Sunday September 8, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3667

the first sunday of many

This first Sunday of September almost always used to be looked upon as the year's saving grace, but then our baseball franchise started trying to win again and now, today, we're excited about September 8 for a couple of reasons here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

We're not all that excited about the O's falling 7-1 to the Rays last night to drop a half-game behind the Yankees in the A.L. East.

But there will be October baseball and football in Charm City in 2024, so that's really all we can ask for at this point.

The Ravens are obviously not part of opening Sunday in the NFL after dropping their 27-20 season opener in Kansas City on Thursday evening. The last couple of days have been met with various forms of criticism and review in the wake of that defeat.

My friend circle had varying commentaries from the loss.

Some guys knew it was going to happen, some lamented the way it happened and some thought it was as close to a moral victory as you can get, if those things matter in any way.

"They weren't going to Kansas City and winning on opening night, who are you kidding?" Mike said yesterday. "That it was as close as it was in the end was a miracle."

"Is Harbaugh still the coach?" Sean asked, knowing the answer. "They're not winning anything with him."

"Lamar..." stated Matt. "He's like the baseball pitcher who throws 5 innings of one hit ball, strikes out 8, walks one, and then suddenly can't get anyone out in the 6th inning and throws a meatball right over the plate to give up a 3-run homer and turn a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 deficit."

"They'll be fine," Dan stated. "They just played their toughest game of the year probably and lost by a hair. How many home games will the Chiefs lose this year? One? Two at the most?"

I certainly am not trying to pick on one comment at #DMD because by and large I tend to agree with what "Benny" wrote here yesterday, but some parts of his contribution are sorta-kinda what's wrong with our country these days.

"So in all those wins the Ravens have had in the Harbaugh Era, are all those "same old same old" too? Again, the Legend We Call Monk used to say it all the time: the league is so balanced, every win or loss is based on one play here, one play there. Mistakes are magnified when they occur on those game changing plays. Likewise, yiou execute on those plays, you win. It's a simple formula. If any team executes on EVERY play, the odds of winning are what, 99%? But it's nearly impossible to have 11 guys on the field all do their jobs right. Not sometimes, but ALL the time. And it's never the same 11."

Talk about classic whatabout'ism...there it is in high definition.

OK, I'll agree to talk about this game but you have to be willing to listen to me tell you about other games.

In other words, "what about all the games the Ravens win?"

Except we're not talking about those games. And, remember, I'm a legion-of-Harbaugh kind of guy. Card carrying member of the fan club and all.

But he blundered that call with 6:34 remaining in the game when it was 4th down and he eschewed the field goal in a 27-17 game.

I can think John Harbaugh is an excellent football coach and still be critical of him for that mistake.

And I don't need to soften that criticism by bringing up the things he does well. He's supposed to do things well. That's why he gets paid $10 million a year.

This happens all the time here in town with Brandon Hyde.

People criticize him for an in-game decision then bring up something he did three weeks earlier that worked out well in an effort to provide balance.

Let's just call it like it is and stop worrying about whatabout'ism.

It's all OK anyway. John Harbaugh's getting $10 million whether you and I criticize him or not.

Jay Gibbons once said something to me near the dugout prior to a game at Camden Yards ("Are you ever going to stop sh*ting on me?") in response to some on-air criticisms I had lobbed his way in recent days.

I couldn't believe it.

I said, "Jay, you're hitting .207 and you have 3 home runs. What do you want me to do, tell people you're hitting .277 with 23 home runs?"

And then I gave him the Roddy Piper coconut to the head.

"Let's remember one thing, too. No matter what I say about you on the air, you're the one making $5 million. The joke's on me. It's definitely not on you."

And, as someone who once took (fair) criticism as the general manager of the indoor soccer team in town, you do realize, even if you don't care for it, that working in the public eye includes opening yourself up to public criticisms as well.

John Harbaugh doesn't like watching Sunday football and hearing about how the Ravens were outcoached or outschemed or outwhatever'd. But it's why he gets $10 million, also.

"Benny" is right, of course. There is a give-and-take you have to apply with wins and losses. You can't win 'em all, for starters. And the other team is trying to win, too. And it's almost mathematically impossible for every guy on the field to do his job to absolute perfection.

You just hope it all balances out in the end.

And it generally does.

I played a state senior team match yesterday where I missed a birdie putt from 8 feet on holes 2, 3 and 7 at Eagle's Nest. But I later made birdie putts of 12 and 15 feet and made a nice downhill par saving putt of about 8 feet to win a hole. I missed the three I thought I should have made and later made three I probably wouldn't make.

It all evened out in the end.

Harbaugh and the Ravens will beat up on the Raiders next Sunday and on Monday it will be "our turn" (as Harbaugh backers) to say, "Well, well, well, would you look at that..."

But Benny's comment yesterday is part and parcel with what ails us as a country today.

Our response to criticism is to say, "Yeah, but what about 'the other guy'?"

In the case of Thursday, as I noted here on Friday and Saturday, the slices of pizza, if you will, go to a number of people who were involved in the loss.

Lamar kept the Ravens in the game and then missed several big throws late. Not a low blow, just a fact.

Harbs not kicking the field goal was a mistake.

The dumb penalties on Mads and Williams were huge game changers. You just can't do those things.

Agholor missing his blocking assignment on that 4th down play. Huge.

Tucker's field goal miss.

Malik Harrison getting lit up time and time again like a doobie at a Dave Matthews Band concert. Not good at all.

Hopefully those things even out next Sunday when Las Vegas comes to town.

1-1 is fine.

An 0-2 start? Yeah, that wouldn't be so fine.

As you'll see below, we're welcoming a new member to our 2024 NFL game-day coverage. Please join me in giving a hand shake to Will Jackson, a 2017 graduate of Georgetown University who currently works in the law field and has been a #DMD reader, he says, for the last four years after moving to Baltimore from Ashburn, Virginia.

Each Sunday here, Will will provide us with some thoughts on game spreads, betting totals, etc. and also offer some favorable prop bets he likes from the slate of scheduled games.

Join me in welcoming him, please.

	WILL JACKSON and his weekly NFL picks
Will Jackson will be here every Sunday during the NFL season with his thoughts on games and prop bets that will hopefully yield positive results for you. And a gentle but important reminder to always wager within your means.

Hi everyone, I've been a reader of Drew's site since I came to town in the spring of 2021. I hope to bring some insight into the NFL to you to every Sunday. Most of my wagering interests stem with prop bets and such but I also look at spreads and point totals as well.

I will say that I had 2 right and 2 wrong on Thursday vs. K.C. I had Derrick Henry as a TD scorer and I had a field goal miss, but I lost on the Ravens (+3) and Travis Kelce as a TD scorer.

Here's what I like today in the NFL.

Game spreads --

Take Atlanta (-4) over the Steelers

Take Bengals (-7.5) and the over 40.5 total vs. New England

Take Colts (+3.5) and the under 48.5 vs. Houston

Take Cowboys (+2.5) vs. Cleveland

Prop bets --

Falcons, Kyle Pitts, anytime TD

Achane, Dolphins, anytime TD

Edwards, Chargers, anytime TD

Pickens, Steelers, under 52.5 yards receiving

Collins, Texans, over 66.5 yards receiving

Samuel, 49'ers, over 10.5 yards rushing

Jones, Vikings, over 2.5 catches, receiving

Good luck to all and remember to wager wisely and within your means at all times!

Saturday September 7, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3666

the morning after...the morning after

The great Pete Yorn once released a remarkable debut album called "Musicforthemorningafter", which included several hits along with one of my favorite PY songs, "Murray".

Around here, a couple of years ago I came up with "The Morning After...The Morning After" during football season, where I would revisit the most recent Ravens game two mornings later. I found there was sometimes more clarity and more, if you will, balance with what I (we) saw when I had a day to let things digest.

Here's what I can't shake from the 27-20 opening night loss in Kansas City.

It was almost the exact same way the Ravens have lost every big game over the last "X" number of seasons.

Before we delve into it, let me remind everyone here that "insight and opinion" is the template by which we operate this entity. In other words, yes, you are allowed to be critical of individual performances and moments in the game that went either positively or negatively.

I'll use Lamar as an example. As you'll see below, I give him a massive passing grade for his performance on Thursday night. I thought he was outstanding. That said, he whiffed on a potential game-tying/game-winning throw to Zay Flowers in the end zone on the game's penultimate play. I've looked at that play 20 different times from various angles and Rashod Bateman was not open, not close to open and, frankly, not really involved in the play at all.

I'm not saying Jackson was lying in the post-game press conference, either. I don't know what he was thinking. I just know Bateman wasn't open or even in the vicinity of being open when Lamar threw the ball.

Jackson missed a wide open receiver in the end zone. It happens. It's football. You can make 15 great plays in a game (which Lamar did) and make a couple of bad ones too. And it doesn't suddenly mean "you can't play in the big moments" because you missed that throw, as some nitwits on the internet contended in the aftermath of Thursday's loss.

Now...to the game.

Here's how the Ravens have lost big game after big game over the last "X" number of seasons.

Dumb penalties at the worst times.

Coaching/game management blunders.

Poor use of time outs.

Referee impact.

Missed opportunities for scoring plays.

QB turns the ball over.

Obvious misapplication of playbook.

Guess what?

Those are all the reasons why the Ravens lost on Thursday night in Kansas City as well.

I was chatting with my friend Pat about this very thing yesterday. It felt like deja vu all over again, as the saying goes.

"It's a pizza," I said to him, using one of my favorite sports analogies.

"Here are the slices..."

* The penalty on Marcus Williams was huge. Stupid, for starters, and came at a terrible time in the game. Same for the Madubuike penalty earlier in the second half. It's a pretty simple thing to remember: You can't hit the QB in the head or below the knees. Like, ever. Somehow, those two forgot that rule.

Madubuike's penalty took K.C. from 3rd and 20 to 1st and 10 on a series where they eventually scored to make it 20-10 in the 3rd quarter. A disastrous turn of events.

The Williams penalty took what would have been 3rd and 20 and made it 2nd and 10 because K.C. was also called for a penalty on the play. And even though K.C. didn't score on that series, the Williams infraction cost Baltimore almost two minutes because the Chiefs picked up a first down on the play after the penalty.

* Harbs going for it on 4th down in the 4th quarter with 6:34 left when the Ravens needed two scores and could have just kicked the field goal there and made it 27-20. Instead, the offense wasted 90 seconds going nowhere, kicked the field goal to make it 27-20, and gave K.C. the ball back with 4:54 remaining instead of 6:34 remaining.

* The sequence above was impacted by the fact that Baltimore only had 1 time out remaining at that point. And that's because they had to use two of them earlier when Zach Orr couldn't get the right defensive personnel on the field. After the game Harbaugh called it "communication issues", either because he didn't want to just flat-out bust on Orr in his coordinator debut (smart move) or he didn't want to harp on those two time outs as significant factors in the loss.

* People who don't really watch what's going on like to blame Harbaugh for everything bad that happens in the game, including things like those two time outs that had to be used. Zach Orr gets the slap on the wrist for those two, not Harbaugh. But, as I noted on Twitter, those are the things that happen to a rookie defensive coordinator. He'll get better.

But not kicking the field goal with 6:34 left, particularly with one time out remaining, was a blunder on Harbaugh's clipboard. Unless Lamar refused to come off the field there (which I don't think happened), that decision and sequence was on Harbs. Even if his analytics folks upstairs were telling him to go for it there, John has to know, with one time out, you get the points now and try to extend the game clock as much as you can.

* The officials were, as always, questionable. Everyone in Baltimore thinks they were only bad in situations involving the Ravens but that's not true. They missed some calls the other way as well. That said, the refs very obviously mishandled the illegal formation penalties in the first half. I don't know that any of those things cost the Ravens points or "the game", but it was glaring how off-kilter they were with that particular call.

* Justin Tucker's 53 yard field goal miss was big. No two ways about it. Hard to crack down on him too much, there, but he has to make that kick in the same way you'd say "Scheffler has to make that putt" if he missed one from eight feet for birdie on the 8th hole at Augusta National. It's not a "gimmee" from 53 yards. But it's a kick he should make.

* Lamar's aforementioned miss of Zay Flowers in the end zone was massive. He could have also hit Likely in the end zone on the play before, too, don't forget. But that throw was an "8" in terms of difficulty. The throw to Flowers was one Tyler Huntley could have made.

* Sticking with Lamar, getting the ball knocked out of his hand at least once-per-big-game has become a common theme now. It happened again on Thursday night. Sometimes it leads to points against and sometimes it doesn't. In this case it led to a field goal that gave K.C. a 10-7 lead. We can do the "if" game all day, of course, but "if" Lamar doesn't cough up the ball there and "if" Tucker makes that field goal, it's 24-23 on the last drive and all Baltimore needs is a field goal to win it instead of a touchdown to tie it.

* Nelson Agholor not knowing the playbook on the 4th and 3 situation after that field goal made it 10-7 was a huge gaffe on his part. Now, I think anytime it's 4th and 3 and you don't just give the ball to Lamar (or, you know, your 240 pound running back you signed in the off-season) you're asking for trouble, which is exactly what the Ravens got when Agholor missed his blocking assignment and Flowers was tackled for a one-yard gain and the Ravens lost the ball on downs.

Here's the other thing about that failed play I don't understand. Why on earth would you use that in game number one? It was such a great play design...save that one for week 16 or the playoffs, when you need it on 4th and 3 with 2:05 left in the game.

But that has nothing to do with Agholor not paying attention. Terrible moment in the game for him, especially when K.C. was able to turn that into 3 points with a field goal to make it 13-7.

There are other reasons why the Ravens lost. The other team tries, too, of course, and Mahomes is pretty good, you might have heard through the grapevine.

In the end, though, the game on Thursday night looked just like every family picnic you attend over Labor Day weekend.

Aunt Jenny makes her awesome pasta salad with mini shrimp.

Uncle Carl brings the same tangy barbeque sauce he's been bringing since you were 8 years old.

Your cousin Melissa always brings enough of her homemade chicken salad to feed a small army.

Aunt Carol tells everyone she's tweaked her potato salad recipe, but it tastes just like it has for the last 15 years.

Nothing changes.

It's good food and all, but it's the same old, same old.

That's the Ravens.

Because I know the league is week-to-week and how you win or lose this week has almost no bearing at all on what you're going to do next week, I might have preferred to see the Ravens get clobbered on Thursday night, 30-13.

Instead, I got to watch them lose in almost the identical fashion they've lost every big game they've played in recent memory.

The same mistakes. Again.

They don't even look all that different from previous years, just different numbers on the uniforms.

Just like Aunt Jenny's pasta salad.

You know what you're getting before you arrive at the picnic.

Friday September 6, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3665

game of "an inch", they say?

I know the saying in sports is, "It's a game of inches."

Last night, it turned out to be a game of "an inch", as Isaiah Likely looked like he scored a touchdown with no time left on the clock only to have the replay clearly show the tip of his shoe was on the back end zone line.

Euphoria turned to sadness, just like that.

The 27-20 loss to the Chiefs contained just about everything you'd suspect of a Baltimore-Kansas City game.

Mahomes was great, as he almost always seems to be.

Lamar was Lamar, but a late miss to a wide open Zay Flowers will haunt him for a few days.

Likely was amazing.

The refs were spotty, which is a pretty common theme in the NFL.

The Ravens were never done, chipping away at leads of 20-10 and 27-17 and having the game on their racket in the waning moments.

But in the end, it was another loss to the 2-time defending champions.

There were equal parts good, really good, bad and really bad for the Ravens on Thursday night.

Ronnie Stanley got flagged at least three times (maybe four?) for illegal formation penalties. I know the rule has been tweaked and the promise from the NFL is to "call it more aggressively", but Stanley has to get that straightened out after the first infraction or, at worst, after the second one (which came soon after the first one).

The offensive line was pretty dreadful in the first half, but perked up and had a better go of it in the final two quarters.

Lamar did his usual stuff both throwing the ball and running with it, but you have to wonder how much of that punishment he can take week-after-week over the next four months.

In an interview with the Washington Post recently, Jackson admitted he was banged up and far from healthy in the playoff games against Houston and Kansas City last January. That, of course, stemmed from 17 weeks of getting hammered in the regular season. The hope here is Todd Monken (and Lamar) can do a better job of keeping him out of harm's way in 2024.

Zay Flowers was excellent and shoulda-coulda-woulda caught a late touchdown pass to make it 27-26 but Lamar missed him, wide open, in the end zone.

Derrick Henry was OK. Nothing special. But he did score a touchdown in the first quarter and, at times, looked like his old menacing self while picking up an extra yard or three.

The Baltimore defense fought gamely and got a big stop late in the 4th quarter to give Lamar and the offense a chance to steal the game. But new defensive coordinator Zach Orr was responsible for two huge 3rd quarter time outs when he couldn't get his desired personnel on the field in a timely fashion. Those two burned time outs would have been useful in the 4th quarter when the Ravens were mounting their comeback.

Marlon Humphrey got roasted on an easy touchdown throw in the 4th quarter. Less time on Twitter, perhaps, and more time in the film room? Just a thought.

Mahomes and Andy Reid picked on linebacker Malik Harrison all night until Orr eased him out of the rotation in the 4th quarter.

There was a weird coaching decision with 6:25 remaining in the game when the Ravens eschewed a field goal to make it 27-20 and instead went for it on 4th down. They managed to get the first down there, on a Derrick Henry run, but took two more minutes off the clock but couldn't get in the end zone. So they settled for the field goal anyway to make it 27-20.

Why not just kick the field goal there with 6:25 remaining? You only have one time out left, remember. But if you get a defensive stop on the next K.C. series you're getting the ball back with 4 minutes left instead of 1:50 left.

That's not why the Ravens lost, mind you. But it was a weird set of circumstances there that could have used more thought (and excecution).

There was also a bizarre sequence on the final series where Lamar hit Rashod Bateman for a big gain with 43 seconds remaining and then inexplicably failed to spike the ball and let 10 seconds run off the clock before throwing an incomplete pass to Likely in the corner of the end zone.

The Ravens could have had 2nd down with 28 seconds remaining or 1st down with 18 seconds remaining. Lamar chose the latter option.

A quarterback in his 7th season who makes $50 million a year has to know when to spike it and when not to spike it. That was a case, with no time outs, where spiking it was the only real option. Alas, Lamar didn't do that and it cost the Ravens more time and at least one more play.

In the end, it was a spirited effort that came up an inch short. There were, as noted above, lots of promising things in the game and lots of things that are probably concerning to Harbaugh and his staff. It's still a loss, whether it was 27-20 or 37-10.

And they all count and potentially hurt, particularly when it comes to the Ravens and Chiefs in the event of a tiebreaker heading into the playoffs.

On to the Raiders we go.

You have to love those home lay-ups to start the season.

faith in sports

OK, I'll admit something.

It's the day after a Ravens game. The season opener, too, no less.

And if I've learned anything about #DMD over the last 10 years, I know the website traffic today will be bigger than a typical Friday.

Some new eyes to the site, hopefully.

And, so, I'm going to post one of my all-time favorite "Faith in Sports" submissions here today with the hope I capture one new follower of Jesus.

The Tim Tebow 3:16 story is remarkable.

I don't want to spoil the details, so I'll just say it's "remarkable" and that's it.

The video below is 9 minutes long. If you've seen it before, you can certainly enjoy it again. If you haven't seen it, please check it out and see for yourself how God impacted Tebow in his college and professional football career.

As Tebow says..."it's amazing".

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

Thursday September 5, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3665

opening night.......ruined?

That's a pretty nifty trick the O's played on the Ravens last night.

Ruining the opening night of the NFL season and all by losing to the White Sox, 8-1.

As the Birds prepared to fall to the worst team in the history of baseball on Wednesday evening, I remarked that losing to the White Sox was akin to having Charlie Brown hit both the game tying and game winning field goals against you when they came into the game 0-9 and you were sporting an 8-1 record.

I'm just gonna file that one under "the other team tries, too" and try not to think about it too much. Losing to the White Sox. Sheeeeeesh.

Tonight in Kansas City, the Ravens look for a morsel of revenge from last January's heartbreaker in Baltimore, where Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce danced at midfield after the Chiefs beat John Harbaugh's team in the AFC Championship Game, 17-10.

A win tonight won't do anything to change that result, obviously. But it would sting the Chiefs to lose their banner-raising home opener for the second straight year, I'm guessing. And it all happens in front of a national TV audience, too, if that matters in the least.

The best way to look at this game is simply through the lens of a 17-game season.

It's one game.

The Chiefs are favored.

Under almost any circumstance, barring an injury to Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs are favored against most every team.

So beating them gives you a win in a game you were "projected" to lose, if you will.

That tonight's contest happens to be the season opener is neither here nor there, I'm guessing. The positive? The Ravens are (relatively) healthy with no major pre-season injuries. The negative? The other team is (mostly) in the same condition. The Chiefs are missing erstwhile Ravens wide receiver Hollywood Brown but I'm not sure anyone's going to notice.

Playing the Chiefs in the season opener is infinitely better -- in my opinion -- than playing them in late October or early December.

I love the Ravens chances tonight.

We also love several individual player prop bets this evening as well. I mean, if you're going to spend your valuable Thursday evening watching football, you might as well make some Christmas spending money along the way, right?

But before we get to the important football stuff, let's tackle a few important questions from the vault that have been piling up.

Anthony asks -- I realize this is not a political site but you do occasionally post non-sports stuff that centers on religion, music and your high school golf team. I'm curious why you don't endorse one of the Presidential candidates here and on your social media channels? Isn't the whole idea behind web sites like this and social media accounts to influence the people who follow you? I hope this question isn't too touchy for you to answer. Thanks for your time."

DF says -- "It's not too touchy at all. I have no problem discussing anything here or on X (Twitter). The reason I don't do it is simple. I don't like the backlash that comes with it. I personally couldn't care less who anyone votes for. It's none of my business, for starters, and I just don't care which of the two you like. I have lots of friends who are voting for Harris and I have lots of friends voting for Trump.

I like my friends no matter who they vote for.

Here, though, it's different. People get their feathers ruffled at the dumbest stuff. And as I've said here numerous times this year, the biggest problem in our country today -- as a society -- isn't the political divide that the people at CNN try to convince you of. In fact, they're one of the reasons why we're divided.

The biggest problem in our nation is that we forgot how to disagree on things and still be civil, reasonable, righteous human beings.

I have no idea how that happened or when it officially happened or any of the historical stuff but it happened. When we disagree on something now, as a society, we lose our ability to think clearly. It's sad.

So, no political endorsements from me. All that would do is lead people to being ugly. Good question, though. There's definitely an "influencer" element to our world these days that is front and center with things like the 2024 election."

Kris asks -- "Do you think Scottie Scheffler should get credit for a career win with the PGA Tour Championship? He didn't start with the same score as the other players in the field after all. Just curious about your thoughts on this as I respect your golf acumen and I know my foursome at Pine Ridge will talk about it this Saturday. Thanks and Go Hall!"

DF says -- "Fair question for sure. First of all, Collin Morikawa got credit for a win in the Official World Golf Rankings because he posted the best 72 hole score. I definitely think that's the right and fair thing to do, even if he didn't get credit for an actual win on his TOUR record.

I hate to ride the fence on this one. I see both sides of it. Scheffler earned his advantage, after all, and was merely playing by the rules. And let's say Xander Schauffele would have won instead of Scottie. Well, "X" started the event ahead of everyone in the field as well, except for Scheffler obviously. Does "X" get credit for a win?

This is my way of basically saying, "It is what it is and I'm OK with it." I see the logic behind NOT giving him credit for a win given that he didn't start at zero like everyone else, but I also think he earned that advantage over the previous 8 months."

Rick C. asks -- "One month or so after they arrive what do you think about the Orioles keeping Slater and Jimenez next season?"

DF says -- My quick research shows Slater is a free agent and Jimenez has a $16.5 million club option in 2025. I think both of them have added something to the team in their month or so in Baltimore, but I can't imagine the O's will pursue either of them for next season and beyond.

Every team has an Austin Slater or two already on their roster. He's like a coffee shop in Los Angeles. There's one on every corner.

Jimenez has seen his stock drop significantly over the last couple of seasons and not just because of his mercurial personality and the fact he doesn't own a glove. He's just never fulfilled the promise that accompanied him to the majors six years ago. Maybe I'm wrong on this one, but I'm guessing the O's cut him loose and he has a tough time signing any kind of long term deal in the winter.

Someone will give him a two or three year contract (he's only 27) and he might get $8-$10 million a year, but no one's paying him $15 million or $20 million a season."

Carl in Owings Mills asks -- "Did you agree with the two shot penalty on Sahith Theegala in the Tour Championship event?"

DF says -- "I'm not sure it's up to me to "agree" or "disagree" with it. The player himself called the penalty after feeling like he brushed the sand on his backswing. If your question is "Was that a fair penalty given that we hardly saw sand move?" then we'll discuss it. It sure didn't look like he improved his lie or path to the ball.

But absent a rules official, umpire or referee, golf has to continue to be a sport where the players police themselves. It's the only way to do it. Plus, as we've seen with these #clownshoes baseball umpires all summer, the more people you get involved in the application of the rules, the worse it tends to get.

I'd rather have Sahith Theegala call a (meaningless?) penalty on himself and know he's trying to uphold the integrity of the competition than have Patrick Reed openly cheat in a tournament like he did at Torrey Pines five years ago."

Steve Bartram asks -- "Would Harbaugh's tenure in Baltimore end if they somehow don't make the playoffs in 2024? One can only hope."

DF says -- Maybe. I think that would depend on how it happened. If they're 6-2 and Lamar gets hurt in the 9th game and they eventually go 8-9 or 9-8 and miss the post-season, I can't see John losing his job.

But if somehow they simply sputter along all season and wind up 8-9 or 9-8 and don't make it, I guess I could see Steve Bisciotti coming in and saying, "It's been great, but......"

In general, my answer here is "no". John's tenure isn't ending in 2024 unless he wants it to end to in 2024. But, sure, if the Ravens totally flatlined this season and was a 7-10 or 8-9 team, then maybe they make a change."

And so, speaking of the Ravens. Here's what I see happening tonight in Kansas City.

The Ravens new look (and concerning) offensive line has a solid night.

Derrick Henry makes an impact.

Lamar is...well...Lamar.

And for the second straight year, the Chiefs fall in their Thursday night home opener.

I like the Ravens in this one 23-20.

If you have $10 to throw on a 4-way prop bet, here's one I'm considering playing:

* Derrick Henry anytime touchdown

* Patrick Mahomes OVER 20.5 rushing yards

* Travis Kelce UNDER 57.5 passing yards

* Travis Kelce anytime touchdown

Are you ready for some football????? Let's go Ravens!!

Wednesday September 4, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3664

sox down...fins up...furyk weird

I'm definitely not trying to pile on or state the obvious with this one, but we're seeing baseball HISTORY in Baltimore this week.

We're not seeing a bad team who might threaten a record or two for season-long futility.

We're seeing the worst baseball team in all of our lives this week. Like, ever. We had some 50-win teams in Baltimore that were NOWHERE close to as bad as this White Sox team we're seeing in Baltimore this week.

13-3 on Monday.

9-0 last night.

Probably something like 11-3 tonight.

And that's ONLY if Chicago can score three.

Watching them for the better part of two nights has me thinking the obvious question: How on earth have they managed to win 31 games?

Last night was so bad, the JV coach called Grady Sizemore afterwards and gave him some suggestions.

Chicago's starting pitcher on Tuesday evening made Nuke LaLoosh look like Greg Maddux. Wild pitches everywhere, walks, doubles, balls flying all over the ballpark. He even walked in a run in the 2nd inning. Nick Nastrini couldn't throw a strike to save his life. And if/when he did, the O's pounded it.

The White Sox managed to somehow produce a base runner in the 2nd inning. He was promptly picked off but -- here's what's hilarious -- he wasn't even trying to steal a base.

And then their left fielder and shortstop collided on a fly ball that allowed 3 runs to score.

Grady Sizemore got thrown out for arguing with the #clownshoes umpire who missed a call at least once per inning throughout the game until the White Sox skipper finally called him out on it. Why Sizemore waited until the 6th inning to get thrown out was the question of the night.

Later on, the White Sox comically allowed yet another fly ball to drop in between three players in the outfield, almost in the exact same spot as the faux pas from earlier in the game.

I could be wrong on this because I really wasn't paying attention by the time the third inning rolled around, but I'm not sure Chicago ever got a guy to third base.

The game was so bad that the broadcast team on MASN spent almost the whole night interviewing some nerd about the way the baseball spins out of a pitcher's hand and vertical drop rate, whatever that is, and a bunch of other garbage no one cares about when they're trying to watch a game.

Alas, in mild defense of MASN, it was 9-0 and the game was over in the 3rd inning. You could either have Kevin Brown talk about Oasis (again) or have someone talk about spin rates on sliders.

It was dreadful.

The whole night...dreadful. The game was a nothing-burger and the White Sox are the worst team in baseball history.

Anything else I say would be piling on.

Let's just move on to football and my Ravens preview and the predicted Super Bowl champion for the 2024 campaign.

As you saw yesterday, I have the Ravens going 11-6 in the regular season and winning the AFC North title by virtue of a 4-2 division record vs. Cincinnati's 3-3 division record.

What games do I have the Ravens losing? At Dallas, at Cincinnati, At Los Angeles (Chargers), at Houston, home vs. Cleveland, home vs. Philadelphia.

Here's the thing: I think the Ravens have a much better chance of going 13-4 than they do going 10-7. I just don't see many dangerous games for John Harbaugh's team. And if they can, for example, pinch a road win at Dallas, Houston and/or Los Angeles, or avoid losing more than one home game, 13-4 is VERY much within reach for the Ravens.

But, as I noted here yesterday, I think their offensive line and run game are potentially problematic. It is certainly promising to note that Ronnie Stanley breezed through training camp without any issues. But we all know nothing gets solved or resolved in August. It's what Stanley does in the season that counts.

A lot of the Ravens offense in 2024 depends on Derrick Henry. If he's 80% of the old Derrick Henry, the Ravens should be fine. But if he winds up being 50% (or less) of the old Derrick Henry the running game could be their achilles heel.

That said, they have Lamar Jackson. He's not really a running back, but you might have heard he's pretty good at running with the football.

Baltimore's defense will lead the way in 2024.

I feel confident saying that.

The Ravens offense will be "good". Their defense will be "great".

Just like the old days.

The discussion in these parts throughout the season will be the same old song and dance. "Who cares about the regular season? The playoffs are all that matters."

Yeah, sure.

Lamar Jackson's level of prestige in the league is directly tied to his ability to finally play in a Super Bowl next February.

He can win all the MVP awards in the world, but it's definitely Super Bowl or bust for #8.

So we already know the blueprint for the '24 campaign. Jackson will get judged on how the Ravens fare against the teams with the best QB's. Mahomes, Prescott, Allen, Burrow, Herbert. Those games will be billed as "X vs. Lamar". It's just the way it is.

And no matter what the Ravens do in the regular season, they're going to be evaluated by what they do in January and January only. If they go 13-4 or 14-3 but don't make it to the Super Bowl, the season's a failure. That's the story. Better get ready for it.

Here's where I'll sadly tell you......the Ravens aren't going to the Super Bowl.

I wish I had better news for you.

But I don't.

In the NFC, the Rams will beat the Lions in the Championship Game, 30-23.

In the AFC, the Dolphins will beat the Texans in the Championship Game, 26-21.

And in the Super Bowl.......

It's Miami over the L.A. Rams, 27-23.

Fins up.

U.S. Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk made his picks on Tuesday for the event that takes place later this month in Canada.

Furyk simply went right down the points list and went with players ranked 7 through 12.

We'll give him a "C" for effort and a "D" for logic.

I expected more from a varsity letterman.

Furyk added the following players as his captain's picks: Sam Burns, Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman and Max Homa.

I've said here and elsewhere on numerous prior occasions that the Presidents Cup should be treated as a mini-Ryder-Cup-tune-up when it comes to selecting the additional picks. Give guys a chance with no Ryder Cup experience who might someday make a Ryder Cup team. They'll be better served for it with some Presidents Cup experience, I believe.

No matter what the PGA Tour thinks, their event is not comparable in any way to the Ryder Cup. It's just not.

Quick, name your top 5 Presidents Cup moments.

Seriously. Name them.

OK, name your top 3.

Your top 1?

Over the last 50 years, the top Ryder Cup moments are too vast to even list here.

Jack's conceded putt to Tony Jacklin.

Europe finally winning at Muirfield Village in '87 and their whole team dancing around like Kevin Bacon in Footloose.

Christy O'Connor's 3 iron and winning hole at The Belfry in 1989.

The "War by the Shore" at Kiawah which included more memorable moments in three days than the Presidents Cup has ever produced: Ballesteros getting into it with Azinger after a wrong ball was played; Calcavecchia collapsing over the final four holes and shanking his tee shot on the 17th hole; Langer's miss from 6 feet that gave the U.S. the win.

The U.S. failing to make a par at #18 at Oak Hill in each of the last three groups in Sunday singles to give Europe the win in '95.

You get the picture, I'm guessing.

The Ryder Cup is the biggest event in golf and nearly every other year when they play it, some sort of golf history gets made along the way.

Rory vs. Reed at Hazeltine.

Mahan's career basically ending with his flubbed chip in Ireland.

The U.S. in those hideous shirts, winning at Brookline in '99 after trailing 10-6 going into the last day.

The Ryder Cup produces spectacular history.

The Presidents Cup is pre-season football in comparison.

And people like Furyk, who has been part of numerous failed U.S. Ryder Cup ventures, should know as well as anyone about getting younger players experience in team golf formats before unveiling the Ryder Cup to them.

That's why his picks on Tuesday were (mostly) lame.

Guys like Finau don't need to play in a Presidents Cup to get experience. Sure, maybe he gets an extra $250,000 from his sponsors for making the team, but $250,000 to Finau is like $25 to you and I. He loses that much money in the washing machine every year.

Max Homa labored through a pretty lousy year. He made the team mostly based off of a really good 2023. Why take him?

The same with Brian Harman. Great 2023. Good 2024.

I sorta-kinda understand the Keegan Bradley pick. He's the next Ryder Cup captain so getting him in that Presidents Cup room to learn more about the other 11 guys is important. But even Bradley was a weird add in that he didn't really do anything special in '24 but then squeezed his way into the FedEx Cup playoffs and won the BMW out of nowhere.

Why not give younger players with no previous Cup experience (Presidents or Ryder) a chance to see what it's all about in the event they're part of the team at Bethpage in '25 or Ireland in '27? Bhatia, McCarthy, Thompson (two of those guys won this year and McCarthy lost in a playoff and had his best season ever) would have been perfect additions in place of Finau, Homa and Harman and I'm pretty sure the golf drop-off wouldn't have been detectable.

It just doesn't make sense.

Then again, the U.S. Ryder Cup has bottomed out over the last 20 years or so in part because of peculiar picks by the captains, including the '23 edition that saw Zach Johnson embarrass himself by "friending" three picks to J.T., Rickie and Spieth.

Once the PGA Tour realizes the real value of the Presidents Cup is to make the U.S. Ryder Cup better, perhaps the event will finally have a level of importance that makes it worth following.

Tuesday September 3, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3663

are you ready for some football?

Yes, it's football season.

In these parts, at least, it's also still baseball season and will be for at least another five weeks or so.

But starting on Thursday night when the Ravens travel to Kansas City, the NFL is back to dominate the country's sports landscape through the middle of February.

And we're here to get things kicked off today with our annual NFL predictions effort, where we tell you who is going to be good, who is going to be bad and which two teams will play for the Lombardi Trophy in five-plus months.

As you'll see below, we're very bullish on the Ravens in 2024. Sure, they have some warts. But the pieces are once again in place to have John Harbaugh's team battling for the AFC title. We're excited. I'm sure you are as well.

I heard a funny joke about the Steelers on Saturday. Actually, to be exact, I read a funny joke about the Steelers. But I don't want to ruffle any feathers here. I sense people's nerves are getting frayed for whatever reason. So, I'll save it for sometime down the road.

Editor's note: It's a really funny joke. Maybe later...

OK, so here we go with the NFC.

NFC East:

1. Dallas, 11-6

2. Philadelphia, 9-8

3. Washington, 7-10

4. NY Giants, 5-12

The NFC East hasn't produced back-to-back division champions since the Eagles won it three times in a row from 2003 through 2005. Talk about a wild division, huh? That streak ends this year when the Cowboys repeat as East titleists with an 11-6 mark. Division Hot Take: The Giants might not win 5 games. They could be really bad.

NFC South:

1. Atlanta, 10-7

2. New Orleans, 7-10

3. Tampa Bay, 7-10

4. Carolina, 5-12

Atlanta figures to be better with Kirk Cousins at the helm, but they're VERY fortunate to be playing in perhaps the worst division in all of football. Division Hot Take: The entire South could finish under .500. Seriously. Atlanta could win the division at 8-9.

NFC North:

1. Detroit, 12-5

2. Green Bay, 10-7

3. Chicago, 7-10

4. Minnesota, 4-13

It feels weird to label the Lions as "can't miss", but as long as they stay healthy, they're as "can't miss" as any projected division winner in either conference. That said, they're still the Lions. You just never know. Division Hot Take: Green Bay is on the upswing in a big way. Don't be shocked if they're in the hunt for the North title with two weeks left.

NFC West:

1. LA Rams, 12-5

2. San Francisco, 11-6

3. Seattle, 6-11

4. Arizona, 6-11

If Stafford, Nacua and Kupp are all healthy for 17 weeks, there's no telling how many passing records the Rams might set in 2024. Their defense might not be great, but a 38-30 win is just like a 21-17 win. And they're going to have a lot of 38-30 wins. Division Hot Take: The Rams or 49'ers could have one of those special seasons where they go 14-3. Both of them are going to be tough to beat.

NFC Playoffs:

#1 seed, LA Rams

#2 seed, Detroit Lions

#3 seed, Dallas Cowboys

#4 seed, Atlanta Falcons

#5 seed, San Francisco 49'ers

#6 seed, Green Bay Packers

#7 seed, Philadelphia Eagles

And now, on to the AFC:

AFC East:

1. Miami, 12-5

2. NY Jets, 11-6

3. Buffalo, 9-8

4. New England, 3-14

The times are definitely changing in the AFC East. Buffalo's reign is ending, New England is a league patsy and the Jets are riding on the back of Aaron Rodgers for at least one season. But it's the Dolphins who enter the season as the definite team to beat. Division Hot Take: New England could go 0-17. Who are they gonna beat?

AFC South:

1. Houston, 11-6

2. Jacksonville, 10-7

3. Indianapolis, 9-8

4. Tennessee, 7-10

Maybe this is the year Jacksonville puts it together after a couple of seasons of high promise in '22 and '23. The Texans look legit, though, with a plethora of wide receivers, including newcomer Stefon Diggs. Division Hot Take: The division winner could end up at 9-8 and the other three teams could finish 8-9 each.

AFC West:

1. Kansas City, 12-5

2. LA Chargers, 11-6

3. Denver, 6-10

3. Las Vegas, 6-10

Yes, I'm buying stock in the Chargers. No, I have no idea why I'm doing that. K.C. and the Chargers will battle it out and both make the playoffs while Denver and Vegas will be out of the playoff race by Thanksgiving. Division Hot Take: Herbert could outplay Mahomes in 2024 and it could be LA winning the division and the Chiefs serving as the division's wild card entry.

AFC North:

1. Baltimore, 11-6

1. Cincinnati, 11-6

3. Cleveland, 8-9

4. Pittsburgh, 7-10

I think the Ravens offensive line and lack of a running game will be their biggest 2024 flaws. They should be very good defensively. But can they get by without being able to chew up yards on the ground? The key, of course, is Derrick Henry. If he rebounds to become "Derrick Henry" again, then 13-4 is a real possibility. But we're going to settle on 11-6 for now and see how things play out. The Bengals will be able to score points, but can they stop anyone? Cleveland will win 8 but no more than that. And the Steelers? Yes, indeed, it's time for a trip to the basement up there in the Steel City. Division Hot Take: The Bengals could be so bad defensively that they lose 31-27 all the time. Any chance the Ravens are the only team above .500 in the North? Definitely.

AFC Playoffs:

#1 seed, Miami

#2 seed, Kansas City

#3 seed, Baltimore

#4 seed, Houston

#5 seed, Cincinnati

#6 seed, LA Chargers

#7 seed, NY Jets

And we'll be back here tomorrow to tell you how the playoffs shake out and who we'll be watching in the Super Bowl next February.

---

OK, what the heck. At the risk of people getting their feelings hurt...here's the joke.

A first grade teacher in Philadelphia explains to her class that she is a Philadelphia Flyers hockey fan.

She asks her students to raise their hands if they were Flyers fans, too. Not really knowing what a Flyers fan was, but wanting to be like their teacher, hands explode into the air.

There is, however, one exception. A girl named Mary has not gone along with the crowd.

The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different. "Because I'm not a Flyers fan."

"Then," asks the teacher, "what are you?"

"Why I'm proud to be a Detroit Red Wings fan," boasts the little girl.

The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Mary why she is a Red Wings fan.

"Well, My Dad and Mom are Red Wings fans, and I'm a Red Wings fan, too!"

The teacher is now angry. "That's no reason," she says loudly. "What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was a moron? What would you be then?"

"Then," says Mary, "I'd be a Flyers fan."

Editor's note: A) Now that's a funny joke. B) It was originally published as a joke about the Steelers, but I substituted the Flyers in there because I didn't want to offend any Steelers fans we might have checking in here today.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to win a second straight A.L. East title.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 3-3

Season Record: 80-59

AL East Standing: 2nd (0.5 GB NYY)

Player of the Week: Ramon Urias

It’s beginning to sound like a broken record here, but it was another mediocre week for the Orioles. The O’s again barely managed to tread water, with a 3-3 week against the Dodgers and Rockies. Zach Eflin returned on Sunday to salvage a .500 week.

Once again, the good news is that the Yankees were even worse this week, dropping four of six games against the non-contending Nationals and Cardinals. That leaves the O’s just a half game behind the Yanks for the division with the historically bad White Sox coming to Camden Yards for three games.

The week started off well when Cole Irvin delivered another decent spot start on Tuesday, limiting the NL leading Dodgers to two runs in just over four innings.

The O’s then got 4.2 shutout innings from Bowman, Perez, Cano and Dominguez out of the bullpen. A Ryan O’Hearn homer put them up early before Ramon Urias hit a two-run shot to put the O’s ahead for good in a 3-2 win.

On Wednesday the string of bad starts continued for Corbin Burnes. Though the defense was partially to blame with five unearned runs, Burnes continued to get hit by opposing bats, allowing six runs on five hits in five innings.

We’ll have more on Burnes' struggles in the Question of the Week, but this start put the O’s in a big hole. Three more shutout innings from the bullpen and another strong night from Urias helped keep the game close but the Birds couldn’t touch the Dodgers bullpen, falling 6-4.

In the rubber match on Thursday Los Angeles jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the 4th inning on another tough night for Cade Povich (or “Slim” if you prefer). The alter ego did not help the rookie at all on this night as he only lasted 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on ten hits.

With Eflin returning to the rotation it seems Povich’s time may be short in the majors. Colton Cowser hit a three-run bomb in the 5th to give the O’s some hope but that was as close as they would get in a 6-3 loss.

The Orioles left LA and traveled to Denver, looking to turn things around against the struggling Rockies. On Friday night they had the right man on the mound to facilitate that, as Albert Suarez once again threw a gem.

Suarez came up with his longest outing of the season, throwing seven innings and limiting Colorado to just two runs. The newly acquired Emmanuel Rivera had the hot bat on Friday, driving in a run in the 2nd to put the O’s up 1-0 then blasting a two-run homer in the 4th that gave them a 3-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

A Jackson Holliday triple in the stadium his father played extended the lead and Seranthony Dominguez notched another save for 5-3 win.

That was followed by a letdown on Saturday. The Rockies, in their well executed City Connect jerseys (as opposed to the local team), got to Dean Kremer early, pushing across three runs in the 2nd inning.

Kremer settled down but was unfortunately forced out of the game in the 4th after taking a line drive off his forearm. The Birds battled back with homers from Anthony Santander and Eloy Jimenez, then a two-run single from O’Hearn in the 5th. However, that only set up another meltdown from maligned former-closer Craig Kimbrel, who came on in the 8th and promptly allowed two runs, dooming the O’s to a 7-5 loss.

Luckily, Zach Eflin came off the IL on Sunday and picked up right where he left off. Eflin delivered a masterful seven innings, limiting the Rockies to one run on four hits with one walk and nine strikeouts.

He has been everything the O’s could have wished for in a deadline acquisition and more. At this point it would not be surprising if he is starting game one of a playoff series.

No player really jumped off the page for this edition of the Player of the Week. Albert Suarez and Zach Eflin certainly deserve consideration for their impeccable starts. Anthony Santander had a strong week at the plate with a crucial home run while batting .300 on the week.

But this week we give the award to Ramon Urias, who, despite missing Sunday after going to the IL with a sprained ankle, put up a .411 on-base percentage with a clutch homer and four RBI.

Urias has been absolutely crucial for the Orioles over the past few weeks, regaining his starting role when Coby Mayo was sent back to the minors and taking full advantage of his renewed status.

Down on the Farm –

There weren’t many standouts on the farm this week. The most notable development was the promotion of top catching prospect Samuel Basallo to AAA Norfolk. Basallo was adjusting to the new level this week, posting just a .512 OPS, but he did manage his first AAA homer in just his third game at Norfolk.

Coby Mayo did not have a banner week either, going just 2-15 but hitting his team-leading 22nd homer before being called back up to the Orioles with the September roster expansion.

At AA Bowie, 2023 1st round pick Enrique Bradfield Jr. cooled off after a hot start, going just 2-16 on the week. The big name at Bowie this week was 21 year old catching prospect Creed Willems, who went deep twice in just his second game in AA.

Question of the Week –

What is wrong with Corbin Burnes?

The ace the Orioles brought in over the winter had exceeded expectations through the end of July. Burnes finished that month with a 2.47 ERA and was among the favorites for the AL Cy Young award. Then what seemed like a couple of rough outings to start August spiraled into one of the worst stretches of his career.

After another poor outing this week (albeit with only one earned run), Burnes has allowed the following in his five August starts:

* 5.2 IP 3R

* 3.2IP 7R

* 6IP 5R

* 5.2IP 5R

That resulted in a 7.36 ERA for the month, and that is helped by the last start in which five of the runs were unearned.

This is easily the worst stretch of his career since the start of 2019, when he had a 10.70 ERA through his first five starts of the season and was demoted to the bullpen for the remainder of the year. Since then his worst month was August 2022, when he posted a 4.81 ERA.

Burnes was the picture of consistency through his first 22 starts of the season, where he delivered a quality start in all but three. So what changed for Burnes in August to cause this sharp drop off? Has he begun to get fatigued and lost velocity? Has he lost his control of the strike zone or command of his breaking pitches? Or has he just had a run of bad luck?

As stated above the numbers for August are pretty ugly. The 7.36 ERA along with a 1.60 WHIP. Looking at more advanced metrics, his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) was 4.81, which suggests he deserved somewhat better than the 7+ ERA, but still not his usual self.

Perhaps the most worrying part of the FIP number is that it has gone up in each month this season, from 2.56 in May to 3.79 in June, to 4.02 in July. Opposing hitters have a .304 batting average against Burnes in August, which is significantly worse than the .231 in his next-worst month.

Diving deeper into the numbers, his strikeouts are down, with his 22 in August the lowest of any month and his 18.5% strikeout percentage his lowest by a good amount. While the strikeouts are down, his walk rate has been consistent, so it doesn’t seem that his overall control has fallen off.

In August, batters hit line drives 23.6% of the time, well higher than the rest of the season, where the previous worst month was May with 17.8%. Burnes has also allowed an elevated HR rate in August at 15.6% and his highest hard hit rate at 38.9%, though that number was only slightly more than in June.

The exit velocities off his changeup, sinker, slider and cutter have all jumped in August with his sinker showing the biggest drop in effectiveness.

One number that really stands out for the last month is a highly elevated BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play). Burnes has allowed a .277 BABIP in his career and prior to August his worst month this season was May, with a .294 BABIP.

In August that jumped to .341. Burnes has also struggled massively with runners on base in August, stranding only 38.2% of runners as opposed to over 76% every other month.

These stats may be partially explained by the increase in line drives and home runs hit off him, but given that the hard hit and exit velocities were only slightly higher, it may suggest Burnes has had some significant bad luck as well.

So it seems that Burnes has been both more hittable and more unlucky in the past month. That leads one to ask what might have changed about his pitches or approach that have enabled hitters to have more success.

Looking at this pitch data on Baseball Savant provides some insight. While Burnes had the lowest velocity of the year in his most recent start, the previous four were all in line with his average for the year. In addition, the velocity on all of his pitches has remained consistent throughout this season. So if this is fatigue, it doesn’t appear to be affecting his velocity to a large degree.

Maybe it could be related to the mix of pitches he’s throwing at hitters? Burnes has gradually thrown his cutter less over the course of the season, but it is still by far his most frequent pitch at 41.7% in August, compared to 46% in May.

In August Burnes has used slightly more of his changeup and sinker compared to his other offspeed and breaking pitches, but there’s nothing in the pitch mix that suggests the sharp drop off in effectiveness.

If his velocity hasn’t declined and his pitch mix doesn’t appear to be a major factor, perhaps the pitches he’s throwing are just less effective? This appears to be where we may find a clue to why Burnes has been struggling in August.

While the spin rates on all his pitches have remained consistent throughout the season, some of the other numbers have dropped. Both the Swing and Miss and Chase and Miss percentages have declined for his slider, curveball, cutter and changeup in August.

Additionally, the Whiff percentage and Put Away percentage are down for both his cutter and breaking pitches.

After delving into the advanced numbers for Burnes in August, it’s hard to draw any distinct conclusions. It’s clear hitters are having more success against him, but there isn’t a clear drop in his velocity or spin rates on his pitches.

He’s not walking more batters and he appears to have consistent location statistics with the rest of the season. Despite that, he has been missing fewer bats and getting less hitters to chase his breaking pitches. His slider in particular seems less effective.

Ultimately there isn’t anything in the numbers that suggests Burnes can’t turn this around. It would be especially concerning if we were seeing decreasing velocity or loss of control. Neither of these have caused the decline.

If there is any fatigue it isn’t showing up in obvious ways. Perhaps some arm fatigue is contributing to the reduction in swing and miss on his breaking pitches.

The Orioles have seemed reluctant to push Burnes up in the rotation to pitch on normal rest when off days have allowed, so they may be protecting his arm. However, any fatigue he has appears to be more mental than physical.

The issue may just be missing his spots in key moments and not locating his pitches as precisely as he needs to in high leverage situations. There also appears to be some bad luck baked in with where the ball is landing when hitters make contact, and that should regress to the mean sooner or later.

In the end there appears to be little reason for concern. The Orioles need Burnes to right the ship ASAP and there’s no reason to believe he can’t do that. From a velocity and stuff standpoint, Burnes looks to be the same pitcher he’s been all season.

That should give confidence he will get back to his winning ways in time to resume his ace role in the playoffs.

Monday September 2, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3662

worried? don't be

Happy Labor Day to all.

As is our annual custom here, we'll be offering a truncated version of #DMD today in honor of the holiday.

I know what Flyers and Beatles fans are thinking.

Truncated means shortened or curtailed.

You're welcome.

These are anxious days in The Land of Pleasant Living as the baseball schedule moves into September and the A.L. East steamrolls in the direction of a fantastic finish later this month.

The Birds are now a half-game out of first after Sunday's 6-1 win at Colorado coupled with the Yankees' 14-7 home loss to the Cardinals.

At stake over the final month? A division title and a (likely) first-round bye as long as the A.L. East winner finishes with the first or second best record in the league.

Some folks think the division crown is overrated. There are those who think a wild card berth isn't all that bad, particularly since it means you just keep on playing after the regular season concludes instead of waiting around the better part of a full week to resume your 2024 post-season.

What do we think here at #DMD?

We'll take the division title if we can, in fact, win it.

Not playing in the A.L. Wild Card series means you're one step closer to the World Series. You can't lose in the A.L. Wild Card series if you don't play in it.

So, our preference here is to see the O's win the division title.

But if it works out that Baltimore finishes second, then a wild card series it is.

And what do we think is going to happen? Well, we're glad you asked.

See below...

Yankees (79-58) remaining schedule and predicted wins/losses:

at Texas, 3 (W, L, L)

at Cubs, 3 (L, W, L)

vs. Kansas City, 3 (W, L, W)

vs. Boston, 4 (W, L, L, W)

at Seattle, 3 (W, W, L)

at Oakland, 3 (W, W, L)

vs. Baltimore, 3 (L, L, W)

vs. Pittsburgh, 3 (W, L, W)

Final record: 92-70

Orioles (79-59) remaining schedule and predicted wins/losses:

vs. White Sox, 3 (W, W, W)

vs. Tampa Bay, 3 (L, W, W)

at Boston, 4 (W, L, W, L)

at Detroit, 3 (W, L, L)

vs. San Francisco, 3 (W, W, L)

vs. Detroit, 3 (W, W, W)

at Yankees, 3 (W, W, L)

at Minnesota, 3 (L, W, W)

Final rercord: 96-66

So there you have it.

Rest easy O's fans.

This one's in the books.

A second straight A.L. East title, which will actually be clinched in New York in the penultimate series of the campaign in late September.

Won't that be something?

Celebrating with tee shirts and champagne in the Bronx.

Ain't the beer cold?

Enjoy your holiday and come back around tomorrow for Randy Morgan's weekly in-depth O's recap and our 2024 NFL predictions column where we tell you just how far the Ravens will go in this season's playoffs.

Sunday September 1, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3661

three things i believe in

That was amateur hour last night in Colorado.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the lowly Rockies who were the "amateur" part of that statement.

It was our Orioles who spit the bit.

Colorado won the game, 7-5, after Craig Kimbrel -- I know you're shocked -- came in to pitch the 8th inning with the game tied at 5-5 and promptly gave up two runs.

Kimbrel stinks. We all know that. Brandon Hyde knows it. But his options last night were limited because Dean Kremer left the game in the 4th inning after being hit by a line drive and the O's bullpen had to work overtime.

So, as much as it's easy to pin the defeat on Kimbrel, there were so many other moments-of-fault that I don't know where to start.

There were passed balls (Rutschman).

Failure to cut the ball off and allowing runners to advance (O'Hearn).

Laziness from/in the outfield that allowed Rockies runners to take an extra base (Cowser, Mullins).

Failure to drive in runners in scoring position (Rutschman, Jimenez, Holliday, Henderson (again), Cowser).

Stolen bases off of Kimbrel and Cano.

Incredibly inefficient trips at the plate (Cowser).

It all added up to a bad loss against a really bad team.

Kimbrel got most of the heat on social media after the game but he's low hanging fruit at this point. If he's pressed into duty, it's very likely he's going to give up runs and/or have a direct impact on the game.

All the other stuff, though, needs to be cleaned up so Kimbrel isn't in the game in the first place.

This, unfortunately, has been going on for a while now. Saturday night wasn't an outlier. The fundamentals and the approach at the plate have been "off" for the better part of a month.

Everyone scuffles at some point in a 162-game season. It's inevitable. Some folks scuffle for a series and some scuffle for a month.

Rutschman, Henderson and Cowser have tailed off over the last 30 games, even if their "slash line" doesn't totally reflect that.

All three are a strike out waiting to happen at the plate. And their defensive capabilities have also taken a hit of late.

There was a joke floating around on Twitter this week that depicted Rutschman as Matt Wieters 2.0.

A day later, someone chimed in: "You're being disrespectful to Matt Wieters with that comparison."

There is good news, though.

The schedule turns in the O's favor with three straight wins vs. the White Sox coming up this week in Baltimore, followed by a weekend visit from a Tampa Bay team that is pretty much done.

There's still one more game in Denver today. Let's hope the O's look more like a major league team in the series finale vs. the Rockies than they looked in last night's 7-5 loss.

Amateur hour.

---

Your mileage may vary on these three.

You can use the Comments section below to agree with my three. Or disagree with them. And you can also simply add three of your own and then everyone else can chop away at your three.

This all sorta-kinda started on Friday night when I told a couple of friends that I have this weird feeling Eloy Jimenez is going to have a big hit for the Orioles, either late in the regular season or in the playoffs.

"He's this team's Delmon Young from 2014," I told the two of them.

"He's a bum," my friend Mark countered.

Look, I understand why most O's fans aren't all that hot and bothered by Jimenez. Sure, he's hitting .300 for the O's in his one month with the team, but it's hard to feel all warm and fuzzy about the former White Sox slugger when you see him hit a grounder to shortstop and lollygag his way down the first base line before being thrown out by six steps.

He just has the look of a dude who only tries when he wants to try.

That said, I mentioned when he was acquired from Chicago that you can't ever under-estimate the value of a fresh start, particularly for someone like Jimenez who was rumored to be a clubhouse downer in the Windy City.

And one of the things I believe is Jimenez is going to have a big hit for the Orioles in September or October.

And by "big hit", I mean a hit that helps give the Birds a playoff spot or the A.L. East title or, like Young did in 2014, a Jimenez hit in the post-season carries the Orioles to a magical win.

Let's hope I'm right. Right?

I've thought long and hard about this one over the last few days. In my lifetime, I can think of only three athletes who immediately fulfilled their promise and, at the same time, changed their sport.

Not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Neither of them did it immediately.

Not Michael Jordan, either. It took him a little while, as well.

Tiger Woods was the first one.

He won three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles and followed that up with three straight U.S. Amateur trophies. No one ever did that before Woods, no one has done it since, and no one will ever do it again.

Tiger was going to turn professional and turn the world of professional golf on its ears.

And that's exactly what happened.

We've never really seen anyone like him. Showed up, beat everyone like a drum for the better part of two decades, and became the biggest needle-mover in the history of golf.

And the thing is, he was supposed to be that great. And he delivered.

The same goes for LeBron James.

He might not have revolutionized basketball the way Tiger changed golf, but James did revolutionize the position he played when he joined the NBA straight out of high school.

"The Chosen One" was the headline Sports Illustrated decided on when they profiled LeBron in his junior year of high school.

Imagine being a high school junior and the (then) top sports publication in America writes a story predicting you're going to take the NBA by storm. You're 16 years old and you're the "chosen one".

And then you go on to take the NBA by storm, just like they said you would.

Two decades later, you're one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Multiple championships. First ballot Hall of Fame inductee someday down the road.

It's rare someone comes along and delivers on all the promise, but James did it.

One of the things I believe is Caitlin Clark is going to have the same impact in the WNBA that James had in the NBA. But unlike James, who came into an established league and dominated, Clark is one-upping him.

Caitlin Clark has put the WNBA on the map.

Oh, sure, the WNBA has been around for 27 years. But no one cared about the WNBA for, oh, about 26 of those 27 years.

But people are starting to care now. And Caitlin Clark is the reason.

Is she the best player in the league? I have no idea. Like 95% of everyone else in America, I couldn't name 10 players in the league, let alone argue with you about who is the best player.

I know Caitlin Clark, though.

And I know she's great at basketball.

And I also know that prior to her showing up in the WNBA, the league was just a bunch of women playing basketball and no one knew who was winning the games, who was winning the MVP or who was winning the league title.

But everyone knows her. And they know she's a rock star.

Even the players in the league know it. They're envious of her, but, yes, they also know she's the straw that stirs the drink.

She was a world-beater at the University of Iowa, but there were a few people who scoffed at her talents and said, "Let's see how it translates to the pro game."

Well, here we are.

She's clobbering fools in the WNBA on a nightly basis.

And she's doing it -- most importantly -- in front of sold out arenas all over the country. She's appointment viewing, either in person or are on TV.

Caitlin Clark has changed women's basketball in this country.

The O's downturn over the last two months has been talked about here ad nauseum and has been dissected over and over (and over) on social media.

Injuries have hurt the club. No two ways about it.

The offense hasn't been very good since mid-June.

The team was struggling in July and people said, "That's what the trade deadline is for..."

Then the trade deadline came and went and the Birds made one really nice move (Eflin), a move that has paid "some" dividends (Dominguez) and a move that could turn into something down the road (Jimenez).

But there was also a trade for Trevor Rogers that backfired. And not just because Connor Norby has been tearing it up in Miami.

For all of those moments, though, one of the things I believe is the club's ultimate mistake in 2024 is/was keeping Craig Kimbrel around.

It's not the worst part of their season. The team's failure to drive in runners in scoring position trumps the Kimbrel decision.

But they "control" the Kimbrel decision.

I understand dealing Austin Hays for Seranthony Dominguez, although it's probably fair to remind you there wouldn't have been an urgent need for him had Kimbrel been effective in 2024.

Austin Hays was no world beater, obviously, but he was almost a regular, every day kind of player that you swapped for a relief pitcher with a spotty track record in Philadelphia.

I understand adding Zach Eflin, particularly pretty-much-knowing you're not going to be able to keep Corbin Burnes.

I even see the logic in adding the mercurial Eloy Jimenez. You didn't give up anything to get him. So why not? Sure, he could wind up being a clubhouse problem like he was in Chicago, but if that part of Jimenez shows up in Baltimore, you DFA him after a few weeks and no-fuss-no-muss.

And I know Rogers was terrible most of the year in Miami and in his limited time in Baltimore, but the Birds needed a lefty starter and they didn't want to give up a garage full of high-level prospects for Crochet or Skubal.

Yes, Kikuchi was available in Toronto, but the Astros gave up a treasure chest for him, don't forget.

All that said...

Elias should have cut Kimbrel loose a month ago.

Frankly, he probably should have DFA'd Kimbrel in mid-July when the GM still had time to find someone else.

I get it, he makes $13 million and no one likes paying a player while he sits at home.

But Kimbrel has been a massive liability.

I'm not trying to pile on the guy, by the way. He's had a very good career, has Kimbrel.

But the sun has set on his time in the big leagues.

Father Time always wins.

Saturday August 31, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3660

you're making it worse

I shared a late summer refreshment with two friends yesterday. We met up at a nice watering hole in the Towson area to chat about life, the O's, golf and anything else that came to mind.

As it happens these days, a couple of young adults came in and their appearance was, let's just say, "different".

And I don't mean "odd" different. I just mean they were dressed and looked different than the other 30 or so people who were in the place at the time.

They were male and female. The male had, by rough estimation, 90% of his visible body covered with tattoos. And he had at least a dozen piercings of some kind on his face, head, ears, etc.

The female was similar in nature.

I think, by today's standards, they're considering "alternative". Which is fine by me. I generally don't get worked up about tattoos and piercings and such.

In 1980 in Glen Burnie, if you were a guy with a piercing you were definitely considered weird.

In 2024, you're probably weird if you don't have a piercing or a tattoo.

Anyway...

Mark gestures in their direction and says, "What do you think happened to them?"

My other friend said, "Maybe they both got the score run up on them in a soccer game when they were 15 years old and never recovered."

We laughed.

Minutes before, we were talking about the incident from the night before when the Howard University coach took exception to a late touchdown from a Rutgers running back.

That's why Dan chimed in with his remark about the soccer game and the score being run up and how that might have impacted the two new visitors in the bar.

The reality, of course, is that it's highly unlikely a sports result of any kind "changed" those two. I have no idea why they dress and look the way they do but I suspect it's more personal preference and style than anything else.

This entry today isn't about two young adults and the ever-changing world we live in.

I brought that story up to highlight the Howard University/Rutgers incident from Thursday night.

I can't imagine one kid from Howard University is going to be scarred for life because a Rutgers running back bolted into the end zone with no time left to turn a 37-7 loss into a 44-7 loss in August of 2024.

I just don't think, five years from now, two young males will wander into a Washington D.C. bar with tattoos and piercings (or anything else that distinctively makes them look "different") and two guests will whisper, "Look, it's those two guys who were on the Howard football team the year Rutgers ran up the score on them. That game sure did change them."

This topic of "running up the score" in sports has been gaining steam for a long time in our country.

It's useless going into a wide ranging discussion about it here because ultimately the direction of the discourse changes from sports to the way children are being raised in this generation and then people's feelings get hurt and everything gets mucked up in the end.

Mark, Dan and I eventually did shift our get together to sports, like we always do, and I was adamant with them about one thing: Sportsmanship, for the most part, is a dying theme.

Every tackle or touchdown in football now includes a dance or some other 5-second "act" that is largely done to show up the opposing player or team. Every dunk includes theatrics and taunting. Every home run now includes a bat flip, which may or may not earn you a ball in the ribs depending on how "unsportsmanlike" the opposing team believes that stunt to be.

I say this all the time. Taunting is as much a part of the NFL and college football as are commercials about sports gambling. It's just the way athletes are conditioned these days.

"Look what I did to you..."

It's not a new trend, mind you. But it's never reverting back to what it once was. Isn't there a saying about not being able to put the toothpaste back in the tube or something like that?

And I'm not saying what happened on Thursday night was, in any way, unsportsmanlike. I'm actually saying the opposite.

It's a football game. People are trying to impress the coaches. They're athletes. They're conditioned by the coaches to pursue excellence.

What happened was Howard's defense couldn't stop the Rutgers offense on the game's final play.

That's actually what happened.

Whether Rutgers should have been "trying" to score at the end is the actual root of the discussion and that's where "sportsmanship" comes into the discussion. And you (and I) might have been raised to sit on the ball there and not score. I get that. But that was then and this is now.

I almost look at it like this: 50 years ago, men were conditioned to hold the door open for women because it was the "gentlemanly" thing to do. Heck, I'm old. I still do it if the opportunity presents itself.

But what we've discovered over the last, say, 20 years, is that we should simply be holding the door open for one another, no matter your gender. Or your race. Or the way you look or dress. Just hold the door open because it's the right thing to do, period.

I've never liked seeing blowouts in sports. I do understand how it looks when a football score is 55-0 or a basketball score is 98-34 or a baseball score is 18-3.

And, yes, I also understand that younger athletes -- in their teens, say -- are far more prone to emotional distress over a loss than an adult might be. But part of that is because of social media, instant reaction, pictures up everywhere, etc.

50 years ago if Glen Burnie soccer lost 10-0 to someone, it could be days before I was confronted with it once the story ran in the Maryland Gazette.

Today, you're on the bus riding home from the game and the score is posted about five minutes after the final whistle and your friends are hammering at you with laughing emojis because you lost 10-0.

Times are different.

But what's really happening is we're failing to coach these young boys and girls about the realities of life.

If you open a business at age 25, your competitors are going to want you to fail. They are going to try to stomp you into the ground.

If your business starts to flourish, rival companies will try to steal your best employees.

Competition is everywhere in life and you are going to lose and sometimes you're going to lose by a little and sometimes you're going to get completely squashed. And your job is to accept it and try to improve upon it.

The Howard University coach using his platform to whine about that final touchdown was useless.

Sure, he was trying to protect his players and all. I get that. But they're men. Young men, perhaps, but they're men. They get it. They're still getting their NIL money and their off campus apartment whether that kid from Rutgers scores to make it 44-7 or takes a knee on the one yard line to keep the score at 37-7.

And if the Howard players were that upset about the "extra touchdown", here's a novel idea: Someone tackle the dude before he gets into the end zone.

Blaming the other team's coach because their football team was better than your football team is #clownshoes stuff.

My very first MIAA match, back in 2011 when I was coaching for John Carroll, came against Mount Saint Joseph, who at the time were one of the league's golfing powerhouses.

They beat us 21-0 and my six players won a total of 3 holes on the day. Three holes. It was a blowout of epic proportions.

When we finished the match and I gathered my team together, I said to them: "That team we played today...is exactly the kind of team and program I want to build here at John Carroll. We have a lot of work ahead of us to get there. I'll see you guys tomorrow at practice and we'll start working towards that."

What was I going to do? Beat up their kids and coaching staff for not "letting" us win at least one point? Scream about how unfair it was for one of their guys to make a 20-foot putt on the 12th green to make the final 21-0 instead of 20-1?

"We need to get better..."

That's the only message those kids from Howard needed to hear on Thursday night.

Taking a minute of your time in the press conference to cry about a meaningless touchdown was a minute you could have used to speak glowingly about the performance of a player or two on your team who were excellent despite the loss.

I don't know, man. I just don't understand what these coaches are thinking about when they complain about late baskets, late home runs or late touchdowns.

You spend 60 hours a week telling your players to never quit, never back down and never take the opponent lightly.

And then, when the other team does that exact same thing to you -- because their coach was telling them to do it -- it's somehow wrong and unsportsmanlike?

Just go get better and stop being so soft.

Friday August 30, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3659

i'm not dodging the questions

They've been piling up and I'm here to answer them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going to briefly mention the game last night in Los Angeles.

The O's collected a grand total of 4 hits in the game, sports fans.

Colton Cowser provided the only big moment of the night with a 3-run homer to cut a 5-0 lead to 5-3, but Brandon Hyde fell asleep in the 8th inning and left Matt Bowman in the game to load the bases and the Dodgers tacked on a final run in a 6-3 victory.

Cade Povich wasn't very good. That is, unless you think allowing 11 base runners in 3.1 innings is "good".

But the bullpen was actually very efficient until Bowman -- pitching for the 3rd time in 4 games -- completely ran out of gas in his second inning of work. Keegan Akin came in and promptly gave up a first pitch, run scoring, sacrifice fly, but those who followed Povich on Thursday night were in no way responsible for the 6-3 defeat.

This one -- stop me if you heard it before -- was on the bats. Period.

4 lousy hits. We call that a "Depeche Mode" around here.

Gunnar Henderson came up with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 7th inning and struck out to end the inning. He doesn't get all the blame, of course. But that was a big moment in a (fairly) big game and he totally whiffed...no pun intended.

There were also a couple of defensive miscues, including Adley Rutschman inexplicably picking up a ball that was CLEARLY going to roll foul in the first inning (fortunately no runs scored as a result) and Colton Cowser fiddling around with the ball in the 4th inning and allowing a base runner to go from first to second (and he eventually did score).

There was a comical botched run down later on in the game where Jackson Holliday couldn't make a 15-foot throw to Ryan O'Hearn at first base.

Shaky starting pitching.

4 hits.

Indifferent defense (and that's being kind).

Failure to drive in runners in scoring position.

It all added up to another loss.

Editor's note: I think Depeche Mode had a lot more than four really good songs. I love their Greatest Hits CD. But I think they pretty much had 4 hits; Enjoy The Silence, Personal Jesus, Strangelove and Policy of Truth. Further, "Violator" is one of the best 25 albums of my life. Maybe even top 15 if I really tried to put the list together.

On to Colorado the Birds go. They're playing a bad team in a stadium where the ball travels. There better be a double-digit offensive eruption in one of these upcoming three games.

For the Orioles, that is.

And now...we tackle your questions.

Mark asks -- "I know you wrote earlier this week that Dodgers Stadium is the best baseball ballpark you've ever been in but what's the best football stadium you've ever been in?"

DF says -- "I've been in fewer football stadiums, for starters. I think I've been to 22 or 23 baseball stadiums. Here's the NFL football stadiums I've seen games in:

Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Meadowlands, Philadelphia, New England, Buffalo, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans, Kansas City, Arizona, Indianapolis and Nashville.

I tend to rate stadiums based on the "experience". I'm generally not big on the "cosmetics" of stadiums. For instance, I think the baseball stadium in Pittsburgh is the best "facility" I've been in. I'm not talking about the view of downtown and that kind of stuff. I'm talking about just sitting in the ballpark and looking at the way it was built. I think Pittsburgh's awesome.

To me, football stadiums are just big circular buildings with seats in them where people convene to watch football. There's not really much to them.

I'm working hard to answer this question. I think the best stadium I've been in -- for football -- is Atlanta. And I'm not a huge indoor stadium guy, either, but that one has the retractable roof that makes it at least "feel" outdoorsy when it's open."

Tim in Hunt Valley asks -- "I haven't seen your Presidents Cup captain's picks. Who do you think the U.S. should add to the team?"

DF says -- "I'll be honest. I'm pretty removed from the Presidents Cup. It's not appointment viewing like the Ryder Cup is, at least not to me. I just pulled up the names of the six automatic guys, so here's who I would add.

But first, let me also say this, and then I'll tell you who the other six should be. I believe the Presidents Cup should attempt to serve as a bit of a feeder system for the Ryder Cup. I realize the PGA Tour runs the Presidents Cup and the PGA of America runs the Ryder Cup and the two events are really in no way connected at all.

That said, I think it would help our Ryder Cup chances if we gave some younger players (without Ryder Cup experience") a chance to get their feet wet in the Presidents Cup. A great example of this would have been someone like Sahith Theegala had he not made the team automatically on points.

Anyway, with all that on the table, here's the six I would add if they gave me the keys: Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley, Akshay Bhatia, Sam Burns, Davis Thompson and Billy Horschel.

Thompson would be the most controversial of those picks because he's in 22nd place in the standings with 2800 points, but he's somewhere around 10th or 11th in 2024 points. He didn't really register any points a year ago. He's a very nice young player who played well in the U.S. Open in June and also won his first TOUR event a few weeks later."

Dan Fink asks -- "You can't pick Mahomes or Lamar. Who is going to be the NFL MVP in 2024?"

DF says -- "Can I say "no one"? If not Mahomes or Lamar, then who? Wow. It can't be Josh Allen. It can't be Justin Herbert. (I'm just thinking about QB's at this point, obviously). It could be someone like Cooper Kupp or Tyreek Hill, I guess.

And I'll give you a crazy pick that might not be that crazy because, A) He's probably still pretty good and, B) If it's not Mahomes or Lamar, he's the one QB who could lead his team to 13 wins.

Yes, I'm talking about Aaron Rodgers.

Look, he could be washed up for all we know. Would it shock me if he's incredibly mediocre in 2024? Not at all. But he's been off for a year, lots of time to recover, and the Jets will certainly throw the ball a lot.

But if you're pressing me for one guy other than Lamar and Mahomes, I'll go with Tyreek Hill. If he stays healthy, he's virtually unstoppable (assuming his #1 QB also stays healthy)."

Rick asks -- "What is the 2025 fate of these Orioles? McCann, Burnes and Santander. Thanks, Drew, Go Hall!"

DF says -- "Keep, gone and gone. And don't forget, they have to do something with Ryan O'Hearn as well. They have a club option on him for $7.5 million. I assume they're keeping O'Hearn, especially at $7.5 million.

I think they like what McCann gives them. He's a solid stop-gap until Samuel Basallo is ready. Personally, it feels like he plays a little too much given his general lack of offensive production, but maybe they're trying to ease the burden on Rutschman.

Anyway, McCann's a keeper, for now, until the aforementioned Basallo is ready to make the move to the big leagues. He'll be up soon, but it feels like next April might be a tad too soon. And they can give McCann a one-year deal worth $5M or $6M and he'll be pleased as punch. Every year in the majors is a golden parachute for him at this point.

Burnes will most certainly sign somewhere else. The usual suspects will be in play; Dodgers, Yankees, Rangers, Astros, Mets, etc. My wild card would be the Giants.

Santander will also sign elsewhere. He just feels like a perfect L.A. Angels signing, doesn't he? 4 years, $100 million or something along those lines. Way overpaid. Just a typical Angels free agent signing. I could also see the Red Sox sniffing around Santander. Switch hitter and all. Might be a good fit at Fenway."

Kevin Jerns asks -- "I'm a 15 handicap golfer who just picked up the game 2 summers ago, but I spend a lot of time watching You Tube and videos of the PGA Tour stars. How does Scottie Scheffler play the way he plays with his right foot moving in the down swing like it does?"

DF says -- "Interesting question. Quick answer is this: It's not really moving in the downswing. It moves at impact or just a millisecond before. It probably looks like it's moving in the downswing, but it isn't. He's using the movement of his right foot at impact to get all of his weight moving forward and left.

The other interesting thing Scheffler does in his swing (and this does happen in his downswing) is he's one of the only players on the TOUR who actually moves his head back as the club approaches the ball. It's very hard to see at regular speed, but if you get a good down the line view of his swing in slow motion, you'll see that his head moves back as he swings down to the ball."

T.J. -- "Hey DF, I assume you'll be doing NFL predictions for the season before the Ravens/Chiefs so maybe you'll answer this then but do you have two teams that will be surprises in a good way and two teams who are going to be surprises in a bad way for the upcoming football season?"

DF says -- "Sure. Buffalo will be down. Won't make the playoffs. The Browns will also decline. They won't make it, either.

On the good side, I think Houston is going to be very good (I know they made it last year, but that was because no one else in the division was all that good) and I suspect the Chargers are also going to be surprisingly good, despite their maniacal head coach."

Oh, and, yes, I'll have my season predictions early next week here at #DMD."

G.M. asks -- "I know the O's are loaded with minor league prospects itching for a chance to come up and play regularly but do you see any free agents worth pursuing this winter if you're Mike Elias?"

DF says -- "I sure do. I have no idea what Max Fried (Atlanta) will want money/years wise, but I'd love to see him in Baltimore next season. We need a real lefty starter after the Trevor Rogers debacle. I'm not writing off Cade Povich just yet, but I don't see him being someone to make 32 starts in 2025.

Fried would be a nice addition in Baltimore and would help ease the pain of losing Burnes.

That said, he's not signing with the Orioles. He'll be in Boston or Chicago (Cubs) or Philadelphia, probably."

faith in sports

We don't post many 18 minute videos for you here, but this one day is WELL worth your nearly 20 minutes of time.

C.J. Stroud is an extraordinary young man.

The Texans quarterback talks at length in the video below about his faith, his identity as a NFL player and how he has changed for the better since his days in the spotlight at Ohio State and now with the Houston Texans.

It's 18 minutes, but it's a GREAT 18 minutes. You'll be very impressed with Stroud, trust me.

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 August 29, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3658

slump or market correction?

OK, so do you want the bad news? Or the bad news?

The O's lost to the Dodgers last night, 6-4. That's the bad news.

Hey, it happens. The O's are 77-57. You can't win 'em all.

You want the bad news? Corbin Burnes was pretty much lousy again.

The O's defense wasn't great behind him, but the Dodgers teed off regularly on the first year O's right hander. Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez both homered off of him, with the Hernandez shot landing somewhere near Anaheim.

Burnes took umbrage with errors by both Urias and Henderson, but he was also the guy the Dodgers stole bases on left and right and it was his 58-foot pitch into the ground that allowed Ohtani to scoot from first to third in the 5th inning that eventually helped L.A. to increase their lead to 6-4.

There were some good moments, for sure. He threw a total of 94 pitches in six innings and 63 of them were strikes. But overall it was another concerning start for Burnes, who has suffered through five straight ineffective outings.

Everyone struggles at some point. No athlete is immune to a period of time when things just don't click for whatever reason.

Heck, the O's broadcast team even had themselves a blinder on Wednesday night, stumbling through several innings of bad broadcasting, including a dreadful in-game interview with super-boring Eloy Jimenez and an entire half-inning gushing over and discussing the Shohei Ohtani bobblehead that was distributed before the game in L.A.

If you thought Jimenez wasn't interested in running out ground balls, he's even less interested in putting on a headset and talking to broadcasters during the game itself. And it didn't help that his middle-school teammates were throwing sunflower seeds at him during that time as well. Anyway...

Back to Burnes and baseball and the 6-4 loss.

Would you rather lose to the Dodgers, 2-1, but Burnes throws a 7-inning gem, allowing 3 hits, 0 runs and striking out 8?

Or win the game but have Burnes stink it up?

It's a fair question.

Here's another fair question.

Is Burnes simply in a slump?

Or is this what he is?

Are we seeing a pitcher who might be tipping his pitches somehow? Or struggling through a mechanical flaw he hasn't yet discovered?

Or is this the market correction that comes with a pitcher who was so good earlier in the campaign that there was simply no way he could continue that level of quality for five more months?

It's definitely a "decline" of some kind.

Burnes is simply not the pitcher he was eight or twelve weeks ago.

But why?

I assume he's wondering that very thing himself.

I'm guessing the Birds are, too. This is their ace. Their stopper. Burnes is the guy they brought to Baltimore to anchor a post-season pitching staff.

Right now, he's an anchor alright. But not the kind the O's want.

I'm no pitching guru. Far from it. That said, I'm of the mindset there's something going on with Burnes that we can't see with the naked eye.

He's either hurting, tipping his pitches or something has changed in his delivery that is contributing to his recent downfall.

I don't buy the "market correction" angle. Burnes is a very good pitcher. Sure, a bad game or two along the way is part of every pitcher's campaign, but guys like Burnes don't have months like he's having in August.

Something else is going on.

A couple of O's followers on Twitter have been leaning on the "new father" story. Burnes and his wife had twins recently, which definitely changes everyone's life at home. Fatherhood has a way of making you see things differently, but I doubt his recent struggles on the mound are connected to the twins.

I'll stick with my theory; injured, tipping or mechanical flaw.

It needs to get turned around, whatever it is.

Sooner rather than later.

He'll get an automatic win next week against the White Sox in Baltimore, so hopefully that starts the turn around for Burnes.

But September is going to be a pivotal month for the Birds and it's unlikely they can win the division if we continue to see their number one starter scuffle like he has this month.

One other part of his recent downturn can be filed under the nature-of-unintended-consequences. The performance he's authored in August has probably been the last piece of information Mike Elias needed to make a decision on attempting to get in the mix to resign Burnes this off-season.

Sure, you never say never. If Burnes returns to form in September and is outrageously good in the post-season and the Birds fly into the World Series, you might at least have to consider joining the fray and throwing big bucks at him in free agency.

But that's not really the O's business model, as we all know. And his performance in August has made it easy for Elias to say "no thanks" at the thought of throwing $200M or $250M -- or more, perhaps -- at Burnes in December.

By the way, Burnes is far from the only Oriole who is going through a rough patch.

Both Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman are struggling.

Henderson has looked "off" at the plate since mid-July and his defense has slipped big time in that span as well.

Rutschman still has time to shed the Matt Wieters 2.0 label that many baseball followers are sticking him with, but, if the shoe fits and all.

If Santander doesn't homer, he doesn't do much else. The good news is he homers a lot. The bad news is the O's need more out of him than they're getting.

Those three have to start clicking on all cylinders again, preferably all at the same time.

But first, let's get Burnes fixed.

Wednesday August 28, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3657

hey now!

What a Tuesday that was!

The Orioles beat the Dodgers in last night's series opener in L.A., 3-2, getting home runs from Ryan O'Hearn and Ramon Urias and nearly flawless bullpen work to support a productive start from Cole Irvin.

And, with all due respect to the likes of The Smiths, Simply Red and New Order, the best rock-n-roll band to ever hail from Manchester, England announced on Tuesday they are reconvening for a summer of '25 European tour.

Heck, I'd go as far as saying they might be the best band to ever hail from England, period, except Led Zeppelin might not stand by me on that one.

Yes, that was a big Tuesday indeed.

Some might say the O's played in Major League baseball's best stadium last night. I've been blessed to attend two games in Chavez Ravine. I realize you probably don't want me to reminisce about that right here in these parts, but I'm telling you it's one incredible place to watch a baseball game.

My big mouth might get me in hot water over this but I'll put it out there anyway: Dodger Stadium is the best place in America to watch a game. Yes, it's a better "baseball experience" than what we have in Baltimore. Sorry, not sorry.

Anyway...

The O's offense, again last night, wasn't anything great. They managed just 7 hits on the evening in total -- matched by the Dodgers, who were mostly going nowhere as well -- but got the aforementioned dingers from O'Hearn and Urias, who has quietly been one of the team's unsung heroes during the five weeks they've spent without Jordan Westburg.

"I'm seeing the ball better than maybe anytime ever in the majors," Urias said afterwards. "I have a lot of confidence, which is always good."

Seeing the ball well.

Confidence.

Whatever it is, Urias is probably doing enough these days to secure his spot on the roster when Westburg returns later in September. There will be tough decisions to be made, for sure, but Urias will likely not be one of them.

You couldn't have blamed southpaw starter Cole Irvin for walking around looking like a guy who was asking, "Who put the weight of the world on my shoulders?" He was, after all, cut from the team last month, but passed through waivers and was reassigned to Norfolk from there.

And then, after the recent Trevor Rogers debacle, Irvin found himself once again collecting that nifty $108 a day of major league per-diem and there he was last night, starting one of the team's more important games of the last six weeks of the regular season. And it was, for the most part, a blessing of a start, as he helped keep the dream alive of a second straight A.L. East title with a solid 4.1 innings of work.

I'm not here saying Irvin is a better man than Rogers. But as pitchers go, he seems to have a certain level of grit that Rogers doesn't. Maybe I'm just getting older, but I'll take the guy who fights over the guy with style. Irvin's a fighter. You might not get his best stuff every time out, but you're always going to get his best effort.

The rest of the bullpen were the real heroes last night.

Someone named Matt Bowman pitched 1.2 innings of shutout ball to pick up his first win of the season. His funky delivery and drop-off-the-table breaking ball were tough to hit last night. I'll take more of that magic pie tonight if he happens to get in the game.

Cionel Perez (1.1 innings), Yennier Cano (1) and Seranthony Dominguez (1) combined to allow just 2 hits and, little by little, the Dodgers' chances dimmed as the night went on. Dominguez did put runners on first and second in the 9th and Shohei Ohtani lurked in the on-deck circle when Chris Taylor approached the plate with 2 outs in the last frame.

But Taylor drilled a fly ball into deep left field right into the glove of Colton Cowser and the tension was gone. All part of the masterplan, I guess.

Speaking of Cowser, it wasn't all wine and roses for him on Tuesday evening, as he botched a ball hit into the corner and turned a double into a triple that helped the Dodgers put a run on the board on a sacrifice fly. Right on cue, of course, the official scorekeeper eschewed the reasonable wisdom of scoring it a double and an error and instead labeled it a triple. It's a crime that these scorekeepers across MLB won't give errors to professional players who make routine mistakes.

Maybe it's just my generation. If so, I'll own it. But when a major leaguer misplays a ball he should and would normally come up with, it's an error. I guess the answer is either learn to accept that scorekeepers have turned soft over the years or, simply, stay young.

So the O's snagged game one of the three-game series last night and the Yankees fell in D.C. to the Nationals. The Birds are going to need to keep on winning, apparently, because it seems like the Bronx Bombers aren't going to be falling down anytime soon. And there is that September series in New York to circle on your calendar as well, don't forget.

Oh, and Corbin Burnes goes for the Orioles tonight.

I know he hasn't been good for the last three weeks or so, but you'll get no sad song out of me on this one. If you want anyone on the mound in a big game situation for the O's these days, it's still Burnes.

Now, if we can just get those Baltimore bats to perk up, right?

I hope, I think, I know, even, that if the O's can get going offensively again, September and October could be really fun here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

Tuesday August 27, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3656

playoffs? playoffs?

If you're like me, any time you read the word "playoffs", don't you always say it in your head in Jim Mora's voice?

I know I do.

#DMD reader Gary reached out to me yesterday with an e-mail about Orioles playoff tickets. In case you haven't heard, information has been released about the 2024 post-season and how playoff tickets can be obtained in Baltimore.

Gary called it "confusing" in his e-mail.

I wouldn't call it confusing at all. I'd call it elaborate, sure, but far from confusing.

Here's the quick, easy summary: If you're not a 2024 Birdland member (code word for: season ticket or mini-plan owner), you simply have to sign up to be a 2025 Birdland member and place a deposit on your '25 seats. If you fit into one of those two categories (2024 or 2025), you'll have access to Orioles post-season tickets before anyone else.

"The prices are outrageous!" Gary wrote.

Of course they're outrageous. It's the playoffs. Major League Baseball is looking to make as much money as they can on the post-season, no matter the city.

There are lots of things to get agitated about with regard to the Orioles.

Playoff ticket availability/distribution and pricing, though, are not two of those things.

Now, the process has probably changed a bit last September when I was easily able to score individual game tickets for Game 5 of the ALDS and Games 6 and 7 of the ALCS. I was able to go online, sit in the "room" for 10 minutes, and then get seats to all three of those games. Alas, they never happened. But I was able to secure the seats without being a plan holder of any kind.

I assume the Birds and Major League Baseball have come up with a mechanism to reduce the number of available "public" tickets this year, but who knows?

But I'll take my chances once all the ticket-plan folks have had their opportunity to cough up big bucks to "secure the privilege" of buying tickets to O's post-season 2024.

There was a time, honestly, when one of the only reasons I even entertained the thought of buying a 13-game or 29-game plan mini plan was because I knew it guaranteed me post-season access. I had a mini-plan for five straight years starting in 2013 and it was almost all about playoff tickets.

But even that benefit has gone by the way of the 8-track. You have to be a "Diamond" level plan holder to get tickets to all 14 possible home games and a "Black" level member to get 8 of the 14 games.

That's why I called the whole thing "elaborate" instead of "confusing".

There are lots of moving parts to securing your playoff tickets, but it isn't all that hard to understand. If you're a mini-plan holder, you'll get "some" of the games. If you're a full plan holder, you'll get either "most" or "all" of the games.

"But what about the great unwashed?" Is that what you're wondering?

Look, you have to understand how priority works. You don't have to like it. But you do have to understand it.

People who fork over their money in January deserve more benefits than someone (like me, and maybe you) who doesn't fork over any money. It's just the way it works.

But I'm still here to tell you not worry. There will be tickets to be had in mid-September once all the ticket plan holders have paid for their playoff seats.

At least that's what I think and hope.

News flash: An O's associate tells me they expect roughly 80% of the ticket holders to renew for the playoffs. Lots of people apparently can't obligate themselves to games at the increased prices with the "pay up front, all at once" payment scheme the Orioles and Major League Baseball utilize for the post-season.

In other words, as I've said, there will be tickets available to "normal people" who just want to go see a game or two in October.

There might not be a lot of them available, mind you, but you'll be able to score a couple of tickets.

Of course, the Birds still have to make the playoffs for all of this to matter.

I get a little antsy even authoring a column like this given the team's level of play over the last two months. I mean, I think they're going to make the post-season, but they still need to win 17 more games, at least, to make it.

In mid-June when the Birds were healthy and clobbering teams left and right, the post-season looked like a done deal. 12 injuries and a mostly ineffective trade deadline later, it's now a dogfight to reach October.

That said, if they make it and you want to see a game or two in Baltimore, I have a feeling you're going to be able to do that.

As long as you can afford it, that is.

The tickets aren't for the meek of heart, price wise.

But it's the post-season. And as we know, there's zero guarantee you're going to get there again next October. So, enjoy it while you can.

Take out a loan and...Go O's!

The Scottie Scheffler Invitational Tournament disguised as the TOUR Championship has hit a snag. Golf showed up and decided not to let Scheffler run away with it, in other words.

Because of his dominant regular season play, Scheffler starts this week's final playoff event in first place in the staggered scoring format they use to determine the season-long champion. He'll begin Thursday's first round at 10-under par. Some of the players near the back of the pack will start at even par.

A couple of weeks ago, Scheffler bristled at the idea that he could actually wind up not being the 2024 "champion" despite winning more events (6) than anyone else and easily outdistancing his fellow TOUR brethren in the points race.

In one way, he's right. Scheffler had the best PGA Tour season of anyone. It wasn't even close. But, just like every other sport rewards their playoff champion, the PGA Tour has developed a creative way to stage their post-season so it's not a foregone conclusion of who will ultimately win their season long championship.

In another way, the TOUR is doing the right thing by keeping all 30 players in the final tournament still mathematically alive for the championship.

There was a time when the TOUR went by points and points alone and, for instance, Justin Rose won the FedEx Cup without having to win the final event, instead finishing T4 to claim the title.

That wasn't the best way to do it, the TOUR figured. So they came up with the staggered scoring format where the points leader starts out ahead of everyone else, the 2nd place guy begins the final event two shots behind, and so forth.

The guess here is that at some point soon, the TOUR is going once again tweak the scoring system somehow to reward a guy like Scheffler who builds such a commanding lead. Now, Xander Schauffle (2nd place currently), has enjoyed a remarkable year himself, but both of his wins were majors. Nothing against that, obviously, but his regular season wasn't anywhere close to as strong as Scheffler's 2024 campaign.

No one asked me, but here's what I would do if they gave me the keys to the FedEx Cup.

I'll start by saying that American professional golf could use more match play events. As we've seen with the Ryder Cup over the last 25 years, the European side has our number when it comes to match play.

So, if they gave me the task of fixing the TOUR Championship and the FedEx Cup, I'd integrate a match play competition into the final week of golf.

The top 30 players -- just like now -- would qualify for the final event and would receive all the bells and whistles they're getting now (2-year exemption, invites to the majors, a million bucks, etc.).

The players ranked 3 to 30 would play a 36 hole stroke play qualifier, with the best 14 scores from there advancing to a match play format to determine the FedEx Cup champion.

To keep the integrity of the regular season intact and force players to covet the top 2 spots in the standings, I'd give the #1 and #2 ranked players (as of the final playoff event) a bye into the match play. There's their bonus for playing well.

From there, the bracket is set and off we go. #16 plays #1, #15 plays #2, and so on.

Winners move on, losers go home.

It's true that Scheffler's season could end with one "off" round, where he loses in match play, but the same can be said for this week's TOUR Championship at East Lake. If he shoots 76 on day one and Schauffele, for example, shoots 68, Scottie's quest for the title is probably cooked.

But the other good thing about match play is actually the opposite. Scheffler could have an "off" day and still win, keeping his season alive.

I'm not as critical of the current format as are some golf analysts. I think the staggered scoring system is a solid and unique way to reward the leader from the regular season. If I could tweak it just a little, I might give Scheffler an even bigger lead to start round one based on how far ahead he is in the points race.

A two shot lead is nothing.

He probably deserves a four shot lead over Schauffele, if we're trying to showcase just how good his regular season was.

Match play is a riveting form of championship golf. The PGA Tour had a match play championship for two decades until discontinuing it recently due to the loss of the title sponsor of the event.

Bringing it back to cap off their season long points race would be a great way to end things.

Monday August 26, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3655

two lousy, stinkin' hits

OK, so if last night's game where the O's mustered just two hits was a "Gary Wright", what are we going to call it this week when the Birds only manage one hit in a 4-0 loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles?

And no, smart guy, we can't call that a "Beatles". You're funny.

Anyway, two hits it was last night in the 6-3 loss to Houston, and they actually both came in the same inning (5th) when Eloy Jimenez (single) and Ramon Urias (home run) became the only Orioles to put up a (1) in the "H" column.

Editor's note: For the uninitiated, or those of you reading this who were born after 1980, let's say, Gary Wright had two huge hits in his career; Dream Weaver and Love Is Alive. They were both awesome songs. But that was about all we heard from the New Jersey native.

So, the Birds fell once again in front of a national TV audience on Sunday night, with the Astros earning a split of the four-game series in Charm City.

If we're being honest about those four games, the Orioles were very lucky to win any of them, let alone two. They got a grand slam from Anthony Santander on Friday night after a weird set of circumstances loaded the bases and then Jackson Holliday rescued the hosts with a pinch-hit bases clearing double on Saturday in the 3-2 victory.

Sure, a win's a win and all. They count, no matter how you post 'em. But the O's were *this close* to losing all four games to Houston.

The Astros are not chopped liver, by the way. If you gave me $100 of your money to wager, I'd plunk it down on them to go to the World Series, particularly if Kyle Tucker returns to the lineup and is healthy for the post-season.

Speaking of health and the post-season, it's certainly worth keeping in mind that the Birds are -- fingers crossed here -- going to be getting four fairly important pieces back before the end of September: Zach Eflin (perhaps as early as next weekend?), Danny Coulombe (mid-September?), Grayson Rodriguez (mid-September?) and Jordan Westburg (late September?).

Getting those four back on the roster will be huge.

I realize there's three weeks of baseball -- or more, perhaps -- before those four all return to action. And those games over the next 21 days will play a huge role in where the Birds finish up, playoff wise.

But at this point, the only real goal for the team is to make it to October. That's it. Winning the division would be nice, sure. The playoffs, though, are priority number one. Get in and take it from there.

Something has to give with the offense, though, no matter how many of those four get back or when they return.

Rutschman has one home run in his last 29 games.

Henderson perked up last week with a couple of home runs but he's definitely been "off" since the All Star break.

Holliday had the big hit on Saturday night and was really good when he got promoted from the minors earlier this month, but he's still trying to figure things out at the plate.

And let's be really honest about Anthony Santander. He's having a great year in the home run department. But that's about it. He's hitting .235 and his on-base-percentage is .305. Aaron Judge he ain't.

The reality is no one in Baltimore is tearing it up offensively, with perhaps the exception of Henderson (.282/.369/.545, 33 HR), who was a legitimate league MVP candidate through the first three months of the regular season.

There's some power in the lineup, that's for sure.

But with runners in scoring position, the Orioles are as useless as a Flyers fan making room on top of his fireplace for a replica Stanley Cup trophy.

Baltimore's offense is.....mostly......offensive.

And the defense hasn't been all-world recently, either. Austin Slater took a weird route to a ball in the 4th inning last night that sailed over his head and helped Houston jump out to a 3-0 lead. A lot of folks on Twitter barked something akin to: Austin Hays would have caught that. And it was hard to disagree with that claim.

Ramon Urias threw a ball away in the 8th inning that contributed to the Astros' 6th and final run of the night.

"Stuff happens", I get it, but both of those blunders were key moments in a game the Birds didn't really deserve to win, but nonetheless could have won with more tidy defensive work and better efficiency with the bats.

You might have noticed something. I haven't brought up the bullpen.

Why haven't I?

I want you to enjoy your morning coffee, that's why.

The bullpen is just not that good.

Now, no one's perfect. I get that. But we had the Seranthony Dominguez flops in New York last week and then last night, again, the Birds wasted a nice outing from Dean Kremer when Burch Smith gave up two quick home runs in the 7th inning.

Cionel Perez came on in the 8th and was betrayed by his own wildness and the aforementioned Urias error, as he surrendered Houston's final run of the night.

Perez is great at catching home runs with his hat. If he were a tick better at getting people out, the O's might have something special there.

Hey, they do have Craig Kimbrel. Let's not forget that.

OK, well maybe now you're no longer enjoying your coffee all that much after I mentioned the embattled veteran reliever. My bad.

Oh, and speaking of pitchers, Trevor Rogers made his first start down in Norfolk yesterday. I won't publish the results here. Just trust me on this: It was really ugly.

The Birds now head off to Los Angeles (Irvin, Burnes, Povich) and Colorado for six games before returning home for three automatic wins vs. the White Sox and a weekend series in Baltimore vs. depleted Tampa Bay. Yes, I'm being overly optimistic here, but I'm thinking there's a chance the O's can go 8-4 in those 12 games.

Key words in that last sentence above: Overly optimistic.

So, you're looking for some good news?

Here it is: The Red Sox lost three straight at home to Arizona and they're now officially starting to wobble at 69-62. By the time Brandon Hyde's team gets to Fenway for a series on September 9-10-11, I assume Boston will be mailing it in.

You want more good news?

As the Birds embark on this 6-game road trip out west, it's fair to point out they're better away from home (37-26) than at home (39-30). So they have going for them...which is nice.

But no matter where or who they play, one thing is for certain. The Orioles need to start hitting. Their offense looks like Cam Cameron is calling the shots. It's very concerning.

The Ravens are closing in on the start of the 2024 regular season, with a Thursday night season opening encounter with Kansas City all set for Thursday, September 5.

We'll start getting amped up for football season early next week, with our annual predictions issue almost assuredly giving you an excellent idea of which teams to fade during the upcoming campaign.

Quick hint: We have a shocker playing in the Super Bowl.

That's all I'm telling you for now.

As for the Ravens, the pre-season definitely gave some insight into potential problem areas for the club. The offensive line is potentially a trouble spot. So, too, is the wide receiver position. I realize the Ravens have talented tight ends who can catch the football, but in terms of actual field-stretching wide outs who can come up with big plays, the Ravens are fairly limited.

I sure hope Derrick Henry is still a capable running back. If he is, the Ravens should be fine in that department. But if Henry is somehow in the December of his career, running the football could be a problem for Todd Monken's offense.

I won't render a verdict on pass rushers like Ojabo and Oweh until we see a medium-size body of work from them in the regular season. If we're six or eight games in and they're getting to the quarterback and disrupting opposing offenses, I'll rest a little more easy. I don't put any stock in the pre-season, as most of you don't, I assume.

This might be one of those seasons where the Ravens mosey through a regular season at 11-6 or 10-7, get in the playoffs with a week to spare, then pull a Counting Crows and catch lightning in a bottle in January. We saw firsthand last season that securing home ice for the playoffs is nice and all, but it doesn't guarantee you anything except home games and (potential) heartache.

If the Ravens go 10-7 in the regular season but win the Super Bowl, who cares about those 7 losses? Exactly no one.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to win a second straight A.L. East title.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 3-4

Season Record: 76-56

AL East Standing: 2nd (1.5 behind NYY)

Player of the Week: Dean Kremer

Once again the Orioles barely managed to tread water, dropping four of seven games against the Mets and Astros and losing a game on the Yankees in the process.

The O’s were on both sides of late inning drama this week, surrendering two walk-off homers to the Mets before producing their own comebacks in the two wins against the Astros.

The Yankees went 4-2 on the week against Cleveland and Colorado, with Aaron Judge seeming to hit one or more homers every night. While a 3-4 week is obviously not ideal for the O’s, at this point it feels like the best fans can hope for is keeping the Yankees within reach until the plethora of injured players begin to return.

On Monday the Orioles traveled up to Queens for a three game set with the New York Mets. Trevor Rogers started the first game and delivered another stinker that ultimately saw him demoted to AAA.

Rogers allowed three runs but didn’t make it out of the fifth inning, giving up five hits and three walks. Despite Rogers putting them behind the eight ball, the O’s battled back and a three run homer from Ramon Urias tied the game in the 7th. However, Francisco Alvarez then took Seranthony Dominguez deep for a walk-off homer in the 9th for a 4-3 loss.

The O’s righted the ship on Tuesday, jumping to an early lead on an Anthony Santander two-run homer. James McCann homered in the fourth inning off his former team to extend the lead to 6-1, as Dean Kremer pitched his second straight quality start, going six innings with one run on two hits and seven strikeouts. A rough appearance from Burch Smith made it interesting but the O’s prevailed 9-5 in the end.

Wednesday followed a similar script to Monday, with the same 4-3 losing scoreline. Cole Irving gave the Birds a decent effort in a spot start after Rogers was sent down and Zach Eflin headed to the injured list.

Despite that effort, the O’s fell behind early, but an Austin Slater two-run homer tied it in the sixth inning. That was followed by Craig Kimbrel allowing yet another home run in the seventh before Dominguez was taken deep for a second walk off win in a row, this time by Jesse Winker.

The Orioles returned home on Thursday for four games with the suddenly red-hot Houston Astros. They got that series off on a bad foot, as Corbin Burnes suffered his third straight poor outing.

Burnes actually started well, looking good through the early innings before falling apart in the sixth, ultimately allowing six runs in 5.2 innings. Meanwhile the O’s bats were silenced by Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti, who entered the game with an ERA over 5.00. Houston won easily, 6-0.

Things began to look very bleak on Friday, when the Astros rallied in the third to take a 4-1 lead off Cade Povich. Just as it seemed the O’s were heading for their fourth loss of the week, Anthony Santander delivered one of the biggest hits of the season, driving a high fastball deep into right-center for a grand slam that gave the O’s a 6-5 lead.

Ramon Urias would triple to add another run to the score and Dominguez came on and got the save in a perfect 9th inning.

Hoping to build off the momentum from Friday’s comeback, Albert Suarez took the mound. However, the Astros had other ideas, as Jose Altuve went deep on the second pitch of the game. Suarez was generally good once again, but Jeremy Pena also homered in the 6th to make it 2-0 Astros, as Framber Valdez held the Oriole offense in check for the first five innings.

That’s when the magic struck again. The seemingly untouchable Valdez crumbled in the bottom of the sixth, leaving the bases loaded for the bullpen to take over. Jackson Holliday came on as a pinch hitter and drove the first pitch he saw into the gap in right-center to drive in all three runs and give the O’s a 3-2 lead.

Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano, and Dominguez pitched three scoreless innings to close it out and help salvage the week.

Dean Kremer posted another solid start on Sunday, with only a poor fifth inning holding him back. In the end it was still a quality start, surrendering three runs in six innings.

Ramon Urias got Kremer off the hook for the loss with another timely homer, this time an Earl Weaver special that tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

This time the bullpen couldn’t hold out, with Burch Smith allowing two runs in the seventh and Cionel Perez another in the eighth as the Astros cruised to a 6-3 win to split the series.

There weren’t many good options for Player of the Week. Ramon Urias had several big homers and finished the week with a .286 average and six RBI. Anthony Santander had the highlight of the week with his grand slam and another homer earlier in the week, but only tallied four hits total.

So we give the award to Dean Kremer this week, for his two quality starts. Kremer combined for twelve innings pitched, while allowing only four runs on nine hits and five walks, striking out twelve in the process. The Orioles desperately needed these outings from Kremer as the rest of the rotation succumbs to a rash of injuries.

Down on the Farm –

After oddly missing Norfolk’s games last week, Coby Mayo returned to the Tides lineup this week and picked up where he left off. Mayo posted a .375 OPS on the week with a triple, a homer and five runs batted in. Jud Fabian made his AAA debut and posted a .736 OPS in his first action at the level. He also showed off his glove in center field.

Current top healthy pitcher in Norfolk, Brandon Young, had another solid start on Saturday. Young only made it 4.2 innings but managed to strike out ten while walking only one and allowing two runs.

Unfortunately Trevor Rogers only exacerbated his struggles in his first AAA start since his demotion. Rogers was tagged for ten runs in 4.1 innings, allowing nine hits and three walks.

The big minor league news of the week broke on Sunday, when it was reported that the just-turned 20 year old catcher, Samuel Basallo, will be promoted to AAA Norfolk. Basallo has been crushing the ball as one of the youngest players in AA, notching a hit in every game this week while posting a .560 OBP with three doubles and a homer.

Basallo will now get a new challenge with AAA pitching, where he will be among the youngest in that league.

Replacing Basallo at Bowie is 21 year old catching prospect Creed Willems. Willems has been a hot hitter at Aberdeen to earn a promotion to Bowie. Elsewhere on Bowie’s squad this week, recently promoted 2023 1st round pick, Enrique Bradfield Jr., continued to hit well this week.

Bradfield Jr. went 10-25 this week, with two doubles, two triples and four stolen bases. Bradfield Jr. could be an interesting piece as a defense/speed substitute in the playoffs if Jorge Mateo can’t return.

Also at Bowie, 24 year old 2021 19th round pick Alex Pham had another strong outing to complete a hot August. Pham went 5.1 shutout innings, striking out seven while walking just two and allowing one hit. That lowered his August ERA to 0.99 with 23 strikeouts and seven walks in 27.1 innings pitched.

Question of the Week –

How did Elias and Company do at the trade deadline?

It has been about a month since the trade deadline closed and while that is still a dangerously short sample size, it provides enough to start evaluating the return the O’s front office received.

We’ll start with the good. Zach Eflin appears to have been a coup for the Orioles, especially given what they sent to the Rays compared to what a pitcher like Yusei Kikuchi went for.

Eflin has been arguably the best acquisition any team made at the deadline.

His 2.13 ERA in 25 innings with 25 strikeouts and 2 walks has easily made him the O’s best starter since he joined the team. As long as he returns to the same level after his IL stint, he should give the team a confident game two starter in the playoffs and can anchor the rotation next season if Burnes leaves in free agency.

Likewise, Seranthony Dominguez has quickly risen to the top role in the bullpen since his acquisition from the Phillies. Dominguez has an electric arm and despite his two walk-off homers surrendered this week, has been very strong.

He has registered a 2.77 ERA in 14 games for the O’s, with five saves and two losses, striking out sixteen in thirteen innings.

The two platoon bats picked up at the deadline have also been solid additions to the team. Eloy Jimenez has posted a .309 average and .703 OPS while Austin Slater has been even better, with a .313 average and .874 OPS, while playing solid defense in the outfield.

That brings us to the more negative moves from the deadline. The main problem with the O’s deadline is they did not acquire a sure-fire closer or a second high leverage bullpen arm or starter.

Trevor Rogers was a deadline-day deal that was puzzling at the time and has only grown worse. Costing two near major-league-ready prospects, Rogers has flopped so badly he was sent to AAA this week, where he promptly allowed ten runs in his first start.

The main problem with the Rogers deal is that it was unnecessary. The team had already obtained Eflin and Rogers seemed to offer very little for a steep cost. He pitched to a 7.11 ERA in four games, allowing a whopping 25 hits and 10 walks in just 19.2 innings.

Gregory Soto has been the bullpen version of Rogers. Acquired in the final hours or minutes of the deadline, Soto has posted a 12.71 ERA in 5.2 innings pitched. A number only brought down by a few quality low leverage appearances. Soto has to be on the verge of getting DFA’d sooner rather than later.

The latter two pitching acquisitions really drive down the average. I would give the Elias front office a B+ for the trade deadline after one month. Overall, they manage to hold on to their most important prospects while adding one of the top pitchers available (who is also on the roster next year) and a pair of useful platoon hitters.

Unfortunately they didn’t stop there and their wild swings at another starting pitcher and a lefty reliever proved to be a large negative, costing the team several games in a tight division race.

With Rogers having minor league options, maybe the Orioles can fix him in Norfolk and he can be a key contributor next season, but as for now, he greatly drags down the average here.

Sunday August 25, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3654

that 10 years went by fast

10 years.

A decade.

As the issue number above indicates, it's been exactly 3,656 days since we started publishing #DMD on August 25, 2014.

Had you told me back then that we'd still be doing this a decade later -- let alone never once missing a publishing day in ten years -- I would have checked your temperature.

That's not to say I didn't have high expectations for Drew's Morning Dish when it all started. I most certainly did. But I had no real clue what was in store for me as the proverbial "next chapter" of my life kicked off on that very first day when the grand total of 1,711 people showed up to read our content.

Today, we're routinely drawing 9,000 people here on any given day, depending on the topic, games of relevance, and so on.

It all started, as I pointed out last Thursday, when the radio station where I was working suddenly decided I was no longer going to be working there. I did my normal 6 am to 10 am shift on Friday, August 22, 2014 and around 9:15 am I saw a text from the station owner that read, "I need to have a quick chat after the show. 5-10 minutes tops."

As I finished up the on-air shift and tried to send an email just before 10 am, I received an "error message" and couldn't send it. I didn't really think anything of it.

At 10:01 am I walked downstairs.

At 10:02 am I was back upstairs, with no job, looking for a box to clean out my mailbox.

There are lots of other moving parts and stories associated with that day and the days that followed. There was some tension, some negotiating and a few other things that are part and parcel of a company summarily dismissing employees without regard for their well being or the well being of their families.

But in the end, it was OK. And I'm speaking only for myself when I say that it was "OK". Others who were eliminated that day might not have the same response or reaction to their dismissal.

As fate would have it, a station listener, Tony Young, reached out to me just after 12 noon that day after news of the firings had started circulating on social media.

"Meet me at Panera in White Marsh at 5:30 pm tonight," Tony said. "You're not going to be unemployed for long."

If you're a believer in such things, God's providence was at work. Earlier that day, I sat in the parking lot at Calvert Hall and prayed for strength and guidance. Hours later, God intervened, sending Tony my way.

Back then, as the radio station started to emerge into the digital world, I would author a very brief 300 word "blog" each morning that either detailed something I was going to talk about on the show or recapped something I wound up talking about on the show. There was no set publication time or anything like that. It was very much "write at your leisure" kind of stuff.

Needing a name for it, and doing a 6 am to 10 am radio show, I came up with "Drew's Morning Dish". I don't remember when we started it, but it was probably sometime in 2013, perhaps.

Tony and I exchanged greetings at Panera and started talking business.

"I'm going to build a website for you over the weekend and on Monday morning you're going to publish Drew's Morning Dish like nothing ever happened," he said to me.

"You need to get the sponsors so you can make a living," he continued. "Leave all the technical stuff to me. Monday morning, you're back in business."

From that very seat at Panera, I sent an e-mail to my friend Frank Schilling at Royal Farms. I told Frank what I was going to attempt to do and asked if Royal Farms would be a sponsor of #DMD.

It was Friday at roughly 6 pm. I thought I might hear back from Frank on Monday.

While my first cup of coffee was still hot, Frank e-mailed a reply minutes later and told me Royal Farms would happily serve as a sponsor of my new endeavor.

So there's where it all started. With two friends who came to my aid in a time of need.

God's providence was at work.

Without Tony listening to the radio station, Drew's Morning Dish is never born. And if Tony doesn't reach out to me, I'm not reaching out to Royal Farms that night to generate the website's first sposnor.

Want more of God's providence?

When Glenn Clark and I started our annual coat drive in December of 2011, I went on the air and asked for a place to donate the coats to and it was Tony Young who called the station and said, "You need to get them over to Helping Up Mission."

14 years later, we're still donating winter clothing to Helping Up every December.

God sure is great!

True to his word, Tony built the very first guts of Drew's Morning Dish, taught me "computer science" in 4 hours at that same Panera Bread on Sunday afternoon, and on August 25, 2014, just after 7:30 am, I hit the "publish" button and #DMD was alive.

I had absolutely no idea how many people might visit that first day, but I seem to recall telling Tony if a thousand people showed up, that would be awesome. We did some social media "blasts" and such and wouldn't you know it, 1,711 logged in over the course of that first 24 hours.

And here we are, 10 years later.

There are soooooo many people to thank that I don't know where to start and I'm not going to violate the simplest rule in the "thank you" world and attempt to name them all because I'll miss someone (or two, or three) and they'll be hurt.

But I will mention those people who have been "overly instrumental" in the last 10 years.

Royal Farms, of course, continues to be our title sponsor and great friend here at #DMD.

Freestate Electrical, Jerry's Toyota, Jay Pivec and his awesome people at 186 Advertising, The Archdiocese of Baltimore, Kelly Benefits and Kelly Payroll, Matt Crow and Bond Distributing, Chris Saffer and Saffer Plumbing, Classic 5 Golf, Eagle's Nest Country Club and Glory Days Grill.

We've had over 40 corporate partners over the last 10 years and they're the most loyal and faithful group of local businesses anyone could ever associate with.

We've really had three people who have been incredibly important from the "back room" standpoint. The aforementioned Tony Young, our local expert-in-the-bullpen, Mike Herb, who is always on call in the event of a technical crisis, and my longtime friend, George McDowell, who built the current computer and server we use today to publish #DMD from anywhere in the world.

God's providence.

I know next-to-nothing about computers. I know how to type on one and that's about it. But God sent three people to me who handle the tech part and I just do the rest.

And then we have the writers here, all of whom have added something of importance to Drew's Morning Dish. If there's anything at all I'm disappointed in with #DMD, it's that we haven't been able to attract more writers, because I thoroughly enjoy giving people an opportunity to express themselves here.

Those that we've had...have been awesome.

Bo Smolka, Matt Carroll, Randy Morgan, Dale Williams, Brien Jackson, The Stats Nerd, David Rosenfeld, Mark Suchy, Greg Trehane, "Regular Joe" and "Bet it all Paul" have helped make this place what it is today.

I owe a special thanks to Steve Rouse and 1370 AM for getting me back in the radio game in 2016 and allowing me to do morning sports updates for a year or so. Our numbers perked up during that time period for sure.

The same goes for Chuck Sapienza and 105.7 The Fan, who have allowed me to host a weekly golf radio show for the last three summers and fill-in occasionally on the air to talk sports. #DMD has benefitted from that exposure as well.

I should even offer a thank you to the radio station where I once worked for 12 years. Those days were mostly great, surrounded by mostly great people who had a real passion for excellence and honesty about sports. That it all got torn apart is sad, indeed, but God's providence, you know? All of those people who once worked there have gone on to enjoy successful careers and occupations elsewhere.

And a huge thank you to my great friend and former co-worker, Glenn Clark, who has always been willing to help out in any way possible and still has me on his show on a weekly basis to tear down the great product he's built and promote #DMD at the same time. Glenn is one of the very best sports talk hosts I've ever been around. In another life, without a wife and two children in Baltimore, he'd be a major player in the sports radio business in this country, trust me. He's very talented and smart.

The biggest thank you, though, goes to my family, who trusted me in 2014 when I told them I wasn't going to go get a "real job" and that I'd become some sort of hybrid entrepreneur/golf coach/church employee.

I remember my father in law asking me "what's next?" when we told him I was no longer employed back in 2014. When I explained Drew's Morning Dish to him, he looked at me with one of those fatherly looks that said, "You better know what you're doing, buddy."

Thank you to my wife, Joanne, for allowing me to work every single day for the last ten years.

She'll often look over at me while I'm publishing #DMD at 7:30 am and say, "Aren't you tired of writing about sports?" and I always use the line that Bruce Springsteen gave to 60 Minutes when they asked him why he continues to write music, publish albums, and tour all over the world playing songs at age 70: "What else am I'm going to do?"

I hope this website has been for you what you need it to be. A place where you can come and read about sports -- mostly Baltimore-centric -- and offer your opinions and insights.

It's really nothing more complicated than that.

As I often say here, it's like a neighborhood bar, without the beer, pool tables and dart boards. You come by, pull up a seat, enjoy a beverage in peace and quiet or, if you like, chime in with the others at the bar.

Occasionally it gets a little rowdy in this bar and we have to move a patron or two out, but those moments are very few and far between given the volume of readers and commenters we have.

I thank each and every single one of you for coming here whenever it is that you come here.

Everyone I've mentioned today is the reason why #DMD exists.

I didn't set out to publish every day for 10 straight years. That was never really my goal or my "secret intention". It just happened.

There have been several close calls, including one back in May, actually, when I thought there was a chance we weren't going to be able to publish one morning.

God's providence, though. Somehow, it always worked out.

And here we are, today, ten years, every day, every morning. I can honestly say, "If I had a dollar for every consecutive day we published, I'd be rich!"

Actually, in a lot of ways, I already am rich because of #DMD.

Thanks again to all of you.

You are appreciated.

Friday August 24, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3655

o's get a "windshield" victory

Once again on Friday night, the Orioles offense pretty much stunk.

They were a lousy 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Through 7 innings, they had, again, just 3 hits, which has been a very common theme of late.

But an 8th inning uprising that featured just about everything 15 minutes could produce turned a likely loss into an improbable win, as the O's took advantage of some timely hitting, a seeing-eye single, a miraculous catch and botched double play and then, a dramatic grand slam from Anthony Santander to turn a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 lead.

Just like that, with one swing, the Birds went from being the bug to being the windshield.

Oh, and despite doing what he always does -- putting runners on base -- Craig Kimbrel somehow wound up the winning pitcher after an inning of scaring-everyone-to-death.

Friday night was indeed one wild evening at the ballpark.

The Santander swing on that 8th inning grand slam was something baseball hasn't seen since the days of Barry Bonds. A fastball, up at shoulder height, that the O's slugger turned on so quickly you didn't actually see the ball and bat head meet.

Please know I'm not suggesting anything when I say this. I'm merely trying to emphasize how much bat speed was generated on that swing from Santander. But if that sort of swing came from Barry Bonds circa 2003, everyone in the baseball world would have said, "That's what being on the juice gets you."

I'm not trying fill the room with hyperbole when I say this, either. That might have been the most impressive swing of a bat I've seen all season. By any player. On any team.

Editor's note: The Ohtani walk-off grand slam swing later on Friday night might have been just as good. Thanks for ruining a good story, Shohei.

The 8th inning started with Colton Cowser working through a difficult pitch sequence to rip a single into right field.

Adley Rutschman followed with a single that barely alluded a diving Jose Altuve.

With Cowser at third after Rutschman's hit, Gunnar Henderson drilled a ball back to Houston pitcher Bryan Abreu, who miraculously snagged the ball between his legs without even looking or trying to do it. All he had to do was turn and throw the ball to second and the Astros would have had a likely double play and Cowser would have scored to make it 5-3.

Instead, Abreu tried to catch Cowser off third base and he failed. The bases were loaded with no outs after that miscue.

Cue Anthony Santander's music.

Bye-bye, baseball.

Game over.

Ramon Urias knocked in Austin Slater with a triple moments later to seal the deal, but it was Santander's blast that put the game on ice.

It was a great night in Baltimore, for sure.

And, yes, it was a "big win". No two ways about it. But I'll stop short of saying what a lot of folks on the internet said in the aftermath of Friday's victory. I have no idea if this is the win that propels the Birds to some sort of September run where they go on a tear and never look back.

It was one game.

Everything that could have gone right for the O's in that 8th inning went right for them. Some nights that works for you and some nights that works against you.

They might lose 9-2 today and everyone will start driving nails in their coffin again.

But man, that was some kind of special game on Friday night in The Land of Pleasant Living.

During my weekly visit on Glenn Clark Radio we do a fun-but-serious segment called "That's What's Wrong With This Country.

The University of Colorado will be next week's topic in that segment, I can tell you that right now.

Yesterday, the school announced -- get the language here, it's hilarious -- that Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler will no longer be allowed to ask questions of head coach Deion Sanders or any of the team's players.

They didn't announce they were no longer going to answer questions from him. That in and of itself would be bush league.

The athletic department announced Keeler isn't even allowed to ask a question.

The powers-that-be at the school must be ardent CNN watchers. That's all I can figure.

This, of course, is right out of chapter 1 of the new way of doing public/media relations: Control the message.

Teams (and schools) no longer need or want the media to even be there, unless of course you're saying or writing something positive about them. Teams now employ 4-6 public relations "specialists" who handle the social media posts, press releases, TV game notes, etc.

Colorado, you might have noticed, also tried the age-old trick of releasing their news on a Friday. The "Friday news dump" used to work in 1990. It's now 2024. Friday is Thursday. Friday is Wednesday. Every day is the same in the world of Twitter and "talk about it now".

The entire fiasco with Sanders and the football program centers on one theme: We don't like what you say about us so we'll just lock you out and see if that gets you to play nice.

Here's the statement the athletic department released on Friday: "After a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department in conjunction with the football program, have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events. Keeler is still permitted to attend football-related activities as a credentialed member of the media and other reporters from the Denver Post are welcome to ask questions of football program personnel made available to the media, including coaches, players and staff."

OK, who wants to nitpick with me? You do? OK, let's go.

After a series of sustained, personal attacks...

You mean, a reporter examining the behavior of your (model) student-athletes and looking into their academic excellence or lack thereof? Yeah, heaven forbid someone poke around to see how many of your college football players are, you know, actually going to college.

Coach Prime...

What are you people, 12 years old? His name is Deion Sanders. Or, if you want, Coach Sanders. Or, even, Coach Deion. Unless I missed something and he pulled a Prince and changed his name to a symbol or his nickname, you referring to your head football coach as "Coach Prime" makes you look like a fan boy. #clownshoes

Have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler

Who runs the athletic department there, Anderson Cooper? Are you people nuts? He's an accredited member of the media. Actually, prior to your grandstand move of barring him from doing his job, he was a well respected journalist who, by his own admission, has the potential to jab extra-hard at sports personalities who put themselves above the game.

If you want to say "we've made it known to our coaches and players they have our permission to refuse to answer Keeler's questions", you can go ahead and do something goofy like that and it at least allows for people to make their own decision(s).

Saying "he's not allowed to ask questions" is bizarre. And, frankly, sort of un-American. Where is the University of Colorado located, anyway, Moscow?

Now, in fairness, Keeler went at Sanders pretty hard over the last 18 months. "Planet Prime" was the one moniker Keeler gave him that apparently aggravated the former NFL star. He also wrote that many of the Colorado players had to drink the "Deion Kool Aid".

There were other jabs, but I think you get the message. Keeler was doing -- or trying to, anyway -- his job of showing readers how much the program centered on Sanders and Sanders alone. The school and the head coach, obviously, thought it was overboard.

Speaking of overboard...

That's been "Coach Prime" throughout his entire sporting career.

Everything he did was overboard.

He was a great, great player. No two ways about it.

But he also manufactured a brand for himself that grew and blossomed at each stop he made. The teams he played for and schools he coached didn't create and showcase that brand. Sanders himself did that.

Someone in Denver/Boulder finally called him out on it.

And the school reacted with their ultimate teaching moment.

"Don't like the way someone associates with you? No problem. Just ghost them. That'll take care of it."

Tune in on Wednesday to Glenn Clark Radio for the next installment of "That's What's Wrong With This Country."

Friday August 23, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3654

so...what do we call it?

My friend Chris, who can quickly jump off the bandwagon with the best of them, sent this along last night after the O's failed to score in the bottom of the 8th inning in their eventual 6-0 home loss to Houston.

"This team is a mess."

He went on for a few more texts.

"No offense. A manager who has no idea how to use his lineup. And an awful bullpen."

And then.

"Lunch at Ichiban says they don't make the playoffs."

Ichiban Sushi, for those that don't know, is the out-of-this-world Chinese food restaurant across from Calvert Hall. I pay the monthly light bill there. When I go in, the young lady at the counter always greets me with a smile and says, "How's the golf team, Mr. Drew?"

You know you're more than a regular customer when that's the greeting you get.

Anyway...

Chris is down on the Orioles.

And rightfully so. Last night was another offensive disaster, with just 3 hits and zero runs.

The pitching can't be ignored. Corbin Burnes didn't have it again last night. He gave up 5 earned runs and allowed 10 runners to reach base in just 5.2 innings of work. I wouldn't say I'm worried about Burnes, but he, like the offense, has struggled of late.

Now, in fairness, Houston came to town riding an 8-game road winning streak and they're probably playing as well as anyone in the A.L. over the last four weeks.

But, still. 3 hits? 3 hits?

Around here, we call that an "Al Stewart" kind of night.

(Year of the Cat, Time Passages, Song on the Radio -- for those unfamiliar with his work back in the 1970's).

Chris calls it a "mess".

I think that's an overreaction, which is sorta-kinda one of his specialties. It's hard to be a "mess" when you're 19 games above .500 and 1.5 games out of first place.

But it is something, I'll agree with that. I won't go as far as saying "mess", but something is definitely off with the Orioles.

Now, let's get the most obvious -- and very legitimate -- excuse out of the way first. They are definitely being impacted by the myriad of injuries they've suffered from in 2024.

For a while, they could overcome losing Means and Bradish and Coulombe. They could manage without Mateo, too.

Then they lost G-Rod and, this week, Eflin.

Yesterday, they even shipped veteran pitcher Trevor Rogers to Norfolk. You might remember Rogers was the guy they just acquired four weeks ago from the Marlins at the trade deadline. So, yeah, that one isn't working out so well.

So, injuries, poor performance, lack of production in the big moments. That's the recipe the O's are cooking with these days.

It's starting to unravel just a bit here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

You know what I'm going to say, because I've been saying it for almost 10 years now here at this very location. The hardest thing to do in sports is to stop losing.

The Birds are in that kind of funk, where things just don't go their way. And the harder they try (presumably), the more things don't go their way.

I wouldn't call it a "mess". But it's probably time to hit the "concern" button. I will at least admit that.

I'm not one that's prone to panic when it comes to sports and games and seasons.

Maybe that's just the golfer in me. I use this saying a lot any time I go through a patch of three or four bogeys over a 9 hole span.

"This is nothing that three birdies won't fix..."

In other words, there's always time to get it turned around.

The Orioles still have time. Plenty of time, really. They have 33 games remaining, after all. If they "just" go 20-13 over that span they'll hit 94 wins and potentially win the division. At the very least, 94 wins sends them to the post-season again, which is really all that matters in the long run.

I know what you're thinking. And I'm sure Chris is saying the same thing if he wanders over here today to read #DMD.

"They're not going 20-13, Drew! Have you seen this team play over the last month?"

Maybe they won't. But even if they go 17-16 or 16-17, they're still likely going to make the post-season.

The pitching staff is depleted. That much is true.

But it's really the offense -- relatively healthy minus Westburg and acknowedging the departure of Hays -- that has set them back this last month. They've simply stopped hitting.

All this said, let me once again remind everyone that the team that won last year's World Series also suffered through a (very) sluggish August and September and barely made the playoffs before going on the run of runs in October.

Spare me the snark and biting commentary, please. The very same thing could happen to the Orioles this year. They could right the ship over the last month and finish 20-13 over these last 33 games and then steamroll into the World Series if their offense comes together and the pitching evens out.

You never know...

But we'd all be naive to not be concerned at this point. Something is definitely "off" with the ballclub.

It might just be the injuries have simply overwhelmed them, finally.

It could be the inevitable market correction that occurs with almost every team over a 6-month marathon-of-a-season. At some point, your record eventually does tell your story.

And it could just be a slump. You press a little too hard and more bad comes from it than good. Eventually, though, even that turns around and you're back on solid footing.

I won't go as far as calling it a "mess".

But I am looking for the broom and dust pan.

faith in sports

With football season on the horizon, we'll take this opportunity today to mix sports and faith in an awesome way.

We're going to bring a long snapper to you. You know, the guy you never hear about unless something wacky happens and he fails to do his job properly.

Clint Gresham dealt with that very pressure in his NFL career. Fortunately, his faith helped him navigate what it is a very underrated and underappreciated talent in the world of professional football.

This is a great 8 minute video. You'll have a new respect for Gresham after you hear him talk about his birth, childhood and rise to the NFL.

And you'll hear how his faith has helped him journey through life.

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

Thursday August 22, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3653

"you never know"

You can categorize today's lede entry at #DMD as a public service announcement.

The kind, you know, that is essentially offered to everyone and, if it applies to you, could be both useful and important.

Twice during my days on the radio, I authored a show that wound up possibly saving three lives.

It wasn't my intention to do that, mind you. It just happened that way.

Once I did a show where a local urologist joined me to talk about men's health and, specifically, prostate awareness. It was during that show I had the doctor reveal my PSA to the listening audience from a previous screening and I urged every male listener tuned in that day to go get their prostate and PSA levels checked.

Wouldn't you know it...

A listener followed my request and learned he had prostate cancer in his early 40's. It was successfully treated and he has lived a happy, healthy life thereafter.

Some things are more important than talking about the baseball or football teams.

A couple of years later, early in the summer, I had a dermatologist on the air to share a discussion on sunscreen, skin cancer and the like. He urged listeners with "questionable" spots on their skin to get them checked by the end of the summer.

Wouldn't you know it...

Two listeners later reached out to me to share they were being treated for skin cancer.

Today's entry won't necessarily be life or death, mind you. But I hope you'll find it important nonetheless.

One of the coaching axioms I stress with junior/amateur golfers is the theme which drives the sport from a competitive standpoint. Three words.

You. Never. Know.

It's probably the most alluring and frustrating thing about golf, frankly. You can hit the ball great today and look like someone who has never touched a club the next time out.

You can play great for 9 holes and then on the following 9, everything goes sideways.

You can hit a great drive and then totally chunk, blade or otherwise mishit your very next shot.

You never know.

And because you never know, the sport requires your utmost attention at all times. The minute you take it for granted that you can hit the next shot without concern or study, that's when it all goes wrong.

There's also the great side of "you never know". You're standing there with 160 yards to the hole. You have a 7 iron in your hand. You actually have no idea at all what might happen in just a few seconds. For all you know, you might actually hit the next shot in the hole. Or hit it to 3 feet and leave yourself a wonderful birdie opportunity.

One of my go-to-lines that all of my Calvert Hall players playfully repeat to me years after they graduate is this one: "You can make par from there."

That's right out of the "You Never Know" book.

I use that line when a player hits a bad tee shot or a wayward second shot on a par four hole. "You can still make par from there," I always say to them.

Realizing that and believing it are steps one and two to making par. You've hit it in the woods off the tee. That's only one shot. You can still make par from there. Now you just have to go about doing it.

So, "You Never Know" has made a major impact on me in life, I can assure you of that.

And it's not just a golf axiom. No, no, no.

It's much more than that.

10 years ago today, August 22, 2014, my 12-year radio career ended in a 25-second impromptu meeting after a Friday morning show.

"We're parting company today," I was told.

There was a silent period of about 5 seconds, I seem to recall.

And then I got up and said, "OK".

That was it.

From the time I entered the room until the time I started back up the steps took a total of 25 seconds.

I was one of five people summarily dismissed that day. It was advertised publicly as a "shift in on-air philosophy" with a bunch of other fancy buzzwords mixed in but the real, honest truth is it was done to cut costs at a time when the station was absorbing financial losses due to ownership neglect.

The station was struggling and someone -- in this case, five "someones" -- had to pay for that. That it all ended so abruptly and with such disregard for the very people who had helped keep the station afloat for a couple of tough years was probably the most disappointing element of it all.

That said, you're hired to be fired, as the saying goes. Nothing lasts forever. All good things must come to an end. And so on and so on.

My entire life changed that day. I had no way of knowing it, but it all changed.

I drove to the parking lot at Calvert Hall and sat in my car near the football stadium. The team was practicing. I could hear the whistles and the chatter from the field.

There was something odd about that moment. Here I was, trying to figure out how to give my family the bad news, and there were kids just 100 yards from me laughing, playing and doing something they truly enjoyed. But it was "odd" in a good way. Just like those high school football players had no idea what was ahead for them in life, I had no idea what was ahead for me, either.

The contrast in that was something I took in as I sat in my car.

And then I prayed.

"God, I have no idea why this happened today, but I need some strength. I'm not asking you to give me a new job or anything like that. I just need you to give me some strength and help me handle this. Whatever you have in store for me, I'll take it. Just give me strength."

Later that day, at roughly 5:30 pm, Drew's Morning Dish was born.

I'll save that story for this Sunday, but roughly 8 hours after getting fired I had a new gig.

You Never Know.

And that really is the theme of life. All of our lives. Every single person reading this has a "You Never Know" moment (or 10) they can reflect on, no matter their age.

Had that guy not listened to my radio show that morning, he might not have discovered his prostate cancer until it was too late.

You Never Know.

Had you not decided to go into that coffee shop at precisely 9:30 am on that Saturday morning when you were 22 and hung over, you might not have met your future wife and mother of your children.

You Never Know.

Had you not been fired, you might have missed out on that great opportunity with the company you've now worked at for the last 20 years.

You Never Know.

Everything is an opportunity to do something special.

Last month, I attended the PGA Jr. Championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD.

This event featured the cream-of-the-crop high school golfers from all over the country. I was following and watching a group of three boys, one of which is the most recent Virginia State Open winner.

On the 10th hole, one of the young men had a second shot on a large, sloping hill, with roughly 160 yards to the hole. I wasn't there to watch him, per se, but since he was in the group we were following, I glanced over to watch his shot.

He swung awkwardly at the ball, which was well above his feet, and did something I've never seen a highly competent golfer ever do.

He slipped and fell on his downswing.

To the ground.

The ball shot off his club wildly, careening across the fairway to the right. Almost inexplicably, the ball actually went backwards. His next shot from the right rough was 175 yards away from the hole.

He got up slowly. I was maybe 40 yards away.

He was rubbing his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" I yelled over to him. He waved politely as if to say "I'm good" and kept rubbing his shoulder.

"Did anyone see where my ball went?" he asked.

We showed him the location of his ball and he started walking over. I again asked him if he was OK. He assured us he was fine.

Trying to find something to say to him to help alleviate the obvious humiliation he was feeling, I went into coach mode.

The competitors in that event are playing without the aid of a caddie. It felt like the right time to say something to him knowing he was out there all alone, so to speak.

"Hey, you can still make four from there," I said to him as he walked within ten feet of me.

"And when you do, that might be the best par of your entire 2024 season!"

He smiled and kept walking.

I assume you know how this is going to end.

He hit his 3rd shot to within 12 feet of the hole. People near the green applauded. He walked past me again.

"I told you," I said to him. "You're going to be talking about this par for a long time! Go make that putt."

I made a fist and reached out to him. He gave me a friendly bump.

"Thank you, sir," he said.

Minutes later, he rolled in that 12 foot par putt for one of the most bizarre and improbable pars I've seen in a long, long time.

I had looked at one of the player information sheets a friend of mine had and saw he was from Tallahassee, Florida.

"Make sure you tell everyone in Tallahassee about that par when you get home," I said as he walked past us to the 11th tee.

He smiled broadly. "I will sir. I definitely will."

You Never Know.

---

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on yesterday's Orioles loss in New York because the entire game can be summed up quite easily.

The Orioles had 3 hits.

And they lost, 4-3.

Yes, Seranthony Dominguez surrendered yet another game-winning walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th. I saw it.

Do the Orioles have a bullpen issue? Of course they do. They can't get 27 outs. They can get 18. Some nights even 21. But getting those pesky 27 outs is becoming more and more problematic.

Dominguez is serving as the team's closer because the guy the team thought would be the closer can't effectively pitch any longer. So there's that. Someone has to try and shut the door in the 9th inning when the team is tied or the O's are ahead.

So, yes, Dominguez looked like the goat yesterday.

Alas, he wasn't.

The Orioles managed three hits. All day.

In the top of the 8th inning, they loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a fluky infield single and two walks. They managed to score one run in that sequence, and even that was lucky.

Instead of going up 4-3, 5-3 or 6-3, the game was knotted at 3-3, paving the way for the Mets to walk-it-off in the 9th.

As Forrest Gump once said, "That's all I have to say about that."

The offense was lousy, again.

They failed to drive in runners in scoring position, again.

And they lost, again, because they didn't score enough runs.

The pitching was fine on Wednesday. Sure, Kimbrel allowed a 7th inning home run and then Dominguez coughed up the game-winner.

But overall, the pitching was fine.

The Orioles generated three hits.

That was the story of the game.

Wednesday August 21, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3652

odds and ends

Hey, that Craig Kimbrel guy isn't so bad after all, huh?

I mean, he got two -- not one, but two -- outs last night in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the O's 9-5 win over the Mets in New York.

No one was on base when he entered the game, mind you.

But if there was ever a night to put him in, it was Tuesday. The Mets had scratched their way back into the game with a 4-run 8th inning, only to give up two runs in the top of the 9th on some of the worst baseball ever played at the Major League level.

By the time the bottom of the inning rolled around and they were down by four runs, the Mets had pulled the plug.

That said, I have to admit when I saw Kimbrel warming up I thought to myself, "Oh, man, please tell me this dude isn't going to come in and torch this game."

Alas, Yennier Cano got the first out of the 9th and then Brandon Hyde summoned Kimbrel to get the final two outs.

No fuss, no muss.

And the O's moved back into first place by a half-game after the Yankees gave up six runs in the 12th inning last night en-route to a 9-5 home loss to Cleveland.

Everything went well for the Birds on Tuesday except some potentially really bad pitching news. Starter Zach Eflin, who has been magic some coming over from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, was placed on the 15 day I.L. with shoulder inflammation. If he is somehow lost for an indefinite period of time, the battlin' Birds are in trouble.

But the rest of Tuesday was a blast. A nice start from Dean Kremer, a productive night from erstwhile Mets catcher James McCann, and two hits each from Austin Slater and Cedric Mullins were the background highlights of the 9-5 win.

After seven awesome years of covering Terps basketball for #DMD, our intrepid Maryland hoops writer, Dale Williams, is hanging up his pen. So to speak.

So...we're in need of someone to take over as our Maryland basketball writer.

If this interests you, I'd be happy to share the details. It's a great gig for someone who loves Maryland and Big Ten basketball, has some free time to watch the games, and needs an extra $100,000.

Disclaimer: We all need an extra $100,000. I was just pointing that out for the sake of pointing it out.

If you're interested in discussing the Maryland hoops position, just send me a quick e-mail (18inarow@gmail.com) and I'll get back to you with details.

And it goes without saying but we'll say it anyway: We offer our sincerest "thank you" to Dale for his tireless work from November through March every year chronicling men's basketball at College Park. Nobody did it better.

Julian Edelman got the pre-season fire going over the weekend when he prattled on about Lamar Jackson and his lack of success in the playoffs during his NFL career to date.

To no one's surprise, the purple faithful in these parts exploded on social media in defense of #8.

Everyone else around the country pretty much either agreed with Edelman who threw out the obligatory "LMAO" to sorta-kinda agree with Edelman without actually agreeing in full with his opinion.

It was such a moronic "take" I didn't even bother diving in.

Lamar Jackson has not been "on a milk carton" during the playoffs.

I realize Edelman and the rest of the sports media operate in a world of "hot takes". You can't just say, "Lamar Jackson needs to be better in the playoffs."

You have to say something like: "If the Ravens could have gotten any kind of decent play from Lamar in the playoffs, they might have THREE Super Bowls by now."

Or, "Look, it's just a fact. Lamar Jackson stinks in the playoffs. He's terrible."

The reality is, Lamar, like a lot of quarterbacks, has taken a little bit of time to find his stride in the post-season. Anyone remember Peyton Manning?

People like Edelman conveniently forget things. Like, for instance, Jackson's four TD game against the Texans last January that moved Baltimore into the AFC Championship Game vs. Kansas City.

They look at the 17-10 loss to Kansas City in that title game and say, "The quarterback didn't get it done."

Those same people also forget to mention that Zay Flowers fumbled the ball on the goal-line in the 4th quarter or that Ronald Darby got beat on a high school floater pass that sealed the game in the final minute.

Lamar, Lamar, Lamar. "He" didn't get to the Super Bowl.

But I understand what Edelman's doing. He's generating interest and clicks and, frankly, trying to get people like me in Baltimore to engage with him somehow.

I can hear his bosses now: "Your job isn't to be right. It's to create discussion. Whatever the craziest thing is you can say about a player, figure out a way to increase the level of crazy by 10 or 15 percent."

Suggesting that Lamar has "been on a milk carton" discounts his performances in Nashville and vs. the Texans last January.

And it also undermines the importance of regular season play, too. But most people who don't know sports tend to put very little stock in the regular season. "Anyone can play well in the regular season," they think.

Alas, it's not that easy. Winning is hard, indeed.

Jackson is clearly living in the (big) shadow created by Patrick Mahomes. No matter what Jackson does, if it's not better than Mahomes, no one will give him his due.

It's not all that different than what Phil Mickelson faced 25 years ago in the world of professional golf.

Mickelson was great. But he wasn't greater than Tiger. And because he played in the same era as Woods, he was always going to be second fiddle. Always.

Sure, Phil beat Tiger head-to-head on occasion and won five of his six majors during Tiger's career, but Tiger was Patrick Mahomes x 10 and Phil was Lamar Jackson.

But Lamar's record in the NFL, so far, speaks for itself. He's the most dynamic individual player in the league, a 2 time MVP, and, most importantly, he appears to be improving a little bit year-by-year.

He'll need at least one Super Bowl ring, though, to keep the critics from chirping.

And the longer he goes without one, the more goofy the "hot takes" will be.

With the PGA Tour season winding down, I'll dabble in the final two tournaments of the year and give out some thoughts on potential winners and high finishers.

This week's BMW Championship is being played at an unfamiliar (to most) venue, Castle Pines, in Colorado. It's an 8100 yard course that measures out to roughly 7300 yards when you take the altitude into account. The greens are new there, so every player in the field is putting on surfaces they've never before encountered.

The top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings play this week. Next week, the top 30 play in the TOUR Championship in Atlanta.

So, while winning is important this week, what's really critical is making the Top 30 for next week's season finale. A lot of perks come along with that Top 30 finish.

Because it's a playoff event and the big dogs are in the field, we don't really have much in the way of surprises to hand out.

A few guys we're leaning on "off the radar screen" are Akshay Bhatia (+6000), Taylor Pendrith (+6600) and Nick Dunlap (+6600).

Pendrith, in particular, has really taken off in 2024. He's currently near the top of the TOUR's putting and ball striking categories and looks like he's starting to make a move in the direction of "elite" status on the PGA Tour.

Those three give you a nice chance at a reasonable payday if you sprinkle win, top 10, and top 20 wagers on them.

I know Patrick Cantlay hasn't played well this year, but Castle Pines seems like a place where he might prosper. At +1800, he's a nice investment if things work out.

Then you have the usual suspects. I'm guessing Scottie Scheffler will wind up winning, somehow. And if he doesn't, then Xander Schauffle will. And if he doesn't win, then probably Collin Morikawa will. In other words, if you're just looking to win a bet for the sake of winning a bet, throw $20 down on those guys and one of the three is more likely than not to win.

If you gave me $20 of your money and said, "Do whatever you want with it", I'd just play $20 to win on Pendrith.

Tuesday August 20, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3651

it happens

I'm not trying to deny that Monday's 4-3 O's loss to the Mets wasn't a tough one to take.

The Birds battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game at 3-3 in the 7th inning before Francisco Alvarez connected for the game-winning homer off of Seranthony Dominguez in the bottom of the 9th.

Watching Alvarez hop around like Kevin Bacon in Footloose as the ball soared over the wall was a bad way to end the night.

But those things happen over the course of a 162 game season.

Remember last month when the O's stole the Sunday afternoon thriller with the Yankees right before the All Star break? Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch Dominguez challenge Alvarez and lose on one (good) swing than to sit there and endure an 11-minute inning where Craig Kimbrel walks two guys, scrapes together two outs somehow, then loses on a line drive into the gap.

The Orioles collected 6 hits on Monday night. I'd say "you can't win many games when you only record 6 hits" but the Mets also had 6 hits last night.

That said, you can't expect to win when you only produce 6 hits in 9 innings.

Trevor Rogers wasn't great, again, but at least this time his performance helped keep the O's in the game. He allowed 8 base runners in 4.2 innings of work (not good) and 3 earned runs in 4.2 innings of work (not good), but if we're doing the silver lining thing here this morning, it was "only" 3-1 when he left in the 5th inning.

A ball over the right field wall that Anthony Santander appeared to give up on in the 1st inning resulted in a 2-0 deficit. I realize Santander is a hitter first/fielder second, but that one deserved a little bit more of an effort, I thought.

In the end, though, Rogers, Santander and yet another sketchy performance from a home plate umpire weren't really the reasons why the Birds dropped the series opener.

Sure, the umpire behind the dish had an off night, which oddly seems to happen to the O's a lot for some reason. Corbin Burnes got into it with the umpire, which was probably something the manager should have been doing. Alas, it's typically not Brandon Hyde's style to bark at the umps. Burnes, though, had no problem doing it.

But the game wasn't lost because of some missed calls behind the plate.

The O's lost because they generated just 6 hits and were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. It's been the same old song and dance for a while now. The offense either looks like a world beater or they can't do a thing at the plate. There's almost never in any between, at least not over the last 6 weeks or so.

All the games are important, obviously, but the three with the O's this week are critical to the Mets as they try to climb into a National League wild card spot. These three games in Queens aren't chopped liver for the Birds, either. But the Mets -- now at 65-60 -- need every win they can get.

Sometimes the other guy gets you.

It happens.

For reasons I don't know or haven't followed, there's been some chatter this week about Orioles home attendance. Even the team's flagship station, WBAL, spent chunks of time talking about it on Monday.

I see an average attendance of 28,374 and all I can say is, "Wow!"

But there are folks in town chirping about it, citing the team's inability to move into the top 10 of league wide attendance. Baltimore currently ranks 18th overall in home attendance this season.

A few baseball followers were critical of the 4-game totals for the recent Red Sox series at OPACY. For reference, the Birds drew (roughly) 25,000, 28,000, 34,000 and 27,000.

OK, so 115,000 might have been 5,000 or even 10,000 short of what would have been considered a "great four game total", but the weather was a little iffy, we're getting to those last weekends of summer where folks are scurrying for that final hurrah and maybe there's still a lingering bitterness about the old days when Red Sox fans would take over the ballpark and make it miserable for anyone who wasn't one of them.

Me, personally? I think 115,000 is fine. And, yes, I do realize a significant portion of that 115,000 total were there to cheer for the visiting team. I know that.

I got into a brief one-on-one on Twitter with someone who was barking about the O's attendance.

"It says a lot when we can't even get into the top 10 or 15 in attendance," he wrote.

Here, quickly, are the top teams in attendance, in order, thus far in 2024.

1. Dodgers, 48,000

2. Yankees, 41,000

3. Phillies, 41,000

4. Padres, 40,000

5. Braves, 37,000

6. Cardinals, 37,000

7. Cubs, 36,000

8. Astros, 34,000

9. Blue Jays, 34,000

10. Giants, 33,000

To me, there are only two outliers/surprises on that list. The Padres averaging 40,000 and in 4th place and the Blue Jays averaging 34,000 and in 9th place.

Everyone else on the list is both expected and agreeable.

Dodgers, Yankees at 1-2 isn't a surprise in the least. For starters, they're the two biggest cities, population wise, in the country.

They're also two great baseball towns.

Philadelphia is (I'm sober when I write this, yes) perhaps the best sports city in the country. But the Phillies drawing 41,000 per-game is a by-product of the team being good.

And then you have places like Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis and Houston, all of which have good track records of support for their baseball franchises.

San Diego drawing 40,000 to anything not associated with the beach, golf or La Jolla is definitely a surprise to me, but if you've ever been to that ballpark, you know why people want to go.

And Toronto averaging 34,000 for their sorry team is probably the most impressive thing, attendance wise, you can find in MLB this season. I don't follow Toronto sports all that much. Maybe it really is a great sports town after all.

I just don't see where there's any reason for chatter about the Orioles and their average attendance of 28,000.

They're a middle of the pack team, numbers wise, which is roughly where I'd expect them to be given the dwindling number of people living in the city itself, the (still) lingering animosity from two-decades-plus of mostly losing, and the fact you don't EVER have to go to the games in person in order to have a great seat and watch all the action.

Oh, and don't look now, but they were averaging under 20,000 just five or six years ago when basically NO ONE was going to the games except when they gave away a bobblehead, tee shirt or the Yankees/Red Sox were in town for a series.

People like to say dumb stuff like "attendance doesn't matter" but it does, for sure. It's an indicator of a city's interest in your product, no matter the level or the sport.

The 2024 Orioles are enjoying a very acceptable season at the gate.

Anyone who doesn't think 28,000 per-game is "acceptable" wasn't around in 2018 when 5,000 people would be in the building on a Tuesday night for a mid-June visit from the (pick any team except Boston or New York).

Monday August 19, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3650

dead even with 37 games to go

Orioles: 73-52.

Yankees: 73-52.

Baltimore split their 4-game (long) weekend series with Boston while the Yankees were dropping 2 of 3 to the Tigers.

And now it's a 37-game sprint to the finish, with one of those teams winning the A.L. East and the other, presumably, making the playoffs as a wild card entry.

At present, the wild card teams and their loss totals are: Orioles/Yankees (52), Twins (54) and Royals (55). Boston sits on the outside looking in with 58 losses. They're far from out of it, obviously.

Holding serve over the weekend against the Red Sox wasn't anything to brag about, but it did manage to pull the Birds back into a first-place tie with New York. The series -- which Randy Morgan examines in detail below -- created more pressing questions about the O's offense, which either seems to fire on all cylinders like Scottie Scheffler at Augusta or sputter along like side 2 of any Beatles album your Uncle Al used to own.

The Orioles were outhit in yesterday's series finale, 11-3, and somehow managed to win, 4-2. I'm sure there are other occasions in baseball history where such a drastic difference in hits per-team occurred with the 3-hit team winning the game, but they don't come along very often.

The Corbin Burnes start on Friday night wasn't nearly as troubling as some on the internet made it out to be. Now, if he replicates that effort another time or two in the next couple of weeks, I'll get concerned. For now, nothing to see there.

And, yes, I realize Trevor Rogers has been Jack Flaherty 2.0 since arriving here at the deadline, but in my mind that gets mitigated by how awesome Zach Eflin has been since coming over from Tampa Bay.

A lot of people expect the team's general manager to be perfect when it comes to acquiring players that other teams no longer covet. They were all available for a reason of some kind, remember. There's a reason why the Orioles didn't trade Colton Cowser at the deadline. And there's a reason why they did trade Connor Norby.

Occasionally it's performance related (and the team trying to ship the player out doesn't walk around saying, "Hey, we privately think Trevor Rogers stinks. You guys interested in him?") and often times at the deadline it's about player control and future planned use.

Perhaps the Marlins finally came to the conclusion that Rogers just wasn't going to ever get any better. And, so, they found a willing partner. But the Rays moved Eflin because, per their business model, the investment required to keep him around simply wasn't worth it.

You can't get every trade right. But sometimes the ones you do hit are the unexpected ones, too.

At this point, Eloy Jimenez looks like a nice addition in Baltimore and almost everyone who knows anything about his past in Chicago thought Mike Elias was absolutely crazy for bringing him into a well-oiled clubhouse in Baltimore. Delmon Young looked like Theodore Cleaver compared to Jimenez. The White Sox held a 24-hour party complete with pin-the-tail on the donkey when the Jimenez-to-Baltimore deal was announced in late July.

Alas, as we hinted here that it might, a change in scenery seems to be just what the doctor ordered for Jimenez. Now, there's still time for the deal to work out or not work out, but the early returns are promising. Of course, some of the "early returns" were promising from states like Georgia and Wisconsin in the 2020 election, but things changed dramatically overnight once more votes came rolling in.

Early returns are good. But the full body of work is what matters.

We'll see about Jimenez. But so far, you have to give Elias a thumbs up for that one.

Gregory Soto (from Philly) looks like a whiff three weeks into his O's tenure, but let's give that one a little more time to marinate before pronouncing that deal a bad one.

Seranthony Dominguez, now apparently the team's de facto closer, has been almost surprisingly reliable since arriving from Philadelphia. That could change, of course. He was pretty much given away by the Phillies, who were apparently set to DFA him before extracting Austin Hays from Baltimore in exchange for the right handed reliever.

For kicks and giggles, here's what the remaining 37 games look like for both the O's and Yankees.

Orioles --

at Mets (3)

vs. Houston (4)

at Dodgers (3)

at Rockies (3)

vs. White Sox (3)

vs. Tampa Bay (3)

at Red Sox (3)

at Tigers (3)

vs. Giants (3)

vs. Tigers (3)

at Yankees (3)

at Twins (3)

Yankees --

vs. Guardians (3)

vs. Rockies (3)

at Nationals (3)

vs. Cardinals (3)

at Rangers (3)

at Cubs (3)

vs. Royals (3)

vs. Boston (4)

at Mariners (3)

at Athletics (3)

vs. Orioles (3)

vs. Pirates (3)

The Orioles play 7 teams who will (likely) still be playing for their playoff lives and/or positioning between now and the end of the season.

The Yankees play 5 teams with that same definition.

I'm no crystal ball carrying website owner, but the A.L. East is almost assuredly coming down to what the O's doing vs. Boston (3) and the Yankees (3) and/or what the Yankees do against the Red Sox and Orioles. Everything else will likely even out or swing things by two games either way.

If the O's go 5-1 in those 6 games, they win the division.

If the Yankees go 6-1 or perhaps even 5-2 in those games, they win the division.

That's just my guess.

And let me say this, too. I'm not really all that concerned about who wins the division and who finishes second. Sure, finishing second means it's harder to get to the World Series, if not for the simple fact you have to win more baseball games to reach that point. I get that.

But there's also something to be said for finishing the season on a Sunday and playing baseball on Tuesday instead of waiting around a week to ramp it up again.

Coughing up the division on the final weekend of the season and sputtering into the post-season as a (road) wild card team definitely didn't impact the Texas Rangers a year ago.

Sure, that could have been an outlier. In fact, it almost definitely was an outlier. No team in our lifetime will likely replicate what Texas did last year; making the playoffs as a wild card team and then winning every road playoff game en route to the World Series title.

But the whole point of dissecting the schedule and looking at what might happen is more about examining the possibilities and less about worrying who wins the division and who plays as a wild card team.

I know the cosmetics of a division crown look nice and all and you get that flag to wear and you can sell some extra merchandise with "A.L. East Champions" on it, but if you allowed me to actually choose the O's post-season "place", I'd love to see them be the #1 wild card team and host the three game series to get things kicked off in October.

But that's just me.

Winning the division would be awesome, particularly if it comes at the expense of the Yankees winning it. That's akin to beating out the Flyers for a division title. Yes, yes, and yes.

But the ultimate goal is to get to the World Series. And I'm of the mindset that it's likely just as easy to do that as a wild card team than it is as a division champion. I just don't see a discernible difference in the two routes.

And you?

Share your opinion below. Dissent if you so choose. Agree if you wish.

Or do nothing at all and just enjoy the commentary.

As I tell people all the time who are conflicted about voting for these two Presidential candidates in November, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

By the way, that's not an original.

That phrase comes from the great Neil Peart of RUSH, who wrote those lyrics for the song "Freewill".

Have a great Monday, all.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to win a second straight A.L. East title.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 3-3

Season Record: 73-52

AL East Standing: 1st (tied with NYY)

Player of the Week: Gunnar Henderson

The Orioles completed another mediocre week, salvaging a .500 record with a win over Boston on Sunday.

There was potential for more but the O’s squandered a brilliant start from top pitching prospect Cade Povich and saw ace Corbin Burnes struggle through his worst start of the season.

The truth is the team is scuffling just to go .500 these days, but the Yankees are struggling just as much and the O’s have built a big enough lead on the rest of the Wild Card contenders that they should survive until they get some reinforcements off the injured list.

The team remains tied for first in the AL East after the Yankees went 3-3 against the bottom dwelling White Sox and Tigers. Despite their issues, the joint AL East leaders are still tied with the Phillies and Dodgers for the most wins in the league.

On Tuesday, the Nationals made the short trip up I-95 for a two game series. Trevor Rogers was a punching bag once again, surrendering five runs in five innings on seven hits and two walks, running his ERA to 7.53 in his Orioles tenure.

If you thought the Flaherty trade was bad last year, avert your eyes from the numbers on Rogers. But hey, at least he isn’t a free agent for two more years. The bullpen wasn’t much better in this one, with Bryan Baker and Keegan Akin giving up four more runs for a 9-3 loss.

Dean Kremer started on Wednesday and had a nice bounce back after several rough outings, helping to save a split of the series. Kremer held the Nats to one run on five hits over six innings while striking out three.

Yennier Cano, Cionel Perez and Seranthony Dominguez combined for three scoreless innings out of the bullpen and Gunnar Henderson launched his first homer since the All-Star break to get the offense going. Jackson Holliday and Adley Rutschman drove in two more runs in the 7th for a 4-1 win.

After the short series with the Nationals, the Red Sox came to town for a four game set. Zach Eflin started the opener on Thursday and delivered another gem, going six innings and allowing just one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.

At least the Eflin trade has turned out as good as the Rogers deal has been bad. Gunnar homered again to put the O’s up 2-1 in the 4th inning and Cedric Mullins added his own homer in the 5th on the way to a 5-1 win.

That seemed to set the Orioles up for success on Saturday with Corbin Burnes pitching, but the ace had his worst start of the season and probably one of the worst of his career. Burnes was bitten by the long ball in what turned into a slugfest, giving up eight runs in four innings.

The Birds were still in the game thanks to three hits and five RBI from Ramon Urias and four hits from Holliday. Then the bullpen let them down again, with another Craig Kimbrel implosion, allowing three runs on two homers to put the game out of reach in a 12-10 loss.

Saturday was the polar opposite of Friday, with both starters dominating. Cade Povich was called back up for a spot start and was masterful, blanking the Red Sox for five innings before finally surrendering two runs in the 6th and 7th. He finished with 6.1 IP, allowing two runs and striking out six.

Unfortunately Boston starter Brayan Bello was even better, holding the Os hitless until a 6th inning homer from Gunnar that tied the game. That was all the scoring for the O’s as Cano and Burch Smith allowed three more for a 5-1 loss, but at least Gregory Soto pitched a scoreless inning.

Needing a win to avoid a losing week, Albert Suarez came to the rescue again. The veteran journeyman continued to be the unsung hero of this team, throwing six more shutout innings, scattering seven hits and striking out six.

This was his third straight scoreless outing, a stat which he remarkably leads the majors in. Adley and Gunnar both went deep to power the offense and Seranthony Dominguez worked out of a jam in the 8th then closed out the 9th for a four out save in the 4-2 win.

Gunnar Henderson found his power stroke again this week and that earned him the Player of the Week honors. The All-Star shortstop hit four homers, drove in eight and got on base at a .333 clip. He also had a clean week defensively after some error issues in previous weeks.

Zach Eflin, Albert Suarez and Seranthony Dominguez all deserve mentions for their pitching performances this week. Eflin and Suarez have been monumental since the loss of Grayson Rodriguez to injury and Dominguez appears to have secured the closer role for now, even if Brandon Hyde won’t officially give him the moniker.

Down on the Farm –

Norfolk was especially light on prospect action this week with Cade Povich coming up to pitch for the Orioles. Coby Mayo was sent back down to AAA but oddly did not appear for the Tides all week. I couldn’t find any explanation for his absence, but it is something to keep an eye on.

The other notable arm in Norfolk, Brandon Young, had a strong start on Sunday, throwing 5.2 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts and just one walk. With some of the current bullpen struggles, you wonder if the front office may consider trying Young out of the pen to see if he could help in that role in Baltimore.

Double-A Bowie saw some roster reshuffling this week, with 2023 first round pick Enrique Bradfield Jr. and 2023 third round pick Tavian Josenberger both getting promoted from Aberdeen. Making room for those two in the Bowie outfield, Eastern League home run leader Jud Fabian was promoted up to Norfolk on Sunday. The 23 year old 2022 competitive balance pick has really taken off in the past couple months and will now get the chance to prove himself at the highest level of the minors.

It was a nice week for Bowie pitching prospect, 24 year old Alex Pham, who threw 12 innings, allowing just two runs while striking out nine and walking just one.

Question of the Week –

How long until the front office has to make some tough cuts?

As the Orioles continue to tread water and the division race remains neck and neck with the Yankees, the front office may have some difficult decisions on the horizon. The team can only go so long allowing the same players to continually tank their chances.

Two of the largest problems were introduced at the trade deadline. Trevor Rogers has been a disaster in his three starts since joining from the Marlins. One of the main selling points for shipping out Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby for Rogers was the team control he came with, not hitting free agency until 2027. However, that only matters if you’re good enough to warrant remaining on the team.

While I couldn’t find anything to confirm, I believe Rogers still has minor league options, so he may not force as difficult a decision as the next two.

Especially after the exquisite start from Cade Povich on Saturday, the front office has to seriously consider sending Rogers down for a spell if he has one more poor start. Povich can’t come back up for fifteen days after being sent down Sunday, unless he returns for an injured player, but he seems like a better option than Rogers at this point.

They could also move Rogers back to a long man role, since Albert Suarez has secured a place in the rotation for the time-being. Though Roger’s inability to limit baserunners may prohibit his use as anything other than a mop up guy in blowouts.

The other deadline acquisition that has backfired is lefty reliever Gregory Soto. Though he did have a couple of scoreless innings this week, he has looked like a loose cannon, setting fire to most games he enters. It was bad enough that Jim Palmer commented on Saturday that Soto should just aim right down the middle every time because it wasn’t going to go where he’s aiming anyway.

Soto would probably need to be DFA’d if the Orioles wanted to get him out of the bullpen, and another team may take a shot on his lively arm. Maybe he gets one or two more chances, but if he can’t be trusted in any kind of high or medium leverage situations, the team needs to move on.

It may seem hard to do since they gave up a once-promising pitching prospect to get him, but that is a sunk cost at this point and they need to do what’s best for the current division battle.

That brings us to the most difficult of the three problem children. Drew discussed this a bit last week, but how much longer can the team keep risking Craig Kimbrel in important situations?

Removed from the closer role for the second time this season, Kimbrel has mostly seen low leverage action recently, but called into the game on Friday with the Red Sox still within reach, he completely imploded.

At this point it seems he might be able to harness his experience and ride luck for a few appearances in a row, but overall his stuff is just not what it used to be and he overcompensates by trying to be too precise and ends up walking too many hitters.

It seems unlikely at this stage of his career the Orioles staff will be able to unlock some hidden ability on Kimbrel.

Though there was a large monetary commitment to Kimbrel, if this is all he has left, Elias may need to soon come to grips and make the tough choice to send him packing. Maybe they can arrange something less embarrassing like an invented injury to allow Kimbrel to exit with grace, but it’s getting close to time up.

Sunday August 18, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3649

yet another ravens "win"

To most everyone in town who supports the Ravens, the story probably isn't a big deal.

No, I'm not talking about yesterday's 13-12 preseason win over Atlanta in front of an old Skipjacks crowd at M&T Bank Stadium.

The only person in town who probably cares about that game was Josh Johnson, the backup QB who went 11-for-11.

I'm talking about the team naming its recently refurbished press box after longtime P.R. guru, Kevin Byrne.

The press box was moved this season to accommodate changes to stadium's suite and seating structure. And the club figured there was no better time to honor the man who moved with the team to Cleveland and guided them -- public relations wise -- through their first two decades in Charm City.

“The respect Kevin earned was built on integrity, reliability and consistent professionalism,” longtime Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome added in a news release. “He was a trusted advisor and extraordinary friend to many, especially me. When we talk about potential Hall of Fame players, coaches or contributors, we always ask: ‘Is he one of the best to ever do it?’ In Kevin's case, for his profession, he certainly was."

Byrne was the best.

Plain and simple, he was the best.

That the Ravens did the right thing and honored him this weekend with the unveiling of the "Kevin Byrne Press Box" isn't a great shock. The Ravens do a lot of smart, wise things off the field. They always have, in fact.

One of the reasons why their track record in town is so solid? Kevin Byrne.

I started my own career in professional sports in the public relations/media relations side of the soccer business. I remember those days fondly.

And I remember my constant mission statement: Protect and support the organization, coaches and players. Always.

Byrne and the Ravens came to town at a time -- 1996 -- when the Orioles were in full swing, competing for American League division titles and basking in the glow of Cal's record consecutive games streak, in addition to play in a fancy new downtown stadium.

The football team was insanely envious of the way Baltimore loved the Orioles.

Byrne and I would laugh about that on occasion when I'd have him on my morning radio show or talk privately for a few minutes at 1 Winning Drive.

Imagine that: the Ravens jealous of the Orioles.

Times changed very quickly in Charm City, obviously. The Orioles started to decline in the late 1990's and the Ravens started to climb. Just as the baseball team morphed into a laughingstock for a decade, the football team won a Super Bowl title and became one of the NFL's marquee franchises.

From a P.R. standpoint, the football team got it right almost every time. And the baseball team -- during that down decade -- got it wrong almost every time.

Off the field, the Ravens were guided by Byrne and his lifetime spent working in the NFL.

He was, by my account, fair and equitable at almost every turn. If something came up he needed to address with you, he did it privately and with facts at hand.

Kevin and I only had one or two of those moments in my 12 years on the air. One of those came when John Harbaugh bristled at a question I asked at a Monday press conference. I didn't think anything of it until I was home and, an hour or two later, I looked down at my ringing phone to see "KEVIN BYRNE" flashing.

Kevin calling me at 5:00 pm on a Monday? Something was up, I figured.

He explained to me that John wasn't happy with the way I tried to "corner him" with a question about the team's struggling offense on the road. I wasn't trying to corner him. But John thought I was. And, so, Kevin was now forced into doing his job, which was to call me and let me know John wasn't happy.

I understood.

On more than occasion, I had to be the go-between between Kenny Cooper and Bill Free or Kenny Cooper and Bill Glauber when one of them would write something in the newspaper he didn't particularly appreciate.

Kevin told me he'd arrange for John and I to get a few minutes together the next time I was at Owings Mills and we'd hash it out -- in Kevin's presence, obviously -- and all would be well.

And that's what happened.

John told me why he thought my question was "lame" and an effort to make him look bad and I told John if "I can't ask you a football question about the team you coach, why should I bother coming to the press conferences?"

Kevin served as the guest referee for about 60 seconds. I did see John's point about the question I asked, but I wanted to assure him I was not trying to make him look back or pin him in a corner.

Byrne handled it all perfectly, speaking briefly on John's behalf, from a P.R. standpoint, but also acknowledging my general fairness with the team on the air (this was sometime around 2012).

John and I shook hands and that was that. We're still friendly to this day and the event was, really, a blip on the radar.

But it was Kevin Byrne who helped navigate me through that scene in such a way that I was able to maintain my professional "integrity", if you will, while he was still able to show support and protection for one of his club's most treasured assets, the head coach of the team.

Never once did I feel like Kevin (or John) attacked me, put me down or treated me any differently thereafter.

He knew, I think, that I genuinely wasn't trying to embarrass Harbaugh with my press conference question.

But he also had a head coach who wasn't happy with me and Kevin had a job to do.

It was like that scene at the end of Training Day where the gang member Alonzo hired to kill Jake Hoyt pulls him up out of the bathtub when he learns that Hoyt beat up two guys earlier in the day who were trying to rape his 14-year old cousin.

Minutes before, the gang member had a gun to Hoyt's face and was going to blow his head off.

He picked him up out of the tub, told him he wasn't going to kill him, and said, "You know this was just business, right?"

With Kevin, it was always just that: Business.

But he did it in such a way that you always felt like he was a friend, too.

I know I'm far from the only media member in town who appreciated him while he worked for the Ravens.

And I know I join a lot of other folks in town who see the new "Kevin Byrne Press Box" and say to themselves: "Now that's a perfect ending to an outstanding career."

Saturday August 17, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3648

still here...

I got four e-mails immediately after Craig Kimbrel imploded last night urging me -- almost begging me, in fact, like Santiago looking for a transfer -- to "crush" Kimbrel in today's edition of #DMD.

There will be no such crushing here today.

Sure, the O's lost 12-10 and Kimbrel was right in the middle of an 8th inning uprising by the Red Sox. But Corbin Burnes, the starter, wasn't any good either.

That said, Burnes has been great all year. He's allowed an "off" start every month. Kimbrel? He's been "off" for the better part of 8 weeks.

I wrote here two months ago that it "looked like Kimbrel is no longer useful" and then, four weeks ago after that episode in Miami, upped the ante by writing "it's now time to part company with Kimbrel."

Nothing has changed.

Except now you can actually blame Mike Elias.

I'm going to assume Kimbrel gets DFA'd sometime today. Or perhaps tomorrow. But I'm guessing it's coming soon.

There was a time when you could blame Kimbrel himself for his performance. I mean, you are a professional, after all. You are what your record says you are, and all.

Then came the point when Brandon Hyde was in the crosshairs for the occasions in which he inserted Kimbrel into the game. 9th inning with the game on the line eventually wasn't the spot.

8th inning trying to protect a lead wasn't the spot.

Anytime you put Kimbrel in the game eventually became a liability.

Last night's foray into the game when it was 8-6 in favor of the Red Sox most certainly had to be the final straw.

After getting an out to start the inning, Kimbrel promptly walked the next hitter, who then, of course, stole second base. Fred Flinstone could steal second off of Kimbrel, frankly.

And then, right on cue, a 2-run homer, followed by an out, followed by another solo home run. 8-6 turned into 11-6...just like that.

If Kimbrel pitches another inning for the Orioles, he nor Hyde can be blamed. This, now, is on Mike Elias, plain and simple.

I totally understand that it's hard for Elias to cut Kimbrel given Elias sunk $13 million into him last winter and has obviously watched his former closer crumble like the rest of us.

It's not about the money, I'm guessing.

It's all about pride.

Elias doesn't want to say "I was wrong about this guy."

I brought in a player in the indoor soccer business once and paid him $5,000 a month, which at the time was one of the higher monthly salaries in the league.

Something happened to him between St. Louis and Baltimore, unfortunately. In St. Louis, he was a goal scoring machine. In Baltimore, he was a dud.

I didn't want to cut him and tell my owner I made the wrong call and I paid him $5,000 a month. Imagine how Mike Elias must feel when he's giving Kimbrel the equivalent of one million a month.

But that's on Elias now. He made the mess. He has to clean it up, too.

The Craig Kimbrel experiment is over. I thought it was over two months ago. And then again, a month ago. And then two weeks ago as well. It's been over since late June.

Elias, sadly, seems to be the only person who doesn't know it.

So the next time Kimbrel enters a game, don't blame the pitcher or the manager. Blame the guy who keeps paying him.

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky generated some not-needed-content for the sports and entertainment network on Friday when he deleted a tweet that read "Protect Our Daughters" in an apparent response to gender transitioning commentary from media stars Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit earlier in the week.

Leery of ESPN's social media policy -- "stick to sports", they call it -- Orlovsky removed the three-word message and tweeted a quick update: “When you’re an employee of a big company, your social media page doesn’t just get to be your social media page,” Orlovsky said. “That’s a fantasy, so you have to represent yourself and the company that you work for in the proper way.”

The issue, in this case, is that "transgender" and "sports" have been colliding for a few years now.

Are sports people not allowed to have an opinion on transgender athletes unless that opinion coincicdes with their own corporate stance on said subject?

I don't think a transgender female (born a male, identifies and "transitions" to female) should compete with naturally-born females. That's my opinion. I'm not changing. And I'm honestly not all that interested in even discussing it.

That said, if any #DMD writer felt differently and wanted to share their opinion on the topic here, I would allow that.

As I have written here a bunch of times recently, our biggest problem in this country is now our inability to disagree with one another. We've lost the ability to do it. When we disagree on something these days, it evolves into an ugly scene, where one person and probably both people wind up crossing the line of decency, all in the name of "being right".

ESPN doesn't want Dan Orlovsky to share his opinion unless it also happens to be their opinion.

And even when it is a sports story of sorts, ESPN would rather you just skip over it and move on to that White Sox/Astros game or the Vikings rookie quarterback who will miss the season with a knee injury.

That is, unless your (liberal) agenda happens to mesh with ESPN's agenda. Then you can go ahead and walk on that slippery slope.

"Protect our daughters..."

You're telling me those three words crossed the line at ESPN?

Oh, and let me mention this because it's important: ESPN denies that they asked Orlovsky to remove the (offending) tweet and now even says Orlovsky, when commenting on it, wasn't actually referring to his "daughters" tweet, but social media in general.

Yeah, sure. We believe you.

No, really. We do.

I mean, ESPN would never stoop as low as to tell one of their employees what to post and what not to post. Right?

There is that pesky "stick to sports" edict, but other than that, they'd never stoop that low. That's what I meant.

So, Orlovsky is now probably on some sort of probationary period where all of his social media messages get checked by a 22-year old intern at Syracuse or Northwestern.

When ESPN says "stick to sports", they mean it.

Kind of...

	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.

english premier league preview

The English Premier League is back this weekend. Manchester United will host Fulham on Friday afternoon to begin the new season in the top league in the world. The favorites are mostly unchanged from last year. While things could change with the transfer window still open for a few more weeks, thus far there have been no real game-changing moves. Manchester City returns as the favorite to win the league once again, after winning their fourth in a row last year and sixth of the last seven.

The betting odds see it as a two team race, with last season’s runners-up, Arsenal, looking to push Man City for the title once again. Today we’ll take a look at the top eight contenders, placing them into three tiers: the favorite, the title contenders, and the Champions League contenders. We’ll also take a quick look at the small American contingent playing in the league this season.

The Favorite

Manchester City

Last Year: Won 4th straight title

Arrivals: Savinho (LW/LWB - Girona)

Departures: Julian Alvarez (ST/AM - Atletico Madrid)

Manchester City is once again the favorite to win the league. They enter the season at +140 to take home their fifth straight title. They bring back largely the same team that won the title last year in what could be Pep Guardiola’s last season at the helm. This is the last remaining year on the contract for the long-tenured all-time great and while a renewal could occur at any time, this may be his last run before taking on a new challenge.

The main concern in City’s bid for a fifth straight title is depth at key positions. Though they received a large payment from Atletico Madrid for Alvarez, he could be sorely missed. While he wasn’t a full time starter last year, his versatility was crucial, as he was able to fill in for both Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne when they missed time. There is still time for City to build some depth before the end of the transfer window and they could use some pieces behind those key stars as well as irreplaceable center midfielder Rodri.

The Title Contenders

Arsenal

Last Year: 2nd place

Arrivals: Riccardo Calafiori (CB - Bologna)

Departures: None

Once again Arsenal will be the top contender for Manchester City. They have pushed them the past two years but came up just short again last season, falling two points shy of the perennial champs. They enter the season at +160 to win the title. With another year of experience under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal will hope to continue their improvement to catch City.

There haven’t been any major moves for the London-based club. They have brought in left-footed centerback Riccardo Calafiori who helped lead Bologna to a surprise run to fifth place in Serie A last season. Calafiori combined with the return of Jurrien Timber from a long-term injury should bolster a defense that was already the stingiest in the EPL both by goals allowed and expected goals conceded.

Similar to Man City, Arsenal’s only minor flaw is a lack of depth behind some of their key starters. Bukayo Saka is their most dynamic attacker and they currently don’t have a suitable replacement if he goes down. The team is also rumored to be pushing for a deal for Spanish Euro star midfielder Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad to add depth to their midfield.

Liverpool

Last Year: 3rd place; Won the Carabao Cup

Arrivals: None

Departures: Jurgen Klopp (manager); Fabio Carvalho (AM - Brentford)

Liverpool begin their new era after Jurgen Klopp stepped down at the end of last season. They enter as the only other serious contender for the title, but well behind Man City and Arsenal at +650 to lift the trophy.

New coach Arne Slot comes over from Dutch club Feyenoord and brings a possession based style of play. The arrival of Slot may see Liverpool move to a more methodical build up attack with less direct attacking play.

As it stands, the roster is more or less the same as last season when they finished third, seven points behind Arsenal but fourteen points ahead of fourth place Aston Villa. Liverpool will once again look to star wingers Mo Salah and Luis Diaz to run their attack and they will hope Darwin Nunez can turn his ability to get to dangerous positions into more balls in the back of the net.

Last season they were just behind City and Arsenal on offense and defense, finishing third in both goals scored and goals conceded, although they did lead the league in expected goals, suggesting they left some opportunities on the table. They are rumored to be in the market for a defensive midfielder who can enable them to play out of the back more consistently and allow Alexis Mac Allister to move higher up the field to be more involved in attacking sequences.

Champions League Candidates

Chelsea

Last Year: 6th place

Arrivals: Enzo Maresca (Manager - Leicester City); Pedro Neto (RW - Wolves); Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (CM - Leicester)

Departures: Connor Gallagher (CM - Atletico Madrid)

This next tier represents teams that are real longshots for a title run, but have their sights set on finishing in the top four to earn a spot in the Champions League. Chelsea is perpetually a club in turmoil. American owner Todd Boehly took over after Russian owner Roman Abramovich was forced out and tried to put his stamp on the team by buying every player under the sun. The strategy has largely failed however, as the club has burned through coaches and failed to form a cohesive unit.

Chelsea doesn’t lack for talent, so new manager Enzo Maresca will have plenty of pieces to work with. Maresca comes to Chelsea after leading Leicester City to promotion back to the Premier League last season. He will have his work cut out for him to fit the puzzle together.

This season the team will need to revolve around 22 year old Cole Palmer, who had a breakout season in 2023-24, scoring 22 goals with 11 assists, followed by a wondergoal in the Euros for England. Palmer has a chance to be one of the best players in the league this year, and if Chelsea can figure out the supporting cast, they can be a dangerous team.

Tottenham

Last Year: 5th place

Arrivals: Dominic Solanke (ST - Bournemouth); Archie Gray (RB - Leeds); Lucas Bergvall (CM - Djurgarden)

Departures: Emerson Royal (RB - AC Milan); Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (CM - Marseille)

Tottenham just missed a spot in the Champions League last season, finishing two points behind fourth place Aston Villa in their first year under coach Ange Postecoglou. In their second season under the Aussie manager, they could be a team to watch. They had a lot of success early in the season before coming back down to earth a bit. Another year of comfort with the system could be what Tottenham needs to jump back into the Champions League or make a dark horse title run.

While they won’t have Champions League games to worry about, they will be in the Europa League, so there will be extra games to manage and put stress on the squad. Tottenham was seventh in both goals scored and goals conceded last season. So they were quite a balanced team with room for improvement on both sides of the ball. They will again be led by star South Korean attacker Heung-Min Son who had 27 goals and assists last season.

Manchester United

Last Year: 8th place; Won FA Cup

Arrivals: Noussair Mazaraoui (RB - Bayern Munich); Matthijs de Ligt (CB - Bayern); Leny Yoro (CB - Lille); Joshua Zirkzee (ST - Bologna)

Departures: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (RB - West Ham); Raphael Varane (CB - Como)

Manchester United finished a disappointing eighth place last season, with a negative goal differential. However, they managed to win the FA Cup, likely saving Erik Ten Hag’s job in the process. The Dutch manager will get at least one more chance to prove he can recreate the magic he conjured at Ajax in the Premier League.

Ten Hag has reunited with two stars of that Ajax team in Mazaraoui and de Ligt, who both had less than impressive stints at Bayern Munich. United has been more active than most of the other top contenders, also adding defender Leny Yoro and striker Joshua Zirkzee, who impressed at Bologna last year while on loan away from Bayern Munich.

Manchester United was better defensively than in attack last season, but left a lot to be desired on both ends. If they are going to push for Champions League or title contention they will need a bounce back season from attacker Marcus Rashford, who had a rough campaign last year. They will also need start midfielder Bruno Fernandes to continue his stellar play after leading the team in both goals and assists last season.

Newcastle

Last Year: 7th place

Arrivals: William Osula (ST - Sheffield United)

Departures: Yankuba Minteh (RW - Brighton and Hove); Elliot Anderson (CM - Nottingham Forest)

Last season Newcastle fell back from their previous run in the top four. The club struggled to manage two intense competitions dropping back to seventh place in the Premier League, eight points out of the Champions League spots. While they had some impressive moments in the Champions League, they eventually faded down the stretch.

Thus far they haven’t made many additions to improve their depth this season. Without European matches they may hope their core players will hold up better. Newcastle will also welcome back high-priced midfielder Sandro Tonali, who came over from AC Milan only to get suspended for the majority of the season for a gambling scandal. He can provide a boost to the midfield if he returns to form.

Aston Villa

Last Year: 4th place

Arrivals: Amadou Onana (CM - Everton); Jaden Philodene-Bidace (LW - Hull); Cameron Archer (FW - Sheffield United); Ross Barkley (CM - Luton Town); Enzo Barrenechea (CM - Juventus); Samuel Iling-Junior (LB/LW - Juventus)

Departures: Moussa Diaby (FW - Saudi); Douglas Luiz (CM - Juventus)

Aston Villa was the Cinderella story last season. Manager Unai Emery led them to a fourth place finish, earning a spot in the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. Although they finished in the top four, Villa was closer to the pack between 5th-8th than they were to the top three, finishing fourteen points behind Liverpool.

In order to brace for the difficulty of balancing two major competitions, Aston Villa has been active in the transfer market. They have brought in a range of youth and experience to bolster all levels of their squad. Amadou Onana was the key piece, coming over from Everton to provide an anchor in midfield and Ross Barkley will bring experience and provide depth after a banner season at Luton Town last year.

Villa will miss their two major departures, as Diaby and Luiz both played critical roles in their successful season last year. However the money brought in for that pair should help fund their existing transfers and potentially a few more before the deadline.

With the step up in competition and expectations, Villa are more than likely to regress this season. They will need a sustained effort from breakout star Ollie Watkins, who scored 19 goals and added 13 assists last season.

Americans in the EPL

The American contingent in the Premier League is quite small this season. Tim Ream has moved on from Fulham, joining MLS side Charlotte FC in the past few weeks to continue his career back in the US. Gio Reyna returned to Borussia Dortmund after his short-lived loan at Nottingham Forest.

That just leaves Antonee Robinson at Fulham, Chris Richards at Crystal Palace, Tyler Adams at Bournemouth and Matt Turner at Nottingham Forest. Among those, only Robinson and Richards look to make much impact early on in the season.

Tyler Adams was forced to get surgery just after the Copa America ended this summer and will miss the early part of the season. It will be an important year for him when he returns, as he will need to establish himself at the club after missing much of last season due to injury as well.

Matt Turner’s situation isn’t much better. He transferred to Nottingham Forest from Arsenal last year seeking more playing time but was quickly benched and replaced. Turner may be better off making a move to a lower league in order to find a starting job and rebuild his reputation.

Antonee Robinson is by far the top performer among this group. As of now he will start the season with Fulham after finishing among the top left backs in the league in most statistics last season. There has been a lot of noise about Robinson moving to a bigger club, so we’ll see if he ends up at Fulham for the entire season.

Chris Richards saw his situation improve vastly last season, as he gradually earned a more prominent role at Crystal Palace, starting most of the games down the stretch. This season he will have to fight to keep a starting spot, but he could be in line for increased responsibility with potential sales of more veteran centerbacks Marc Guehi and Joachim Anderson.

It will be an important season for Richards after a rough summer with the US team. The US needs him to establish himself as a locked-in starter and continue to smooth out his rough edges so he can help lead the back line in 2026.

Friday August 16, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3647

let me get this straight

A story circulating in college sports has to be one of the decade's top #clownshoes moment to date.

Notre Dame has shut down its swimming program because of gambling.

Hang on and I'll get to the good part in just a second.

The NCAA, caving in to pressure from both the courts and the kids, has essentially become an athletic version of The Wild Wild West.

Everyone's collecting money. Or, at the very least, everyone has the ability and option to collect money. And you can collect a lot of it, too.

You can take $500 or $1000 from the local car wash or pizza place in town. You can bring in $25,000 from a car dealer in town who loves to see his alma mater win on Saturday afternoons in the fall. Or, heck, you can go on TV and social media and brag about how great someone's sandwiches or sports drinks are and you can haul in a million bucks.

There's some fine print from the NCAA you have to follow, but as long as you're willing to do that, the idea that college sports are for "amateurs" is gone. Like, long gone.

And the schools, of course, know this as well. Just like in Major League Baseball where it's tough to outspend the Dodgers or Yankees, it's tough to pay more than schools like Alabama, Clemson, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Oregon are willing to pay.

At Maryland, for example, they will simply always spend less on football players than their conference friends like Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State pony up. It just is what it is. You can't spread $25 million around 90 football players if you don't have $25 million in the first place.

So the whole thing is basically a joke. I'm talking about when it comes to money and paying kids and the rich getting richer and "whoever has the most toys at the end, wins". It's all a joke.

College sports sorta-kinda sucks now.

There was a point in my life when college sports was the last hope for something at least "semi decent". Sure, there's always been cheating and wink-wink-nudge-nudge "how did he get that kind of car as a college student?", but the NCAA also did a fairly good job of keeping schools and kids on the up and up.

Key words above: "Semi decent". And "fairly good job".

The NCAA has its own warts, too, don't get me wrong.

And all of that brings me to Notre Dame swimming.

They've suspended the men's swimming program for one year.

Ready for the reason?

They set up an internal betting system where the swimmers on the team would BET ON THEMSELVES or TEAMMATES in swim meets.

The highest wager ever? $50.

Most wagers were either $10 or $20 according to people who shared that information with the NCAA.

The participating members created an online internal sportsbook where swimmers would bet on their time or a teammate's time at an upcoming meet. Payout odds were established and you wagered accordingly.

They also included Super Bowl block pools and March Madness bracket contests in their hub. You know, the two gambling related options that probably 75% of the Notre Dame administrative staff participates in from the comforts of their own office.

The swimmers got caught, somehow, and the result of the NCAA's "independent investigation" showed a massive gambling ring of, probably, somewhere near $1,000 or so.

That was sarcasm. "Massive", that it is. Schools are giving kids $5,000 to play basketball or lacrosse, but a kid betting $20 on his time in the upcoming swim meet vs. Pitt and South Florida is somehow going to ruin college sports.

These people, I swear.

Oh, and I'm not here to say that Notre Dame shouldn't be concerned about the swimming team developing an online gaming portal.

Next thing you know, kids are betting on basketball games and football games with people like DraftKings and FanDuel. You might have heard of them before. Or, at the very least, you've seen their ads on TV when you've been watching -- wait for it -- COLLEGE SPORTS.

It's not about catching the swimmers and punishing them.

It's about shutting down the program over something so (relatively) minor as "I did the 100 butterfly in 1:02:05 last month against Purdue. I'll put $20 down that says I beat that time tomorrow against Georgia Tech."

If nothing else, I think Notre Dame should almost be proud of the kids for coming up with some novel ways of challenging themselves to compete at a higher level.

At least they're not taking PED's or trying to cheat the system in some other nefarious way. Not that we know of, at least.

We're in a world where the NCAA allows a swimmer to compete as a male one year and then, a couple of years down the road, that same swimmer can compete as a female. Or the starting quarterback at "school X" can receive a million dollars a year to throw the ball around the stadium. Or coaches are making $10 million annually to figure out how to score more touchdowns than their in-state rival.

There's that. And then there's 15 kids on a swimming team betting $20 on themselves. And the NCAA believes the gambling story is so heinous and so potentially threatening to the integrity of their athletic department that swimming has to be discontinued.

"The integrity of their athletic department".

I'm sure you're LOL'ing at that one.

I know I am.

Here's an idea. Let's just give them cars and clothes and places to live and, heck, throw in five grand a month as well.

Tell the swimmers at Notre Dame they can have the car of their choice, a $1,000 gift card to Target and a monthly "living expense" that gets direct-deposited right into their account.

In exchange, though, they have to curtail that pesky gambling they've been involved in.

Got it?

There we go...

Notre Dame and all of the other schools are now once again in good standing.

	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.

u.s. soccer gets their man

On Wednesday night it was reported that Mauricio Pochettino had agreed to join as the new US Men’s National Team coach, replacing Gregg Berhalter. The 52 year old Argentine is an impressive hire for US Soccer. Pochettino rose to prominence in the English Premier League with Southampton before taking over Tottenham for a long stretch. He then moved on to Paris St. Germain and most recently Chelsea.

Pochettino’s most successful tenure occurred at Tottenham however, where he pushed them among the elite Premier League clubs. He led Tottenham to a second place finish in the 2016-17 season, their best since 1963 and followed that up by taking them to their first ever Champions League final in 2019, where they lost to Liverpool.

Pochettino is known for a high-pressing and attack oriented style and was lauded for his development of young players in his time at Southampton and Tottenham, most notably Harry Kane. While Tottenham is a large club, they do not have quite the financial power of Manchester City or Manchester United, so Pochettino was forced to be resourceful, relying on tactical acumen and player development to push them to competition at the top of the league.

Pochettino is truly a hire from the elite tier of European club managers. I’m honestly surprised US Soccer was able to sell a manager at that level on the job. I guess we’ll see what the contract looks like, perhaps there were enough dollar signs to motivate him. He comes with a much higher pedigree than any former US men’s coach and is more in line with current women’s coach Emma Hayes, who was among the top in the game as well.

Pochettino should continue the work Berhalter did to move the US to a more possession based style, focused on playing out of the back and then pressing aggressively. What he may bring is an increased attention to detail and better ability to put players in positions to combine effectively in the attacking third.

The only real question around Pochettino will be his ability to adjust to managing a national team instead of a club team. While a club coach has preseason and endless training sessions to drill their principles into players, a national team coach only has limited time in international windows. This may require him to pare down his tactics to those that can be absorbed in these short bursts.

The other significant difference with a national team is the inability to supplement your team with transfers. The pool is largely set and Pochettino will need to adjust to the players he has. Perhaps his experience working with a team with a slightly less than top tier budget will help him with this limitation. He may bring a new set of eyes to the player pool as well and could find overlooked players or new roles for existing players to enhance the team’s performance.

The former Tottenham manager surely has a tall task ahead of him, to prepare the team in a relatively short time period for the biggest tournament in US soccer history, where there will certainly be outsized expectations. However, this hire seems like a slam dunk by the US Soccer leadership and it's hard to believe they could have found anyone with better experience to take on this challenge.

Tomorrow here at #DMD, Randy Morgan previews the new English Premier League season, which starts this weekend.

Thursday August 15, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3646

and here they come.......

I didn't see one pitch of last night's 4-1 Orioles win.

I can read the internet, though.

Dean Kremer was solid.

Coby Mayo finall got a major league hit.

Gunnar Henderson hit a home run again...finally.

And now the varsity team from Boston comes to town and the Red Sox have what might be a last gasp effort to close the gap on the O's in the American League East.

I assume the city will be packed with "Sawx" fans over the next four days. There was a time, circa 2008, when any Orioles home game against the Red Sox was 70/30 in terms of fan representation.

70 for Boston.

30 for Baltimore.

These days, the stands will still be filled with Boston fans. It's a great time to visit Baltimore, there's a long weekend ahead and the Red Sox are actually semi-decent this year.

But it won't be 70/30, no matter how many Red Sox fans find their way into the ballpark.

I'm just guessing here, but if there are 120,000 fans in the ballpark this weekend, it will be 90,000 in orange and black and 30,000 in dark blue and red.

It used to be awful in the "old days". Frankly, I always thought Boston fans were way worse than Yankees fans back in those times when the Orioles were getting clobbered a combined 30 times a year by those two.

Yankees fans just came to town to see their heroes and watch a win.

Red Sox fans showed up to watch their team and rub it in after Boston won 10-2.

New York fans back in those days were semi-tolerable. There were a few outliers who spoiled the bunch, but for the most part I always found them to be decent.

Boston fans weren't anywhere close to tolerable. They were out of control. All of them.

The times, though, they have changed.

These Orioles are excellent.

Boston is trying to be excellent.

It used to be the other way around.

But these four games are important, for sure. The O's are 6 games ahead of them in the loss column. If they can beat the Red Sox 3 of 4 this weekend, that extends their lead to 8 games with 37 games remaining.

Anything can happen, obviously, but an 8 game lead with 37 games left is a pretty tough hurdle to overcome.

It would be like having a 4-shot lead with 3 holes to play on the PGA Tour. Sure, every blue moon someone will squander that kind of advantage in the closing 3 holes but, for the most part, that's always a done deal.

Now, if Boston somehow wins 3 of 4 and cuts the lead to 4 games, we have ourselves a horse race.

I don't see the Red Sox winning more than 2 games. And, honestly, 2 is a stretch, I think. But these are most certainly big moments for the Orioles as they try to turn a 3-team race into a 2-team race.

While the Red Sox and Orioles do battle, the Yankees will be in Detroit for a weekend series with the Tigers.

As we saw on Monday night in Chicago, you never know what the Yankees might do. But I'd say it's likely that New York wins 2 of 3 in the Motor City.

Oh, and in case you don't have a schedule handy, the O's and Bronx Bombers only play three more times this season; in New York in the penultimate series of the season, September 24, 25 and 26.

These next four are the ones the O's should worry about the most. At least for now.

Speaking of the old days, if what Scottie Scheffler said yesterday would have been mentioned by Tiger Woods 25 years ago, the bet here is something would have changed.

Scheffler, speaking on the eve of the first FedEx Cup playoff event on the PGA Tour in Memphis, essentially challenged the TOUR to come up with an improved plan for their 3-week post-season.

Or, even better, simply change the way they explain it to the players and the fans.

"They say it's a season long points race," Scheffler said. "But it all comes down to the last tournament, basically. You can be 25th in the standings heading into that tournament and got there by not winning one tournament all season long. And then if you win the final tournament, you're the FedEx Cup champion. I just don't see how that's right."

Scheffler is saying that from the comfort of his perch, high above the rest of the players on TOUR. He is easily the points leader with his 6 victories and various other high finishes in 2024. Unless something crazy happens, he'll enter the TOUR Championship in a couple of weeks as the leader in the standings.

But if he doesn't win that final tournament, he loses out on being the FedEx Cup champion.

It is a weird way to do it. But the TOUR had to come up with a new way to crown their "season long" champion after players were piling up enough points in the regular season and playoffs that they didn't have to win one of the playoff events (back then there were four) and they could still come out on top.

It made for anticlimatic television when, say, all Dustin Johnson needed was a 4th place finish in the final event and he was going win the (then) $10 million first place FedEx Cup check.

So the TOUR changed it up a few years back and created a system where the guy with the most points started the final tournament ahead of the others on the scoreboard. Scheffler, to wit, will start the Tour Championship (assuming he's the points leader, still, after the first two events) at 10-under par and the second place player will start at 8-under.

"It doesn't seem like a two shot lead on the best field the Tour can produce is much of a thank you for the golf you play to get into the lead with one week left," Scheffler said on Wednesday. "Maybe I'd like the format better if I weren't winning. But it just seems like it's not really a season long points race if one tournament decides the winner."

What will be interesting this off-season is to see the TOUR's reaction to Scheffler's commentary.

Does he have the cachet necessary to have the TOUR consider altering the format moving forward?

Tiger's commentary on the same subject back in the day would have generated discourse, that's for sure. But what about Scheffler? Has he earned enough power in the sport to help the TOUR tweak their rules in 2025 and beyond?

Wednesday August 14, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3645

maybe it's time to.......pray?

There was some delicious irony in the air last evening at the downtown baseball stadium.

It wasn't the good-tasting kind of delicious, unfortunately, but there was irony present nonetheless.

Tuesday night was "Faith Night" at Camden Yards as the O's offered discount tickets to local churches and religious groups and then hosted a post-game concert with a Christian band following their game with the Washington Nationals.

When the front office organized the event back in the off-season, I'm sure Tuesday, August 13 made a lot of sense. The team would be returning to Charm City after an extensive road trip, the Nationals are terrible, the weather should be just about perfect, and, a good time would be had by all.

Nine Orioles players are apparently regulars at "team chapel", which is a pretty nice number on a 26-man roster.

Based on last night's 9-3 shellacking at the hands of the Nationals, perhaps more than nine should be showing up regularly. The team could use the help, if you know what I mean.

On "Faith Night" at the ballpark, that was probably what was needed most as the visitors stormed past the now 2nd place Orioles. People in town are losing faith, no pun intended.

It was another listless effort from recently acquired Trevor Rogers, who got battered by a Nationals team that is mostly going through the motions at this point in the campaign. That was the main storyline, of course, but it was far from the only one.

The Orioles are also listless at the plate these days, particularly in the power department. Maybe Anthony Santander has been praying a lot more than the others, because he's still producing home records on a regular basis. Others, though, are not.

Since the All-Star break, now a month ago in the rear view mirror, these three players have one home run each: Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle.

Juan Soto hit three home runs last night in Chicago. The aforementioned three "power hitting" O's have three, combined, in the last four weeks.

Talk about losing faith, huh?

Gunnar is a regular at chapel. If I'm him, I'm asking the guys to gather 'round this afternoon and ask God for a little extra something-something. This is getting ridiculous.

Their actual hitting numbers aren't terrible, mind you. Henderson went 0-for-5 last night and is still hitting .287 and getting on base at a .372 clip.

Rutschman is hitting .269, although his on-base-percentage of .335 is a smidgen under what you'd like to see from a guy with that batting average.

And Mountcastle is right where you figure he'd be, at .272, but his OBP is definitely low at .311.

But it's the home runs and the "big hits" that are alluding those three, although in fairness to Mountcastle he did have one of the team's 3 RBI last night in the loss to DC.

There's a scene in the great movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance" where Matt Damon's character is sitting in the locker room after shooting 12 over par in the first round of a big tournament and Bobby Jones walks past him in the locker room, pats him on the back and says, simply, "It'll come."

In the golf world, that's all you say to someone who is struggling. "It's in there somewhere" is what you're basically saying to them.

I feel like that's the message for Gunnar, Adley and Mountcastle.

"It'll come."

There are times to press and times to relax. Perhaps the three of them are in one of those times where they're pressing too much and not relaxing nearly enough. I don't know. I'm not a baseball player. But I see numbers, like everyone else, and I know they're not good, at least not when it comes to power, that is.

And if pressing and/or relaxing doesn't work, those three can always try prayer. I know for a fact that works.

Oh, and speaking of numbers and pressing and things not working, Trevor Rogers is, so far, showing an eerie resemblance to Jack Flaherty 2023.

It's not pretty.

The southpaw was once again unproductive last night, allowing 9 base runners in 5 innings of work and giving up 5 earned runs along the way.

His 2-11 record is mostly a by-product of toiling with a lousy Marlins team for the first four months of the season, but his performance in Baltimore hasn't really improved all that much; 20 hits allowed in 14.1 innings of work, to go with surrendering 12 earned and walking as many guys (12) as he has struck out in orange and black.

In fairness to Jack Flaherty, I'm not even sure he was that bad a year ago.

People around town are comparing Rogers to the erstwhile Oriole lefty Cole Irvin and it's an incredibly fair comparison. Again, if we're calling it like it is --- you might even want Irvin over Rogers.

And don't forget, the Birds had to give up two relatively-decent prospects to get him from Miami, although neither Stowers or Norby are doing anything even close to "positive" in South Florida thus far.

But if Rogers was acquired to be a big time contributor to the O's 2024 post-season run, that effort, thus far, has been a collosal swing and miss. He's allowed 12 earned runs in 14 innings of work. There's no way to sugarcoat those kind of numbers. They're bad.

Maybe he needs to pray more, too.

As far as the fan base goes, faith in this edition of the O's is definitely starting to waver. And while it's true that fans have a tendency to move with the team as the wind blows, the warning signs are there for everyone to see. Some people tend to put more stock in them than perhaps they should and others are definitely guilty of ignoring them, pointing to the marathon nature of the season and saying, "It'll come."

Me?

I'm more in the "It'll come" camp, for sure, but I also know we're into mid-August now and when the dust settles in another six weeks, it's likely that two or three games are going to separate the division winner from the runner up. Every game counts, of course, which is why a win squandered in April or May is just as critical as one squandered in August or September, but we're getting to the point now where the stakes are high and people need to produce.

If nothing else, though, it's a lot more fun than what we saw in Baltimore for the better part of 20 years, which was none of the games in August and September mattering one bit to the Orioles.

Keep the faith.

That's probably the best message from Tuesday night.

In every way possible.

Faith, after all, is the answer.

Tuesday August 13, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3644

what happened to going with your gut?

#DMD reader Kyle Pressler reached out with an interesting question on Monday in the aftermath of the O's 2-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday and the plethora of dialogue here on Monday with readers bashing Hyde and defending him.

Kyle didn't specify his age in the e-mail, so I have no way of knowing if he's a 20-something who happens to be old school or a 50-something who hasn't merged with the times.

But here's his full e-mail nonetheless. You can chew on it, like I did, and opine in whatever way you want below.

Drew, I've been following baseball for a long time. I'm a die hard O's fan. Lived through the bad years before Buck and then the downfall that led to Elias and Hyde arriving. I go to 20 games a year and recently went to the road games in Texas and Miami. Brandon Hyde is baseball's version of Mark Turgeon at Maryland. He has absolutely zero feel for the game while it's going on. I have no doubt he prepares well, puts the best lineup out there he can on any given day or night and I believe he is probably popular with the players in the locker room. But in the game, he's completely clueless, just like Turgeon used to be at College Park. After every game, he talks about "the numbers" and "the data" and shoves that down our throat as his reason for doing everything. Just once I would like to hear him say, "I know the numbers said we shouldn't let Cowser hit there, but I just had a funny feeling he was going to come through for us and he did thankfully." Instead all we ever get are numbers and stats and computer talk. Whatever happened to going with your gut, Drew?

"Going with your gut."

That's an interesting concept indeed. And, it's true, "going with your gut" is probably a thing of the past in today's ultra-computerized world of high level amateur and professional sports.

And it's also worth noting that I'm not exactly sure when we know Brandon Hyde is using an instinct or using the data he has at his disposal. I mean, how do we know?

Maybe his gut told him to continue pitching Albert Suarez on Sunday but the books said get him out and turn the game over to Cionel Perez. Or perhaps his gut told him to pitch Craig Kimbrel in the 8th inning and the data said "absolutely NO Kimbrel in this situation."

I have no way of knowing when Hyde's gut speaks to him and when it doesn't.

But one easy answer to Kyle's question is the most obvious one: "Going with your gut" is also never a 100% guarantee that your decision or move will be the right one. "Gut feelings" fail, too.

Now, I don't have a lot of fancy, computer generated data at my disposal, but I've definitely made a number of Calvert Hall golf lineup decisions based on a "gut feeling" I had about a player against a certain school or at a certain course.

Two years in a row, in fact, I played two different players at Rolling Road against Mount Saint Joseph specifically because I had a gut feeling they would play the course well, even though neither of them were "regulars" in my lineup. And wouldn't you know it, on both occasions they came through with huge putts and holes down the stretch to help us win.

I'm sure my players wondered if I'd lost my mind when I announced the lineup the day before, but I fortunately got vindicated by both of the new guys I inserted into the lineup. I'd be fibbing if I said I wasn't worried about their potential performance(s). But I also had thought long and hard about the decision to play them at Rolling Road and basically convinced myself I was right before the match started.

I've been wrong on other "gut" player decisions, too, of course.

Back in 1996 when I was running the indoor soccer team in town, I let my gut tell me that former San Diego Sockers star Branko Segota would be a good fit for our team in the '96-97 season, particularly because the league at the time was seeing about 30% of the goals scored on "set pieces" (dead ball situations) and I knew Segota was a master at those.

What Segota wasn't a master of, unfortunately, was staying healthy. A swollen knee this week, a strained hamstring next week, turf toe after that. It was always something. He had flashes of the "old Segota" during the season, but by and large he was a disappointment and I spent a considerable amount of money on him only to find out my gut feeling was wrong.

But back to Brandon Hyde and baseball.

I would say, thinking about Kyle's e-mail a lot on Monday, that "gut feelings" are probably more useful in baseball than in any other sport.

I don't know why I think that, even. Maybe it's just the pedestrian nature of the games and how there's a lot of time spent just standing around and thinking things through.

Football is a whirlwind. It's fast and furious, there are all kinds of coaches and coordinators yapping on the internal communications system and it's probably hard to "find your gut" while the game is going on.

The same with basketball.

But baseball, I think, lends itself to "gut feelings", because they can develop throughout the game.

"If we can get this thing to the 7th inning tonight and it's close and they bring in a left handed pitcher, I have a weird feeling Jorge Mateo might get us going with a hit and a stolen base."

On the whole, Mateo might be the 2nd or 3rd best non-playing right handed "hitter" on the bench in that given game, but Hyde would just have a feeling -- along, perhaps, with some stats to support his move.

I don't know when this sea change occurred in baseball, but it's probably a decade old by now. A batter can go 0-for-4 in the game but the TV guys prattle on about silly stuff like "exit velocity" and "batting average on balls in play" and other stuff that has no bearing on the fact the guy has been up four times and hasn't produced a base hit.

It's fair to point out, of course, that the Orioles are one of 30 teams in Major League Baseball who uses advanced data and statistics the way you use gasoline in your automobile.

"Metrics" tell the story these days. The reason they've become all the rage isn't necessarily because they've made players all that much better. They've simply made predicting what a player might do in any given situation a little easier to forecast.

You can produce any kind of data or statistics you want on, say, Austin Slater, but nothing you can show me will change the fact that he's a lousy hitter.

He has 25 hits in 120 plate appearances this season. His batting average is .208. I don't care how hard you hit the ball or how far you hit it on the off-chance you connect with it. What I care about is you're going to get 2 hits every 10 times you record an at bat.

That's lousy.

His on base percentage of .327 isn't anything to write home about, either. But when you're hitting .208, your OBP is going to be in the .320/.330 range and that's about it.

So when Brandon Hyde inserts Austin Slater into the game, is he doing so because the stats tell him that or he has a "gut feeling" that Slater might actually, contrary to logic, produce a hit in that at bat?

I don't know the answer to that.

But my own gut feeling tells me that Hyde, like most managers, probably over-relies on data, either because he himself believes in it or he's instructed to believe in it by his boss, Mike Elias.

Elias, of course, is a strategist of the higher order when it comes to putting weight on measureable statistics and advanced metrics. He and others of his ilk will tell you that, over time, the data almost always wins.

So if the data says this, right now, is the moment to pull Jackson Holliday and insert Austin Slater, you simply disregard whatever your gut might be whispering to you and Slater gets his at bat.

There are managers, of course, who will fight the system. "Statistics be damned," they'd say. "Slater is not a better hitter than Holliday, no matter who is pitching, what inning it is or how many men are on base." I don't think Brandon Hyde is that kind of manager, though.

So, yes, some managers would go with their gut in that situation. And I'm probably in the camp of the "gut" manager more than the "stats" manager, if you want the truth.

But I also understand the value of the advanced statistics that are being used in all sports these days, not just baseball.

Right handed golfers, for instance, are far more likely to miss a green from the left rough than the right rough. That's not me saying that or claiming it to be a "gut feeling". The data that the PGA Tour has kept for the better part of the last seven seasons confirms it.

So if you're looking to use that data to your advantage, the best way to do it is take the left side out of play on your tee shots, either by playing a left-to-right ball flight off the tee or aiming more down the right side if your tendency is to hit it straight or a little bit right to left.

If you're in the fairway, all good. If you miss it in the right rough, that's still better -- data wise -- than missing it in the left rough.

No gut feelings needed in that case.

I don't think I disagree with Kyle on the whole. Hyde doesn't seem to go with his gut very much. Or, at the very least, he doesn't have a "feel for the game" that allows for more use of his instincts than the statistics he's provided before every game.

All that said, I don't think Brandon Hyde is a terrible manager.

I think he's a manager of the times, though.

Whether that fits with your personal preference is up to you. In the end, it always comes down to results. If the team wins, the manager doesn't really matter anyway. He's not going to get much of the credit for the wins, but will always get more than his fair share of the blame after losses.

That theory -- wins are created by the players, losses are created by the manager (coach) -- has been a central theme in sports for a long, long time.

And there aren't any statistics or advanced metrics that will change that theory anytime soon.

A few folks reached out to me via e-mail and social media asking for my take on Matt Kuchar and the stunt he pulled on Sunday/Monday at the Wyndham Championship.

For those unaware of the story, Kuchar, with NO chance to win the tournament and NO chance to make the FedEx Cup playoffs, declined to play the final hole of the tournament on Sunday in Greensboro, NC due to darkness and, instead, opted to return on Monday morning to play the 18th hole.

Everyone else in the field finished the tournament on Sunday. Kuchar was the only player to opt out of the last hole when darkness set it at roughly 8:30 pm.

He could have played the 18th hole in the same general darkness that others did, of course. Kuchar would have then finished on Sunday night like they did. Instead, he hit his tee shot on #18 in the darkness and then informed TOUR officials he would return on Monday to conclude his round.

First, it's important to note that Kuchar apologized on Monday afternoon.

He knew it was a bush league move to make course and TOUR officials return on Monday to oversee the 9 minutes of actual golf he played en route to a closing par.

But he knew that after the fact.

Had he been smart about it on Sunday, an apology wouldn't have been necessary.

That said, had the eventual winner -- Aaron Rai -- and a few others in the final couple of groups on Sunday played at a more reasonable, "professional" pace, Kuchar would have finished on Sunday. In the daylight, no less.

It might not be the most reasonable of excuses ever crafted, but it's also the truth. The PGA Tour has a pace of play problem, particularly on courses like Sedgefield CC in Greensboro that have difficult greens. Mix that with the playoffs looming and players vying for a spot in the 3-tournament-post-season-money grab in Sunday's final round of the Wyndham and you have rounds of 5 hours-plus.

In the end, what happened was more about "who" did it than "what happened".

Kuchar, you might know, is a mercurial personality. No one familiar with the world of golf was actually surprised at the stunt he pulled on Sunday night. He definitely marches to the beat of his own drummer.

In the grand scheme of things, what happened on Sunday and Monday was a colossal nothing burger. A player, seeking to potentially make another $100,000 (with a birdie) or lose another $60,000 (with a bogey), opted to return in the daylight and play the final hole of his golf tournament.

Give me one hole to win $100,000 and I'd like to do it in the daylight, for sure, even if I've won almost $60 million in my career.

That it was Kuchar was the story.

If it would have been Cink, Rose, Matsuyama or Day, I can't imagine the outcry and social media outrage would have been that loud and long.

But Kuchar has been a convenient whipping boy for a while now, including a few years back when he won $1.5 million at an event in Mexico and gave his caddie the $5,000 payment he promised him before the tournament started.

A year or so later he whined about an embedded-ball-that-wasn't and pitched such a fit that two rules officials finally came out and told him to pipe down and play golf.

Matt Kuchar just isn't a popular TOUR player. While he might not be generally disliked, he's also not generally liked, if that makes sense.

But my "take" is pretty simple. He apologized. He thought about it overnight. He showed up on Monday and was the only guy there and looked around and said, "Well, aren't I a horse's ass?"

And he apologized.

What more do we want from him? Perhaps he'll donate a piece of his prize money to a local charity or something similar to that. And if he does, that would be a nice gesture indeed.

But in the end, it was a bad decision and Kuchar eventually figured that out for himself.

On we go to the playoffs.

Well, Kuchar isn't going. Which is one of the reasons why what happened on Monday was so weird in the first place.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to win a second straight A.L. East title.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 3-3

Season Record: 70-49

AL East Standing: 1st (tied with NYY)

Player of the Week: Albert Suarez 11.2 IP 0R 6H 3BB 11K

The Orioles managed to tread water this week, going a disappointing 3-3 against trade deadline sellers Toronto and Tampa Bay. The .500 week was good enough to keep them tied for the AL East lead as the Yankees similarly went 3-3 against the Angles and Rangers.

They are not only tied for the AL East lead, but the best record in the entire league, after becoming the first team to reach 70 wins on Saturday.

The week started with more bad injury news for the O’s as starter Grayson Rodriguez was scratched just before his start on Tuesday and later went on the IL with a lat strain. In addition, Jacob Webb went to the IL as well with a mild elbow injury. The good news is both are expected back before the end of the season, but the Orioles will have to continue to search for answers down the stretch without two more key pitchers.

Albert Suarez was the last minute replacement for Rodriguez on Monday and once again answered the call exceptionally, tossing five shutout innings. A Jackson Holliday homer in the sixth broke a scoreless tie but the Blue Jays then rallied in the bottom of the inning, as new acquisition Gregory Soto once again struggled to even get an out, surrendering four runs en route to a 5-2 loss.

The Birds bounced back with a 7-3 win on Wednesday led by two homers from Anthony Santander and another from Holliday. Trevor Rogers produced a decent outing, limiting Toronto to only two earned runs despite surrendering seven hits and two walks. The bullpen was better in this one, as Burch Smith, Yennier Cano, Cionel Perez and Seranthony Dominguez combined for four shutout innings to close out the win.

Dean Kremer had a second rough start in a row in the finale with the Jays, giving up five runs in just over four innings of work. Keegan Akin failed to stop the bleeding out of the bullpen as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued to terrorize the Orioles with three hits and four RBI. The O’s rallied in the 9th to cut the lead down to one but couldn’t get over the line and fell 7-6.

From Toronto the O’s traveled to Tampa Bay for another three game set with a division rival. They got off on the right foot down in Florida thanks to a masterful start from Zach Eflin against his former team. Eflin threw seven shutout innings, striking out seven while allowing just four hits and one walk. Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins each homered to provide the bulk of the offense alongside Eloy Jimenez who registered three hits in the 4-1 win.

The team followed that win with another strong offensive showing on Saturday. Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle powered a 1st inning rally, driving in three runs between them to stake Corbin Burnes to a lead. Burnes pitched four no-hit innings before unraveling a bit in the 5th, but still finished with another quality start.

Jackson Holliday belted his third homer of the week to extend the lead but the Rays managed to come back and tie the game. It was Ramon Urias who broke the tie with a two-run homer in the 8th inning before Dominguez came on to close the game out and earn the save in a 7-5 win.

The Birds were unable to complete the sweep at the Trop on Sunday despite a second strong outing from Suarez. After shutting down the Rays for 6.2 innings, Suarez was pulled by Hyde and Cionel Perez came on to get the final out of the inning.

That move proved to be the deciding factor in the game as Perez quickly gave up two hits and surrendered the 1-0 lead that a Santander homer had built. Kimbrel then came out the following inning and walked three batters before allowing the eventual winning run in a 2-1 loss.

As Drew discussed yesterday, the pitching changes were not the only questionable decisions from the manager this week. Earlier in the Toronto series Hyde took some heat for pinch hitting Coby Mayo and Austin Slater for two of the teams hottest hitters, Cowser and Holliday. Those moves did not work out in the eventual 5-2 loss.

At times Hyde has seemed overly reliant on lefty/righty matchups for pinch hitting, ignoring the actual players involved or whether their specific stats support the decision. It's certainly hard to see two of your best hitters removed for guys struggling just to get the “matchup advantage”, especially when Holliday blasts a homer off a lefty later in the week.

However, in Hyde’s defense, the O’s pinch hitters have largely been effective this season. I can’t find the exact stat but saw it posted earlier in the week that the Orioles have one of the highest pinch-hitting averages in the league this season. So it's hard to argue against that, except maybe hoping that Hyde could have a little better “gut feel” in those situations, which is not easy to quantify.

The decision to remove Suarez on Sunday was the most questionable of the week. The guy had given you 11.2 innings of shutout ball this week and the bullpen has been shaky at best. Cionel Perez was coming off a poor showing as well, so while Suarez was already past his max pitches and innings in any start this year, there was good reason to trust him to get one more out. Perhaps the team has some data or saw something the fans couldn’t, but that one in particular was puzzling.

The move to Kimbrel in the next inning was somewhat unavoidable. I’ll discuss a bit more in the Question of the Week section, but to some degree the poor bullpen management is just down to not having enough reliable arms.

If Kimbrel is going to be on your roster, you have to be willing to use him in some tough spots because Cano and Dominguez can’t pitch every inning.

Albert Suarez made the Player of the Week award simple with his outing on Sunday. Plucked from the bullpen for an emergency start on Tuesday, he delivered more than the team could have hoped with almost twelve shutout innings.

Unfortunately the bullpen squandered both starts, but that's not his fault. Suarez wasn’t just lucky either, limiting the Jays and Rays to just six hits and three walks while striking out eleven. If they can get efforts like that even just two out of three turns from Suarez then it will go a long way to keeping them in the division race until Grayson Rodriguez returns.

Honorable mentions go to Colton Cowser, who continued his hot hitting for most of the week before taking an 0-5 on Sunday and Jackson Holliday, who only had three hits, but they were all important home runs. Also, have to mention Zach Eflin, who dominated his former team and thus far has looked like a deadline steal.

Down on the Farm –

The injury to Grayson Rodriguez creates a renewed interest in some of the arms down at Norfolk. Pitching prospects Chayce McDermott, Cade Povich, and Brandon Young are the only currently active AAA prospects anywhere close to helping the O’s with Mayo and Holliday with the big league team and Heston Kjerstad on the IL with a concussion.

The bad news is that McDermott was also placed on the IL this week with a shoulder injury that will likely keep him out for at least several weeks. So that leaves Povich and Young. Povich was less than impressive in his last few outings for the Orioles. He was a little better for Norfolk on Saturday, though not exceptional. Povich made it through seven innings but allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks and had just three strikeouts.

Young fared better in his start on Thursday, allowing just two runs in six innings while striking out four and walking three. He may be the next to get an opportunity if Dean Kremer or Trevor Rogers continue to flail.

There was better news at AA Bowie, where the O’s top remaining prospect continued to excel. Samuel Basallo batted .455 on the week against Harrisburg, with a hit in five of the six games. Basallo has been red hot in August, with a 1.230 OPS in the month. Based on his bat alone, he looks ready for a promotion to Norfolk, however the front office may give him the rest of the season at Bowie as he works on his defense at catcher.

His teammate, 23 year old outfield prospect Jud Fabian, also had a strong week, reaching base at a .565 rate with two doubles, a homer and six RBI. Fabian has a .971 OPS in August and is tied for the Eastern League home run lead with 17.

Question of the Week –

Can the pitching staff hold up down the stretch?

Last week brought more attrition to the Orioles pitching staff with news that Grayson Rodriguez and Jacob Webb were both heading to the injured list. The blow was softened a bit later in the week when Mike Elias said both are expected back before the end of the regular season, but the timeline, especially for Rodriguez, isn’t clear.

Given the current state of the Orioles rotation, any time missed by Rodriguez will be critical, as it was already thin from the injuries to Kyle Bradish and John Means.

Thankfully Albert Suarez gave them two strong starts this week and proved he may be able to prop up the staff in the near term. That still leaves two starts out of every five coming from Dean Kremer and Trevor Rogers, who have both been subpar this season.

The acquisition of Zach Eflin is looking even more vital now, as the team is relying on quality starts from him and Corbin Burnes to keep them afloat. After those two the O’s will have to hope they can get one or two decent starts out of the back end of the rotation each time through, otherwise the offense will need to carry the load.

As mentioned above, Brandon Young or Cade Povich could become options if one of the backend options can’t right the ship. Aside from tha, there really isn’t anywhere else to turn with the trade deadline past. Maybe the Orioles can unlock something in Rogers to make him more effective down the stretch.

It's certainly worked for most of the season for Suarez, but there are also the counterexamples of Jack Flaherty last year and Cole Irivin over the past two years. If Rodriguez can’t return until September he will likely miss five or six more starts, so someone will need to step up as the O’s battle the Yankees in a tight division race.

The other issue is that the bullpen doesn’t look much better right now, in fact it may be in a worse state than the rotation. At least the rotation has two reliable arms. Currently in the bullpen there is Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano and after that not a lot of guys you trust.

While fans have questioned some of Hyde’s recent bullpen management, the main problem is just a lack of quality arms.

Dominguez stepping into the closer role solves one problem, but Kimbrel now looks shaky no matter the situation. He’s been a streaky pitcher the last few years so you have to hope the veteran can figure it out. Cionel Perez is similarly streaky, mixing stretches of dominance with periods where he can’t find the strike zone.

Yennier Cano is still a reliable option, if not the lock down reliever he was early last year. Beyond that, Burch Smith has looked serviceable recently, but the loss of Jacob Webb hurts immensely, as he was perhaps the best reliever on the team this year.

The Gregory Soto experiment threatens to tank the team’s division hopes if it doesn’t turn around quickly. One or two more disastrous outings may see him sent off the roster. Keegan Akin is the only other lefty in the pen and though he had a solid July, he was hit hard in his last appearance and doesn’t have the electric stuff you like to see in the back end of the bullpen

The Rodriguez injury forcing Suarez back to the rotation robbed the bullpen of a potential power arm and/or long reliever, which could require them to bring back Cole Irvin. Perhaps it's one of the Norfolk arms that gets a chance to prove it at the big league level. Though many of the top pitching prospects have the same issue of limiting walks, which is hard to work out at the big league level.

At this point it’s anyone’s guess how it will shake out.

The good news is Webb’s injury did not sound serious and he may be back sooner than later. The bullpen can also expect Danny Coulombe back before the end of the season, who was one of the team’s better relievers before his injury. Similar to the rotation, they are going to need some guys to find the right tweaks and step their game up in the meantime in order to bridge the gap.

One last positive for the Orioles division hopes is that the Yankees are having pitching problems of their own.

After looking unhittable to start the season, their closer Clay Holmes has fallen off a cliff and their rotation has been horrendous since the start of July, with a 5.59 starter ERA. Gerrit Cole hasn’t been his usually dominant self since returning from injury (though his last two starts were good), Nestor Cortes has been downright awful since July, and Carlos Rodon has been inconsistent. Their deadline acquisition, Mark Leiter Jr., has given up four earned runs in his 6.2 innings since joining the team.

All this means is that the Orioles have some leeway to figure things out, but they can’t afford to have two or three lousy starts per week or to continue to waste strong outings from Burnes, Eflin or Suarez due to bullpen malfunctions. We’ll see if Hyde and Elias can find enough answers to toe the line until the returns of Rodriguez, Webb, and Coulombe.

Monday August 12, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3643

pressure starting to build

Our intrepid #DMD writer, Randy Morgan, was on vacation last week and just returned home late on Sunday. His regular Orioles week in review that generally appears here on Monday will instead be provided to you on Tuesday this week.

That means I get the (unfortunate) benefit/task of raking Brandon Hyde over the coals this morning. I was hoping Randy was going to do it and I could address other things.

Alas, it's on me to do it.

If I'm being honest, it's starting to get tiring. I'll offer this qualifier right out of the gate, as I always do: Hyde does plenty of good things in the dugout. The baseball team he manages has a league high 70 wins on the season. If he were a complete boob and a senseless leader of men, I don't think the Orioles would be a 70-win team at this stage of the campaign.

That said, his in-game decisions of late are starting to rankle even his most ardent supporters. Sunday's 2-1 loss at Tampa Bay was (mostly) squarely on his shoulders.

Yes, the O's only scored one run.

The players have to do their part as well.

But you'll have days and nights like that, where the other team's pitchers try, too, and you have to figure out how to get your team into the win column when you're clinging to a 1-0 lead througut the bulk of the game.

Hyde again made several puzzling in-game decisions on Sunday that contributed to his pitching staff frittering away that 1-0 advantage and turning it into a frustrating 2-1 loss.

And the internet roasted him in the aftermath. My e-mail inbox and cell phone had six messages afterwards and none of them said, "I hope you take it easy on the manager tomorrow at Drew's Morning Dish."

Rob wrote to me: "How much longer are you going to defend that clown of a manager? Please get this guy out of here in the next year or two before we squander our window for titles. Doesn't M. Elias see Hyde is a joke?"

Joe wrote: "I hope you take Hyde to task (tomorrow) on his use of Perez the last two days. He got lucky on Saturday when he inexplicably took Cano out after two soft hits and Perez immediately walked two guys in a row and then today (Sunday) he has a whole bullpen to use and he brings him back out and promptly gives up the tying run. I worry about Hyde in a close playoff game."

Alex wrote: "Please shoot Brandon Hyde to the sun. Like, right now. He has now cost the Orioles seven (yes, seven, Drew) games this sesason with his idiotic management of the bullpen. I know you'll say, "Who are they going to hire?" and the answer is, "I don't know, but he has to be better than this bumbling fool that we have now." O's aren't winning anything with him managing the team."

Phil wrote: "Kimbrel again? Is Hyde a secret agent for the Yankees? You pull Suarez for no reason and the lead immediately disappears and then you go with Kimbrel? Kimbrel? FIRE THIS MAN. Now."

I'd go on but there's no need.

And I'd also defend Brandon Hyde, because I think that's fair, but I know there's no real need for that, either.

Because on this occasion, the angst towards him is generally well aimed.

Yesterday was another occasion where he pulled the strings and they weren't the right ones to pull.

Most baseball people call it "over managing".

And I do understand it's August and the season is wearing on people and sometimes you go to a guy like Perez yesterday because you're just hoping he can get you an out or two in a critical situation and then you can breathe a sigh of relief and move on.

Or perhaps you have the same philosophy with Kimbrel that I have with six foot putts that I can't make in a round of golf: I just keep telling myself, "You can't miss them all."

When Hyde called the bullpen and told them to get Kimbrel up and ready for the 9th inning, I'm sure he was thinking to himself, "The guy can't squander every game he pitches."

Kimbrel walked three batters and then surrendered the eventual game-winning run via a sacrifice fly in that 8th inning.

When it rains, it pours.

In (moderate) defense of Hyde, he made the decision a few weeks back to remove Kimbrel from the closer's role. He was, at least, smart enough to do that.

But putting him into yesterday's game was a recipe for disaster.

And it's now starting to become a common theme for Brandon Hyde as the calendar moves in the direction of September and (more) meaningful games that will potentially decide the team's fate in 2024.

The moves he makes are just as prone to failing as they are succeeding. No manager will be perfect, of course, but you can't make 5 bad moves and 5 good moves. Your senses have to be better than that.

Now, the only real evaluator that matters is Mike Elias. If he thinks Hyde's doing a fine job, all's well that ends well.

But a pretty big portion of the fan base is starting to question Hyde's ability to skipper the club effectively. I know that doesn't really matter, but it is a thing, at the very least.

And there's more fun to come this week, don't worry.

I wanted to quickly touch on something that I wrote about here yesterday and make a comment on something "Mike" contributed in the comments section.

I answered a question about a 105.7 radio personality and talked about the internet vitriol he encounters on a regular basis.

Mike replied with this: Seriously? "People will type or write awful things and there's no recourse or accountability for it"???? This is EXACTLY what loser JLC does! The "internet vitriol" is 100% reactive based on JLC's persistent profane critiques of the Orioles. To say it is "unprofessional" does not do justice to how childish and immature that guy's tweets are. If it is not a "bit" to pretend he is SAS or Cowherd (which means vitriol is what he wants), then the guy needs some counseling. If he was a random dude on X, no problem, but the guy represents 105.7 does he not? Unreal that the station is ok with his shtick.

I just want to say this and it will be the last comment I make on it.

When you feel a need to respond to someone on the internet by bringing up their weight, their looks, their wife or their family, you've gone from "reacting to someone" to "internet vitriol".

I'm not saying Mike does that. I have no idea. But responding to someone on the internet with a commentary about their weight or appearance is "vitriol". And it's not only unnecessary, it's very unproductive.

For kicks (and research purposes), I went back and looked at ten tweets from that radio personality from this past weekend. EVERY tweet I saw (and I know he had more than 10) contained at least one ugly reference to his weight, his appearance, his family, etc.

Every tweet contained replies that included foul language, vulgar terms and so on.

I don't think anyone, including the 105.7 personality, asks for "vitriol". They might want discourse. And they might be OK with that discourse getting heated, even.

But what doesn't come with the territory is having your weight or appearance brought up. Or your wife and kids.

I wrote here a while back that the biggest problem in our country these days isn't politics or Donald Trump or the stock market crashing or any of the other "issues" that we encounter on a daily basis in the United States.

Our biggest problem is that we no longer know how to disagree. We simply can't do it. There used to be an "art" to debate. Now, if we disagree with you, the only method of discourse we know is to simply crush you with personal attacks, vendettas and "ghosting" you.

We can't have civil discourse. We've lost our ability to disagree, somehow. I don't know when it happened, exactly, but it's been building up for a decade or more at this point.

And the 105.7 situation is a perfect example of that.

The radio personality says the general manager made a mistake by not adding better players at the trade deadline and the response from people (who claim to be reasonably intelligent) is to poke at him for his weight or use a slur of some sort.

That's "vitriol". And it's uncool.

And we should be better than that, as a country and as human beings.

Alas, we aren't.

So I'll just task you with it: Be better yourself. In whatever way you can. That, I think, will help in the long run.

Sunday August 11, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3642

just keep stacking those wins

If they gave style points for last night's 7-5 win over Tampa Bay, the O's wouldn't have received many.

It wasn't the prettiest of wins.

But it was a win nonetheless, and the O's became the first team in the majors to reach 70 wins with their second straight victory at The Trop.

Things got hairy in the 9th inning when Seranthony Dominguez put a runner on, but Cedric Mullins made a legitimately nice catch to seal the win for the visitors.

I write "legitimately nice catch" because our TV guys tend to over dramatize any catch in the outfield where someone's legs are moving. Mullins' grab was a good one. Worthy of gushing over, even, particularly when it helped preserve a victory.

Corbin Burnes was staked to an early 4-0 lead last night and cruised into the 5th inning with a no-hitter intact, but he eventually fizzled out and it was 4-4 late before a big 2-run dinger from Ramon Urias turned out to be the difference.

In a pleasing twist, Urias misplayed a ball earlier in the game that helped the Rays rebound from that 4-0 deficit. It should have been ruled an error, but in typical scorekeeper's fashion, home cooking prevailed and a hit was awarded. Maddening stuff.

Jackson Holliday hit yet another home run. And, buckle up for this one, sports fans, it came against a left handed pitcher, even. You'll remember in a recent game in Toronto that the rookie was lifted in a late-game situation because of the dreaded "lefty/lefty" match-up. No such move was required last night in St. Petersburg.

And while we're discussing hitters getting lifted in late game situations, it's worth noting here that Brandon Hyde -- who got lathered by the fans for those decisions in Toronto -- eschewed pinch hitting for Urias in the 8th inning last night when he had a rested Eloy Jimenez sitting next to him on the bench.

Hyde gave Urias the go-ahead to hit and he did just that, with a long home run to put the Birds up, 6-4.

Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make, right skipper?

Gunnar Henderson broke out of a weeklong slump with a nice 3-for-5 night at the plate. Those 3-for-5 numbers were duplicated by both Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle.

Holliday went 1-for-4 to raise his average to .171. I know, I know...an average of .171 is terrible. I get it. But the kid is hitting like Rod Carew since his return to the big leagues two weeks ago. Give him time, he'll be above .200 in another few days.

I wouldn't go as far as saying Burnes' start was "disappointing". He did, after all, carry a no-hitter into the 5th inning. But when you're given a 4-0 lead and you're facing one of the lightest hitting teams in the American League, you should be able to put that one away with ease.

Alas, it wasn't easy.

Nor was it particularly "pretty".

But it went into the "W" column, again, and the Birds have a shot at the weekend sweep later today when Albert Suarez takes the mound.

The beer has been pretty cold all summer here in The Land of Pleasant Living. Let's keep it on ice.

---

On we go to the maibox for a bunch of stacked up mail that needs to be answered.

Ramey asks -- "Two weeks into the Olympics, Drew, I wondering what your overall impression has been? Favorable? Not favorable?"

DF says -- "I haven't watched much of it. If it was a pizza, I had "turned off" slices pertaining to the opening ceremonies, the gender-controversy in boxing, the goofy sports they included (break dancing, wacky kayaking) and the real sports (baseball, softball) they didn't include and the time difference where we already sorta-kinda knew the results before the events were televised.

But I did get into the golf, obviously, and thought that was great theater. I also enjoyed the women's soccer and the team handball, plus some of the swimming. I watched the last half of the men's gold medal basketball game yesterday. That was the only occasion at all I watched either men's or women's basketball.

If I'm guessing, I watched a total of about 8 hours of the Olympics NOT including the golf."

Conway asks -- "Kind of a personal question but I think your readers would like to know. Do you have any kind of regular communication with the various hosts on 105.7? I know you're aware of the internet vitriol against Jason La Canfora. What advice would you give to him?"

DF says -- "Other than some occasional texts with Jeremy, I don't talk to any of the hosts. Not because I don't want to or anything like that. I'm just not in communication with them. I know them all. They're good guys. I think they all do a good job. I'm just a part-time guy there with a golf show.

My advice to Jason? Don't read the internet. I'm kidding, sort of. But the internet is a very dangerous place because people will type or write awful things and there's no recourse or accountability for it.

I realize he's in a polarizing spot in that half the people like what he says and half the people don't. Internet trolling comes with the territory, unfortunately. I hope he's handling it well."

Brad asks -- My 14 year old son has just picked up golf this summer after 6 or 7 years in baseball. He hits it off the tee about 200 yards. Is that considered long for a 14 year old? And his last 18 hole score was 111. I know that's high but how many 14 year olds are able to break 100 regularly do you think?"

DF says -- "It's tough to answer these questions without knowing your son's size, because for most junior golfers, their length off the tee is directly connected to their height and their wing span.

And there's no answer for the other question. There are lots of 14 year olds who can't shoot 111. But I have 14 years in my Calvert Hall program who shoot 75 or 80 routinely. It's all about experience. If your son picked up golf this summer and he's shooting a "real" 111 (no mulligans, all putts holed, etc.) and he's only hitting his tee shots 200 yards, I'd say that's a pretty good start for him.

Don't put a lot of stock in his scores. Just let him enjoy the sport and get better along the way."

Cameron asks -- "Help settle a friendly bet between friends regarding golf. What sport best connects with the ability to have a good golf swing? Baseball or Hockey? Thanks, Drew. And Go Hall."

DF says -- "How about neither of them? The best sport for replicating the golf swing is definitely tennis. The movement of the body and swinging of the racquet is incredibly similar to golf. The body is closed to the target, the racquet is moved behind the body, the body then opens up as the racquet lags behind. It's very similar to golf.

I also think bowling has some similarities as well. Golf, as I always tell juniors, is an "aim" sport. Bowling is the very definition of an aim sport as well. So is darts. Bowling has a similar "release pattern" to a golf swing.

If you've never had a golf club in your hand in your life but you're a good tennis player or a good bowler, I believe you have the inherent ability to be a good golfer."

Mark asks -- "How much pre-season football do you think Lamar should play?"

DF says -- "I mean, I guess the real answer is "absolutely none", but perhaps he wants to play a few quarters just to get the speed of the game down again.

There's nothing worse than a "regular" player getting hurt in a meaningless preseason game and missing "real" games in September, October and so forth.

And I'm not trying to denigrate these guys when I say this, but if Andrews, Stanley or Flowers gets hurt in a preseason game, the Ravens season isn't "over" just because they'll miss some time. If Lamar gets hurt and he's out for 6 weeks, I don't think the Ravens can recover from that."

Will asks -- "I have an honest question and thought maybe you could give some insight at The Dish. Melanie Newman has never improved in the three years she's been broadcasting Orioles baseball. She was terrible when she started and she's still terrible now. Do the on-air announcers get any kind of feedback or training from the organization during the season? In other words, are they evaluated and do they listen to their own work for improvements?"

DF says -- "I don't have any idea. My guess is they don't get any kind of formal "guidance" during the season. They're professional broadcasters, after all. Other than last year when Kevin Brown got suspended (or, if you will, decided to take a 2-week vacation in the middle of the season, LOL), I can't ever remember an Orioles broadcaster being openly evaluated by the organization in the season.

Something obviously happened to Gary Thorne (the best TV broadcaster in franchise history, period) and we all know Jon Miller was terminated for failing to "bleed orange and black". But in terms of in season evaluations and "here's what we think you can do better", I doubt very seriously the club does that.

Newman, by the way, reportedly got into hot water last year for not wearing the right shirt or something like that in Philadelphia. I don't remember the exact details, but it somehow tied into Kevin Brown's "vacation" if I remember correctly.

I don't find Newman's work to be all that great on the air, but, if I'm being honest, I don't know that I find Brown's work all that great, either. Too much of a homer for me."

Alan Drovey asks -- "I'm a longtime Rush fan like you and was wondering what your five favorite songs are? I loved your column earlier this week where you discreetly hid all of the songs. I think I counted 25!!"

DF says -- "I thought there were 26. But maybe you're right. Maybe it was 25. Picking five favorite Rush songs is hard. I know what my #1 is because it's been #1 for a long time. It's funny, because with Bruce Springsteen, my favorites from him are some of his more obscure songs. Whereas with Rush, I think most of my favorites are the ones everyone knows.

OK, here goes: #5 is "Finding My Way". #4 is "Spirit of the Radio". #3 is "Limelight". #2 is "Red Barchetta". And #1 is also from the "Moving Pictures" album. I'll include it below so you can get your morning Rush fix, how's that?"

Saturday August 10, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3641

more splash = more cash

OK, Brian, Ed, Kathleen, Trex, Dave, Anthony, Jonathan, Rich, Lisa and Ben. This one's for you.

Those 10 #DMD readers reached out to me on Friday with complaints about their Orioles season ticket program(s) -- better known as "Birdland Membership" -- for the 2025 campaign.

The times.....they are a changin'.

Let me start by saying this: The trick the Orioles pulled on Friday would have infuriated me beyond belief 15 years ago when, in another life, I was on the radio five days a week and forced to talk about them.

Now?

Given a new ownership group and their ability to parlay a winning team into leverage with the fan base, I find it predictable.

And, in some ways, even "sensibly predictable", if such a term actually exists.

I say this about the Ravens all the time when they raise prices after another winning season. If you can't raise the cost of doing business when you're doing things well, when can you do it?

The difference between the Ravens and Orioles is massive, of course. The Ravens are a perennial title contender and have delivered two Super Bowl trophies to Baltimore in 25 years.

The Orioles haven't been to a World Series since 1983 and have just recently become relevant again in Baltimore after 20 or so years of toiling at the bottom of baseball, notwithstanding those '12, '14 and '16 seasons.

For years -- decades, really -- the city of Baltimore begged for new baseball owners.

And, now, they have a new ownership group.

It's early and the jury is still firmly out on what David Rubenstein and his business partners will do with the franchise. We got what we wanted, after all. Let's see how it all unfolds, I say.

So you're not going to find me jumping up and down and screaming like Kevin Bacon in Footloose over what the O's announced yesterday. Do I find it disappointing? Sure. Unfair? Yes. But my blood isn't boiling over it.

In case you're in the dark, here's the nuts and bolts of the news that was distributed on Friday.

Prices are going up. Benefits are being removed.

There you go.

Not earth shattering, right? Some levels of season ticket plans are going up by $200 or so. Some are going up by $500 or more.

Ticket exchange policies have been changed to make it more difficult to "piece together" a plan that fits your own individual lifestyle schedule.

Beer and concession discounts have been reduced or, in some cases, removed in their entirety.

Prices are going up. Benefits are being removed.

And people are not happy.

I don't know where to start with this, but let's state the obvious.

The timing of the announcement was intentional. VERY intentional, in fact.

Ben's e-mail to me said, "Why do they do this now, in the middle of the season? Why not wait until the off-sesason to spring this on us?"

Of course they're going to announce it now. The team is in first place. They're likely going to make the post-season again. Why wait to take advantage of the team's good play when you can capitalize on it now?

And, heaven forbid, what if the O's flatline(d) in September and somehow missed the playoffs and the organization waited until November to announce these changes to the season ticket programs?

So, the smart thing to do is announce it now. Waiting until November? Not smart.

Announcing it on a Friday is also the oldest PR trick in the book, except that chapter was torn out about 10 years ago when Twitter became all the rage.

Teams and organizations used to announce bad news on Friday because people tuned out of the news over the weekend and tried to enjoy themselves for 48 hours. So if you had something disconcerting to release, you did it on Friday right around 3 pm.

The Friday news dump is no more, though. Anything that gets announced gets pushed out to the masses right away. It used to be a fun little trick. Not so much these days.

But here's the thing I can't wrap my head around. The new ownership group took over in March. They couldn't even make it to Labor Day before they started gouging the very group of people who stood behind the franchise the most over the last decade or more.

I'm rattled by that more than anything.

There are thousands of people in the community who put up their money year after year while the team was an embarrassment and you can't even wait one full year before you stick them with a red hot poker? Shameful. Absolutely shameful.

I guess maybe the new owners thought funny internet skits, dancing on the dugout and squirting people in the bleachers with a fire hose would curry enough favor for them that raising prices and reducing benefits would be offset by their fandom.

Those things never felt genuine to me in the first place. Now, they all make a lot more sense.

But what does it say about an organization who lost 100 games year after year after year and couldn't draw 10,000 fans on a weeknight or 20,000 on a weekend that they couldn't wait for the first opportunity to upcharge the baseball fans who stuck by them while they were a national laughingstock?

It's bad form. Period.

But it's predictable. Senisbly predictable, even.

The fans always get taxed.

It's like the scene in Training Day when Denzel Washington orders the hit on his pot-selling friend -- Roger -- so they can "tax him" and steal a bunch of his money to help pay off one of Alonzo's debts.

No one is above getting taxed, even by your buddies. In this case, by the guy who bought your section a beer, threw out Orioles hats and squirted you with a hose after an Anthony Santander home run.

And here you thought this ownership group might be different, huh?

Moving the goalposts on the season ticket holders is beyond ballsy. You're basically saying to them, "You're not going to dump your tickets. Not now, when the franchise might be on the verge of a World Series trip or two in the near future. We know it. And you know it."

Lisa had her plan changed to the extent that World Series tickets are no longer going to be available to her "level" of committment.

I mean, what other reason would you own season tickets in this day and age? There are really only about ten games a year that matter: Opening day and however many home playoff games your team plays. Why on earth would you punish your most valued customers by removing or reducing their access to the only games they care about?

"Either pay more money to move up a level" or take your chances when the rest of the great unwashed gets to log on and see that spinning wheel that tells them they're "in the room" and waiting to be selected.

That's some kind of special thank you for years of watching the team lose 9-2 to the Red Sox in front of 24,300 in Baltimore, 14,300 of which were there for the weekend in dark blue cheering for Boston.

"Hey, we might make the World Series soon but unfortunately you can't buy tickets to those games because you don't spend enough money with us." How delightful.

The Orioles -- according to experts on the internet -- generated $264 million in revenue in 2023. They spent $71 million on baseball players last season.

That, of course, was under the Angelos ownership group. Those numbers sorta-kinda no longer matter.

This year, they're projected to generate $280 million in revenue and their player payroll, now 25th in the league, is $103 million.

You don't have to do a lot of math to know the ballclub is making a lot of money.

And that's OK. They're a business. They're allowed to make a profit.

But shafting the season ticket holders should be the LAST thing they do. If they want to raise game-by-game individual tickets by 20% next season and leverage you and I into considering a ticket plan of some kind, I see the logic there. It's like buying an airline ticket. If you wait until the last minute to buy it, you pay the highest price. I get it.

Sticking the ticket plan buyers with more of the responsibility to help you make a profit is an awful way to treat people.

Here's a novel idea: Sell more advertising in the stadium. Oh, here's a good one: Sell more TV ads instead of making us watch the same four we see night in and night out for Sarasota, Southwest Airlines and whatever the other two are. Tell your sales folks to get out there and sell more and earn their keep instead of taxing the fans.

And please spare me the whole "Someone has to pay for the contract extensions for guys like Gunnar, Adley, Westburg, et al." It's true, yes. Someone does have to pay for them: The owner and the organization.

Hoodwinking the season ticket holders into doing it is not cool.

Ticket revenue is a slice of the team's pie, of course, but in the grand scheme of things it's a nothing burger. The club will do an estimated $50 million in ticket sales in 2024. If you bump the ticket packages up and reduce the benefits, how much more can you make, really? Another $5 million or so?

$5 million won't pay for Gunnar's house in four or five years. Who cares about $5 million?

One of the reduced benefits is the removal of beer from certain packages. Do you know how much a beer actually costs the Orioles? We're not talking about what they would get if you bought one. How much is an actual beer that they give away costing them? About 70 cents, that's how much.

You're worried about giving someone who attends 29 games a year (at an average price of $25.00 per-ticket) $21.00 worth of beer? Come on Scrooge, pick another fight.

Oh, and we haven't even mentioned the $600 million golden parachute in the form of free money for stadium improvements and upgrades. Actually, we won't mention those. Promise.

Jonathan is irked about the uniform advertising and the double-dip of raising his Birdland membership by $500 and taking away pre-game access and some of his ticket exchange privileges.

"They just slapped me in the face," he wrote yesterday. "Seven years as a plan holder and they slapped me in the face and said, 'Thanks for nothing.'"

"And they put those stupid patches on their uniforms and look like race car drivers in the process," he added.

I'll defend them on the T. Rowe Price patch. That's actually the very party who should be paying the freight. Take their $10 million and give it to Westburg or Adley. I'm all for that. Put four patches on the uniform for all I care.

But upcharging the fans is a rotten maneuver. It's dirty pool, especially when you just bought the team in the spring and can't even get to football season before you start taxing the poor.

I expected more from this ownership group.

Then again, you might remember, I was one of those in town who told you to relax and let things play out before you celebrated someone else owning the team other than Peter G. Angelos.

The grass is always greener...

Until it isn't.

All that said, you'd have to be naive to not think this was always going to happen.

If you're shocked by it, you haven't been paying attention to how sports organizations work.

You fund their fun for them, whether by buying tickets, jerseys or watching the games on television.

It really is that simple.

Friday August 9, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3640

did you pray for rain?

A few years ago I was working at a golf camp and as part of our daily morning routine, we did what we call a "popcorn prayer" where everyone in the camp got to quickly pray for something as we stood around in a large circle.

Most of the prayers were personal; "I'd like to pray for my grandmother Irene, she's not feeling well." Or, "My brother Eric broke his leg skateboarding and has to get surgery today. I'd like to pray for him."

One of the young girls in the camp said, "Please God, give us great weather this week at camp!"

Immediately a couple of other campers agreed. "Yes," the next camper said. "God, please keep us safe and, please God, NO THUNDERSTORMS while we're here at camp!"

At least four or five of the campers prayed for good weather.

On Wednesday of camp week, it started raining at 11 am and didn't stop until 3 pm. And it didn't just "rain". It was one of those crazy four-hour downpours. The camp retired to our indoor facility and we did plenty of golf stuff inside, but our day on the course was shelved due to the rain.

As we sat around at the end of the day and shared our daily devotionals together, one of the girls from earlier in the week said, "Coach Drew, I guess God wasn't listening to us earlier in the week when we asked for great weather until Thursday."

I said to her, "Oh, no, Katie, He heard you. Loud and clear. And He was thankful you took time to pray to him.

But you know who else prayed to him on Monday? The farmers here in Central Pennsylvania. They hadn't had rain in 33 days and their crops were dying.

So on Monday while you were praying for it not to rain, there were hundreds and hundreds of farmers in this area praying for God to provide rain for their crops."

Katie smiled and said, "Well, they needed it to rain more than I didn't need to rain, I guess."

So that begs this morning's question.

Which one of you out there prayed for rain earlier this week?

So that loss in Toronto got interesting last night, but in the end it still goes in the "L" column after the O's fell to the Blue Jays, 7-6.

It was 7-2 heading into the 9th inning before the battlin' Birds rallied for a 4-spot and had Anthony Santander at the plate with a runner on and 2 outs.

Alas, there was no magic in Santander's bat and the Birds lost 2 of 3 to the lowly Blue Jays.

There was magic in the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., though, as the Toronto slugger came within a single of the cycle, with 3 hits and 4 RBI on the night.

O's skipper Brandon Hyde was again in the internet crosshairs for pitching to Vlad Jr. twice in consecutive innings instead of walking him, but at some point pitchers need to get batters out, don't they? I realize Hyde is low hanging fruit this week because he's whiffed more times than Chris Davis during a 2017 homestand, but let's get someone out, huh boys?

Hyde also got raked over the coals for having Ryan O'Hearn in right field. And that debate, I guess, might have some meat on it. O'Hearn couldn't come down with a ball hit by Vlad Jr. in the 6th inning that resulted in a triple and the eventual game-winning run for the Blue Jays.

That said, O'Hearn playing right field was one of the by products of Hyde's biggest challenge these days, namely, getting playing time for everybody. With Kevin Gausman on the mound for the Blue Jays, Hyde wanted to get O'Hearn's left handed bat in the lineup, along with Cedric Mullins as well. That decision meant Santander moves to DH, Eloy Jimenez sits on the bench, and O'Hearn has to go to right field because you can't have Mountcastle's bat in the dugout against Toronto.

O'Hearn is a good, professional baseball player. He's also not a right fielder.

And, because Hyde is in the middle of Murphy's Law Week, the only thing he didn't need was for O'Hearn to make a miscue in the outfield.

The ball hit over his head wasn't an "error", per se, but it was a ball that nearly all competent outfielders haul in.

When it rains, it pours. Who prayed for rain, again?

Jackson Holliday had one of those forgettable rookie games that comes along once in a while, as he went 0-for-4 at the plate and looked shaky defensively on several occasions, including a throwing error in the 7-6 loss.

There was good news for the Orioles last night, though.

The Yankees lost to the Angels in New York, 9-4.

So it wasn't all bad for the Birds, who now head to Tampa Bay for a weekend series with the Rays, who are 58-56 and starting to face "must win" territory in almost every series they play if they hope to get into the playoff race in September.

Zach Eflin will get to face his old teammates tonight and Corbin Burnes will go for the O's in Tampa Bay on Saturday. That smells like two quick wins to me.

Series sweep? I'm praying for it.

As the Olympics start to wind down, there was yet another gender controversy on Thursday and it happened during the women's shot put competition.

Raven Saunders, an American, identifies as "non-binary" and uses they/them pronouns, according to the official Olympics media guide.

During Thursday's competition, one of the TV announcers said about Saunders, who had missed time earlier in 2024 with an injury, "It's good to have her back."

That, of course, was a very natural comment to make since Saunders was competing in the female shot put division.

But the announcer was quickly corrected by a fellow broadcaster: "They are actually non-binary."

And that, of course, led to a natural internet uproar: If "they" aren't a female, why are they in the female division of the Olympics?.

It is confusing, truth be told.

But it's also a common issue in 2024, worldwide.

Defenders of Saunders explained it like this: The female category in the Olympics is designed to include all females by birth, regardless of their identity, and it excludes male athletes, which eliminates any sort of competitive advantage.

Those objecting to Saunders' inclusion in the female division state the obvious: Saunders doesn't claim to be a female.

I guess we're splitting hairs on this one, but in this case, in my opinion, Saunders is a female and, to me, has the right to compete in the female division. What she considers herself is her business. But if she has not gone through any sort of medical transition from female to male, she is a female.

Ms. Saunders can claim she's a turtle for all I care. But she's a female. And, so, competing in the Olympics as a female is acceptable to me. Your mileage may vary on it.

faith in sports

With Steph Curry's dramatic 36 point effort in yesterday's thrilling U.S. basketball win over Serbia, we thought we'd honor the future Hall of Famer here today with one of our favorite "Faith in Sports" videos ever.

Curry is filled with faith and great basketball talent, of course. But in this 10-minute video below, you'll hear how he has combined those two in his illustrious career.

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

Thursday August 8, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3639

baseball is.....hard

Jackson Holliday learned his lesson the hard way back in April when he arrived in the big leagues for the first time.

He got humbled.

When he returned last month and was apparently a different player the second time around, the former #1 pick admitted that his first go-around taught him something.

"I think I thought it would be easy when I first came up," he said recently. "It was the exact opposite."

To his credit, Holliday has taken the second trip to the big leagues much more seriously and it's paying off in a big way. His two-run homer last night paved the way for an O's 7-3 win in Toronto.

That lesson he learned earlier in the season isn't something you can talk about with rookies or make them understand unless they actually experience it. Like any sport or skill, baseball is about "doing".

Coby Mayo is finding that out himself over the last week. Big league baseball is different than AA or AAA baseball. It's like comparing the varsity to junior varsity.

He's 0-for-13 at the plate thus far with 8 strikeouts, including two more last night. To say he looks overmatched at the plate would be an understatement. He looks -- wait for it -- almost exactly like Jackson Holliday looked back in April when he came up and experienced his own whiff-a-thon night after night.

But Mayo doesn't just look overwhelmed at the plate. He is a borderline detriment at third base, which isn't all on him because the only reason he's there in the first place is because of Jordan Westburg's injury.

Prior to his call-up, Mayo was working out at first base and has also spent some Triple A practice time in the outfield. Because he can hit -- I know it doesn't look like he can, but trust me, he can -- the Orioles will have to find a defensive spot for him that gets his bat in the lineup every day. It's not going to be third base, though.

Meanwhile, remember, the Birds are locked in a playoff chase with the Yankees and, on the fringes, the Red Sox as well. How much longer they can keep putting Mayo out there remains to be seen, but the Birds recently signed free agent third baseman J.D. Davis to a minor league and will have him at the ready if Mayo continues to struggle.

If Davis is eventually moved to Baltimore, that would mean -- barring an infielder injury -- either Mayo returns to the minors or Ramon Urias gets DFA'd. I most certainly don't have a direct connection to Mike Elias, but I'd be surprised if they cut the versatile Urias loose this late in the season.

It might be different if Mayo was hitting .230 and had a few homers to speak of, but he's at 0, 0, 0, 0, 0. He does have two walks and a run scored, for those who find those things important for whatever reason.

As Mayo tore up the minors this summer, Oriole fans shredded Elias and his staff for not recalling him from Norfolk.

There were media members in town who also took the O's GM to task for his decision to leave Mayo at AAA.

A week or so into his first big league stint, it's fairly obvious: Mayo wasn't ready.

He wasn't ready with the bat or the glove.

And that's not to poke holes in the armor of Mike Elias, either. He was pretty much out of options, no pun intended, and Mayo had done so much at the minor league level that it was almost malpractice to not give him a shot in the majors.

But Mayo has proved the point Jackson Holliday made recently when he admitted his first trip to the majors was an eye-opener.

Just because you hit the cover off the ball in the minors doesn't mean the same thing is going to happen in the big leagues.

Coming up and going 0-for-13, 2-for-20 and 4-for-32 is part of the necessary routine that all "kids" have to endure before they settle into their big league routine. It sounds weird to say this, I guess, but you almost secretly want them to scuffle for two or three weeks when they first come up.

You want a player to realize how difficult it is in the majors. It might be great for the short term if they're promoted and they go 8-for-13 and look like the next coming of Ty Cobb, but that might not be what's best for them in the long haul.

Jackson Holliday is proving that point all too well right now.

He's back for his second stint and he looks more than capable this time around. If you just flew in from Pluto and watched him play the last six games against Cleveland and Toronto, you'd think he he's been in the majors for two or three years instead of two or three months.

I have no doubt that Coby Mayo will be an excellent big league baseball player.

He just needs to find the right spot in the field and learn the most valuable lesson of them all, as tough as that might be for a while: Baseball is hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would be able to do it.

To the mailbox we go for some more Q&A from #DMD readers.

BR asks: "So, Drew, what do you make of (Jason) LaCanfora apologizing on the air to Mike Elias (Wednesday) today? Did that come from the station or the Orioles?"

DF says -- "I honestly didn't know what you were talking about so I had to do a little bit of research. I have no idea what happened there, but perhaps it came from Jason himself. Maybe he simply realized some of his social media and on-air criticisms had gone over the line.

I doubt very seriously if the station or the company asked him to apologize. Maybe the Orioles did as part of the "deal" to get Elias on the air, since 105.7 is not the flagship station and an appearance by the team's GM would almoost assuredly irritate the folks at WBAL/Hearst.

But I don't know that and I have no reason to suspect it, either. That said, only one of three things happened. Either the station suggested it, the Orioles asked for it or Jason himself simply realized it was the right thing to do.

I'll go with the last option. I think Jason knows he was too harsh on a GM who pretty much turned the entire course of the organization around over the last six seasons."

Eric asks -- "I stumbled on a women's golf tournament today on TV (Wednesday) and saw a score of "3&2" on the screen and I don't understand how golf scoring works so can you enlighten me? I thought the scoring was like 70, 72, 74, etc. Thanks!"

DF says: "I'm guessing you found the U.S. Women's Amateur, which is a match play event. If a match ends 3&2, that means the winner was 3 holes ahead with 2 holes remaining.

It might be better said "3 with 2" instead of "3 and 2", but it's the same either way. The winner was 3 holes ahead with only 17 and 18 to play, so she couldn't be tied. The match ends...3 and 2."

Scott Prinky asks -- "Other than the Capitals beating the Flyers in Game 7 of the playoffs, what is your one dream scenario of a local team beating their rival in the playoffs? O's over Yankees? O's over Red Sox? Ravens over Steelers? Ravens over Chiefs? Is there one I missed? Thanks! Love the Dish!"

DF says -- "You left one out. Calvert Hall over St. Paul's in golf. But we'll get to that one some other time when I feel like sharing all of the stories. This is a good question, though, Scott.

I would probably go with the Orioles beating the Yankees, if I could create one scenario myself. O's trail in the ALCS, 3-games-to-1. Game 5 is in Baltimore and it's 4-2 New York in the bottom of the 9th.

The Birds magically score three in their final at bat to stave off elimination and win, 5-4.

In Game 6 in New York, the Yankees lead 2-0 in the top of the 8th before Baltimore scores 3 runs to go up 3-2. New York scores a run in the bottom of the 8th to tie it at 3-3. And then the O's get a run in the 9th and hold on to win there, 4-3.

The next night, again in New York, the Birds score 6 runs in the first inning off of Nestor Cortes, tack on 3 more in the 4th inning, and win 11-1 in a laugher.

That would be just as good as winning the World Series to me. The Yankees have two chances to clinch in Game 5 and 6 and can't do it, then have to sit through a 3-hour blowout in their own stadium in Game 7.

One can dream, right?"

Casey asks -- "Do you see the Ravens having any real weaknesses this season?"

DF says -- "Sure. I don't think they're going to flat-out "stink" at any one position, but I still think pass rush is always a concern for them, particularly with two guys like Oweh and Ojabo who haven't come close to being standout players in that spot.

And I know we're all giddy about Derrick Henry at running back, but there's a smidgen of a chance -- maybe more, actually -- that he's on the downside of his stellar career and might not be anything close to the guy we saw in Nashville. If that's the case, then what? Justice Hill? Keaton Mitchell? Can you really win the Super Bowl with those guys as your primary running backs?

Oh, and let's not forget about the wide receivers. They have Zay Flowers. He's good. They have Rashod Bateman. He's hurt. And they have.....they have......ummmmmm.....oh right, Nelson Agholor, who was actually pretty decent a year ago. My point? It's the Ravens. Wide receiver is always a potential belly flop for them.

So, sure, there are potential weak spots for the Ravens. There always are. But I hear they have a guy at quarterback who can help patch those up."

Wednesday August 7, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3638

not the skipper's best night

Gather around if you're one who is prone to picking on the manager.

It's that day of the week again.

Now, there are going to be goofs here today who get offended at the mere thought of challenging a "professional manager" like Brandon Hyde. But they're the same people who howl at the moon when Todd Monken doesn't run the ball enough or John Harbaugh throws a challenge flag that backfires on him.

And I'll remind all of the critics of Hyde that the O's are 67-47, not 47-67.

But.......last night was a weird one for the manager.

It was one of those "when it rains, it pours" occasions, where almost everything he did either didn't work out or just plain backfired in his face.

He didn't lose the game all on his own last night. Let's make sure we're clear on that one. Hyde didn't pitch in the 6th inning and get smacked around like The Brooklyn Brawler. That was Gregory Soto. And Hyde didn't come up in the 8th inning with the bases loaded and fail to deliver a big hit, that was Austin Slater and Coby Mayo.

But Hyde put those guys in. And even though Slater managed to coax a walk in his plate appearance -- that base on balls actually plated the team's 2nd and final run -- there's no telling what Jackson Holliday might have done in that spot. Maybe he would have struck out. Or perhaps he would have laced a 3-run double down the right field line to make it 5-4.

What we do know is this: Hyde -- perhaps following along with the data he's handed before every game that details his team's performance against opposing pitchers -- decided to pinch hit for the team's hottest hitter (Holliday) and a guy with a 17-game hitting streak (Cowser) when a big hit there could have changed the entire inning and game.

I'm a dummy just like you and your Uncle Ned but I would rather have Jackson Holliday bat than Austin Slater and I'd rather have Colton Cowser bat than Coby Mayo. And if the argument is, "They don't hit lefties very well", perhaps it's because Holliday and Cowser don't get enough chances to hit lefties in the first place.

Or maybe Hyde misread his pre-game info sheet. Slater, the guy who pinch hit for Holliday, is hitting a robust .193 against southpaws in 100 plate appearances this season.

Oh, and even better, Cowser is actually OK against lefties. So that move was even more puzzling, particularly with Mayo having a grand total of -- checks notes -- ZERO career hits.

How are guys like Holliday and Cowser going to get better and build confidence if they're yanked when the bases are loaded and the game is on the line? They're in the major leagues for a reason. Let them go up there and swing away and let's see what comes of it.

Instead, two guys with as many hits as The Wallflowers get inserted into the game there and nothing (really) comes of it.

Now, if Slater rips a 2-run single into the gap and Mayo knocks in two more with a double of his own, Hyde's a genius and we're looking for something else to whine about.

Alas, there was no 2-run single or 2-run double. Hyde's moves didn't work.

And it was also Hyde who removed some guy named Burch Smith, who actually looked sharp in the 6th inning, and replaced him with Gregory Soto, the recently acquired southpaw from Philadelphia. Soto got lit up like a doobie at a Dave Matthews concert, taking a 1-0 lead and turning it into a 5-1 deficit quicker than you can say, "The Flyers haven't won a Stanley Cup in 50 years."

I realize Twitter is filled with lunacy. One look at yesterday's VP announcement gave you hours of content, for example. But "Adam" sent this to me last night after the loss and it's so good and so incredibly accurate I had to post it here today:

Omg imagine if this were Harbaugh tonight. He would need a security detail to get home. The AL East may come down to 1 or 2 games. What Hyde did tonight is something you would see the Browns and Kevin Stefaski do. You say Browns are going to Browns. Well the Orioles just Orioled.

What Hyde did tonight was take out Derrick Henry on 1st and goal from the 1 and put in Keaton Mitchell and went Incomplete, Incomplete, Incomplete, Run for no gain. Harbaugh would be fired and stoned to death.

Browns gonna Browns. Orioles just Orioled. Something about that phrase makes me shudder a little, if only because I'm afraid a wee bit of it might actually be true.

But the team is 67-47, I keep reminding myself. They just need to minimize events like the one we saw on Tuesday and they'll be fine. At least until October, that is, when games like the one they gifted to the Blue Jays might leave more than just a bruise.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

You make 'em and then you live by 'em.

Last night, the ones authored by Brandon Hyde all flopped.

But who knows what tonight might bring? Hyde might make 3 or 4 similar in-game decisions that all work out. And if they do, I'll come back around here and give him his due, which is only fair.

The other bad news on Tuesday wasn't something in Brandon Hyde's control. Grayson Rodriguez was scheduled to start but couldn't get loose in his warm up session, told the pitching coach, "I don't feel right", and was pulled from the game with what was later called "lat discomfort".

Hyde didn't have much news to offer on that front after the game, using the wise line of, "He'll get it checked out and we'll go from there." Similar injuries in the past have kept pitchers -- including Rodriguez a couple of seasons ago -- out for three weeks, six weeks and, well, let's not talk about the rest of the "what if?" scenarios.

On the good news front, Albert Suarez got the emergency start and was awesome. If GrayRod can't make his next start, go ahead and give the ball to Suarez again. He earned it with that performance on short notice last night.

And if you're looking for more good news to offset skipper Hyde's whiff-of-a-night, newcomer Eloy Jimenez had one of the O's three hits on Tuesday evening and Craig Kimbrel came in for an inning of exercise and didn't give up 7 runs.

The jury is still (way) out on the trade deadline deals engineered by Mike Elias. For starters, we need to see what the pieces he acquired wind up doing and we also need to see what guys like Kjerstad, Stowers and Seth Johnson become in the Majors.

But the very early returns are simple: Eflin, Dominguez and Jimenez are hopeful contributors. Slater: probably not. Soto: doesn't look like he's going to last long. Pache: He plays for the Marlins now.

Let's hope things get turned around tonight in Canada. The Blue Jays are tossing out a Triple A lineup of sorts and are there for the taking.

Wednesday's game is one occasion when we can all say, "Let's Go Brandon" and actually really mean it.

Tuesday August 6, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3637

on to toronto they go

When the Birds landed at Toronto's international airport on Sunday evening -- YYZ is the airport's 3-letter code in case you're unaware -- they had to be feeling pretty good about their weekend in Cleveland as a whole.

The Guardians looked like world beaters on Thursday and Friday in winning the opening two games. But then the circumstances changed and it was the Orioles who looked like anything but a fly by night club while coming out on top on Saturday and Sunday.

And so, they're now in Toronto for a 3-game mid-week series that starts tonight.

Toronto...

Home of one of the greatest bands of my lifetime.

And home to a Blue Jays squad that has essentially packed it in for the rest of the 2024 campaign. They are, as the saying goes, officially out of the limelight at 51-61 and in dead last place in the A.L. East.

Yes, it's true they're no longer playing for the big money up there, and it's also true the Birds have had their way with the Blue Jays over the last couple of years. Just last week, remember, Brandon Hyde's team took 3 of 4 from Toronto in Charm City.

So while Toronto's vital signs are seemingly dangerously diminishing, it's up to the Birds to take advantage of them up there over the next three days.

In the end, anything less than 2 Baltimore wins in 3 games up north would be bad. A 3-game sweep for the O's is far more likely, I'd say. The Blue Jays winning 3 games straight over this O's team? They could probably play until 2112 and not sweep this edition of the Orioles.

What will be interesting is to see how the team's newcomers continue to fit in on this road trip. Sure, we've all been thinking Craig Kimbrel is the enemy within, but you have to like what you've seen thus from Seranthony Dominguez, who closed out Sunday's win in Cleveland with an efficient 9th inning performance that looked almost second nature to him.

And how about Eloy Jimenez, who seems to have found new life in Baltimore? He looks driven. Like a guy in search of everyday glory, you might say. He went from being on a team with 27 wins in four months to a team that will win probably 27 games between now and the end of September.

And let's not forget Zach Eflin, who has pitched well in both of his Baltimore starts thus far and might just have the secret touch the O's need for a sweet miracle in October.

The Orioles mission from here until the end of the campaign is clear, I'd say. Beat up on the teams like Toronto, Tampa Bay and Washington (their next 8 games in total) and then hang on and fight like the devil against Boston, the Mets, Houston and the L.A. Dodgers to close out the month.

Over these next 22 games, starting tonight, a mark of 14-8 for the Birds would be more than suitable. 15-7? Awesome. 16-6 would start the countdown towards another A.L. East crown with one month left in the regular season.

I realize baseball is a marathon. 6 months. 162 games. But along the way you have moments where you try to make time stand still. Seeing the new kids like Gunnar, Colton and, now, Mayo doing their thing out there helps the most ardent O's fan get rid of those scars left by awful teams in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

As for the Yankees? I wish them well. They get to feast on some lousy teams too over the next couple of weeks, but I still think they're in limbo moving forward because of the injury bug that always seems to hit them at the worst time.

When it's all said and done, the O's will win out because of their chemistry and bravado. I don't want to rush to judgement, but I'll just cut to the chase and say it. Baltimore is still the team to beat in the A.L. East.

On to the mailbag we go for some Q&A with #DMD readers. As always, if you have a question you'd like me to answer here, send it along to: 18inarow@gmail.com

Rick J. asks -- "I know you focus a lot on the Orioles during baseball season but I'm curious how you think the Ravens are going to do in 2024? Another playoff berth? Super Bowl?"

DF says -- "I'll be around with my formal pre-season picks before Labor Day, but I think the Ravens are going to once again be the team to beat in the AFC North.

The other 3 teams are easy to read.

Cincinnatil will be decent as long as Joe Burrow stays healthy but their defense isn't going to be any good and there's a 50% chance, at least, that Burrow misses at least four games with an injury of some sort. I see Cincy as a 9 or 10 win team, max.

Cleveland will be Cleveland. Like always. Defensively they're solid. Offensively they're a crap shoot. I'm not sold on Deshaun Watson at all. They'll be just like the Bengals, I'm guessing. They'll fight and scrap to win 9 or 10 games.

And the Steelers will be the Steelers again, meaning they have zero business winning 9 games and being a playoff contender but that's what will happen. They don't have a "real" quarterback, which is why they can't possibly win more than 9 games. Their defense is shaky. And scoring points on the road will once again be a problem for them. They have a way better chance of only winning 8 games than they do of winning 10 games, I'd say.

The Ravens, if they stay healthy at quarterback, should cruise control their way to at least 11 wins. And I just can't see any other team in the division being able to go 11-6. I'm figuring this Ravens team is a 12-5 club that could finish 11-6 or 13-4. But I'm thinking 12-5 is the ultimate number, with a 4-2 record in the division and other losses to the Cowboys, Bills and Texans."

Mark Corcoran asks -- "Are you for or against re-signing Corbin Burnes this off-season if the rumored price tag of $350 million for 6 years is the real number?"

DF says -- "That's easy. Against. I think he's an awesome pitcher, don't get me wrong. And I know I'll sound like Peter Angelos when I say (write) this, but it's partially true. Why give a dude who only plays 34 times a season $60 million (ish) when you can give that same money (basically) to a guy who plays 150 games?

I know you need starting pitching. I get it. But I'm just not shelling out $60 million (or even $50 million) for a starting pitcher.

I'd much prefer to hold that money for the inevitable Brinks Truck drop-off at the homes of guys like Gunnar, Adley and Jordan Westburg.

In all honesty, I even think, looking ahead, like there's a possibility the Orioles won't resign Adley when his rookie deal is up. I think they're going to have give Gunnar one of the biggest deals in MLB history to keep him and by the time Westburg is a free agent he'll be a $35 million a year guy, at least.

So, no, I'm not in favor of retaining Burnes at $360 million for 6 years. That's a hard pass, in fact. Love him. But I'll miss him."

J.J. asks -- "What's a fair number of major golf championships a player has to win in this day and age to be considered one of the all-time greats to ever play the game?"

DF says -- "Hmmmm, that's a great question. I mean, Phil has six, which is the most of any active player other than Tiger, obviously.

And while I think six is clearly a significant number of majors, it's also fair to point out that Phil coughed up 3 or 4 others along the way.

He could have ten.

Rory could very easily have six or even eight by now. He only has four.

Anyway, the answer to your question is: Eight.

There's a subset of greatness, if you will, that is probably more like 3. A lot of guys have won 2 majors. I don't want to say "anyone can do it", but Andy North, Zach Johnson and Lee Janzen each won two of them. I think you get my point.

Winning 3 takes you to another level. Nick Price won 3. Vijay Singh won 3. Padraig Harrington won 3. Payne Stewart won 3. It's hard to win 2, sure. But it's really hard to win 3 or more.

Now, back to your question. How many majors do you have to win to be a truly historic, iconic figure in golf?

Tom Watson won 8. Arnold Palmer won 7. Lee Trevino won 6.

Those three are iconic players in the history of golf.

Five -- which is what Brooks Koepka has currently -- puts you right on the cusp of being an all-time great, historic golfer.

Here's the deal: Eight is one more than Palmer. That, I think, is very significant.

So there's your answer.

Of the current group of players, the only guys with a "real" chance at eight are Rory and Scheffler and I just don't see Rory overcoming the failures he's endured to win four more before his time is up. I do think Rory will win at least one more, maybe even two, but it also wouldn't shock me if he finishes with 4.

Scheffler, I believe, will win at least 6. He could also win 8. Let's see how he does over the next 5 years. He has 20 chances in that time. Can he win 4 of them? That would be a lot. But I think he can do it."

Ed Crisp asks -- "I've been a Morning Dish reader for probably 5 or 6 years now and I've never seen you make an official comment on why you dislike The Beatles so much. Care to explain one day for those of us who don't know?"

DF says -- "I think what they did for music and the explosion of English groups here in the U.S. was awesome. I don't argue that they were a very influential band. Donna Summer was also very influential. So, too, was Nirvana. Influence doesn't necessarily connect with greatness.

I've always thought the Beatles music was boring. I never really liked "pop" music all that much anyway, so it just never really appealed to me. Contrary to what people here think, I don't "hate" them. They have a couple of good songs. But I've always found their sound to be boring.

To each his own. I've never owned a single Grateful Dead album, but I have lots of friends who love, love, love them. I am a huge Dave Matthews Band fan and a lot of my friends think they stink.

The Beatles, to me, were simply overhyped. They came along at the right time and were the new thing in town. They remind me of a Keurig machine. In the end, it's just coffee."

Monday August 5, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3636

discussion ended

I'll let Randy Morgan handle the heavy lifting from the O's week that was in his column below. But yesterday's 9-5 triumph over the Guardians was, I think, more significant than we realize.

I have no idea how the entire season is going to play out for Brandon Hyde's team but if they go on to do great things in October, an honest guy in the locker room might point to a pair of weekend wins in Cleveland way back in early August as a key 24 hour period in the team's campaign.

They went from getting roasted two straight nights by Cleveland to holding their own with the Guardians in their ballpark and, at the same time, seeing the fruits of two deadline acquisitions rise to the occasion. Zach Eflin was solid on Saturday and Eloy Jimenez enjoyed a productive weekend at the plate.

When I wrote about Jimenez's arrival last week, I considered the move "puzzling" given that I wasn't sure where he'd fit into the lineup and how many at bats Hyde could get for him over the last two months of the season. But I also noted that nothing beats a fresh start and perhaps that's what the former White Sox slugger needed to once again become one of the A.L.'s more feared hitters.

If Hyde can fit him in, is there a chance that Jimenez is this team's version of Delmon Young circa 2014? One never knows.

Randy handles everything else in his weekly review below. I just wanted to point out a couple of things on my end.

Those two wins in Cleveland over the weekend shouldn't be looked at as "normal" wins. They were bigger than most, I believe.

And seeing Eflin and Jimenez shine in their new uniform is a positive sign, albeit only in a brief spell.

Now if we can just get Coby Mayo to get a hit, right?

Prior to the start of the Olympic golf competition, the only real storyline left for the 2024 PGA Tour season was the circuit's Player of the Year award.

Would it go to Scottie Scheffler, who won the Masters in April and scattered five other huge wins over a 4-month period in the spring and early summer?

Or would it be Xander Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and British Open for his first two major victories?

Some in the golf world thought the FedEx Cup playoffs would decide the debate. Scheffler and Schauffele will enter that event in two weeks ranked 1-2 and if either of them were to go on and win the TOUR Championship, they'd get the Player of the Year award by default.

Scottie Scheffler took care of the debate yesterday in a historic way.

The discussion ended when Scheffler reeled off 6 birdies on the back nine to shoot 62 and collect the gold medal in Paris with a one-shot win over Tommy Fleetwood.

Scheffler is the Player of the Year. Done deal.

And while Scheffler was sizzling on the final day of the competition, Schauffele was careening off the leaderboard in a way reminiscent of his past. At one point on Sunday, "X" had climbed to within two shots of the lead and was one shot out of a medal when he suddenly lost his way. He tumbled all the way down to a 12-under par finish, shooting 73 on the last day and owning the distinction of being the only player in the Top 15 to not break par in the final round.

Scheffler, meanwhile, proved once again he's the best player in the world. And it's really not all that close.

Having grown up in a time when folks have tried to compare the likes of Montana to Unitas and Brady to Montana and, now, Mahomes to Brady, I understand all too well how hard it is to link generations to one another.

The inevitable comparison these days is Scottie to Tiger. And while one of those guys has 82 wins and the other has "only" 12 so far (in 3 years, basically), I'm in the camp that says the golf we've seen from Scheffler over the last 16 months is as good as the golf we saw from Tiger when he was at his zenith.

I'm not here to say Scheffler is a better player than Tiger was during the height of his career. Woods was a MUCH better putter than Scheffler has been over the bulk of his career.

But the golf, from tee to green, that Scheffler has produced since the late winter of 2023 has been everything Tiger did and, in some ways, even better.

Ben Hogan used to say putting should only count as half a shot. He said that mainly because he wasn't a great putter during certain periods of his distinguished career. But he also said that because "anyone can roll a ball into a hole from 10 feet away" but very few people can hit an iron shot from 175 yards to a back left flag to within 10 feet.

And right he was indeed.

While many say "it's a putter's game", the reality is golf is mostly about the ability to combine power with accuracy. If you're willing to remove putting from the discussion just for the sake of detailing the talents of Tiger and Scheffler, I think you could make a very valid argument that what Scheffler has done over the last 16 months is every bit of what Tiger did when he was on his best career run in the early 2000's.

Tiger was always a good driver of the golf ball and a good iron player. Scheffler is a great driver of the golf ball and a historically great iron player.

Here's a stat that is incredible. In this PGA Tour season to date (not counting the Olympics), Scheffler has had 283 occasions where he has had 20 feet or less for birdie.

The next closest guy in that category has had that same look 156 times and the third place guy has had that look 132 times.

Scheffler has had nearly twice as many putts for birdie from 20 feet and in (283) as the next two guys combined (288). There are stats that stand out and stats that EXPLODE. And that one explodes in favor of Scheffler.

Sunday's final round of the Olympics also showcased a back nine collapse by Jon Rahm, who was perhaps perplexed at having to play four rounds of golf instead of the three he routinely plays on the LIV circuit, and yet another rise-and-fall moment from Rory McIlroy, who blistered the first 13 holes with 7 birdies before dumping an innocent 150 yard wedge shot into the water to once again come up short on the big stage.

Rahm's putter was on fire on the front nine when he rattled off 5 birdies to take a 4-shot lead heading to the back nine. That same putter was ice cold over the final nine holes and a pair of short misses from inside of five feet sent the Spaniard backwards and eventually out of medal contention.

McIlroy pulled himself to within two shots of the lead at one point and stood on the 14th tee just one stroke out of a possible medal. But he somehow dumped an easy shot into the water in front of the green and wound up making a double bogey there to end his chances.

Golf Channel host and Sirius/XM contributor Gary Williams had an interesting comparison to McIlroy on his show early Sunday evening.

"It's like Rory is Charlie Brown and the sport of golf is Lucy," Williams said. "We have all been conditioned to think this is the moment Rory is finally going to kick that ball through the uprights. But then, golf pulls the ball away at the very last minute and we're left with failure and disappointment yet again."

That, I thought, was a perfect description of what we've seen from Rory over the last few years, particularly in major championships and significant events.

Something always happens.

Back in June, it was the shocking short miss from 26 inches at the 16th hole on Sunday. Then, with a possible U.S. Open playoff on his racquet, he couldn't make a tricky 4 footer from above the hole on the final green.

He was in the hunt at L.A. Country Club in June of 2023 at the U.S. Open, but badly misplayed an easy par 5 hole on the back nine to lose by a shot to Wyndham Clark.

Two years ago at the British Open, he hit all 18 greens in regulation on the final day but didn't make a birdie as Cam Smith pulled out a late win to capture the Claret Jug.

There's more, but I think you get the message.

Rory is "Rory" for most of the time and it's glorious golf to witness. But then, he slips up and misplays a hole or two that takes him from winning to being the loveable loser that he's become.

It's hard to watch because he's such a valuable part of the golf world. He deserves better. But he can't bring himself to produce it at the time he needs it most.

Scheffler, on the other hand, can and does bring his best golf to the forefront all the time.

He did it again yesterday on one of the biggest stages the world has to offer, particularly when you consider it's a once-every-four-years opportunity and no one is guaranteed a return trip to the field in Los Angeles in 2028.

Once again yesterday, we saw who the best player in golf is and, like Tiger in his heyday, it looks like Scottie Scheffler isn't going to give up that title anytime soon.

And that Player of the Yard debate? Scheffler's not giving up that award, either. The discussion ended yesterday in Paris.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 5-3

Season Record: 67-46

AL East Standing: T-1st (tied with NYY)

Player of the Week: Colton Cowser .486 OBP 2HR

So maybe the sky isn’t falling after all. The Orioles closed out the weekend strong with two wins to split the four game series with the Guardians and finish off a winning week. It was a bit of a rocky road through what was probably the most eventful week of the O’s season.

The Birds completed eight games in seven days with the doubleheader on Monday. In addition, they made a flurry of last minute acquisitions at Tuesday’s trade deadline.

That wasn’t all. The team recalled top prospect Jackson Holliday to replace the injured Jorge Mateo at second base, then proceeded to lose All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg to a broken hand that will keep him out most of the rest of year.

They responded to that by calling up the newly acquired Livan Soto, before promptly returning him to Norfolk and summoning their next top prospect, power hitting third baseman Coby Mayo.

It was quite a whirlwind.

The week started with a doubleheader at Camden Yards against the Toronto Blue Jays as they were in the midst of selling off several of their key pieces. The Orioles wasted no time, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning. Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle each went deep and Jordan Westburg pitched in three hits as the offense gave newly acquired Zach Eflin plenty of support in an 11-5 win.

They couldn’t complete the doubleheader sweep as Cade Povich struggled and received little help from his defense while surrendering six runs, three unearned, in just over four innings. Homers from Cowser and Westburg kept it close for a while but the Blue Jays pulled away for an 8-4 win.

The O’s rode solid starts from Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez to take the final two games of the series with Colton Cowser and Anthony Santander leading the offense. Though it was a fifth inning Eutaw Street grand slam that put Wednesday’s game out of reach, from the bat of newly recalled Jackson Holliday.

The Birds headed to Cleveland on Thursday for a four game series with the AL leading Guardians. The momentum from the Toronto series was lost almost immediately with Cleveland tagging newcomer Trevor Rogers for five runs in 4.1 innings. Albert Suarez fared no better back in the long man role, surrendering three more out of the bullpen as the team fell 10-3.

Dean Kremer started the following day and was let down by his defense, giving up four runs in five innings. That led to an unfortunate debut for Gregory Soto, who was lit up for four runs while recording just a single out. The offense couldn’t recover and the O’s fell 8-4.

The defensive lapses and bullpen ineptitude provided a dire outlook heading into the weekend but the team turned things around and managed to split the Cleveland series. Eflin delivered a second quality start as an Oriole while Santander, Gunnar and Holliday led the offense and Cleveland helped with some defensive miscues of their own in a 7-4 win.

On Sunday the offense picked up Corbin Burnes who ended with his worst start of the season as it spun out of control in the fifth inning, allowing Cleveland back in a game where the Birds led early.

Both Holliday and Gunnar homered to build that lead then Adley and Mountcastle came through with big hits to extend the lead after Burnes left. The bullpen was superb in this instance, throwing four shutout innings to complete the 9-5 win.

There was strong competition for this edition of Player of the Week. Anthony Santander continued to rake as his hot streak extended into August.

Tony Taters hit three homers and batted .344 on the week.

Gunnar Henderson hit a somewhat under the radar .393 on the week with a triple and his first home run since the All-Star break, though he continued to have some defensive lapses.

Jackson Holliday looks ready to make the most of his second chance in the big leagues, kicking it off with that grand slam and finishing the week batting .389 with three homers.

Ultimately though, it was Colton Cowser who took the prize. Cowser has surged in the second half and powered the offense to the tune of a .486 OBP this week, including two home runs, all while playing stellar defense in center and left field.

Down on the Farm –

There isn’t nearly as much to watch for in Norfolk with both Holliday and Mayo now in Baltimore. However there are still three intriguing pitching prospects in AAA, even if they are more likely options for next year than this. Cade Povich, Chayce McDermott and Brandon Young all have a chance to be part of the rotation next season.

Povich started this week in Baltimore, with a rough outing in the Monday doubleheader. He returned to Norfolk after that start and managed a good start on Sunday, limiting Charlotte to two runs in seven innings while striking out eight and walking only one.

McDermott and Young both had strong starts this week as well. McDermott went six innings on Tuesday, allowing just two runs on five hits with ten strikeouts and three walks. Young threw on Thursday and went five innings of one-run ball while striking out ten and walking none.

At AA Bowie, the top remaining prospect in the Orioles minor leagues continued a power surge. 19 year old Samuel Basallo went on a tear this week, batting .563 with two home runs and just three strikeouts. Basallo seems to be reaching the point where AA is no longer testing him and may be a candidate for promotion before the end of the year. He currently sports a .809 OPS and is second in the league with fifteen home runs. This all as the youngest player in the league.

Question of the Week –

Can the roster shuffling put the Orioles back on course to win the division and top the AL?

As mentioned above, the Orioles underwent a significant roster reshuffle this week. They lost both Jorge Mateo and Jordan Westburg to long term injuries that optimistically may see them return just in time for the playoffs.

They traded away veteran outfielder Austin Hays as well as newly arrived infield prospect Connor Norby and part-time outfielder Kyle Stowers. In return they have brought in starters Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers, relievers Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto, and right handed bats Eloy Jimenez and Austin Slater.

In addition to that, they have called up two of their top three prospects with infielders Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo joining the team from Norfolk.

Several of the lineups this week would have looked unrecognizable just ten days ago. Aside from Eflin, most of the trade acquisitions are more of the speculative variety than slam dunk difference makers.

Early returns have been positive for Dominguez but not so much for Rogers or Soto. The Rogers move was especially puzzling, with the Orioles appearing to greatly overpay by sending two of their Major League ready prospects out.

We’ll have to trust that Elias and Company see something in Rogers beyond the publicly available statistics and have a plan for him. Otherwise, it's hard to understand the need to bring in a starter who by all available statistics appears highly mediocre, with little upside.

The bats came alive this week to keep the Birds atop the division, but the pitching outside of the top three starters has become more of a liability recently. That has only been exacerbated by a defense which has been afflicted with a rash of errors, making every pop up feel like an adventure.

The addition of Eflin provided the upgrade the Orioles needed, giving them a third reliable starter who could start in a playoff series and solidifying a rotation that was beginning to unravel.

He appears to be one of the most impactful starting pitchers acquired at the deadline and the Orioles got him without giving up any significant prospects. However, the back end of the bullpen threatens to undo any good those top three starters provide.

Closer Craig Kimbrel has been shaky at best of late and there aren’t many lock down arms to find in the rest of the bullpen. The O’s have to hope that between Dominguez, Soto and Albert Suarez, they can find another impact arm for the late innings, but there is surely no surefire upgrade at this point.

The additions to the pitching staff may have been quickly offset by the injury to Westburg, occurring just after the trade deadline. The return of Jackson Holliday and promotion of Coby Mayo may be enough to replace the production of Westburg, but it's no certainty.

Holliday looks much more comfortable this time around, jumping out to a great start at the plate, but Mayo appears to be in an adjustment period. Neither may quite replicate the defense of Westburg either. Though, with the resurgence of both Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins, the offense should sort itself out.

The good news is that every contender is flawed at this point.

The division rival Yankees have faltered just as bad as the Orioles in recent weeks and even the NL leading Phillies have rapidly fallen back to the pack. As much as it would behoove the O’s to win the division and secure home field advantage, we know from last year that it guarantees nothing.

The Orioles remain in great position to make the playoffs, and once they're in, they have as good a chance as anyone.

At the end of the day, their season will likely come down to getting solid starts from their newly formed top three in the rotation and hoping that the bats don’t go ice cold at the wrong time and the bullpen doesn’t explode in critical moments. There are certainly reasons to doubt this team can make that run, but there are just as many to be optimistic that they can beat any team they’ll face.

Sunday August 4, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3635

a week later, how much have you watched?

Ten days ago here at #DMD, a reader asked a question that a lot of us answered in advance of the Olympic games in Paris.

"How much do you think you will watch?"

We're more than a week into the competitions now, so here I am, back again, asking the same general question: How much have you watched thus far?

I've watched very little of it, honestly. I got wrapped up in a ping pong battle between China and Taiwan one night and that was interesting. And a few days ago I watched about 30 minutes of a handball game between Egypt and France. But other than that, and a swimming race here and there, I haven't seen much from Paris.

And, no, it's not as a result of that opening ceremonies embarrassment. That has, perhaps, a little something to do with my viewing habits over the last week, but it's most certainly not the reason why I've hardly watched.

The controversy with the Algerian and Chinese boxers might also have something to do with it. Again, it's not the main reason I haven't watched, but it might be, in small part, a factor as well. I just don't understand how you have all this time over the last four years to "get it right" and you suddenly have two boxers in the competition who don't belong in their gender classification.

I scoffed last week when I saw the preview for "Break Dancing". Four years ago, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were added at the 2020 Games. I get those. Break Dancing, though, I do not. Not in the least. What's coming up in 2028, Corn Hole and Kan Jam?

I certainly don't "care" that Break Dancing is now an Olympic sport, but it also serves as a reminder to me that this competition is no longer about identifying the best athletes in the world and it's more about placating everyone who thinks their sport of choice should be included "just because".

Trap Shooting is also now an Olympic sport. Who knew?

There probably should be a place in the world for a Break Dancing competition, by the way. I don't disagree with that. But it's called a "Dancing Contest". The same goes for those games I mentioned tongue-in-cheek above. Corn Hole doesn't belong in the Olympics but there probably should be some sort of international championship. Corn Hole folks would love it.

By the way, while we're featuring games like 3x3 basketball, Skateboarding and Break Dancing as Olympic sports, here are the actual, real live sports, that we're not including in 2024: Baseball, Softball and Bowling.

Yeah, Baseball isn't an Olympic sport but Surfing and Trap Shooting are. OK, then.

And Baseball actually was in the 2020 games in Tokyo and they didn't approve it for 2024. But Break Dancing somehow got approved.

The whole thing is just weird.

As someone who appreciates that Golf is now an Olympic sport for the 4th straight year, I'm certainly OK with adding niche sports to the field. But the key word there is "sports".

Break Dancing isn't actually a sport. It's -- wait for it -- dancing.

I realize this paints the Olympics with a very broad brush and that's a dangerous thing indeed. But here goes: The competitions that feature an out-and-out "result" are really the only ones worthy of our total and complete conviction. Anything left to a judge or judging panel is simply not something I can totally believe in.

Swimming? My time beats your time. I'm better than you.

Golf? My score beats your score. I'm better than you.

Soccer: Our team beat your team. We're better than you.

100 meter dash: My time beats your time. I'm better than you.

In boxing now, we not only have judges but we have controversies about the competitor's gender. That's a double whammy.

Diving, gymnastics, etc. They all feature judges. I still watch and still buy in, but I also do so wondering about the potential inequities of those competitions.

Say what you will about ping pong, but at least there's a result.

I said before these games started I didn't think I'd be watching a whole lot of it. And, if you want the curtain pulled back in full, my viewing schedule this time around has been largely predicated on a jam-packed "real life" schedule more than my disdain for the Opening Ceremonies, Break Dancing, Archery and the Boxing sham.

Archery actually looks kind of fun. I'm not sure why I just included Archery in there.

Anyway...your mileage may vary on the Olympics. You might be glued in every single night. I'll do my best to catch the final round of the Golf competition today since that's the one thing I care about the most.

But all in all, it's just not been all that interesting to me.

I'm anxious to hear (read) what the rest of you think.

And, speaking of golf, don't forget I'll be on the air today at 105.7 The Fan from 4-6 pm talking golf on "Fairways and Greens". I hope you get the chance to tune in.

Saturday August 3, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3634

maybe losing is contagious

If you were a regular listener of my morning radio show 15 years ago you often heard me recite this discovery I made while I worked for the indoor soccer team in town from 1981-1998. I've repeated it here at #DMD quite often as well.

The hardest thing to do in sports isn't hitting a baseball thrown at you 100 mph.

It's not hitting a golf ball dead straight 300 yards.

It's not throwing a basketball through a hoop that's barely as round in circumference as the basketball itself.

Those things are hard, don't get me wrong.

But the hardest thing to do in sports is to stop losing.

Once it starts happening, all the bad things that could happen as a result of it tend to occur.

The Orioles are in one of those funks in Cleveland.

No, the O's aren't losing at the same rate as, say, the White Sox are losing. They dropped their unthinkable 18th straight game last night in Minnesota.

But the Birds are scuffling for sure. Last night's 8-4 defeat in Cleveland was their 13th loss in 21 games and, don't forget, 5 of their 8 wins in that span came against a pair of lousy teams; Texas and Toronto.

It is not going well for the Orioles since the beginning of July.

Now, these last two losses in Cleveland can be excused-away by simply pointing out that the Guardians might just be the best team in all of baseball (thus far), let alone the American League. They are certainly very good, there's no argument there.

And perhaps this recent offensive rut can also be connected in-part to the loss of Jordan Westburg. We told you that one was going to leave a mark.

The Birds managed just 4 hits last night in their Friday night loss in Cleveland. They had a chance in the 2nd inning to get things going when they put runners on first and third with no outs and later loaded the bases with two outs, but that frame produced just one run and Brandon Hyde's team didn't score again until the top of the 8th. And by then, they were done, trailing 8-1.

Hyde had an interesting night.

The O's were once again rattled by a shaky home plate umpire who didn't quite have the strike zone down pat, particularly on rookie Jackson Holliday, who is already struggling enough at the dish without having blue call strikes on him that are two inches outside.

I'm sure Hyde is as frustrated as everyone else is with the 8-13 mark over the last 21 games, but at some point he needs to go on a tirade -- similar to what happened in that Yankees game a couple of weeks back -- just to show his troops he's there in the foxhole with them.

Granted, those sorts of explosions are more cosmetic than anything else. But there comes a time when the manager has to send the proverbial message to his players, the umpire and the umpire coming in behind the plate in the next game that he's not going to take these calls any longer.

And, no, the Orioles didn't lose last night because of the home plate umpire.

But the manager has to unturn every rock to figure out how to get his team back on track and that's certainly a rock he should be picking up.

Right now, the TV cameras pan over to Hyde and he's standing there looking perplexed and frustrated by what's going on. Emotion, skip. Your players need to see some emotion out of you.

What's troubling the Birds more than anything else over the last month or so is their inability to come up with the big hit at the right moment. Now, granted, last night they managed to go 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position, but the problem with that scenario is they only had four runners in scoring position in the first place.

In most games over the last month, they've been going something like 3-for-12 or 2-for-10 in that category. They've been getting guys on base and they've been setting the table for big innings on several occasions in each game, but they just don't come up with the big base knock when they need it.

The worst part of all is the Cleveland pitching staff is "just OK", really. The Guardians can hit, for sure, but last night's starter, Carlos Carrasco, came into the game with a 5.87 ERA and the Birds had him on the ropes early. They let him off the hook in that 2nd inning, though, and the rest is (was) history.

Coby Mayo made his much-anticipated big league debut last night and went 0-for-2 at the plate, but he did manage to pick up a couple of walks and even scored a run along the way.

Mayo did screw up a pop fly double that nearly created what could have been a disastrous collision with Colton Cowser but all's well that ends well and no one got seriously hurt. It was kind of like getting shot in the ear. There's blood, lots of blood, blood everywhere, but if that was the worst thing that happened you'd call it a win.

The bloop into medium-left field shoulda, woulda, coulda been snagged by Cowser, but with Mayo buzzing around trying to haul it in Cowser lost his momentum and concentration and the ball fell in front of him for a 2-run double that pretty much sealed the game.

In the 6th, the O's had an embarrassing defensive moment when they caught Steven Kwan in a rundown but couldn't get him out between first and second and, on that play, Austin Hedges scored from second base on what was a routine sacrifice fly (one run had already scored from third).

When it rains, it pours.

If you were looking for one moment in time to showcase the troubles of the O's over the last few weeks, that failed-rundown-play would be the clip to use. High school teams can complete that sequence and get the baserunner out. The O's, at least last night, couldn't do it, and allowed a runner to score from second base in the meantime.

Zach Eflin goes for the Birds tonight, so let's see if one of Mike Elias's trade deadline gems can right the ship, at least for one night.

Friday August 2, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3633

i've seen better first days on the job

Those who piled on Mike Elias for not making a major splash at the trade deadline were doing handstands last night after newcomer Trevor Rogers got bloodied in his first start in orange and black.

"I thought we got rid of Cole Irvin?" was a familiar social media refrain on Thursday night. Rogers allowed 9 base runners and 5 earned runs in just 4.1 innings of work and over a dozen balls had an exit velocity of 95 MPH or higher against the southpaw.

It definitely wasn't a great way to showcase his skills to the fans watching back in Baltimore.

I'm in the "give the guy a fair chance" camp, for sure. I seem to remember Jack Flaherty looking like Bob Gibson in his first start with the O's last year after he was acquired at the deadline. And I also remember that same guy eventually sporting a 1-3 record and 6.75 ERA in nine appearances with the O's in 2023.

One start does not seal the deal either way.

I hope that one last night was an outlier for Trevor Rogers. The O's could use a left-handed starter, for sure, and giving up Connor Norby to get Rogers was potentially a big price to pay.

The Guardians, as the TV guys reminded us over and over last night, are particularly productive against left handed pitching. So that's one thing to keep in mind when you're setting your new Orioles "ROGERS" jersey on fire.

It also didn't help Rogers' cause last night that the O's were once again sluggish offensively.

Sure, you're not winning a lot of games when you give up 10 runs, but you're also not winning many games when you produce 5 hits in 9 innings.

Over the last month, it's been the Baltimore offense that has looked sluggish. They broke out for double-digit totals against the woeful Blue Jays earlier this week, but throughout July the O's offense mostly sputtered along like your favorite Beatles album.

There's also another ongoing theme for the Birds over the last 26 games (12-14). In games not started by Burnes or GRod, they're a reasonable bet to get beat. Mike Elias acquired Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers hoping to turn that pattern around. Eflin was decent in his first start last Monday. Rogers, last night, was not very good.

Cleveland is good, by the way. If the Birds can rebound to win 2 of 4 over the Guardians that will be a real blessing. A trip to Toronto to face the ailing Blue Jays should be just what the doctor ordered before a 3-game series in Tampa Bay against the pesky but undermanned Rays finishes up the 10-game road swing.

I'm hoping for a 6-4 trip all told, which now means the Birds have to go 6-3 after dropping last night's series opener in the Land of Cleve.

To the mailbox we go for some back and forth with our awesome readers.

Brett B. asks -- "Hey Drew, I listened to you on Wednesday night at 105.7 The Fan and it sounded like old times. You seemed like you hadn't missed a day. Do nights like that ever make you consider doing full time radio again?"

DF says -- "Not really. If anything, a shift like that reminds me of how hard doing radio actually is. Most people think it's easy. It's actually not easy at all.

Now, that said, two hours (as opposed to the four I used to do from 6 am to 10 am) is a much better fit for me now. You're in and out and if you have solid topics like I did on Wednesday (O's won, Westburg got hurt, trade deadline stuff, Ravens camp), it flies by in no time at all.

I'd never say never to going back on the radio, but the only way I'd do it would be if I found a shift that didn't interfere with my coaching and competitive golf schedule. And that's easier said than done.

I enjoy the fill in work that The Fan provides me once every month or two. I'll stick with that. That's actually perfect for me."

C.J. asks -- "Do you think winning a gold medal at the Olympics should count as a major championship in golf?"

DF says -- "In its current form, no. But if they allowed more players into the field, yes, maybe. It would be hard to consider Paris 2024 a major when, for example, the only four American players are Scheffler, Schauffele, Clark and Morkikwa.

There are a number of talented international players not in the field as well because of the limited field size, but having only four American golfers waters down the field in a big way. No offense, let's say, to Sami Valimaki of Finland or David Puig of Spain, but if they're in the tournament and someone like Patrick Cantlay or Bryson DeChambeau isn't in the field, it's hard for me to consider it a "major" championship.

Both Valimaki and Puig are playing well this week, by the way. I'm fine with having them in the field. But if they're playing and someone like Sungjae Im isn't playing, the event's entry criteria needs to be tweaked. Until then, it's not worthy of earning "major" status."

Carter asks -- "What's your position on the O's signing Trevor Bauer for the rest of the regular season?"

DF says -- "It's funny you bring up his name because a good friend of mine also mentiond him at lunch recently and said, "Why not?" to Trevor Bauer.

I have no idea if Trevor Bauer has any useful baseball arm left, but I'm going to assume that he still does. So, in that regard, any team in need of pitching help should consider him. Particularly since he's a free agent.

But........

And the "but" is pretty substantial.

You're going to have to weed your way through a substantial amount of public scorn and criticism if you take him. And I'm just not sure the O's are willing to deal with all of that stuff, especially when they are already having a great season to date. It's not like they're five games under .500 and need a strong push to make the post-season.

I was thinking of something last night while watching a TV documentary about the legendary rock stars who died at the age of 27 (Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, etc.). We give our athletes a scarlet letter when they do something wrong in their personal life (be it breaking the law or simply unethical) but we don't do the same thing with musicians and entertainers.

I get it. A rock-n-roll musician doesn't "sing for Baltimore" in the same way an athlete wears a uniform representing a Baltimore team, but you're still supporting the musician by buying his/her music and going to their live shows. And yet, they're involved in the same basic stuff we scorn athletes for all the time.

I've never heard of anyone saying, "I'm not buying their next album because the lead singer just got arrested for cocaine possession."

I believe in second chances for people. If God can forgive Trevor Bauer, I'm sure I have it in me to do it.

That said, I don't see the Orioles embracing the risk that's associated with signing him. It's just not their style, I don't think."

J.C. asks -- "Earlier this year at DMD you said the chances of Tiger winning another major were 10% and the chances of him winning one more regular PGA Tour tournament were 20%. What do you think about those odds now that you've seen him play in 2024 with no success at all?"

DF says -- "I don't see them changing all that much. I might reduce the 20% down to 10% for the "regular tournament" just because he's a year older and playing a limited schedule.

The only major he can win moving forward is the Masters. And he'll have a shot at doing that for the next 3-5 years, at least, I would think, as long as he doesn't regress physically.

If you're looking for an official "odds review", I'd say he had a 10% chance of winning the Masters prior to 2024 and that's now down to 8% and he had a 20% chance of winning "any" tournament and that's now down to 12%.

But he still has a chance.

It's slight. And his window is closing, obviously. But Tiger still has about as much of a chance of winning another tournament as, say, someone like Stewart Cink or Zach Johnson. And both of those guys are still very healthy as they approach 50.

The difference is those two guys still play 20 times a year and Tiger plays five times a year. And as I've said continously for the last four years, he can't win again just playing five or six tournaments a year.

There's little doubt in my mind that if Tiger asked for a medical exemption and was able to use a golf cart for four rounds that he could compete for another win (or more) on the PGA Tour. I'm not saying he should do that, by the way, or that he deserves it.

I'm simply saying if he asked for an exemption to use a motorized cart and that request was approved that he could still compete.

I don't think his golf is as sharp as it was 10 years ago, but his biggest problem these days starts with his inability to walk the course all week. His golf, I think, would perk up if he didn't have the issue of walking the course looming over his head and body."

Keith Drury asks -- "Hi Drew, you and I are roughly the same age and have the same basic music tastes and I was hoping you could answer this in your Question and Answer column you post every once in a while. Who do think is the most under rated band or singer and who do you think is the most under appreciated in your life? Thanks so much."

DF says -- "Wow, good question. I guess there is a difference, right? This isn't my answer, but I could see where someone would say Boston wasn't really underrated, per se, but in the end they were probably underappreciated.

So, let me think about that.

And I have no idea how this rating system even works. Like, one band that quickly comes to mind as underrated was (is) Steely Dan. I think their music was remarkable. I never felt like they got their due from a quality of music perspective.

I always thought Queen was kind of overrated, on the other hand. And their best 10 songs are remarkable. But I thought their entire catalog of music didn't match up with those 10 great songs.

Heart was underrated, too, I think. Genesis? VERY underrated.

I don't know how to pin this down, but I'll go with Steely Dan at #1 for the underrated category.

As for underappreciated, there's no doubt it's RUSH. Rolling Stone Magazine made it their personal quest to keep them out of the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, remember.

Those three guys sold out venues for 40 straight years. And the music they put out at the close of their career was just as good as the stuff they put out in the 1970's and 1980's.

Sure, millions of people appreciated them worldwide, but here in the states, there was a section of music critics and people who acted like they knew music who poo-poo'd them, most notably those aforementioned neanderthals at Rolling Stone.

I think you can also put The Cars in there as underappreciated. Their best 16 songs are as good as any band's best 16.

Speaking of Steely Dan, here's my favorite song from their amazing album, Gaucho."

faith in sports

If #DMD had a "greatest hits" of videos we've shared here over the last 5 years of "Faith in Sports", the one we're showing below would be front and center.

Longtime sports broadcaster Ernie Johnson is one of the best to do ever do his job. And he's also one of the most amazing human beings you could ever meet as well.

I won't spoil today's story, but if you've been fortunate enough in your life to have a son or daughter of your own, you simply MUST watch the 8 minute video below. It details the life of Ernie's son, Michael.

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

This video today is one of our greatest hits. I hope you enjoy it.

Thursday August 1, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3632

a grand way to end a bad month

There was a time, say, 15 years ago, when a 12-13 month of July baseball from the Orioles would have been a total blessing.

It's not really that way in 2024. A 12-13 record in July wasn't "Orioles baseball".

Fortunately for the O's, the Yankees (11-13) weren't scorching hot in July either.

And, so, after yesterday's 10-4 win over Toronto, the Birds are 65-44 and own a scant half-game lead over the Bronx Bombers.

It was all great on Wednesday after Jackson Holliday clobbered his first career home run -- a 440 foot grand slam that landed on Eutaw Street -- to give the O's an 8-3 lead in the bottom of the 5th.

About 80 minutes later, though, it wasn't so great. Brandon Hyde told the assembled media that Jordan Westburg, who was hit on the hand with a pitch in that 5th inning, would "probably miss the rest of the regular season" after X-rays revealed a fracture near his wrist.

As I said last night on the air at 105.7, I would have preferred the O's lose 10-4 on Wednesday and Westburg go 0-for-4 but finish the game healthy and fracture-free than to have them win 10-4 and have Westburg head to the injury list.

There's no sense in trying to avoid it or act like it's not a big deal. Losing Westburg is a tough blow for the O's, particularly at the plate.

But it's also going to pave the way, potentially, for Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde to do some interesting things with their lineup over the last two months of the campaign.

Sure, Ramon Urias can be plugged in at third base, Henderson stays at short, and Holliday, we assume, simply becomes the team's everyday second baseman in his new, second tour of duty with the big league club.

That's an easy, sensible fix.

But there are other possible solutions. Would Elias/Hyde consider moving Holliday to short and giving Henderson some time at third base? Urias can play 2nd or, gulp, the O's can give recently acquired utility man Livan Soto a long look at 2nd or even journeyman Terrin Vavra, perhaps.

Henderson made two more errors yesterday to increase his total to 18 for the season. He is, without question, scuffling defensively these days. Perhaps a temporary change of scenery would help? Or is moving him away from short and giving the gig to Holliday a senseless move given Holliday's lack of big league experience at that spot?

The issue really isn't defense as much as it offense. Urias is more than adequate with the glove. And he does occasionally do something positive with the bat. But for the most part he's not very productive offensively. Soto and Vavra probably wouldn't do much at the plate, either.

If it's "defense first", you go with Urias at third and hope Henderson comes around with the glove at short while Holliday patrols second base full-time.

But back to the offensive part of the equation for a second. There isn't a perfect solution, but there are varying options.

One of those "other possibilities" would be promoting hot-hitting-minor-league-phenom Coby Mayo and giving him 3rd base on pretty much a full time basis. That would leave Henderson at short and Holliday and second and off we go, with Urias essentially becoming a fill-in-as-needed guy at third and second.

That said, it would appear the O's are going to wait until September 1 to bring Mayo to Baltimore. He's ready now, of course, but there's something keeping him in Norfolk. Once the rosters expand to 28 on September 1, it's likely Mayo will be up with the big league club.

Either way, the O's do have multiple options in the wake of Westburg's injury. It's not all doom and gloom as people on the internet and sports radio might have led you to believe yesterday.

Speaking of the internet and hot-topic-talk, there's been a lot of chatter about the Olympics women's boxing match between an Algerian and an Italian.

The Algerian won.

She was born a man. And later transitioned to a female.

And the beating she gave her Italian opponent, as well as other bouts Imane Khelif has won, have been highlighted this week as "unfair" to naturally-born female boxers who are competing for Olympic medals in France.

It's hard to dispute the "unfair" point when you see the physicality displayed by Khelif in her bouts. If you didn't know anything about her history and just happened to stumble onto the boxing match as you flipped through the TV, you'd definitely say, "Wow, that woman is really powerful."

Critics are arguing she shouldn't be boxing against naturally born females, of course. Therein lies the root of the dilemma.

Do the Olympics draw the line at a "physical sport" like, say, boxing, or wrestling, because of the power and strength condition but still allow trans male-to-female competitors to compete in other sports like archery, trap shooting, etc.? Those arguments were made over and over on the internet and in worldwide media on Wednesday.

"If one of those girls gets killed by that Algerian man posing as a woman, that will sadly bring it all to an end," someone posted on Twitter yesterday.

For starters, the female boxers are very well protected with head gear and the like, so it's highly unlikely anyone's getting killed, no matter who throws the punch. But their point is the obvious one: It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Like, really hurt.

But isn't the real point about the whole story one of athletic fairness? Plain and simple.

The Olympics are a competition designed to reward athletic excellence. Times have changed, obviously. Fifty years ago, the basketball teams were comprised of amateur players. These days, they're largely all professional players. But the root of the Olympics is still the same. Athletic excellence on display and medals awarded to those who triumph above others.

It does seem patently unfair to naturally born females to be forced to fight against a transitioned male. And that's not really an "opinion", per se, but more an observation generated by watching Imane Khelif batter her Italian counterpart.

That said, the trans community is endorsing Khelif and her performance. "She should be permitted to compete like any other female."

And that's where the battle really heightens.

"We spend a lot of time telling our children men should never hit women, under no circumstances," a Twitter message read yesterday. "And then we tell out children to watch this man beat up a woman in the name of sport. It's appalling."

This subject isn't new to sports, of course. Here in the U.S., the high profile story of the male-to-female swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania has drawn incredible attention.

As a collegiate male swimmer, William Thomas was essentially middle of the pack. His times and performances at Penn were college-level, of course, but his results were generally average.

After transitioning to a female, Lia Thomas rose to the top of Ivy League women's swimming just two years later.

She petitioned an organization called "World Aquatics" to allow her to swim in the 2024 Olympic trials and was denied. She took that ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but was turned down by their 3-member panel.

Now, many are wondering why the Algerian boxer didn't face the same scrutiny as the UPenn swimmer.

Wednesday July 31, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3631

now you need a scorecard

Who are all of these new players in Baltimore?

And what will they do to help?

First off, here's the good news. I think. The only player they lost yesterday that might actually turn into a bonafide Major League player was Connor Norby.

That's my opinion.

While a lot of folks in town were up in arms about the O's "giving up too much" for left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers, I pretty much looked at it like they gave up Norby to get a much-needed southpaw starter.

Kyle Stowers? Meh. He's 27. If he was going to be something (reasonably) special, he would have been already.

I'm sure Mike Elias would have preferred to not give up Norby in the deal, but Miami had the piece the O's were coveting, not the other way around.

Later on Tuesday, the O's picked up another lefty in Gregory Soto from the Phillies. They gave up Seth Johnson in return.

Seth Johnson? Not sure who he is. Respectfully.

So, on Tuesday, the only player I think the Birds lost that could come back to haunt them someday was Norby.

Jackson Baumeister, the pitcher they lost in the Zach Eflin deal, might also turn into a good pitcher in the future. But when you look at what the Astros gave up for Kikuchi and the Padres gave up for Tanner Scott, you realize Baumeister for Eflin (basically) is a fair swap of talent.

Let's get back to yesterday.

Did the Orioles help themselves?

I have no idea.

But here's what I do know: They didn't give up much of anything over the last seven days.

Sure, you can make an argument that Austin Hays is just as good or better than Eloy Jimenez. You can also say the O's essentially acquired Jimenez and Seranthony Dominguez for Hays, if you don't count the throw-ins who probably won't matter in the long run.

The only player you sorta-kinda hate to see go was Norby. And, look, you can't keep 'em all. At some point, if you want to play at the $5,000 per-hand table, you have to pony up something of value.

The entire trade deadline stuff is just like the NFL draft. Check with me in two or three years when the O's have either won a World Series or two or Zach Eflin leads the Yankees to a title or Connor Norby spearheads the Marlins to consecutive N.L. East pennants.

It's all in the results. If the Birds don't lose ground in 2024 and are as successful or more in 2025, these were good moves by Elias.

I think we can all judge what Elias did at last year's deadline and say, "No bueno." It didn't even take two or three years to judge that one. Then again, they didn't give up much to get Fuji (who was actually acquired much earlier than the deadline) or Jack Flaherty.

Trades are all in the results.

As Charley Eckman used to say...it's a very simple game.

Editor's note: I'll be behind the mic tonight on 105.7 from 6-8 pm hosting two hours of sports talk. Just like the old days, except it will be 6 at night instead of 6 in the morning and the baseball team is actually good now, unlike most of the 12 years I was on the air when they were horrible. I hope you tune in tonight.

The internet lit up on Tuesday, as did local sports talk radio, with people claiming Elias had either, A) lost his mind or, B) just fleeced everyone in Major League Baseball.

My opinion is I really don't have one, other than to say Mike Elias knows more about Eloy Jimenez, Trevor Rogers and Austin Slater than you, me, and everyone in your contacts on your cell phone.

You and I have "heard" of Jimenez, Rogers and Slater. Mike Elias and his staff have studied them. Over and over.

But here's what I will say about Tuesday's flurry of activity.

I think Trevor Rogers has the goods to help. But it's not like the Orioles just picked up Clayton Kershaw or Randy Johnson. They got a guy who has been hot and cold over the last three years.

If he's hot in Baltimore, it's a great move. If he's cold, not so much. My prediction? He's still going to be Trevor Rogers in orange and black. Some good, some not so good. Kind of like Cole Irvin, actually, who was DFA'd yesterday in the midst of deadline madness.

Eloy Jimenez was the biggest name Elias snagged on Tuesday, I suppose, and I don't know what he sees in the former White Sox (occasional) slugger, but that's why he's the GM. The one thing I will say, though, is "never underestimate the value in a change of scenery".

Jimenez, like every other player on the White Sox, has probably been praying for a trade since Easter.

In fairness -- because there are almost always two sides to a player who declines -- the White Sox were probably doing cartwheels when Elias called and said "yes". Those who follow the White Sox on a daily basis say Jimenez was a "catastrophic failure" and a player who "jaked it at some point in almost every game he played".

Harsh words, for sure. But when you have 27 wins and it's July 30, there's always collateral damage.

All that said, I believe in fresh starts, even when they come with two months left in the season.

Maybe a new venue and moving from the worst team in baseball to one of the best teams in baseball does something for Jimenez's energy level. It would also help if it kept him off the Injury List, too, a place he tends to occupy quite often.

Oh, and he's been decent against lefties in his career, which could be helpful, providing he's actually available for the games.

But if Jimenez is the "biggest name" acquired on Tuesday, he might also serve as the most puzzling of those Elias picked up. Where is he going to play? He's no longer an outfielder, so you can rest easy there. If he ever brings his glove out to the outfield over these last two months it will be because someone else misplaced their mitt.

He'll DH, of course, but almost exclusively against lefties. Against righties, you'll almost always see O'Hearn at first and Adley at DH. Mountcastle has to get his at bats as well, don't forget. And we all know how much affection Hyde has for James McCann.

Anyway, I'm just not sure where Jimenez fits in. I guess it would be different if his numbers were good. But they're just OK, and, he's injury prone.

Did I mention something about value in a change of scenery? I'm hoping that fixes what's been ailing Jimenez.

The other guys acquired on Tuesday? I'm assuming Elias likes them or they wouldn't be in Baltimore.

Austin Slater? I don't know what to say on that one, so I won't say anything except he's hitting .185 and he has 1 home run this season. In other words, he's barely better than you and your Uncle Leo who played for the American Legion travel team back in 1984.

If Gregory Soto serves as an adequate replacement for Cole Irvin in the bullpen and helps the club stem the tide in the middle-late innings until Danny Coulombe returns in September, that's good enough for me.

The players who left are all met with "if" and the players who are on their way to Baltimore are all met with "if" as well.

"If" Connor Norby turns into a big deal in Miami and Trevor Rogers never gets it together in Baltimore, that was a loser of a deal.

"If" Zach Eflin gets his act together in Baltimore and Jackson Baumeister never amounts to much of anything in Tampa Bay, that was a winner of a deal.

But none of that stuff can be judged right now.

I trust Mike Elias.

Some of the guys he added were puzzling to me, but here's a news flash for you: The fans don't matter. At least not in terms of "approving" trades and player acquisitions. Mike Elias couldn't care less if you like Trevor Rogers or think he's a stiff.

I happen to think Austin Slater and Cristian Pache are both the head scratchers of all head scratchers, but who cares what I think in the end?

Mike Elias is a baseball guy. An expert. Perhaps, even, a savant.

I'll leave it up to him to fix the team.

If you're looking for a closing argument of sorts, here it is: More than anything else, sports fans want to be right. If we're being honest, there's a (large) cross-section of the fan base who would rather see the team lose if it means they turn out to be right about how guys like Jimenez, Rogers, Dominguez, Slater, et al won't wind up helping the O's in October.

I don't know that I understand that kind of logic, but it's the world we live in. "I want to be right..."

You know what I want, honestly?

I want Mike Elias to be right.

Tuesday July 30, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3630

things change quickly

I'm not here to tell you I've lost confidence in Mike Elias.

In fact, I'm officially on the other team when it comes to grading and supporting Elias.

But his confidence rating in town has definitely taken a hit this season.

You can do whatever you want with that information, but there's no doubt the bloom is off the rose with the O's general manager. At least with a certain group of folks, anyway.

Yesterday's doubleheader split with the no-longer-interested Toronto Blue Jays just added more fuel to the fire for the people in town who think Elias has lost his golden touch.

While other teams around baseball were making trades and adding (hopeful) key pieces, the O's weren't doing much of anything. Sure, Zach Eflin was making his Baltimore debut on Monday and fared decently in the afternoon win over Toronto, but the naysayers in town would remind you that Jack Flaherty looked like Cy Young in his first O's start last summer and, well, let's just not talk about Jack Flaherty any longer.

So far, Elias hasn't done much to bolster the O's roster.

The two key words in that sentence above: So. Far.

If today comes and goes (deadline is 6 pm) and Mike Elias doesn't make any additional deals, I'll deal with that on Wednesday here and give you what I think is a reasonable, honest opinion.

But I don't see a reason to do any of that yet. The deadline is today. Not yesterday. Not last Saturday or Thursday. It's today.

A flurry of deals transpired on Monday which left Elias-bashers in an outrage.

The Cardinals got Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham from the White Sox.

Veteran pitcher Frankie Montas went to the Brewers from Cincinnati.

Jorge Soler was sent from the Giants to the Braves.

The Nationals shipped Lane Thomas to the Guardians.

And Toronto shipped lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi to the Astros.

That was just from yesterday, obviously, but of those players, who would have been a slam-dunk "great fit" in Baltimore?

With last week's acquisition of Eflin, Fedde was no longer needed. And I don't know about you, but I'm taking Eflin over Fedde any day.

Tommy Pham? Meh.

Montas? No thanks.

Kikuchi? OK, sure, the O's could use a reliable lefthanded starter. I agree with that. But I don't know that you accurately describe Kikuchi as "reliable". And Houston had to give up a ton to get him.

Lane Thomas is Austin Hays. Austin Hays is Lane Thomas. You get it.

Now, Jorge Soler? There's some pop in his right handed bat for sure. He hit the longest home run in Major League Baseball last week, by the way. But he's also pretty much another Austin Hays clone with a few extra bonus points for his occasional bursts of power.

So, of all the players who were dealt yesterday, the only one I'd even remotely consider a "win" for Elias would have been Soler, and that's only if you would have forced me to pick one.

Some people just want the GM to make a deal for the sake of making a deal.

"We have a surplus of talent in our farm system! Use it to your advantage!" is what you're seeing over and over on Twitter.

And that's true, of course. The O's do have a robust farm system oozing with talent.

Here's what else you have to remember, though.

Corbin Burnes is likely gone at the end of the season. The O's just gave up on a highly-thought-of pitching prospect, Jackson Baumeister, to get Zach Eflin. If they don't have to part company with guys like Chayce McDermott or Cade Povich, why should they?

Anthony Santander is likely gone at the end of the season as well. Sure, the O's could woo him to stay in Baltimore, but free agency only comes around once for most guys and Santander is probably going to get vastly overpaid by someone this winter. Why ship off a quality minor league outfielder when right field might be a position of need next April?

It might still come to pass today that someone like Kjerstad, Cowser, Stowers, Norby or -- gasp -- Mayo has to be moved in order for Elias to get what he wants.

But here's my best guess on what has happened over the last two or three weeks. Elias told anyone that called "these 5 guys are off limts" and those five were probably the likes of those I listed above and maybe even Samuel Basallo as well.

Now, perhaps those six are available today for the right pick-up. Who knows? Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.

Maybe when Elias checked in about Flaherty last week the Tigers said, "Sure, give us Connor Norby" and Elias told them to pound sand. Today he might have to go back to them with his tail between his legs and see if Norby-for-Flaherty is still a possibility.

And I'm just using "Norby-for-Flaherty" as an example of a deal Elias didn't want to make a week ago but could have to make today now that he has nothing else on his plate. No need to flame me with screams about how "Elias is an idiot if he makes that deal".

But if I had a sneak-peek into the O's war room, I'm betting Elias had a goal and that was to upgrade his team the best he could at the trade deadlinewithout giving up any of his top 5 or 6 young players.

And, honestly, based on who has been dealt thus far, is there anyone you would have been thrilled to get in exchange for Mayo or Norby or one of the young pitchers?

I don't really see anyone.

Jazz Chisholm was a nice get for the Yankees, but I don't see how he helps the O's all that much, honestly.

If they get Jack Flaherty from the Tigers today and have to give up two decent prospects we've never heard of, I guess I'm OK with that.

But if Flaherty returns to Baltimore to try and make up for that fiasco in 2023 and the O's have to part ways with one of the six names above, that seems like a huge reach to me.

That said, I'm trusting Elias in this process. Yes, I know he's the guy that signed Craig Kimbrel. But he showed up here in 2018 with a plan and promised he'd stick with it and here we are in 2024 right in the thick of things (again) with one of the best farm systems in all of baseball.

I know the team is scuffling on the field and some help would be a good thing at this point.

But I just haven't seen anyone get moved -- yet -- that makes me say, "Elias, you goofed up there."

If you're a critic of Elias, that's all well and good. He definitely hasn't been perfect in his time here. But I'll take what he's given us and what I think he'll continue to give us over where we were a decade ago.

And, if he can get Gunnar Henderson to learn how to field again, maybe we can all overlook any deals Elias doesn't make.

Monday July 29, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3629

is this...the way it's gonna be?

The O's won (finally) yesterday, 8-6, over the Padres.

It looked like it might be a laugher after the Birds exploded for 6 runs in the bottom of the third inning. You know, one of those 11-2 thumpings that's never in doubt. Those are good to have once in a while, but they're particularly necessary when you've been stinking it up like the O's have been stinking it up of late.

Alas, 6-0 became 6-3 and then became 6-5.

There went the thumping and the easy, relaxing Sunday.

Brandon Hyde's team carried an 8-5 lead into the top of the 9th. Even up by three runs, I don't think anyone in the ballpark was feeling all that warm and fuzzy.

And with good reason.

Within minutes, the bases were loaded with just one out.

I know what you're thinking: "That rat fink Craig Kimbrel. Get that man out of here. Like, now!"

Except it wasn't Craig Kimbrel who loaded the bases. This time it was Yennier Cano who couldn't just work his way through the Padres lineup without scaring us all half to death.

Two ground outs later and it was over. San Diego did manage to score one run, but an 8-6 win is just like an 8-5 win. It goes in the left column of the standings.

But......

Is this what we're in for over the last two months of the season?

I mean, if it is, it is. But, man, I don't know how much of it I can watch or stomach if the O's are going to be serving up these nailbiters every night.

Yes, it's way better than the team being 42-63. I had enough of those years to last me a lifetime, thank you very much.

But having to watch the Birds fight like a dog to get all 27 outs is tough on the old ticker.

Failing some trade deadline magic by Mike Elias, this is the roster they're going forward with for the remainder of 2024. It's not a terrible lineup, obviously. They've won 63 games with it.

But we now know where the warts are...and it's starting to appear as if they're not really going to get much better between now and October.

The goal for the O's is to be ahead 7-2 heading into the 8th inning every night. If they can pull that off, they'll be able to hang on in the playoff race.

That, though, is pretty much an impossibility, as we all know. They're going to be involved in a lot of close games in August and September. And, well, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but the bullpen is just not reliable enough to make me feel comfortable.

Your mileage may vary on that topic. Maybe you're OK with the relievers and Kimbrel closing. I sure would like for your comfort to be "right" and my concern to be wrong.

I'm still predicting Elias does something today or tomorrow to help the pitching staff. If he doesn't, for whatever reason, we better hope Cano, Dominguez and Kimbrel have their chakras in line for the next two months.

I've received a number of e-mails from folks asking me for commentary and opinion on the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics and the "Last Supper" controversy that has been actively discussed worldwide over the last couple of days.

First off, the folks running the event in Paris who were behind the theatrical presentation apologized on Sunday.

Whether that was genuine or forced via pressure from advertisers is neither here nor there. They apologized. And Christians, even if they were offended by what was presented on Friday, are called upon to forgive them. And anyone who was offended should appreciate the apology as well.

I'm a pretty hard guy to offend, frankly. So, while I thought the "scene" was wildly inappropriate, I wouldn't go as far as saying I was "offended" by it. Maybe we're just splitting hairs on that one. But as I saw it, it was just a poor message to send to the world.

There were even attempts over the weekend to explain the opening ceremony as a representation of an event called the Feast of Dionysus, the Greek God of festivity and feasting.

I don't think backtracking or trying to create a plausible excuse is even necessary at this point. It happened, the Paris officials apologized. Let's move on.

Now.......that said.

Here's one thing a lot of people who were offended on Friday are forgetting.

The entire scene that was portrayed in the opening ceremonies was actually a compliment to Jesus.

Jesus was mocked throughout His life.

He was criticized. He was called out publicly. He was, of course, arrested and later crucified because people like Pontius Pilate were afraid of Him.

Just like the folks in the scene on Friday night in Paris, Jesus was a controversial figure. He was the Messiah. The Son of God. A lot of people didn't understand it or believe it.

Heck, a lot of people today, 2000-plus years later, still don't understand it. There were people afraid of Jesus back then and there are definitely still people today who are afraid of Him.

But Jesus sat at the dinner table with anyone. He healed people, with no questions asked. And when it came to hanging out with the great unwashed, Jesus was happy to do it.

In fact, at that Last Supper, he was at the table with all kinds of sinners and morally bankrupt people. One of them, history tells us, was basically a spy for the bad guys and later turned Jesus over to them.

Oh, and funny as it were, Jesus even knew that and predicted it. "One of you will betray me..." he told them.

So, the fact that the organizers in Paris had a diverse group of people in that opening scene last Friday isn't all that different than what Jesus dealt with on the night before his arrest and death the next day. Sure, there weren't drag queens at the Last Supper. I think we all know that was sort of outrageous last Friday, but that's what it was intended to be in the first place.

But Jesus sat at a table with a variety of different "characters", if you will. And that table last Friday at the opening ceremonies looked similar to what Jesus had in front of him on his last night on Earth.

So, if anything, the creators of the scene actually did something they probably weren't intending to do: They showcased Jesus as a man of the people. A man who loved everyone. A man who forgave everyone. A man, ultimately, who deserved to be promoted at every turn, not demoted.

The whole thing on Friday is more proof that we spend far too much time with pre-game events, halftime activities and all that other stuff associated with signature sporting events.

Just swim.

Play basketball and soccer.

Run around the track real fast.

Hit the golf ball real far.

We don't need theater and opening ceremonies that take away from the sports and the competition.

Just showcase the athletes and teams and leave history to the teachers and professors in schools all over the world.

The stain of Friday's opening ceremony will hopefully go away quickly. The athletes don't deserve these Olympics to be remembered for anything except their elite athletic performances.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to win a second straight A.L. East title.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 4-5

Season Record: 62-43

AL East Standing: 1st (1 gm ahead of NYY)

Player of the Week: Anthony Santander

The Orioles looked rejuvenated coming out of the All-Star break, with the bats igniting for two high scoring wins in Texas.

Unfortunately the team lapsed right back into their pre-break swoon after those games, dropping the last game against the Rangers then four of six against a poor Marlins team and the surging Padres.

The week at least finished on a positive note with the bats waking up on Sunday, but even then the O’s struggled to close out a game where they had a large early lead.

Poor pitching in both the rotation and the bullpen combined with a severe lack of timely hitting have propelled this downward spiral. The losses of Kyle Bradish and John Means have really started to wear the rotation thin at the same time that the bullpen has run short of dependable arms, with closer Craig Kimbrel one of the main culprits.

The good news is there are some reinforcements on the way via trades. While the on-field product was lacking this week, the front office did their part to right the ship.

We’ll discuss the trades in more detail below, but the acquisition of Rays starter Zach Eflin and Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez provide a boost at both ends of the pitching staff and hopefully the team has more moves to make.

The other positive is the Yankees slide continued after the All-Star break as well. The Yanks dropped four of six against the Rays and Mets before winning two of three against Boston over the weekend, leaving the Orioles one game ahead after Sunday’s results.

The Orioles began the second “half” at the home of the All-Star game in Arlington, with Corbin Burnes taking the mound after starting in that game. Burnes delivered a patented quality start and an offensive breakout spurred by four hits from Gunnar Henderson left little doubt in a 9-1 win.

The Birds offense didn’t let up on Saturday, tagging Max Scherzer in an 8-4 win with homers from Cedric Mullins, Jordan Westburg and Ryan O’Hearn. Grayson Rodriguez delivered a solid start in his home state, going six innings with two runs and eight strikeouts.

Lefty starter Andrew Heaney silenced the bats on Sunday, but a decent outing from Dean Kremer kept them in the game. However, an 8th inning rally sparked by an Anthony Santander homer was not quite enough in a 3-2 loss.

From Texas the team traveled to Miami in what looked like an enticing matchup with a team looking to sell many of their top talents. It didn’t go quite as planned. Albert Suarez was touched up for six runs in just two innings as he continued to come back to Earth a bit in a 6-3 series opening loss.

Wednesday marked the debut of O’s pitching prospect Chayce McDermott. The outing was a mixed bag for the rookie, as he was not dominant but largely limited the damage. The team fell behind 3-0 but battled back with a big hit from Colton Cowser before Jacob Webb and Cionel Perez let the game slip away for another 6-3 loss.

The finale with the Marlins appeared to be a cake walk, with the O’s jumping out to a large lead behind homers from Santander, Cowser, and Norby. The home team chipped away though, and then Kimbrel came on for a save with a three-run lead and set it on fire.

Luckily the offense came back in the 10th, scoring a run on a Mountcastle single and Perez followed by closing it out for a 7-6 win in extras, preventing another blown quality start from Corbin Burnes.

Once again, the momentum failed to carry over as the O’s returned home for a weekend series with the Padres. Grayson Rodriguez largely cruised through five scoreless innings but gave up a two-run homer before departing in the sixth.

Then Burch Smith came on and gave up two more runs after a dropped fly ball by Heston Kjerstad that probably had the recently traded Austin Hays chuckling to himself. Santander continued his hot streak with a two-run homer in the 8th that evened the score once again, setting the stage for the Cat Man to surrender a game-losing two-run homer.

Saturday was no better as a decent start from Dean Kremer turned sour due to a comedy of errors by the defense behind him, surrendering three unearned runs.

The Birds were noncompetitive in this one, only managing to pull a few runs back after Cole Irvin and Bryan Baker came out of the bullpen to exacerbate the situation. Fans did get to see Manny Machado go deep one more time in Camden Yards, helping the Padres to a 9-4 win.

On Sunday the bats came back to life, leading to a six-run third inning rally. Once again the O’s allowed the Padres to creep back into the game after taking a 6-0 lead. Ryan Mountcastle delivered what ended up being the crucial hit in the 8th inning, driving in two before Yennier Cano came on for a shaky save. A few fluky hits and some interesting calls made for a dramatic ending but the O’s held on for an 8-6 win.

It was a tight race for this edition of Player of the Week. Corbin Burnes certainly deserves mention after rattling off two more quality starts, pitching 13.1 innings and surrendering just four runs on eight hits while striking out eleven.

However, with the way the offense has been struggling, it was two hitters who topped the list this week. It was great to see Colton Cowser break out after several poor months, putting up a .432 OBP with two homers and nine RBI.

However, the POTW goes to Tony Taters, who single handedly carried the offense at times, hitting five homers and driving in ten while getting on base at a .341 clip this extended week.

Down on the Farm –

It wasn’t a banner week for the top prospects down in Norfolk. Connor Norby did get a call back up to the big leagues to replace the injured Jorge Mateo.

Jackson Holliday hit .250 on the week with two homers and two doubles, while Coby Mayo had a down week with a .225 average and just one homer.

Utility prospect Billy Cook led the Tides this week, batting .481 with seven extra base hits, including three homers. While Cook is not one of the top ranked prospects in the system, his ability to play multiple positions combined with his now .857 OPS in AAA makes him one to keep an eye on for next year.

With Chayce McDermott called up for his major league debut it left Cade Povich as the top pitching prospect in Norfolk. He had a mediocre start in his trip back down to the minors, but either way he’s heading back to Baltimore to start the second end of the double-header on Monday.

Down in Bowie, Samuel Basallo cooled off a bit this week, but did provide one spectacular defensive highlight on Saturday, making a difficult catch on a pop up behind the plate and then gunning out a runner for a double play.

He also moved up to fourth in Fangraphs midseason prospect rankings, behind three other prospects that are near certainties to be in the majors by the end of the season (one of them being Holliday).

Question of the Week –

What can we expect from the newly acquired Orioles and will there be more to come?

Perhaps the biggest Orioles news of the week came from the front office, with two trades finalized as we head toward the July 30 deadline. The Orioles first acquired reliever Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache from the Phillies in exchange for veteran outfielder Austin Hays.

They followed that up with a deal for Tampa Bay Rays starter Zach Eflin for prospects Mac Horvath, Jackson Baumeister, and Matthew Etzel.

The first trade was a little head-scratching. It was surprising that the Orioles would deal one of the veterans that helped them through the rebuild and Hays seemed respected by everyone in the clubhouse. With the glut of outfielders coming through the O’s system, it seems that Hays was viewed as easily replaceable.

In return the O’s acquired a power arm that had fallen down the pecking order in Philly but could easily bolster the back end of the bullpen. While Dominguez is not a lock down late inning stalwart, he appears to be a reliable arm with valuable postseason experience who can at a minimum help bridge the gap to a closer.

This was a deal between two of the top contenders trying to rebalance their teams by dealing from their depth. Fangraphs even called Dominguez “the Austin Hays of relievers.”

Pache appears to be a defense-first throw-in who may serve a similar role to Jorge Mateo last year, as a late inning defensive replacement or pinch runner. He may also just get DFA’d in the next roster crunch.

The second move is the real headliner, with the O’s getting an impact starter without breaking the bank. Eflin has been consistent if not spectacular for the Rays and Phillies the past few years.

He profiles as a number 3-4 starter who barely walks anybody. Over the last five years he’s been a slightly better than league average starter for Tampa and Philly. Last year was the best of his career, when his 3.50 ERA landed him sixth in Cy Young voting. He has been closer to average this year with a 4.09 ERA and 95 ERA+.

At a minimum, Eflin represents an upgrade over Dean Kremer as a potential game three starter in the playoffs as well as a reliable arm to help the O’s get there. He also brings some postseason experience, with a start for Tampa last season (that didn’t go so well) and 10.2 innings of relief pitching in the postseason for Philly.

The Orioles didn’t have to give up any prospects that they’ll really miss in the next few years. All three players sent to Tampa are in the lower minors, with Etzel the most advanced after his recent promotion to AA Bowie. He is an interesting fast-rising prospect but seems to have a limited ceiling.

The loss of Baumeister probably hurts the most, as he was the highest drafted pitcher of the Elias era, taken in the third round last year and has a lively arm, but Eflin provides the Orioles the starter they desperately need and is under contract for a reasonable price next season as well.

The front office still has plenty of ammo left to make further acquisitions over the next two days as well.

I fully expect they will bring in at least one more bullpen arm, especially after the struggles of Kimbrel this past week. If they really want, they still retain the high end prospects necessary to get the best starter on the market, it's just a matter of what they are willing to part with and who is seriously looking to sell.

If anything, this week has taught us that Elias and company are in it to win it this year.

Sunday July 28, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3628

so....about that jersey patch

Did you guys hear Lamar has been sick and basically missed all of training camp thus far?

I forget who the Ravens selected with their first pick already but I hear he's doing great in camp. So that's a good thing.

How much time do you think Justin Tucker has left? We can get another great season out of him can't we? Maybe even two?

The Orioles lost again yesterday. 9-4 to the Padres.

I hope Eric DeCosta did enough this off-season to secure our defensive secondary. I think that dude they just signed who played with the Bears last year might help. Eddie Walton? Eddie Stevens?

Wait a second.

It's Eddie Jackson.

I trust DeCosta on this one. Hopefully he's more like Eddie Jackson and less like Earl Thomas.

There's a huge Olympics/soccer controversy. I assume you're following it. Canada's national team program (both men and women) has been caught using a drone and disguised staffers to secretly view opposing team's practice sessions. It's a big deal.

You know what else is a big deal?

"Fairways and Greens", my golf radio show, airs today from 4-6 pm on 105.7 The Fan. I hope you get the chance to listen.

OK, that's enough stalling.

Let's talk about another loss at the baseball stadium downtown. Saturday's 9-4 drubbing at the hands of the Padres was just the latest in another Keystone Cops fiasco involving the O's trying to field their positions, as both Ramon Urias and Gunnar Henderson made errors that helped San Diego roll to an early 4-0 lead.

At least this time the Birds weren't terrible at the plate with runners in scoring position. That's because they didn't really have any. Runners in scoring position, that is.

Baltimore was 1-for-5 in that situation on Saturday.

We're probably this week away from officially starting to worry, I'd say.

Right now, we're still in the "I'm almost concerned" stage, I'd say. I'll speak for myself and tell you that's where I am, at least.

Teams go through these rough patches all the time. Average teams give in to them and good teams figure out a way to get their act together and rise above it.

I'm banking on the O's being a good team that figures out how to rise above it. If they aren't, we'll know within two weeks or so.

But these next eight days will tell us a lot, because the Birds play NINE games in that span, starting with today's series finale against the suddenly percolating Padres and culminating with a 4-game series in Cleveland that starts on Thursday.

Sandwiched in between are four games with Toronto in Baltimore, who may or may not get rid of half their team Monday and Tuesday prior to the trade deadline.

If what we've been seeing from the Birds of late continues over those nine games and they go, say, 3-6 or 4-5, you can go ahead and hit the "concern" button and at the very least put new, fresh batteries in the panic button.

Today's encounter with San Diego sends Albert Suarez to the mound for the Birds. You're nervous, you say? Yeah, me too.

You know the old saying: "When it rains, it pours."

Well, the basement at Camden Yards is flooded. It's been pouring for three weeks now. Not even the All-Star break could help get the Birds' heads back in the game.

Gunnar has handed the MVP award to Aaron Judge -- on a silver platter -- over the last month. His work at the plate has tailed off and he made his 14th error yesterday with a bad throw to first that led to a San Diego run. And they gave the fly pop error to Urias earlier in the game but Gunnar was over there milling around as well.

I'm not picking on Henderson, per se. But it's not a coincidence that as he has cooled off of late, so, too, have the Orioles.

The same goes for Adley Rutschman. He's showing a lack of zip at the plate as well. The .266 batting average is only 10 points or so off of where he'll probably end up, career wise, but the .333 on-base-percentage is too low. Nit picking, I know.

The good news? Cedric Mullins must read the internet a lot. Perhaps sparked by rumors of that trade to Chicago, Mullins had another nice day on Saturday with two hits and all four of the team's RBI.

If your boss threatened to trade you to the White Sox, that would wake you up as well, right?

But the bad news far outweighs the good these days in The Land of Pleasant Living.

A month ago we were rolling along and giggling at the thought of winning 105 games and cruising into the post-season with our feet up on the dashboard.

All the sudden the Yankees are one game out and have as many wins (61) as do the O's. And Boston is still hanging around, just five games out in the loss column.

We're not giggling any longer.

#DMD reader Tim Crept says the culprit for this summer swoon has nothing to do with baseball.

"It's the T. Rowe Price patch, Drew," Tim wrote to me early last night.

"Peter Angelos never caved in on the uniform advertising idea or the stadium naming rights idea. Rubenstein caved in. This is the work of Angelos, casting a spell on the team for the uniform patch."

OK, I don't believe that.

I mean, I just don't believe it, plain and simple, in the same way I don't think a goofy 20-year old kid got in his car, drove one hour, walked onto a (supposed) secure site at a Presidential rally, made his way into a building with first-in-class law enforcement professionals scattered throughout the immediate area, made his way up to the roof, scoped out the scene, went back into the main part of the building, collected a weapon, went back up on the roof of the building, and then fired shots at a Presidential candidate -- all by himself. Without help or aid from anyone else.

So, no, I don't believe the T. Rowe Price patch has anything at all to do with the team's losing skid, just like I didn't think those hideous Friday "City Connect" jerseys had anything to do with the team losing regularly on Fridays earlier in the season.

But I wouldn't put it past Peter Angelos to order the code red in heaven. Would you?

I'm kidding.

Mostly.

The patch isn't the O's problem.

They aren't hitting. That's pretty much the whole thing.

Sure, Craig Kimbrel is public enemy #1, but he's certainly not the sole reason why the team is sliding.

I mean, Cole Irvin didn't remind anyone of Sandy Koufax yesterday, that's for sure.

There's lots of moving parts to the summer swoon, including the manager, who yesterday decided it was a good afternoon to give Jordan Westburg a day of rest.

Yeah, that seems like a smart decision given that your team is scuffling and can't score any runs. Take out one of the only guys on the team who can hit and replace him with Ramon Urias.

That's a great idea, skip.

Anyway, it's not the patch.

It's not Peter Angelos.

It's the baseball team. They're in a rut.

My guess is Mike Elias pulls off a "significant" deal today or tomorrow. I could be wrong on that, of course.

But it sure feels like this is not one of those moments in the season you can just ignore. The club needs "something" new. Something fresh. And I think Elias knows that.

The Yankees moved their bishop into a striking position on the proverbial baseball chess board yesterday when they acquired Jazz Chisholm from the Marlins. A good move for them, I'd say.

And now, the O's are on the clock. What piece do they move?

Elias is working on something, I'm sure.

No, not the patch.

Something real. Something big. Something, hopefully, that gets his club out of its funk and back to playing winning baseball.

Saturday July 27, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3627

now that one, you can blame on...

Leave it to the Orioles to spoil an otherwise positive day with a gut-wrenching 6-4 loss to the Padres last night before a sold out ballpark in Baltimore.

Everything was just peachy after an 8th inning rally moved the Birds from a 4-2 deficit into a 4-4 tie.

Then it happened.

"It" being Craig Kimbrel strolling to the mound to start the 9th inning.

A dummy from Glen Burnie watching the game rubbed his eyes and said, "There's no way this goofy manager is bringing Kimbrel into the game, right?"

Oh, yes. He was. And he did.

And Kimbrel promptly served up a two-run homer in the top half of the 9th inning to turn that 4-4 game into a 6-4 defeat.

Managerial "losses" are certainly overblown in Major League Baseball. So, too, are managerial "wins".

But last night?

That was a managerial loss with substance.

Kimbrel had as much business being on the mound in the 9th inning last night as would Michael Stipe of the great band REM.

The day before in Miami, Yennier Cano threw six pitches. Six.

Kimbrel threw 28 pitches and gave up 3 runs.

Cano is right handed. So, too, is Kimbrel.

Unless Cano had the bird flu or missed the game to watch those dreadful, embarrassing Olympics opening ceremonies, there was zero reason to not have him in the game in the 9th inning of a 4-4 game.

Yes, players play and coaches coach. I know that.

But having Kimbrel in there last night was like giving an arsonist an extra can of gasoline and matches. What do you think they're going to do with those two things, leave 'em in the trunk of their car?

Mike Elias went out on Friday and attempted to patch up the O's bullpen with Seranthony Dominguez from the Phillies, along with a speedy, no-hit, all-glove outfielder named Cristian Pache.

He also snagged right handed starter Zac Eflin from the Rays for three minor league prospects, two of which are likely going to wind up being contributors in Tampa Bay someday down the road.

Dominguez pitched on Friday night and threw a scare into everyone by allowing two hits, but he worked his way out of that jam nicely. Pache got in the contest as a pinch runner which, frankly, is probably where he'll see most of his action in Baltimore. Whether they both turn out to be key pieces of this 2024 O's team remains to be seen.

But the Craig Kimbrel experiment has to be on the 17th hole.

Maybe even the 18th fairway.

In other words...

It's just about over.

It has to be.

But in fairness to Kimbrel, he shouldn't have been in there last night. And those coming to his defense will talk about the two fielding mistakes in the 9th inning on Thursday in Miami that contributed to the Marlins' 3-run uprising.

He still threw 28 pitches and still gave up 3 runs in a game he should have been able to easily put away. It was the Marlins, for crying out loud.

The manager put him in the game last night. Plain and simple.

I'll reiterate it one more time for the people in the back of the room not paying attention.

Managers generally get too much blame for losses. The O's were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position last night. The players had a chance to break the game open in the bottom of the 8th and didn't do it.

But last night was on Hyde. He might maneuver the Birds to a win later today with some crafty moves. If so, that's great.

Friday's loss, though, was a manager's loss. Having Kimbrel in the game was on Brandon Hyde. Period.

He said after the game that Kimbrel asked for the ball again in an effort to "get back in there" and rid himself of the memory of that Thursday afternoon collapse in Miami.

That's where Hyde should have said, "Yeah, I don't know, Craig. You pitch. I'll manage. Thanks for reaching out, though."

Hyde let a pitcher talk his way into a game that had DISASTER written all over it.

Now, to talk about the two trades.

I have no way of knowing if the O's won or lost those deals until we see how Dominguez, Pache and Eflin perform between now and the end of October.

Eflin is a nice piece, I think. Tampa Bay is definitely in the starting blocks of a mini-rebuild, having now dealt Randy Arozarena and their top starting pitcher within 24 hours of one another. I'm sure they waved Eflin around the league and the O's wound up giving them the best package of 3 players they could get.

Philadelphia being willing to trade Dominguez in the middle of a pennant race is a little puzzling. The O's, I think we all know, won't miss Austin Hays all that much. Well, except for last night when Heston Kjerstad bungled a routine fly ball in left field that was -- I hope you're sitting down for this -- ruled a HIT by the official scorekeeper. On that play, at least, Hays was missed.

On the whole, though, Hays had become expendable. And that's before we see if the Birds add a (better) right handed bat at the deadline over the next four days. He's a useful Major League player is Hays, but let's not confuse him with Mike Trout or Julio Rodgriguez. He's just a guy, basically, who has flashes of something nice every fourth week or so.

The Phillies GM said he'd been trying to get Hays for the last two years. Well, OK then. Now you have him.

And more puzzling than the GM's affection for a middle-of-the-road guy like Hays is why the Phillies were eager to give up on Dominguez, but isn't there a saying about someone else's garbage is another man's treasure or something like that?

Alas, the O's made two deals and (hopefully) helped themselves and still didn't give up any of their prospects we all know by name. They still have Norby, Mayo, Stowers, McDermott, Povich, Basallo and, of course, Holliday.

Now, who knows what today or tomorrow might bring, particularly in light of another late collapse on the mound last night? Elias might have a bigger deal cooking and one or more of those names might have to fly, fly away.

For the time being though, Elias apparently boosted the O's roster and didn't have to give up a whole lot in doing so.

But the elephant in the corner is still there.

What happens today when the O's are clinging to a 5-4 lead after eight innings?

It can't be Kimbrel again, right?

But what about Sunday? And next week?

Perhaps Hyde has gone to Elias on several occasions and said, "Look, I know you gave this dude $13 million, but he stinks."

And maybe Elias responded by saying, "Watch your tone, bud. Figure out how to use him the right way."

I have no idea.

But I know this team isn't going to win anything with Craig Kimbrel closing games in the playoffs.

As the great Ben Affleck said at the end of Good Will Hunting: I don't know much. But I know that.

Friday July 26, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3626

glass half full?

"This shouldn't even count as a win."

"I don't care what happened in the 9th. They won. Good teams pull out these kind of games."

"What a joke of a team we have."

"We got a "W", it's better than losing."

Those were just four of the responses scattered throughout social media on Thursday afternoon after the Orioles escaped Miami with a heart-racing 7-6 victory.

Half the people didn't want to give them credit for winning.

Half the people didn't seem fazed by the fact that the Birds squandered a 6-0 lead and gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to one of the worst hitting teams in all of baseball.

It was similar to the upcoming Presidential election, ironically. Half the people want the crazy guy to win and think anyone voting for the crazy woman is nuts and half the people want the crazy woman to win and think anyone voting for the crazy guy is nuts.

Either way, everyone in the country is nuts. If you subscribe to that theory and that math, anyway.

So yesterday's game with the Marlins fits the same basic pattern.

Half the people don't care that the O's won because it wasn't "routine" after building a 6-0 lead.

Half the people think it was great that they won after squandering a 6-0 lead because it showed resilience.

I'm just glad they won.

I don't really care how it happened.

And if you want to know my basic philosophy, it's pretty simple.

They are who we think they are.

When they hit home runs -- 3 of them yesterday -- and flex their muscles at the plate, the O's can pile up runs in a hurry. And when you build a 6-0 lead with Corbin Burnes on the mound, it should be game, set, match.

But just like the O's are never out of a game because of their ability to score runs in bunches, they also have a tendency to make games interesting with their inability to put teams away.

That Craig Kimbrel couldn't finagle his way through Miami's sorry lineup and get 3 outs isn't anything shocking. He's been both good and bad all season long. You're suddenly surprised he couldn't sew up a 3-run 9th inning lead? Where have you been all summer, in Greenland?

And, yes, I'm well aware Connor Norby and Gunnar Henderson both screwed up routine infield outs in the 9th inning. But Kimbrel still couldn't get 3 outs either way.

But Kimbrel remains a 3-run uprising waiting to happen. Unless you're living in some sort of fantasy land, you just know there's a 1-run 9th inning lead in the playoffs that he'll squander. It's as inevitable as the sun rising in the east tomorrow morning.

The goal for the Orioles in October? Don't have any save situations for Kimbrel to inherit in the first place. But that, also, is fantasy land stuff. He will be needed in the post-season, for sure.

Brandon Hyde also got roughed up on Twitter and sports radio yesterday for his management of the 9th inning.

With the first two batters reaching base in the 9th inning and ahead, 6-3, Hyde eschewed a James McCann bunt and had the soft-hitting catcher swing away. He promptly grounded into a double play. On cue, Gunnar Henderson singled in the next at bat and a 7-3 or 8-3 O's lead was, instead, still a 6-3 lead.

And then in the bottom of the 9th, with runners on first and third and two outs, Hyde elected to have Kimbrel pitch to Josh Bell even though Bell had a Hall of Fame career against Craig Kimbrel and was red hot in the O's-Marlins mid-week series in Miami.

Bell roped a ball into the gap that plated the tying run and put the winning run on third base.

"Hyde is the dumbest manager in all of baseball, at any level! Walk Bell there you dope!" someone yelled on Twitter.

Sure. I get it. A walk seemed prudent at the time given Bell's ownership of Kimbrel. But you know what else didn't seem prudent? Putting the game-winning run on second base so a bloop single or ball that sizzles down the line gives Miami the win.

Kimbrel needed to get 3 outs and he couldn't do it.

Henderson also needed to collect that infield grounder and he couldn't do it.

Norby needed to field the ball hit to him and he couldn't do it.

Yennier Cano needed to get his man out to send the game to extra innings and he did did do it.

The Marlins needed to score 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th and they couldn't do it.

They scored 3 runs, not 4. And in extra innings, the O's won.

Yes, the 10th inning also featured some junior varsity stuff from the O's on the basepaths, but let's be fair about the inning-ending double play. The entire sequence required absolute perfection from Miami. They needed a perfect snag-and-throw in the outfield, a perfect tag at the plate and a perfect throw-and-tag at second base. And they got all of that.

I see the logic in sending Mullins there. I'm not sure I see the need to have Mountcastle run into the 3rd out at 2nd base. But if anything in that sequence is off by a hair, the O's get more than one run.

People crushed them over that 10th inning base running fiasco nonetheless.

And that was after they had won the game, mind you.

"They don't deserve to win after what they did in the 10th inning," someone blurted out on Twitter.

People are strange, man.

I understand picking the game apart and looking at the good and the bad, but when the game is over and your team has won, smile and have a Coke, as the TV commercial used to say in the old days.

Oh, and here's some other news. Lamar Jackson has been sick all week and hasn't been a full participant in Ravens training camp.

15 years ago, that story would absolutely dominate the sports landscape in town. The O's would have been 35-65 at this point instead of 61-41 and wouldn't have played a game that mattered since around May 20.

We'd be griping and sniping at Jackson all week, 24/7.

Now, it's a side note.

So we have that going for us..........which is nice.

faith in sports

With the Olympics underway, we thought we'd spend some time over the next few weeks highlighting some Olympians who haven't been afraid to share their faith on the public platform.

Shawn Johnson is today's featured Olympian. The former U.S. gymnast tells you all about her faith journey in the 11 minute video below.

This is one edition of "Faith in Sports" you should show the athletic children in your family. It will help them navigate the competitive waters they're in and show them that a higher power can help them deal with the winning and the losing.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Free State Electrical for their support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" profile hear every Friday.

Thursday July 25, 2024

#DMD

Issue #3625

what's the word we're looking for?

#DMD reader J.K. sent me an e-mail last night a few minutes after the O's were once again defeated by the woeful Marlins and said, "Are you concerned about the Birds now?"

My initial thought was: No.

Wait.

Yes.

Yes, I am.

A minute later, I collected my senses. No, I'm actually not.

But here we are 8 hours later, basically, and I'm still not sure what I am when it comes to the Birds. Last night's loss now means the club has dropped five of their last nine series' and 16 of 27 games overall.

This is a "tailspin", I don't think it makes sense to try to avoid use of that term.

It would be a "great month" for, say, the White Sox or Marlins. But when you're the Orioles and you've been cruising at a 100-win pace all season, going 11-16 in 27 games is a tailspin.

But let's go back to J.K.'s e-mail because it sparks an interesting topic.

What's the word to use for the Birds right now?

Is "concern" the right word?

Rather than concern, could you say "puzzled" instead?

I can't figure out why they'll go two weeks and 5 or 6 guys will hit the cover off the ball and then for the next two weeks they'll average 6 hits per game as a team.

I don't know why they seem to struggle with certain left handed pitchers.

I'm not sure I have an answer for how well they play against the A.L. East and how "meh" they are vs. almost everyone else this season.

But it's true. "Something" has happened to them over the last month. They're just not firing on all cylinders like they were in April, May and June.

The good news? The Yankees are showing what they're all about with their June and July swoon. Sure, they took 2 of 3 from the O's in Baltimore two weeks ago and shoulda, coulda, woulda won all three of those games, but that series was their July zenith. They've been lousy for going on 8 weeks now.

Boston's lurking, sure, but I can't see them having enough in the tank to pull even with and bypass the O's over these last 60 games.

That said, the Orioles need to get this fixed, "this" being whatever is going on with them in July.

The trade deadline isn't rapidly approaching, by the way. It's here. Right now. I suspect we'll hear about a deal before the weekend's over, if not two trades.

The new, big rumor has Ryan Mountcastle as the central figure of a trade to somewhere from someone. I can't imagine Mountcastle would be enough for someone like Crochet or Skubal, so there has to be more to it than just him. But he'd be a decent piece for a team struggling for right handed power to obtain.

One other train of thought bandied about on the internet last night is that Chayce McDermott's surprise start on Wednesday evening was "intentional", s