Monday August 3, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4367

too bad o's can't buy......runs

The umpires did the O's a favor on Sunday, waving off the final four Baltimore at-bats and just hand-delivering an 8-0 Phillies win due to ongoing rain and a bleak forecast for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

I mean, sure, the Orioles might have scored a run.

They almost could have lost 14-1 if the game would have continued.

As it was, 8-0 was a gesture of kindness from the blue crew.

And so the trade deadline is officially here. Technically it's at 6 pm tonight. By the time you read this on Monday morning, the clock will be ticking down. 12 hours and counting.

The Birds are 54-58. The standings show they're still among the A.L. teams vying for a wild card berth. That's probably what Mike Elias is clinging to this morning as he continues to work the phones.

The biggest issue facing Elias is the tight spot he's put himself in by waiting until Monday to do any kind of deal that helps the Orioles in 2026. He probably isn't "desperate" at this point, because he knows he can just stand pat and probably still be in contention for a playoff spot on Labor Day weekend.

But by waiting until today to do anything, he's let a few of the useful pieces get away from him and the teams who wanted pitching -- like the Dodgers, Rays and White Sox -- have made their moves to improve their rotations.

The A.L. East was busy on Sunday, even if the O's weren't. The Yankees made a big move in obtaining Luis Garcia Jr. from the Nats. Freddy Peralta went to the Rays to help bolster their starting rotation. And the Blue Jays sent erstwhile O's hurler Kevin Gausman to the Cubs only hours after acquiring struggling veteran Jameson Taillon from the same team.

I have no idea if Mike Elias thinks his team needs another veteran pitcher, but Gausman would have been a nice addition for a short term rental in Baltimore.

He's the career leader in strikeouts via the splitter (490) in the Statcast era and has thrown the third-most innings in baseball since 2021. And Gausman has plenty of postseason experience, helping the Blue Jays to the World Series last year. He has a 3.83 ERA in 14 career playoff games.

Alas, he's headed to Chicago, not Baltimore.

I'm sure there are still deals to be made. And I'm not here to say Elias might not have a trick or two up his sleeve. But this feels like it's going to be a very "meh" trade deadline for the Birds unless the embattled head of baseball pulls off a stunner of a deal with someone.

Now...standing pat might not be a prudent move for '26, but it probably makes sense for '27.

By holding on to Trevor Rogers, for example, you're almost guaranteeing yourself -- short of an injury -- a starting foursome of Rogers, Bradish, Baz and Young next spring. Those are four good ones, for sure.

Your 2027 infield figures to be Alonso, Holliday, Henderson and Westburg. And if the O's have any inkling at all about Westburg's longterm health, they can go out and get a 3rd baseman this winter.

I know the jury is still out on Holliday. But whether we like him or not, he's the starting 2nd baseman next spring.

They have to go out and get some legit outfielders this winter to occupy center field and right field next season. They can either eat the money they owe Tyler O'Neill and just let him go or keep him around in case four other guys get hurt at some point in 2027. But they need outfield help. And that's even if they think Dylan Beavers is a solution.

It's not as bleak as people make it out to be.

But make no mistake about it. The hourglass is starting to dwindle on Mike Elias, no matter what David Rubenstein said a couple of weeks ago when he offered him a vote of confidence.

Maybe today Elias will pull a rabbit out of his hat and get a few useful pawns for guys like Taylor Ward, Andrew Kittredge and maybe even Chris Bassitt, who is set to come back and pitch sometime soon.

I just don't see how those guys fetch anything worth getting worked up about.

And if his deadline work doesn't turn the O's into a playoff team, I don't know how Elias returns in 2027.

In case you missed it yesterday while watching Michael Thorbjornsen make you a bunch of money with his win on the PGA Tour, a bizarre scene transpired in Cleveland, where the Guardians got mad because a player on the Diamondbacks actually tried to help his team win a game.

We have a bunch of potential Clown-Shoes-Sports-Moment-of-the-Year candidates. Sunday's episode in Cleveland is definitely going to be a finalist when the voting ensues in December.

Ready? Get this. Cleveland's Gavin Williams had a perfect game going in the 6th inning. Arizona's Tim Tawa tried to bunt to get on base and start a rally in a game the DBacks trailed, 5-0.

His bunt attempt was fouled off. And the Guardians started chirping.

Apparently, you're not allowed to bunt when a pitcher has a perfect game going in the 6th inning.

I know, I know, I know. You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking. How much softer can a professional athlete be?

Tawa then lined the next pitch into right field and that was that. Perfect game...over.

And then the Guardians ramped up their pettiness. The benches cleared later in the inning. Cleveland players wagged their fingers and barked about "unwritten rules" while the DBacks laughed at them for being 12 year olds.

This is similar to that time when Wink Martindale got mad at the Bengals for kicking a field goal at the buzzer when they were being shut out in Baltimore by 30 points (?).

If you don't want them to kick a field goal, here's a novel approach: Don't let them get into field goal position.

Smart, right?

Why the Guardians would be worked up about an opposing player trying to play baseball is beyond me.

Is Arizona supposed to just roll over because they're losing 5-0 in the 6th inning?

They haven't been able to get on base and get anything started for five innings. Why not try a bunt in that situation? Get on base. Start a rally. Maybe the next guy walks and the batter after that homers and all the sudden it's 5-3 and it's a new game.

I've never understood how these so-called professional athletes take umbrage with other athletes trying to do their jobs.

It's beyond bizarre.

Michael Thorbjornsen finally broke through with a win on the PGA Tour yesterday, as we told you he would here earlier in the week.

That kid -- baseball grip and all -- is a big time player.

I've been touting Thorbjornsen all season. He had a few other chances and his Sunday play wasn't up to par -- pun intended -- but it was only a matter of time before he put it all together like he did on Sunday in Detroit.

This new group of TOUR players who are coming out and kicking some serious rear end are "the next wave" of American players who are going to be thrust into the Ryder Cup conversation in 2027.

Keep an eye on these guys:

Michael Thorbjornsen.

Luke Clanton.

Jackson Koivun.

Ben James.

Tommy Morrison.

Blades Brown.

The first four are on the PGA Tour already. Thorbjornsen and Koivun are recent TOUR winners. Clanton nearly won last year as a rookie. James was the halfway leader at the Canadian Open a month ago. He'll win in 2027.

Morrison and Brown are both on the Korn Ferry Tour, but they won't be there long.

I'm not saying all six of them are '27 Ryder Cup candidates, but I bet you're going to hear a few of those names bandied about as potential captain's picks next September.

And there are a half dozen other college players who will be turning professional soon and turning the pro golf world on its ears. Several of them are Americans.

The U.S. hasn't won an away Ryder Cup since 1993. In all fairness, they haven't even come close to winning one on foreign soil since that win over the European squad at The Belfry in '93.

This new influx of young talent might be just what the American team needs. No more Spieth, no more J.T., no more Koepka, no more Ben Griffins or Brian Harmans or Lucas Glovers to ponder.

Bring those kids in and let them pound it out there 325 yards and fire at flagsticks.

American golf is in a great spot right now. Get used to hearing and seeing those names above. They're going to be rock stars.

Sunday August 2, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4366

back to selling?

So, I thought this would be fun today.

I'm providing two different versions of #DMD.

One of them, the first entry below, was written last night just as the Phillies were putting the finishing touches on a 5-0 win over the O's at Philly Baseball Park South in Baltimore.

My guess is upwards of 15,000 people were there last night rooting on the Fightin' Phils. The other 22,000 were in attendance to support the Birds, who were, in a word, woeful at the plate on Saturday evening.

So, what will that 5-0 loss do for Mike Elias and the pressing decision he faces?

Should the O's buy at the trade deadline or sell at the trade deadline?

They're now 54-57 after last night's debacle.

As Elias surely knows, the Birds are well within the ranks of legitimately being "in the playoff race". But for every good thing that happens -- and July was a good month, no doubt -- there's still this feeling in the pit of the stomach that this 2026 edition of the O's is going to be continue to fire and fall back.

It will ultimately be up to Elias to decide which way to go.

The big scuttlebutt on Saturday was the potential trade of Adley Rutschman to someone, somewhere.

Out in Los Angeles last night, the Dodgers had a couple of their highly prized minor league prospects scratched from their Saturday evening game. The Dodgers need a catcher in the worst way. Is Rutschman a possibility in L.A.?

The Yankees are also in the market for a catcher. I can't imagine the uproar it would cause in Baltimore if Elias ships Adley to the Bronx. Sending him to the Dodgers is one thing. There's very little chance Rutschman would ever come back to haunt the O's while he's out west.

But in New York? With the Yankees? That's just asking for trouble. Now, the Birds would obviously get something helpful in return for Rutschman if he goes to New York. But I wouldn't be sending him to the Yankees. That's just me.

By the way, for the record, I don't think the Orioles are trading Adley Rutschman. I've been saying that for a while now. Taylor Ward? Sure. Tyler O'Neill (I know you're giggling at that one) is definitely available. Andrew Kittredge? Take him, yes please.

Elias isn't trading Adley Rutschman.

That said, if you're using recency bias, you'd trade just about anyone after last night's 3-hit disaster vs. the Phillies.

Shane Baz was the hard luck loser last night, falling to 4-10 on the year. He lowered his ERA on the year to 3.98 by allowing just one earned run in 6.1 innings of work. He hasn't been great all season, but he's certainly been waaayyyyyy better than a 4-10 record would suggest.

The Birds had the bases loaded twice in last night's loss and on both occasions it was Leody Tavares who failed to deliver the big hit. They didn't win last night because they struck out 14 times and couldn't get a run to cross the plate. The starting pitching was fine.

Oh, and in fairness to Leody and the rest of the team, the Birds have posted a 54-57 record so far this season and they've never really had a legitimate centerfielder. There aren't a lot of them floating around at the deadline, obviously, but that's a move Elias could stand to make in the next 48 hours. Get a real centerfielder for the rest of the '26 season.

This is a weird time to be Mike Elias.

He doesn't have a lot of real trade pieces to ship out and improve the current team.

But he's close enough to a playoff spot that he can't totally ignore the "buying" angle, either.

If the Birds were, say, 50-61, you'd just put out the "We're Selling!" signs and peddle off as many pieces as possible in an effort to start preparing for the '27 season.

If they were 61-50, you'd be buying up a few bullpen arms, a quality starter and, perhaps, another nice bat or two. Sure, you might have to give up a few valuable prospects to bring in that haul, but you'd be 61-50 and setting your sights on the post-season in early August.

At 54-57, you're totally in no man's land.

Not good enough to break up your minor league system.

Not bad enough to cave in on the current season and ship off 4 or 5 of the team's veteran campaigners.

It's a weird spot.

I don't see the O's doing a whole lot over the next 48 hours.

We'll see if I'm right at 7:00 am tomorrow morning.

Well, so far I'm right. Nothing changed with the O's overnight, although there were a few deals and one blockbuster that comes as no surprise.

As expected, the Dodgers parted with several high-level prospects and in return they received left-handed pitcher Tarik Skubal from the Tigers. Skubal will be a free agent at the end of the season, but everyone in America expects the Dodgers to pony up big, big money to keep him at Chavez Ravine for the next 5-7 years.

The deal gives L.A. some flexibility with Shohei Ohtani's return to the mound. They can now wait until September, perhaps, to put him back out there to pitch every 5th day.

One player who potentially could have helped the Orioles was dealt on Saturday night, as the Royals shipped veteran outfielder Lane Thomas to the Braves. Thomas primarily played centefield for K.C. (and other places in MLB) but can also play other outfield spots as well in Atlanta.

And starting pitcher Luis Castillo went from Seattle to the White Sox, with former O's reliever Seranthony Dominguez part of the crew going from Chicago to the Mariners.

But nothing new as of yet from the O's.

Adley is still in Baltimore.

So is Taylor Ward.

I can't see Elias trading off Trevor Rogers. They're stockpiling pitching as it is right now. Get Rogers signed and you have four nice arms locked up for '27 in Bradish, Young, Baz and Rogers, plus guys like Povich and Gibson waiting in the wings.

And it still stands to reason that Elias might be able to snag a veteran arm here at the deadline who could help next season. Who knows?

The other good news for the O's? Detroit was making a small charge in the direction of the A.L. wild card race. That effort is now kaput with the trade of Skubal to the Dodgers.

And, at least so far, none of the other post-season hopefuls have done anything. Minnesota acquired Kremer, of course, but we all know what that is going to do for them.

The next 36 hours will tell the tale.

Can the O's add a piece or two to help themselves?

Or will the trade well run dry and they go with what they have for the remainder of '26?

Saturday August 1, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4365

buying? selling? maybe both

Mike Elias spoke to the media prior to last night's 6-4 win over the Phillies and made it very clear that it's completely unclear what path the O's are going to choose over the next three days.

"We're not going into this to be outright buyers..."

"And we're not going into this with the mindset of being sellers..."

Well, OK then.

The first domino fell shortly after midnight when the Birds announced they've traded veteran Dean Kremer to the Twins -- who clearly are buying -- for a (very) minor league prospect.

In 707 career innings with the O's, Kremer pitched to a 4.37 ERA.

Since coming to Baltimore in 2018, Kremer was a lot like a Beatles album, which I can now say since the July moratorium is now in the rearview mirror. In other words, some good. And some bad. Kremer wasn't great. But he wasn't awful, either. Just like the Beatles...he had his moments.

The funniest part about Kremer's departure is it comes at a time when the O's starting pitching has been wobbly over the last seven days. Kremer, Bradish, Rogers and, last night, even Brandon Young, got nicked up a bit in their most recent outings.

Kremer's horrific start in Detroit on Tuesday night was his final official moment as an Oriole. We won't remember that one. Or maybe we will.

His departure to Minnesota means the last piece of the Manny Machado trade to the Dodgers is now no longer a part of the Orioles organization. And of those pieces that came here in that deal, Kremer would turn out to be the most valuable asset, which is particularly odd given that he leaves Baltimore with a 0.0 WAR.

In a league full of "average", that is exactly what Kremer turned out to be. He won't be a free agent until after the 2027 season, if there is one, so Minnesota gets two months and a full season out of him, potentially.

That the O's "only" got an 18-year old, totally green minor league prospect in return for Kremer isn't that alarming. Critics of the deal are saying Elias "gave Kremer away" and maybe he did. But perhaps the O's are going to swap their own minor leaguer for a better starter than Kremer in the next 48 hours. Who knows?

I'm not going to get worked up about trading away Dean Kremer. When he was good, he was more than serviceable. When he was bad, he was a regrettable part of the rotation. The problem was, you never knew which of those Kremers you were going to get on any given outing.

The Birds are now 54-56 after Friday night's stirring 6-4 win over the Phillies before a meager weekend home crowd of 31,857. Even 10,000 Phillies fans in attendance couldn't swell the stadium to capacity. We might not have given up on the O's here at #DMD, but it seems like Charm City baseball fans might have.

For those of you who have given up -- and here at #DMD, you know who you are -- that's 12 wins in their last 17 games for the surging O's, who are now just 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.

This thing, the playoff race, that is, is starting to get interesting.

And last night's hero was none other than Gunnar Henderson, who finally produced a big hit with a 2-run triple in the 7th that proved to be the game-winning knock.

If the Birds can snag these final two games of the Philly series, they'll be exactly .500 with 50 games remaining in the season.

And the schedule softens up a bit for them over the next 10 days, too.

Who knows, they might even to get to see their old teammate in Minnesota, too.

The hapless Angels come to town for a 3-game series that starts on Tuesday. That should be three auto wins.

Then it's off to Texas to take on the Rangers, who are much like the O's and a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.

A 3-game trip to Minnesota follows.

That's a 9-game stretch where the Birds can make some hay. 7-2 maybe? 6-3 at the worst?

And then it's off to Tampa Bay for what sets up to be a crucial 4-game series with the Rays on August 14, 15, 16 and 17.

I wrote here a month ago the Birds somehow needed to play well enough to give themselves a shot at 85 wins. That should be enough W's to earn a playoff berth. 84 wins might even do it given the tepid nature of the American League this season.

That 85-win mark is still in the O's crosshairs.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention: Seats on the bandwagon are now $57.50. You better buy 'em up now.

---

orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week. This week several prospects made this an incredibly difficult decision, but ultimately, we have selected Chesapeake Baysox infielder Aron Estrada.

Estrada, 21, had a tremendous week for the Baysox. Over six games, he hit a robust .500 (12- 24) with two doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, eight runs scored and two stolen bases. He also boasted a .539 OBP and 1.372 OPS!

This marks Estrada’s first selection this season, but not because he just happened to have a hot week. Estrada has been producing all season at the AA level as a 21-year old. Over 84 games with the Baysox this season, he is slashing .289/.329/.489 which has equated to a .818 OPS. He has produced 16 home runs, 16 doubles, one triple, seven stolen bases and has scored 53 runs over 354 plate appearances.

Estrada, currently ranked the fifth best prospect per MLB Pipeline is not just among the Baysox top performers this season, he is all over the leaderboard in the entire Eastern League. He ranks 13th in homers, fifth in RBI, 14 th in runs scored, seventh in batting average, and fourth in hits.

As part of the Orioles’ 2022 international signees, he signed for $175,000 out of Venezuela as a 17-year old, he may not be the biggest guy on the field at 5-foot-11, 142 pounds, he produces plenty of power for his frame.

The switch-hitting infielder has also played some in the outfield as well. In fact, over his professional career, he has played everywhere except for catcher, pitcher and first base.

We have seen over recent years how important it is to have utility players on major league rosters, and when you add the fact that the guy can hit, that only improves his stock.

I would be very surprised if Estrada does not find his way to AAA before the season ends and could threaten a 2027 arrival in the big leagues if he continues to produce.

Be sure to check back in all season as we will continue to highlight top performers from the O’s farm system!

This Orioles Minor League update was provided by our Orioles correspondent, Josh Michael.

Friday July 31, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4364

looks like our o's are....buying

If we were playing Jeopardy! Sports, the scenario would exist as follows:

Answer: "He was acquired just prior to the 2026 MLB trade deadline and helped lead the Orioles to a remarkable late-season rebound where they finished 2nd in the A.L. East before advancing all the way to the league Championship Series."

Question: "Who is.....Jake Rogers?

Correct-a-mundo!

And you guys thought Mike Elias wasn't aware that both Sam Huff and Chadwick Tromp were lousy.

Of course he knows. He was just waiting for Rogers to become available.

Our temporary catching woes are hereby solved.

Yes?

Well, probably not. Rogers isn't any good, either. He's batting .161 with three home runs and nine RBIs this season. His career average is .197.

But here's the deal. And this says more about the other two guys than it says about Rogers. He's (probably) better than both Huff and Tromp.

Or not.

Why Elias would make a deal for a guy like Jake Rogers is beyond me. But he must know something. We hope...

We're officially down to the nitty-gritty now. The trade deadline is looming. This weekend will tell the story of whether the Orioles are going to buy or sell at the deadline.

ESPN reported on Thursday that Elias and the O's are looking to deal Jackson Holliday. I find that one very hard to believe. Sure, Holliday has been fairly disappointing overall over the last two seasons. But there have been bright spots along the way that suggest once he does get it together, he's going to be a useful commodity.

I don't think Elias is trading away a recent first-round draft pick just for the sake of shaking things up. If I'm wrong and he gets dealt, I'll be back here, pronto, to admit I was wrong on this one. But I don't think Jackson Holliday is getting traded.

Taylor Ward? I could see that.

Trevor Rogers? I could see that, too, although I wouldn't sign off on it. I like Rogers. They should be going out of their way to keep him around, not pawn him off on another team that's actually trying to win.

Kittredge, Cano, Garcia? Yes, yes and yes. They're relief pitchers. They're like gin joints in Los Angeles. They're everywhere.

I'm against the Holliday deal, though. Dead-red against it.

I think ESPN's off their rocker, but I guess we'll find out in the next 48 hours or so.

The fine folks at CBS Sports have a sticky dilemma on their hands. His name is Tony Romo.

Their lead NFL analyst got himself into a jam last week in Milwaukee when he was arrested on the suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

If you saw the video evidence that's been making the rounds on Twitter, Romo was, for sure, under the influence. He quickly got defensive with the police officer who pulled him over and insisted he should be allowed to call his lawyer before submitting to any field tests.

What happens from this point on is anyone's guess, but the one question looming is the obvious one: What, if anything, will CBS do about it? What will their response be?

Will they have Romo address it on their first broadcast of the season?

Should he have to issue an on-air apology?

Is there any reason or cause for CBS to punish him, suspend him, etc?

It's a tricky situation when the media, who often has to address conduct issues with athletes, has a conduct issue within their own ranks.

Should Romo be held to a higher standard? Or is he just "another guy who had too much to drink and got behind the wheel"?

Randy Morgan's piece about the Ravens on Wednesday moved me to consider his five points and identify which of them, in my opinion, was the most "undervalued" of them all.

As a reminder, Randy listed these as the five biggest questions for the Ravens as pre-season begins.

1. Can the rebuilt interior offensive line protect Lamar Jackson?

2. Can the new coaching staff improve a roster that is expected to contend?

3. Who catches passes behind Flowers and Andrews?

4. Can Tyler Loop be trusted?

5. Can the Ravens remain healthy enough for their talent to matter?

There's Randy's five questions.

They're important. All of them.

But the most undervalued of them all is number 4.

Can they trust their field goal kicker to hit big kicks, under the gun, with the game(s) on the line?

The other four are supremely important. I wrote about this last week here at #DMD. The coaching staff has a supreme challenge on their hands. They have to figure out a way to keep Lamar healthy in the regular season and they have to figure out a way to get Lamar to play better in the playoffs.

Those other four questions are critical to the team's success.

But the kicker issue is massive. Go ahead and look at how many NFL games are decided by a field goal or less. Now, not all of those are won or lost directly because of the kicker. But you get the logic. If you lose 16-14 and your kicker missed a 39-yarder in the 2nd quarter, that miscue definitely contributed to the loss.

As it stood for the Ravens last January, Loop's kick cost the team a playoff game. A home game, no less.

It was that simple. Make that 44-yarder and Houston is coming to Baltimore. Miss it and Houston goes to Pittsburgh and the Ravens stay home and watch it on TV.

We all know what happened.

And, so, here we are, almost seven months later and we're still wondering: Can we really trust Tyler Loop?

I don't think that will be his "Cundiff moment". I think Loop will bounce back and kick nicely for the Ravens in 2026. But I also know that kickers are "different" and one miss and one big mistake under the spotlight could change the way he views himself.

Kicking a football is like golf in a lot of ways. Kicking is not a game of perfect. It's a game of confidence.

I hope Loops bounces back and has zero issues at all. The Ravens need that from him. Heck, Loop himself needs it, too.

If it turns out the Ravens have a kicking controversy on their hands, their season will definitely be impacted.

faith in sports

There's been a lot of chatter this summer about Major League Baseball players taking their faith into the own hands, so to speak, and openly advertising their Christianity and love for Jesus on their uniform and with other pieces of apparel they wear prior to games.

Our friends at Sports Spectrum recently profiled several players who are taking on the role of spreading the gospel throughout their teams and within MLB itself.

If you're a longtime reader of #DMD, you already know how much it warms my heart to see these athletes promoting God and Jesus on their own terms.

This 11 minute video will give you a really nice look into why certain players are carrying their Christian faith with them on the field and in the locker room.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday.

Thursday July 30, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4363

today only: bandwagon seats available for just $50

OK, we're gonna have some fun today.

People like me, you know, the kind who don't just up and quit when things don't go well, relish these kinds of mornings. So, yeah, we're gonna rub it in a little.

I hope you don't mind.

So, you want to get back on that O's bandwagon, huh? You saw that remarkable comeback from 7-0 down yesterday and you're ready to 'fess up and ask if you can join the fan club again.

Of course you can.

What, you think we wouldn't let you back in?

You're welcome to jump back on that O's bandwagon, my friend.

It's $50.

I know what you're thinking.

"Fifty bucks? That's it? I've embarrassed myself so much this season with all of that giving-up I've done, I assumed it would be five times that much to get back on the bandwagon."

No, no, no.

It's fifty dollars for your seat.

But, in the spirit of, ummmmm, the now defuct Spirit Airlines, there's a little more to it than "only" $50.

We do have a few aisle seats on the bandwagon. You know, for your comfort and all. Those are an additional $35.

Oh, you prefer a window seat? Our bandwagon has windows. That's $25 additional.

What, you're not picky? You don't care if it's an aisle, window or even a middle seat? No problem. $15 extra for a middle seat.

How's your O's apparel these days? You like wearing something orange and black when you go out for coffee on the morning after a nice win like they had in Detroit on Wednesday? Yeah, me too.

It's $5 every time you wear an Orioles hat in public. Want a year-long "Cap Pass" so you can wear it whenever you want? That'll be a one-time $50 fee.

I have a favorite O's gray away jersey that I wear anytime I go to a game. What about you? Do you have a favorite O's shirt or jersey that you enjoy wearing in public? Well, our new bandwagon members can wear their jersey in public for just $10 per-occasion. Or a one-time $50 payment will get you one year of jersey-wearing-privileges.

Feeling ready to go back to the ballpark and actually take in a game live?

We've got you covered with our bandwagon ticket specials. Any weeknight game is an additional $3 fee on top of whatever you pay for tickets. Weekend games there's a $5 per-ticket surcharge. I assume you're good with that. I mean, there was a point earlier this week where you were, quote, "Never giving those bums another nickel of my money."

Oh, and because we're in business to make money here at #DMD, all of you new bandwagon riders are subject to a $1.00 per-comment tax. We love having you chime in. Comment as much as you wish. But there's a price to pay for your disloyalty. Cough up a buck every time you author a comment.

This has become a very expensive return to O's fandom for you, huh? Maybe you've learned your lesson. Don't give up on those guys quite so easily next time.

The bandwagon is.....officially.......open. Again. Allllllll abbboooooaarrrdddd.

On a very serious note, that one must have been particularly painful for all of the Negative Nancies to watch unfold on Wednesday.

Full disclosure, I didn't see a single pitch of the 10-9 "instant classic" win over the Tigers.

But I know all the ugly details.

Three errors in the field, including the 13th (official) miscue of the campaign for Gunnar. He now has more errors than productive 2-out hits, I think.

Trevor Rogers got battered for 8 hits and 4 earned runs in 6 innings of work. Every pitcher is allowed a ragged start here and there. Hopefully that's Rogers' bad one for the month of August (in late July).

The team's top three batters in the order (Ward, Alonso and Henderson) went a combined 3 for 16 on the day.

And yet the O's still won.

They won because they didn't quit. Say whatever you want about them and their Triple A level defense, lack of clutch hitting or the rookie manager's bumbling, minor-league style. Those things are all relevant. But they're not quitters.

When it was 7-0, things looked bleak. And, for the NN crew, it was a chance to revel in yet another dismantling.

"Shoot all of these guys straight to the sun. Now."

I saw that one authored on Twitter in the middle of the game.

"If they fired Albneraz on the flight home tonight I'd be OK with it."

Albernaz was getting roasted over and over throughout the game.

None of those folks came back with a mea culpa after the outrageous comeback.

Funny the way it is, huh?

I'm nowhere near ready to give up on this 2026 season. There are too many games remaining and too many crazy possible outcomes and results that could take place over the next two months.

I've watched sports my whole life.

Nothing good comes from quitting.

But a lot of good comes from staying the course, running the race, and playing it all out until the final whistle (game).

These Orioles are still alive. And well.

You never know what might happen.

Wednesday July 29, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4362

engine problems in the motor city

Man, that Lions defense must be pretty good, eh?

Shutting out the Ravens last night in a pre-season thriller, 14-0? I realize it's "only" exhibition football, but still.

And what happened to this Declan Doyle dude and his high-powered offense he was supposedly bringing to Baltimore? Blanked for 60 minutes? And by the Lions of all people. Wow. Get it together, man.

But the reality is you get games like 14-0 nothing occasionally. Nothing goes right. You didn't "see" 14-0 coming, but it sorta-kinda just comes out of nowhere and before you know it, that's what you get handed.

Somewhere along the way this season, the Ravens will win one 14-0 or 17-3 and it will even out, like it always seems to do.

But, yes, that was a bad one last night. Better days are ahead.

The great Ted Lasso once said, "The best way to deal with nerves is to laugh and crack a joke." If it's good enough for a championship coach like Ted, it's good enough for the rest of us.

So, yeah, getting blown out 14-0 by the Tigers last night wasn't on my "cool" list. I believe I read somewhere on the internet after the game it was only the 2nd time in the modern MLB era that a team gave up a run in every inning and didn't score one run themselves for the entire duration of the game.

History was made last night, in other words. Or, I guess, history was tied. But it was historical in how bad it was, that's for sure.

Dean Kremer wore the goat horns on Tuesday in the Motor City. He's been decent enough since returning from the injured list in June, but last night was a fiasco.

The veteran right-hander gave up 8 earned runs and 8 hits in 4 innings of work. He walked three guys for good measure.

In fairness, Chadwick Tromp wasn't much better in his one inning of work out of the bullpen. He allowed 2 earned runs in the 8th inning on 3 hits and a walk.

Oh, wait. Tromp's a catcher. Never mind.

Humor. Ted Lasso. Remember?

The Birds did manage three hits on the night, so they have that going for them, which is nice. Jackson Holliday is suddenly red-hot at the dish. He had two of the three hits, and some dude name Pogo Pozo had the other one. He's apparently one of our new catchers. Or, he's our catcher until he gets hurt, which should be sometime soon.

So, there you have it. 14-0.

It's easy to get down on the Birds after that one, but the reality is it's just like losing 3-2. It's an "L". Counts as one in the standings.

I had a Calvert Hall JV golfer recently post a very nice tournament score of 73, but it included a double-bogey on his last hole of the day. He was frustrated and upset with himself after signing his card.

"Recency bias," I told him afterwards. "The most recent thing to happen to you is what you remember the most. If you made double-bogey at the first hole and then came back to shoot 73, you'd be applauding yourself for 'hanging in there' and 'not letting one bad hole get to you', right? Well, if you started with a double bogey or ended with a double bogey, you still shot the same score. 73. That's all that matters. What did you shoot? That's the only question that needs to be answered. 'How' you shot it doesn't really matter."

The Orioles lost 14-0. It could have been 1-0. It's a loss either way.

Yes, losing 14-0 is far more disconcerting than losing 1-0. That's true. But it's just one game out of 162. And they'll get one of those on their racket at some point in the next month or two, where they roast someone 12-0 or 15-1. It happens.

Now, if you want to keep your eye on Dean Kremer in his next couple of starts, that's more than fair. We can't be having him getting torched like that again. Ol' Dean-o needs to make sure that was an isolated event last night.

The best news of all?

Market correction is coming today in the series finale, where the Birds oppose Tarik Skubal. You might have heard of him. He's one of the best (checks note) five pitchers in all of baseball. Maybe even top three, depending on the list-maker.

This one feels like a 2-1 O's win, where they scratch out a run in the 2nd on a Tigers' fielding error and then Taylor Ward homers in the 6th to break a 1-1 tie and the Birds hang on for an improbable nailbiting win one night after getting hammered, 14-0.

One thing for sure: Take the under today, whatever it is.

We haven't been around much lately with golf picks but we have three good ones for your consideration at this week's Rocket Classic in Detroit.

I've been on Michael Thorbjornsen for two years now and this is his week, I think. He's been playing well over the last two months. No way this kid doesn't win soon. At +4200 this week, he's a great investment.

Rickie Fowler has won in Detroit before. Why not again? He always seems to play well in this event. +3300 is a nice number for Rick.

And how about Russell Henley? Like Fowler, he's played well at this course and his short game and putting should keep him in contention this week. +2800 seems fair for Henley.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to return to the A.L. playoffs after missing the post-season in 2025.

Editor's note: The box above indicates this is an Orioles piece, but it's not. It's content related to the other birds in town, the Ravens. We'll get Randy a new, special Ravens-only promotional box soon enough. For now, trust us, this Ravens stuff from Randy is well worth taking in today.

Five Questions That Will Define Ravens Season

The Ravens will arrive at training camp with enough talent to believe last season was an aberration and enough uncertainty to know that belief must be proven.

Baltimore finished 8-9, missed the playoffs when Tyler Loop pushed a 44-yard field goal wide on the final play in Pittsburgh and replaced John Harbaugh after 18 seasons.

The result is an unusual Ravens offseason: a championship-caliber core surrounded by significant changes at head coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line and several supporting positions.

Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Kyle Hamilton and Roquan Smith provide a foundation most teams would gladly accept. But Baltimore’s ambitions demand more than an impressive collection of stars. The Ravens need to determine whether the structure around those stars is strong enough to withstand a full season and four playoff rounds.

These are the five biggest questions facing them as training camp begins.

1. Can the rebuilt interior offensive line protect Lamar Jackson?

After a disappointing season from the interior offensive line and the departure of its lone solid performer, Tyler Linderbaum, to a massive free agent offer from the Raiders, the Ravens have replaced the entire middle of the line.

John Simpson returns to Baltimore as the projected left guard, first-round pick Vega Ioane is expected to start at right guard and Ethan Pocic enters camp as the favorite to replace Linderbaum at center.

Pocic will compete with Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn and Corey Bullock, but his 97 career starts make him the obvious choice if his body and performance cooperate.

That qualification is doing considerable work as Pocic tore his Achilles in December and is attempting to return less than eight months later. He has been medically cleared, but clearance is only the beginning for a center who must anchor against power, reach defenders in the running game and repeatedly redirect in pass protection.

His recent performance also gives Baltimore reason for caution. Pocic’s Pro Football Focus grades declined over the past two seasons, and his 2025 pass-blocking grade was 62.2. He allowed 14 pressures and two sacks before the injury.

Those numbers are not disastrous and an average starting center would represent a substantial improvement over entering the season with an inexperienced alternative. But Baltimore is not asking Pocic to stabilize an otherwise settled interior. He will be working between two new guards, including a rookie who will be expected to start immediately.

Ioane’s physical ability is not the concern. The Ravens selected him 14th overall because they believe he can become a difference-making guard, not merely survive as one. The more immediate question is how quickly he recognizes pressure looks, passes off stunts and adjusts to the speed with which NFL defenses attack uncertain combinations.

Simpson offers experience and familiarity with Baltimore, but he is another new piece in a unit that will be responsible for keeping the franchise quarterback healthy.

The Ravens can help with scheme and Lamar’s mobility covers up some mistakes. However, neither of those excuses immediate interior pressure. Penetration through the middle prevents Lamar from climbing the pocket, forces him to retreat into edge pressure and disrupts the timing of concepts before receivers can uncover.

Baltimore’s offense ranked first in the NFL in 2024 before falling to 16th during its injury- disrupted 2025 season. Inconsistent guard play contributed to that decline. The new line does not need to become dominant immediately, but it cannot spend September learning through free rushers and collapsed pockets.

Pocic is the key. If he recaptures his better Cleveland form and holds up physically, the Ravens may have turned their weakest position into a competent one at a manageable cost. If his decline continues or the Achilles limits him, Baltimore will be asking an inexperienced center to organize an entirely new interior.

That is too much uncertainty in the three spots closest to Lamar.

2. Can the new coaching staff improve a roster that is expected to contend?

Jesse Minter inherits a much different assignment from the typical first-year head coach. He is not being asked to establish credibility during a long rebuild. He is being asked to modernize and improve a team that believes it should compete for the Super Bowl immediately.

The defensive fit is easy to understand. Minter helped the Chargers rank among the NFL’s top five in points allowed, total defense, passing defense, interceptions and opponent red-zone efficiency across his two seasons as defensive coordinator.

He also brings a layer of continuity with his coaching roots tied directly to Baltimore’s modern defensive identity. Minter worked alongside Mike Macdonald on the same staff, and later followed him at Michigan.

That shared language and philosophical overlap should ease installation, reduce the learning curve, and allow the Ravens to evolve rather than reset defensively.

Minter also has the kind of versatile centerpiece his system has previously used well. Kyle Hamilton can align deep, cover the slot, play near the line of scrimmage or pressure the quarterback. The challenge is moving Hamilton around without making everyone else’s responsibilities less clear.

The Ravens have spent several seasons searching for the balance between disguise and reliability. A defense can present complicated pressure looks and late safety rotations without becoming confused itself, but only when communication and assignment discipline match the ambition of the design. Minter must create uncertainty for the offense rather than for his own linebackers and defensive backs.

He also needs to manufacture pressure without depending upon reckless blitz rates. Minter’s plan must produce favorable rush matchups while maintaining edge discipline and protecting the secondary from the explosive plays that turn promising defensive performances into losing ones.

The addition of Trey Hendrickson should make that task considerably easier. Baltimore has lacked an edge defender who can consistently win without schematic assistance, while Hendrickson has recorded at least 13.5 sacks in four of the past five seasons and posted a pass-rush win rate of at least 20% in each of the past three.

Minter can still use simulated pressures and overloaded fronts to manipulate protections, but he should not need to expose the secondary merely to create a credible rush. Hendrickson gives the Ravens a defender offenses must account for on every obvious passing down, allowing the disguise to create favorable matchups elsewhere rather than serving as the entire source of pressure.

Declan Doyle faces a different kind of pressure. Todd Monken set a high bar by expanding Baltimore’s passing game without discarding the quarterback run threat or the physical rushing identity that made the offense difficult to defend. The Ravens reached the league’s No. 1 offensive ranking in 2024 before injuries and line problems contributed to last season’s decline.

Doyle was Chicago’s offensive coordinator last season, but this will be his first opportunity to take full control as an NFL play caller. The Bears had the league’s third-ranked rushing attack and distributed the ball broadly, with seven players recording at least 30 receptions (Ravens had two).

Baltimore hired him to build upon Monken’s work, not replace it with change for its own sake.

The encouraging possibility is that Doyle can make the offense easier for Lamar before the snap. It will be interesting to see if more of the offense moves under center and how much more pre-snap motion Doyle brings to the Ravens.

These changes may help Lamar identify coverage, influence defensive leverage and create cleaner answers against pressure. The danger is installing complexity that looks creative in May but slows the quarterback in October.

Doyle must also avoid treating Henry and Lamar as separate running games. The offense is most difficult to defend when linebackers and edge defenders cannot be right against every option. Henry’s downhill threat, Lamar’s ability to keep the ball or throw behind overaggressive second-level defenders should work together.

Minter and Doyle do not need to reinvent the Ravens. They need to preserve what already works, remove recurring points of failure and make better use of the roster’s best players. That sounds straightforward. Coaching usually does until the opponent starts adjusting.

3. Who catches passes behind Flowers and Andrews?

The Ravens know what they have at the top of their receiving hierarchy.

Flowers has produced consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and should remain the offense’s primary receiver. Andrews has never finished with fewer than 45 catches or five touchdowns in any season after his rookie year. Both should receive significant volume if healthy.

Everything behind them is less certain. The most important player in that discussion is Rashod Bateman. His 2024 season, when he produced career highs of 756 yards and nine touchdowns, appeared to establish him as a legitimate complementary receiver. He followed it with 19 catches, 224 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games last season.

Injuries affected his availability, but they do not fully explain how rarely he influenced games.

The Ravens need Bateman to become a dependable outside receiver who punishes defenses for tilting coverage toward Flowers and Andrews. That means winning isolated matchups, maintaining route timing and converting opportunities when Lamar attacks outside the numbers.

Doyle should give him chances on in-breaking routes, intermediate play-action concepts and selective deep shots rather than asking him to live on low-percentage opportunities. Entering his sixth season it's time for Bateman to step up and prove he can consistently make a difference.

In the event that he doesn’t, the Ravens protected themselves by drafting Ja’Kobi Lane in the third round and Elijah Sarratt in the fourth. Lane’s 6-foot-4 frame and catch radius could address a red-zone offense that ranked 27th in touchdown efficiency last season.

Sarratt offers another bigger target and could compete for work from the slot. Devontez Walker also enters his third season with an opportunity to turn occasional flashes into a defined role.

Baltimore does not need both rookie receivers to emerge immediately. It probably needs one of Lane, Sarratt or Walker to become trustworthy enough that defenses cannot treat the Ravens’ third receiver as an afterthought.

The loss of Isaiah Likely adds another layer. Likely and Charlie Kolar both departed in free agency, leaving Andrews as the only returning tight end. Durham Smythe can replace some of the blocking and movement responsibilities previously handled by Kolar and Patrick Ricard, but he is not a direct replacement for Likely’s ability to detach from the formation and threaten coverage.

Fourth-round pick Matt Hibner is the clearest candidate for that receiving role, while fifth-rounder Josh Cuevas offers another versatile option. Expecting either rookie to reproduce Likely’s full route inventory immediately would be unreasonable. Baltimore may instead divide the job among Smythe’s blocking, Hibner’s athleticism, additional three-receiver formations and more targets for Andrews.

The Ravens have invested enough resources to create competition. Camp must reveal whether they have also created answers.

4. Can Tyler Loop be trusted?

Tyler Loop’s rookie season should not be reduced to one kick, but there were concerning signs well before the season-killing miss in Pittsburgh.

He made 30 of 34 field-goal attempts, an 88.2% success rate, but missed only once from inside 50 yards. Unfortunately, the one miss inside 50 came from 44 yards on the aforementioned final play of the season, with the AFC North title and a playoff berth at stake.

The question is not whether Loop feels confident during June interviews or makes pressure- themed kicks at the end of practice. The Ravens need to see whether his operation remains consistent when the stakes rise again.

His plant, timing and contact must hold up when he knows everyone in the stadium is thinking about Pittsburgh, even if he insists he is not.

The Ravens haven’t brought in another kicker, signaling genuine confidence rather than a carefully managed public endorsement. Minter has nevertheless left open the possibility of adding competition before the season.

If the Ravens truly believe Loop is the man, then I guess that is a justifiable approach. Signing a veteran simply to create the appearance of accountability would accomplish little if Loop remains the clearly superior kicker. But I have my doubts, and granting Loop an unlimited leash because the organization invested a draft pick would be equally misguided.

If they stick to their guns here and allow Loop to continue without a competition, they need to closely evaluate the entire process through training camp, rather than react to impressive practice kicks or non-pressure preseason field goals. They cannot afford to discover in November that Pittsburgh created a lasting mechanical or psychological problem.

If Loop’s accuracy becomes unstable during camp or the preseason, the front office must act before games begin to count.

5. Can the Ravens remain healthy enough for their talent to matter?

Every contender needs injury luck. The Ravens need more than most because two of their most important players enter the season after health significantly altered 2025.

Nnamdi Madubuike is the immediate concern. A neck injury suffered in Week 2 required surgery and ended his season. Baltimore placed him on the active physically unable to perform list before camp, although independent spine and cervical specialists have cleared him to return and he could practice soon.

That is encouraging news, but a medical clearance does not immediately restore the player who accumulated 19.5 sacks across 2023 and 2024. Madubuike must regain strength, confidence and football conditioning while proving he can repeatedly absorb contact against double-teams.

The Ravens added Trey Hendrickson and Calais Campbell and drafted Zion Young, while Travis Jones is coming off a productive season. Those moves improve the front’s depth. They do not replace a healthy Madubuike’s ability to defeat a guard quickly and force quarterbacks away from the middle of the pocket.

His presence affects the entire defense. Interior pressure creates easier finishes for edge rushers, prevents quarterbacks from comfortably stepping forward and allows the secondary to cover for less time. Without it, Minter must generate disruption through design, which creates more stress elsewhere.

Lamar’s health is obviously even more important.

Jackson missed three games early last season after suffering a hamstring injury and never really looked like himself after that, dealing with knee, ankle, toe and back issues. He frequently missed practice time and did not possess his usual movement or consistency. He finished with career lows that reflected a diminished quarterback, not a suddenly diminished talent.

Keeping Lamar healthy does not mean removing his running ability from the offense. Asking him to become a stationary pocket passer would sacrifice the trait that most dramatically changes defensive structure. The Ravens instead need to reduce unnecessary exposure.

That starts with the rebuilt interior line. It continues with clearer pressure answers, more efficient early-down passing and fewer situations in which Lamar must rescue a failed play by escaping multiple defenders. Doyle must distinguish between designed runs that create a mathematical advantage and improvised collisions caused by poor spacing, protection or route timing.

Lamar also has responsibility. There are moments to fight for an extra yard and moments to get down, step out or throw the ball away. Protecting himself is not playing timidly. It is understanding that no marginal gain is worth forcing Tyler Huntley to start the following month.

Madubuike is the biggest medical uncertainty entering camp, but Lamar remains the player whose health determines Baltimore’s ceiling. The Ravens can survive stretches without almost anyone else.

Without a healthy version of their quarterback, the rest of the roster becomes largely theoretical.

Tuesday July 28, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4361

head on a swivel

Reputations are hard to shake.

I always use Patrick Reed as an example of that whenever I talk with my high school golfers about playing by the rules.

I do a fun little exercise with them, using golfers they'd know given their age(s).

"OK, let's do this," I say. "I'll name a golfer and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind."

"Rory McIlroy."

"The best!" someone will shout.

"Masters champion!" someone will add in.

"Scottie Scheffler."

"Player of the Year!" a couple of them will say.

"Tiger Woods."

"The GOAT!! He won all the majors!" someone will yell.

"Patrick Reed."

"Cheater," a voice will cry out.

"Wait a second," I then say. "All of those other guys you mentioned their wins and their greatness but when it came to Reed you mentioned cheater. Why is that?"

"Because he cheated in a tournament and got caught on TV," one of them will say.

I then go into the issues surrounding Reed's reputation. It's a teaching moment, hopefully. I want them to know that once you're suspected of or caught breaking the rules in golf, it never quite leaves you.

I then tell them the story about a former Masters champion. "Vijay Singh cheated when he was 22 years old in a tournament in Indonesia. A one-time thing. He did it because he was about to miss the cut and he was broke and he was afraid his soon-to-be-wife would think he was a failure. So he altered his scorecard by one shot and made the cut. But his playing partners caught him and he was suspended by the Asian Tour because of that."

And to this day, people still make little snide remarks about Singh. I heard them at the U.S. Senior Open in 2021. That incident took place in 1985. Almost 40 years later, senior golf professionals were still bringing it up.

"Vijay Singh made one mistake in 1985," I tell my players. "And it's with him forever."

They're no longer reading The Scarlet Letter in school these days, but that 1985 incident was Singh's Hester Prynne moment.

I always leave that meeting hoping I've made a long-term impression on the student-athletes and how just one mistake like that can stay with you forever. There have been numerous times over the years when a player in the MIAA has, let's say, "earned a reputation" amongst his peers and fellow competitors and everyone watches him like a hawk. It just doesn't go away.

I took a seat at a quaint Japanese restaurtant in suburban Philadelphia last night and waited for my food. The Phillies game was on in a TV above the bar.

As usually happens when a few people are sat at a bar, a conversation was initiated with a man in his, I'd say, mid 40's.

"How's the food here?" I asked him.

We exchanged small talk about his favorite things on the menu. Another guy a few seats away chimed in about the soup that he was eating and raved about it.

A discussion about the Phillies ensued, who were playing the Marlins on the TV above us.

"You're not a Phils fan?" one of them asked.

I explained I was from Baltimore.

"I'm going down there this weekend for the Phils series!" the mid 40's guy said.

Side note: I don't know if it's a Philly thing or these two guys just happened to keep saying "Phils", but neither of them referred to the team as the Phillies. Maybe it's like us and calling the Orioles "the O's". Anyway, I found that interesting.

Then the fun began.

"Where are you staying?" I asked the guy, whose name was Chan. Short for Chandler, I assumed.

"Somewhere downtown," he replied. "My wife put the trip together."

"Take your kevlar vest!" the guy at the far end of the bar said with a laugh.

Chan looked at me.

"Is it that bad, really?" he asked.

"Is what that bad?" I replied.

"The crime in Baltimore. Do I need to be worried?" Chan said.

"I go to Baltimore for work twice a year," the other guy remarked. "Keep your head on a swivel. At all times."

Chan stopped eating and looked at me.

"How bad is the crime?" he asked.

I knew at this point I was getting into a conversation that had no real "right answer". I mean, sure, there's crime in Baltimore. Just like there's crime in Philadelphia. And in Boston. And Detroit. But I also had this feeling to staunchly support Baltimore.

"It's not that bad," I stated. "You probably have to keep your head on a swivel in parts of Philly, too," I said, hoping to deflect some of the criticism.

"It's bad," the other dude shot back.

"We were told we're in a safe area. Our hotel is right near the stadium," Chan said.

My food was presented to me. Thankfully it was take out.

"You'll be fine," I told Chan. "If you're anywhere downtown, you're more than safe."

Now I had the feeling that I wanted to pile on with the good stuff just to offset the jerk who kept trying to harp on how unsafe Baltimore is.

"I just went to a game last Friday," I told Chan. "Great stadium. Awesome environment, especially on a weekend. And there will be lots of Phillies fans down there, I'm sure."

"Oh yeah," Chan said. "I have lots of friends going."

I bid them farewell but couldn't resist one quick jab.

"If you only have one kevlar vest, give it to your wife to wear," I said with a smile.

And so, there you have it.

Baltimore's "Patrick Reed reputation" is that it's unsafe and you need to keep your head on a swivel. At all times, even.

Now, I realize that's merely the reputation the city has in the eyes of one goof in Philadelphia, but we all know that's probably the prevailing thought about Baltimore in most places up and down the Atlantic seaboard.

"Take your kevlar vest..."

Come on, man.

Had I actually been eating there instead of taking it with me, I would have probably gone into more detail about how Baltimore doesn't suck but Philadelphia sure does.

Heck, I spent 15 minutes in the place and didn't once even bring up their wretched, stinky, bottom feeder hockey franchise that hasn't won a Stanley Cup since, get this, the Colts were still in Baltimore.

You know I was itching to get out of there when I didn't even offer up one dig about the Flyers and how lousy they've been for 50 years.

But there you have it.

Baltimore's reputation lives on.

Funny enough, I walked from the baseball stadium over to Parking Lot N last Friday night, which is on the West (I guess?) side of the football facility, and not once did I look around, rush the pace of my walk, or worry one bit about who or what was around me. It was 9:30 pm on a warm Friday night and I didn't consider myself "in danger" ever.

Now, is there trouble in Baltimore? Of course there is.

There's trouble in every other city in America, too, though.

We get that bad rap because we earned it, of course. But times are changing. Or have changed, perhaps. We just need to let more people know about the "charm" in Charm City.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to return to the A.L. playoffs after missing the post-season in 2025.

can brandon young keep this going?

#DMD's Orioles reporter Randy Morgan takes an in-depth look at one of the surprise stories of the 2026 season to date, pitcher Brandon Young.

What has changed for Brandon Young and is it sustainable? --

All stats through the 7/19 start.

In the Orioles’ season preview, I grouped Brandon Young with Cade Povich and Tyler Wells as “AAAA-type arms” Baltimore would be in trouble relying on for an extended period. Four months later, Young is 8-2 with a 3.25 ERA and has arguably been the most consistent starter in the rotation. That evaluation no longer holds up.

The harder question is how much of this new version we should believe?

Through 16 starts, Young has thrown 91⅓ innings with a 3.25 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 74 strikeouts.

He is coming off one of his best outings of the year, holding Houston to one run over seven innings while striking out seven. This is not a two-week hot streak or a reliever hiding behind a small sample. Young has given the Orioles roughly half a season of valuable starting pitching.

But that does not necessarily mean he has suddenly turned into an All-Star-caliber pitcher.

The underlying numbers point toward a more complicated, but still encouraging, answer. Young is meaningfully better than he was during his disastrous rookie season. His pitch mix makes more sense, his slider has become a real weapon and hitters are having a harder time barreling the baseball.

At the same time, his strikeout and walk rates have barely changed, his expected ERA remains above 4.00 and some of his home-run suppression is unlikely to last.

Put it together and the most reasonable conclusion is that Young has become a legitimate major-league starter, but he's probably closer to a Dean Kremer rotation piece than a Kyle Bradish one.

The ERA Swing Exaggerates the Change --

Young finished his 2025 rookie season with a 6.24 ERA in 57⅔ innings. This year, that number has fallen by nearly three full runs.

The comparison makes it appear as though Young transformed from one of the worst starters in baseball into one of the better ones. Neither description is quite accurate.

Young’s 2025 expected ERA was 4.27, nearly two runs below his actual mark. Opponents produced a .372 wOBA against him even though the quality of their contact and his strikeout and walk totals produced an expected wOBA of .320. He also stranded only 65.1% of the runners who reached base and allowed 1.87 home runs per nine innings.

So Young was not great in 2025, but he was not nearly as bad as his ERA suggested. Bad sequencing, an extreme home-run rate and unfavorable results on balls in play turned a mediocre performance into a disaster.

This year, the relationship has flipped. Young’s expected ERA is almost a run higher than his ERA at 4.22, nearly identical to where it sat last year. His FIP (fielder independent pitching) is a more favorable 3.85, largely because his home-run rate has been cut in half, while his 4.53 xFIP (expected FIP) is almost identical to the 4.52 he posted last season.

His strikeout rate has increased only slightly, from 18.4% to 19.0%, while his walk rate has moved from 8.6% to 8.2%. In other words, the strikeout, walk and fly-ball foundation has not changed much. The results of those fly balls have.

Young was never really a 6.24-ERA pitcher. He probably is not really a 3.25-ERA pitcher, either.

He Stopped Throwing His Worst Pitches --

The improvement is not simply the baseball gods apologizing for last season.

Young used six pitches as a rookie, but several of them either overlapped with better offerings or were getting crushed. His cutter and changeup accounted for nearly 14% of his pitches. Opponents produced a wOBA above .600 against each of them.

He has shelved those, replacing them with a sinker and increasing his slider usage from 8.9% to 14.5%. The current mix offers a riding four-seamer, a sinker with considerably more arm-side movement and drop, a vertical splitter, a compact slider and a slower curveball.

The cutter and changeup were not only ineffective, they occupied opportunities that could be given to pitches with clearer identities.

The Slider Is the Clearest Breakthrough --

The slider provides the strongest evidence that Young has developed rather than merely experienced better fortune.

Last year, hitters missed on only 19.4% of their swings against it. This season, that figure has jumped to 43%. Its putaway rate has climbed from 13.3% to 31%, and plate appearances ending with the slider have produced a 41.5% strikeout rate and a .238 expected wOBA.

The pitch has become tighter and more vertical, with less sweeping horizontal movement. That shape appears to pair more naturally with Young’s two fastballs, particularly against right- handed hitters.

Young still does not strike out many hitters, but he finally has a pitch capable of ending an at-bat without requiring the hitter to put the ball in play. Hitters who could dismiss Young’s breaking ball last season were free to gear up for a fastball. Now they have to account for a pitch that can disappear below or away from the barrel.

That fraction of hesitation can be enough. A hitter does not have to miss entirely for the pitch to work. He can be late on the fastball, reach for the sinker or make contact slightly above or below the center of the baseball.

Which brings us to the most interesting part of Young’s breakout.

Hitters Are Still Making Hard Contact --

Young’s average exit velocity was 89.4 mph last season, exactly the same as this season. His hard-hit rate was 42.2% and remains exactly 42.2%. So, hitters are still making hard contact just as often, but they are not doing as much damage.

Young’s barrel rate has fallen from 10.2% to 6.1%. His flare and burner rate has risen from 18.2% to 28%, while his popup rate has increased from 5.9% to 8.5%. His pull rate has fallen from approximately 48% to 42%, with straightaway contact climbing from roughly 31% to 39%.

Hitters are still swinging hard. They are just meeting the baseball in the wrong place more often. That explains how Young can allow the same average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage while giving up far fewer home runs.

A 100 mph batted ball can be a home run, but it can also be a hard grounder, a low line-drive single, a high fly ball or a routine popup. Launch angle, direction and the precise location of contact matter just as much as raw exit velocity.

Young has been much better at creating near-misses --

The addition of the sinker may be the most important structural change in the arsenal. His four- seamer averages approximately 94.3 mph, with the sinker around 93.6. The hitter receives almost no velocity clue to distinguish between the two, but they arrive on considerably different paths.

The four-seamer has useful ride and stays above the trajectory hitters expect, while the sinker runs farther toward the arm side and drops approximately six additional inches. A hitter attempting to stay through the sinker can get underneath the four-seamer or contact it deeper in the zone than intended.

That is a plausible explanation for the combination of fewer pulled balls, more straightaway contact and fewer barrels. Hitters have to wait longer to determine which fastball they are seeing, leaving less time to get the barrel fully extended out front.

The four-seamer is also benefiting from the rest of the arsenal. Opponents are hitting only .195 against it after batting .277 last season, and its whiff rate has risen from 18.8% to 22%. Unfortunately, this is also one of the clearest areas for regression.

The expected batting average against the pitch is .239 rather than .195, while its expected wOBA is .334 compared with an actual .288. The fastball is playing better because of improved velocity, sequencing and the pitches surrounding it.

The results still make it look better than it probably is on its own.

There is a reasonable case that Young’s improvement might be even more sustainable than his expected ERA suggests. Expected statistics evaluate the result of each pitch or batted ball, but they do not always capture the full interaction of a pitcher’s arsenal.

Young’s four-seamer may not look dominant in isolation, but it does not exist in isolation. Hitters must distinguish it from the sinker while protecting against a much better slider and a slower splitter.

His chase rate has risen from 27.8% to 34.8%, placing him among baseball’s better pitchers at getting hitters to expand the zone. Chase contact has fallen, and his first-pitch strike rate has increased from 62.1% to 66.4%. Young is controlling plate appearances more effectively even if the improvement has not produced a dramatic strikeout jump.

It is also possible that the reduced barrel rate represents a repeatable skill created by the interaction of his pitches. If Young continues preventing hitters from pulling the ball in the air, his home-run rate could remain below what xFIP expects.

But we should be cautious how much we read into that, because it could be due for some regression. Young’s 7.8% home-run-to-fly-ball rate is less than half last season’s 17.1%. Some of that decline is earned, but neither extreme is a reasonable expectation going forward.

Statcast estimates that his nine home runs allowed this season are almost exactly what the batted balls deserved, but the concern is that future fly balls may be more damaging if his command or timing disruption slips even slightly.

With a strikeout rate below 20% and a walk rate above 8%, Young does not have much margin for error. He needs the barrel suppression to continue because he is still asking his defense to record a large percentage of his outs.

What Should We Expect the Rest of the Year? --

The pessimistic projection is that Young’s ERA collapses back toward the median between last year's bad and this year's good.

However, that is no sure thing and there are real reasons to believe he is a better pitcher this season. The slider is substantially better. The sinker gives hitters another fastball shape to identify. The chase rate has jumped. Two heavily punished pitches have been removed.

The barrel reduction is supported by meaningful changes in contact direction and type.

So while he may be in for some regression, there is good reason to believe his true level is much better than last year's results.

A realistic expectation is something in the 4.00 to 4.40 ERA range for the rest of the season.

That likely means plenty of competitive five- and six-inning starts, some nights when the contact finds gloves and occasional rough outings when the fly balls leave the park.

If Young makes most of his remaining turns and pitches at that level, his final season ERA would likely remain in the mid-to-upper 3.00s. That would still represent a tremendous outcome for a pitcher who entered spring training outside the projected rotation.

Workload could become another consideration. Young threw 111 total innings in 2024 and approximately 91 between the majors and minors last season. He is already at 108 combined innings this year, including his brief time at Norfolk.

That does not guarantee a shutdown, but it gives the Orioles reason to monitor him rather than assuming he will make every remaining start without interruption.

The bottom line is that Young’s breakout is real, but the ERA has gotten ahead of the improvement. He has rebuilt his arsenal well enough to turn last season’s barrels into this season’s near-misses. That makes him a legitimate starter.

This season may ultimately be a lost cause, but Young proving he can be at least a back of the rotation starter is a positive outcome either way.

With Bradish and Baz signed long term, Young can now potentially pair with Kremer to solidify the back end of the rotation going forward. Now if they can just add a true ace (or two), they may be in business.

Monday July 27, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4360

how is it possible?

My baseball-loving, Oriole-crazy friend Chris reached out to me last night with this nugget.

"That's the 10th game we've p*ssed away this season!" he texted me.

Because I like the banter and want to hear his logic, I shot back with a question.

"Let's suppose you're right. How many games have we won this season where the other team p*ssed it away in our favor?"

"Three!" Chris replied.

Now, I'm not going to question him. He watches almost every inning of every game, like a hawk, while I "tune in" to almost every game. There is a difference, of course.

So, whether it's 8, 9 or 10 games the O's have thrown away this season, the bottom line is they have become experts at squandering games they otherwise were about to win.

Sunday's game was so bad, the Keystone Cops stopped watching because they couldn't take it any longer.

The 3-2 loss to the Braves gave Atlanta 2-1 series win and dropped the Birds to 51-55 on the season. They're heading to Detroit now for a fairly important series with the Tigers (50-56), who were closing in on .500 before the lowly Royals came to the Motor City and somehow won 2 of 3 over the weekend.

I'm not going to say the Tigers will be a 3-game walk in the park, especially with Tarik Skubal on the mound for Wednesday's finale, but two out of three is an absolute minimum for the O's in Detroit.

Here's what I'm trying to figure out while I watch these Orioles play. We do this very same thing in football season, mind you, so it's not a completely foreign exercise to try it in the baseball season as well.

How do all of these fundamental mistakes get made on almost a regular, nightly basis?

Bases loaded, no one out, in the 10th inning yesterday. A sac fly wins it. Even a slow dribbler probably gets the job done. A walk, even.

The bases were loaded with no one out. And no runs were scored.

Gunnar lined into a double play (more on that in a second) and Taylor Ward flew out to left field. On to the 11th we went, where you knew it was inevitable the Birds were going to lose after squandering that open invitation to win in the 10th.

Who gets the blame?

In the football season, the coaches tend to get raked over the coals for "execution" issues.

If the Ravens are inside the opponent's 10-yard and have first and goal and don't score, that usually gets blamed on the offensive coordinator or the head coach.

"Lack of coaching" people will cry out after a Raven makes a mistake, whether that's an illegal formation or a missed tackle in the open field.

So, who is to blame for Gunnar's woes in 2026?

It's August 1st, basically, and he hasn't had an overly productive game in about 7 weeks.

Jackson Holliday is hitting .224, which is actually three points higher than Gunnar's average. Who gets the blame there?

Coby Mayo is hitting .196.

Colton Cowser is hitting .207.

Who? Why? How?

We're not even addressing the team's defensive woes or "baseball IQ" issues, which sadly were on full display in the 10th inning yesterday when Pete Alonso got nicked at first base on Gunnar's line drive out to first baseman Matt Olson.

How do you get doubled off of first when the winning run is at third base and you and your run, at first base, means absolutely nothing?

Is that Alonso's fault? Or the first base coach's fault? Or Craig Albernaz's fault?

It's also realistic to remind everyone the other team is out there trying to get the Orioles out, trying to hit the ball into the gaps, trying to make plays in the field and so on.

We tend to forget that stuff, especially in football season. But it also applies in baseball, too. We just overlook that little nuance of the sport because, well, we just expect our guys and our team to be able to do whatever it is they want.

Defense played a role in Friday's home loss.

The bullpen played a role in both losses to the Braves over the weekend.

The Birds are not particularly adept in the field, as we've seen all season. And the bullpen can best be described as "occasionally effective but mostly concerning".

Are the players failing the team?

Or did the team fail the players?

The best part about the entire thing is the one staring everyone in the face: Like it or not, the Orioles are still very much in the playoff race.

Skeptics and Debbie Downers will scoff at that notion, but there's simple math telling us what we already know. The Orioles are just one of many "meh" teams in the American League. At least one of those "meh" teams, maybe even two, is going to make the playoffs in the American League.

At this rate, given the records of the clubs who aren't winning their division, an A.L. Wild Card team might very well make it with 84 wins.

That's a final record of 84-78.

The Orioles could cobble something like that together, even playing the same scruffy brand of baseball they've been playing most of the season.

But they have to stop giving these games away.

First...they have to figure out why it's happening.

Do they have the wrong players?

Or the wrong coaches?

They need answers. Soon.

Well, Denny McCarthy didn't win on Sunday and neither did Scottie Scheffler, but both of those guys acquitted themselves well on the day Jackson Koivun launched his PGA Tour career with a win in just his 3rd start as a professional.

Koivun won the 3M Open in Minnesota by three shots on Sunday, a warning sign to the rest of the TOUR that a young player with a bit of a wonky swing -- like the man who won the British Open the week before -- can still make trips to the winner's circle out there.

If you're a halfway-interested golf enthusiast, you need to remember that name: Jackson Koivun. He's here to stay.

For Scheffler, the 64-63 play on the weekend finally heated up his mostly-cool putter. Oddly enough, Scheffler's putting stats are excellent from a season-long standpoint. He currently ranks 5th in shots gained: putting.

He just gets into ruts in certain instances in tournaments where he'll go 27 holes and not making anything, which winds up costing him the tournament.

Scottie would have won the British Open by a half-dozen shots if he makes anything inside of 15 feet on Thursday and Friday. His ball striking was sublime both days.

This week in Minnesota, he just got outplayed in the end, but still shot 22 under par. He had a pedestrian back nine on Friday and a slow front nine on Saturday and that 18 hole stretch, where he shot just 3 under par, cost him the tournament.

Scheffler still only has one win this season, which seems almost impossible to believe. He's made 17 starts this season and has finished inside the Top 5 an amazing ELEVEN times. He has five second place finishes and lost in a playoff twice.

Last year, those close finishes were wins. This year, the other guy is making the putt when it matters.

Speaking of making putts, finally, Denny McCarthy's flat stick heated up in Minnesota and he parlayed that into a potential season-saving T3 finish at the 3M Open.

McCarthy is having a very strange season, indeed. He's made 16 of 20 cuts, which is really good. But he didn't crack the Top 10 once until yesterday's finish at the 3M. That moves him to 81st in the FedEx Cup standings, which means he still has a lot of work to do to get inside the Top 70 and make this year's playoffs.

But the 3M performance gives him peace of mind that he'll finish inside the Top 100 and keep his card for 2027. There was a moment there where that looked like it might not happen.

McCarthy is still looking for that elusive first PGA Tour win. He now owns the unfortunate current distinction of making the most in career earnings ($22 million plus) without having a win on the big TOUR. He did win the Korn Ferry Tour Championship once upon a time, remember.

Maybe his play in Minnesota is just what he needs to finish off the 2026 season in strong fashion.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to return to the A.L. playoffs after missing the post-season in 2025.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 5-4

Season Record: 51-55

AL East Standing: 4th (11.5 GB of TB, 2.5 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Brandon Young - 13.1IP 2ER 13K 3BB 1.35 ERA

The second half opened with the best stretch of baseball the O’s have played all season and ended with them walking off the field at Camden Yards having lost two extra-inning games in three days.

The Birds swept Houston to push their winning streak to seven, then dropped two out of three to a red-hot Red Sox team.

After their entire catching depth chart evaporated inside of 72 hours they dropped two of three at home to the Braves in heartbreaking fashion. The 5-4 stretch leaves them two and a half back of a playoff spot, and with a lot of questions to answer as the trade deadline rapidly approaches.

The starting pitching gave the Orioles a real chance almost every night.

Baltimore’s starters combined for a 2.72 ERA across 53 innings during the nine games. That should have been enough for more than five wins.

Instead, shaky defense, an unsettled bullpen and repeated failures with runners in scoring position turned several winnable games into losses. The Orioles showed that they are good enough to remain in the race. They also showed why they remain below .500.

The Orioles opened the second half with a 3-2 win in Houston last Friday night. Dean Kremer allowed two runs over four innings, leaving the bullpen to cover five. The relievers managed to do it, with Cam Sanders escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh and earning his first major league win.

Taylor Ward provided the decisive swing, following an Adley Rutschman double with a two- run homer in the eighth. Tyler Wells closed out the ninth for the save.

Saturday took 11 innings and produced a 4-2 win. Trevor Rogers was excellent again, allowing one run on seven hits over 6.1 innings with a season-high eight strikeouts. Dylan Beavers doubled home Alonso in the fourth then Houston tied it in the seventh on Nick Allen's squeeze bunt against Rico Garcia.

Jeremiah Jackson dropped a sacrifice bunt in the 10th to score Leody Taveras, but Alvarez answered with a tying double and the Astros loaded the bases with nobody out.

Tyler O'Neill ended the threat by throwing Allen out at the plate on Jose Altuve's shallow fly, and LaMonte Wade Jr. was thrown out trying to bunt for a hit. In the 11th, O'Neill's infield single scored Gunnar Henderson and Taveras singled home Ward. Sanders retired the side in order for his first career save.

The Orioles announced Kyle Bradish's five-year, $90 million extension covering 2027 through 2031 during Saturday's game.

The sweep came Sunday behind Brandon Young, who allowed one run on five hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts in a 5-2 win. Henderson singled home Jackson Holliday in the third, Taveras delivered a two-out, two-run single later in the frame, and Mayo added a solo shot off Bryan King in the sixth.

However, the seventh straight win came with a significant cost, as Samuel Basallo exited after one at-bat with right shoulder discomfort, with Rutschman already scratched with a wrist issue sustained on a swing two nights earlier.

The seven-game winning streak ended Monday in a 6-5 loss that provided a reminder of how little margin for error this team possesses. Shane Baz deserved better, allowing four runs, only two earned, with six strikeouts in six innings.

O’Neill doubled home Henderson in the first before Boston tied it on a sacrifice fly in the second. The third inning then unraveled when Jackson’s throwing error at second put Ceddanne Rafaela aboard, Wilyer Abreu doubled him in and Henderson threw wildly toward home.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered leading off the fifth, and the O’s built a 4-3 lead in the sixth on four singles, with Jackson and Encarnacion-Strand driving in O'Neill and Taveras. Baz then made his own errant throw on Abreu's soft single, the Orioles' third error, and Willson Contreras doubled home the tying run.

Ward doubled and the O's took a 5-4 lead in the seventh, but Boston tied it in the bottom of the inning then took the lead on a Caleb Durbin solo homer off Wells in the eighth.

Tuesday’s game was postponed, setting up a Wednesday doubleheader.

The first game went poorly almost immediately. Kremer surrendered four runs in the opening inning and eventually allowed six over six innings in a 6-3 loss. Encarnacion-Strand homered again, but the Orioles never seriously threatened after falling behind early. The victory extended Boston’s winning streak to 15 games.

Kyle Bradish ended that streak in the nightcap. Making his first start since agreeing to a five- year contract extension, Bradish held Boston to one run over six innings while allowing four hits and one walk.

The offense gave him four runs in the first, highlighted by a two-run single from Beavers, and the bullpen handled the final three innings without incident in a 5-1 win.

Back in Baltimore on Friday, Rogers gave the Orioles another excellent start to kick-off the weekend series with the N.L. East leading Braves, allowing two runs over seven innings while striking out six.

Encarnacion-Strand drove in two runs with a second-inning double, and Baltimore carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth.

Rico Garcia surrendered a game-tying homer to Drake Baldwin, and the Orioles left the bases loaded in the ninth.

Then a Jackson Holliday throwing error allowed Atlanta to take the lead in the 10th before Matt Olson hit a three-run homer off Kittredge. The Orioles rallied behind a sacrifice fly and Encarnacion-Strand’s two-run homer, but the comeback ended one run short in a 7-6 loss.

Young again provided the answer Saturday. He limited Atlanta to one run over 6.1 innings with six strikeouts. Encarnacion-Strand drove in a run, Gunnar Henderson homered and Baltimore carried another one-run lead into the eighth.

For the second straight night, Garcia surrendered a game-tying homer, this time to Ozzie Albies. Holliday doubled in the ninth, however, and Beavers brought him home with a walk-off single for a 3-2 victory. It was Beavers’ third career walk-off hit.

Sunday's rubber game was a 3-2 loss in 11 innings and a genuinely painful one. Baz allowed two runs, one earned, over 4.1 innings, and Reynaldo López kept the Orioles off the board for 5.2.

Dominic Smith drove in both Atlanta runs with singles. Alonso homered in the eighth for his 22nd, Holliday brought in the tying run in the ninth, and Wells escaped a two-on, nobody-out jam in the 10th.

Baltimore then loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the inning and did not score, as Henderson lined into a double play at first and Ward popped out. Riley doubled home the winner off Kittredge in the 11th. The Orioles finished 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base.

Losing a series because the opponent played better is one thing. Losing after loading the bases with nobody out in the 10th, is something else. The Orioles had multiple chances to win the game and did not execute.

Player of the Week --

There were multiple candidates here. Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been the story of the homestand, hitting .370 with a 1.141 OPS, three homers and nine RBI in his first stretch with the club, and his nine RBIs in his first six games set a franchise record, surpassing the previous mark of eight shared by Ramón Hernández and Rafael Palmeiro.

Dylan Beavers hit .321 with a .406 on-base percentage and produced the walk-off single Saturday plus the two-run single that keyed the first inning against Boston. Trevor Rogers continued his strong stretch, going 13.1 innings across two starts with three runs and 14 strikeouts against one walk.

However, the award goes to Brandon Young. He made two starts, threw 13.1 innings, allowed two earned runs and struck out 13 against three walks for a 1.35 ERA in the stretch.

He shut down the Astros for seven innings to complete the sweep, then out-pitched Bryce Elder in a game the Orioles could not afford to lose, holding the best offense in the National League East scoreless into the sixth.

His season ERA is down to 3.13, the best mark in the rotation, and Baltimore is 14-3 in his starts. Young has provided an unexpected steady presence in the rotation this year (more on that below).

Down on the Farm --

Heston Kjerstad has started to make his case at Norfolk, hitting .314 with three homers, 10 RBI and a .951 OPS this week. The at-bats have looked more organized than they did in June, and with the big league outfield mix unsettled he remains the most obvious internal answer if Baltimore needs a bat.

Creed Willems picked up where he left off before the hamstring injury, slashing .310/.344/.552 with two homers and seven RBI. Enrique Bradfield Jr. hit .290 with five steals and a .389 on-base percentage, though the lack of extra-base contact remains the same story it has been all year.

Jud Fabian managed just five hits in 23 at-bats but drew six walks.

On the mound, Nestor German was the steadiest arm, working 11.1 innings with a 2.38 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP, while Cade Povich posted a 2.70 mark across 10 innings and Trey Gibson turned in eight innings of three-run ball.

Trace Bright was the outlier, giving up 10 earned in 8.2 innings.

Down at AA Chesapeake, Brandon Butterworth hit .355 with four homers, seven RBI and a 1.195 OPS, and Tavian Josenberger matched him with three homers and seven walks for a 1.162 OPS. Thomas Sosa added three homers and six RBI, and Aron Estrada kept his contact profile intact with a .323 average on the week.

Luis De León was the best pitcher on the farm this week, throwing 11 innings with a 1.64 ERA and 14 strikeouts against three walks. Juaron Watts-Brown struck out 11 in 10.1 innings with a single walk.

Both De León and Watts-Brown earned a promotion to AAA in the process.

Joseph Dzierwa also worked nine innings of three-run ball. Patrick Reilly also returned to the Eastern League rotation for the first time since April 2025, his comeback from Tommy John surgery finally reaching Double-A.

Tomorrow here at #DMD, Randy looks at Brandon Young's 2026 campaign and asks the obvious question: Can he continue doing this, long term?

Sunday July 26, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4359

leave it to.......

I'm sure you came here today expecting a bunch of Leave It To Beaver puns and quips after last night's 3-2 Orioles win.

You've come to the wrong place.

I don't have time for that nonsense. We're talking sports here. And that nailbiting 3-2 O's win over Atlanta on Saturday night deserves some space.

We'll get the easy stuff out of the way first. It was another "near-sellout" at the ballpark, which seems puzzling given the weather and the give-away (Hawaiian shirt) at the gates.

37,500 found their way in, by the way, which is an awesome crowd. But that leaves about 5,000 empty seats.

One note I wanted to make in yesterday's column here about the Friday night game was the large number of Braves fans who made the trek to Baltimore. When Baldwin hit that home run in the 8th inning to tie the game at 3-3, the "roar", if you will, was loud. There were a few thousand Atlanta fans in attendance.

Anyway, no sellout last night but a great crowd nonetheless. Got it.

The game itself was eerily similar to Friday in that the Birds were cruising along headed in the direction of a 1-run win when Atlanta tied it up with a solo homer in the 8th inning. Friday it was Baldwin. Last night it was Ozzie Albies who did the deed, off the same guy (Rico Garcia) who gave up the solo shot the night before.

Garcia's numbers are still decent (3.00 ERA) but he's nowhere near the guy who was didn't allow a hit in the month of April. Back then he was virtually untouchable.

Tyler O'Neill led off the 9th by striking out, but Braves pitcher Tony Dow couldn't do the same against Jackson Holliday, who doubled in front of a diving Stanley Fafara. Colton Cowser advanced Holliday to third with a sac fly and that set the stage for Beavers to be the hero.

He laced a single into right field and that was that. One night after a disappointing one-run loss to the Braves, the Birds turned the tide on the visitors and handed them a one-run loss to chew on overnight.

Pitching was again the story of the game for the Birds, as Brandon Young went 6.1 innings and allowed just 4 hits and 1 earned run on the night.

And while the bullpen once again couldn't hold down a lead that was handed to them, Yennier Cano did the job in the 9th to preserve the bottom half of the inning for Beavers' heroics.

I'll keep saying it here so the people in the back of the room can hear it. If the O's can just get any kind of offense going over the next month, their starting pitching is good enough to see them go on a run where they win 15 of 20 games or something like that.

The O's are in virtually every game because of their starting pitching. They just can't hit.

They also can't field, but not being able to hit is far more critical than not being able to field these days. Even still, the Orioles defense can definitely lose them a game or two along the way (and has, several time this season).

The Red Sox made the first big move of the pre-deadline period on Saturday by trading lefty starting pitcher Connelly Early to the Nationals for rising star Curtis Mead, who should feast on that left-field wall at Fenway Park with the pull-power feature he developed in D.C.

It remains to be seen what the Birds are going to do.

Mike Elias said prior to Friday's game the "next bunch of games will determine our strategy", but it would seem like there's no way the O's are going to be sellers at the deadline. They need another bat or two and a reliable relief arm or two. They're well in the playoff race at this point. They just need some help.

If Elias decides to "sell", I think that's a terrible look for him and the work he's done in constructing this roster. I know David Rubenstein gave him passing grades with flying colors on Friday, but I wouldn't want to be the one making that phone call to the owner and saying, "I'm selling off four players this week and we're going to wave the white towel on the 2026 season, even though there's 60 games remaining."

Get a bat or two and add a couple of decent arms. That's the strategy. Anything you can do to reduce Tyler O'Neill's role is a plus. And while I won't go as far as saying Rico Garcia is "done", I think what you're seeing of him now is his arm saying, "I've had enough for this season."

Bullpen arms are always valuable. Elias needs to at least two of them before the deadline, if not three.

This playoff race is far from over. It's just starting, in fact.

We'll go ahead and concede that some combination of Tampa Bay and the Yankees are making it, which means one of the three wild card spots is gone.

There are two remaining playoff berths available between the O's, Boston, Cleveland, Minnesota, the suddenly surging Tigers, Houston (swept by the O's prior to the All-Star Break and have now won 5 in a row) and Seattle.

All of those teams listed above are currently under .500 except for the Guardians and Red Sox and they're both just hanging on to .500 at this point.

Go be a buyer, Mike, and let's roll the dice in October where anything can happen.

I don't think Denny McCarthy is going to leap-frog over a half-dozen guys today to win his first-ever PGA Tour event, but he is in position to cash a really nice check and pick up some much needed points in an effort to retain full status and "keep his card" for the 2027 season.

The tournament leader is rookie sensation Jackson Koivun, who is making just his THIRD start as a professional this week in Minnesota.

Win or lose today, that kid is going to be a star. Like, soon. Here's a super-duper-hot-take for you regarding Koivun: I think he'll be on the U.S. Ryder Cup team next fall in Ireland.

College golf has produced some legit star-quality players in the last few years. But none of them can hold a candle to this kid Koivun, who was a rock star at Auburn before turning pro after they won the national championship in early June.

McCarthy, meanwhile, enters today's tournament at T6 and 15-under par, 5 shots behind Koivun. I guess there's an outside chance McCarthy shoots a second straight 64 and Koivun and those in 2nd place and 3rd place "only" fire something in the high 60's and perhaps Denny can get into a playoff?

But I don't see the players ahead of him all having an "off" day while he manages to shoot 7-under par again.

A win would be great for McCarthy, yes. But what's far more important at this point is just making sure you don't do something goofy and shoot 73 today and fall back 25 places. Keep the pedal on the metal, as they say, and go hard. A top 5 finish for Denny would almost certainly secure his card for all of 2027.

Meanwhile, let's see if Koivun can finish off a PGA Tour victory in just his 3rd start as a pro. The field up there this week isn't "major caliber", but there are some really good players at the 3M, including Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland and Kurt Kitayama.

Saturday July 25, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4358

what a crazy night at the ballpark

I don't know where to begin.

So I'll just hop around from subject-to-subject until I've spewed all I intended to spew.

It was a total "Chamber of Commerce" evening, weather wise, at OPACY on Friday. 78 degrees at first pitch. I was in a corporate box directly above home plate and the view and environment was outstanding.

Once upon time, Camden Yards was one of the best baseball stadiums in America. I'll always contend Chavez Ravine in L.A. is #1 and, of the places I've been in the last decade or so, I think Pittsburgh's ballpark ranks #2. I haven't been to San Diego's stadium, but I'm guessing it gives Pittsburgh a run for its money.

Baltimore's stadium was awesome until they wrecked the backdrop and sightlines with a gaudy hotel and other buildings tucked in over the upper deck in left field. It's still a great place to watch a game, don't get me wrong. But it's too "crowded" in the areas over near Eutaw Street. At least that's what I think.

I was surprised that the game wasn't sold out. 35,000-plus were there, mainly because they were getting a free Hawaiian shirt, I think. The shirt, by the way, was very nicely done. I don't think I would have stood outside the gates for 3 hours to get it like some people did, but it was a nice piece nontheless.

But a Friday night home game on a beautiful summer night against a good team with a better-than-most promotional giveaway should get 42,000 in the ballpark. Disappointing to see empty seats.

On to the game.

It was, as you probably know by now, a 7-6 heartbreaking loss for the Birds. They've given away a fairly large number of games this season. Last night's was another one of those.

All kinds of crazy stuff happened last night.

For starters, Atlanta's defense totally won them the game. In contrast to the shoddy defense we've seen from our O's this season, it was an unwanted delight to see the Braves play the field the way they did on Friday.

Michael Harris II robbed Pete Alonso of an early home run (maybe it would have hit the top of the wall for a double?) and Mauricio Dubon saved a run in the bottom of the 7th with a diving grab in left field. There was also a remarkable snag at first by Matt Olson in the bottom of the 6th that saved a run as well.

The Braves came to play in the field last night. It was very impressive. Maybe that's why they're a first place team?

O's starter Trevor Rogers was excellent on Friday night. Why he was removed from the game, I have no idea.

Rogers threw just 88 pitches in 7 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs. He didn't walk anyone. He struck out 6 Atlanta batters. And, get this, 72 of his 88 pitches were strikes.

That's not a typo. 72 of Rogers' 88 pitches were freakin' strikes.

Now, unless he asked out because of injury or fatigue, which seems unlikely, why the urgency to remove him from the game? It made zero sense at all.

Rogers is on quite a heater for the O's. In his last nine starts since June 4, the southpaw is pitching to an ERA of 1.80.

Leave the guy in there. He'd thrown 88 pitches. What a joke.

Rant over.

The Braves tied it in the 8th off Rico Garcia, as Drake Baldwin homered to knot the score at 3-3.

Have I mentioned how good Trevor Rogers was pitching on Friday night and that Garcia had no business even being in the game in the top of the 8th? I have? OK, let's move on.

In the 10th, the floodgates opened for Atlanta, as they scored 4 times, including a 3-run homer from Matt Olson. A Jackson Holliday throwing error helped create the 4-run uprising, by the way.

Defense does matter in baseball. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

On the offensive side of the ledger, the Birds had the game on their racquet in the bottom of the 9th, but Taylor Ward grounded out with the bases loaded in a 3-3 contest.

Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-4. There's no use in pointing out anything else about him at this point. Gunnar's not hitting. It's really that simple.

The Birds made it interesting in their half of the 10th with a 3-run rally that featured a 2-run homer from Christian Encarnacion-Strand, but Sam Huff whiffed to end the game and that was that.

You need a positive to offset the Ward and Gunnar stuff? Sure. Here you go: Encarnacion-Strand had himself a big-league night, with a two-run double in the second and the aforementioned 2-run homer in the 10th. He also handled his duties well with the glove at third base.

By the way, the real fireworks started well in advance of the first pitch on Friday when team owner David Rubenstein praised the work of Mike Elias.

“Mike, he was the Baseball Executive of the Year (in 2023), widely regarded as outstanding by his peers and other people in baseball," Rubenstein expressed to the media on Friday. "And he’s done a terrific job. I’m very, very happy, and we couldn’t be more pleased. We’ve had some injuries, but that’s not Mike’s fault. In the end, we’re very pleased, and we’re really, really happy to have such a talented executive leading our baseball team.”

So, unless there's some real b.s.'ing going on, the owner of the team is quite pleased with his baseball man. And Mike Elias isn't going anywhere.

After winning 7 straight games, the Birds have now dropped 3 of their last 4. They have two more cracks at Atlanta before heading off to Detroit and then hosting the Phillies in Baltimore next weekend.

A 6-2 record in the next 8 games would be really helpful.

A 5-3 mark would be OK.

Anything 4-4 or less over the next 8 is just treading water for the sake of staying afloat.

In his pre-game comments, David Rubenstein said the O's are still in good shape to make a playoff run but that he'd like to see them win 7 out of every 10 games.

I'd like to play Augusta National, too.

Which is more likely to happen?

A couple of other quick sports notes from Friday.

LeBron James made it official. He's heading to Philadelphia for a season (or two?) with the 76'ers to end his legendary career.

I don't follow the NBA nearly enough to know what that means for the 76'ers and the power dynamic in the Eastern Conference, but other than having the worst franchise in the history of sports in their fair town, Philadelphia is a great sports city. There's no denying that.

Now, James is going to be entering a situation where the local media might not be quite as, let's say, "accepting" of losing as they are/were in Los Angeles and Miami, two of his previous stops.

Philly isn't New York in terms of media venom, but their bite up there is still poisonous.

And if nothing else, it will certainly heighten the enthusiastic rivalry between the 76'ers and Knickerbockers next season.

James is getting a lot of grief for, once again, "jumping to a new team", but I think he's earned any and every right he wants to exercise at this stage of his career.

I'll stop short of calling him a complete model citizen because maybe Jesus was the only one of those we ever truly had, but James has been an incredible asset to the NBA and has done it all by rising above the fray on a personal level.

No police blotter stuff.

No car accidents and whiffs of booze or other intoxicants.

He plays hard every most nights, in a league where a significant number of the best players give it their all about 60% of their time.

LeBron has been an excellent ambassador for the sport, that pesky South Florida press conference two decades ago notwithstanding. And he even admitted later on that was a terrible idea and a bad look for him.

If you're heading out to the links today for a round of golf with friends, think about Michael Kim for a minute. Kim posted the 15th round of 59 in the history of the PGA Tour on Friday at the 3M Open in Minnesota.

There's also been one 58 (Jim Furyk) in PGA Tour history, don't forget. But 59 is still the "holy grail" for professional (or amateur) golf. You're in very rare air if you can post a 59.

On Thursday, Kim opened the tournament with a 2-under round of 69.

Yesterday, he beat that by 10 shots en-route to the 59.

When you're out there on a local course today, think about what you have to do to shoot 59.

A lot of us have done it in a charity scramble tournament before.

But playing your own ball and shooting 59? Wowza.

Friday July 24, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4357

what's the biggest ravens issue in 2026?

#DMD reader and occasional commenter Bo G. sent me an e-mail on Wednesday and wondered if I'd answer it in a column here at some point before football training camp starts.

Today seems like as good of a day as ever to tackle the subject.

Bo had one question: What's the single biggest "thing" the Ravens have to accomplish in the 2026 season in order to be successful?

Let me get the low-hanging fruit out of the way first. Because it's not the answer you probably think I'm going to give.

Conventional wisdom says the one thing the Ravens have to do is get good work and a promising start out of their all-new coaching corps, including the head coach and his two hand-picked coordinators.

I don't see that as much of a challenge, honestly.

The coaches are going to do just fine. Sure, they might need some breaking-in time, but all of them have been around the sport and the NFL long enough to know the basic nuts and bolts of how everything works.

The head coach oversees the entire on-field product, with, usually, one area of emphasis depending on his personal playing and/or coaching background. In the case of Jesse Minter and the Ravens, he'll focus on the team's defense.

The offensive coordinator will figure out how to get the best out of his offensive players and get the ball into the end zone.

The defensive coordinator will do the same with the defensive unit, except he'll try to keep the opposition out of the end zone.

I'm not saying there won't be some hiccups, bad days and questionable moments. Those are inevitable with a young coaching staff.

But I don't see the coaching staff being something to overly fret about. They'll do fine.

The biggest thing the Ravens have to do is get their quarterback to stay healthy and play above-and-beyond in the playoffs.

That's it.

I guess those are 1 and 1A. Keep Lamar healthy and then have him play "up" in the playoffs.

Now, does coaching impact those two things? Maybe not so much "1", but "1A" is definitely a coaching-related possibility.

By all accounts, John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson had a fine, working relationship. But the two of them, together, never made it to a Super Bowl.

It's obviously not their faults, respectively, that Zay Flowers couldn't hold on to the ball or his temper in the AFC title game a few years back, but the fact remains a Hall of Fame coach and Hall of Fame quarterback never advanced to the Super Bowl in all eight of their seasons together.

But now that Harbaugh's gone, it will be up to Minter and Company to get something out of Lamar the previously coaching regime couldn't.

Lamar's post-season history is, if we're being fair, "spotty". He hasn't been awful. He's had some awful moments, sure. But even when he has a bad quarter or a bad half, like he did in the Buffalo game in '25, he still bounces back with some special play under the gun to get the Ravens back in the game.

Yes, he is still lacking that one, big signature post-season win. Beating the Texans at home a couple of years ago in the quarterfinals wasn't really all that much to brag about. But take away the first couple of years when he was still a deer-in-the-headlights and Lamar's post-season play hasn't been horrendous.

That said, he gets $50 million a year for January football.

Anyone can win games in September, October, November, etc. Sure, they all count. And you have to win those in order to play in January. But anyone who can run and throw a ball with some degree of quality can win a few games in the fall in the NFL.

It's those guys who come through in January that your team needs.

So, perhaps this issue is connected to coaching. I mean, Lamar is an outstanding player and all, but maybe Minter, Doyle, et al see some things in Lamar they'd like to change or shape differently. And who knows, maybe those things unlock him in January, right?

But all in all, I don't think you're going to see Lamar to change all that much. A leopard's spots never go away, remember, They just fade a little bit over time.

So it will simply be up to Jackson to play "up" in January when the lights are the brightest and win multiple games along the way, in the same fashion we've seen from Mahomes, Allen and Burrow over the last five seasons in the AFC.

Lamar's going to do what Lamar wants to do.

And for the most part, almost a decade into his career now, we've been perfectly fine with that. He's a Hall of Fame quarterback, for cryin' out loud. Without him, the Ravens are cooked.

But for the first time -- maybe, ever -- we're staring to look at Lamar and say, "the clock is starting to tick..."

He can't play forever. Three great years left? Sure, maybe. Who knows, he might still have five years of quality remaining.

But he's not 24 or 25 any longer. And with each passing year, the calendar gets closer to December.

The 2026 Ravens season isn't entirely on Lamar's shoulders, but about 75% of it is. If he stinks it up (unlikely) or gets hurt (he does have a history in that department) and the Ravens only get 8 to 10 high-level games out of him, they're in trouble.

But........

Even if the Ravens get 12-14 great games from him and they steamroll to a 13-4 record, none of that matters if they lay an egg in the first or second round of the playoffs yet again.

No one cares about the regular season around here.

They just don't.

People clamor for MVP awards and such because that's a "big deal" once you haven't been able to win games that matter in January. Regular season football is like shooting 74 with your friends at Pine Ridge on a Saturday. If you can't shoot 74 in a golf tournament, 74 doesn't matter.

Yes, you have to win those regular season games. We all know that.

But it's January football that we're most interested in here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

Lamar needs to come through.

And the coaching staff needs to help him do that.

Otherwise, we're right back to where we were with the other guys who were in charge.

faith in sports

I'm no NCAA softball enthusiast, but this conversation with Alabama softball player Audrey Vandagriff is just amazing.

Talk about a grounded, humble athlete who knows exactly how she reached the heights she has playing for the Crimson Tide. This young lady really gets it.

I watched it all from start to finish. Then I watched it again last night while I was coding today's edition of #DMD. It's well worth 18 minutes of your time.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday!

Thursday July 23, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4356

more than a feeling

It's pretty much stone-dead official now.

Kyle Bradish is an ace.

There have been signs of it for a couple of years now, but there was that pesky Tommy John surgery that got in the way of making it an official declaration until this 2026 campaign.

Sure, the 7-9 record so far this season doesn't look very "ace like", but no one pays much attention to the W/L record any longer, at least not for pitchers anyway.

If the O's could hit and field on the same night that Bradish is on the mound, he might be something more like 11-5 at this point.

But all of his other numbers smell like an ace, that's for sure.

Last night's outing in Boston was yet another in a line of terrific starts for Bradish, who last week was somehow hoodwinked into a 5-year, $90 million contract extension by the Orioles.

I still don't understand that one. I'll sound like Colonel Jessep in A Few Good Men when I try to figure it out.

Maybe Bradish likes the Eastern Time Zone.

Perhaps he's fond of a particular favorite restaurant in Little Italy.

Maybe his wife enjoys the shops in Federal Hill.

Or maybe it's just that $90 million is a lot of money and when the O's waved it front of Bradish, he gulped and said, "Yes. I'll take it."

Perhaps he could have bargained harder with the Birds and nicked them for $110 million or $120 million. I don't know.

I have no idea what it is that Bradish likes so much about the Orioles that he'd give away $50 million or $100 million in future earnings by signing a new deal now, but I'm sure glad he did it.

Like, really glad.

The O's have their ace.

Trevor Rogers is, perhaps, Ace Light. He looks the part 75% of the time, in other words. And if the O's can keep him around for numbers similar to the Bradish extension, I say get him signed up as well.

The other starters are good, but not great, although it's fair to point out Brandon Young actually has the best data of any starter on the team, albeit in far less innings. Baz is decent. Kremer is OK. Young is better than those two right now, but not quite up to Bradish or Rogers level just yet.

Bradish went 6 innings in last night's doubleheader nightcap win over the Red Sox, allowing just 4 hits and 1 earned run along the way. That performance helped snap Boston's miraculous 15-game winning streak, which got them firmly back into the A.L. playoff race.

It was just another night at the office for Bradish, who seemingly puts up those kinds of numbers every time he pitches.

Make no mistake about it. The O's have a pitching ace. Finally.

Based on yesterday's social media reaction to John Harbaugh's first day at Giants training camp, we're going to be spending a lot of time here worrying about Harbaugh and his team in 2026-2027.

When I say "we're", I'm not meaning #DMD. I couldn't care less what the Giants do.

I'm referencing the "we're" that is the Baltimore sports market. We're nothing if not unapologetically concerned with being right.

Harbaugh's opening day remarks to the Giants included an awkward 30-second introduction where he repeated "We're the New York Giants" about six times. It was done for show, of course. The new coach was simply trying to emphasize to his team how important it was for them to understand the historical relevance of playing for one of the NFL's iconic brands in the biggest city in the country.

But those in Baltimore still clinging to their disdain for Harbaugh raced to Twitter to mock him and predict glorious doom for the new coach in New York.

I'm guessing the Giants aren't going to be very good this season. That said, I don't really follow them all that closely. Maybe they did some nice stuff in the off-season or via the draft. I have no idea. I mostly stick to the Ravens and what they do.

We live in this world where we think it's important to be right, even when being right doesn't really get us anything.

Part of that might be the explosion of sports betting, where you actually do get something if you're right.

"I think the Orioles are going to beat the Red Sox tonight and I have $25 that says I'm right."

In that case, if you're right, you benefit.

But other than that, most of our opinions yield very little in return, other than just to be able to say, "Look at me. I was right about (XXXXXX)."

That's why the Harbaugh stuff moving forward will be interesting in Baltimore. If you were one of the folks who wanted him gone, every time the Giants lose you'll be able to laugh and say, "I told you that guy was a bum."

If you didn't want Harbaugh gone, every time the Ravens lose a game this season, you'll be able to laugh and say, "That Jesse Minter, he's no Harbaugh now, is he?"

Everyone just wants to be right, even though you don't get anything for it.

And there's no doubt whatsoever that Baltimore football fans are going to be doing two things this upcoming season every single Sunday.

1. Following the Ravens

2. Following the Giants

Every time the Giants lose, someone in Baltimore who wanted Harbaugh gone will get his or her wings.

It's weird, if you ask me.

I don't really care what the Giants do. I'd like Harbaugh to enjoy success in the same way, say, I wanted Joe Flacco to enjoy success when he left or Hollywood Brown when he left. Those guys were Ravens. They were important to us and our franchise. As long as they don't go to the Steelers, we're pretty much good from there, right?

The time was right for John Harbaugh to move on from Baltimore and coach elsewhere.

Whether that was two years too late or one year too soon is why there's vanilla and chocolate ice cream. But the reality is it was time for John to move on to something new.

What he does in his new place shouldn't concern any of us.

Unless you're just hoping to be right.

---

orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our #DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week. This week several prospects made this an incredibly difficult decision, but ultimately, we have selected Frederick Keys’ shortstop Wehiwa Aloy.

Aloy, 22, is no stranger to being named our DMD O’s Minor League Player of the Week, as this marks the third time this season he earned the honor.

The 31st overall selection in last year’s draft out of the University of Arkansas put together another stellar week for the Keys. Due to the All-Star break, it was a shortened week for the minor leaguers as well.

Over three games this week, Aloy hit .583 (7-12) with three doubles, five runs scored and threw in three walks as well. Over 16 plate appearances last week, he reached base 10 times and also threw in a sacrifice fly as well.

The week was simply a continuation of his fantastic season, including an incredible July where he recorded at least one hit in 12 of the 13 games he has appeared in. Over the month of July, he is hitting .440 with a .517 OBP and a ridiculous 1.217 OPS.

Even more impressive, Aloy is currently in the midst of a 17 game on-base streak dating back to June 25.

Despite having a little bit of an issue with the strikeout (93 in 350 plate appearances), it has to just be a matter of time before the Orioles move him up to AA Chesapeake. The current 6th ranked O’s prospect per MLB Pipeline is hitting .293 with 13 home runs, 12 doubles, four triples, 61 RBI, 50 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. He is also boasting a .366 OBP and .851 OPS through 78 games this season.

There is a lot to like about Aloy, and I hope he gets some time at AA this year to help prepare him for next year where he could potentially make a run through the top levels of the minors and begin knocking on the MLB door.

Be sure to check back in all season as we will continue to highlight top performers from the O’s farm system!

This Orioles Minor League update was provided by our baseball correspondent, Josh Michael.

Wednesday July 22, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4355

liam's journey begins

All I can say, really, is "thank you".

A few weeks back here at #DMD, I made an appeal for some help for a 16-year old Calvert Hall student, Liam O'Donoghue, who suffered a severe injury back on May 1 in car accident in Hunt Valley that left a classmate seriously injured and two friends deceased.

I asked for donations to help me get Liam "back into golf", which means, basically, to show him that young men (and women) with disabilities can still enjoy the great sport of golf.

Liam lost his left arm in the May 1st accident.

Prior to that, he was a football and rugby player at Calvert Hall. "Now, I just want him to play a sport and feel normal again," his mom wrote me when I first introduced to her the idea of Liam attending a golf camp I was running for Calvert Hall students in early July.

Those words -- "feel normal again" -- really impacted me. 16 years old. And just having endured a life threatening and life changing accident. "Feeling normal again" was the least I could do, in terms of helping.

So I did what I always do. I reached out to this community for help.

I'm proud of a lot of things about #DMD since 2014. I don't need to get into all of them here. Some are very personal in nature.

But one of the things I'm most proud of is when I ask for your help, you give it to me.

When I first met up with Liam, I mentioned here he needed three things. A new set of clubs, a fitting session, and some lessons from a PGA professional who can help him learn how to swing the club using just his right arm.

You all came through with flying colors. The necessary funds were raised. And a plan was put into place.

Liam's journey began yesterday at Country Club of Maryland.

We met up with longtime Head PGA Professional, Mike Healy, who put Liam through the paces and gave him a few quick tips on how to properly hold and leverage the club given his disability.

We then got to the club fitting part, which is particularly important for Liam given his limitations. In addition to losing his left arm in the accident, he broke both of his femurs.

Right now, Liam is re-learning the art of balance. He's walking OK, but it's a whole new game when you had to learn to walk again and you have to do so in such a way you won't lose your balance.

Mike determined that Liam's new irons will need to be bent 3 degrees upright, which will help square the club at impact and help him get the ball going straight or even a little left.

We were also blessed on Tuesday to have one of the country's best "adaptive players", Vince Biser, at CC of MD playing a round of golf. Vince is a left-handed golfer who only has the use of his left arm in the golf swing due to a birth defect in his right arm.

Vince is the 7-time national one-arm golf champion! How fortunate is Liam to have that guy right here in his backyard?!

Vince and Liam quickly broke bread and talked about the mechanics of hitting a golf ball using only one arm. And then Vince wow'd us with several crips 7 irons and a driver swing that resulted in a perfectly hit 240 yard shot, dead straight!

"You can do that, too," Vince told Liam. "It just takes time and practice."

Those two exchanged golf talk for a few minutes and Vince helped out with some advice about area tournaments for adaptive golfers.

Mike Healy continued to assist with the mechanics of the golf swing and I just stood there in amazement at our community at work.

Liam's next step will be to start working with his new irons, which we will give to him sometime in August or September. I wish you all could have been there yesterday when I told Liam the news -- that he's getting a brand new set of fitted clubs. His smile was as wide as the practice range we were standing on!

His journey is now officially underway thanks to many of you, along with Mike Healy and Vince Biser. God is great, indeed!

We'll provide another update once Liam receives his clubs and more instruction from Mike Healy and others.

---

world cup: what was great and what wasn't

That was a wild month and a half in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The World Cup in North America was a total success!

There were a lot of great things about the World Cup. And some not so great things. I thought we'd put a bow on the whole thing here today by giving you a rundown on both sides of the ledger.

One thing that was great was how many foreign soccer fans showed up here in the U.S. and had an absolute blast, no matter how long they stayed.

This country has been knocked around a lot over the last decade, mostly by us, the people who live here. The United States has been roundly criticized on a variety of levels.

But our guests didn't see that or feel that or experience that in the least. They loved it here, which is a good thing. We ARE the greatest country in the world, no matter what some folks within our own borders say otherwise.

I'm not a fan of penalty kicks deciding games, so I was really happy that only four games in the knockout stage went the entire way until penalty kicks were needed to determine the winner.

There has to be a better way to end a World Cup game, right? Take one man off the field in overtime every five minutes. There, you have a unique way of helping decide it. Start the overtime with 8 field players instead of 10. Bam! There's another way.

Do anything except penalty kicks to determine the winner. It's thrilling to watch, sure, but only if your team wins.

Probably the most super-duper-cool thing of the entire event was all of the big names had incredible runs in the 2026 World Cup. All of the highlight reel guys produced highlights, time and time again. Oh, sure, Christian Pulisic, the so-called best American player, had a "tough" World Cup (and that's being nice), but he's not a top player in the world.

The iconic names like Messi, Mbappe, Haaland, Kane, Bellingham, all had heroic performances. It was a true joy to watch them play.

Seeing those guys all come through game after game was like watching Steph and LeBron score 44 a night in the NBA or Ovi and Crosby score 4 goals in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Being able to watch Messi, still at his absolute finest, basically will his team to a couple of wins in the knockout stage was truly breathtaking. The 10 minutes of magic Argentina produced against Egypt is some of the best of sport you'll ever see in your life.

Maybe not for Egypt. But you know what I mean.

One thing that stinks like my Aunt Betty's feet at a summer picnic is the offsides rule, which seriously needs to be tweaked and modified by someone with a brain to allow for more scoring opportunities.

Notice I didn't say "allow for more goals". Sure, more goals would definitely accompany a relaxed offsides rule, but there would be just as many outrageous saves as there would be goals.

And don't ask me what the new rule should be. I don't know. But I just know this current offsides rule has to go the way of New Coke. Allow for someone to be a little ahead of the last defender, right?

The players rolling around on the field like they've shot in the wilderness has always been part of soccer and, at least to me, has always been a terrible look for the sport. Now, I'll admit, they're getting clobbered at a high rate of speed -- on occasion -- and they have no equipment and/or protection, unlike football players, let's say.

But diving and feigning injury is so much a part of the sport that it definitely detracts from the enjoyment of it.

I do like the new rule that says if you lay on the ground and a trainer has to attend to you, it's at that point you have to sit on the sidelines for one minute.

Make it three minutes and the diving might actually decrease.

I'm a former goalkeeper, so I'm partial to that position, but I thought the goalkeeping at the World Cup was beyond fantastic. There were some games where you could just see, "this guy isn't going to allow a ball to get past him."

Sadly, the U.S. goalkeeper, Matt Freese, didn't enjoy that sort of success. He certainly wasn't the reason why the Americans lost, 4-1, to Belgium, but he definitely had an "off night".

But as the quarterfinals and semifinals rolled around, the goalkeepers started to turn it on. Heck, Spain allowed ONE goal in 8 games. One goal.

The Argentina goalkeeper single-handedly kept the final game from being a 4-0 win for Spain. He was simply spectacular.

I loved seeing the goalkeepers shine at the World Cup!

I thought the coverage provided by FOX was excellent. I thought they overplayed the whole "Zlatan thinks he's Mr. Soccer" angle quite a bit, but the coverage of the games and pre-game and post-game work was outstanding.

FOX took its mission very seriously.

They brought in Henry, Zlatan and Alexi Lalas and really made you, the viewer, feel like you were watching something special.

It was appointment TV viewing for me, no matter who was playing and at what time.

Tuesday July 21, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4354

it happened...again

We interrupt this review of last night's debacle in Boston to bring you the story I always bring you on July 21 every year.

It happened again this morning at exactly 2:03 am.

My mom reached out to say hi.

Not by phone. Not by text.

She did what she always does on July 21 around 2:00 am. She woke me up.

For those who don't remember the story from previous years, my mom passed away at 1:59 am on Tuesday, July 21, 1987. She died from cancer at what was then called North Arundel Hospital in Glen Burnie.

The hospital reached out to us immediately, of course. The phone rang a few minutes after 2:00 am and a nurse there who was close with my family delivered the news.

And that started an annual posthumous greeting from my mom. Every year since 1987. On July 21. Sometime right before or after 2:00 am. I wake up.

The first few years I felt a little weirded out about it, frankly.

But as time goes on I feel much better about it. It has to be her, right? I mean, what or who else could it be? Somewhere in heaven it's my mom just reminding me she's still with me, even if she's not here on Earth.

I was sound asleep earlier this morning when I opened my eyes.

"Oh, man, look at your phone," I said to myself.

It was 2:03 am.

I got up, grabbed a small glass of water, and stood in the kitchen for a few minutes, marveling at the way God created us. My mom is still very much alive and alert, albeit just not here, physically.

I just hope she wasn't watching last night's O's game from Fenway Park.

The Birds put on their Bad News Bears hats on Monday evening in a ragged 6-5 loss to the Red Sox in Boston. The boxscore says the Orioles made 4 errors in the game.

They might have made 4 errors in the scorebook, but they probably had another 4 blunders both mental and physical that don't get chronicled in the boxscore.

It was ugly.

15 of the 27 Baltimore outs at the plate were strikeouts. Every starter save Tyler O'Neill struck out at least once, with Coby Mayo and Sam Huff both picking up the "whiff hat trick". The O's left eight runners on base, too, for those who weren't watching.

There was some good news at the plate. Gunnar Henderson awoke from his slumber to go 3-for-5 on the night. Someone named Encarnacion-Strand hit a home run, which is nice.

But the story of the ballgame was the Baltimore defense, which was so bad the Keystone Cops were laughing.

Shane Baz was decent in his start on the mound. He deserved a better fate, I thought, after giving up 2 earned runs in 6 innings of work.

It wasn't his best start of the season, but it surely was good enough to keep the Birds in the game. And if the team behind him could throw and catch the ball, it might have been a totally different story.

So one streak (Orioles) ends while another (Red Sox) continues. Boston has now won 14 straight games. So you know what that means?

Tonight is pretty much guaranteed win night for the Birds. The Red Sox aren't winning 15 games in a row. You can make book on that one.

With the British Open in the rearview mirror, we give you now "The Open Report Card", going through 8 prominent players (and a couple of other elements) and grading them on their play and performance at Royal Birkdale this past weekend.

In case you missed the funny story from Monday, runner-up Cameron Young was on a flight from Manchester to Miami. He was seated in Row 21, Seat D. An aisle seat. Perfect, right?

Cam was getting situated on the plane, preparing for the long flight across the pond, when on walked a passenger with a large black case he was trying to stuff in the overhead bin.

The guy in question was sitting in Row 20, Seat D, right in front of Cameron Young as it were.

The guy in question? His name was Ryan Fox. And the case he was lugging onto the plane contained the Claret Jug, which he won on Sunday by making a birdie on the last hole to beat.....you guessed it, Cameron Young.

So Young lost to the guy and then had to sit behind him on the long flight to the United States. I wonder what that conversation was like?

British Open Report Card

Ryan Fox (A+) -- He's far more likely to be Brian Harman, Michael Campbell and Henrik Stenson than he is anything else. In other words, it's highly probable Fox will never win another major title. But this past weekend was his crowning moment, for sure. He played incredible golf over the last 36 holes and will forever be remembered for the way he played the last five holes on Sunday.

Cameron Young (A-) -- A shoddy back nine on Saturday kept him from winning the golf tournament. But make no mistake about it, the Ryder Cup last Fall was the beginning of a remarkable 12 months of golf for him. Had he won on Sunday, you could have made an argument he is the front runner for PGA Tour Player of the Year. And he could still capture the award if he plays well in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Sam Burns (A) -- He's getting some grief from the national media for once again failing to close a 54-hole lead, but it was always going to be hard to follow up a 62 (Friday) and 65 (Saturday) with something in the mid 60's again on Sunday. He's known as one of the TOUR's best putters, but he needs to hole a few more under the gun on Sunday when it counts. The one he missed at 18 in Sunday's final round is a perfect example of Burns and his shortcomings. He striped a drive there and hit an excellent iron shot to 20 feet there, knowing he needed a birdie to have a chance at a playoff. But then he missed the putt. Shades of Greg Norman, a little bit. He does everything right but still doesn't win. Much like Schauffele broke out and won two majors in three months a few years ago, I suspect we'll see the same from Burns in '27 or '28.

Tommy Fleetwood (B+) -- Was excellent tee-to-green, as always, but fought a chilly putter at times over the weekend. It was a tough ask for the Southport, England native to basically win a "home game". I thought there was a chance he'd be the guy to buzz his way up the leaderboard on Sunday after he made that 50-foot bomb at the first hole, but that was pretty much the highlight of his final round. He's just not a closer. But I'm still bullish on Fleetwood. He'll get his major sometime soon. He will NOT go without one in his career, that's for sure.

Rory McIlroy (C) -- Was never really in the golf tournament and drew more headlines for blasting DeChambeau than for his golf, which tells you all you need to know. For the second straight year, it seemed like winning the Masters took all of his energy and there was nothing left for the remainder of the summer. He wasn't terrible at Birkdale, but he also wasn't "Rory", either. Whether he was accurate on his assessment of DeChambeau and his "act", it would have been far wiser for Rory to just do what Scheffler did and take the high road until the tournament was over. Ripping DeChambeau while the event was ongoing was bad form.

Scottie Scheffler (B) -- Would have won the tournament going away with even a lukewarm putter. But you can't win when you can't putt. And Scheffler couldn't make a thing for four days. He ranked in the bottom 10% of the field in putting for the week, which is the only reason he didn't win. But his ball striking was off the charts good. He might still win the FedEx Cup points race but 2026 will be remembered for his close calls in majors but no appearances in the winner's circle. If he gets his putting figured out in 2027, everyone's on notice. This isn't hyperbole. If Scheffler's putter ever has a hot "season", he could win all four majors. There's no major that's ill-fitting for him.

Si Woo Kim (B) -- Just needed 9 holes of good ball striking and a birdie or two and he would have been holding the Claret Jug in his hands. Started hitting iffy iron shots and then couldn't bail himself out with his usually-trusty short game. Ask anyone on TOUR who "one of the best players is without a major" and you'll hear Si Woo Kim's name before most guys reach their 3rd candidate. He's a terrific player. Just hasn't figured out how to win a major yet.

Bryson DeChambeau (C) -- Wrecked his entire weekend with those post-round theatrics on Friday. It's one thing to be hit with a penalty and not agree with it. It's another thing, entirely, to stay on the driving range until 10:30 pm at night and threatening to not play on Saturday in an effort to force the delay of tee times for the third round. On the course, he was fine, although it's fair to point out he would have shot 76 or higher on Saturday if not for an incredible short game and putting display.

Staying on Bryson for a second...DeChambeau's ruling saga didn't take away from Fox's victory, but in the long run it will probably be remembered just as much. It was an embarrassing situation for DeChambeau, who appears to perhaps be unaware of just how silly he'll look from a historical perspective if he continues with this cartoon'ish character he's created.

The rules of golf are quirky indeed. Just like the offsides rule in soccer, ironically. You can break a rule in golf and most certainly not be cheating. It's hard to say whether DeChambeau walked into that area on the 5th hole with the direct intent of improving his backswing in the tall fescue grass, but he most certainly improved it by stomping around as he surveyed the situation.

Instead of just saying, "I wasn't trying to improve my swing path, but if I did, I'll accept whatever the appropriate penalty was", he went the entire other direction, essentially trying to tell two of the smartest men in golf, rules wise, that they were wrong.

Here's a tidbit most people don't know. Professional golfers are very rules-starved. They know the basics, like what to do when you hit it out-of-bounds and what happens when your ball moves without your influence on it, but they don't know the rule book at all. Watch any event when a player hits it in a penalty area. He calls the rules official over and has him or her carefully go through the process even though the player knows the basic nuances of the rule. They're that afraid of the rules...because they don't fully know them.

I'll stop short of calling DeChambeau an out-and-out cheater. Patrick Reed? He cheated at Torrey Pines five years ago. DeChambeau very well might have innocently strolled into the area on #5 on Friday and he certainly might have thought he was "doing the right thing" when he was fiddling around with his pre-shot routine. I'll give him that.

As Seve once said to Paul Azinger. "Cheating and not knowing the rules are two totally different things." It's still one of the all-time great underrated sports quotes.

Maybe DeChambeau didn't cheat. Perhaps he didn't think anything was out of place on the 5th hole on Friday.

But it all looked very suspicious. And his theatrics afterwards were laughably out of place. You broke a rule. It happens. Take your penalty and move on.

I'd like to take a minute here to publicly applaud the outstanding work of Randy Morgan here at #DMD over the last seven weeks during the lead-up to the World Cup and throughout the tournament itself.

I can say this without hesitation and with great pride: No media entity in the area gave you the coverage from "tee-to-green" on the World Cup like #DMD did. I hope those of you who are (were) soccer novices learned a little more about the beautiful game by checking out Randy's daily coverage here.

I consider myself a "7" on the soccer scale and I even found myself reading every day and learning something!

I'll continue to work at finding new ways to have Randy contribute here. If you own a business in Baltimore/Maryland and you'd like to join our marketing partner team and directly sponsor Randy's work, please reach out to me: 18inarow@gmail.com

We're an affordable marketing and advertising option for any business in the area and Randy's work on the Orioles, Ravens and anything else is as good as it gets.

Monday July 20, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4353

houston, we have no problems at all

This is starting to get good.

Really good.

The headline at ESPN's website said it all. I had to do a double-take just to make sure I read it right.

MLB's hottest two teams set for Fenway clash

Huh?

What?

"Aren't the Orioles at Fenway Park this week?" I asked myself.

Indeed they are.

And the Birds are red hot. Maybe not quite as hot as the scorching Red Sox, but the Orioles arrived in Boston late Sunday night armed with a 7-game winning streak and their sights set on reaching .500 in Beantown.

The Red Sox have won 13 in a row and just swept Tampa Bay over the weekend. The good news for the O's is they will not see Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray (12-1, 2.48 ERA) this week, as he just waltzed past the suddenly struggling Rays on Sunday in the 6-1 Boston win.

Sunday's 5-2 win in Houston was once again all about pitching for the Birds, as Brandon Young did what Brandon Young does -- 7 innings pitched, 7 strikeouts and just 1 earned run.

The O's offense was once again "meh", but that's OK when the pitcher is throwing like Young did on Sunday. Dylan Beavers (two) and Coby Mayo (two) combined for four of the team's six hits, with Mayo hitting his 13th homer of the campaign in the victory.

It's on, now.

The Birds are back in it at 49-51.

Far be it for me to say "I told you so", so I won't say it.

But they're back. And everyone knows it. Now it's just a question of what deadline deals can they make to bolster their lineup and their bullpen?

Mike Elias, the ball is in your court, brother. Don't let us down.

Ryan Fox's putter didn't let him down on Sunday at Royal Birkdale and the result was a thrilling one-shot win at the British Open that included a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

Fox nipped Cameron Young by a shot and Sam Burns by two shots in the season's final major championship. That left golf with two new major winners in 2026, Aaron Rai at the PGA and Fox at the British.

Si Woo Kim had a chance to win his first major on Sunday, but the talented South Korean lost his golf swing on the back nine and stumbled home in 3 over par to open the door for Fox, who nearly missed the cut after 36 holes, finishing at even par on Friday afternoon to make it by one shot.

From there, Fox, like Burns did on Friday, poured in everything he looked at on Saturday en route to a 62 that got him near the top of the leaderboard heading into Sunday's final round.

On Sunday, it was Fox's head that earned him the Claret Jug just as much it was his golf clubs doing the deed. Twice on the back nine he was hit with vicious bad breaks and both times he responded like....well....a champion.

First, on the par 3 15th hole, he hit a wonderful iron on the 241 yard hole that hit the face of the bunker and stayed in, but the ball's bounce left it near the lower lip and he actually had to play backwards instead of towards the green and the pin. He then hit a nifty 10 yard pitch shot to within 5 feet and made the putt for bogey four.

On the very next hole, he bounced back with a great birdie to once again tie for the lead.

And then at 17, he hit a 320 yard iron shot off the tee that was struck perfectly and bounded down the fairway. And bounded some more. And then a little more. And on the last roll, it dipped into a menacing fairway bunker that prohibited him from going for the par 5 green in two shots.

He would have had a 225 yard shot in. Instead, he had to lay up out of the bunker. And even though he "only" made par there, it was a moment of steadiness once again. Others might have lost their head at that second twist of bad fate, but not Fox. He just moved on to the 18th from there and pounded another drive right down the middle.

And it was at 18 where he finished off his master class with a 176 yard 8-iron to 12 feet.

When Sam Burns missed his birdie putt at 18 that would have temporarily tied him with Fox and Cam Young, the stage was set for Fox to win it outright. And that he did, as his putt just snuck in the left edge to deny Young a shot at his first major title and, potentially, PGA Tour Player of the Year honors as well.

Speaking of Player of the Year and all, Scottie Scheffler went 2026 without a major victory, but continues to lead the Fed Ex Cup points race and shoulda, coulda, woulda easily won at Royal Birkdale if not for a remarkably poor putting display.

This stat is mind-boggling. Over the four days, Scheffler missed 16 putts inside of 10 feet. The next closest guy (who played all four rounds) missed 6 of them.

Scheffler ranked 1st, 2nd or 3rd in nearly every pertinent shots gained category. But ranked as the 68th worst putter out of 78 players who played all four days.

Everyone can say "if I only made a few more putts..." in any golf tournament.

Scheffler can say , "if I made a few more putts I would have won by six shots."

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

world cup final: the machine wins

Machine versus magic had a winner, and it was the machine.

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time at MetLife Stadium on Sunday to claim its second World Cup title, and they did it the exact same way they played the entire tournament.

They sucked the oxygen out of the game. Argentina, the escape artists of this World Cup, didn't register a single shot until extra time. The defending champions went the full 90 minutes of a World Cup final without one attempt at goal, becoming the first team on record to go shotless through the opening 70 minutes of a final.

And yet, Argentina very nearly suffered through it and weathered the storm all the way to penalties, where you'd have liked their chances with Emiliano Martinez in goal.

But a late red card proved fatal. After going down to ten men Argentina battled, but from that point it felt inevitable that Spain would find the goal to end it. Thirty seven seconds into the second half of extra time, substitute Ferran Torres finally did.

How It Played Out --

The first half was a staring contest. Spain passed with their usual precision, Argentina sat in their block and refused to engage, and the two teams combined for three shots, the fewest on record in a single half of a World Cup match.

All three shots belonged to Spain. Lamine Yamal's deflected effort in the fifth minute was the closest thing to a chance. Argentina later lost starting center back Lisandro Martinez to injury before the break, with the veteran Otamendi coming on as a replacement.

The second half was when Spain started turning the screw. Emiliano Martinez got down to deny Oyarzabal, spilled but recovered an Olmo strike, and pushed away a fizzing Cubarsi drive.

Luis de la Fuente went to his bench around the hour mark, sending on Torres and Pedri, then Nico Williams and Mikel Merino at 75 minutes. The pressure kept building, and Martinez kept answering, robbing Torres and Laporte from close range.

Then came the moment that decided the final. In the third minute of stoppage time, seconds after Williams stung Martinez's palms on the break, Enzo Fernandez clattered into Cubarsi chasing a loose ball and was shown a second yellow card. A needless, silly challenge with extra time looming, and Argentina would have to survive 30 more minutes with ten men.

They almost did.

Spain thought they'd scored in the 96th when Williams tucked home a rebound, but the goal was ruled out for a Merino foul on Otamendi in the buildup. Merino then flicked a Williams cross inches past the post.

But 37 seconds after the restart in the second half of extra time, the dam broke. Spain worked the ball down the right, Porro's cross found the back post, Williams kept it alive with a clever knockdown, and Torres rifled it into the roof of the net.

Fittingly, Torres became the first substitute to score in a World Cup final since Mario Gotze's winner in 2014, also to beat Argentina.

Argentina threw everything forward, Otamendi went up top, and Giuliano Simeone blazed their best chance over the bar off a Messi corner in the final seconds. The full time numbers told the story: 20 shots and 1.94 expected goals for Spain, two shots and 0.2 xG for Argentina.

The Difference Makers --

Emiliano Martinez was the main reason Spain didn't win this in regulation. His 10 saves through 90 minutes were the most on record by a keeper in a World Cup final, and several were spectacular. He kept a completely overrun team within one moment of penalties.

For Spain, the substitutes were pivotal. Pedri was a game changer off the bench, bringing a level of assertiveness through the middle of the attacking third that Spain had lacked, turning possession into sustained danger. And it was two more subs, Williams and Torres, who combined for the winning goal.

As for Messi, the magic finally ran out. He touched the ball just 22 times through 70 minutes, smothered by Rodri and the Spanish midfield, in what was almost certainly the final World Cup match of his career. He became just the second player ever to appear in three World Cup finals, joining Brazil's Cafu.

An All-Time Run

This Spain team will go down as one of the great World Cup champions. They conceded exactly one goal in eight games. They never trailed in the knockout rounds. They extended their unbeaten run in regulation to 38 games and added a World Cup to their 2023 Nations League and Euro 2024 crowns.

The run exemplified collective effort. They allowed only 2.3 expected goals across the entire tournament, an average of 0.3 per match, the lowest recorded rate by any team at a men’s World Cup.

Their one goal conceded across eight matches set a new record for a World Cup champion.

Spain scored fourteen goals through seven different players. Three times in the knockout rounds a substitute delivered the decisive goal. Laporte, Cubarsi, Rodri, Cucurella and Porro turned every game into a slow suffocation.

They had the best goalkeeper, the best young player and the official tournament MVP, but their championship never felt dependent on any one of them.

The comparisons to Spain’s golden generation are now unavoidable.

The 2008-12 group remains the standard. It won two European Championships with a World Cup in between and featured Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Iker Casillas, David Villa, Xabi Alonso, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos.

This team is not there yet in sustained greatness. But the comparison is no longer ridiculous. And this team is still very young.

World Cup Best XI --

Goalkeeper: Unai Simón, Spain

Emiliano Martínez’s performance in the final was the best single-game goalkeeping display of the tournament, and Cape Verde’s Vozinha produced its best underdog story. But Simón was the goalkeeper behind the greatest defensive tournament in World Cup history.

He was calm with the ball, dependable when called upon and his anticipation and sweeper instincts were key to keeping Mbappe under wraps in the semifinal. Spain conceded one goal in eight games, and Simón deservedly won the Golden Glove.

Right Back: Pedro Porro, Spain

Porro was a constant source of width and progression down Spain’s right side. He combined especially well with Yamal and defended aggressively. He delivered the back-post cross that began the winning goal in the final and scored against France in the semifinal.

Center Back: Pau Cubarsí, Spain

Cubarsí entered the tournament as a teenager and left as a World Cup champion and the official Best Young Player. His passing allowed Spain to break lines from the back, while his anticipation and recovery speed helped erase the rare moments when opponents escaped the press. He played the position with a composure that made his age almost impossible to believe.

Center Back: Dayot Upamecano, France

France’s tournament ended badly, but Upamecano was excellent through most of it. He handled large spaces, won physical battles and gave France the freedom to push players forward without constantly exposing the defense. Spain finally broke France’s structure in the semifinal, but that did not erase his previous seven games.

Left Back: Marc Cucurella, Spain

Cucurella played every minute of Spain’s tournament and provided the ideal balance on the left. He pressed high, covered enormous amounts of ground, supported the attack and rarely lost his defensive position. Spain’s ability to control both sides of the field depended heavily on the reliability of its fullbacks.

Midfielder: Rodri, Spain

The official Golden Ball winner and the foundation of the champions. Rodri controlled the speed and location of Spain’s games. He protected the defense, recycled possession and consistently made the correct decision under pressure. Spain had plenty of more spectacular players, but none was more essential to how the team functioned.

Midfielder: Jude Bellingham, England

Seven goals and one assist from midfield, including braces in consecutive knockout games. Bellingham became England’s most dangerous player, driving through midfield, arriving in the box and producing goals when the attack stalled. His tournament confirmed that England’s team increasingly belongs to him.

Midfielder: Elliot Anderson, England

The least glamorous selection in the team, but one of the most consistent players in the tournament. Anderson gave England balance beside all of its attacking talent. He won duels, covered ground, moved the ball cleanly and repeatedly helped England control the middle of the field. He did not produce Bellingham’s highlight moments, but he made many of them possible.

Forward: Lionel Messi, Argentina

Eight goals, four assists and another trip to the final at 39 years old. Messi scored or created the crucial goal in every knockout round before Spain finally shut him down. Even without the storybook ending, this was another extraordinary World Cup.

Forward: Erling Haaland, Norway

Haaland scored seven goals in five appearances and led Norway to the quarterfinals. His two late goals against Brazil produced one of the defining upsets of the tournament. Norway could play directly, counterattack or build patiently because every approach eventually had the same destination.

Forward: Kylian Mbappé, France

Mbappé won the Golden Boot with ten goals and added four assists. His two goals in the third- place game inflated the final total a little, but he was still one of the tournament’s most devastating attackers. He also moved past Messi to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer, with 22 goals before his 28th birthday.

Tournament MVP: Lionel Messi

FIFA gave the Golden Ball to Rodri, and that is an entirely defensible choice.

Rodri was the most important player on the champion. He embodied everything Spain did well and controlled games without requiring goals or assists to demonstrate his influence. There is no Spain championship without him.

My choice is still Messi.

Messi finished with eight goals and four assists, directly contributing to twelve of Argentina’s nineteen goals. He scored the equalizer that saved them from elimination against Egypt. He created the opener against Switzerland. He assisted both late goals against England.

At 39, he was still the player every opponent built its defensive plan around. Argentina reached the final because it repeatedly survived long enough for Messi to change the game.

Mbappé deserves consideration as well. Ten goals and four assists is a staggering tournament, and becoming the all-time World Cup scoring leader at 27 is absurd.

But two of those goals and one assist came in a 6-4 third-place game that felt closer to an exhibition than a defining World Cup moment. France needed Mbappé most in the semifinal, and Spain held him scoreless.

Messi was quiet in the final, but the final should not erase everything required to get there.

Spain won because it had the best team.

Messi was the tournament’s best player.

Sunday July 19, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4352

that's six straight

Here's my prediction: By this time next weekend, you'll all be back on the bandwagon.

Sure, a few of you will jump on reluctantly, giving way to not wanting to publicly admit you were wrong. But for the most part, those of you who hop on the O's bandwagon over the next 7 days will be thrilled to do so.

In case you didn't see last night's thriller in Houston, the O's won 4-2 and the hero was none other than.......Tyler O'Neill.

Yep, that Tyler O'Neill.

Our favorite whipping boy throughout the '26 campaign came through on defense (in the 10th) and offense (in the 11th) and the Birds dumped the Astros for their 6th straight win.

You know things have turned around when Tyler O'Neill is starting to percolate.

He saved the game with a remarkable throw from centerfield in the bottom of the 10th inning, then provided a two-run single in the 11th to finalize the scoring at 4-2.

Tyler O'Neill, huh? Funny the way it is, as Dave Matthews sings.

Trevor Rogers was solid once again on the mound, although anyone who had him for Under 5.5 hits, Over 6.5 strikeouts and Under 1.5 walks (know anyone?) was thoroughly dismayed to see him come out for the bottom of the 7th inning. For once, I a friend of mine was hoping Craig Albernaz would do the dumb thing and lift him after six innings and only 70-some pitches.

Rogers was good, though, limiting Houston to just one earned run. The Baltimore bullpen did its job once again, with five different relievers combining to allow only two hits over the game's final 5.2 innings.

From the "nitpicker's file", it's fair to point out the O's had just 5 hits in 11 innings.

"You're not going to win games with only five hits..." they'll say. Even though they did last night, right?

Gunnar was -- yet again -- hitless in five at bats.

"The O's can't make the playoffs if Henderson hits .220 all season." That might be right. But they're in the playoff race now and he's hitting .220.

And the Birds winning the game wasn't the only slice of good news for our orange-feathered-friends on Saturday. Kyle Bradish was somehow canoodled into signing a 5-year, $90 million contract extension. Great news for the O's. Weird news, perhaps, for Bradish, who was on the fast-track to a 5-year, $150 million deal if he simply put up one more high quality season as a starter in 2027.

That said, I've never had the opportunity to turn down $90 million. Maybe you simply can't pass up that kind of dough when it gets thrown at you.

So, O's doubters, you're probably starting to get a little nervous. That's 48-51 now after yesterday's win and a huge trip to Fenway Park looms after finishing off the sweep in Houston this afternoon. Then the Braves come to town for a weekend series in Charm City.

What better way to officially re-enter the championship race than to fend off Houston, Boston and Atlanta in succession?

Just one note about the bandwagon. It's "middle seats only" for those of you coming back now. The aisle and window seats have been scooped up by those of us who didn't quit on the team.

With 18 holes remaining at the British Open, there are storylines and more storylines at Royal Birkdale, where the biggest news wasn't what one of the game's stars shot on Saturday, but what one of the game's biggest stars said after his third round.

We'll get to Rory McIlroy in a minute.

On the course, it was the Ryan Fox show, followed by some stellar play from American Sam Burns, who is once again in position to win a major championship.

Fox posted an 8-under round of 62 in the third round and will play with Burns in today's final pairing.

Si Woo Kim is also at 8-under and, like Burns and Fox, looking for his first-ever major victory. Kim is having a remarkable season on the PGA Tour, but this win today would be the biggest moment of his career.

Ryan Gerard is also having a very nice year on TOUR but this, today, is uncharted territory for him. Whether he has the "bottle", as they say in the U.K., for a moment like the one he faces this afternoon will be the story of the day for him.

Lucas Herbert, who posted 62 on Friday, hung in there nicely on Saturday and is 7-under with Gerard. He was once a young Australian prodigy who slumped to the point where he needed LIV money to rescue his career. A win for Herbert today would mark a massive rebirth for him.

And then there's Bryson DeChambeau.

The controversial American battled his rear end off on Saturday, chipping and putting like a complete madman. A bogey at #18 dropped him to 6-under par, but he's well within striking distance heading into today's final round. Can he cobble together something in the 64 or 65 range and get some help from Burns, Fox, Kim and the others ahead of him? He very well might.

Friday's controversial two-shot penalty on DeChambeau was still topic number one on Saturday, where a number of respected veteran players were asked for their opinions on what happened in the second round.

Scottie Scheffler took the high road. Rory McIlroy did not.

"I don't have much to say about it," Scheffler said after his round. "Actually, I do have a lot to say. But I don't know how to say it just yet, so I'll keep it to myself for now."

"Look, I'm not going to stand up here and defend Bryson," McIlroy stated after he was finished on Saturday. "I'm not particularly fond of him. I think there's no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing. Again, it's like, whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don't think it matters. Hopefully it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was justified for sure."

In DeChambeau's defense, he put the controversy behind him on Saturday with a compelling, wild ride around Royal Birkdale. He turned 75 into 69 with some deft handiwork around and on the greens, saving par all day from precarious positons that easily could have ended his pursuit of the Claret Jug.

Speaking of the trophy, the guy who won it last year should easily be winning this event once again, but his putter is more ice cold than Gunnar Henderson's bat.

Of the 78 players who made the cut at Birkdale, Scheffler ranks 73rd in strokes gained putting. For the uninitiated, that's terrible.

Scheffler has played 54 holes of golf at Royal Birkdale and has a grand total of three bogeys. THREE. He made two on Thursday in the opening round, none on Friday and one on Saturday.

If he can somehow have a magical day with the putter today and, like Bryson, get some help from others above him on the leaderboard, Scottie could perhaps make a run at his 5th major championship win.

Other Americans lurking who could also make a run include Jackson Suber (-6), Xander Schauffele (-4) and Cameron Young (-3).

Of those, Young is the most explosive. Suber has never contended at a major so today's final round will be new grounds for him. Schauffele, like Scheffler, has fought a balky putter this season. But Young, who won the Players and the Cadillac Championship, might be poised for a big run today.

It would take something like 62 or 61, even, for Young to have a shot at winning, but he's capable of pouring in birdies in droves.

Our hope here at #DMD?

We'd love to see Burns hold and finally win that major championship.

He's knocked on the door enough now. And that fiasco at Oakmont CC still looms in everyone's memory, where he was forced to play from two completely undesirable, underwater locations on the back nine of the final round at the 2025 U.S. Open.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

world cup final: machine vs. magic

In the end, the 2026 World Cup comes down to a battle of heavyweights.

Two of the most prominent nations in international soccer for the past two decades. The reigning champion of Europe against the reigning champion of South America. A matchup that has never before happened in a World Cup final.

The two teams were supposed to play each other in the Finalissima in Qatar in March, but the regional tensions canceled that match. Instead, they will meet in the World Cup final.

On one side you have the machine. Spain doesn't demolish you, they slowly close every window in the room until there's no air left.

On the other side you have the magic. Argentina spends ninety minutes looking dead, then Lionel Messi finds his moment and the whole balance shifts. Machine versus magic. It's the perfect final.

It kicks off at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Spain is playing in only its second World Cup final, sixteen years after winning its first. Argentina is appearing in its seventh and attempting to become the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1962. Only Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962 have ever successfully defended the men’s World Cup.

It is a remarkably fresh matchup for two countries with such intertwined soccer histories. The country that birthed Messi and the country that refined him.

Spain and Argentina have met fourteen times, with six wins apiece and two draws, but only once in an official competition. Argentina won that 1966 World Cup group-stage meeting 2-1. The most recent game was considerably less competitive, a 6-1 Spanish victory in a 2018 friendly that Messi missed with an injury.

This version will be remembered through Messi and Lamine Yamal.

The 39-year-old king against the 19-year-old heir. Two left-footed geniuses developed at Barcelona. One playing what could be the final game of the greatest international career ever assembled, the other attempting to win a European Championship and World Cup before he is old enough to legally buy a drink in the United States.

There is even the now-famous photograph from a 2007 charity calendar in which a 20-year-old Messi helped bathe an infant Yamal. The photo now seems so prophetic that you would think it must be an AI-generated deep fake.

But this final will not really be Messi against Yamal.

It will be Spain’s machine against Argentina’s mística.

The Machine --

Spain hasn't been the fireworks show it was at Euro 2024. It's been something quieter, and possibly scarier. La Roja have suffocated teams out of games, limiting chances, hogging the ball for long stretches, and striking the moment a crack appears.

Through seven games they've conceded exactly one goal. They haven't lost a match in regulation in nearly two years, a 37 game unbeaten run.

The semifinal against France was that whole idea distilled into ninety minutes. Spain took the lead just past the 20 minute mark when Digne was too complacent and Yamal attacked his clearance in the box, drawing a foul for a penalty that Mikel Oyarzabal calmly buried.

They doubled it in the 58th with a goal that was a small masterpiece. After a long spell of possession building out from the back line, Pedro Porro played a give and go with Dani Olmo, took the return in stride, and side footed it past Mike Maignan. Yamal thought he'd added a third with a curler, but the offside flag pulled it back.

What happened at the other end mattered just as much. France arrived with Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, the most dangerous attack in the tournament, and Spain held them to roughly a third of an expected goal from ten shots.

Aymeric Laporte, 19 year old Pau Cubarsí and Rodri spent the afternoon reading French passes before they arrived, stepping in front of entry balls, killing every counter at the source. It was defending as theft.

The scary part is, Spain has been managing bodies all tournament. Yamal has been playing through groin and hamstring trouble. Nico Williams has fought muscle problems all year. Pedri has been in and out with fatigue and form issues.

The attack has gone flat for stretches, a scoreless draw with Cape Verde to open, a grind past Portugal. The reason none of it has cost them is that the defense never blinks. You can't score on Spain if you can't get the ball, and you can't get the ball.

The Magic --

Argentina is the exact opposite kind of team, and somehow it's worked just as well.

The defending champions have turned survival into an art form. They haven't led a single knockout game in the 90th minute, not once, and they're still standing.

They needed extra time to get past Cape Verde.

They came from two goals down in the 78th minute to beat Egypt.

They needed extra time and a Julián Álvarez stunner to escape Switzerland.

Then, in the semifinal, they did the most Argentina thing imaginable.

England took the lead in the 55th minute, and it was a lovely goal. Harry Kane dropped deep into midfield to start the move, Morgan Rogers delivered from the right, and Anthony Gordon arrived to finish. For half an hour England sat on it. Thomas Tuchel pulled Gordon, Reece James and Declan Rice and tried to see the game out behind a defensive wall.

That's when the dam broke.

Enzo Fernández smashed in an equalizer from twenty yards in the 85th minute. Then, in the second minute of stoppage time, Messi beat two defenders to create the space for a floated cross to the back post and substitute Lautaro Martínez headed Argentina into the final.

Messi set up both goals. Of course he did. Messi magic continues. The numbers around him have gone from historic to one-of-a-kind.

He's Argentina's leading scorer here with eight goals. He's now, as of this run, the leading scorer and assister in the entire history of the World Cup with 21 and 12. At 39, in what is almost certainly his last World Cup, he is playing in his third final.

That's the veteran savvy Argentina leans on. Much of this group won it all in 2022, and they seem to genuinely not engage until they fall behind. Then they turn it on and play their best soccer. It should be terrifying that a team can be this passive and this dangerous at the same time.

How They Match Up --

The shape of this game seems simple.

Spain will have the ball. Argentina will have to suffer, absorb, and pick the right moment to strike.

Whether Spain's control turns into actual chances, and whether Argentina's suffering turns into one clean counter, is the whole match. Spain wants to pin Argentina deep and distort the defense with movement. That's how they broke France, who didn’t pressure their center backs enough to stop passes slipping through the first line.

Olmo was superb at finding those windows. Expect Spain to hunt the same seams, with Olmo and Oyarzabal drifting into the gaps between Argentina's lines.

Even at less than full health, Yamal is the single biggest problem on the board. England never tested Argentina with a true cut in right winger. They started Morgan Rogers, more of an attacking midfielder, and never turned to Bukayo Saka, the one England player who most resembles Yamal.

Argentina has to be careful on its left side. Nicolás Tagliafico is going to need help, because handing Yamal a clean one on one is how you lose a final.

Then there are the 50/50 balls. Rodri owned the midfield against France especially in the air, and Spain seemed first to every loose ball. Argentina similarly out-fought England, and is simply going to have to repeat that effort against Spain, which is not a given.

Discipline matters here too. Argentina played with extreme passion and aggression against England, teetering on the knife's edge of losing players to cards. Giuliano Simeone alone could have had several yellows in the first half. Careless fouls near your own box can be gasoline against a team talented.

At the other end, the biggest tactical riddle is Messi's movement. Does Rodri shadow him in central areas, or do the center backs pick him up so Rodri can push higher and press? If Messi can drift into the space Marc Cucurella leaves when he steps forward, Argentina has its opening.

And when the counter is on, everyone knows where it starts. Messi to Álvarez. Álvarez already has a knockout counter goal in this tournament, the extra time winner against Switzerland, and he's exactly the kind of runner who can punish Spain's high line the way Spain fears most.

Who Has the Edge? --

From a purely analytical standpoint, it's Spain, and it isn't especially close. They're younger, they're deeper, they've been the better team for two years, and they've built the sturdiest defense in the tournament. The oddsmakers agree. DraftKings has Spain at -150 and Argentina at +130 to win the cup.

But Argentina just refuse to die.

There's a word for it down there, aguante. The idea of enduring anything, refusing to break, holding on well past the point where holding on makes any sense. This team is aguante in cleats.

The funny thing is, Argentina has carried the same black magic through this World Cup that Messi's old rivals at Real Madrid used to carry through the Champions League.

That sense that the scoreboard is only a suggestion and the ending is already written. Spain is the better team. That has stopped mattering to Argentina four times already.

Machine versus magic, one more time. Sunday, we find out which one wins.

For a deeper dive into the tactics and matchups you can find my in-depth preview here: https://jrmorgan18.github.io/World_Cup_Website/analysis/spain-vs-argentina-world-cup-final-preview/

Saturday July 18, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4351

laughably obvious

We didn't have wind, rain and chaos at the British Open yesterday, but we did have a guy quite clearly break the rules and then pitch a fit like a 9-year old who was told "no cartoons before bed" for 30 minutes after the second round at Royal Birkdale.

That guy, of course, was Bryson DeChambeau, who was, at one point, 7-under par and in second place until rules officials summoned him to an area short right of the 5th green after his round was complete.

What followed was one of the more bizarre sequences in major championship history.

DeChambeau spent a half-hour pleading his case with the rules officials, who were intending to penalize the 2-time U.S. Open champion for "inadvertently improving the area of his intended backswing on the 5th hole when he was playing his second shot."

I'm not sure what was more laughable: The rules officials inserting the word "inadvertently" into the rules enforcement or DeChambeau complaining about the 2-shot penalty he received.

It was clearly intentional.

DeChambeau stomped his way into the area, directly behind his ball, in a very obvious effort to "smooth out" the tall grass that would have impeded his back swing on his second shot from the rough.

If you watch that whole sequence and don't believe DeChambeau was "intentional" about the way he walked into the area, then you probably also believe Mike Tyson didn't purposely bite Evander Holyfield's ear, twice, during their 1997 fight.

How DeChambeau could defend himself is beyond me.

Now, "intent" is a very difficult thing to prove, of course.

But, as Seve Ballesteros once told Paul Azinger at the 1991 Ryder Cup after Azinger and alternate-shot partner Chip Beck played the wrong ball in Saturday's afternoon session, "Cheating and not knowing the rules are two different things."

I'm not sure DeChambeau was trying to cheat, yesterday.

However, he most certainly broke the rule.

Whether he knew the rule or not...is anyone's guess.

But there was a very clear violation of the rules and it certainly appeared like DeChambeau very intentionally tried to get in there and improve the intended path of his backswing.

Instead of just taking the penalty like a gentlemen-competitor, you know, the way Cameron Young accepted his penalty in the Cadillac Championship back in March, DeChambeau whined and complained and threatened to not continue playing in the tournament if the two-shot penalty was enforced.

That, of course, would be even more silly than acting like he wasn't trying to improve his swing path yesterday.

He's 5-under par through two rounds. The leader is 8 under par. And, here's the oddest part of the whole thing. DeChambeau was a complete afterthought heading into this event, a nod to a missed cut at this year's Masters, PGA and U.S. Open. The national golf media even jokingly called it, potentially, the "Bryson slam", if he failed to make the cut at Birkdale.

And now here he is, three shots out of the lead through 36 holes. He didn't just make the cut...finally. He's in the hunt. He actually has a chance to win.

But everything's murky now because of what happened on Friday. Sure, he might go on to win. The golf gods will decide some of that, I suppose. But if he doesn't win, this story will be hashed, re-hashed and triple-hashed for the rest of the year.

There's no need for that, though.

It was a penalty. Plain and simple. As the headline above reads, it was laughably obvious.

The sooner he gets over what happened and moves on, the better.

It's likely DeChambeau can't do that, though. He loves the "everyone's against me" angle.

In this case, though, everyone's against him for good reason. He broke a rule and then didn't want to be penalized.

Wouldn't we all like that sort of privilege?

Our incredibly talented R&D department at #DMD has developed this "show all" video, below, of what DeChambeau encountered on Friday (tall grass) and how he tried to navigate his way around it (by stomping on it).

In the actual golf tournament itself -- yes, there is one, despite what Bryson thinks -- Australia's Lucas Herbert is the owner of a 2-shot lead at the halfway point after posting 62 yesterday morning.

He coulda, shoulda, woulda posted a record-setting 61 if not for a pesky missed 4 footer at the last hole. Twenty minutes after Herbert posted his 8-round of 62, American Sam Burns followed suit with one of his own.

Burns, who is three shots behind, is still looking for his first-ever major championship, as is Herbert. In addition, the guy playing with Herbert in today's final pairing, Jackson Suber of the U.S., is also in search of his first major victory.

Ryan Gerard of the U.S. is at 6-under and lurking as well.

Speaking of pesky missed putts, Scottie Scheffler would be winning the tournament at Royal Birkdale by four shots if he could putt the four to eight footers.

Scheffler just can't get the ball in the hole. Everything else about his golf game this week is submlime. He's driving it on a string, hitting his irons close, and chipping and scrambling like a reincarnated Seve Ballesteros.

But the defending British Open champion can't buy a putt on the greens.

He's either going to make them all over the weekend and win by three or miss them all like he's been doing and lose by four.

Others just off the pace with a legitimate shot at the Claret Jug include Si Woo Kim (-5), Jon Rahm (-4), Tommy Fleetwood (-4) and Ludvig Aberg (-3).

All of the post-round talk on Friday centered on DeChambeau, obviously, but the leaderboard reflects an interesting mixture of proven and unproven that should make for a thrilling final 36 holes at Royal Birkdale.

Gas prices are going down but bandwagon prices are starting to go up, particularly here in The Land of Pleasant Living. The O's are now winners of 5 straight games after last night's thrilling instant classic victory in Houston, 3-2.

My advice? Buy those bandwagon tickets now before they double in price and then you really won't be able to afford them.

The O's are starting to turn it around.

Last night's hero was Taylor Ward, who smacked his 7th homer of the season in the top of the 8th inning to take the Birds from 2-1 down to 3-2 ahead. The bullpen handled things from there and the second half of the season started with a nice win, on the road no less.

Oh, sure, nitpickers will point out that the O's offense managed just five hits on the night.

It was another 0-fer evening for Gunnar, who was hitless in four at-bats. Basallo (0-4) and Beavers (0-3) met the same fate as Henderson.

"Dean Kremer was lucky," they'll say. "He allowed seven baserunners in four innings on the mound. That's not good."

That's correct. Those numbers pan out. But the O's won, 3-2.

Don't look now -- but go ahead, please, if for no other reason than to see it for yourself -- but the Birds are 47-51 and there's starting to be some light at the end of the tunnel.

This is going to be fun. By "this", I mean the second half turn around where the O's sling themselves back into the A.L. playoff race.

A lot of doubters are going to pay a pretty penny to get back on the bandwagon.

I just wanted to give those of you who donated to Liam O'Donoghue's golf club fund an update on where we are with that project.

I'm excited to report that Liam is getting fitted for his clubs next Tuesday. Once we get an idea of the length he needs along with the lie angle of his irons, I'll be purchasing them and getting the irons built to his specifications.

We're also going to be scheduling some lessons for Liam and I'll get some pictures and videos of all of that once it takes place.

Liam and his parents are very appreciative of everyone's support, as am I. Thank you again to those who participated in our fund raiser over the last two weeks!

Friday July 17, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4350

what happens from here?

I guess baseball's second half technically started last night in Philadelphia where the Mets beat the Phils, 4-1, but in reality the second half of the season begins this evening as everyone returns from the All Star break to begin the final stage of the 2026 MLB campaign.

So what happens from here?

We'll take you through it all and tell you what to expect.

Of course, we're doing this two weeks in advance of the trade deadline, so there's a chance (or two) that someone we're not bullish on right now makes a couple of moves that boosts their post-season chances. Milwaukee fired the first shot earlier this week by acquiring pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. from Houston.

And our Orioles? As we wrote here a couple of days ago, we anticipate they'll buy rather than sell at the deadline. With the injuries to Akin and Helsley, it's likely Mike Elias adds an arm or three for the bullpen at the very least. Another right handed bat? That makes sense, too.

Would any of that make a difference for the O's? Maybe. They haven't played all that well and, yet, they're right there in the playoff hunt. It wouldn't take much to lead them into October baseball given how watered-down the A.L. has been in 2026.

So......what happens from here? We tell you below.

A.L. West --

Texas (Currently in 1st, 49-47) -- The division no one really wants to win. The Rangers have somehow managed to be the best of a bunch of "meh" teams, but they have the fixins to be decent if everything comes together. They'll likely make a move or two at the deadline to help themselves. Predicted finish: 85-77.

Seattle (2nd, 48-49) -- One of the mysteries of the '26 season is Seattle. It's just not happening for them, yet. But don't count them out. They have too much talent, particularly in the power department, to not make a meaningful second half run. Predicted finish: 87-75.

Houston (3rd, 47-51) -- Are they going to be sellers? Dumping McCullers Jr. this week would indicate a soft "yes" on that question. If they do sell, the bet here is they gut their roster and send a few stars to some starving teams. Predicted finish: 75-87.

Athletics (4th, 41-55) -- They were flying high and surprising people until they lost their last 9 games prior to the All Star break. They do have some young talent, for sure, but not nearly enough pitching to make a run for it. Predicted finish: 74-88.

L.A. Angels (5th, 38-59) -- There are three sports guarantees these days: Joey Chestnut will win the hot dog eating contest, the Ravens will lose to the Bills and the Angels will be terrible and out of it by the All-Star break. It's amazing how awful the Angels have been for a decade. Predicted finish: 64-98.

A.L. Central --

Chicago (Currently tied 1st, 50-45) -- Probably the best story in baseball thus far, just because absolutely no one saw this coming. It isn't going to happen, of course, at least not this year, but how cool would a Chicago vs. Chicago World Series be? The bet here is the White Sox get the old Cleat of Reality in the second half. Predicted finish: 80-82.

Cleveland (Tied 1st, 51-46) -- I thought they'd bottom out when Jose Ramirez went down with his hand injury, but they've managed to hang on nicely in his absence. He should be back in August and that will connect nicely with a second half run for the Guards. Predicted finish: 89-73.

Minnesota (3rd, 48-49) -- We expected more from these guys and maybe a deadline deal or two will help. They are just like the Orioles. Perplexing and yet hopeful moving forward. We're going to "buy" on these guys in the second half. Predicted finish: 84-78.

Detroit (4th, 44-52) -- Talk about failing to fulfill your promise, huh? Everyone pretty much hand-delivered the Central to them at the beginning of the season and they have been lousy from the start. Even the return of Tarik Skubal isn't going to help them over the last two months. Predicted finish: 74-88.

Kansas City (5th, 38-59) -- They win the contest for "Most Disappointing Team in Baseball" through the first half of '26. As we saw in Baltimore last weekend, they stink. They have some pieces they could move at the deadline that would kick-start a mini-rebuild for them, but will they do it? Predicted finish: 63-99.

A.L. East --

Tampa Bay (Currently in 1st, 56-38) -- The Rays are doing it yet again, huh? No one thought much of their chances going into 2026 and here they are, with a 3-game lead at the break. Aranda and Caminero will continue to lead the way. Predicted finish: 1st, 94-68.

New York (2nd, 54-42) -- Give the Yankees credit. They've managed to hang in there without Aaron Judge. They're likely going to make a move or two at the deadline just to make sure they're still relevant when he returns. Predicted finish: 2nd, 91-71.

Boston (3rd, 46-48) -- After an awful start, they won their last 9 games prior to the break to give themselves some hope. I think their bubble bursts from here on in, though. They have the pitching, but their bats will quiet down. Predicted finish: 5th, 76-86

Baltimore (4th, 46-51) -- A 4-game winning streak prior to the break has given them a little hope for a second half rebound. We all know the questions that loom. Can the starting pitching continue to shine? Will Gunnar ever get it together? How will the loss of Alexander impact them? They'll make a second half run that gives them a shot at a wild card spot. Predicted finish: 85-77

Toronto (5th, 45-51) -- The defending A.L. champs are sputtering along doing nothing special, but they can't keep playing like this, right? Uh, yes they can. Not enough pitching and their offense is too hot and cold. An unreliable bullpen leads to a drab August and September in the home of the greatest band to hail from Canada (RUSH). Predicted finish: 77-85.

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N.L. East --

Atlanta (Currently 1st, 55-40) -- They're good, but they've started to show signs of wear and tear over the last few weeks. We'll see them in Baltimore next weekend, remember. Can they hold off the Fightin' Phils? We don't think so. Predicted finish: 94-68.

Philadelphia (2nd, 54-44) -- They're not going to stand pat at the deadline. With the Braves starting to fall back and the Phils starting to turn it on, they're going to make a move or two to put themselves over the top. Predicted finish: 97-65.

Miami (3rd, 52-45) -- If Kansas City is the most surprising team in a "bad" way, Miami is the most surprising team in a "good" way. They are legitimately in the hunt and could be a factor over the next two months. Predicted finish: 86-76.

Washington (4th, 48-49) -- They're actually playing quite well for what they have. And the future is starting to look brighter in D.C., even if the reflecting pool isn't. They won't be in the hunt this year, but '27 might be a different story. Predicted finish: 75-87.

New York (5th, 41-57) -- Pete Alonso is definitely getting the last laugh here, huh? All that money spent and they're out of the playoff race before the World Cup ends. Predicted finish: 70-92.

N.L. Central --

Milwaukee (Currently 1st, 59-37) -- What a great season they're having thus far. If McCullers Jr. stays healthy, that's a huge addition for them over the last two-plus months of the regular season and into the playoffs. They are the Rays of the N.L. No one really knows any of their players, but they're very good. Predicted finish: 96-66.

Chicago (2nd, 54-42) -- Having a really nice year and they're loaded with talent. If they get some pitching help at the deadline, watch out. Could also use one more big bat for the stretch run. Predicted finish: 93-69.

St. Louis (3rd, 50-45) -- Give the Cards credit. All they ever seemingly do is dump decent players and not replace them and, yet, here they are, well in the hunt for a playoff spot. Like the Cubs, they need a little pitching help and maybe another bat at the deadline. Predicted finish: 87-75.

Pittsburgh (4th, 50-47) -- They're actually hanging around nicely, despite a very ho-hum roster. Having Paul Skenes throw every 5th day doesn't hurt, even though he's not having the kind of season most people expected of him. It won't be enough this year, but the Pirates are trending "up" these days. Predicted finish: 80-82.

Cincinnati (5th, 43-52) -- We thought they'd be better than this. They just don't have anything "great" on their roster. Their pitching is OK, their offense is OK and their defense is OK. It all adds up to watching the post-season on TV again. Predicted finish: 70-92.

N.L. West --

Los Angeles (Currently 1st, 61-36) -- Maybe that 3-game home sweep at the hands of Arizona shook them up a little bit? OK, maybe it didn't. As expected, the Dodgers are already in cruise control and in complete command of the National League West with an 11.5 game lead. They'll add a quality piece or two at the deadline because they love to win and that's what's expected of them. Predicted finish: 99-63.

Arizona (2nd, 49-47) -- Sweeping the Dodgers last weekend in Los Angeles gave them some hope, I suppose. But unless they add a few pieces over the next couple of weeks, they're going nowhere fast. Predicted finish: 78-84.

San Diego (3rd, 48-48) -- Hard to believe they're no better than .500 at this point with all that talent they have. They'll add a pitcher and a bat at the deadline and make a post-season run. Predicted finish: 84-78.

San Francisco (4th, 41-55) -- Lots of folks (including us, here) thought the Giants would be better. They in no man's land at this point. Blow it up and start over or stand pat and go 65-97 and have no one interested in them over the last two months of the season? Predicted finish: 65-97.

Colorado (5th, 39-59) Nothing to see here. And nothing to move at the deadline, either. They're in one of those multi-year ruts that is really hard to climb out of without drafting a game-changing player. Predicted finish: 62-100.

faith in sports

Sam Burns is one of the best men on the PGA Tour. He's not only a high quality golfer, but he's an devoted Christian who is more than happy to share his testimony with the world.

He recently appeared on the wildly popular podcast, Bible Caddie Classic, and shared wisdom about faith, identity and life on the PGA Tour.

The clip below is just 10 minutes in length but it's filled with great stuff.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday.

Thursday July 16, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4349

where's the wind, rain and hats flying off?

It feels weird this week not having Orioles baseball to opine about here at #DMD.

The Birds will be back at it tomorrow, of course, as they start a road trip that takes them first to Houston and then on to Fenway Park for a key mid-summer series with their division rivals in Boston.

But this week is always strange without any kind of meaningful baseball to follow.

And, no, I don't count the All Star Game as "meaningful", in case you're going to race to the Comments section and write, "But, but, but, the All Star Game!"

No matter what you think about the O's and their first half play, it's undeniable that they're right in the thick of the A.L. wild card race as the trade deadline looms.

One team in their own playoff pursuit made a deal on Wednesday, with Milwaukee acquiring oft-injured starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. from Houston. The Brewers are also apparently interested in obtaining a left-handed bat to boost their offense. Any chance an O's coach can teach Tyler O'Neill to hit from that side of the plate?

The Birds are likely going to do some modest buying at the deadline, I'm guessing. Unless something really weird happens and they go on one of those goofy skids where they lose 10 of their next 12 games, the O's are going to be a few games under .500 at the end of the month and well within wild card striking distance on the week of the deadline.

In other words, it's inevitable that Mike Elias is going to buy rather than sell.

No GM worth his or her salt really wants to sell at the deadline. Selling at the deadline sorta-kinda says "I haven't done my job very well, the team stinks, and we have to think about waving the white towel on this team and this season and start over."

When you buy, you're saying there's reason for optimism. "We just need another piece or two and we could make a run."

So, I fully expect Elias and the O's to buy at the end of the month. I'm not sure what they're going to have to give up to acquire the talent they want, but I can't see them doing anything other than buying.

I know they didn't play well in the first half of the season, but they're still in it. That, if nothing else, makes the next month and a half worth following.

So, I got up at 5:00 am today to watch the British Open and when I got to the TV coverage, it looked like they moved the tournament to somewhere in the middle of Nebraska.

Blue skies.

A perfect mixture of lush green fairways and brown, dried out rough.

Perfect putting surfaces, both in color and contrast.

And the patrons were in shorts and tee shirts.

The flags behind several of the greens were hardly moving.

This.......is the British Open?

It can't be.

Isn't the British Open the tournament where the wind howls, the rain comes down sideways, everyone's miserable, and half the players in the field vow to quit golf once they get to the locker room?

Sadly, this is the weather they're expecting all weekend in Southport, England.

Sunny, warm and not much wind.

I wanted to watch the British Open and instead the John Deere Classic took its place.

Now, don't get me wrong. The golf course is difficult. Thomas Detry and Robert MacIntyre were the early leaders this morning and they were only able to manage a tidy score of 3 under par to share the clubhouse leader in the morning wave of players.

Scottie Scheffler got off to a great start, with four early birdies offset by a single bogey. He was the leading American as #DMD went "live" this morning.

I couldn't help but feel a little dismayed, though, as I peeked up at the coverage every couple of minutes.

I wanted to see hats flying off in the wind and rain pelting the TV camera lens. I wanted to hear announcers talking about a "proper front coming through the course sometime soon" and umbrellas bounding down fairways.

Instead, we got a mid-summer day in New York City.

But it's still a major championship at one of the greatest courses in the world.

I'm sure the players are thrilled to be playing in the conditions they've found at Royal Birkdale today.

I wanted to see chaos, but it appears like we won't get any of that over the next four days.

For those of you who are interested in soccer and, in particular, soccer here in the U.S., our soccer guru, Randy Morgan, has an incredibly thoughtful piece below today on the reasons why U.S. soccer is still bumbling along and not yet reaching "elite" status within the ranks of international soccer.

If you're a soccer buff, you'll love his entry below.

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orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week. This week several prospects made this an incredibly difficult decision, but ultimately we have selected AA Chesapeake Baysox lefty Luis De Leon.

De Leon, 23, got the nod this week thanks to his stellar performance against the Akron RubberDucks (Cleveland Guardians) on July 11. The lanky 6-foot-3, 168 pound lefty earned Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors thanks to his eight inning shutout performance in the win.

It wasn’t just eight shutout innings, he carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning before a two- out single by Bennett Thompson. When it was all said and done, he tossed those eight shutout innings while allowing two hits, one walk and striking out five. It only took him 93 pitches and it was the longest start by any pitcher in the entire minor leagues last week.

De Leon is on a bit of a heater, as he has now not allowed a run over his last two starts spanning 13.2 innings pitched, and has struck out 14 and surrendered just three hits over that stretch.

Currently ranked the 4th best prospect in the O’s system (per MLB Pipeline), De Leon has been a bit of a hot and cold pitcher this season. Over 17 starts, he has a 4.76 ERA with a 1.400 WHIP over 70 innings pitched. He has struck out an impressive 11.1 batters per nine innings, but is also issuing .56 walks per inning, which is not what you want.

Signed in 2021 out of the Dominican Republic for just $30k, De Leon does have impressive stuff. He owns a 95-98mph sinker with good run, a four-seamer along the same speed range and a pretty sharp slider. His issue is obviously his command, but the upside is undeniable if he can get more consistent with his command and delivery.

Be sure to check back in all season as we will continue to highlight top performers from the O’s farm system!

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

the 10 reasons the usmnt still isn’t elite

After the somewhat embarrassing World Cup loss to Belgium, the hot takes started flying.

Everyone searching for the answer to why the US men have not made more progress in the 32 intervening years since the last time we hosted the World Cup.

As I sat down to outline and write my thoughts for this list, I quickly realized I have much more to say on this than can fit in one post on this site. It ended up turning into a long essay or short book called Why the USMNT Will Never Be Argentina (But Could Maybe Be France).

If you are interested in that extensive read on the issues with the US system and how we can attempt to improve it, part one is up on my site today: https://jrmorgan18.github.io/World_Cup_Website/usmnt/why-the-usmnt-will-never-be-argentina

Below I have the much shorter list of my top ten reasons why the USMNT has not cracked the elite international tier.

First off, the US has certainly improved at men’s soccer over the last thirty-plus years. That part should not be controversial.

The current USMNT has more players at major European clubs, better academy products, greater tactical sophistication, a thriving 30-team domestic league and significantly more depth than the teams many of us grew up watching. It can mostly dominate CONCACAF.

It can comfortably beat respectable international teams (one of which went on to knock out Germany). At this World Cup, it won more games than at any other World Cup and and finally won another knockout game.

Then Belgium beat it 4-1.

The problem is no longer whether the United States can produce a good national team. The problem is why a country with 340 million people, unlimited resources, and several decades of increasingly serious investment still cannot consistently compete with the world’s elite, or even the tier just below that.

There is no single explanation. Here are the top ten reasons in my opinion, in order of importance.

1. Culture and Institutional Knowledge

This is the biggest one, and also the hardest to fix.

A 2025 study found that the founding date of a country’s football association predicts its current world ranking more strongly than either population or GDP. Football knowledge compounds across generations. Parents teach children. Former players become coaches. Clubs develop scouting instincts. Entire countries learn what a talented six-year-old looks like before anyone has invented a metric for it.

The United States has a long soccer history, but not an unbroken one. Professional leagues repeatedly collapsed. The national team disappeared from the World Cup for 40 years. The sport kept restarting instead of accumulating knowledge.

Argentina does not need to manufacture that knowledge. It is inherited.

2. American Kids Do Not Play Enough Soccer on Their Own

Elite players are not created entirely during organized practices.

They are created in driveways, schoolyards, parks, streets, cages, living rooms, and pickup games where no adult is stopping the action every four minutes to explain spacing.

Research into German professionals found that future elite players accumulated more unstructured soccer than organized training through much of childhood.

American youth soccer has become exceptionally good at organizing children. Practices, tournaments, uniforms, apps, hotel blocks, private lessons.

What it has not created is the part that happens for free.

In most of the United States, the scheduled practice is not the tip of the development iceberg. It is the entire iceberg.

3. Pay-to-Play Selects Customers Before Players

The economic model is backward.

In Argentina, France, Germany, and most serious soccer countries, clubs invest in talented players because those players may eventually strengthen the first team or generate a transfer fee. The player is the product.

In the United States, families often pay thousands of dollars for access to coaching, competition, and scouting. The family is the customer.

That changes everything. Clubs need to retain paying players. Winning youth tournaments becomes advertising. Moving a talented kid to a better environment can mean losing revenue.

MLS academies have improved the top of the pyramid and are generally free. But most players reach those academies through an expensive middle tier. The free door exists. The hallway leading to it still has a toll booth.

4. The Coaching Is Good at the Top and Inconsistent Everywhere Else

The best American academies now employ legitimate professional coaches. The gap is lower down.

Millions of children still begin the sport with well-meaning volunteer parents who may have little playing experience and limited technical knowledge. That is not an insult to the coaches. It is evidence of the cultural problem.

An Argentine volunteer has often spent a lifetime inside the game. An American volunteer may be learning it one practice ahead of the players.

The United States has improved coaching education, but quality remains concentrated in the expensive parts of the system. Elite countries do not merely have great coaches at national academies. They have informed coaching and football knowledge throughout the pyramid.

5. The Development System and Domestic League Are Not Fully Aligned

US Soccer, MLS academies, MLS NEXT, ECNL, independent clubs, high schools, colleges, private trainers, and unaffiliated immigrant leagues all occupy parts of the American development landscape. They do not always share incentives, standards, calendars, or even definitions of success.

MLS deserves enormous credit. It survived. It built stadiums, created academies, provided professional minutes, and dramatically increased the number of competent American players. But the league was designed first for stability, parity, and franchise value. It was not built primarily to collect, develop, challenge, and sell young players.

Argentina’s clubs must develop players to survive. France’s clubs rely on academy production and transfer revenue. Smaller European leagues give young players important minutes and then move the best of them upward. Their domestic leagues are integrated into a broader development machine.

The American landscape remains a collection of partially connected institutions. MLS is becoming more developmental, but it is still caught between being an entertainment business, a destination for aging stars, and a talent exporter.

There are many good programs. There is not yet one unified machine.

6. The Country Is Enormous

Uruguay can search for players across a country with roughly the population of Utah. Croatia is comparable to Oklahoma. Greater Paris produces an absurd number of professionals from one densely populated region.

The United States must scout 3.8 million square miles.

That makes everything more expensive. Better competition requires travel. Better coaching may be several hours away. MLS academies can thoroughly cover their local markets, but enormous portions of the country remain nowhere near one.

Size should be an advantage because it provides more potential players. But without a dense, coordinated scouting system, it also creates more places for those players to disappear.

7. Europe Still Has to Finish the Best American Players

The American pipeline can now produce professionals, but it still struggles to produce elite internationals entirely on its own.

The most ambitious prospects generally need to leave for Europe, where every training session and roster decision is shaped by ruthless global competition. That final stage transforms promising Americans into Champions League-level players.

But an outsourced finishing system has limits. Players may leave too late, choose the wrong club, sit on the bench, or never receive the technical foundation required to survive there. The United States is producing more good players than ever. It still does not produce enough players who can dictate a World Cup knockout game against Belgium, France, Spain, or Argentina.

8. The System Looks for Talent in the Wrong Places

American soccer has become much better at developing the players it finds. It is still not particularly good at deciding where to look.

The most visible players are usually already participating in expensive clubs, regional showcases, and national travel leagues. That creates a circular system of scouts looking where the organized players are, and organized players going where the scouts look.

France searches the banlieues. Argentine clubs search neighborhood teams and baby fútbol leagues. Their systems deliberately enter poorer, densely populated communities because that is where many of the most obsessive and gifted players are playing.

The United States largely waits for those players to purchase admission into the system.

9. The Latino Soccer Population Remains Partially Disconnected

This may be the most frustrating failure because the culture already exists.

The United States does not need to create soccer obsession from scratch in every community. It has millions of Latino families in which the sport is already watched, understood, discussed, and played across generations.

But much of that soccer ecosystem remains disconnected from the primary scouting and development pipeline. Unaffiliated leagues, language barriers, transportation costs, club fees, and a lack of trusted relationships keep talented players outside the system—or make them more visible to Mexico than to the United States.

France built infrastructure around the places where people were already playing. American soccer too often asks those places to come find it.

10. Our “Best Athletes” Usually Do Not Play Soccer

There is some truth to the cliché.

Soccer competes with football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track, and several other sports for athletic talent, coaching attention, television coverage, and parental ambition. An explosive American kid who might become a devastating winger or striker is often pushed toward another sport long before soccer’s development system gets a serious look at him.

Elite soccer countries do not usually face that level of competition. A gifted Argentine or Brazilian child is overwhelmingly likely to devote himself to soccer. A gifted American child has a menu.

But this is nowhere close to the primary reason the US is not elite.

Soccer development is not a contest to identify the fastest, tallest, or most explosive athletes and teach them the rules. Lionel Messi is 5-foot-7 and would not fit the preferred physical archetype in any major American sport. France’s best overall athlete may be Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 basketball player who would be almost comically unsuited to elite soccer.

The best soccer players are highly specialized athletes whose balance, touch, anticipation, spatial awareness, and decision-making have been developed from early childhood. Dropping an NFL wide receiver into an academy at 18 would not create Kylian Mbappé.

The United States would benefit if more of its best young athletes chose soccer. It would especially benefit at positions where size, speed, explosiveness, and coordination carry an obvious advantage.

But the country already has more than enough athletic raw material to produce an elite national team. The larger failure is that it does not identify, train, and develop enough of the soccer talent it already has.

Conclusion --

The USMNT is no longer a scrappy underdog hoping to survive entirely through effort, athleticism, and goalkeeping.

It has improved.

But improvement is not the same thing as reaching the elite. The United States has built better academies, hired better coaches, exported more players, and invested more money. What it has not built is the century of accumulated knowledge beneath Argentina, or the unified development machine behind France.

Part two of Why the USMNT Will Never Be Argentina (But Could Maybe Be France) will examine what America actually can build and why even that may be much harder than it sounds.

Wednesday July 15, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4348

wednesday with greg

#DMD's Greg Trehane pops in for an all-Orioles chat with Drew, covering a wide variety of subjects including the team's first half, what ultimately happens with Mike Elias, the "old days" when the team and a local radio station waged war on one another and more.

Greg also throws in a golf question (kind of a mandatory thing around here) and a Ravens question for good measure.

Greg: "What was the most surprising thing in a good way and surprising thing in a bad way about the Orioles in the first half of the season?"

DF: "Surprising in a good way has to be Blaze Alexander. He was an afterthought, pretty much. No one really knew anything about him when he came over in the off-season trade. And now, there's an argument he's performed at a level higher than his ceiling would suggest he could reach. He seems very much like an "Orioles way" kind of player in that old school description.

Surprising in a bad way has to be Gunnar, sadly. I know the power numbers are OK, but nothing else is really any good at all. We expected he might become a mini-Mike-Trout and instead he's basically morphing into a mini-Alex-Bregman. The answer was going to be Colton Cowser through the first month of the season, but that two-day stretch that started with the game-winning homer against the Rays changed things for him."

Greg: "Will Mike Elias be in charge of the Orioles this time next year?"

DF: "Wow, that's a big question. I'll fence-sit on this one and just say it depends on what happens between now and the end of September. If they somehow squeak their way into the post-season and perhaps -- gasp! -- win a playoff series, it would be incredibly difficult to make a change with him.

But if they sputter along over the final two-and-a-half-months and finish something like 76-86 and fail to make the playoffs, I think he's probably gone. I see Rubenstein being cut from the same cloth as Bisciotti in that he's not just going to willy-nilly fire people for the sake of doing it. But if they don't make the playoffs, that decision gets made a lot easier."

Greg: "Did you happen to see where your former boss at WNST was given a media pass for the All Star Game in Philadelphia? Is he slowly getting back into good graces with the Orioles?"

DF: "I didn't see that, but good for him if that's true. Unlike most media people, who would probably rather eat a snail than cover an All-Star Game, he sees value in doing it. I don't know why. That's his call. It wouldn't interest me at all, honestly. Even when I was on the air and would have received press access to an All Star Game, I wouldn't have gone. It's about the most boring sports event ever created."

Greg: "That brings up a good follow up question. What do you get out of covering the All Star Game? Is there a benefit?"

DF: "Nothing? I guess that's the answer. I mean, maybe you get some free swag and there's probably a fancy media party on Monday night, but I don't see any merit in covering the All Star Game. But I'm saying that in full recognition of the fact that some people do see merit in covering it and reporting on it."

Greg: "And do you think this is a sign perhaps he's getting back in the good graces of the Orioles?"

DF: "I have no idea. Probably not. The league runs the All Star Game. I assume the Orioles have a small amount of "pull" on who gets to cover it and who doesn't, in terms of Baltimore media, but, again, if no one from Baltimore is going up to Philadelphia to sit in the press box and report on the game, maybe that opens up a seat for someone like WNST. I don't really know the application criteria any longer, so it's hard for me to say much more on the subject."

Greg: "On a scale of 1-to-10, just how frosty was the relationship between the Orioles and the station back in those days when you were part of the on air staff?"

DF: "Overall, probably an "8". I mean, they still credentialed the station at all times, which I give the Orioles full credit for. They never, ever said, "No one from that station is allowed in the press box." So they do deserve credit for that.

I tried my best to be open and friendly with them, even when things were heated, but it ultimately didn't really work. They thought I was too hard on them and I thought they were getting by unscathed based on their on-field performance and their attendance woes. We were never going to see eye to eye, I don't think. But, like I used to say on the air, I was born and raised an Orioles fan. They were my team. We all did the Eddie Murray bat-on-the-shoulder batting stance when we played Wiffle Ball in someone's back yard in the 1980's. I was there at 1:30 am on the night (morning) they returned from Philadelphia after winning the 1983 World Series.

All I ever really wanted is for the Orioles to be good again and for people to go to the games. There was a three period year starting around 2005 or so where nearly every single morning in baseball season I'd open the mic and talk about the Orioles losing 7-3 in front of 8,700 people at Camden Yards. It was maddening."

Greg: "Looking back now, did you guys take it a little too far? The vitriol and dislike for them, I'm saying."

DF: "Maybe. But you have to remember, they fought back. It wasn't like we did everything to them and they did nothing in return to us. They actually initiated the entire "friction" of the 2000's by trying to misrepresent an advertising package they agreed to with us. So, in that way, they really did throw the first bunch. That said, I think we learned a valuable lesson there about having a local team involved in on-air advertising with us."

Greg: "Sorry to interrupt, but let me stop you there. What lesson did you learn?"

DF: "That it's probably not a good idea to accept advertising dollars from one of the professional teams in town. It might be different with colleges, for some reason. I'm not even sure why. It just "feels" like it's OK to actively endorse and promote a college team. But taking advertising dollars from a pro team creates a murky picture of sorts.

The team might say, "Wait, we're giving you $50,000 a year to promote us and your morning show and afternoon show are crushing our players left and right and ridiculing us for our low attendance? Why are we spending $50,000 with you?" That's a slippery slope. At least that's what I think we learned if we honestly looked deeply into how everything unraveled between the Orioles and the station."

Greg: "And there was nothing that could fix or repair the relationship?"

DF: "Well, that whole thing went a little above my paygrade. Yes, I had a squabble with them about my media credential in the 2009 and 2010 seasons but the real truth of the matter was I didn't really care all that much. I had a newborn son in 2007 and, frankly, not having to go to the ballpark once or twice every homestand was actually a relief for me.

I had lunch with the P.R. Director at the time and we tried to hash out a better relationship. I think he knew we weren't quite the evil hell-raisers that some of the organization's big wigs thought we were. But he also had a job and a salary to protect. And I understood that, too.

So, I never really got all that hot and bothered about it. It wasn't something I think we were ultimately proud of, but we drew our line in the sand and they drew their line in the sand and that was that. We might have said we were "proud" to stand up and speak for the people in town who didn't have a microphone, but I don't think we were proud to have the baseball team in town hating us and trying to bar us from the stadium. At least I wasn't proud of that."

Greg: "What was your most memorable run in or conflict that you can share?"

DF: "Jay Gibbons approached me once while I was sitting in the dugout with Peter Schmuck and said, 'Hey, man, are you ever going to stop shi**ing on me?' I couldn't even believe he would say that to me. Here it is, 4:00 pm or thereabouts, and you're standing there in your uniform bickering with a sports talk host?

I looked up at him and said, 'Are you serious?' and he said, 'Dead serious. Are you ever going to stop?'

I said something like, 'Jay, it's (June 11th), you're hitting .206. You have 4 home runs. You signed a $25 million deal in the off-season. The team is terrible. You haven't had a hit that matters all season. And you're mad at me? Am I supposed to go on the air and tell people that Jay Gibbons didn't really go 0-for-4 last night? That was just their imagination running wild?'

He mumbled something and continued playing catch with Javy Lopez or whoever it was. Peter laughed and I just shook my head.

J.J. Hardy and I had a funny exchange one year during spring training. I asked him if I could record a quick 5-minute interview for the morning show and he sat down at his chair and said, 'Sure, I'll do it, but I'm not going to stand up for it. You'll have to kneel down here next to me if you want me to do it.'

I just said, 'Nah, man. I'm good,' and walked off. I didn't need an interview with J.J. Hardy nearly enough to kneel down in front of him."

Greg: "Do you think the fractured relationship with the Orioles is a key reason why the station is no longer part of the all sports landcape in town?"

DF: "No, I don't. I think the station changed forever on the day 105.7 The Fan opened their doors. There was simply no competing with them. They had a better signal. A bigger budget for talent and shows. More national advertising dollars coming in. And they had a more refined relationship with the Orioles and Ravens because of their signal and their "status" as the big boy in town.

If any one specific thing started the decline of the old radio station as an all-sports entity, it was the emergence of a legitimate FM competitor."

Greg: "What's going to be the key to this year's British Open? The guy who wins will do what better than the rest of the golfers?"

DF: "It will come down to the wedge game. The guy who wedges it the best wins. There's no rain in the forecast and they haven't had rain for two weeks in Southport. It's going to play dry, firm and fast. Guys are going to be hitting wedges and scoring clubs into more than half the holes. The player who nip his wedges in there tight and make the putts will win. I think it might wind up being something around 20 under par as the winning score."

Greg: "Early thoughts on the Ravens for the 2026 season?"

DF: "It should be a cakewalk to the division title. The fun starts there. They always used to say 'The Masters doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday.' Well, for the Ravens, it's, 'The Ravens season doesn't actually begin until the playoffs roll around in January.' As long as Lamar stays healthy, they're going to cruise to 13 or 14 wins and easily capture the division title.

Then.....January comes along and that's when it counts. Can they get past the Bills? Will they have to face Mahomes and the Chiefs? If they get past those two, they're headed to the Super Bowl, I presume."

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9. Brian Harman was #8. At #7, it was Tyrrell Hatton. Brooks Koepka was #6. Kurt Kitayama was #5. Justin Thomas was #4. #3 was Wyndham Clark. #2 was Tommy Fleetwood.

#1 is...............

It's not going to be found here. Instead, you'll have to check out my VideoCast with Mac Webster below, as we preview the British Open and I give you my eventual winner and Mac gives you his winner and favorites as well.

I will tease it all with this.

I think you're going to be very surprised with my name at #1.

Like, incredibly surprised.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

world cup semifinal preview

Argentina and England is a game with ghosts.

The Hand of God. The Goal of the Century. Antonio Rattín’s dismissal at Wembley. David Beckham’s red card. Diego Simeone’s theatrical fall. Michael Owen announcing himself to the world. Beckham’s redemption four years later.

Few international matchups carry this much history. Even fewer have produced so many moments that have become inseparable from the history of the World Cup itself. Now, after twenty-four years without meeting in this tournament, Argentina and England will renew the rivalry with a place in the final on the line.

Lionel Messi is attempting to become the first player ever to captain his country to consecutive World Cup titles. England is one win away from its first World Cup final since winning the tournament sixty years ago. Jude Bellingham has emerged as perhaps the best player in the knockout rounds. Harry Kane is trying to add the one trophy that would permanently change the way his career is remembered.

This will also be the first time Messi has ever faced England at the senior international level. Argentina-England kicks off Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern from Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz) Stadium. The game will air on FOX and stream through FOX One and FOX Sports.

Both teams arrive after draining extra-time victories in the quarterfinals. Argentina needed 120 minutes to finally put away Switzerland 3-1. England survived Norway 2-1 behind two more goals from Bellingham, including the winner in extra time.

Neither team has a rest advantage. Neither will be particularly fresh.

At this point, nobody is supposed to be.

History --

Argentina and England have played five times at the World Cup. England has won three. Argentina has won two, although one of those officially counts as a draw because Argentina advanced on penalties in 1998.

The first controversial chapter came in the 1966 quarterfinal at Wembley. Argentina captain Antonio Rattín was sent off by German referee Rudolf Kreitlein, for “violence of the tongue”, despite the ref speaking no Spanish. England won 1-0. Argentina called the match the “robbery of the century.” England went on to win its only World Cup.

The 1986 meeting carried an additional political weight. It came only four years after the Falklands War, known in Argentina as the Malvinas War, in which Argentina and the United Kingdom fought over the disputed islands. The match was not literally a continuation of that conflict, but in Argentina especially, victory over England carried a significance that extended well beyond soccer.

Twenty years later, Diego Maradona delivered two of the most famous goals ever scored within four minutes of each other.

The first was the Hand of God, a blatant handball Maradona later described as being scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.” The second was the Goal of the Century, a sixty-yard run through the England defense that remains one of the defining highlights in the history of the sport.

Argentina won 2-1 and eventually lifted the trophy.

The rivalry was renewed in 1998. Michael Owen scored one of the great individual goals in England history, David Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone and Argentina advanced on penalties after Sol Campbell’s apparent winner was disallowed.

Four years later, Beckham converted the penalty that gave England a 1-0 group-stage victory and a measure of personal redemption.

The teams have not played at a World Cup since.

The players involved Wednesday were either children or not yet born for the most recent meeting. There is no recent tactical history between the managers or familiarity from repeated international matchups.

But they will understand the weight of the shirt and the history attached to the opponent. Argentina and England have met fourteen times in total. England has six wins, Argentina has three and five have ended in draws. None of those previous meetings featured Messi.

How Argentina Got Here --

Argentina has not arrived unscathed. After looking dominant in the group stage they have had to scratch and claw their way through the knockouts.

In the group they were comfortable and overwhelming. Argentina beat Algeria 3-0, Austria 2-0 and Jordan 3-1, controlling possession and generating enough chances that none of the games ever felt seriously threatened.

The knockout rounds have been considerably more chaotic.

Cape Verde pushed Argentina into extra time in the Round of 32. Egypt opened a 2-0 lead in the Round of 16 before Argentina rallied for a 3-2 victory. Switzerland then survived for more than ninety minutes despite playing the final portion of regulation down a man after a red card for a dive. Argentina eventually broke through in extra time behind a brilliant Julián Álvarez goal, then added another to close out the 3-1 win.

Through six games, Argentina has scored seventeen goals and conceded six. Messi has eight goals and remains the center of everything. Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández provide enough additional scoring that opponents cannot simply build the entire defensive plan around one player.

But Messi is still the straw that stirs the drink.

Argentina’s most important tactical adjustment over the last two matches has been the return of Leandro Paredes as the deepest midfielder.

Against Egypt, Paredes played the full match at the base of the midfield, completing 115 passes. Lionel Scaloni kept him in the same role against Switzerland, with De Paul, Fernández and Mac Allister operating ahead of him in a narrow midfield.

Paredes gives Argentina a more natural organizer in front of the defense. He drops toward the center backs to begin possession, changes the direction of attacks and provides the short passing option that allows Fernández and Mac Allister to move higher. His presence also gives De Paul more freedom to drift toward Messi and provide the running that the 39-year-old no longer does without the ball.

The tradeoff is mobility. Paredes is excellent when Argentina controls the pace. He is less comfortable when the game becomes stretched and he has to defend large spaces against midfielders running at him. Switzerland found moments to break through the center, and Paredes looked exhausted by the end of extra time.

England does more midfield running than anyone Argentina has faced. Making Paredes' ability to control Bellingham, Kane and Elliot Anderson between the lines a key factor determining whether Argentina can keep the game at its preferred tempo.

Scaloni also faces a decision at striker. Álvarez has started next to Messi the past two games and probably remains the favorite after scoring the quarterfinal winner. His pressing, movement into the channels and willingness to run beyond the defense make him a more natural complement to Messi.

Lautaro has made a strong case for a larger role. He provides a more traditional presence inside the box and has been dangerous arriving against tired defenders. Starting both Álvarez and Lautaro would give Argentina more attacking power, but it would likely require sacrificing one of the midfielders or moving Messi into a more formal No. 10 role.

Against an England midfield built around Rice, Anderson and Bellingham, removing a midfielder would be a considerable gamble.

Argentina’s defensive numbers are excellent. They have allowed only 0.52 expected goals per ninety minutes, the second-best mark in the tournament behind Spain. They are also one of only two teams that has not conceded a single shot from inside the six-yard box, though their path has been considerably weaker than England’s.

Argentina may have produced stingy defensive statistics, but this will be the first time their back line has faced a combination like Kane and Bellingham.

How England Got Here --

England’s tournament has been less controlled, but the path has been more difficult.

They opened with a 4-2 win over Croatia, drew Ghana 0-0 and beat Panama 2-0 to win the group. Kane scored twice in the closing minutes to rescue England from a potential upset against DR Congo in the Round of 32. They then survived a wild 3-2 game against Mexico, boosted by two Bellingham goals and he scored another brace to carry them past Norway.

The performances have not always been convincing. There have been long stretches when the attack has looked too static and disconnected. Kane has dropped into midfield without anyone running beyond him. The wingers have received the ball in isolation. Rice and Anderson have sometimes occupied similar spaces rather than complementing each other.

Then one of England’s stars changes the game.

Kane has six goals. Bellingham has six. Beyond them Thomas Tuchel has a collection of attacking options that can completely alter the shape and pace of the match from the bench. While Kane was the story in the group stage, Bellingham has been the key in the knockouts. His equalizer in the quarterfinal came from another perfectly timed run into the box. His winner came after reacting faster than everyone else to a loose ball in extra time.

Bellingham is one of the best players in the world at recognizing when defenders have turned their attention toward Kane or the ball. He begins outside the danger area, waits until the defender loses sight of him and then attacks the space at full speed.

He can also create the opportunity himself. He is strong enough to carry the ball through contact, athletic enough to turn a harmless midfield possession into an attacking transition and technically good enough to combine with Kane in tight spaces.

Stopping Kane is difficult.

Stopping Kane while accounting for Bellingham’s movement behind him is the real problem. Bellingham now has six goals in the tournament and has put himself in the conversation for Player of the Tournament. England would not be in the semifinal without him.

Anderson has been almost as important in a much less visible role.

He covered 14.8 kilometers against Norway, the most of any England player, while completing 87 of 93 passes. He provides the running that allows the rest of England’s midfield to function, helping Rice defensively, moving forward to connect with the wingers and immediately pressing when England loses possession.

Anderson is not simply a defensive worker. He can receive under pressure, turn out of trouble and play early passes into Kane or the wide attackers. Tuchel has increasingly allowed him to move higher while Rice remains behind the ball, reversing the roles many expected before the tournament.

He finished the Norway game with severe cramping after the extraordinary workload. Argentina will want to make him defend long possessions and test how much he has left after playing 120 minutes.

Rice is expected to start after being removed at halftime against Norway. He had been managing an illness along with discomfort around his hamstring and lower back, but England is optimistic that he will be available next to Anderson.

The largest attacking question is whether Tuchel goes back to Saka. Madueke started against Norway but struggled to get involved and was replaced at halftime. Saka immediately provided more control on the right, combining with Bellingham and helping England sustain possession closer to Norway’s penalty area.

Madueke is more direct and willing to attack his defender immediately. Saka gives England a better combination player and another attacker who can move inside when Kane drops away from the box. Against Argentina, Saka’s ability to retain possession and make the correct decision probably gives him the edge. Madueke would then become another dangerous option against tired legs.

What Will the Game Look Like? --

Argentina ranks sixth in the tournament with 60.1% possession. England is eleventh at 57.2%. Argentina is tied for the most goals per game and ranks second in expected goals behind France. England ranks seventh in goals and sixth in expected goals.

The attacking numbers suggest two aggressive teams.

The pressing numbers suggest something different.

Argentina and England rank 21st and 22nd in possessions won in the attacking third. Neither has spent the tournament chasing the ball with an exhausting high press. Both are more selective, increasing the pressure when an opponent plays toward the sideline, receives with his back to goal or produces a poor touch.

That selectivity should become even more pronounced after both teams played 120 minutes in the quarterfinals.

Argentina will want to circulate the ball through Paredes, slow England’s midfield runners and gradually create openings for Messi. England will be comfortable defending in a middle block, then trying to accelerate as soon as Rice or Anderson wins possession.

This game could be decided by which team successfully changes the tempo.

The Kane and Bellingham Problem --

The most difficult tactical question for Argentina is how to defend Kane and Bellingham at the same time.

Kane rarely remains on the shoulder of the center backs. He drops toward midfield, receives with his back to goal and tries to draw a defender out of the line. If Cristian Romero or Lisandro Martínez follows him, Kane can lay the ball off and Bellingham can attack the space that defender vacated. If they maintain their line, Kane may have time to turn and bring England’s runners into the attack.

Paredes should have the first responsibility when Kane drops centrally. That would allow Argentina’s center backs to remain in position for Bellingham’s run. But Paredes cannot simultaneously pressure Kane, follow Bellingham and protect the entire area in front of the defense.

Argentina will need coordinated handoffs. Paredes can meet Kane between the lines. De Paul or Mac Allister must track Bellingham’s initial movement. Once Bellingham enters the penalty area, a center back has to take responsibility for him without losing Kane.

The worst outcome would be hesitation, with two defenders following Kane while everyone assumes someone else has Bellingham. His equalizer against Norway demonstrated how quickly he punishes that confusion.

Romero’s instinct is to step forward and attack the ball before the striker can turn. That aggression can disrupt Kane, but it can also create exactly the space Bellingham wants. Scaloni could add a third center back, giving one defender the freedom to follow Kane while the others protect the box. The cost would be sacrificing either De Paul or another midfielder, weakening Argentina’s ability to control possession.

Whatever the formation, simply assigning Paredes to Bellingham would not work. Paredes must protect the zone in front of the defense. Everyone else must recognize when Bellingham leaves it.

England’s Messi Problem --

England faces a similar dilemma with Messi.

Trying to man-mark him with one player rarely works because he does not remain in one position. Messi will drift into the right half-space, drop alongside the midfielders and occasionally disappear from the attack before suddenly receiving at the edge of the penalty area.

England will probably try to surround him rather than assign a permanent shadow. Rice and Anderson can protect the central lanes, while the left winger and fullback close the passing route from De Paul or Molina. Stones and Guéhi should avoid following Messi too far into midfield, because doing so would open space for Álvarez to run behind them.

The critical moment comes when Messi receives near the box. Step toward him and he can slip Álvarez or Mac Allister behind the defense. Stay deep and he can open his body for a shot. Send a second defender and another Argentina midfielder becomes available.

England must make Messi play through traffic without becoming so obsessed with him that it loses track of Argentina’s other attackers. They must also avoid conceding unnecessary fouls near the penalty area. England’s physical advantage could be useful in an open game. Giving Messi repeated free kicks from twenty-five yards would erase much of that advantage.

Who Has the Edge? --

Argentina is the defending champion. They have Messi, a proven big-game goalkeeper and a group that has shown resiliency winning every major international trophy together.

They are comfortable suffering until they find their moment.

England has more depth of talent, younger legs, and a formidable attacking duo.

Bellingham is the matchup Argentina is least equipped to handle. His power, speed and movement directly attack the limitations of Paredes and Argentina’s aging midfield. Kane can create the openings, while Gordon and Saka stretch the narrow defensive structure. Argentina has not faced an attack this complete.

England has not faced anyone like Messi.

If forced to choose, I would give England the narrowest possible edge. Their midfield running and attacking depth are well suited to expose Argentina if the game becomes stretched. Rice and Anderson also give them two players capable of surrounding Messi without completely abandoning the rest of the midfield.

But England has repeatedly reached this stage carrying the weight of everything that came before.

Argentina has spent the Messi era turning that kind of pressure into mythology.

England may be better equipped to control the matchup.

Argentina has the one player who has spent his career proving that control is not always enough.

Tomorrow here at #DMD, Randy looks "The Top 10 Reasons Why The U.S. Men's Soccer Team Still Isn't Elite."

Tuesday July 14, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4347

"here's where it happened"

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I decided to walk 18 holes yesterday morning at Argyle Country Club over in Silver Spring.

Make that, because I love golf and a friend was in need, I decided to walk 18 holes yesterday.

Well, truth be told, it was because I love golf, a friend was in need and I wanted to relive an incredible memory. That's how I wound up at Argyle yesterday.

I didn't play, though. I was a caddie. On the bag for the first round of the Maryland Open, in fact.

There was a time when I would almost routinely make the field and compete at the state's biggest golf tournament. But as the great S.E. Hinton once wrote, that was then, this is now. I haven't played in four years, mainly because I don't even bother trying to qualify in the spring because I'm too busy coaching to get my game in shape and tee it up in one of the 18 hole qualifiers in April or May.

I didn't scan the field name-by-name yesterday, but I assume there weren't any 63 year olds in this year's Maryland Open. It's certainly a young man's game, now, as I witnessed yesterday in the group I was in. All three guys hit drives and took on angles off the tee I'd never even consider if, somehow, I were playing instead of caddying.

I love golf and I wanted to help a friend, that much is true. I also wanted to see Argyle again. I hadn't stepped foot on the property since June 14, 2021. That was the date I qualified for the U.S. Senior Open. As we stood on the first tee waiting to go out at 7:50 am, I looked to my left and saw the 18th green.

It was the first time I'd seen it since the day I made the putt on the 4th playoff hole to earn a spot in the field at Omaha CC.

I was eager to actually get there later in the day to, just for a brief moment, relive that experience and the euphoria I felt when my birdie putt coasted into the hole from 16 feet.

But we had golf to play, now, and my friend was counting on me to do my job. So off we went.

As we moved along and I dutifully called off yardages to the hole and covers over bunkers, I remembered moments of my own journey in 2021. We reached the 4th green, where my player had 10 feet for birdie, and I remember nervously rolling in a six footer for birdie there back in 2021 on almost the same line my player was facing for his putt.

We got to #6, perhaps the hardest hole on the course, and my guy split the fairway with a 300 yard drive "right off the Tour" as I like to say. My mind drifted to 2021 and the double bogey I made on that hole, a wayward tee shot and chunky chip leading to a six which, at the moment in 2021, moved me to 1-over-par for the day.

But something happened to me there, on number six, on June 14, 2021. For one of the rare occasions in my tournament-golfing-life, I didn't get fazed by that self-created-misfortune.

"Eh, I'm fine," I remember saying to myself. "Just keep plugging along..."

I immediately made birdie on the next hole. Yesterday, the flag was in the exact same spot -- back right on the 195 yard par 3 -- it had been in 2021. Like, eerily in the same location.

As we moved through yesterday's round, my friend was hanging on much like I did in 2021. He wasn't playing great, but, like he almost always does, he was putting great. Other players would have most certainly made a handful of bogies yesterday from the locations my guy had to play from off the tee.

But, much like I did in '21, he just kept plugging along. To say it was impressive is an understatement. Golf is never about "how", rather, it's always about "how many". And on every hole, at least the first 15, he just kept making par after par after par.

This might sound dumb -- or, as it were, "read" dumb -- but there's something extraordinarily fulfilling about not having your "A" game and cobbling together a score of 72 or 73. In some ways, here comes the dumb part, it's just as exhilirating as shooting 67.

Golf, as I explain to my high school players all the time, is always going to produce chaos. It's waiting for you on every hole. You can split the fairway with a tee ball, then bury your ball in a greenside bunker. Chaos.

You can hit your tee ball in the rough and find a lie so bad you'd swear your worst enemy stepped on it just seconds before you got there. Chaos.

You can hit a great drive, a fine iron shot and leave yourself with a relatively simple 15 foot birdie putt. But then you burn the edge and the ball won't stop rolling, eventually settling 8 feet past the hole. You've gone from a hopeful birdie to a "must make" par, but you have 8 feet to negotiate now. Chaos.

So, when you shoot 67, those chaotic moments rarely come around. You are, to borrow a familiar phrase, on "cruise control". Everything comes easy. Your drives never find a divot in the fairway. Your lies in the rough are sitting up nicely. You never even face one of those nervy six footers for par because your par putts are all tap-ins.

I'm not saying those rounds of 67 are unenjoyable. They're quite fun. And easy on the heart.

But that round of 72 or 74 that could have been 78 or 80? That's what golf is really about. How do I stay in this round even though I'm on the verge of falling apart? How do I not allow the course to beat me today? Do I have the "bottle", as they say over in the U.K., to keep my head in this long enough to produce a representative round of golf?

A missed 10-footer at the 16th hole led to my friend's first bogey of the day on Monday. And even that one almost fell in the front left edge. It was almost a shock to not see it drop in the hole, since every other par putt he needed had managed to go in.

I'm not one of those guys who, as a caddie, feels like he has to earn his (her) keep. My friend is an extraordinary player. He doesn't need much from me, that I know going in. I'm not there to somehow "be the difference". I'm just there to carry the bag, shoot some yardages and help on a putt if asked.

He made a nice par at 17 and now, here we were, heading to that 18th hole. The one I wanted to see. The green and the putt I'll never forget.

Funny enough, in that U.S. Senior Open qualifier back in '21, I actually played the 18th hole three times that day. I made birdie on my final hole of the day in regulation play, hitting a 6-iron to about eight feet and rolling in the putt to finish at 69 for the round. I then waited around roughly six hours before discovering my score was good enough to get me into a playoff. Three players for one spot. The winner of the playoff got to play the U.S. Senior Open.

I should have ended the whole thing right away. I stiffed a wedge on the first playoff hole to eight feet. But I missed the putt.

On the second playoff hole, we moved over to #18, which goes right back to the clubhouse. I had 20 feet for birdie, then had six feet for par, somehow. But I lined up my par putt and somehow, mainly by the grace of God, I believe, rolled that in to stay alive. One of the other two in the group bowed out of the playoff with a bogey there.

On the 3rd playoff, back down #1, I again had a putt to win from about 20 feet and didn't make that one. I knew my time was running short. No one gets three birdie putts in a playoff and misses them all and then, somehow, lives to tell the story with a smile on their face.

"I have to win on this hole," I remember telling myself that day as we walked back to the 18th tee again. "He's going to make a putt at some point."

I hit a great drive and, as I told the people from the USGA afterwards, "the best 6 iron of my life" to 16 feet, right below the cup. That could have been hyperbole, of course. I made a hole-in-one at #4 at Grandview once with a 6-iron in my hand. But that six iron at Argyle was far more important than a hole-in-one at Grandview on a Memorial Day weekend in 2006.

With my player facing an 8 foot par putt at #18, I said to myself, "You've made this putt a thousand times at Mount Pleasant on the practice green. Just keep your head down and make good contact."

Like most players, I tend to "peek" at a putt to see where it's headed just after impact. That little peek tends to open the putter face just a hair, often leading to a putt that will come up an inch or two short of the hole.

That day, I didn't peek. I struck it cleanly and waited for a second to look up. When I did, the ball was six feet from the hole and gently starting to move to the right, just as I hoped. And then it fell in and that was that. I was heading to Omaha.

Yesterday as we trudged up the 18th hole, I was tired. Argyle is a relatively short course, at just over 6,500 yards, but it has its fair share of hills and such. I've walked harder courses, sure, but on this day, with my age and my occasional barking left knee, it was a fair test. I was glad the round was ending, for sure.

My guy hit a terrific drive and then a wonderfully struck 7 iron that somehow came up six yards short of the green. We were both mystified at the ball's final resting place until we felt a significant breeze in our face as we to the crest of the hill. It wasn't really there when he hit the shot, but it must have come up just as the ball started to sail in the direction of the green.

"A gust from the gods" is what Romeo called it in "Tin Cup".

It's funny how that gust always seems to come at you and is never at your back, huh?

My friend hit, like he almost always does, a deft, "professional" chip that left him with a sneaky, tricky two footer for par. The hole location was in the front right portion of the green. On my day back in 2021, the flag was "back-middle-left", which is to say it wasn't really in the middle of the green, but it wasn't exactly in the back, either.

Moments before my friend hit his chip shot, the idea of walking over to where I made my final putt in 2021 quickly entered my mind.

"As soon as everyone's finished here, just go over and stand there," I told myself. "Take it in again. Try to remember what it was all like that day."

One player in the group finished. Then the other. And now it was my friend's turn to wrap up his round. A par here and he finishes in 73, a legitimately "great" score for where he left himself throughout the day both off the tee and around the greens.

99 times out of 100, my friend makes that putt with ease. And I mean that. If you set 100 balls there, he's making it 99 times. Not because it's easy, per se, but because he's a great putter. Sure, it was 2 feet, but if you mishit the ball even slightly, it's darting to the right and you're missing it low of the hole.

"Just keep your head down and make good contact," I said to him.

It entered the cup with authority, the way it always does with him. I've seen a lot of impressive rounds of tournament golf in my life. I'm proud to say I've authored some of those myself. In fact, I'm sort of a specialist at turning 77 into 73.

On this day at Argyle, where two dozen players broke par and 64 was the best score, a round of 73 was far from "great" for my friend. But if you looked at the scorecard, only, you have no idea at all how great that 73 really was. It coulda-shoulda-woulda been 76 or 77 for a "normal" player.

I took pride in being part of it, even though, as I wrote above, I didn't do much of anything to earn any kind of "role" in the round. I just did what a caddie is supposed to do. I carried the bag, shot the yardages and gave advice or information when asked for it.

The players all shook hands on the 18th green and I offered a few words of encouragement to my friend.

We got out to the car once the scores were signed for and then it hit me.

I forgot all about "soaking in the moment" on the 18th green.

I didn't go over and look at the spot where I made the winning putt. I didn't even think about it, honestly.

I just.....forgot.

I was so wrapped up in that nasty little two footer to end the round that I lost my way.

Thomas Wolfe once wrote: You Can't Go Home Again.

In other words, you can, from time to time, circle back to the place you once were, but it's never quite the same.

Five years later, my life and my golfing life, are not the same. I went "home" yesterday, for a fleeting four hours, and it all looked mostly the same as it did in 2021. But new, pressing business was at hand and the memories I had from five years ago were easily forgotten.

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9. Brian Harman was #8. At #7, it was Tyrrell Hatton. Brooks Koepka was #6. Kurt Kitayama was #5. Justin Thomas was #4. #3 was Wyndham Clark.

#2 Tommy Fleetwood -- This is the story everyone wants to write. Tommy Fleetwood, from Southport, England, wins the British Open at a course he used to sneak on as a kid.

Buckle up, by the way, if you're not a fan of sappy stories, because that one about Fleetwood is going to be played, played and replayed this week and this weekend, especially if the jovial Englishman is in the hunt.

As you can see, I'm buying stock in the story.

But not because Royal Birkdale is in Southport and Fleetwood hails from the same small town.

I think Fleetwood can win because it's his time. He's arguably "the best player without a major title", although Ludvig Aberg might want to argue that one with you.

Fleetwood is a sublime driver of the golf ball and a wonderful iron player. He is, like everyone else who plays golf, dependent on his putter to come through and help him win.

When Tommy putts well, Tommy contends.

I suspect he's going to be right there on Sunday, primed to finally get into that major championship winner's circle.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to return to the A.L. playoffs after missing the post-season in 2025.

question of the week

Is it time for a change at the top?

Not to be a Debbie Downer after the recent four game winning streak, but I’m not buying that this team has really turned any kind of corner (and I wrote most of this before the win streak). Even with the winning streak heading into the break, the team is still a longshot to make the playoffs or produce any kind of prolonged postseason run.

Let’s start with what the numbers say about the team at the All-Star break.

Through 96 games, the Orioles scored 439 runs, or 4.57 per game, which is fractionally above the major league average of 4.52.

They hit .238/.319/.399 with 115 home runs, and their 102 OPS+ says the offense has been marginally better than league average once you account for the park. They walked 367 times, the fourth-highest total in baseball. They also struck out 870 times, the fourth-highest total in baseball.

The pitching is the softer half.

Baltimore’s 4.32 ERA ranks 20th and works out to a 98 ERA+, a hair below league average. The 4.23 FIP is essentially league average, which suggests the run prevention has been roughly what the peripherals deserve rather than a case of bad luck.

The staff has struck out 8.0 per nine against a league mark of 8.5 and walked 3.5, and the resulting 1.357 WHIP is meaningfully worse than the league’s 1.309. The Orioles have allowed 464 runs, 4.83 per game, and have thrown two team shutouts all season, tied for the second fewest in baseball.

Before the Cubs series, the bullpen ranked 18th in the majors with a 4.25 ERA, and that was with Ryan Helsley already on the injured list.

Put it together and the run differential is minus 25. A team that scores 439 and allows 464 should win about 46 games in 96, which is precisely what the Orioles have done.

There is no hidden good team here waiting to be uncovered by better sequencing. This is a mediocre baseball team, plain and simple.

Which brings us to the harder question. Whose fault is that?

I mostly give Craig Albernaz a pass. The first-year manager has done nothing to inspire confidence, and I’m not really sure what he brings to the table, but it is difficult to look at this roster and conclude that the man filling out the lineup card is the main reason it is not working. The issue is the players, the development, the absence of impact pitching, and the organizational philosophy that produced all three.

Absent something behind the scenes we do not know about, you might as well let Albernaz finish the year and see whether he grows into the job. Evaluate him in October, and if the answer is that this club needs a more veteran, more polished voice, make that change then. It is not the change that matters most.

The change that matters most is higher up.

It has become fairly clear that 2023 was the exception and not the rule. The trajectory of this franchise mirrors the trajectory of its own stars with uncomfortable precision. The team experienced a fast rise toward something like stardom, a moment almost touching the sun, and then a slow slide back to the middle.

Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser and Grayson Rodriguez have all followed some version of that arc. Rutschman is the one who has climbed back out, and his third All-Star selection this month is a genuinely earned reward for a full winter of work.

To a lesser degree, Coby Mayo, Heston Kjerstad and Jackson Holliday tore up the upper minors and have never sustained anything in the big leagues. Samuel Basallo looks like the exception as of now, but Orioles fans have thought that before.

The record under Mike Elias speaks for itself. Since taking over in November 2018, his teams have gone 54-108, 25-35, 52-110, 83-79, 101-61, 91-71, 75-87, and now 46-51. That is one division title, one wild card berth and zero playoff wins. Not zero series. Zero games.

Swept by Texas in the 2023 ALDS, swept by Kansas City in the 2024 wild card round. All the tanking, all the losing, all the years of asking a fan base to swallow a rebuild in exchange for a consistently competitive team, and this is the return. There is no way to grade that as anything other than a failure.

Saturday added a data point that will look familiar to anyone who has been paying attention. With the seventh overall pick, the highest the Orioles have held since Holliday in 2022, Elias took prep outfielder Eric Booth Jr. He may well be terrific. He was also the fourth straight top pick spent on an outfielder, and the eighth straight spent on a position player.

In eight drafts, Elias has never taken a pitcher in the first round. Meanwhile the 2026 rotation was built almost entirely by trade and free agency, Zach Eflin is gone for the year, Keegan Akin is headed to an elbow specialist, and Helsley’s elbow has cost him most of the summer. The gap in the pitching pipeline is not an accident. It is a policy.

Which is why it would be a serious mistake to hand this front office the trade deadline.

The August 3 deadline arrives with the Orioles two games out of a wild card spot in an American League where almost nobody is any good. Elias has said the building is “in the mindset of going for it in 2026,” and he has said his own job security “definitely would not be any type of factor” in his decisions.

Bob Nightengale has reported that Elias is telling clubs he is willing to move prospects. Take him at his word if you like, but understand the position he is in. A general manager in year eight of a mandate that has produced one playoff berth in the last two seasons, working for owners who have already spent, has every incentive in the world to do something dramatic and none to do something patient. Those incentives are not aligned with the long-term health of this franchise.

Set aside the conflict of interest and there is still no track record here that suggests you want Elias making these particular decisions. He is a good seller. He turned Dylan Bundy into Bradish and Jorge López into Yennier Cano and Cade Povich, and last July he converted a fire sale into a pile of prospects.

He has never once shown he can make a win-now move that moves the needle. If the price of keeping him away from the deadline is that the Orioles stand entirely pat, so be it. Doing nothing is a defensible outcome. Doing something desperate is not.

The counterargument deserves a hearing. Elias inherited the worst organization in baseball and rebuilt the infrastructure from the ground up, and the industry spent five years praising him for it. The Orioles have had their share of injury issues, though they were not all unpredictable. The team is two games out of a playoff spot.

Firing a president of baseball operations in the middle of July is not going to magically turn the team around. Reporters and bloggers around the O’s have differing opinions on how to handle the situation. Reasonable people are looking at the same club and landing in different places, and that in itself tells you something about how muddled this thing is.

However, muddled is not where we are supposed to be right now. Now where we were promised after “lift off.”

When Elias and Sig Mejdal arrived, they represented a real shift toward analytical player evaluation, and the Orioles badly needed it. That was 2019. Analytical evaluation is table stakes now. Every front office in the sport has it. The question is no longer whether you use the tools, it is whether you use them to find an edge that other clubs have not, and there is no evidence this regime has found one in years.

They have consistently hired managers whose primary qualification appears to be a willingness to implement whatever comes down from the Warehouse. Their development system has produced a generation of hitters who peaked in Triple-A and a pitching staff assembled almost entirely from other organizations’ work.

So, in my opinion, the time is now. The draft has concluded, the trade deadline is approaching and the All-Star break provides a moment for reflection and a natural ending point.

So if they give Elias his walking paper, then what comes next?

It should be a reset, not a rebuild.

The young core is still cheap for a few more years, and that is an asset, not a burden. The obligation now falls on ownership. David Rubenstein needs to prove his group is willing to spend, willing to do what it takes to get two top-of-the-rotation starters this winter. Not one. Two.

That is the minimum needed to transform this roster into a real contender, and it is available for money rather than prospects. If this ownership group is not willing to write those checks, then there is no honest option but to blow it up, trade Alonso, Henderson, Rogers and Bradish, and start over. And if it comes to that, nobody should be expected to care about this team for the next five to ten years. Maybe the fans come back. Maybe they don’t.

Short of that, you roll with these guys for another year or two and hope that a new philosophy, and maybe a new voice, can extract something closer to their potential. You find a GM who can combine the analytics with the practical abilities and determination to sign the necessary free agents to put the team over the top.

Someone whose top concern is winning baseball games and not winning awards and plaudits from his colleagues. Someone who can identify a manager that inspires this team, elevates their performance to meet their promise and has the experience to steal wins in critical games instead of coughing them up.

As far as approaching the deadline with either a lame duck in charge or a void at the top. The team should be cautious. There is no need for dramatic moves. No desperation move is going to realistically put this team in a position to win anything meaningful this year. And there are no pending free agents that are so valuable they must be dealt.

Now, if a club puts an over-the-top offer on the table for Adley Rutschman, you would have to at least listen, provided the return helps in the near term and is not just a stack of lottery tickets. Basallo is more than capable of catching every day. But even that would leave a hole in a lineup that already has too many of them, and that is not a trade you go looking for.

Maybe you sell high on Trevor Rogers after he strings together some stellar starts. Or maybe someone offers you something worth taking for Taylor Ward. But outside that, there isn’t a need to make a splash.

The bottom line is this. The manager is not the problem. The players are underachieving, but they are the players this organization drafted, developed and chose to build around. That is not a coaching failure. That is an organizational failure, and organizational failures get fixed at the top.

Let Albernaz finish the season. Keep Elias away from the deadline. And when the year ends, make the change that in hindsight probably should have been made at the end of last season.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

world cup semifinal preview

After a World Cup filled with upsets, late goals and traditional powers like Brazil and Germany crashing out earlier than expected, the bracket has somehow produced an impossibly loaded final four.

France. Spain. Argentina. England.

This is the World Cup equivalent of Duke, UNC, UConn and Kentucky all advancing to the Final Four as 1 seeds.

These were the four pre-tournament favorites. These are four of the eight nations to ever win the World Cup.Every possible final is tantalizing.

Of the four, only France won their quarterfinal comfortably.

France eventually pulled away from Morocco for a 2-0 win behind second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. Morocco felt like they were holding on for dear life, just hoping to score the first goal on a counterattack. Once the dam broke, France seemed inevitable.

Spain needed another late intervention from Mikel Merino to escape Belgium 2-1. With the winner coming off a rebound from a long range Pau Cubarsi shot that was spilled in front of goal by Belgian backup keeper Senne Lammens, who had just come on for an injured Thibaut Courtois. Spain once again exerted their stranglehold on the game, with 68% possession, limiting Belgium to just one good chance in 90+ minutes.

England survived Norway by the same score, winning behind two more goals from Jude Bellingham. The game winner coming in extra time on a similar rebound putback as the Spain winner.

Argentina was pushed into extra time despite a 72nd minute red card to Switzerland’s Breel Embolo for diving. Argentina finally found the winner in the 22nd minute of extra time on a stunning curler from Julian Alvarez. Then added the insurance goal nine minutes later to close out the 3-1 win.

That sets up two rivalry games in the Semifinals.

Argentina-England carries decades of World Cup history, national tension and some of the most famous moments the sport has ever produced.

Spain-France is the more recent rivalry, a matchup that has repeatedly helped determine European supremacy over the last five years.

There are legacies on the line everywhere. Lionel Messi is trying to win another World Cup at 39.

England’s golden generation is attempting to end nearly sixty years of waiting.

Kylian Mbappé one victory away from playing in his third World Cup final before turning 28.

Spain’s young core with a chance to follow its European championship with a World Cup trophy. Before we even get to Argentina and England, Spain and France will put more talent on the field Tuesday afternoon than most World Cup finals.

The Spain-France showdown kicks off Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern from Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game will air on FOX and stream through FOX One and FOX Sports.

Recent History --

There will not be many surprises between these teams.

The players know each other from international competition, the Champions League and La Liga. Several of the most important individual matchups are between teammates or frequent club opponents. The managers have also seen recent versions of this game play out in several completely different ways.

France defeated Spain 2-1 in the 2021 Nations League final, coming from behind through goals from Karim Benzema and Mbappé. That game provided the French blueprint. Allow Spain to hold the ball, remain dangerous without needing long spells of possession and attack as soon as space appears.

Spain got revenge in the Euro 2024 semifinal. France scored first through Randal Kolo Muani, but a 16-year-old Lamine Yamal produced an outrageous curling goal before Dani Olmo added the winner. Spain controlled the remainder of the game, won 2-1 and went on to claim the European title.

Then came last summer’s Nations League semifinal, which temporarily abandoned all defensive responsibility. Spain raced to a 5-1 lead before France nearly completed a ridiculous comeback, with the game ending 5-4.

Yamal scored twice, while Nico Williams, Merino and Pedri also found the net for Spain.

It was the highest-scoring game in Nations League history.

Spain has now eliminated France in consecutive semifinals. France, however, has been the defining World Cup team of this era. A victory Tuesday would put them into a third consecutive final and their fifth in the last eight tournaments.

That is what is at stake here. Spain has owned the recent matchup. France is trying to extend one of the greatest runs in World Cup history.

How Spain Got Here --

Spain’s tournament started with one of the stranger results of the group stage, a scoreless draw against Cape Verde despite generating plenty of chances. Since then, the results have been nearly flawless.

They beat Saudi Arabia 4-0, Uruguay 1-0, Austria 3-0 and Portugal 1-0 before finally conceding their first goal of the tournament in the quarterfinal against Belgium. Through six games, Spain has scored 11 and allowed just one.

The quarterfinal was a good microcosm of their tournament.

Spain controlled most of the possession, took the lead through Fabián Ruiz and generally limited a talented Belgium attack. Charles De Ketelaere equalized before halftime, but Belgium finished the game with only 0.34 expected goals, meaning the quality of their total chances amounted to roughly one-third of an average goal. Merino then came off the bench and scored the winner in the 88th minute.

Spain has not looked as explosive as it did during Euro 2024. The attack has gone through some frustrating stretches, particularly against Cape Verde and Portugal. Their biggest stars are playing, but several do not appear to be at full capacity.

Yamal entered the tournament dealing with groin and hamstring problems. He has gradually improved, but we have not consistently seen the unstoppable version who dominated France in the Nations League last year.

Pedri was dropped from the starting lineup against Belgium after showing signs of fatigue, with Fabián taking his place next to Rodri. De la Fuente has acknowledged that Pedri has not yet found his best form or ideal role in this version of Spain’s midfield.

Nico Williams has endured an even more difficult year of recurring groin and muscular injuries. He finally returned for the final twelve minutes against Belgium and helped create the pressure leading to Merino’s winner, but asking him to start and play seventy or eighty minutes against France would be another matter.

The reason Spain has survived those issues is its defense.

Rodri has been outstanding controlling the space in front of the back line. Aymeric Laporte has provided the experience and distribution expected from him, while 19-year-old Pau Cubarsí has looked remarkably comfortable defending some of the best attackers in the world.

Marc Cucurella and Pedro Porro have been solid at fullback, and Unai Simón has rarely been asked to make a difficult save.

Before the quarterfinals, Spain had allowed only 1.49 expected goals across five games. Their possession receives most of the attention, but the ball control serves a defensive purpose too. Opponents cannot create chances if they cannot get the ball.

That formula has carried Spain to its first World Cup semifinal since winning the tournament in 2010. The problem is that France is uniquely equipped to punish the few moments when Spain loses control.

How France Got Here --

France has looked like the best team in the tournament. There appears to be no specific type of game they need in order to win.

They can overwhelm you. They can counterattack. They can defend deep. They can patiently circulate possession. They can win an ugly 1-0 game or turn the match into a track meet.

France won all three group games, beating Senegal 3-1, Iraq 3-0 and Norway 4-1. They followed that with knockout victories over Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco without conceding a single goal.

They enter the semifinal with six wins, 16 goals scored and only two allowed.

The quarterfinal against Morocco was their most complete performance. Morocco remained organized and competitive for nearly an hour, but France did not panic or start forcing the game.

Mbappé finally broke through in the 60th minute, Dembélé added another six minutes later and France finished with 3.69 expected goals while allowing only 0.14. It was a 2-0 game that could have been considerably worse.

Mbappé has eight goals. Dembélé has five. Between them, they have scored more goals than the entire Spanish team. But this version of France is scarier because the attack does not end there.

Michael Olise has become the connective piece, drifting between midfield and the front line, drawing defenders toward him and slipping passes behind the back line. Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola give France two different options on the left. One can start, run at tired defenders and then be replaced by another elite winger.

France can also bring additional attackers such as Rayan Cherki, Maghnes Akliouche or Jean-Philippe Mateta off the bench without dramatically lowering the talent level.

That embarrassment of attacking riches is the biggest difference between France and everyone else.

It also helps explain why their stars look fresher than Spain’s. France has been able to rotate attacking players without losing its identity, while Spain has spent the tournament carefully managing Yamal, Nico and Pedri. France also played its quarterfinal one day earlier, giving it an additional recovery day.

Aurélien Tchouaméni is expected to return after missing the Morocco game with an adductor injury. He should rejoin Adrien Rabiot at the base of midfield, behind an attacking group likely consisting of Dembélé, Olise, Doué and Mbappé. William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano will anchor the defense, with Jules Koundé and Lucas Digne at fullback.

There are more creative midfields in the tournament. There may be more technically elegant defensive units.

There is no other team with this many ways to hurt you.

What Will the Game Look Like? --

Spain will probably have more of the ball.

That does not necessarily mean they will be controlling the game.

Didier Deschamps is unlikely to ask France to out-Spain Spain by chasing possession. France has become more comfortable building attacks through Olise and slowing the tempo when necessary, but the most favorable matchup is obvious.

Spain wants to push its back line high, squeeze the field and keep France trapped in its own half. France has Mbappé, Dembélé and Doué waiting to attack the acres of space behind it.

France will likely defend in a compact 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 shape, with Tchouaméni or Kone and Rabiot protecting the middle. They will allow Spain’s center backs to move the ball and become more aggressive once passes enter midfield or go toward the sidelines.

Once possession changes, France will look immediately for Olise between the lines or for an early pass into Mbappé’s path. The combination between Olise and Mbappé has been one of France’s most dangerous weapons. Spain’s high line is excellent at catching opponents offside, but every step forward carries enormous risk against a player with Mbappé’s speed.

For Spain, the most important player is Rodri.

He will be responsible for setting the rhythm in possession, helping Spain escape France’s first wave of pressure and stopping counterattacks before they reach the back line. If Rodri spends the afternoon comfortably receiving the ball and turning forward, Spain can establish itself around the French penalty area.

If Olise can find space behind him, France will be running directly at Spain’s center backs. That is the game inside the game. Spain needs Rodri high enough to sustain attacks but deep enough to protect against transition. France needs Olise close enough to help its midfield but advanced enough to take advantage when possession changes.

The matchup on Spain’s right side may be the most dangerous area on the field. Pedro Porro likes to get forward, and Yamal naturally drifts inside onto his left foot. That can leave Cubarsí defending a huge amount of space behind them. Asking any center back to deal with Mbappé in that situation is terrifying, even one who has played as well as Cubarsí.

Spain can reduce that threat by keeping the ball and counterpressing immediately after turnovers. When Spain loses possession, the nearest three or four players attack the ball before France can lift its head and find the forward pass. That pressure has smothered most opponents.

France is not most opponents.

Saliba, Tchouaméni, Rabiot and Olise are all capable of escaping that pressure with one pass. If they break the first wave, Spain may suddenly have five players caught ahead of the ball.

At the other end, France must decide how aggressively to defend Yamal. Lucas Digne will need consistent help from the left winger and Rabiot. This may favor the selection of Doué over Barcola, since the former has a bit more defensive bite.

Giving Yamal a pure one-on-one matchup is dangerous, even if he has not looked completely healthy. Sending too much help creates openings for Dani Olmo and Oyarzabal in the middle.

Spain will try to pin France’s wide attackers deep, forcing Dembélé and Doué to spend energy tracking the fullbacks. If Spain can turn France’s front four into a second defensive line, it can gradually suffocate the French attack.

France will happily accept some of that pressure if Mbappé remains high enough to provide an escape route.

I do not expect France to park eleven players behind the ball. Deschamps will concede some possession, but he will want enough pressure on Spain’s midfield to generate turnovers.

Dropping too deep would allow Rodri and Spain’s attacking midfielders to settle twenty yards from goal, which is how Spain eventually turns possession into a series of quality chances. France will pick its moments.

Spain will try to eliminate the moments entirely.

It’s not likely to be the end to end shootout that last summer’s Nations League semifinal became. I expect more of a tactical chess match in this version.

If you forced me to pick a side, I would have to say France looks more complete right now. Either way, whoever wins this is likely the odds-on favorite to win in the final.

Monday July 13, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4346

a good break and a bad one

OK, so the Birds didn't quite get to 49-48 at the All-Star break like I thought they might.

But they did go 3-for-3 against the Royals and sit at 46-51 at the conclusion of the proverbial first-half of the 2026 season.

There's a lot of baseball remaining, friends. And with most of the rest of the American League sputtering along like the Birds, it's looking more and more like 84 or 85 wins might be enough to snag one of the three A.L. wild card spots.

It might be time to panic, but it's certainly not time to give up. Not yet, at least.

In fact, it might be time to believe. 40 wins over the last 65 games? That can happen.

The three wins over the Royals featured decent starting pitching from Rogers, Bradish and Baz. Better than "decent", actually. And the bats started to come alive, right on time.

Yes, yes, yes, I know it's the Royals. And they're terrible. But here's hoping what we saw from the O's vs. Kansas City is the start of second half pattern and not just a short-term revival against a lousy club.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all good news from the Royals series. Blaze Alexander broke a bone in his hand on Sunday after being hit by a pitch. It's likely an 8-12 week injury, which means Alexander will miss the rest of July and all of August, at a minimum.

It would be unfair to categorize Alexander as the teams' "best player", but he's certainly a guy who is going to be hard to replace. How will the O's handle it? Is there a chance they do something really radical and move Gunnar Henderson to third base and Jackson Holliday to his natural position at shortstop?

The odds of the Birds doing that are slim. It's far more likely they'll just give Coby Mayo the full-time gig at third and leave Gunnar and Holliday where they are, currently. But it would be cool to see Mike Elias and Company do something completely outside the box while they have this opportunity.

Maybe pick up a veteran second baseman at the trade deadline and let Gunnar go to third and Jackson move to short?

Oh, yes, the deadline. It's coming fast. Alexander's injury might force Elias to make a push for some non-pitching help. And even though Tyler O'Neill somehow did something productive last week, it still feels like the Birds could use at least one more legitimate bat, if not two.

Or maybe Gunnar Henderson can lift his game in the second half? That would also work as a reasonable solution.

It would be awesome to see Holliday get his game together as well. It's not all about those two, but if they can hit on all cylinders in the second half -- no pun intended -- the Birds might be able to make a move in the A.L. playoff race.

We'll be doing some first-half grades here this week at #DMD.

For a team that's five games under .500, there have actually been several players who are enjoying successful seasons thus far. Sure, there are some who are struggling, but there's been just as much good as there has been bad for the most part.

True as truth can be, Tom Kim was going to be my #3 golfer on the British Open Top 10 countdown this morning. That is, until he won yesterday's Scottish Open.

Now, I feel like I have to pull a Christian Pulisic and sub him out.

I just don't think Kim can win two consecutive events, particularly of the magnitude of the Scottish Open followed by the British Open.

It's true, he's playing very well. And because golf is, generally, a 3-week sport, it stands to reason he could still have his chakras in line at Royal Birkdale this week.

But I can't give him the same chance to win at Birkdale that I would have if, let's say, he would have finished T5 at the Scottish.

So maybe I'll do what they occasionally do in horse racing. Maybe I'll do a 3 (see below) and I'll have Tom Kim in there at 3A. I don't want to write Kim completely off. It's just logic that's telling me to do so.

Now, the guy you're going to see at #3 was originally not on my Top 10 list because I also assume he can't win back-to-back major championships. It's just too friggin' hard to do that unless you're Tiger Woods.

In fact, only four players since 1990 have won back-to-back majors.

I gave you one already -- Tiger.

Who are the other three? And, no, you can't use Google.

Oh, come one, who am I kidding? You won't get this, so I don't know why I'm putting you through the paces.

Nick Price in 1994 (British/PGA)

Padraig Harrington in 2008 (British/PGA)*

Jordan Spieth in 2015 (Masters/U.S. Open)

So, you see, it's really hard to win back-to-back majors. But I have the guy who won the U.S. Open at #3 today. And Tom Kim will fill in at 3A, if you will.

*If you're wondering why there's an asterisk in 2008, it's because Harrington won those two majors without Tiger Woods in the field. Most golf historians assume Harrington wouldn't have won both of them had Tiger played in those tournaments, alas, he was unable to play in both after having surgery on his leg following the 2008 U.S. Open triumph at Torrey Pines.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the whole "golf is a 3-week sport" thing, here it is.

And this is just for us amateurs. It's not for guys like Scheffler, McIlroy, et al.

You play well for 3 weeks.

Then your game declines for 3 weeks. All the while, you're fighting it, trying to get back to the form you had when you were playing well for 3 weeks.

You then take 3 weeks and try to fix your game. You try new swing thoughts, change your stance, your grip and so on, hoping to find the cure for what's ailing you.

You start to play a little better in the next 3-week span, mixing in some inconsistent rounds with a good round or two that serve to repair and restore your confidence.

And eventually, you're back to the 3-week period where you actually play well.

So...yes...for 3 weeks out of 12, you play good golf.

What a sport, eh?

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9. Brian Harman was #8. At #7, it was Tyrrell Hatton. Brooks Koepka was #6. Kurt Kitayama was #5. Justin Thomas was #4.

#3 Wyndham Clark -- This guy is on quite the heater over the last month. In his last six tournaments, here's where he's finished: 1st, 3rd, T11, 1st, T5, T13.

And there's no reason why he can't win this week at Royal Birkdale, unless you don't think a guy can win back-to-back major titles "just because".

Clark is driving the ball as well as anyone in golf and he's led the TOUR in shots gained: approach and greens in regulation during his 6-tournament spree.

When his putter is on, like it was at Shinnecock last month, he's a tough, tough out.

I think it's fair to say he's "found something" since switching over to his new swing coach, former Baltimore CC Director of Instruction, Pay Coyner.

And while I think it's a tough ask for someone to win the U.S. Open and British Open in back-to-back months, I'd say Clark has a great chance of doing it this week.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to return to the A.L. playoffs after missing the post-season in 2025.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 4-2

Season Record: 46-51

AL East Standing: 4th (11.5 GB of TB, 2 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Kyle Bradish - 6.2 IP 1 R 2 H 2 BB 5 K

The Orioles enter the All-Star break with some positive momentum, finally doing the one thing they had failed to do seven times already this season, winning four games in a row.

It took a three-game sweep of the last-place Royals to get there, and it came on the heels of two listless nights against the Cubs that dropped Baltimore into last place in the AL East. The week ends with the O’s at 46-51, eleven and a half games behind Tampa Bay and, courtesy of a thoroughly mediocre American League, only two games out of the final wild card spot. It is the first home series the Orioles have won since May.

Tuesday’s opener against Chicago was a redux of the season. Shane Baz turned in his seventh quality start, six innings of three-run ball on 100 pitches, and got nothing for it. Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd shut the O’s down for six innings.

Alex Bregman drove in two, with an RBI single in the third and a fielder’s choice in the fifth, and Pete Crow-Armstrong singled home a run in the fifth. Michael Busch’s sacrifice fly off Anthony Nunez made it 4-0 in the seventh. Adley Rutschman delivered a two-out, bases-loaded, two-run single off former Oriole Jacob Webb to pull the O’s within 4-2, but Gunnar Henderson struck out to end the inning and Dansby Swanson’s RBI single in the eighth restored the margin.

The Birds finished Tuesday's series opener with six hits, all singles, and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Wednesday was no better. Dean Kremer allowed just six hits in five innings, but four of them were solo home runs. Pete Alonso’s two-run shot, his 20th, had given the O’s a 3-1 lead before Michael Conforto and Carson Kelly went deep on the first two pitches of the fifth and Crow- Armstrong followed inside a four-batter span.

The Cubs then hung five on the bullpen in the seventh, capped by a Seiya Suzuki three-run homer, to lead 9-3. The Orioles at least made it interesting.

Tyler O’Neill homered as a pinch-hitter and Taylor Ward singled in a run in the seventh, then Coby Mayo launched a 420-foot drive into the second deck in left in the eighth and O’Neill followed with a 433-foot shot to left-center. Jackson Holliday had four hits out of the nine hole, but the O’s fell 9-7.

Thursday’s finale was moved to an afternoon start ahead of the weather, and the Orioles took it 3-2 on three hits. Trevor Rogers continued to look like the good version of himself, giving up one run over six innings.

O’Neill homered in the second for the game’s first run. With the score tied in the eighth, Jeremiah Jackson pinch-hit for Dylan Beavers and doubled into the right-center gap to score Henderson and Alonso.

Tyler Wells picked up the win despite surrendering an RBI double to Suzuki, and Andrew Kittredge worked the ninth for his second save as the rain arrived at Camden Yards.

The Royals arrived at Camden Yards on Friday and the Orioles took advantage of their struggles.

Baltimore strung together four singles in the second, with Holliday and Henderson driving in runs, and Blaze Alexander answered a two-run Kansas City fourth with a 436-foot homer to put the O’s back in front.

Brandon Young carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth on just 77 pitches before Isaac Collins led off with a game-tying homer. Alonso opened the bottom half with a single, and Samuel Basallo hooked a slider from lefty Matt Strahm just inside the right- field foul pole for his 15th homer, with an exuberant bat toss to celebrate. Rico Garcia got the win and Kittredge closed out the 5-3 win.

Saturday belonged to Kyle Bradish, who carried a no-hitter into the seventh before Jac Caglianone led off the inning with a single to center. Bradish finished with one run on two hits over 6.2 innings, walking two and striking out five, and dropped his ERA to 3.61.

The offense handled the rest, with four of the O’s six hits leaving the yard. Basallo drove in the first run in the second after an Alonso leadoff double. Alonso then hit a 420-foot two-run homer in the fourth. Mayo led off the fifth with a 440-foot blast that struck the second-deck facade at 110.4 mph off the bat.

Ward added his first home run at Camden Yards this season in the sixth, and Henderson added a homer in the eighth, his first since June 19, to cap the 6-1 win.

The O’s completed the sweep on Sunday, cruising to an 8-2 win. Baz struck out nine but needed 104 pitches to get through 4.2 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits without a walk.

The bullpen picked him up, with five relievers covering the final 4.1 innings without giving up a run. Leody Taveras put Baltimore ahead with a two-run homer off Seth Lugo in the second, and after Lane Thomas tied it with an RBI single in the third, the game stayed level until the sixth.

Then Alonso, Taveras, Jackson and Henderson all drove in runs off Matt Strahm. Basallo tacked on a solo shot in the seventh to seal the win. Henderson finished with three hits, Alexander had two and scored twice, and Taveras drove in three. Grant Wolfram got the win.

Unfortunately the sweep came at a cost. Blaze Alexander was hit on the left hand in the ninth inning, and postgame imaging revealed a non-displaced fracture.

Four straight wins is four straight wins, and after eight tries this season, the Orioles will take it.

The break gives them four days off before they open the second half Friday in Houston. It does not change what the first half was, and it does not make the decisions in front of the front office any easier. If anything, it makes them harder.

Player of the Week --

Several Orioles made a case in a week that ended far better than it started.

Pete Alonso was the most complete offensive performer, going 6-for-22 with two home runs, a double and five RBI while posting a .976 OPS. He hit his 20th on Wednesday and a 420-foot, two-run drive on Saturday for number 21.

Tyler O'Neill did his damage in a hurry, hitting three home runs in just 13 at-bats, including a pinch-hit shot Wednesday and a 433-foot drive later in the same game. He slugged 1.000 for the week.

Taylor Ward got there a different way, drawing eight walks in 26 plate appearances for a .538 on-base percentage and a 1.009 OPS, and his sixth-inning blast Saturday was his first home run at Camden Yards this season.

Shane Baz merits a mention for two starts that deserved better. Baz worked 10.2 innings, struck out 12 against three walks and allowed four earned runs for a 3.38 ERA, and came away 0-1. His nine-strikeout, one-earned-run afternoon Sunday was the sharpest stuff he has shown in weeks, even if a 104-pitch slog through 4.2 innings kept him from a decision.

The award goes to Kyle Bradish, who was phenomenal Saturday night and gave this team the kind of start it has lacked this season.

Bradish carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Jac Caglianone lined a single to left-center, and he finished with one run on two hits across 6.2 innings, walking two and striking out five on 96 pitches. That is a 1.35 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP for the week, and his season mark dropped to 3.61.

This is a rotation that has spent the season either dominating or detonating, with very little in between, and a bullpen that has been asked to cover far too many innings behind short outings. Bradish handed the ball to Albernaz with two outs in the seventh and a five-run lead. That is what a healthy front-line starter looks like.

Down on the Farm --

Norfolk remains a difficult watch, but the pitching showed some promise this week. Nestor German was excellent on Saturday, tossing seven shutout innings against Syracuse with six strikeouts and only five baserunners, and he did it against a lineup in which every hitter had major league experience. It was his second consecutive scoreless outing.

Less encouraging was Cade Povich, who was hammered for seven runs on six hits and four walks in 3.1 innings. At the plate, Christian Encarnacion-Strand was the standout, hitting .333 with two home runs, two doubles and seven RBI in 15 at-bats for a 1.279 OPS.

Heston Kjerstad had his best week in some time, going 5-for-13 with a double and two RBI for an .862 OPS. Enrique Bradfield Jr. hit .231 with a triple, two walks and a stolen base, and Jud Fabian went hitless in six at-bats while drawing three walks.

Creed Willems remains on the injured list, which has taken some of the interest out of the Norfolk box scores.

Chesapeake had some solid performances on the mound. Luis De León was extraordinary Saturday at Akron, throwing eight scoreless innings with five strikeouts while allowing just two hits and a walk. It was the longest outing of his professional career by two full innings.

Juaron Watts-Brown followed with five innings of one-run ball and eight strikeouts, and Joseph Dzierwa opened the week with five innings of one-run, three-hit ball without issuing a walk.

The Baysox lineup was carried by Douglas Hodo III, who hit .286 with two home runs, six RBI and two stolen bases for a .994 OPS, and by Dom Keegan, who slashed .353/.450/.529 with a triple and four RBI. Frederick Bencosme chipped in two doubles and a .412 on-base percentage. Aron Estrada had a quiet week, managing four hits in 22 at-bats.

Dzierwa and Ike Irish represented the Orioles at the All-Star Futures Game on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

Dzierwa, the second-round pick out of Michigan State last summer, has been the single most encouraging development in this system all year, and he is the highest- drafted pitcher of the entire Elias era. There is a lesson in there somewhere.

Tomorrow here at #DMD, Randy looks at Craig Albernaz and Mike Elias and wonders if the O's should stick with them or part company with one or both of them.

Sunday July 12, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4345

and then there were four

In their heyday, Genesis was, let's say, an interesting band.

They helped launch the theme-based prog rock scene by delivering such albums as Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound. I don't know how to say this without offending some people, but not everyone could "get" Genesis in their infancy.

You had to really settle in and follow along with the words, music and order of songs in order to understand just what the heck they were trying to do.

Then Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975 and everything pretty much changed. Like, immediately.

They brought in veteran guitarist Steve Hackett and even put out a couple of albums thereafter, including Wind And Wuthering, which was an acceptable piece of music, I'd say.

But in 1977, Hackett left the band.

In 1978, they released an album that is still, to this day, on my personal Top 10 of all time: And Then There Were Three.

The album title was a reference to the three remaining band members, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks.

If you get the chance to go on YouTube today and hear the whole thing for yourself, I think you'll like it. I've included one of my favorite songs below, just to give you a taste.

Unlike Genesis, the key number for the World Cup and the Orioles from Saturday was four, not three.

There are now four World Cup teams remaining. None are a surprise. In fact, in a complete rarity, the teams listed 1-to-4 in FIFA's soccer rankings are all still alive.

Argentina escaped Switzerland last night with a late pair of goals to win, 3-1. They'll face England next Wednesday, who got past Norway, 2-1, in Saturday's quarterfinal opener in Miami.

On the other side of the bracket, it's France vs. Spain on Tuesday.

There are no patsies or underdogs remaining in the field. Everyone is special. Any of the four could win, although I suspect the wagering houses probably feel like England is the longest-shot of the four.

Saturday's semifinal between Switzerland and Argentina was greatly impacted by a heroic call from the officials and VAR. They kicked a Swiss player out for diving.

Well, technically, Breel Embolo didn't get kicked out just for diving. He had picked up a yellow card earlier in the game. Then, later on, he was fouled by Leandro Paredes of Argentina, who was actually given a yellow card himself for the tackle on Embolo. But upon further review, Embolo was well into his dive before Paredes made contact with him.

Was it a dive? Definitely.

Should he have been yellow carded for it? Probably.

Is it a shame he was kicked out of the game because of that? For sure.

But if you've watched the World Cup this summer and you've learned anything at all, it's all about the fouls. The referee blows his/her whistle so much throughout the 90 minutes they have to keep a replacement whistle in their pocket.

Every 30 seconds, there's a foul. And those are just the ones that are called.

Guys get fouled and they collapse like Lincoln at Ford's Theater. And that's what it is, really. Theater. They're on the ground, writhing in pain, never to get up again and walk without the aid of a cane. 30 seconds later, they're good as new.

So, while I think it was unfortunate the Swiss player got kicked out, I get it. At some point, the refs have to be able to say "enough is enough".

Playing with only 10 men for the game's final 50 minutes proved to be too much for the Swiss. They finally caved in late in the second extra-time session, then yielded a meaningless goal just before the whistle blew to lose, 3-1.

Well, that goal wasn't meaningless if you had Argentina minus 1.5 goals and the "over" 2.5 total goals total. If you know what I mean.

But those two late tallies pushed Argentina into the proverbial Final Four. Whether they fully deserve to be there after escaping three (mostly) lightweights in Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland is up for debate. But they've made it to the semifinals, which can only mean one thing.

We only have three games remaining to see Messi and Pulisic in those Michelob Ultra commercials.

I'm sure you as thrilled about that as is the rest of the world.

And speaking of "four", that's how many homers the Birds hit on Saturday night in a 6-1 romp over the hapless Royals. Don't look now, the battlin' Birds have won three straight games and are going for their first 4-game win streak of the season in today's series finale.

Taylor Ward, Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo all homered last night, with the Birds managing just six hits overall in support of another outstanding start by Kyle Bradish.

Speaking of hits and not having many, the Royals collected just two of them last night. I know we're down in the dumps here in The Land of Pleasant Living about the O's and their first half woes, but at least we're not fans of the Royals. Kansas City is now 38-58 on the season and headed directly for a 65 win season -- if they're lucky.

Bradish, meanwhile, continues to shine for the O's in 2026. He improved to 6-9 with last night's win and lowered his ERA to 3.61. If he pitched for a legitimate team in the first half of the season, he'd be 10-5 or something like that. I don't want the O's to deal him when I write this, so please understand I'm not advocating a trade within the next four weeks.

But if the Birds were serious about blowing up their roster and "starting over", Bradish would definitely fetch them some legitimate, quality prospects in return. He's the real deal. And then some.

It's hard to get worked up about the last two wins over K.C. because the Royals are sooooooooo bad. But you play who they put on your schedule and everyone in the A.L. gets to play Kansas City at some point. Better to beat them than to lose them.

For the Birds, though, the telltale sign moving forward will be the next 12 games after the All-Star break.

With today's win pretty much already in the books, that leaves the O's at 46-51 at the break.

When they return, 9 of their first 12 are on the road, including a key series in Fenway against the suddenly-red-hot Red Sox.

Things are starting to look a little brighter in Birdland. Get this one out of the way today, get some R&R for four days, and then come back loaded for bear next Friday in Houston.

This 2026 baseball season is far from over. Good things can still happen. As the great Ted Lasso said: Believe.

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9. Brian Harman was #8. At #7, it was Tyrrell Hatton. Brooks Koepka was #6. Kurt Kitayama was #5.

#4 Justin Thomas -- I don't make a lot of my major championship picks on "I have a feeling" about this guy, but that's the category Justin Thomas fits into this coming week.

I just "have a feeling".

Some of that is based on his play at the Scottish Open, where he sits at 5-under par heading into today's final round. In other words, Thomas is already over there, he's playing "links golf" and he's apparently handling it all well.

He doesn't have a career top 10 at the British, that's true, but he's made the cut in the tournament five of the last six years and his game in 2026, overall, is trending up after battling injuries throughout most of 2024 and into 2025.

His '26 numbers are good. He's made 11 of 12 cuts and is generally "green" in most of the key statistical areas (green means above or better than the TOUR average in any given category).

His biggest challenge has been hitting greens in regulation and getting the ball close to the hole on those shots. He'll have to remedy that this week at Birkdale.

But the fact that he's headed in the direction of perhaps a Top 15 at the Scottish Open tells me his game is starting to percolate.

And it just "feels" like Justin Thomas, who has 16 career TOUR wins, is destined for something special to happen sometime soon.

Why not Birkdale? Why not a Claret Jug?

Saturday July 11, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4344

tough week for our american stars

First it was Christian Pulisic, and some of his teammates, in the aftermath of last Monday's egg-laying-spectacle in Seattle.

Yesterday it was Scottie Scheffler in Scotland.

It turned out to be a bad five days for two of America's brightest stars in their respective sports.

Pulisic is still getting beat up for his dismal performance in the 4-1 drubbing on Monday night. He played 60 minutes before being subbed out, either because he asked for it or Mauricio Pochettino had seen enough of his best player (?) getting the ball knocked away from him over and over.

A number of national media outlets have taken the U.S. soccer star to task this week, ranging from claims of a divisive, mercurial personality to an injury prone athlete whose star has risen more because no one else around him is good enough to challenge for the crown.

It hasn't helped Pulisic that virtually every other star in the World Cup has stepped up big time over the last three weeks.

When England needed a goal, Harry Kane came through.

Argentina needed a last-gasp miracle vs. Egypt, so they turned to Lionel Messi and he produced some of the most magical soccer the World Cup has ever seen.

No one can stop Erling Haaland of Norway. It seems like he's the only one who scores for them. But isn't that the point of it all?

Everyone knows France is going to get the ball to Mbappe, but no one can put the clamps on him nonetheless.

Time and time again, the best players have stepped up in this World Cup.

Pulisic, however, didn't follow suit.

It's fair to point out he was outstanding in the first half of the 4-1 World Cup opening win over Paraguay. For a brief spell, he played the role that was expected of him. The ball, and the offense, went through him.

Then came the calf injury.

He didn't play in the win over Australia and saw a brief 20-minute spell in the meant-nothing loss to Turkey. He was present in the 2-0 win over Bosnia, yes, but he certainly didn't stand out in that game and was replaced with a few minutes remaining as the Americans brought in defensive help to salt away a key win.

And then, last Monday night, he was really off in the 4-1 humbling defeat to Belgium. Now, let's at least recognize that virtually no one on the roster played up to their potential in that defeat. Pulisic wasn't the only one who laid an egg. But the rest of the players aren't Christian Pulisic, either.

When the U.S. needed him most, he was pretty much a non-factor. Like, a total no-show.

As Pulisic's star rises, the inevitable marketing connections accompany him. He's been seen in beer commercials with Messi for the last three weeks which, as some have noted, is about the only way he and Messi should ever be seen in the same room with one another.

It all comes with the territory, as the saying goes.

You're the star, you're the fair-haired-boy in the commercials and the advertisements, and you're the one who wears #10, symbolic of a team's "best player".

And when you stink it up, especially in the U.S., you're going to get raked over the coals.

Scottie Scheffler is doing something this week he hasn't done in four years. He's leaving his rental house early after missing the cut in this week's Scottish Open. Yesterday's round of 2-over-par ended his consecutive cuts streak at 78.

Scheffler didn't play poorly at the Scottish Open. He was 2-under on Thursday and 2-over yesterday, but his even-par score for two days wasn't good enough to play on the weekend.

And so, another American star is suddenly in the spotlight for failing to perform.

The comparisons between Pulisic and Scheffler aren't legitimate, though. Scheffler is the best golfer in the world. Pulisic is a very good player but hardly anywhere close to "best in the world" status.

Still, Scheffler's missed cut at the Scottish has caused quite a stir in the golf world.

"He can't putt!" armchair golfers were claiming on Friday as Scheffler made bogey at his final hole of the day.

"I knew that golf swing would eventually catch up to him," someone on Twitter wrote on Friday night.

"Not the way you want to go into a major championship," another guy opined.

One missed cut and suddenly the whole world is falling apart around you, huh?

For the record, nothing about Scheffler's statistical data is "off". He's the TOUR leader in FedEx Cup points and is ranked 1st on the entire PGA Tour in several categories, including shots gained: total, greens in regulation, scrambling, scoring average and birdie average.

That he's only won once this season is surprising, but he's lost two events in playoffs and has finished Top 5 or better in 6 of his last 8 tournaments.

A putt made here and a putt made there and he might have 3, 4 or even 5 wins. The other guys try to make putts, too, remember.

Scheffler's consecutive cuts streak ending at 78 also reminds everyone how incredible it was to witness Tiger's streak of 142 consecutive cuts made.

It's mind boggling to even think about.

142 consecutive tournaments without missing a cut.

78 is amazing.

142 is beyond any description.

Seven years without missing a cut.

Unreal.

As for Scheffler and his golf, missing the cut at the Scottish Open gives him the opportunity to head to Southport, England and set up shop a few days early in preparation for next week's British Open at Royal Birkdale.

He hasn't played Birkdale in his life, so some extra prep time there certainly can't hurt, right?

Could it all add up to a 5th career major championship next week? I wouldn't count him out.

Brandon Young was once again outstanding last night, going 7 innings and allowing just 3 earned runs in a game the Birds won over Kansas City, 5-3.

It was 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th when Samuel Basallo hit a 2-run homer to put the Birds ahead for good.

Andrew Kittredge made it interesting in the 9th when he allowed a base hit, but he was able to close things out for the O's, who have now posted a modest 2-game win streak with a pair of games remaining with the Royals before next week's All Star break.

We're going to pretend for a minute the O's win these next two against the lowly Royals to finish out the proverbial first-half of the season at 46-51.

And now let's do what we love to do here. Let's look ahead to the next couple of weeks to see just how the Birds are going to climb back into the playoff race.

They return to action next Friday, July 17, with a 3-game weekend series in Houston.

From there, they head to Boston for three games at Fenway Park.

Then it's home for three vs. the Braves.

And then they're back on the road for three at Detroit.

That almost closes out the month of July.

A total of 12 games. 9 away and 3 at home.

Can they go 8-4 in those 12? That would be awesome if they could.

A 7-5 mark would be OK.

If they go 6-6, they haven't done anything except tread water.

But given what we've seen from their starting pitching over the last few weeks, there's no reason to think the Birds can't go 8-4 in the next 12 games.

And if they do.......we're right back in this thing.

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9. Brian Harman was #8. At #7, it was Tyrrell Hatton. Brooks Koepka was #6.

#5, Kurt Kitayama -- I get bullish on players from time to time and I tend to cling to them for a while. Two years ago, you'll recall it was Sepp Straka. Last year, it was Chris Gotterup. This year, at least in the majors, it's been Harris English.

But Kurt Kitayama is also moving up on my "bullish" list, too.

And I think he has a great chance to play well next week at Royal Birkdale.

Kitayama has made 14 of 16 cuts this season.

All of his statistical numbers are excellent this year except one, and it's a big one. He's 111th on TOUR in shots gained: putting.

But he's 3rd in total driving and 4th in greens in regulation. In other words, he's a fairways-and-greens machine. And he hits the ball a long way. All he needs is a good week with the putter.

A lot of guys can say that, of course. "If I putt well this week, I can win." And that's true for a lot of players. But very few of them have the ball striking numbers of Kitayama. If he hits like he's been hitting next week at Birkdale, he just needs to make some putts and he could very well have a chance to win.

Friday July 10, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4343

so...what is the magic number?

We have lots of questions to get to and answer on this Friday here in The Land of Pleasant (stormy) Living.

That was a nice way to end a not-so-nice series with the Cubs on Thursday, as the Birds generated just three hits but still managed a 3-2 victory at Camden Yards. Three hits and a win. That doesn't happen often.

The good news? Trevor Rogers really does look like the Trevor Rogers we saw in 2025.

As you'll see in one of the questions below, Rogers gets mentioned prominently in today's edition of #DMD.

The bad news? Almost everything else about the series with the Cubs.

And now the Royals are coming to town and that should mean at least two wins for the orange and black if not a full 3-game sweep of the visitors from Kansas City.

But we also thought we were gonna sweep the Nationals a couple of weekends ago, remember?

On to the Mailbag we go.

Bart asks -- "DF, I'm curious about your opinion on Pochettino and should the U.S. go all out to keep him around for World Cup 2030?"

DF says -- "For sure. I realize he didn't have to guide them through CONCACAF qualifying and that certainly made getting the U.S. team "ready" for the World Cup far easier, but at some point we have to turn the club over to someone who is highly qualified and stick with them for at least two World Cup cycles, if not longer.

This is a little similar to the Ryder Cup, except that is played every two years. For some reason, the U.S. gives their captain a one-off shot at running the team and then, win or lose, they just move on to another captain. I don't get that at all. The Europeans are going with Luke Donald for a third straight Ryder Cup in 2027. As they should.

I thought Poch did an admirable job overall. Sure, their group wasn't exactly a bunch of high-flyers, but they won the first two when they needed to win them and they beat a commendable Bosnia team in the first knockout game. Belgium was a fiasco, but I don't put much of that or, any of it, really, on the coach.

I'd be disappointed if the USSF doesn't go out of their way to keep him around for four more years, although I assume he will not be the coach moving forward. I'm sure he'll get a nice offer from a European club and it will come down to money and he'll be gone."

Rich asks -- "If July 20 (give or take a day) leaves two weeks before the MLB trade deadline, what do you think the Orioles magic number is in terms of a wild card spot for them to be either buyers or sellers at the deadine? And if you could only move one player at the deadline, who would you trade?"

DF says -- "I'm not sure why you picked two weeks out, unless you're thinking most of the best deals occur early, a couple of weeks before the actual deadline. If not, I think you can go up to one week before the deadline before you make "the call".

Using your logic of two weeks, I'd say the O's have to be within 4 games of the final wild card spot in order to not be sellers.

I think it's probably the same if you run it up until a week before. They have to be within 4 games of the final wild card spot, otherwise, you might as well consider selling off whatever you can. Remember, it's not just the games, but how many teams you have to jump over as well. If you're 4 games out but you only have to jump over two teams, that's one thing. But if you're 4 games out and you have to get past five or six teams, that's a different story.

The one player I'd move in order to get the most in return would be Trevor Rogers. I think someone would definitely give up something of value to receive a solid, dependable left handed starter. I realize he's been good-to-be-very-good over the last 12 months, but you can't pawn off a schlub and expect to get two or three good prospects in return. You'd have to give up Rogers to get something of value.

I like Rogers. I just don't think there's anything else of real value that we can move other than him."

Jason asks -- "Hey Drew, 12.4 handicap golfer here and have a question for you about putting and hope you can help. Feel free to use this on the website Q & A if you want. So almost every round I play includes at least four three putt greens, if not five or more. I can not figure it out. My friends I play with say I should be a 6 or 7 handicap but I can't stop three putting. Do you have any drills or exercises I should do to help with my putting?"

DF says -- "It would help a little if I knew how you're three putting. Are you leaving most of your first putts considerably short of the cup or are you running them well past the hole? Is your speed good but your aim and green reading what's hurting you?

Anyway, I'd probably answer the question the same way. I actually just taught this drill at the Calvert Hall Golf camp this week.

I call it the "Bet Your Life" putt. How close do you have to be to the hole in order to mythically "bet your life" that you'd make that putt? Most people would laugh and say "6 inches".

I'd challenge you to go to the practice green and try to figure out what your "Bet Your Life" distance is. Is it 18 inches? Two feet? I know, for me, it's probably around 2.5 feet. Once you get to three feet or more, you start to say to yourself, "Yeah, I just don't know that I'd bet my life on making this 3 footer."

So......I would then, as a drill, practice the living daylights out of that "Bet Your Life" distance and then never miss a putt again from that length. It might be boring, but I'd putt 50 of them from two feet and make all 50 in a row.

And then, the second part of the drill is the one that will help your three putt issues. Double the length of your "Bet Your Life" distance and practice 50 of them at a time. And you have to make 35 of the 50 from that distance or you start over. You can't leave the green until you've made 35 of 50 putts from whatever your "Bet Your Life" distance is, times two.

In other words, you make 50 in a row from two feet. Double that putt to four feet and make 35 of 50 from that distance. Once you've mastered that four foot difference, double that distance and make 35 of 50 from eight feet as a practice drill.

If you do the drill right, you'll make every putt from two feet and 35 of 50 from four feet and then 35 of 50 from eight feet.

The more of those you make in practice, the more comfortable you're going to be on the course when you face those pesky two footers and four footers for par. The key to the whole drill is identifying how far away your "Bet Your Life" distance is and never miss one of those again. Let me know if this helps! I hope it does."

Tim G. asks -- "I followed along on X a few days ago when you were arguing with the guy about soccer players not being "real athletes" and it made me wonder how you would rank the top five sports in terms of athleticism (baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer)."

DF says: "Great question! I don't really know how to do this since every sport has their own athletic "values" that some of the other sports don't necessarily have.

But I know this: The sport that requires the most athleticism is definitely hockey. Those guys (and gals) are #1 with a bullet.

After that, I'd probably say football and basketball are neck and neck. Certain positions in football require more athleticism, obviously. I'd say soccer and baseball are next. There's a misnomer that baseball players aren't athletic and that's most certainly not true.

Baseball, in fact, is the one sport where hand-eye coordination is probably greater than in any other athletic endeavor.

If you've been watching the World Cup for the last three weeks and you don't think soccer players are supremely athletic the way they run, jump, cut and use their bodies for both power and positioning, then there's no helping you."

Glen asks -- "My golf group at Greystone has a question for you and the Morning Dish. We have a player, let's call him "Mike", who is 33 years old. His last five rounds from the back tees at Greystone are 80, 85, 78, 80, 83. He has been playing golf since 2020.

We all went to the LIV event in Virginia last year and on the ride home he said "If I quit my job and played golf every day like those guys I could be a pro golfer in two years."

Last Saturday someone in the group brought that up and he double downed and said, "Give me two years and I could be a pro golfer."

What do you think the odds are he could be a professional golfer in two years if he quit his job and just golfed every day?"

DF says -- "I'm sorry to say this. Mike has a zero percent chance. He can play golf every day for two years and he's not going to earn a living playing on one of the professional golf tours.

Now, could he become a scratch golfer in two years with the right training and instruction? Sure, that's possible. But there is a huge difference between a scratch golfer and someone who plays professional golf and makes money from it.

I've shared this story here before. In the early 2000's, I went down to Florida for a couple of weeks to enter a bunch of tournaments on something called the Moonlight Tour. It's now called the OGA Tour, whatever that means. Anyway, the Moonlight Tour included one day 18 hole events and two day 36 hole events. It was filled with players of all ages who were trying to "find their way" in professional golf.

I was a +1 or +2 player at that point. I could go weeks at a time shooting nothing higher than 72 at Mount Pleasant, Cliton Park, Pine Ridge, etc. I decided to go down to Florida and just do two weeks down there to see where I fit in.

I entered 7 events. I played five, one-day tournaments and two, two-day tournaments. These events were on real Florida golf courses, form the back tees. In those 7 events, a total of 162 holes, I was 11 over par. I shot 69-70 in one of the two day tournaments and finished 8th out of 18 players!

I came back home with a new respect for "professional golf", even on something as minor-league as the Moonlight Tour in the Tampa/Orlando area.

My financial numbers might not be exactly accurate, but they're close. I think it cost me $1,000 to enter the 7 events and I made $770 in prize money.

I learned my lesson very quickly and, fortunately, it didn't cost me an arm and a leg to see where I stood.

Your friend Mike would discover the same thing. Do you know how many high level "scratch" golfers there are in this country? Thousands of them. Thousands and thousands. And those are the guys (and gals) who can't make money playing golf, remember."

Brian Preller asks -- How about a Baltimore/Maryland overrated and underrated segment for a future edition of The Dish? I'll give you these five things and you can decide if they're overrated or underrated: Ocean City, Crabs, Deep Creek Lake, Fells Point, Annapolis

Thanks, Drew!"

DF says -- "Hmmmm, I'll get in trouble for this one. They're actually all underrated except for crabs. Crabs are waaaaayyyy overrated. Too much work, not enough yield, dangerous (is there anything worse than slicing your finger on a crab shell?) and just not very satisfying. You have to eat 15 of them to even remotely feel "filled up".

I love Ocean City. I'm not a fan of the Boardwalk, per se, but I don't ever venture down there. In general, though, I love Ocean City life. I'd open a coffee shop down there in a heartbeat in my next life.

Deep Creek is also awesome. I love the late summer and early fall in Western, Maryland. Deep Creek is a great, sleepy little place in those months. There isn't a whole lot to do, I'd say, but that's the charm of it. There's just enough to do to keep yourself busy.

I think Fells Point is also very underrated. Park your car, walk around, get good food and drink. It's not as lively as it was 25 or 30 years ago, but nothing in Baltimore is, right?

And I love, love, love Annapolis. The downtown portion near the Naval Academy is soooooo awesome.

Sorry, crab lovers. Crabs are big time overrated. Everything else, though, is underrated in a big way."

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9. Brian Harman was #8. At #7, it was Tyrrell Hatton.

#6 Brooks Koepka -- I continue to be bullish on Koepka, mainly because I think putting is usually the one facet of the game that doesn't play a huge role in winning the Claret Jug. Koepka isn't a bad putter. But he's been having a tough time on the greens in the U.S. this year.

He did get off to a good start in yesterday's Scottish Open (4 under par), so that also bodes well for him.

I'm bullish on Koepka because I think he's a guy who still has a lot of good golf left in him and the British Open seems like the kind of event he can still win.

And while he wouldn't openly admit it, I think the career grand slam is very important to Koepka, He's halfway there. He needs a British Open and a Masters. He can still win both of them, in my opinion.

The British Open is all about the weather draw and the way each player handles the nuances of the course. We won't know about Koepka's weather draw until next week, but I don't see Royal Birkdale being a problem for him.

I'd love to see Koepka win next week for his 6th career major championship.

faith in sports

I hope you'll take 7 minutes today to watch the video below. It's the full recap from last week's FCA Competitors Camp at Liberty University.

I was blessed to help run the golf camp, with 24 golfers joining us for five days of instruction, faith and fellowship.

We're a year away from returning and I'd say to you, today, if you have a son or daughter ages 10 to 18 and they're an athlete of any skill level, please consider sending them to Competitors Camp next summer.

If you have a young, junior golfer, reach out to me and I'll introduce them to our FCA Maryland Golf program. Our next free junior clinic is Wednesday, July 22 at Pine Ridge driving range from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.

The video below is awesome. It shows you exactly what our camp at Liberty is all about.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our Friday "Faith in Sports" segment.

Thursday July 9, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4342

you are much appreciated!

I guess we should formally thank the Chicago Cubs for pushing us over the edge and convincing Mike Elias and his staff we should sell at the trade deadline in early August.

Wait.........

Not so fast. There's a lot of baseball left between now and then.

The "much appreciated" in the headline was for all of you who offered contributions yesterday to our fund for new golf equipment for Liam O'Donoghue, the rising junior at Calvert Hall who lost his left arm in a terrible car accident back in May.

We're at $870 and counting thanks to your generosity! And it was all done right here at #DMD. I sincerely appreciate every dollar sent.

The next step is to purchase a set of clubs for Liam and get him fitted for them. I'll get that done next week. We're also going to arrange for some lessons for him as well. I've invited him out to the free monthly FCA junior clinic on Wednesday, July 22 at Pine Ridge.

On yesterday's final day of camp at Eagle's Nest CC, Liam got to swing the driver for the first time and made really good contact. He's such a good athlete! For kicks, we had the other 13 boys hit their driver using just their right arm and they got a taste for how difficult it is to do. Everyone had a new-found respect for Liam!

I'll be back next week with an update on Liam's clubs and will hopefully get him out to a FCA clinic sometime soon and post pictures and videos here of his progress. Thank you all again, for contributing and supporting Liam's return to golf!

Now, back to the O's and Cubs and that "thank you" we owe the Cubs after last night's 9-7 Chicago win at Camden Yards.

The Birds are now 42-51 and have just four games remaining before the All-Star break. By the way, in case you didn't hear, today's game has been moved from 6:35 pm to 1:35 pm due to forecasted inclement weather this evening in the Baltimore metro area.

That just means your dinner won't get spoiled when the Birds give up two runs in the top of the 9th to lose 5-3 today.

Actually, if I were to wager on this game today, I'd actually take the O's. They're not losing three of three to Chicago. Alas, I would never bet on (or against) the Orioles. They're far too unpredictable.

After today's game, the Birds host lowly Kansas City for a weekend 3-banger and then comes the All-Star break. A win today and a sweep of the Royals will put the Orioles at 46-52 at the break.

My fear, and your fear, probably, is that 46-51 is just close enough to .500 to keep Mike Elias in the "buying" mode at the break instead of the rightful "selling" position he should be adopting.

You know me. I'm not giving up or quitting until the schedule says I have to do it. If we still have hope, we should keep on playing hard to see if we can generate a miracle.

But I do understand how trade deadlines work and, at some point, you, as the GM, have to push aside what your heart tells you and go with your brain, even if there's two months of baseball left to play.

Here's the truth: These O's should be sellers at the deadline.

It would be way different, say, if they were getting guys like Westburg, Mountcastle and a starting pitcher or two back in mid-to-late July and could reasonably think, "If those four guys come back and they're able to play at a high level, we could get back in the playoff race."

Those guys aren't coming back, though. Mountcastle might be but there's beyond zero evidence to suggest he'll be of any help against any team not hailing from Toronto.

The only way the Birds improve in August and beyond is via the trade deadline and "buying" rather than selling. I just don't think that's prudent at this point.

The problem, though, is there's really no one of value to sell. No one is taking Tyler O'Neill. What's Blaze Alexander going to fetch you?

If Chris Bassitt would have made 18 healthy starts by late July and was sport something in the 4.50 ERA range, you might have been able to pawn him off on someone. But he's hurt. And his value is gone.

There's no reason to get rid of any other starting pitchers, especially when you're already starting-pitching starved as it is.

Maybe someone would take Mayo, Beavers or Cowser, sure. They're young and have value. But they're also largely all three unproven players at this point. Teams who are buying need "proven", not unproven.

Taylor Ward might be of interest to people but he wouldn't net you anything of value. You'd just be getting rid of him to get rid of him.

The only way Elias makes any kind of significant impact at the trade deadline is if he gets rid of someone of true value, like Rutschman, Henderson, Bradish, Rogers, etc.

And I just don't see that happening.

That could also be the reason why Elias winds up buying at the deadline instead of selling. With nothing to sell, why nost just buy and roll the dice one final time?

---

orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week several prospects made this an incredibly difficult decision, but we shifted gears this week from a weekly performance to highlighting the two Baltimore prospects that will be playing in this year’s MLB All-Star Future’s Game: OF/1B Ike Irish and LHP Joseph Dzierwa.

This year’s MLB All-Star Future’s Game will be played this Sunday, July 12 at noon EST at Ciizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The game will air on NBC and the Orioles’ very own Melanie Newman will be part of the broadcast team.

Irish, 22, is no surprise to be on this year’s roster. He is simply tearing it up at High-A Frederick. The O’s 2025 first round selection out of Auburn University is hitting .260 with 12 home runs, 15 doubles, a robust 47 RBI, 53 runs scored and has also added 18 stolen bases as well.

Thanks to drawing 42 walks and seven hit-by-pitches, Irish is also boasting a .378 OBP and a .847 OPS.

Currently ranked as the second best prospect in the O’s system by MLB Pipeline, Irish is liking forcing the organization’s hand to bump him up to AA Chesapeake after his Future’s game appearance.

Joining Irish in Philly on Sunday is 22-year old lefty Joseph Dzierwa. A fellow 2025 draft pick (2nd – 58 overall) out of Michigan State University, Dzierwa began the year as teammates with Irish in Frederick before being promoted to AA after making South Atlantic League hitters look silly.

While in Frederick, Dzierwa went 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA and a 0.811 WHIP over 40.2 innings pitched. He also struck out 50 batters over those eight starts and walked just 10.

Since being promoted to AA, he has continued to be a dominant force on the mound. Over nine outings (seven starts), Dzierwa has gone 2-1 with a 2.38 ERA, 0.971 WHIP, 56 strikeouts and has walked just 11 over 45.1 innings pitched.

Jumping multiple levels in your first full professional season as a pitcher is not very common, but if the 12th ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline) continues to pitch like this, he may very well get a few starts at the AAA level later in the season.

Good luck to Irish and Dzierwa as they represent the Orioles in this year’s MLB All-Star Future’s Game on Sunday in Philladelphia!

Be sure to check back in all season as we will continue to highlight top performers from the O’s farm system!

This contribution was provided by our Orioles minor league correspondent, Josh Michael.

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9. Brian Harman was #8.

#7, Tyrrell Hatton -- As much as this pains me to do, Hatton is on my list and will probably be a guy I throw a dollar or two on next week at Royal Birkdale.

I'm not a fan.

First, he's a LIV player, so I immediately think of him more as a charlatan than someone I'd root for to win a major championship.

Second, I don't like his volatile personality on the course. It's a terrible example for impressionble junior golfers. I've never been a Tyrrell Hatton fan because of that, mainly.

Once he jumped ship to LIV, that cemented it for me.

All that said ------ the dude is a really nice player. He totally could win next week's British Open. He drives it straight, is a sublime iron player and has some of that Ian Poulter in him where he seemingly rolls in every big putt he leaves himself with.

His upright golf swing looks a little wonky, but the ball has no idea what the backswing looks like. He is an outstanding ball striker.

Whether he has, as they say over there in the U.K., the "bottle" to win a British Open remains to be seen. His record at the Open Championship is decent, but nothing more than that. He generally either misses the cut or finishes somewhere around T15.

I look at Hatton a little bit like this generation's version of Lee Westwood, minus the temper. Westwood was a high quality European player two decades ago who flirted with winning several major championships but never got it done. Hatton's golf swing is similar. But his overall quality is a tick or two higher than that of his fellow countryman.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Tyrrell Hatton triumph at Royal Birkdale next week.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

world cup quarterfinals preview

The Round of 16 is complete, and for American fans, it could feel like this World Cup has reached a natural stopping point.

The US is out. Canada is out. Mexico is out. All three host nations are gone before the quarterfinals, ending the local party earlier than any of the home crowds would have wanted.

Canada were beaten soundly by Morocco. Mexico went toe-to-toe with England at the Azteca but came up just short. The US had a chance to make a real statement against Belgium and instead were put firmly in their place.

So the tournament has lost some of its home-soil appeal, but that does not mean it is time to check out.

There are only eight teams left. Four games in the quarterfinals. Two semifinals. One final. The bracket has thinned out, the stakes are obvious, the stars are still here, and every remaining team has a clean storyline.

The Round of 16 gave us the end of the host-nation dream, the end of Brazil and Portugal, another Messi miracle, another Haaland takeover, another England survival act, and a final eight that splits almost perfectly between established powers and countries chasing something they have never done before.

And now the quarterfinals are set:

Match Storyline --

France vs. Morocco: Reigning powerhouse vs. Africa’s standard-bearer

Spain vs. Belgium: Defensive perfection vs. one more Belgian run

Norway vs. England: Haaland’s moment vs. England’s burden

Argentina vs. Switzerland: Messi’s last dance vs. the bracket menace

That is a pretty spectacular final eight.

For anyone who came into this tournament mostly focused on the US, or the novelty of a World Cup in North America, here are eight reasons to keep watching.

8. The Tournament Is Simpler, Sharper, and More Dramatic Now

The group stage is fun, but it is chaotic. There are too many games to track, too many scenarios to calculate, and too many teams that casual fans barely recognize.

The Round of 32 was exciting, but it was also new. It took some adjustment. It felt a little strange to have another knockout round before the usual last 16.

Now the tournament is simple.

Eight teams. Seven games left. No more scoreboard watching. No more “best third-place team” math. No more wondering which results matter.

Win and move on, lose and go home.

The US run is over, and it ended in sobering fashion. The Americans were good enough to dominate weaker teams, good enough to win their group, good enough to beat Bosnia shorthanded, but not good enough to handle Belgium when the tournament reached the level where mistakes get punished immediately.

That is disappointing, but it should not end the viewing experience.

In some ways, this is the best time for casual fans to jump back in. You do not need to know the entire tournament history. You do not need to watch three games a day. You do not need to understand every tactical debate.

You just need to know the stakes.

7. The First-Time Winners Are Not Just Cute Stories

There are four teams left that have never won the World Cup: Morocco, Belgium, Norway, and Switzerland.

None of them should be treated like a novelty act.

Morocco are probably not a Cinderella anymore. At some point, when you reach the semifinal in 2022, knock out the Netherlands in 2026, beat Canada 3-0, and reach back-to-back World Cup quarterfinals, you are just good.

They are organized, confident, and completely comfortable making more famous teams uncomfortable.

They also carry the hopes of an entire continent. No African team has ever reached a World Cup final. Morocco came closest four years ago. Now they get another shot, and fittingly, it comes against France, the same country that ended their 2022 run.

Belgium are a different kind of first-time hopeful. They are not some scrappy underdog. They have been around the top of international soccer for years. But that is exactly what makes their story interesting.

The old Belgium golden generation never finished the job. They were always talented enough to win a tournament and always found a way to fall short. This group may not have the same aura as peak Belgium, but after beating Senegal late in the Round of 32 and then hammering the US in the Round of 16, they are very much alive.

That 4-1 win over the Americans was not a fluke. Belgium created the better chances, punished the US mistakes, and looked like a team that understood the level of the moment better than the hosts did.

Norway are the easiest sell. They have Haaland. That alone makes them dangerous. But they are not just a one-man team. Martin Odegaard gives them a creator to pair with the most ruthless finisher in the world, and now they have the belief that comes from knocking out Brazil. For a country that had never won a World Cup knockout game before this tournament, that is an enormous shift.

Then there is Switzerland, the least glamorous and possibly most annoying team left in the bracket. They are the type of team nobody wants to play. Organized, experienced, defensively solid, and perfectly happy to turn a game into a coin flip if that is what the moment requires.

Colombia had been one of the most dangerous non-favorites in the tournament, and Switzerland still dragged them through 120 scoreless minutes and beat them on penalties. That is the beauty of the final eight. The famous teams are famous for a reason. But the challengers all have real arguments too.

6. France and Argentina Are Chasing Dynasty Status

There are two different dynasty stories still alive.

France are trying to reach a third straight World Cup final. That is a rarefied level of consistency in a tournament that is built to destroy plans. One bad bounce, one red card, one penalty shootout, one goalkeeper standing on his head, and four years of work can disappear.

France won it in 2018. They reached the final in 2022. Now they are in the quarterfinals again, with Morocco standing between them and another semifinal. This is not just a talented generation. This is one of the great national-team runs of the modern era.

And the thing with France is that they still feel like they have another gear. They have Mbappe. They have Dembele. They have Olise. They have waves of athletes and attacking options. They can win a game 3-0, or they can grind through Paraguay 1-0 without ever looking truly panicked. That is what great tournament teams do.

Argentina’s chase is different. They are trying to become the first repeat World Cup winner since Brazil in 1962.

Repeating is brutally hard. The target on your back is bigger. The emotional peak of winning the first one is almost impossible to recreate. The squad gets older. The opponents adjust. The margins shrink.

Argentina have already felt all of that. Cape Verde pushed them to extra time. Egypt nearly knocked them out. Messi had to rescue them again. This has not been a smooth title defense. But that may actually make the story better.

Argentina are not cruising toward history. They are staggering, fighting, clinging, and somehow still moving forward. Every round feels like it could be the end. Every time it looks like the magic is running out, Messi finds a little more. France look like a machine chasing history.

Argentina look like a legend refusing to let go.

Both are worth watching.

5. Spain’s Defense Is Chasing History

Spain have played five games in this World Cup and still have not conceded a goal.

That is absurd.

There is always a temptation to define Spain by their possession and passing. Death by a thousand sideways passes until suddenly someone is walking the ball into the net. That is the stereotype.

But this version of Spain has been defined just as much by what they do without the ball. They are organized, disciplined, and suffocating. Rodri and Pedri have quickly won balls back and stopped transitions. Laporte and Cubarsi have kept them organized and calm at the back.

They make games feel small. Spain do not just beat teams, they slowly remove oxygen from the match.

Their 1-0 win over Portugal was not exactly the kind of game that will bring casual fans sprinting back to soccer, but was the kind of game that wins tournaments. Spain did not panic. They did not open themselves up. They kept Portugal under control, waited for the moment, and found the winner in stoppage time.

No men’s World Cup champion has ever gone through the entire tournament without conceding a goal. Spain are still three games away from doing something that has never been done.

The irony is that Spain’s 2010 champions were already famous for winning ugly. They scored only eight goals in the whole tournament and won every knockout game 1-0. This group has a chance to do something even more extreme defensively.

For fans who like offense, France may be the team. For fans who like chaos, Norway and Argentina have delivered. But if you want to watch a team attempt to turn the World Cup into a tactical chokehold, Spain are the team to follow.

4. Heavyweights on a Collision Course

One of the fun parts of the Round of 16 was that the bracket did not completely break. Brazil are gone. Portugal are gone. The hosts are gone. Germany and the Netherlands were already gone. So yes, there has been plenty of chaos.

But the top of the bracket still has the potential for monster matchups.

France and Spain are one win away from a semifinal that would feel worthy of any final. France have the overwhelming attacking talent. Spain have the best defensive record in the tournament and the midfield structure to control any opponent. It would be a fascinating clash of styles: French explosiveness against Spanish control.

On the other side, Argentina and England are both one win away from reviving one of the great international rivalries. Argentina-England has World Cup history, political history, Maradona history, penalty shootout history, and enough lingering tension to make the buildup feel enormous before anyone even mentions the current players.

Of course, that assumes Morocco, Belgium, Norway, and Switzerland cooperate. They may not. Morocco already knocked out the Netherlands in the Round of 32 and then beat Canada 3-0 in the Round of 16. Belgium just hammered the US 4-1.

Norway knocked out Brazil. Switzerland just sent Colombia home on penalties. None of these teams are here by accident.

But for the neutral fan, that is the perfect setup. You can root for the heavyweight semifinals, or you can root for the Cinderella stories. Either way, there is something to watch.

3. Champions vs Dreamers

Every quarterfinal matches a former World Cup champion against a country trying to win it for the first time.

France have won it twice. Morocco have never reached a final.

Spain have won it once. Belgium have never won it.

England have won it once. Norway have never reached this stage before.

Argentina are the defending champions. Switzerland have not been this far since 1954.

That gives every game an easy frame. History against hunger. Old money against new money. The countries that expect to be here against the countries trying to make this the greatest soccer moment in their national history.

That is especially useful for American fans who may not know every player or every tactical wrinkle. You do not need a deep scouting report to understand the stakes.

France are trying to become a dynasty. Morocco are trying to become the first African team to reach a World Cup final.

Spain are trying to turn defensive dominance into another trophy. Belgium are trying to finally win the tournament that their golden generation never could.

England are trying to end 60 years of baggage. Norway are trying to ride Haaland into completely uncharted territory.

Argentina are trying to repeat as champions. Switzerland are trying to ruin the storybook ending. That is a great bracket.

2. The Stars Are Still Here

One of the fears with an expanded World Cup was that the tournament might become too bloated. More teams, more games, more mismatches, more chances for the bracket to get weird before the best teams finally met.

But at this stage, the star power is undeniable.

Messi is still here. Kylian Mbappe is still here. Erling Haaland is still here. Harry Kane is still here. Spain still have their absurd collection of young talent. France still have the most frightening attacking group in the tournament.

The Round of 16 made that clear.

Haaland scored both goals as Norway stunned Brazil 2-1, knocking out the five-time champions and giving Norway its first ever World Cup quarterfinal appearance. This is the kind of thing that makes the World Cup different from club soccer.

Haaland scores constantly for Manchester City, but doing this for Norway is something else entirely. This is not a super team built around him. This is a country that has never been a World Cup power, now suddenly three wins from a trophy because it has one of the most terrifying forwards alive.

It was mostly Bellingham who carried England in this round, helping them survive a wild 3-2 game against Mexico at the Azteca, but Kane stepped up to bury the eventual game winning penalty. England were pushed hard, the atmosphere was ridiculous, and they had to play most of the second half down a man. It was exactly the type of game England could have lost in a dozen different ways. Instead, they survived.

Mbappe and France did not need fireworks against Paraguay. They needed one goal, one professional defensive performance, and one more step forward. That is almost scarier. France have not always had to hit top gear in this tournament, but they keep advancing, and they still look like the team with the highest ceiling.

Then there is Spain, who edged Portugal 1-0 on a stoppage-time goal from Mikel Merino, ending Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup run and possibly closing the book on one of the great international careers.

It was not a classic. It was not Spain at their prettiest. But knockout soccer is often about control, patience, and one ruthless moment. Spain found it.

This is not a tournament where the famous names disappeared early and left casual fans searching for a reason to care. The biggest stars in the sport are still right in the middle of the story.

1. Messi’s Last Dance Is Still Alive

There are not many players in any sport who can make a game feel historic just by stepping onto the field. Lionel Messi is one of them.

At 39 years old, Messi is still dragging Argentina through the highest-pressure games in the world. That sentence should not make sense, and yet here we are.

Argentina looked dead against Egypt. Down 2-0 late, with Egypt playing fearlessly and the defending champions staring at one of the most shocking exits in World Cup history, it felt like the tournament was about to lose its biggest story.

Then Messi did what Messi has done for almost two decades. He bent the game back toward himself.

He helped create the first goal with a pinpoint cross, then he scored the equalizer with a blazing half-volley. Argentina found the winner in stoppage time. Somehow, they survived.

This comes after Argentina had already been pushed to the brink by Cape Verde in the Round of 32. For two straight knockout games, Argentina have not exactly looked like a machine. They have looked vulnerable, stretched, and at times almost overwhelmed by the moment. But they still have Messi.

This is almost certainly the last time we will see Messi on this stage. Every Argentina game could be his final World Cup game. Every free kick, every corner, every touch around the box now carries that extra weight.

And the craziest part is that this is not some ceremonial farewell tour. He is not being carried by a younger generation while everyone politely applauds the legend. He is still the main character.

He is still deciding games. He is still adding to a World Cup resume that already looked complete four years ago.

If you are a casual sports fan, that is reason enough to keep watching. You do not get many chances to see one of the greatest athletes ever try to extend the final act of his career one game at a time.

The hosts are gone, and for American fans that stings. This World Cup was supposed to be the moment where the home teams carried the event deep into July. Instead, the quarterfinals will go on without them.

But the World Cup was never only about the hosts. It is about the biggest stars, the strangest upsets, the heavyweight collisions, the countries that believe this might finally be their time, and the legends trying to write one more chapter before the lights go out.

The Round of 16 closed the North American portion of the dream.

The real tournament is still very much alive.

Wednesday July 8, 2026

#DMD

Issue #4341

looking for important help

I witnessed first-hand one of God's great miracles this week.

I saw it with my own two eyes.

You can see it, too, in the video below.

Two months after he was involved in a horrific car accident that claimed the lives of two of his friends and resulted in the total loss of his left arm, I saw Calvert Hall rising junior Liam O'Donoghue hit a golf ball. Liam is one of 13 boys who is attending the Calvert Hall Golf junior camp I'm running at Eagle's Nest CC this week.

I've seen a lot of things in my golfing life.

Watching Liam stand on the driving range this week and "re-learn" how to play golf using only his right arm and hand is one of the greatest things I've witnessed.

"You and I are going to enter new territory this week," I said to Liam on Monday morning when he arrived with the other boys for day one of camp. "I've never taught someone how to hit a golf ball using only one arm. And you've never had to learn how to hit a golf ball with one arm. So let's learn together."

As you see from the video below, Liam is already figuring out how to make solid contact using just his right arm and hand.

In an interesting teaching twist, I remarked to Liam on Monday that I often practice short 50 yard shots using only my right arm and hand. So when I stood up there with him and showed him that you can hit a golf ball using just your right arm and hand, it reinforced to him that it can certainly be done by anyone.

My goal is to get him to hit a driver by the time the camp ends this week.

He can already hit a wedge and other irons. The driver will be a challenge because it requires a little more speed and body movement, but we'll figure it out together.

Now..........I need some help. Some important help.

I'd like to buy Liam a new set of golf clubs and get them dialed in for him with a more upright lie angle to help him strike the ball more cleanly from the vertical stance and posture he has to use for balance purposes.

We'll take him to Golf Galaxy in Towson and put him on the launch monitor to figure out what flex his driver shaft needs to be given his injuries.

This is a project worth taking on because Liam would love to be able to play golf again sometime in the future.

And I want to help him.

I'm looking to raise some money here to help purchase new clubs and even potentially get him set up with a lesson or two from an instructor in the area who works with military "Wounded Warriors" who want to play golf and overcome their injuries in the process.

Whatever we raise, we'll spend on Liam's pursuit of golf. New clubs, lessons, etc.

My Calvert Hall Golf program is first up with a donation of $100.

I'm not asking you to donate $100.

I'm asking you to donate $10. Or $20. Or $25.

Whatever you can donate will go to the purchase of Liam's new irons, new woods and a lesson or two with an instructor who can fine tune Liam's swing given his new body.

Can you help? It's important.

You can Venmo me your contribution at: MarylandJuniorGolf

Note that it's MarylandJuniorGolf in what appears to be all one word. No spaces.

Once we get the clubs purchased, I'll post some pictures and videos here with Liam and his new irons and woods. Wait until you see his smile!

I hope you feel this is a worthy cause. No one should have to endure what those four boys went through that night in Baltimore County. Sadly, two of them lost their lives. And the other two are trying to learn to live with a "new normal".

I'm hoping the #DMD community will help me as I try to help Liam. It's important help.

Take a look at day one of Liam at Calvert Hall Golf camp!

One of the more interesting arguments we've heard in the wake of the U.S. soccer debacle on Monday night is the ongoing "best athletes don't play soccer" nonsense.

Who are the best athletes in U.S. sports these days? LeBron? Lamar? Who else? Name them? Rattle them all off.

What evidence is in place to suggest that if LeBron James would have "tried soccer" at age 18 that he would be leading the U.S. to a World Cup title in 2026?

None. No evidence at all.

Michael Jordan was famously a great athlete. Remember him? He tried to play baseball. He couldn't do it.

Hundreds of high quality, professional athletes have thought they could compete in the world of professional golf. None of them have come close, at all, to being good enough to make a living playing professional golf.

Just because Lamar Jackson can run fast and dodge oncoming defensive players does not mean, in any way, that he'd "automatically" be a great soccer player.

If you took all of the best athletes from Ghana and gave them ice skates and a hockey stick, would they be good enough to beat the U.S. and Canada in hockey in, say, 10 years? No chance.

20 years? No way.

30 years? Nope.

There's a reason why no 21 year old from Iceland or Greenland or Russia has ever won the U.S. Open golf championship. Golf isn't important in those countries.

The United States has been taking the sport of soccer seriously for about 40 years now. Youth soccer and club-level, elite soccer started being a thing in the U.S. in the mid 1970's. But it didn't fully blossom into a stepping stone for professional soccer until the 1980's.

We are, right now, realistically only two generations into the pursuit of being a world soccer power.

Claudio Reyna was a high quality U.S. player in the 1990's and 2000's. His son, Gio, has been part of the U.S. program for the last 6 years.

Two generations of soccer is where we are right now.

That's not nearly enough to beat programs like Argentina, England, Brazil, Spain and so on.

They're better at soccer than we are.

We have the best 24 American soccer players playing in the program right now. But our 24 aren't better than the best 24 in Belgium or Portugal or Germany.

We Americans tend to think the U.S. should just willy-nilly be great at soccer because, you know, we just decide to be great at it.

Newsflash: We might not ever win the World Cup.

Portugal has never won it.

Neither has Mexico. Japan hasn't won it. The Soviets have never won it.

It's hard to win the World Cup.

Everyone in the U.S. just assumes we don't win because "we don't have the best athletes playing soccer".

I know this is a gut punch, but here's the truth: We think we're the best at everything in the U.S., but we're not the best at soccer. We're just not.

You can trot "the best athletes" out there all you want, but there's no proof that Lamar Jackson, Steph Curry or Freddie Freeman would be better at soccer than Christian Pulisic or Malik Tillman or Chris Richards.

We lost to Belgium because Belgian soccer has far better training and coaching than we do here in the States and they're generationally-advanced over us.

We would have lost to Spain for the same reason.

Now, was Monday's game a bit of an outlier? I tend to think so. If that game gets played five times, I don't think the U.S. loses 4-1 again. That was about as bad as they could possibly play, as a group, on Monday night.

But on the whole, the U.S. isn't ready to beat one of the international powers in a knockout game in the World Cup. We'd need a miracle of sorts to pull off that kind of win.

That said, the best soccer players in the country were on the roster for World Cup 2026. For four games, that roster was good enough. Monday night, it wasn't.

America has to just accept that we're not as good as other countries in soccer. Someday, maybe we will be. But that day is still off in the distance, for sure.

OK, well that's 50 losses now for the O's after last night's 5-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting Chicago Cubs. In case you stopped following a while back -- which, based on last night's attendance, a lot of you have -- the Birds only have 42 wins.

They're 92 games into a 162-game season.

Flyers fans, there's no need to rush for your calculators. We can do this math without the need for machinery.

There are 70 games left in the regular season.

In order for the Orioles to reach 86 wins, which should/could net them a wild card berth in the A.L., they have to win 44 of their remaining 70 games.

Got that? They need to go 44-26 between now and the end of the season.

It's far from "crunch time" right now. It's July 8, after all. But they can only lose 26 more times between now and the end of September. That seems like a tall task for a team that has only won 42 games in 90 tries thus far.

Last night's loss to the Cubs was just another entry in the "frustrating losses" department.

Shane Baz allowed just six hits and three earned runs in six full innings of work. He wasn't Cy Young or anything like that, but three runs and six hits over six innings should be good enough to get your team a "W", particularly at home.

Alas, Baz got the loss to fall to 4-9 on the season.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore offense mustered just six hits themselves on the night. Adley Rutschman had two of them.

It's not really getting any better.

When the offense sputters, the pitching is good enough to win a game.

When the pitching stinks, the bats come through but the other guys score too many runs.

It's hard to explain, but these Orioles just can't put it all together.

26 more losses. That's all they can afford. Let the countdown begin.

#dmd's british open top 10

It's sad in a way that a decade ago they moved the PGA Championship to May. Why? Because now the British Open is the last major of the golf season.

Sure, we still have three solid months of warm weather left here in the U.S., plus October is usually really nice in the Mid-Atlantic, but the last golf major on the calendar also means we're on the other side of summer now and cooler temperatures will be in our midst sooner than we'd like.

In the old days, the PGA was in August and everything just seemed, I don't know, "better" that way.

Let's get to golf, shall we?

They're contesting this year's "Open Championship" -- as they call it over there -- at one of the greatest courses on the Open rotation, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Some of golf's greats have triumphed at Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Jordan Spieth claimed the 3rd of his 3 majors there back in 2017 with a late-final-round surge past Matt Kuchar.

On a personal note, people often ask me during casual conversations this question: "What's your favorite course you've ever played?"

I've been fortunate to have teed it up at some amazing places; Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Mount Pleasant, Royal Lytham and Royal Liverpool. But my answer is always "Royal Birkdale". I played Birkdale in July of 1991, the Tuesday after Ian Baker-Finch triumphed for his only major win. It's still the best course I've ever played.

This year's final major has three big questions and they're all fairly obvious:

1. Can Scottie Scheffler defend his title from a year ago and snag one of the four majors in 2026 and the 5th of his career?

2. Can Rory McIlroy sew up Player of the Year honors with his 2nd major triumph of the season and also move past Nick Faldo on the career majors list with his 7th major championship win?

3. Can Jon Rahm or Dustin Johnson move within a PGA Championship of the career grand slam by winning at Royal Birkdale?

The British Open is July 16-19. And, yes, you can feel comfortable still calling it the "British" Open, no matter what they want us to call it.

Jim McKay called it the British Open. So, to me, it's always the British Open.

Here's our Top 10 for Royal Birkdale.

#10 was Alex Noren. Padraig Harrington was #9.

#8 is Brian Harman -- Why not? He was a winner at Royal Liverpool in 2023, sorta-kinda out of nowhere. And his game always seems to perk up for the majors.

He's having an excellent 2026 season, with 14 cuts made in 17 tournaments entered.

But all of his data is "down" or concerning.

He doesn't drive it very far.

His accuracy numbers need to improve.

He's struggling with the putter, too.

But he was doing all of that in '23 and still won the Claret Jug at Hoylake.

Brian Harman is a battler. When his chakras are in line, he's a tough out.

I see no reason why he can't play well next week at Royal Birkdale. If he can master Royal Liverpool, he can master Birkdale.

The British Open is about patience and resiliency and just staying in it while others get frustrated with the bad weather, tall grass and so on.

Brian Harman isn't going to quit. He'll hang in there and fight, fight, fight.

Don't be surprised if you see him battling for a second British Open title next weekend.

O's SCOREBOARD
Sunday, August 2
Orioles 0	Phillies 8
WP: T. Mayza (3-3) LP: K. Bradish (7-10) HR: Harper (23), De la Cruz (2) RECORD / PLACE: 54-58, 4th

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