said if you watch Matusz's games he's often better in the first three innings.

:scratchchinhmm: Very interesting.

Can anyone find the extremely small sample size of how he did vs RHBs as a reliever? Double filtering isn't an option on any sites I've visited.

[mcpd]

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who reported on the day. Maybe one of these years I will make it up there for fanfest. Sounds like a really good time.

[Tx Oriole]

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who reported on the day. Maybe one of these years I will make it up there for fanfest. Sounds like a really good time.

Would be nice to go to one.

[hallmt18]

My kids are pretty young, so my wife and I spent a lot of time with them in lines for stuff like face-painting, pitching/radar, hitting, etc. I think it's really cool that the players circulate around a little bit and randomly pop in. Matusz showed up and watched my son pitch and high-fived him afterwards. He also met Tillman at one of the other kid-play stations. Really cool.

[hendu]

I agree with scOtt. I think he is very polished. A pro.

I couldn't be any more impressed with how he carries himself. He's like a 30 yr old trapped inside a 19 yr old. I have to think that his dad has something to do with this.

[Frobby]

In the past, the forums were about 15-20 minutes apart, so I had more time to write up blurbs on the interesting things that were said. Yesterday the sessions mostly were only 5 minutes apart, so I didn't have time to write up as much as I would have liked. Here's a few leftovers:

How does Buck help you to be a better player?

Flaherty - "Buck told me to go 100% and don't be timid. He can live with it if you throw a ball into the stands, but don't play scared."

McLouth - "You can really tell when someone believes in you."

Teagarden - "He just knows a lot and is always aware of what's going on."

Buck on who will bat 1st: "I don't know yet and our players don't care. It's not like that in every clubhouse. Sometimes we'll be talking about a player and players will tell me, 'this guy wouldn't fit in our clubhouse."

Discussing use of analytics, Buck says he uses statistics but "isn't a prisoner of statistics." He uses them to confirm what his gut tells him. Dan adds that the team has a lot of wizened baseball men like Lee Thomas and Fred Ferreira, and some brilliant young guys who do the analytics, and they use both.

Dan was asked if the O's would go pitching-heavy in this draft. Dan says he doesn't know yet but that Gary Rajsich is particularly strong at evaluating pitchers.

Buck emphasizes that in his dugout and clubhouse, if a player has advice or criticism for a teammate, that has much more impact than if Buck is giving the advice. Some teams have rookie hazing and he doesn't like it because he wants the players to feel comfortable about getting and giving advice.

On the WBC:

Both Dan and Buck very happy Gonzo isn't going. It's very hard to ramp up so early in spring training and then ramp back down. Dan: Dice-K is Exhibit A for why you shouldn't pitch in the WBC, and Luis Ayala got hurt in the WBC last time (note: he thinks Ayala is pitching for Mexico again this time). It is good for MLB because it helps grow the game, and you get to see pitchers like Chen.

Buck: "I don't apologize that the Baltimore Orioles are my first priority."

Jones mentions that when he told Buck he was going, Buck's advice was "be ready," so he started all his offseason stuff a month early.

Adair says he likes the WBC because he gets to see more of the MiL pitchers who fill in while the other pitchers are away.

Kirby says the outfielder take more ground balls than the infielders do. Talks about the 16th inning really play in the May 6 game, and says it wouldn't have happened if the O's had followed the charts of where Aviles hits. Normally they play him to RF, but with Davis pitching they shifted over.

Dickerson talks about Machado at 3B and praises Manny's feet and ability to know how to get into position to take a hop at the right level. He knows how to slow the game down.

Presley told McLouth that when he was in Pittsburgh, he always had the barrel of the bat on top of the ball. They did a drill where Presely would intentionally toss the ball high to force McLouth's swing up. But Presley also said that the culture of the Orioles' clubhouse helped get Nate turned around and confident.

Manny was asked when he first got interested in baseball, and said, "It's in my blood. My mom was taking me to my cousins' games when I was still in her belly. When I was in a stroller, I'd watch baseball all day on TV without moving, instead of watching cartoons."

Hoes was asked the difference between AA and AAA, and cited the veteran pitchers you face in AAA, many of whom have been in the majors. It was apparent that Hoes and Avery are very close. Hoes lives at home and Avery lives with Hoes' family. Hoes says Avery eats two McDonald's double cheeseburgers and an apple pie before every game.

[Crazysilver03]

There seems to have been a lot of players there, moreso than in most years. Would people agree with that statement?

[hendu]

In the past, the forums were about 15-20 minutes apart, so I had more time to write up blurbs on the interesting things that were said. Yesterday the sessions mostly were only 5 minutes apart, so I didn't have time to write up as much as I would have liked. Here's a few leftovers:

How does Buck help you to be a better player?

Flaherty - Buck told me to go 100% and don't be timid. He can live with it if you throw a ball into the stands, but don't play scared/

McLouth - "Your can really tell when someone believes in you."

Thank you for all of this Frobby, I would rep you 100x if I could. I'm skipping the auto lines next year, cause you either did that or were able to enjoy all of the other festivities.

I did hear Flaherty say that he was cheering for the Ravens, so there is still hope for Boston Dave!

Someone else mentioned something about there being more than 250 in the auto lines yesterday. O'Day was tallying it out of curiosity, I would have loved to have been able to see what his final total was at the end of his session.

[hendu]

There seems to have been a lot of players there, moreso than in most years. Would people agree with that statement?

Well, it seemed like most of the 40 man was there except Chen and Hardy. I guess that most years, there aren't as many players that contribute to a season...probably narrowed down closer to the 25 man.

[BamaOsFan]

I too would like to thank all that took the time to go and report. Would love to make one. Heading to Sarasota for Spring Training and never though I'd get that opportunity, so who knows.

Hate to hear about Earl's passing. Sad news indeed.

[Ohfan67]

Man, I'm so jealous of you guys.

Somebody negative repped me for this comment and said I was "thread hijacking"?? I was jealous of everyone at fan fest. How the heck is that thread hijacking?

Did someone rep the wrong person the DD is cheap war?

[hendu]

Somebody negative repped me for this comment and said I was "thread hijacking"?? I was jealous of everyone at fan fest. How the heck is that thread hijacking?

Did someone rep the wrong person the DD is cheap war?

Only one thing to do, sign up for a plus account and exact revenge:angryfire: J/k. I'm sure that it was meant for someone else, but it happens. FYI, it may have been a prelude, cause your last post was sort of "hijacking".:scratchchinhmm:

[Ohfan67]

Only one thing to do, sign up for a plus account and exact revenge:angryfire: J/k. I'm sure that it was meant for someone else, but it happens. FYI, it may have been a prelude, cause your last post was sort of "hijacking".:scratchchinhmm:

That's it! I was baited into hijacking the thread!! I bet it was the same guy that got Manti.

[stomperspc]

I am not an autograph person so I usually spend all of my time at the forums at these things and yesterday was no different. A few things that stuck out for me:

I interpreted Duquette's comments made at Fan Fest as the Orioles not really participating in paying for high-priced free agents. He emphasized that our best players were going to come from development and that we have allocated significant resources towards development and scouting. Our core players will get raises and significantly increase our payroll. I interpreted Duquette as basically dodging the question about the 100M payroll and answering in a way that emphasized we would be consistent in our approach in bringing up new players. I think at one point he even said we hope we have our #1 starter in Bundy or Gausman.

That's how I heard it too. Duquette first responded by saying "What do you think?" rhetorically and then moving onto his recent talking point about how the best players are going to come up through the system. Basically saying that payroll level is not the thing to focus on, but rather the organization's ability to have star players come up through the organization is the most important element of longterm success. He didn't indicate one way or another whether the payroll level would be over $100 m.

- Buck said something along the lines of (paraphrased) 'our lineup is much better off if Chris Davis can play first base.' That was surrounded by discussion of having flexibility at DH and how Buck thinks the days of the fulltime DH are going by the wayside. I think you can see how that played into the organization's decision to move on from Reynolds. With Reynolds at 1B, Davis would basically be a full time DH and limits the ability to move guys in and out of the DH spot which is Buck's preference. The idea seems to be that if Davis can handle DH, Betemit/Reimold/Valencia can DH on any given day and you can also give guys like Jones & Markakis the occasional rest from playing defense without losing any importnat bat from the lineup.

- The 2012 DVD panel was a really cool idea and way different from panels they've had at previous fanfests. Joe Angel should moderate every forum as he was really funny and really good at asking questions in this one. In general, I thought they did a much better job in freshening up the forums this year with groups that went beyond grouping guys just by their positions.

- Danny Valencia was very amusing with his frankness about his time with the Red Sox last season. He definitely endeared himself to the crowd with those comments but they seemed genuine and not just an excuse to get a positive reaction from Orioles fans. At the same time, he acknowledged his struggles last season and seemed focus on rebounding in 2013. His ability to backup at 3B does make him an attractive option if he can show his pre-2012 ability to hit LHP while not looking completely lost against RHP.

- On the topic of speaking your mind, Nick seemed a lot more open than he usually is, specifically with his comments about the Yankees. Markakis - and most of the players for that matter - seemed to be a lot more relaxed and honest than in past years which I think is probably a side effect of the increased confidence that came from how the team performed last season.

- Reimold and Roberts both indicated they were fully healthy. You wouldn't expect them to say anything differently but I certainly believe them. Reimold has been given the full go ahead from his doctors and is going to ST early to get some hitting work in. Roberts says he plans on being more active on the base paths this season and basically acknowledged he was tentative last year in his return. It remains to be seen how good his running game will be now that he is a few years older and had so much time off, but that quote at least gave me the impression that he in a much better physical/mental state than he was when he return last season.

- I loved Pedro's "You don't buy the house, you build it" quote in reference to building a team from the ground up. O'Day and the other guys in the bullpen forum harped on that idea a lot. O'Day said last year was his favorite professional season because of the feeling that the players themselves built the team and made it a winner. They all felt like they played a big role in the team's success, which was a feeling O'Day said he didn't necessarily get in Texas despite being part of two World Series teams while there. There is a definite attitude amongst the players of wanting to take the next step in 2013 and really do something special.

All in all, it was a really fun day. I always go to the forums, but this years were the best I can remember largely because the players and coaches had a lot more interesting things to discuss compared to prior years. I can't wait for the Spring now.