Orioles hiring Eddie Murray as Special Advisor

[Greg Pappas]

 

 

[janderson1622]

3 minutes ago, Greg Pappas said:

 

 

Interesting quote in there, maybe a sign that change is truly coming to the O’s.

“The Orioles are excited to bring back a few of their legends and perhaps signal a new era. Changes are in the works, the latest touched off by another meeting with John Angelos.

“It was a great conversation we had,” Murray said. “He was letting me know that there’s definitely going to be a change made here. They say this is their chance to shine also and they would really like to get down here on this field turned around. It’s no doubt it made it easy. John really just spoke about trying to get something done.”

[weams]

 

[TonySoprano]

24 minutes ago, weams said:

 

Yeah, I remember the Spring Training story, may have posted it before.    Here's the link - http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-03-02/sports/1992062188_1_eddie-ed-die-new-york
Anyway, it was Rosenthal and John Steadman that drove Eddie out of town with their negative stories.  Moving on...
 

Quote

The 62-year-old Murray said he was convinced to come back to the Orioles in an advisory role earlier this year when he had breakfast with vice president John Angelos, who, along with his brother, ownership representative Louis Angelos, have taken on increased roles with the organization.

“It was a great conversation we had,” Murray said. “[John] was letting me know that there’s definitely going to be a change made here. They said this is their chance to shine, also, and they would really like to get this down here on this field turned around. There’s no doubt. It made it easy.”
Murray said his role could include seeing and working with some minor league players, or the major league team as they see fit. But he also sees a role talking to inner city youth in Baltimore, mentioning his long-standing relationship with city police Lt. Col. Melvin Russell on programs that get him in front of children to “let them know there’s a chance, there’s an opportunity to do something with your life.”

He’s also happy to be coming back at a time when Robinson, a fellow Hall of Famer and another of the six Orioles with their numbers retired at Camden Yards, is also in the fold again. He said he gets together for crab dinners with Robinson and Boog Powell whenever he’s in town.

“We know a little bit,” Murray said. “We know a little bit. I’m not going to say. It’s hard to say. I don’t see that many of the Orioles games, being on the West Coast, but I’ve seen a few. Everything can change — body language. But I think we’ve got to get back to really, like basics. What we used to do here in Baltimore, it was really, really defense. We’ve got to start at that bottom line right there, learning how to catch the ball, learning how to make the plays. And you start from there. And you play for each other.”

Jon Meoli - http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-eddie-murray-special-advisor-20180725-story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#
 

[Ohfan67]

40 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Am I the only one who reed those quotes and sees another voice ala Brady potentially undermining whoever is supposed to be running baseball operations?

Huh? Can you explain?

[Hallas]

1 hour ago, Greg Pappas said:

 

Wasn't Eddie fairly successful as a hitting coach?  I don't know why he was run out at LA, but it didn't seem terribly level on the surface.

[atomic]

10 minutes ago, TonySoprano said:

Yeah, I remember the Spring Training story, may have posted it before.    Here's the link - http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-03-02/sports/1992062188_1_eddie-ed-die-new-york
Anyway, it was Rosenthal and John Steadman that drove Eddie out of town with their negative stories.  Moving on...
 

Jon Meoli - http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-eddie-murray-special-advisor-20180725-story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#
 

Really terrrible article by Rosenthal.  I think I never agreed once with Steadman.  I remember him going on and on how the warehouse should be torn down.  

Maybe Eddie works on improving coaching defense and hitting in the minor leagues

[atomic]

8 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

Brooks never held a grudge in his life, and he's happy to do what he can moving forward. But most people know his health will be a question.I know he was surprised if not hirt by getting no response from Peter...but he let it go. I didn't. This didn't have to be this way. He should've never been away from the Orioles.

When did Brooks stop doing tv broadcast for Orioles?

[weams]

 

[Obando]

John Angelos gets it.  That is my main takeaway from all of the recent articles that have been written and moves that have been made in the organization.  He clearly sees this as his (and his brother’s) opportunity to make things right with this organization, and in a sense, right the wrongs of his father.  There’s no excuse for ignoring Brooks Robinson like Peter did, and I think John recognizes that Oriole fans need to reconnect with their history and pride for this team, and what better way than to bring back Oriole legends to usher in a new era of Orioles baseball. 

I know this has been a miserable season and right now things are pretty depressing, but I am more optimistic about this organization’s future than I have been in a long time, and that’s thanks to John & Lou Angelos.

[TonySoprano]

It appears that John Angelos is going back and rebuilding relationships his father didn't value as much as he should.  Will Cal be next?   From @Moose Milligan's favorite writer, Kenny Rosenthal back in 2010.
 

Quote

Yet, owner Peter Angelos recently declined to hire the franchise’s biggest legend, Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., in a baseball capacity, according to multiple major-league sources.

Ripken met with Andy MacPhail, the team’s president of baseball operations, about rejoining the organization, sources said.

Angelos, however, nixed the idea in a separate conversation with Ripken, telling him, according to three sources, that he did not want Ripken to receive credit once the team returned to prominence.

Ripken did not discuss a specific role with MacPhail, one source said. However, another source said that Ripken wanted to work with young players such as catcher Matt Wieters and help them “finish off” their developments at the major-league level.

Ripken and MacPhail, according to that source, agreed that their relationship could be mutually beneficial. Ripken would have helped MacPhail with his vast baseball knowledge. MacPhail would have helped Ripken learn the administrative side of the game.

Angelos, however, was reluctant to create any perception that MacPhail was not fully in control, a source said.

The Orioles, before hiring MacPhail in June 2007, employed co-general managers for a period of about six years. The arrangement raised questions of accountability and drew widespread criticism inside and outside the industry.

Angelos also might have been concerned about putting a legend such as Ripken in a position to fail, a situation that would have been uncomfortable for all.

But Ripken was not seeking significant front-office responsibility, sources said. He merely wanted to become part of the baseball operation and help the club.

https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/sources-say-orioles-turned-down-cal-ripken-for-job-041610

[25 Nuggets]

I don't know if any of these old legends will help really, but hey at least it's good PR.  I also like that Ben McDonald is starting to get involved in broadcasting - he seems like a no-bull kind of guy.

[Moose Milligan]

Ahhh, @TonySoprano.  We meet again.

Tell me, is Kenny wrong?

[SteveA]

49 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Am I the only one who reed those quotes and sees another voice ala Brady potentially undermining whoever is supposed to be running baseball operations?

I think that Brady "undermined" things because he had Peter Angelos' ear.   For whatever reason, Peter thought that Brady was the smartest guy out there.   He'd ask Brady, you think we should re-sign Davis?   And Brady would say yes.   Should we trade Britton?   Brady would say the deal is not good enough.   And Peter would listen.

It's absolutely clear that Peter isn't calling the shots now.   As Roy relates above, Brooks asked to be part of the organization and Peter didn't even dignify him with an answer.   Now he is brought in with fanfare.   For years, no significant Latin American international presence, now Duquette goes on the main sports outlet in town, and without even being asked, says that's going to change.

So Brady's influence has probably waned significantly because he had PGA's ear and PGA isn't running things.   Maybe he isn't healthy enough to, either physically or perhaps dealing with early dementia.

So could a Brady-whispering-in-Peter's-ear situation start with someone like Murray and John Angelos?   I suppose anything is possible, but John seems to be his own man.   He gives every appearance of someone who wants to leverage all the resources available, whether it's engaging two former great players to help the team, or having dinner and picking the brain of the team's long time veteran leader, or throwing away old policies that are counterproductive.   Just because one owner who was in his old age leaned on a guy too much for advice above many of the other people he had hired doesn't mean that John would do the same.   He's hired new guy to run the business/promotion end too.   Last year the Orioles really upped their game with a good bunch of promotions.   This year they have added things that a lot of teams have been doing but that we hadn't before -- the 9 college nights for instance (I think they had two last year), the LGBTQ night, the dogs-at-the-park night.   All things other teams had been doing for a few years.   The kids-free thing.

Change is happening.   The Brady/Peter thing was a unique situation where an aging owner who wanted to win one before he was gone trusted the advice of someone he liked more than many of the people he had hired, especially after Duquette's Toronto flirtation, and overruled the desires of the very people he had put in charge, and constrained what they were able to do.   I see no indication that John Angelos is going down that path, in word or in action.

[TonySoprano]

4 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Ahhh, @TonySoprano.  We meet again.

Tell me, is Kenny wrong?

Here was Rosenthal's POV,  and he made sure Baltimore knew it in his columns back then. 

Quote

"I think back to the end of his Orioles career when he was so sour," said Ken Rosenthal, who covered the Orioles for the Sun from 1987 to 1990 and was a columnist when Murray returned to the Orioles in 1995.

Rosenthal argued that the "Why Not?" Orioles of 1989 -- who shocked baseball by contending for the division title all the way to the final weekend of the season following a 107-loss season the year before -- would not have been possible if Murray were still on the team.

"He wasn't the first player who ever went sour when the team crumbled around him," said Rosenthal, who now covers baseball for the Sporting News. "But in 1988, I thought he was a negative on the club, from a personality standpoint. Now, there were mitigating factors, so you can't entirely blame him. But he set the tone, and a cloud lifted when he was gone."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2003/07/27/enigmatic-murrays-sounds-of-silence/51ec6a7c-d616-45a7-92ce-d6acfea557ee/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cbcb97ce4081