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Reporting from Fanfest, 2014


Frobby

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There is zero....I repeat ZERO chance Nick Markakis is even remotely close to 220lbs. Chris Davis is 230lb for reference.

Markakis is probably 190lb soaking wet.

What Buck said was that Nick has trouble keeping weight on during the season, and usually starts the year at about 210 but finishes around 197. So, Buck's 220 means that he's about 10 pounds heavier than he usually is at the start of the season. To be honest, Nick wasn't dressed to show whether he's gained weight or not, but the bushy curly hair and beard alone are probably worth a couple of pounds. ;)

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Scouting and development panel -- Calvin Maduro, Dean Albany, Kent Qualls (Reconstructed; my original post didn't get sent)

Albany sees each farm team play ten games and writes reports on every player, in addition to doing amateur scouting. Dylan Bundy is the best high school pitcher he has ever scouted. Bundy is really pumped for spring training.

Maduro saw Diaz twice and Reyes once before they were signed. He says being quick and aggressive is just as important as judging the talent. Qualls says the O's are very fortunate because the GM is directly involved in the international scouting and is very aggressive. Maduro adds that Ferreira has signed 66 major leaguers and Qualls adds that Duquette trusts Ferreira completely.

Qualls doesn't want an international draft because he feels the Orioles are more aggressive than most teams and have a competitive advantage there. Very interesting to hear this.

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Scouting and development panel -- Calvin Maduro, Dean Albany, Kent Qualls (Reconstructed; my original post didn't get sent)

Albany sees each farm team play ten games and writes reports on every player, in addition to doing amateur scouting. Dylan Bundy is the best high school pitcher he has ever scouted. Bundy is really pumped for spring training.

Maduro saw Diaz twice and Reyes once before they were signed. He says being quick and aggressive is just as important as judging the talent. Qualls says the O's are very fortunate because the GM is directly involved in the international scouting and is very aggressive. Maduro adds that Ferreira has signed 66 major leaguers and Qualls adds that Duquette trusts Ferreira completely.

Qualls doesn't want an international draft because he feels the Orioles are more aggressive than most teams and have a competitive advantage there. Very interesting to hear this.

Thus the South Korea fiasco. I really do like the direction DD is taking this franchise...especially the farm system.

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Fans want a winner. The last two seasons have brought increased attendance and higher ratings for MASN. Its also brought in more revenues. If PA spends to improve an already solid core, even more fans will come. Its like a chicken or an egg argument though.

Its a gamble and might only work short term, and he sees Tampa Bay winning with a small payroll.

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Any mention of "marbles" or budget limits? It sounds like there is little to no interest in the two big bats - Cruz and Morales. But with no major push on for the two pitchers - AJ and BA - it sounds like we are waiting for one of them to fall to us.

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I got into line at 10:15 A.M. The line wound around the block. There were so many people that people didn't know if they were in the 10:00 A.M. early entrance line or the 11:00 A.M. regular entrance line. A lot of people were confused about that.

I got in around 11:20 A.M. (I was waiting for my Niece) and went straight to the Memorabilia Sales room. It was packed with people, as always. I didn't find anything I wanted. I talked to a guy who said that the giant posters they hang outside at the stadium and usually sell for $20.00 were sold out by the time he got into the room at 10:30 A.M.

The $5 picture booth for Charity had Troy Patton, so we skipped him. Later it had Chen, but was crowded so we couldn't get that one. Then we showed up later and waited and got our picture taken with Chris Tillman. He is TALL - I'm 5' 10" and he stands literally head taller than me. He also has a strong handshake. I got my picture taken later with Mike Bordick at the MASN booth.

I got a 20th Anniversary of Camden Yards tumbler and an Earl Weaver statue in the giveaway line. I saw people getting Cal Ripken, Jr. statues, and tee shirts.

There were a LOT of people there, and unlike past years the number didn't go down much as they day wore on. Usually it starts getting sparse around 3:00 P.M. Not this year.

I got Jim Palmer's autograph and he recognized the poster his wife did of him that I was getting him to sign - it is the same picture of him they have hanging on the wall of the clubhouse, if you've ever seen that one. Palmer told me he liked my Orioles tie. He also eyed up my Niece, as a man with several wives does, and told her he liked her Orioles dress. That said, he spent his time in the autograph line talking a lot to little kids, and he and Ryan Webb got up and off the stage to sign a ball for an elderly wheel-chair-bound gentleman.

Markakis came out for the hitting forum with the skraggliest beard ever. I've had a beard for many many years, and they don't look that bad unless you comb them out to look that bad. I think he really DOES do that on purpose for Fanfest. To back that up, when he walked out Wayne Kirby started to laugh. He MUST have seen him back stage, which means the beard looked considerably worse on stage than it did back stage.

Adam Jones hosted a bubblegum blowing contest, the winner getting an autographed bat. The final was down to an elderly man and a cute little preteen girl, so he did the smart thing, declared it a tie and gave an autographed bat to both.

I asked two of the ushers at the stadium tour if they were going to do anything with the Umpire review room located down the tunnel behind home plate at Camden Yards because of the expanded reviews. Both replied that, although they couldn't swear that this is the case, they both believed that all the replay calls are going to be coming from New York and that the Umpires would not even be using the replay room anymore.

I asked one of the ushers in the locker room why some lockers with stuff in them have names in their nameplate slots and some are blank. He said that both Adam Jones and Chris Davis each get TWO lockers for their stuff, while other players only get one locker. I guess it pays to be a star, even in little ways.

Tommy Hunter has a little plastic deer in his locker - I guess we know what it is that he likes to hunt.

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0th anniversary panel -- Billy Hunter, Jim Palmer, Al Bumbry, Joe Orsulak, Mike Bordick

This was the most entertaining panel of the day. Palmer says, we'll win from within. He says we have the best core in MLB and if Wallace and Chiti can bring out the talent of the younger pitchers this team can win 95 games. Gotts love his optimism!

Talk of superstitions: Bordick had to step on the cut between the dirt and the grass near 2B before every defensive inning, Orsulak didn't want anyone to pit their hands in his game glove and wouldn't let a pitcher touch one of his game bats. Billy Hunter as 3B coach always kicked the back of the 3B bag but he actually did it to knock the corner of the bag just a little over the foul line to try to get an extra hit or two.

Bumbry told a story (prompted by weams' dad) about not wanting to push his helmet down over his Afro on the Saturday game of the week, and having the helmet slide over hid eyes while trying to steal second, so he slid about ten feet too soon.

Palmer told about his first broadcast, with Howard Cosell. When Cosell asked Palmer if he was nervous, and he said yes, Cosell said, "don't worry, everyone who works with me becomes a star!". He does a pretty good Cosell imitation, too.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>BTW, anyone predicting people would stay away from FanFest were wrong. Place is packed. Will have total later but could rival 18,000 in 2013</p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

">February 1, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A huge THANK YOU to the 15,000+ fans who joined us 4 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OsFanFest&src=hash">#OsFanFest</a> ! Stay tuned to O's social all week & relive the fun! <a href="http://t.co/n29tttMnDt">pic.twitter.com/n29tttMnDt</a></p>— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) <a href="

">February 2, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Estimates now are 15,000. That's a sizable crowd, albeit about 16% down from 2013 estimates.

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I agree, it wasn't my scenario.

Gordo was the one thinking that Boras would attempt to avoid receiving a long term offer for Davis' services.

There'd be no reason for him to avoid it. If Davis' stance is "I trust Scott to take care of getting me money," then Boras would pass along the offer and tell him why he shouldn't talk extension right now. If Davis wants the option of extending, and finds out his agent is keeping that offer from him, he'd ditch his agent.

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•Chris Davis appeared to be excited by Duquette's disclosure earlier today that the club had offered him an extension. "Really? Did he say anything else? ... Keep me up to speed on that," the slugger said while speaking with Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com and other reporters. Davis, who will earn $10.35MM in his second year of arbitration eligibility, figures to be expensive to lock up long-term. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/02/orioles-notes-davis.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Yep, sure sounds like Boras is keeping Davis up to speed, or Crush is putting on an act, or DD is.

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