Saturday August 30, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4023

pay no attention to the floundering team

My Orioles-loving friend Chris peppered my phone with texts last night just after 11 pm.

I was getting into bed, honestly. The last thing I wanted to do was go back and forth with him -- or anyone -- about the Orioles getting shellacked by the Giants on Friday evening.

"Embarrassing!" one of his texts read. "They've quit!"

I won't bore you with the other five he sent. He roasted Kremer, Gunnar, Mansolino and anyone else he could while the O's were busy getting busted up, 15-8, in San Francisco.

I sent one text and then got under the covers, hoping that would do the trick and Chris would save his angst for more reasonable hours.

"The season is over, dude. Stop worrying about these games," I wrote.

That didn't work, of course. He quickly shot back a reply and I then sent a final one and that was it: "Let's talk tomorrow. I'm in bed. Where you should be!"

Yes, Friday night was a disaster in San Francisco.

Dean Kremer was horrible.

He gave up 6 runs in the first two innings and the Giants didn't stop there. They scored at least one run in every inning last night except the 6th.

Here's the deal. And if you're like Chris and you're watching these games and getting frustered and angered by what you see, just do the smart thing and find something else on TV besides Orioles baseball.

They're now 60-75 after last night's loss.

Listen closely. Those of you in the back of the room, lean in so you hear me loud and clear.

The. Season. Is. Over.

These. Games. Don't. Matter.

Please don't put any stock in anything you see over the last month of the season. It's not quite pre-season football now, but it's close. Sure, some guys will try to pad their stats over the last 27 games and that's precisely what you do when you're out of the playoff race.

But for the most part, nothing you see moving forward matters. Not a thing.

There's zero reason to get upset with the losses or the scores.

In my mind, the team's 2025 record was 60-75.

That, I think, is a very fair representation of this Orioles squad. They were a below .500, subpar team who sniffed around the wild card race from the outskirts in June and July before caving in after the trade deadline.

They're a 60-75 club.

The season will end and they'll be 68-94 and people will lament how they went from a 91-win team who went down to the last week of the season with a chance to win the A.L. East to a team that went 68-94 and totally flatlined over the last five weeks of the campaign.

It doesn't matter.

68-94 is pretty much the exact same thing as 78-84. It means you were lousy.

In fact, baseball analysts who believe that the draft is the proper way to build a foundation will tell you 68-94 is actually better than 78-84 because you get a better draft spot. I don't know that I disagree with that.

But I can promise you this. You're not going to see me here over the next four weeks crushing the Orioles because they lose 12-4 or 10-5 every other night. It is what it is.

And I'm not going to hammer at them over the last month when only 12,000 people show up at the ballpark to see them get roasted by (XXXX).

The team is terrible, the season's over, school is back in session and there's very little reason at all to go down to the stadium and watch a game when you can sit home and watch it.

They went 60-75 this year and, when the games still mattered and the novelty item they were giving away was attractive, they drew some pretty decente crowds.

There's no sense in beating them up in September for losses and empty seats. I know people in town will do it, and that's fine, but you're clearly just hammering at low hanging fruit at that point.

My buddy Chris will be one of those guys who beats them up. Some folks in the media who don't actually want the team to do well and can't be "positive" about the club will crush them. But I won't.

The Orioles went 60-75 this season when they were trying. And, yes, that's not good. But pay no attention to the floundering team in September.

Hope springs eternal. We'll see you in 2026.

The more we're learning about the Ryder Cup captain's picks, the more we understand how Keegan Bradley went about making his selections.

It apparently all came down to the playoffs.

Bradley was set to play until late in the season when Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns all came through with impressive play in the post-season.

The team's plans got muddied a little bit when two guys -- J.J. Spaun and Russell Henley -- wound up making the squad on points. That was an unexpected twist. It meant both of those guys were automatically in and the likes of Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa were going to need Bradley's pick to make the squad.

Harris English playing great in the majors and securing the 6th and final automatic spot was also not entirely expected, although he did win in San Diego earlier in the year. English, Spaun and Henley are outstanding players, but they certainly won't strike fear in the hearts of guys like Rory, Fleetwood and Hovland.

One report this week indicated that Bradley was apparently ready to go with Maverick McNealy over Cameron Young until Young won the final event of the regular season in Greensboro and then came through with solid play in the three playoff events.

Another story surfaced on Thursday that indicated Bradley's final list of eight was Young, Cantlay, Burns, McNealy, Akshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler, Denny McCarthy and Chris Gotterup. From that list, he had to take three players, since J.T. and Morikawa were informed at Caves Valley they had earned his selection.

Left off the list of eight was Brian Harman. Like most people in the industry thought, Harman was never really a candidate for the team at Bethpage due to his lack of length and low ball flight.

Bhatia, Fowler, McCarthy and Gotterup would have needed to go on a Young-like run to make the team. Bhatia had a nice year. Fowler made it through the first two rounds of the playoffs before bowing out. McCarthy is one of the sport's best putters but he, too, didn't make it to the TOUR Championship. And, in the playoffs, Gotterup didn't do anything to set himself apart from those who were picked.

Ben Griffin was also apparently "always on the team" unless something weird happened and he fizzled in the three playoff events. Instead, his play continued to shine.

It pretty much all came down to Keegan vs. Cameron Young and Mav McNealy.

Cantlay, Burns, Thomas and Morikawa were no-brainers. They were on the team all summer long, even though Bradley wouldn't tell anyone that for obvious reasons.

Griffin was "in" as well.

Young's win late in the season and his continued strong play in the playoffs made it an easy choice. His right to left ball flight will also come in very handy at Bethpage as well. He'll be a great alternate shot partner for someone.

I think Bradley wanted to play. The attraction of being the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer was intriguing.

But it's also hard to be effective in both areas.

I'm not totally sold on Cameron Young "under the gun", but I'm more sold on him than having Bradley both play and coach.

The only guy with a gripe who got the call he didn't want to get was McNealy. He had an excellent two-year run. But his lack of winning hurt him, I think, particularly in 2025. McNealy was good. But he needed to be great.

And that's the theme for the U.S. team at Bethpage. Good will not be good enough. They're going to need to be great.

Friday August 29, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4022

is there any chance at all?

It's officially football season here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

Yesterday's loss to the Red Sox pushed the Orioles to the 74-loss mark for the 2025 campaign. I realize it's (mostly) been over since mid-July, but losing 3 of 4 to Houston and 4 straight to Boston has ended it, officially, for the Birds.

There's always next year. Right?

So with baseball no longer mattering and football right around the corner, it's reasonable to start focusing on John Harbaugh's team and think fondly of what might be on the horizon for Lamar Jackson and Company.

Anything less than a Super Bowl appearance will probably fall under the category of --- Not Good Enough.

Sure, Lamar could get hurt in week 4, 8 or 12 and that would be the end of any championship hopes. But all things being equal, if the majority of the "core" of the team stays healthy this season, a trip to the Super Bowl is pretty much a "must do" for the Ravens.

There's no reason at all why the Ravens can't make it to the Super Bowl. Yes, I know Lamar hasn't been there yet. I know all about the team's post-season futilities over the last few years. They have a pretty big monkey on their back at this point. I think we all know that's true.

But this "feels" like it's their season of destiny.

If their core stays healthy, the Ravens should be the team to beat in the AFC.

What about the rest of the league, though? To be honest, there's not much to talk about with the Ravens. They're loaded on offense and defense. Anything less than 12-5 would be a shock.

Other teams, though, have lots of questions surrounding them. And there's lots of intrigue around the NFL as well. The Cowboys dealt perhaps the league's best defensive player to a conference rival yesterday. If that doesn't shake things up, nothing will.

The Steelers are dusting off Aaron Rodgers for what everyone assumes will be his last season in the league. I just finished watching his documentary on Netflix and it gave me an entirely different perspective on Rodgers as both a player and a person. Now, don't get me wrong, I realize it's a TV show and he had some degree of control over the content (like, for a guy who was with a different woman every season, it seems, there was never once a mention of a woman he was dating in the shows) but Rodgers really came across in the documentary as a guy you would want in your locker room. Anyway, I hope he flops horribly in Pittsburgh.

There's a lot of things to look forward to in the '25 NFL season. Such as...

Is there any chance at all that the East is going to be the best division in the NFC? That ship might have sailed with yesterday's trade of Micah Parsons from Dallas to Green Bay, but you certainly have the makings of a very competitive division, with Washington and Philadelphia both appearing to be capable of deep playoff runs and the Giants boasting a much-improved defense. Dallas will be able to score points. But can they stop anyone?

Is there any chance at all that Aaron Rodgers has enough left in the tank to take the Steelers into the post-season? We didn't really learn a whole lot from his two seasons in New York other than he's kind of a wack job and he's not the same QB he was once upon a time in Green Bay. But can he still play? Can he be good enough in Pittsburgh to help the black and gold navigate their way through a tough AFC North in 2025?

Is there any chance at all that the Lions can finally, finally, finally...advance to the Super Bowl? They were close to being good enough to get there last season until the Commanders shocked them in the playoffs. They're the "sexy" pick in 2025, which might mean it won't work out for them -- again. But they're certainly one of the NFC teams worthy of high expectations this season. Wouldn't it be awesome to see the Lions in the Super Bowl? If it's not Baltimore, I hope it's Detroit.

Is there any chance at all that the Chiefs are now on the downside of their dominant reign? I get it, anything can happen in one game. But K.C. got punched directly in the mouth last February in the Super Bowl and they crawled into the fetal position like Roberto Duran in New Orleans. Was that game the beginning of their natural, cyclical decline into "just another team"? Or is Patrick Mahomes too good to ever be average?

Is there any chance at all that some weird team we're not expecting will actually be really good? Kind of like D.C. was a year ago, perhaps. You know, we think they might be good, but we're not really sure. And then, out of nowhere, they're 10-5 with a couple of weeks left in the season and they're going to make the playoffs and maybe even make some noise in the post-season. Who would that be in 2025? Could it be Denver? Could it be New England? Could it be Chicago? Could it be anyone in the AFC South or NFC South?

Is there any chance at all that someone other than Kansas City, Buffalo or Baltimore is the AFC's representative in the Super Bowl? It just seems like a foregone conclusion that either the Ravens, Chiefs or Bills will play for the NFL title, right? Who else could it be? Cincinnati? No way. The Chargers? Come on, no chance. It has to be either the Ravens, Chiefs or Bills. Yes?

Is there any chance at all that the Ravens don't lose a game? I had this discussion with a Ravens-rabid friend of mine this week. He swears up and down they can go 17-0. I poo-poo'd it a first. But I'm very bullish on the Ravens in 2025. 17-0? I don't know man, that's quite a stretch. But I'm willing to take the opinion of others into consideration. Well? Can they go 17-0?

Is there any chance at all that Shedeur Sanders winds up playing in Cleveland in 2025 and is actually competent and successful in the NFL? The Browns go through quarterbacks like Collin Morikawa goes through caddies. So we know there's a chance he plays this season. I'm genuinely curious to see if Sanders can play at the NFL level. I'm not "worried" per se that he might help the Browns win down the road. Nothing ever seems to help them. But it will be interesting to see if all those teams who passed on him regret that...sort of like they all regret not taking Lamar once upon a time.

And this is not a "any chance at all?" question, but I had this discussion with a friend yesterday and think it's good water cooler conversation. Discounting the Ravens making it, which we all want, of course, what would be your "dream" Super Bowl match-up this season? You're the football fairy and you're allowed to pick the Super Bowl but it can't involve the Ravens. Who would you pick?

I have three, with reasoning behind all three.

The first one would be the Lions vs. the Browns. The two most moribund franchises of the last 40 years get to square off in the biggest game in sports and, here's the kicker, one of them will actually have to win it! I'd also like to see their respective fan bases get rewarded for decades of loyalty without return. Cleveland, of course, also had a team taken away from them, which makes their story even more alluring.

Next I'd say Buffalo vs. Atlanta. Why Buffalo? Three reasons. First, if they make it this year, that immediately decreases their chances of repeating and going back there next year. Second, I love their helmets. Third, there are football fans in upstate New York who endured the four Super Bowl losses back in the old days and I'd like to see them get rewarded. As for Atlanta, that one's obvious. The last time they were in the Super Bowl they were ahead 28-3 and lost. Enough said there.

I'd also like to see a Jets vs. Giants Super Bowl. I know how hard that would be for us to take here on the East Coast, but I think the build up to that game and having those franchises oppose one another in the Super Bowl would be awesome. For once, the hype around the game would be real.

faith in sports

Well, if you didn't like the Savannah Bananas before today, hopefully this gets you into their fan club.

There's a longer, 20-minute video at Sports Spectrum that details the team's faith and following of Jesus, but we're just showing you the 6 minute clip of their manager today.

This is awesome insight into one of the country's hottest sports products and it's awesome to see that they're all followers of Jesus. The more they travel around and help spread the gospel, the better it is for all of us.

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

Thursday August 28, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4021

a tough wednesday indeed

This is a rare day indeed at #DMD.

I just don't have "sports" in me today.

There will be sports here this morning, yes. Jack Herb will handle baseball coverage with his outstanding Thursday report below.

I could labor through it and try to come up with something, but I'd be swinging and missing like an Oriole in an October playoff game.

Baseball and a 9th inning heartbreaking loss to the Red Sox weren't all that important yesterday.

Neither were the Ryder Cup selections.

I got through the day, yes, but not without sadness.

And my energy for sports and such was zapped.

The events in Minneapolis early yesterday morning were too hard to take, particularly if you, like me, dropped off one (or more) of your children at school on Wednesday.

I can't imagine the horror of receiving that phone call.

Columbine was in 1999.

Sandy Hook was in 2012.

Those are just two.

There have been countless other mass shootings at schools, churches and so on over the last 25 years.

We can't solve this problem.

I don't know why we can't. But we can't.

People yesterday were quick to blame politics, the transgender community, gun laws and mental health.

Politics is an issue in our country every single day. I have good friends who are Democrats and they're awesome people and I have good friends who are Republicans and they, too, are awesome humans. A criminal's political affiliation isn't an indictment on anything in particular. A blanket statement like "The shooter hated Trump and he shot up the school in Minneapolis to shed light on his dislike for Trump" isn't Trump's fault. It's the shooter's fault.

There are transgender people on your street, my street and every other street in America today, tomorrow and the next day. I don't see them any more presdisposed to crime than the next person. Are they confused about their identity? Sure, in some cases they might be. But how that leads them to shooting innocent people is a puzzle I can't solve.

I know a lot of people who own guns and keep them in their house and they've never shot an innocent person nor would they. The gun is merely the conduit to the crime. If the kid in Minneapolis didn't have a gun, he would have built a bomb like they did in Boston. If it weren't guns or a bomb, it would have been a car or a truck.

Mental health is a challenge in our country. It's a challenge everywhere, really. Why are we shooting and killing innocent people? I don't know the answer to that one, but I think it's fair to emphasize that 99.5% of the people in our country would never even think about carrying out a mass murder event. So, yes, we might have a mental health "issue" in our country but it's not overly extreme, no matter what the media and the pharmaceutical companies want to tell you.

Everyone always wants to pinpoint one thing as the reason why something takes place.

"He hates Republicans."

"He's a confused transgender guy."

"It's the guns. It's always the guns."

"Everyone in the country is medicated. We're losing our ability to think clearly."

I don't buy that stuff.

We're looking for answers in those places but we're not finding them.

I wish we could convince people in our country -- and all over the world -- to live like Jesus lived. That, to me, is the answer.

How do we teach that and convince everyone to follow along with the teachings and the life of Jesus?

I wish I could snap my fingers and make it happen.

Sadly, over the last 40 years or so, people in our country have actually been pushed away from Jesus, which might very well be one of the reasons why we deal with these heinous gun-related-stories a few times a year.

The man responsible for yesterday's shooting in Minneapolis apparently attended the very same Catholic school that he shot up on Wednesday.

What's that say about him?

It says the education he received at that particular school didn't resonate very well with him.

No one who studies faith and follows the life of Jesus and intends to live like Jesus would ever kill an innocent person. Of any age.

1 Peter 4:12 says -- Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

I thought of this verse yesterday when I heard the news about Minneapolis.

You can't be surprised by what happened on Wednesday.

Disappointed? Sure.

Upset? Absolutely.

Outraged? Very much so, yes.

But you can't be surprised by it. It's been going on for the better part of three full decades now.

We didn't fix it after Columbine. We didn't fix it after Sandy Hook. We didn't fix it after Boston or Charlottesville.

We're being tested, for sure. And we're not really doing anything to figure out the answers to the test. I don't know if I'm right or wrong on this, but more Jesus would never hurt.

Politics isn't going away.

The transgender community is part of the fabric of our world.

Guns, bombs, cars and weapons in general are here and staying here.

Do you mean to tell me we're just going to have to put up with senseless violence forever?? That's the answer?

Why don't we try more Jesus?

Why not teach our children more about Jesus and less about, for example, gym class or the music of Beethoven or other stuff that won't really help them in "real life"?

Why don't we learn more about Him and the way He lived his life and see if maybe, just maybe, that helps get us back on track?

Can it hurt?

I mean, that's the $64,000 question, right?

Can teaching our young people about Jesus make things worse?

Of course not.

It can only make things better.

That's what we need moving forward. We need more "better".

And Jesus is, for sure, "better".

We need more of Him. Everywhere.

Editor's note: Please know we're not going to turn today's story and the ensuing comments into a referendum on the President. Shootings like the one that occurred yesterday have been going on long before President Trump took office. This President is not above criticism, that's true. But turning yesterday's horrible tragedy into an indictment on him and his office and party is not going to be permitted...because it's not the solution.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

As we approach the end of August and the end of Summer, we are entering the last month of regular season baseball. We’ve seen a lot this season, from the Rafael Devers drama in Boston to the 16 RBI game in Sacramento from Nick Kurtz, and everything else in between. There also have been a lot of surprises this season that nobody saw coming.

I think the biggest surprise this year could arguably be the year Cal Raleigh has had. We talked about him a few times in the past and highlighted that he could potentially break the record for most home runs in a season by a catcher, which was held by Salvador Perez.

Cal broke the record, which was 48, and we still have a month of baseball left. He currently has 50 home runs on the campaign and with the way he’s played this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get to 60.

Keep in mind, this is a guy that was averaging around 30 home runs a season over the past few years and to see this big of a jump is incredible. Now that he has broken the record, I believe he is your 2025 AL MVP.

The chase for this award didn’t even seem close earlier this year when Aaron Judge was batting similar to Ted Williams, but Cal has been consistent all year long. He plays a premier position also and you don’t see offensive production come from a catcher very often. If he does win MVP, he will be the first catcher to win the award since 2012 when Buster Posey won.

Although Cal’s production this year has been a surprise this year to say the least, I don’t think anyone had the Milwaukee Brewers having the best record in baseball at the end of August on their bingo cards.

This Brewers team lost 2 of their best players going into 2025, with their starting shortstop, Willy Adames, signing a massive contract with the San Francisco Giants and their closer, Devin Williams, going over to the Bronx to play with the Evil Empire.

With one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, Milwaukeer relied heavily on their young prospects and rule 5 draft pickups to fill out their 26 man roster.

This team is special and is going to be very hard to beat come October.

We’ve talked about the Brewers and their style of play in the past, such as their elite starting pitching rotation and small ball approach on offense. Runs are a premium in playoff baseball, and their pitching staff doesn’t give up much and they are able to manufacture runs with their offensive approach.

We’ve also seen this team go on multiple 10-game-plus winning streaks throughout the season. If the Brewers get hot in October, look out.

On the flip side, we’ve also seen a lot of disappointments this season, like the Orioles and Braves. Some may have seen this coming for the Orioles based on what they did in the offseason, but many, like myself, believed their core group of young players was good enough to get them back into the playoffs this season.

There’s been some good and a lot of bad for the 2025 Orioles, hopefully the front office takes a different approach going into this Winter and reloading for 2026.

I would like to raise a question for the DMD readers and ask what has been the biggest surprise to you this season? I believe most will say it’s the 2025 Orioles, but if there’s something else, please share your thoughts.

If your answer is the 2025 Orioles, what does Mike Elias need to do over the Winter to get this team back in the playoffs in 2026?

Players of the Week –

Pitcher: Ranger Suarez of the Philadelphia Phillies had a great outing last Sunday against the Nationals and pitched a 7 inning shutout allowing 3 hits, no walks and punched out 11.

Sunday’s win improves Suarez’s record to 10-6 for the season with a 3.07 ERA as he continues to be in contention for the NL Cy Young award. The Phillies are going to lean hard on Suarez and Christopher Sanchez down the stretch and into the playoffs after the news came out about Zack Wheeler being shut down for the remainder of the season when a blood clot in his shoulder was discovered and removed.

This is a massive loss for the Phillies, but the most important thing here is Wheeler’s health as this is a serious health issue, not a sports injury. Wheeler, already being 35, was planning to retire after his contract was up in 2027 however, after all of this we may have seen Wheeler throw his last pitch.

The good news for the Phillies is they still have Sanchez and Suarez, 2 starting pitchers in the top 5 for NL Cy Young. They’re still playing well and also have a nice 5 game cushion over the 2nd place New York Mets in the NL East.

Both guys have playoff experience, although Suarez has a lot more playoff innings under his belt. The Phillies still have a great chance of winning it all this year. Suarez and Sanchez will both have huge roles for the Phillies and their future this season.

Position Player: Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays had another great week at the dish batting .320 with 4 homers, 9 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Caminero is quietly having an unbelievable season with 39 home runs and 94 RBI, which are both 6th in baseball. He is only 1 home run shy of becoming the 2nd youngest 3rd baseman to hit 40 homers in a season, and is on pace to finish the year with 50 long balls.

The Rays have struck gold with this young player who was at one point a top prospect in baseball. We’ve talked about this before here, but it’s unbelievable how the Rays are able to develop their prospects and turn them into All Star players.

Although the Rays are out of the post-season hunt unless they go on a serious winning streak, they have a solid core to build around and can be a dangerous team in the 2026 season.

Rookie: The Yankees haven’t had many things going their way since the All Star break except for their rookie right handed starter Cam Schlittler, who has been outstanding recently. This past week, Schlittler threw 12.2 innings, earning 1 win while striking out 16 hitters, allowing 5 walks, 5 hits, and no runs.

Since the All Star break, Schlittler has produced a 2.43 ERA with a 1.32 WHIP and a 39/17 strikeout to walk ratio over 37 innings.

The Yankees have struggled since the All Star break and have played themselves out of their lead in the AL East and nearly to the last Wildcard spot. They just lost 3 of 4 to the Boston Red Sox at home, but they have a nice break in their schedule with an opportunity to turn things around

They just swept the Nationals at home and will travel to Chicago for a 4 game series against the White Sox which will be a nice momentum builder before the calendar turns to September . They then have consecutive series’ against Houston, Toronto, and Detroit.

The Yankees are a far better club than the White Sox, and they need to take care of business in Chicago and get right before the schedule turns to 3 series in a row against all 3 AL division leaders.

Games of the Week –

Friday, August 29th: Milwaukee Brewers vs Toronto Blue Jays (Freddy Peralta vs Shane Bieber)

The Blue Jays will host the NL leading Milwaukee Brewers this weekend for an interleague matchup between 2 of the best teams in baseball. This is a good litmus test for the Blue Jays to see how well they match up against the hottest team in baseball since the All Star break.

The Brewers will have their ace on the bump Friday night, Freddy Peralta, who has been outstanding this season. I’m not sure why Peralta’s name hasn’t been mentioned much for the NL Cy Young, as he is 15-5 with a 2.68 ERA and has 160 strikeouts in 147.2 innings pitched. The Blue Jay will have former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber on the mound who is making his 2nd appearance of the season after coming back from injury.

Saturday, August 30th: Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals (Jack Flaherty vs Seth Lugo)

Kansas City will take on their division rival Detroit Tigers this weekend for another 3 game series after just facing them last weekend and losing 2 of 3. The Royals only have 28 games left this season, and losing this series won’t eliminate them from the playoffs, but it will hurt a lot.

The Royals are 3 games behind the Mariners who currently have the last Wildcard spot. A series win here will go a long way for the Royals and their hopes of playing October baseball.

The Royals will have their ace, Lugo, to start the series and will face Jack Flaherty who we know all too well. Flaherty is 7-13 with a 4.87 ERA this season and is the weak link in the Tigers rotation. The Royals shouldn’t have an issue putting up runs Saturday night and giving their ace a great chance to earn a win.

Sunday, August 31st: St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds (Andre Pallante vs Brady Singer)

I’ve been pulling for this young Reds team all season, and now it’s crunch time for them. They are 3.5 games back for the last Wildcard spot which is held by the New York Mets, who have been hot winning 7 of their last 10 games.

The Reds are coming off a tough series against the Dodgers and face a Cardinals team that just looks defeated. Taking 2 of 3 against the Cardinals will keep them in the hunt as August turns to September, where the schedule gets tough as they face the Blue Jays followed by possibly the biggest series of the year for them, the New York Mets.

Wednesday August 27, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4020

The moment arrived, the picks were made and not much about today's Ryder Cup captain's picks came as much of a surprise.

The one shock, if you will, is that Keegan Bradley elected NOT to pick himself. Bradley put together a very impressive 2-year campaign to make the team after he was impolitely snubbed in 2023, then eschewed the opportunity to call his own name this morning when he announced his six picks.

Bradley essentially opted for Cameron Young instead of putting himself on the team. Keegan didn't actually say as much today, but it's easy to understand why the other five guys were named.

The additional six players Bradley added today included two previous major champions, a FedEx Cup champion and guys who have won on the PGA Tour over the last 12 months.

"He's the heartbeat of our team," Bradley said about Justin Thomas, who finished 7th in the standings and was always going to be on the squad.

Collin Morikawa is basically the second best-ball-striker in the world of golf behind only Scottie Scheffler. That's what the data and the shots-gained numbers say, at least. That he hasn't won in forever didn't seem to matter. Morikawa was always going to play at Bethpage.

Ben Griffin was the no-brainer of the group if you take into consideration what he's done in 2025. Two wins, one of which came in a Ryder-Cup-like team event, and a plethora of Top 10 finishes and solid performances in the major championships in which he played.

After that, though, it got interesting.

Patrick Cantlay was announced as "the 5th pick" by Bradley but it's almost a certainty he, like Morikawa and Thomas, was "always on the team." Cantlay is 15-6-1 in combined Ryder and Presidents Cup play and appears to be the team's most respected player in the locker room.

"He's our leader," Bradley said at today's press conference. "When he says something, every guy in the locker room listens. If there's a foxhole and you're in it, there's no doubt you want to look over and see Patrick right there next to you."

Sam Burns was also a no-brainer addition, both for his play in the summer of 2025 and his pairings potential with guys like Scheffler, Henley and perhaps J.J. Spaun. Burns is the #1 putter in the world these days, which also helps in high-pressure events like the one at Bethpage in late September.

And Cameron Young rounded out the group, parlaying a remarkable 6 weeks of golf into a spot on the team. In June, no one on the planet thought Cam Young would be on the Ryder Cup team. But a win at Greensboro followed by impressive play at the three playoff events -- plus a right to left ball flight that will favor him at Bethpage -- moved him from the outside to the inside.

Bradley said today it was decided "weeks ago" that he wasn't going to play on the team. His absence made it much easier to squeeze Young into the team.

The other two "snubs", if you will, both had blemishes that simply couldn't be ignored.

Maverick McNealy put together the best season of his career in 2025 but it didn't include a signature victory of any kind and, on a team already taking several Ryder Cup rookies to New York, they simply couldn't afford another first-timer.

The bet here is when you see Season 3 of "Full Swing" on Netflix next May that the call to McNealy was the hardest one for Bradley to make because it reminded the captain of the very call he received in 2023 when he thought he had done enough to make the team that played in Italy.

Brian Harman had a win earlier in the year in Texas but it was a foregone conclusion he wasn't going to be on the team due to the length and the difficulty of Bethpage Black. Of all players thought to be "considered" for the team, Harman was almost a guarantee to be the first one "out", so to speak. Another year, a different course...it might have been different for him.

No matter what decisions were made today, this U.S. team has an uphill fight on their hands in my opinion. The European team is stacked.

The American team, I think, is hopeful.

It's going to be interesting to see what impact Bradley has on the squad at Bethpage Black. It's his team, now. And it stands to reason he could be a two-time captain if he gets the U.S. into the winner's circle in late September.

The Americans haven't won on the road since 1993. Could Keegan Bradley be the guy to lead them to a win in Ireland in 2027?

They have to win at Bethpage, first. And that's not going to be easy.

This Happy Hour contribution was provided by Drew Forrester.

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm, including multiple previous winners, but we have for the second time, chosen co-Players of the Week in Delmarva Shorebirds IF Wehiwa Aloy and C Caden Bodine.

Those names should certainly be familiar to Orioles’ fans as both were recent draft selections last month. Bodine, 21 was the 30th overall selection, while Aloy, 21, was chosen right behind him with overall pick number 31.

After their selections, both players immediately entered the O’s top 30 prospects list per MLB Pipeline with Aloy ranking 5th and Bodine 10th.

We will start with Bodine who had a nice week at the plate against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox). Over five games played, he hit .350 (7-20) with two walks, two RBI and scored four runs. With two weeks of pro ball under his belt, Bodine has had a nice start to his career. He is hitting .333 (13-39) with four walks, four RBI and five runs scored over 44 plate appearances with the Shorebirds.

Not to be outdone, Aloy is also off to a nice start to his career as well. Last week, he hit .286 (6-21) with three extra-base hits, including his first professional home run. He also drew three walks, drove in four RBI and scored six runs en route to a .899 OPS for the week.

Over his nine games as a professional, Aloy owns a .289 (11-38) batting average with a .872 OPS thanks to six extra-base hits. Even with the recent promotions of Dylan Bevers and Samuel Basallo to the big-league club, there is still plenty of excitement down on the farm with the debuts of this year’s draft class.

It is certainly nice to see the likes of Aloy and Bodine get off to nice starts as they look to end this year strong and make a case for promotion to begin next season.

This Happy Hour contribution was provided by Josh Michael.

---

"a winning culture"

Gunnar Henderson's comments earlier in the week about the possibilities of a contract extension have bounced around the internet enough that I figured I'd weigh in on it all.

It's a bit of a nothing burger, really, because I just don't see any way Henderson would cave in now and sign an extension.

Scott Boras would strongly advise against it, for starters, and Gunnar's comments earlier this week should actually give the O's reason to pause and say, "Let's see how this plays out."

As is usually the case anytime an athlete speaks out, half the people like what they (he) said and half don't like it.

For the record, here's what Henderson had to say about an extension possibility in the wake of Samuel Basallo signing a $67 million extension last weekend.

“If they bring it there, then I’ll definitely look at it with my team and be happy to look over it," Henderson said. "I want to be in a winning culture. That’s the No. 1 thing for me. Losing doesn’t sit well with me. I want to be in a place where I can win, and hopefully they’ll continue to show that.”

A lot of folks in town took that comment like Henderson was putting the Orioles on notice.

"Gunnar sticking it to the O's," someone wrote on Twitter. "He's making sure they know up front, if you don't put a winning team on the field you can count me out."

"It's about time a player told the front office 'put up or shut up'," someone else wrote. "Way to go Gunnar!"

OK, let's calm down a bit on the rhetoric about Henderson holding ownership's feet to the fire.

Gunnar should be holding his own feet to the fire, too.

For starters, Henderson has been part of a winning culture here. In 2024 and 2025, the O's made the playoffs. They didn't win a playoff game in either of those two years, but Gunnar, himself, was part of the problem in those two instances.

I'm not suggesting that Henderson intentionally forgot the O's were a playoff team in the previous two seasons. But it does seem like he has a memory of convenience, as the saying goes.

The O's actually drafted Henderson with the hope he would help them develop "a winning culture". In other words, you're part of the solution and part of the problem.

They're not going to win this year, obviously. And once again, Gunnar himself is part of the team.

It's also fair to ask, "What athlete doesn't want to be part of a winning culture?"

I'm not going to pick on Gunnar too much with that statement, but it's the clubhouse leader for "Dumb Comment of the Year" in my book.

Of course you want to be in a "winning culture". What, you'd rather sign up for losing?

When's the last time you heard a player say, "You know, as long as I get paid, I don't give a rats-rear-end if we win or lose. In fact, I kind of like losing. There's not much pressure involved. I don't mind a losing culture at all."

Gunnar saying he wants to be part of a winning culture is perfectly fine. But let's not make a big deal about it and let's certainly not think he was trying to send the organization a message of some kind.

In the end, Henderson will want one thing. Money. Period.

You can bet everything you have right now that he'll sign with the Angels or Mariners in a hearbeat if they give him the most money in a few years and neither of those organizations has a "winning culture" that I've seen.

So let's give the "winning culture" thing a rest.

If you want to be involved in "winning", here's a novel idea. Help the team win. I realize Gunnar can't do it all. No player can, on any team.

But let's check ourselves first and then we can hold the team's feet to the fire afterwards.

A few years ago I was helping one of my top high school golfers navigate his way through the college recruiting process and it eventually came down to three schools.

I met with him and his parents at a local country club one Saturday morning and he laid out all three offers and on separate sheets of paper, he listed pros and cons of each school and each golf program.

"In your heart, where do you want to go?" I asked him.

He identified the school he wanted to attend.

"So what's holding you back from calling (the coach) right now and telling him you've decided to accept your offer?" I asked him.

"Well, they haven't won their conference tournament in four years," he said. "And, when they play against really good schools in tournaments, like the best programs in the country, they usually get clobbered."

"I want to go someplace where we're going to win," he added.

I allowed for five seconds of silence, just to set the stage for my answer.

"Do you think Coach (XXXX) likes losing? He wants to win just like you want to win. In fact, he probably wants to win more than you because you're gone after four years and he's still there trying to win."

"One of the reasons he wants you in his program is because he's tired of not winning his conference tournament. He thinks by adding you to his team, he might actually win."

I could see the lightbulb go off in his head.

"I never thought of it like that," he said to me.

"Right, of course. You're looking at what the team has been, with other players, and not what the team might be, with you in the program. You're going there to make a difference. He wants you in his program because he thinks you can make a difference. What the team did in the past shouldn't matter to you. You weren't part of the program."

"The coach wants you on his team because he's tired of losing."

Five years later, that young man had been part of several conference championship teams and is flourishing as a high-level competitive golfer.

Gunnar Henderson wants to see the Orioles maintain a "winning culture". Well, no s**t Sherlock. You think they want to lose?

He's part of their culture now. I'm not around the team and I'm not in the locker room and I'm not "part of it", but I don't need any of that to know that the players themselves make up the "winning culture".

If Aaron Judge went to the Pittsburgh Pirates this off-season, would they suddenly start winning because he's a player who has been on winning teams in the past?

They most certainly would not.

Gunnar pining for a "winning culture" is all well and good, but he's partially responsible for creating that himself.

When they were winning for two years, he was part of it.

They're losing this year and guess what? He's one of the reasons why they're losing, just like he was one of the reasons why they were winning.

Gunnar will be a free agent in a few years and he'll go to the highest bidder. That's just a fact. Anything else he says is eye wash.

But if "winning culture" really matters to him, then he'd figure out a way to get an extension done in Baltimore and he'd stick to the plan here.

He's not going to do that, though.

"Winning culture" doesn't mean nearly as much to him as $500 million.

And I'm not here to say there's anything inherently wrong with that. You can't pay the mortgage on your $3.7 million home in Annapolis by telling the mortgage company, "The team I played for went 96-66 this season!"

Gunnar wants to get paid in a few years. If the Angels go 72-90 for the next three years and they offer Henderson the best deal at $55 million a year for 8 years, that's where he's going to go.

"Winning" won't matter at that point, you can make book on that.

---

Keegan Bradley will make his 6 Ryder Cup picks this morning at 11 am, putting an end to a week's worth of rumors and "inside stories" about the development of this year's American squad.

Depending on which source you believe, or don't believe, here's what we've heard over the last 48 hours.

Bradley is picking himself. That's a done deal.

Sam Burns got the call on Monday night that he was "in".

Ben Griffin got the call on Tuesday that he was "out".

Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa found out last week in Atlanta they were both "in".

Patrick Reed is a possible candidate for selection despite the fact he's a LIV golfer.

Everywhere you turn, there's a rumor or an "inside source".

I've chronicled what I think he's going to do and what I think he should do here at #DMD.

I'd take Burns, Cantlay, Cam Young from outside the top 12.

The only area I've been wishy-washy on is whether Keegan is going to pick himself. But I think it's pretty clear after last week's TOUR Championship in Atlanta that Bradley is going to add himself to the team.

I'm still not sure I'm behind that decision, but it can't be argued that Bradley is one of the top American players.

I wouldn't have added Morikawa, personally, but I suspected all along Bradley was going to take him despite his tepid 2024 and 2025 results.

With Bradley "in", it's almost a certainty he's going to have to leave out Maverick McNealy and Brian Harman. And that's only if he keeps Ben Griffin.

Burns is in. That one has all but been confirmed.

And you have to imagine that either Cam Young or Patrick Cantlay are in. And there's a chance both might be on the team.

We'll find out today at 11 am.

Tuesday August 26, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4019

"i'm not afraid"

Eminem has some great songs.

More than "some", actually. He has a lot of great songs.

Of all of them, "I'm Not Afraid" might be the best one.

Your mileage may vary on that one, of course. "Sing For The Moment" is amazing. So, too, is "25 to Life". "Square Dance" always holds up, even now, almost 25 years later.

"I'm Not Afraid" is the best of the best, in my opinion.

Where else are you going to find someone who can weave the word "exorcise" into the definition of "exercise" and author a song lyric that says:

"Thought I had it mapped out but I guess I didn't

This (####) black cloud still follows me around

But it's time to exorcise these demons

These (####) are doing jumping jacks now!"

So, contrary to what some folks hinted at in the Comments section over the last couple of days, I'm not afraid to address the old days at the radio station, Free The Birds, or anything else about my 12 years there.

I look back on those 12 years with great fondness.

Were there things about my employment there that were off-putting? Of course. Are you 100%, without question, completely satisfied with everything that happens at your job? Right, I didn't think so.

I thought that "era" of radio, if you will, from roughly 2000 (I didn't get there until 2002, remember) until "D-Day" in 2014 was as good as sports talk radio has ever been in Baltimore. It was authentic. It was home grown. It was, for sure, more like WKRP in Cincinnati than a radio professional would have preferred, but it was "Baltimore", if that makes sense.

We weren't afraid to push the envelope. Did we push it too hard on occasion? Sure, maybe. But we also took great pride in the work we produced.

Every year at the Super Bowl, we clobbered anyone and everyone from Baltimore who showed up at radio row to compete with us. It was a blood bath. Every single year.

I always appreciated the station owner's confidence in me. We had, I thought, a good relationship. We didn't always agree on everything, but, again, when's the last time you and your boss agreed on every single thing, every single day?

I didn't like the way we all got fired. I thought it was terrible. But I won't let that ruin what I did there for 12 years, that's for sure.

I worked hard. I carried the station's water on a number of subjects along the way. I sold a lot of advertising within my own show, not because I had to do it, but because I liked money and had a family to support

And, if I'm being honest, selling was pretty easy because the station's sales efforts back then weren't very sophisticated.

I don't know what the station does on a day-by-day basis any longer but I certainly can "read the room" (the internet, mostly) enough to know it's no longer a full-time sports station, and that's sad.

That said, people's interests change along the way. If I owned the signal and the tower, I might turn it into "Golf and God" talk, for instance. I have no idea. I might go out of business quickly with that format, but I'd go out of business on my terms, I guess.

So the station's current format appeals to the owner and that's his call and his dollar to make or lose. I have no idea if the format appeals to the masses. I don't follow the ratings any longer.

Someone asked recently in the Comments section about "Free The Birds" and whether it was "real" or "shtick"?

That's an interesting question.

Was it a publicity stunt?

It most certainly was not.

But was "publicity" a welcomed benefit of the event? I would say "yes" to that.

In simple terms, it wasn't done just for the publicity. But garnering publicity out of it was a nice by-product of the whole thing.

That's my opinion, by the way. That's not a fact.

I believed in Free The Birds back then and still, to this day, think it was a necessary step to take to try and wake up the Orioles organization and let them know the community, as a whole, was tired of seeing the team flounder without direction on the field.

Whether it did anything at all, I have no idea. I'm certainly not going to sit here and tell you that Free The Birds rattled enough cages in The Warehouse that they said, "OK, now that this radio station is on our ass, we have to do something to fix our team."

But it did rattle their cage. I do know that. They weren't happy. They didn't like the premise of Free The Birds and there were people in the Warehouse who resented the embarrassment we caused them.

To that end, maybe it did have an impact beyond what everyone "on the outside" believed at the time.

I was once told by someone in the organization that the front office resented my on-air "crusade" (their words) to get BALTIMORE back on the road jerseys circa 2007. But that same person also told me I was right. And to not give up. And to keep pressing the Orioles on it because they knew it was the right thing to do in the long run.

They just didn't like the fact that it was me pushing them to do it. They wanted it to be their idea. And they most certainly weren't going to give in and do it because some guy from a radio station "that had one listener" (I was told on opening day 2007) was pressing them to make the change.

I didn't care whose idea it was. I just wanted to see the road jersey say BALTIMORE across the front.

The Orioles called it a "crusade" on my part and thought, I guess, that I'd be offended by that word, as if it were negative by definition.

It was a crusade, actually: A vigorous campaign for political, social, or religious change.

I wasn't offended. "Crusade" was spot on, actually.

But when they made the change in 2009 and put BALTIMORE back on their road jersey after 36 years of "Orioles" on the front, I got blocked from the ballpark, for all intents and purposes. I was allowed in, yes. But I had to jump through so many hoops to get into the press box that their efforts worked perfectly. I just stopped going.

But my mission was accomplished. Someone from a local media entity once asked me during an interview why it was so important to me to see them put BALTIMORE back on the jersey and I admitted it was probably a bit of an ode to my late mother and father. They were both rabid, diehard Orioles fans who would have wanted me to fight for what I thought was right.

It turned into a campaign. A crusade, if you will. I pushed hard. In the end, they made the change and I pretty much got ostracized from the organization by their P.R. folks.

It was a fair trade, in the end. As someone who grew up in professional sports via the indoor soccer PR/Media relations department, I knew all too well about folks on the radio or in the newspaper taking shots at you.

Jeff Rimer of WBAL used to make snide remarks about the Blast on his nightly talk show all the time.

The various "big time" sports columnists at the newspaper(s) wouldn't lower themselves to come out to a game, but when they got the chance to needle us in a column, they did it.

I remember one time a columnist in town raked us over the coals for introducing players with "smoke, lights and music" and made a reference to "major league sports not needing to stoop to that level to get people excited about the games".

Ten years later, that same person was writing about how great the NBA was and how their player introductions were "cutting edge" as the music went down, the lights flashed, and Michael Jordan was introduced to wild cheers and the sounds of the Alan Parsons Project.

I resented those people back then for not giving the Blast or the sport a fair shot.

And in that regard, I could understand how the Orioles would resent me and/or the station. We weren't "helping" them, they thought. We were trying to hurt them. That's how they saw it. It was hard to argue with that position.

So, when the dust settled, what did Free The Birds really do? Well, it alienated the radio station in such a way that the relationship between the baseball club and the station was damaged forever.

To that end, you could surmise it actually wasn't beneficial. I'd probably agree with that, too. It was the ultimate Catch-22.

"We're going to hold the team's feet to the fire in an aggressive, "combative" way and it will probably sever the relationship forever."

"Here goes...wish us luck."

So, was Free The Birds "real"? It was, very much. Almost 2,000 people were there that day to join us in the upper deck. There were nitwits back then in the media who "estimated" 800 people were in those seats that day. They had no idea at all what they were talking about.

We gave everyone who bought a ticket for the game vs. Detroit from us a black "Free The Birds" tee-shirt and I personally helped hand out a little over 1,800 tee shirts in the front room of the radio station over a 3-week period in September.

I don't know the exact number of people who attended the game, but it was MUCH, MUCH, MUCH closer to 2,000 people than it was 800.

Anyway, I digress.

Free The Birds was awesome. Was it also damaging? It definitely was. I guess you'd call it "collateral damage".

And the station certainly got some publicity from the whole day, too. It turned out to be not exactly "great" publicity, but it was publicity nonetheless.

Someone asked if I'd ever go back there and work again. Do I have a "price"? Well, the great Ted DiBiase was famous for laughing and saying, "Everybody has a price..."

I don't even know how to answer that. I mean, I could say "no chance, no way" or I could say "for the right amount of money, sure" but the reality is, my values and my personal "position" on things would make it very difficult for me to work there.

It's similar to asking me if I would ever go back and work in the indoor soccer business. I could say "no chance, no way" or I could say "for the right amount of money, sure", but the reality is today's version of the sport is nothing like the version I worked in for 17 years. And today's version just doesn't really appeal to me.

Talking about politics and the "state of the state" in a state like Maryland where only one opinion really matters is kind of worthless, in my opinion.

The biggest problem in our country these days -- and I know I'm repeating myself, here -- is we've lost the ability to disagree with one another.

We no longer can do it civilly.

And in the media, particularly, you have to adopt a stance, support a party, and dig your heels in for the fight.

It's just not for me.

I love discourse. I don't like "agenda". Politics and the media in our country these days is all about agenda. Discourse is not allowed.

Would I do a sports talk show again? Maybe. And that's not a very strong "maybe", either. It probably leans more in the direction of "unlikely". I enjoy doing the golf radio show on 105.7 because it's golf and I run the show and I decide what to talk about.

The minute I do a radio show and a higher-up comes in after the show and says, "You shouldn't have said (that)" or "Tomorrow you should say (this)", I'd be done.

Radio has changed a lot over the last 15 years.

It's just not all that good any longer.

It could be good, I think. But there's too much "agenda" these days. And not enough "authentic".

That's just my opinion.

And I'm not at all afraid to share it.

Monday August 25, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4018

11 years later...

Well, we're still here.

Eleven years later.

Trust me, I had no idea I'd be sitting here on Monday, August 25, 2025, submitting this edition of #DMD For the 4,018th consecutive day.

I'm not going to do the "I told you so" thing today because, for sure, I wasn't ever convinced enough in the first place to tell you I'd be doing this for 11 years.

Alas, here we are.

This website started on August 25, 2014. Funny enough, it was a Monday, too.

I'd rather not go into deep detail about "why" it started, because I'm guessing by now nearly everyone who reads this website knows the details. But in the event you don't know, here's the quick version: I worked in sports radio for 12 years at a Baltimore sports talk station and on August 22, 2014, the owner of the place walked in and fired the entire on-air staff and two administrators.

That "anniversary", if you will, came and went last Friday without mention of it or fanfare here. It's old news at this point, plus if you're going to remember something and offer commentary on it, why not focus on the good story instead of the not-so-good story, right?

Getting fired is one thing. It happens. I fired a coach once. And several players. And front office employees. It's part of life.

But there should always be a gentle, humane way of doing it, particularly when someone (or a group of people) has served you well.

The mass firing in August of 2014 wasn't humane or gentle. Zero warning. No thank you or any other sign of appreciation. Bullets loaded. Gun fired. End of the story.

As it turns out, though, because God is great, those who were fired got the better end of the bargain once the dust settled.

A friend, Tony Young, reached out to me on that Friday afternoon and suggested we meet for coffee early in the evening at a White Marsh eatery.

On Monday, less than 72 hours after the mass firing, the first edition of Drew's Morning Dish was published.

Like everyone remembers Cal Ripken's magic numbers, I recall, to the number, how many people visited #DMD on that first day, August 25, 2014: 1,711.

Honestly, that's probably 1,700 more than I expected.

But, yes, 1,711 came around to see what I was going to do with my life after getting jettisoned from the radio station. Today, roughly five times that many people will visit this website. It's been quite an 11-year ride, that's for sure.

I enjoy posting the locations of everywhere I've published #DMD from since August 22, 2014. My longtime friend George McDowell built me a mobile server that I take along with me whenever I leave home and it's with that machine that I produce #DMD "on the road".

Over the last 11 years, I've published from: Baltimore, Ocean City, Washington DC, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York City, London, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Vero Beach, Atlanta, Houston, San Diego, Roanoke, Phoenix, Pinehurst, Williamsburg, Jacksonville, Nashville, Charleston, Sea Island GA, South Bend and several spots in New Jersey.

If you're humming that Johnny Cash song, "I've Been Everywhere", I'm right there with you.

And I'm pretty sure I've missed one or two locations as well. I'd almost guarantee it.

None of this would have ever been possible without the support of over 30 corporate partners who have been with me at various times over the last 11 years.

As I stressed a few months ago, the financial side of this business is simple. It's free for you to visit every day. All I ask is that, when possible, please utlilize the services of anyone you see here today or anyone who formerly supported us here as an advertiser but no longer does, for whatever reason.

Our corporate partners have always kept this place "free" for all of you to visit.

I'm eternally indebted to each and every one of them.

I won't overlook all of you, either, don't worry. I have no idea how many of you are "regulars" here, but we'll be launching our 2025 reader survey in September once football gets hot-and-heavy and we'll learn a little more about your visiting habits. That said, I know there are thousands of you who pretty much come here every single day and I appreciate you.

We're a little bit like sports talk radio here. Actually, we're a lot like it. When there's controversy, bad news, a Ravens loss or anything else "negative", our numbers the next day spike by 5% or more.

People, by nature, like to complain. And they like to see, read or watch other people complain. In sports, this is very prevalent.

Our former radio station GM used to say this all the time: "The worst thing for sports radio is a .500 team. It's awful. You either want the team to be great and never lose or you want the team to be terrible and never win. Those two are great for business. A .500 team is not great for business."

We're very similar here.

The two biggest days of our website, traffic wise, came on the day after Ray Rice was suspended by the NFL and the day after the Ravens lost to the Chiefs at home in the AFC Championship Game.

Bad news and a bad loss. People flock here for both, no football pun intended.

It would be nice someday soon if I get the luxury of writing about a Ravens Super Bowl appearance or Orioles World Series game. Just to, you know, see what the numbers would be the morning after those events. I think we might get the Super Bowl data next February. As for baseball...I have no idea.

Speaking of writing, we've had an outstanding stable of writers here over the years. Each of them had a certain area of expertise that I relied on to help make the website better. And they did that. Every single one of them. They're all appreciated more than they know, whether they contributed here for 3 months or 3 years.

As you know, today is the 4,018th consecutive day this website has been published. I don't take any real special pride in that because I know there's going to be a day, whether by computer failure, human error, or otherwise, that we'll fail to publish an edition of #DMD.

I've always been someone who showed up to work. Or school.

I went four straight years (4th grade through 7th grade) without missing a day of school. I missed three days of school in my three high school years.

My dad passed away on Monday afternoon, April 14, 2003 and I worked on Tuesday, April 15, mostly because my Dad would have wanted it that way.

So, showing up has always been in my DNA.

That I've showed up 4,018 consecutive days isn't that big of a deal to me. I mean, frankly, I'm thrilled that I've been healthy and capable enough to do it.

#DMD has hopefully become part of your morning or daily routine. It warms my heart anytime I hear someone say to me, "I start every morning by opening up your website and reading it."

A week or two ago at Pine Ridge, a stranger approached me and said those exact words. It made my night.

We're also trying to piece together some new elements to #DMD to make it even better.

Over the summer we've launched "Happy Hour", which is a 5 pm mini-edition of #DMD. As I said when we kicked it off, there's no set timetable for publishing "Happy Hour". We've had weeks where we ran it four times in seven days and we've had weeks where we've run it once in seven days.

I suspect "Happy Hour" will be more active once football season starts. My personal schedule calms down a lot once September rolls around, which makes it easier to publish early evening stuff here at #DMD.

We'll also be launching our podcast feature soon. It has been delayed by a malfunctioning recording device that needed a new part which, sadly, arrived two weeks later than first thought and then wasn't the right piece when it finally did arrive.

Worst case scenario, I'll just resort to recording the podcasts on ZOOM and "airing" it using that platform, but that's not the way I want to do it long-term.

We're hoping to have Dale Williams back here covering Maryland basketball this winter. I'm also hoping to have someone provide us with a weekly column on the Capitals.

As always, if there's something you'd like to cover or write about here, the floor is open and I'd welcome you to reach out to me with your idea(s). The last time I asked that of our readers, Mark Suchy, Jack Herb and Josh Michael surfaced to provide us with outstanding sports and baseball coverage.

I've always enjoyed having readers turn into content contributors here. In that way, #DMD is like sports talk radio, which is one thing I always liked about my days on the air.

If you're interested in contributing something here, either in the morning or via "Happy Hour", please reach out to me: 18inarow@gmail.com

11 years. Thanks to all of you who have been here to help us go from August 25, 2014 to August 25, 2025.

On the day of the mass firing, I drove to the Calvert Hall football stadium parking lot and parked my car for a half-hour of "peace".

It was there that I prayed.

"God, I have no idea why this happened today, but I'm going to trust that you have a plan for me. Whatever it is, I'm in. All I ask is that you help me take care of my family. I'm not worried about me, but I'm worried about them. Please help me take care of them in whatever way you decide is best."

It turns out God did have a plan for me.

Jeremiah 29:11 reads: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I have prospered.

And 11 years later I still have hope.

God is great, indeed.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 3-3

Season Record: 60-70

AL East Standing: 5th (15.5 GB of Tor 9.5 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Trevor Rogers - 2W 14IP 2R 16K 9H 4BB

The Orioles split a six-game week that opened with a crisp two-game sweep at Fenway and closed with a much-needed win to avoid a four-game sweep against Houston.

Trevor Rogers anchored both victories with another pair of ace-level outings. Gunnar Henderson led the offense, and top prospect Samuel Basallo logged his first MLB extra-base hit and first game-winning RBI, while becoming a very wealthy man.

A rough three-game stretch against the Astros kept the O’s from building real momentum, but Sunday’s tight win salvaged a .500 week.

On Monday, Trevor Rogers carried a shutout into the seventh and finished with seven innings of one-run ball. Gunnar Henderson paced the lineup with a solo homer and an RBI triple. Samuel Basallo doubled off the Monster for his first MLB extra-base hit, then added a two-run single in the ninth. Boston pushed two across in the ninth before Yennier Cano induced a game-ending grounder for a 6-3 win.

The Birds completed the two-game sweep in extra innings on Tuesday night. The O’s led 3–1 after Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI single and Colton Cowser’s two-run double in the fifth, but Boston tied it on a two-run homer in the ninth. In the 11th, Basallo brought home the automatic runner on a groundout for the deciding run. Cano escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 10th, and Corbin Martin locked down the save for a 4-3 win.

After a day off, the O’s welcomed the Astros to Camden Yards on Thursday. After nearly pitching a perfect game against them last week, Brandon Young was lit up by the Astros, who plated seven runs by the third. Christian Walker homered in the first and Yainer Díaz added a two-run shot in the third. Dylan Beavers accounted for both Baltimore runs with a solo homer and a later RBI fielder’s choice, but the Orioles fell 7-2.

On Friday, the Astros outslugged the O’s in a back-and-forth night. Jeremy Peña and Walker each hit three-run homers to build a 7–3 lead. The Birds clawed back on a Cowser solo shot and a Vimael Machín homer to make it 7–6, but a pair of Houston doubles in the eighth put it out of reach. Baltimore finished with 13 hits but could not complete the comeback in a 10-7 loss.

Houston jumped all over Dean Kremer on Saturday, with a five-run first inning. Yet, the O’s erased the 5–0 hole with a Colton Cowser three-run homer and the first MLB home run from Jeremiah Jackson. After the Astros moved ahead again, the O’s tied it once more, only to see Walker deliver the difference with a two-run shot in the seventh. Two rallies were not enough in a 9-8 loss.

Trevor Rogers dominated again with seven more one-run innings, while striking out nine on Sunday. Gunnar opened the scoring with a first-inning solo blast, and rookie Luis Vázquez added his first MLB home run in the seventh. Keegan Akin recorded a five-out save with three strikeouts to snap the three-game skid.

There was really only one choice for this edition of Player of the Week. While Gunnar Henderson had a solid week at the plate, batting .346 with two homers, four RBI and three stolen bases, the award goes to Trevor Rogers, who was magnificent again in two starts this week.

Rogers dealt for 14 innings, allowing two runs across the two wins while striking out 16. There isn’t much more to say about Rogers' run at this point. He’s been the best pitcher in baseball since he came back up to the majors this year.

Dylan Beavers and Jeremiah Jackson also deserve mention for their solid weeks at the plate. Beavers reached base at a .500 clip on the week with his first major league homer and six walks. Jackson also hit his first major league homer while batting .333 and driving in five runs.

Down on the Farm –

There is not a whole lot to write home about in the upper minor league these days, with exciting prospects Basallo and Beavers now with the big league team. The most notable events at Norfolk were starts by Kyle Bradish, Albert Suarez and Tyler Wells, who all look close to returning to Baltimore in the near future.

Down at AA Chesapeake, catching prospect Creed Willems led the way with his 13th and 14th homers of the season while batting .278 on the week and driving in six. Former first round pick Enrique Bradfield Jr. had a promising week as well, reaching base at a .556 rate with four walks and four stolen bases.

On the mound, Micahel Forret and Nestor German continued their strong seasons. Forret pitched 4.2 innings of shutout ball with five strikeouts and three hits. German was untouched as well, delivering five shutout innings with three hits and six strikeouts.

Question of the Week –

How good of a deal did the Orioles get in the Samuel Basallo contract?

The Orioles just did something they have not done in the Mike Elias era: they picked a homegrown headliner and paid to keep him.

Samuel Basallo, 21, signed for eight years and $67 million covering 2026 through 2033, with a club option for 2034. It is the largest pre-arbitration deal ever given to a catcher. The deal includes a $5 million signing bonus, and it lands as a top-four contract in club history by total guarantee.

For a franchise with very little money committed beyond this year and many questions swirling about commitment to spend, this deal is a positive sign that the new ownership will open the checkbooks.

In the terms of the deal, Basallo earns $1M in 2026, 2027 and 2028, then $4M in 2029, $7M in 2030, $11M in 2031, and $15M in both 2032 and 2033. The 2034 club option is $18M with a $7M buyout.

That structure guarantees $67M, with performance escalators that could push the total near $88.5M. The average annual value is about $8.4M, heavily backloaded as his role grows.

Two things matter here, cost certainty and control. Without an extension, Basallo would have been near the league minimum for three seasons, then paid year to year in arbitration through 2031, and he would have hit free agency right as his prime began.

The Orioles instead bought his first two free agent years, took an option on a third, and capped the arbitration climb at $4M, $7M and $11M.

If Basallo becomes what the industry already thinks he can be, a middle-order bat at a premium position, paying $15M in 2032 and 2033 for his age-28 and age-29 seasons reads like a bargain compared to recent markets for top catchers. The club also avoids the annual arbitration noise and can plan a roster around a known number.

On the flip side, Basallo gets security today. He trades the volatility of year-to-year arbitration for $67M guaranteed, plus the chance to earn more if he clears award and playing time triggers. The first three seasons are a raise above the minimum, and the buyout makes the option year meaningful even if the team declines it. For a 21-year-old catcher, that is life-changing stability.

Catcher is a demanding position. Prospects can stall, and bodies can break. Basallo has only just arrived, and the club is taking some performance and health risk up front. That said, the guarantee is modest relative to the upside. The worst-case outcome is not franchise-warping, while the best-case outcome is a potential great bargain for the front office.

The deal for Basallo does provoke the question of what this means for Adley Rutschman. Given the demands of the catcher position, it can never hurt to have two reliable options.

In the near term, Basallo and Rutschman will share the workload, mixing time at catcher, DH and possibly 1st base. Locking in Basallo through 2034 may mean the Orioles are now less likely to fork out a large extension for Rutschman though.

This contract is the first long-term commitment under new majority owner David Rubenstein and the clearest indication yet that Baltimore intends to keep its core. It also sets a template.

Expect Gunnar Henderson talks to be larger and more complex, and Jordan Westburg to be a logical next conversation at a different price point. Basallo’s deal shows a willingness to trade early dollars for longer control, something this front office had not done with its young stars until now.

The bottom line is, the Orioles paid a little more now to spend a lot less later, and they did it for a player who could anchor the lineup for a decade.

It is a smart, team-friendly bet with real upside, it solves a piece of roster planning that usually lingers for years, and it tells the clubhouse and the city that the new ownership is willing to invest in the future at the right price.

While this doesn’t change the product on the field over the next few years, hopefully it foreshadows some further spending this offseason to fill the holes and supply a truly competitive 2026 roster.

Sunday August 24, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4017

"it's like wrestling"

In lieu of watching the O's lose for a 3rd straight night on Saturday, I opted for the rabbit hole of Netflix and their series, "Mr. McMahon".

The first four episodes focus mainly on the 80's and 90's, which was when I was a "fan" of professional wrestling. The Netflix show takes an in-depth look at Vince McMahon (Jr.), who was the mastermind behind the surge of the (then) World Wrestling Federation and is largely responsible for the growth of the entire sport over the last four decades.

As I watched episode-after-episode on Saturday night, it sparked some memories of my days in the radio business. And, as I watch and listen to sports media "content" these days, there's still a definite air of "wrasslin'" mixed in with opinions, "hot takes" and coverage of teams and athletes.

Say what you will about McMahon and the "sport" of professional wrestling, but there's no denying that he understood/understands how human emotion dictates how we feel about our sports heroes.

Wrestling has baby-faces and heels. Good guys and bad guys, in other words.

Sports has them, too.

I remember watching an episode or two of "Undisputed" with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe a while back and thinking to myself, "There's zero chance this show is legitimate."

I mean, sure, they were "talking sports", but the animosity between them, the "feuding", the diametrically opposite opinions they always seemed to share -- there's no way it was natural and above board.

My days on the radio featured some of that, too. When you're doing a show with someone else, it's only natural for each of you to adopt a side on a topic. There might even be an occasion when you go against what you believe in for the good of the show.

I remember once doing a show with another host and we got on the subject of Edwin Mulitalo having a bad game the day before and during a commercial break, the other host said to me, "You go ahead and beat him up. I'll take the other side because he's doing an appearance with me in a couple of weeks and I don't want word to get back to him that I was crushing him on the air."

Even now, I listen to sports talk on occasion and I can still hear it when there's a show with two or more voices.

What good does it do for both people on the air to share the same opinion?

If you pay attention closely and you know the "shtick", it's easy to pick up.

Howard Stern was famous for figuring out how to make talk radio prosper. Get half the people to love you and half the people to despise to you.

The people who love you will be back tomorrow because they think you're great . The people who hate you will be back tomorrow to hear what you say that makes them hate you even more.

Professional wrestling and sports talk radio are similar in that way. How many times have you heard someone say, "You won't believe what (XXXX) said about the Ravens today! That son-of-***** said Lamar is a playoff choker and the Ravens will never win with him at quarterback. Man, I hate that guy (sports talk host) soooooo much. I can't wait to hear what he says tomorrow."

The secret to professional wrestling always centered on creating characters that resonated and/or conflicted with either pop culture or Americana.

The secret to sports media has long been reading, watching or listening to someone and thinking, "I know more about sports than he (she) does."

Even today, I come across people all the time who say something like, "I don't know how Stephen A. Smith stays employed. He doesn't know anything about sports."

I have no idea how much Stephen A. Smith knows about sports.

But his business card most likely doesn't say "Sports Media Expert". It probably reads, "Sports Media Personality".

In professional wrestling, there is a sliver of actual "wrestling" incorporated into the action. But it's mostly entertainment.

In sports media, there's a sliver of "sports" in there but it's more about personality than anything else.

I remember watching the O's labor through another losing season circa 2018 and watching the post-game show on MASN after a 12-2 home loss to (insert here) and one of the hosts starting off the show saying, "It wasn't a great night on the scoreboard for the O's, but there were a few highllights, including this double in the 5th inning from Joey Rickard."

It was as the MASN folks said, "Just talk about Joey Rickard's double and the other three hits the O's had tonight and people will forget the team lost 12-2."

Facts don't matter. The entertainment angle does, though.

I see a lot of angst here at #DMD for certain members of the sports media, both locally and nationally. Just remember, it's like wrestling. It's "entertainment" first and foremost.

The Ravens concluded their pre-season at 3-0 with a 30-3 win over Washington on Saturday.

Tyler Loop kicked a 61-yard field goal.

No one got hurt.

And that, I think, was that.

We all owe the NFL a huge thank you, honestly.

20 years ago, we'd spend 12 hours a day on the radio -- every August -- talking about pre-season football, breaking down the rosters, the games, who played well, who didn't and so on.

Now, in 2025, we see pre-season football for what it is: "Exhibition".

Some teams still play their top guys for 5 or 10 minutes at some point during the pre-season, but the Ravens learned their lesson once upon a time when J.K. Dobbins tore up his knee in the final pre-season game of the '21 campaign. Ever since then, the quarterback and any marquee players in Baltimore don't step on the field in August.

So, 3-0 in the pre-season might as well be 0-3.

Who cares?

Nothing matters until September 7 in Buffalo.

That's 70 losses for the Birds now after dropping Saturday's 9-8 thriller to the Astros before 30,000-plus at Camden Yards.

It was 5-0 Houston before anyone downed their first beer. Dean Kremer didn't have it, but he battled long enough to help the Birds get back in the game at 5-5 and 7-7 before the Astros tacked on two final runs in the top of the 7th inning.

In the chase to 76 losses, which we assume will eliminate the Birds from the wild card chase, they're now down to their final 6 defeats of the season.

I know it's over.

It's been over for roughly a month now.

But I'll hang in there until I see "76" under the L column in the standings and then we'll go ahead with the full autopsy.

The Christian Walker show continued to roll on Saturday, much to the chagrin of his former team, as the one-time Oriole homered for the third straight game for Houston.

On the good news front, the Dylan Beavers show rolled on last night, as the rookie had two more hits to raise his average to .333.

The Samuel Basallo show hasn't started rolling yet. The $67 million kid is hitting just .238 after 1-for-5 night at the plate in last night's loss.

Today at the ballpark, the O's will try to avoid an embarrassing 4-game sweep at the hands of the Astros.

It should all be fine, actually. Cy Young Trevor Rogers goes for the Birds in today's series finale.

Saturday August 23, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4016

well worth the risk

OK, so the Orioles gave a dude who has never hit a home run in the Majors a $67 million contract yesterday.

That is, for sure, very un-Orioles-like.

But it's also very smart. Like, very smart...underlined.

It's $67 million, yes.

But in baseball money, giving Samuel Basallo $67 million is eye-wash.

It's not $200 million. That's real money.

It's $67 million. To you, me and the rest of the great unwashed, that's a massive amount of money. In baseball, it's pretty much minimum wage when you stretch it out over 8 years.

Is it a risk to give a dude who doesn't have a significant base hit in his career a $67 million golden parachute?

Of course there's a risk involved.

But the O's are betting they're going to get the better end of the deal. And I think they're right.

And here's the reality of these crafty "early-extensions" that teams are handing out these days. You have to get the deal done before the guy actually proves himself, or else he won't do it.

Gunnar Henderson won't sign an extension right now. He already knows he's going to get a gazillion dollars when he's a free agent.

The same with Jordan Westburg. And Jackson Holliday. They know they'll be rich when they get to arbitration and they know they're going to be stupid-wealthy once they reach free agency.

The O's window to sign one, or more, of them to one of those "early-extensions" is long, long gone.

But Basallo? That's a different story entirely.

He hasn't proved a thing yet. The O's are actually betting on him, to the tune of $67 million. Basallo would be dumb to not take that bet. He has just earned guaranteed generational wealth and he hasn't done one thing to deserve it.

There's no way of knowing what Basallo is going to do in the big leagues. It's guesswork. It's educated guesswork, of course, but it's still a bit of a gamble. But the only way the O's could get him to take $67 million is to give it to him now, before he's actually done anything at all as a big league ballplayer.

If Basallo becomes 80% of what most analysts believe he might someday be, the O's will have themselves a $50 million player for $8 million in eight years.

If he flatlines and doesn't become a stud, you're still getting him for a decent rate.

Some folks around town were concerned about the reaction from guys like Holliday, Gunnar, Adley, Westburg, etc.

I wouldn't spend one second worrying about those guys. They're big boys. They're playing chess, not checkers. They could sign an extension today (well, maybe not Adley) if they walked into Elias's office and said, "Hey, boss, let's get a 7-year extension hammered out in the next 24 hours."

But they don't want to sign an extension. They want the big, big bucks.

The Player's Association would go nuts if any of those three signed a hometown discount extension right now. And their agent(s) would never allow for it, anyway.

So I don't see how they can be mad or envious or disapopinted with the Orioles. And even if they are, that's on them.

Now, I can see where Rutschman might be concerned about his future with the team given yesterday's news. Basallo is more of a hitter than a catcher, for sure, but the extension news from Friday definitely tells Adley there's a chance, maybe even a good one, that he's not going to be a long term fixture in Baltimore.

I don't know how much trade value he'd have in the off-season, frankly, but just six years ago Rutschman was the next Johnny Bench. Now he might be the next James McCann.

I'm guessing Adley will be in Baltimore in 2026 while Basallo learns the catching position and adjusts to the rigors of Major League Baseball.

But if I'm Rutschman, I'm probably going to continue renting, if you know what I mean. I don't see him being here in 2027.

As for Basallo, I have no idea what he'll eventually be, but I know this: Unless something weird happens, the O's are going to get the better end of the bargain with him.

So two of the six captain's picks have presumably been made, as Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa both appear to have been selected by Keegan Bradley.

Earlier this week in Atlanta, Bradley held a team dinner for the six automatic selections who made the team on points and then included Thomas and Morikawa on the invite list.

There's little chance he would have added those two to the guest list if they aren't going to be on the team as captain's picks.

So that leaves four picks remaining.

Yesterday, following the second round of the TOUR Championship, Bradley said the decision on being a playing-captain is "the biggest decision of my life".

"No matter what decision I make, I'm going to be defined by this decision," Bradley said. "If we win, it doesn't matter what decision I make."

The leaderboard in Atlanta is littered with captain's picks hopefuls. It's almost as if they know this is the final audition for the team that will face the European squad at Bethpage in late September.

Cameron Young, who is making a late charge to earn Bradley's trust, is in 3rd place at 11 under par. His golf game has heated up nicely over the last month, with a win at the Wyndham in August and solid play in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Patrick Cantlay is at 10-under par and, like Young, trying to convince Bradley late in the game that he's worthy of a captain's pick. Unlike Young, though, Cantlay doesn't have a win this year (or last) to justify his spot on the team.

Sam Burns is 7-under par and very much in the thick of the captain's pick discussions. That he has also teamed up to play well alongside best friend Scottie Scheffler won't hurt his chances when the team is announced next Wednesday.

Ben Griffin and Akshay Bhatia are also 7-under par, while Maverick McNealy is 5-under par.

Bradley did note on Friday that while he's paying close attention to what's going on late in the season at East Lake, the summary of a player's 2 year body of work is what matters to him most.

That would seemingly help someone like Griffin, Bhatia and McNealy and potentially hurt the chances of guys like Young and Cantlay.

As I wrote here yesterday, I think Bradley's six picks will be: Thomas, Morikawa, Griffin, Burns, Cantlay and either himself or Cam Young.

It looks like I got two of those right in Thomas and Morikawa.

There's a lot riding on the last 36 holes at East Lake GC, that's for certain.

A special note of thanks to David Rosenfeld for sharing his England-golf-trip with us throughout the last seven days.

When David reached out to me a month or so ago to ask if he could contribute, I naturally said "yes!". I know how much he loves golf and he's an outstanding writer. So those two traits alone were enough to get my confirmation.

I mentioned to him that Royal Birkdale is my favorite course of all-time (that I've played). I played it in 1991 the day after Ian Baker Finch won the British Open.

I've also had the luxury of playing Royal Lytham & St. Annes about 6 or 7 times, thanks to ex-Blast coach Kenny Cooper, who grew up in Blackpool, just a few minutes from the course.

Both Birkdale and Lytham have great history attached to their course.

Lytham even features the controversial story about Gary Player's caddie dropping a ball on the 71st hole of the 1974 British Open, an event Player won by five shots.

Player has forever denied the incident happened, but on one of my visits to the course in the mid 1990's, a club member assured me the ball Player originally "lost" was tucked away safely at the club and would only serve to be a conversation piece forever.

I don't remember his exact words, but I recall it went something like this: "One of our members found the ball the next day, about 25 feet away from where the search party looked for his ball. It was obvious once we found his ball that something odd had taken place on the 17th hole the day before. Because Mr. Player insisted that he found his ball and played on from there."

The story goes that Player's caddie, "Rabbit", dropped a ball as the 5-minute search window was closing and a marshal stumbled on it just in time for Player to continue playing the hole without penalty.

The next day, a Lytham member found Player's original ball.

Player, of course, denied the accusations.

"There are certain things that are possible and certain things that are impossible," Player said in his book, To Be The Best. "First of all they had the TV cameras on during the whole incident. For anybody to say that Rabbit dropped a ball is dreaming. I would put my life on the fact that he wouldn't do something like that. It's impossible. The grass was so thick."

That might be true.

But there's apparently a golf ball in a safe in the Royal Lytham clubhouse that looks suspiciously like the ball Player "lost" on the 71st hole of the 1974 British Open.

the end

I won’t bore you with the details of my Friday round at Formby Golf Club, a nice little place about halfway between Southport and Liverpool.

Instead, I’d rather look back at some highlights and give some thoughts on six rounds in six days at six places I’d gladly play again, maybe even at the prices they charge American visitors.

One…it’s difficult to describe the firmness of the turf on the links here. The courses are allowed to take on the vagaries of the weather without much artificial influence, and this summer has been warm and dry in England. If the golfing ground at your home course was rock hard like it is here, you’d probably go and complain to the greenskeeper. Alas, this is the way it was meant to be, I suppose.

Two…the North West coast of England is an underrated golf destination. Understandably, golfers around the world want to visit Scotland, especially St. Andrews, and then Ireland, with its combination of links and inland courses. But I don’t know how you can do much better than three British Open courses in close proximity, with the ability to stay in Liverpool or close by the whole time.

Three…our group here was just nine people, one of whom was Angus Watson, the CEO of Scotland Golf Tours. Four of us are Americans—from Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington State. The other four are South Africans from Johannesburg…two brothers, the son-in-law of one of the brothers and a friend of his. The South Africans often conversed with each other in Afrikaans, which is basically Dutch after several hundred years of African influence. In any event, it was great to have a small group, as everyone was able to play with every other player at least once.

Four…all the clubs have become quite accustomed to welcoming touring groups, big and small, and mostly from the United States. You are greeted, told you are a “member for the day,” given the four-digit code to enter the clubhouse and/or locker room area, reminded to take your hat off and change out of your golf shoes when upstairs, etc. All that good spirit and pleasant hosting leads to return visits and plenty of money, which means the members can continue to enjoy a great club for 2,500 pounds per year.

Five…some highlights, besides the eagle on 11 at Lytham. One of my caddies used to man the bag for 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie and will be the “caddiemaster” for the European Ryder Cup team in a few weeks….hitting a few par-fives in two, thanks to the firm turf…the chipping and short game area at Royal Birkdale…Lucozade, which I like better than Gatorade…the local Lancashire accent, which features no use of the letter “H” and a tendency to replace “a” with “u.” Example: “I’m headed home. I live over there” becomes “I’m ‘eaded ‘ome. I live over thure.”

Formby Golf Club

Yellow Tees, 6,509 yards, Rating 73.5, Slope 136

Final score: I think I broke 90. It wasn’t good.

Highlights: Ringing the bell after finishing the sixth hole? Hitting a drop-kicked driver 300 yards down the 11th fairway? I’m struggling for ideas here…

Beatles note: “The End” was the third of a trilogy of song snippets that were released together as one song, following “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight.” Billy Joel says that he was basically copying the Beatles when he developed “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” using several unfinished songs and stories to create one long piece of music.

This contribution was provided by David Rosenfeld, a longtime writer and contributor to #DMD. He will chroncile his golfing journey in England with us over the next week or so.

Friday August 22, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4015

so much for that 4-game sweep, eh?

Last Friday, Brandon Young nearly threw a perfect game against the Astros in Houston.

Last night in Baltimore, he was perfectly.......lousy. Houston tuned him up early and often en-route to a 7-2 win that snapped the Birds' modest 3-game win streak.

Earlier this week, I put on my Hopeful Harry hat and tried to figure out a way for the O's to finish the season at 86-76. Part of that plan included a 4-game sweep of Houston in Baltimore this week/end.

OK, so there's no sweep on the horizon. And with each loss now, the "magic number" starts to dwindle in a bad, bad way.

The Birds now have 68 losses. Flyers and Beatles fans can put their phones down. There's no need for a calculator. I'll handle the math.

With 68 losses currently, the O's can only lose 8 more times between now and the end of September if they have any hope at all of making the playoffs.

It seems kind of unlikely that they can go 27-8 over their last 35 regular season games.

But I'll wait it out nonetheless and see how these next two weeks go. After this 4-game series with Houston, Boston comes to town for four next week. Anything less than 6-2 in those 8 spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E for the Birds. And they're already 0-1.

Dylan Beavers did manage to hit his first home run in orange and black last night, so that was a real treat. Enjoy what you see of him over the next four weeks or so. Once Beavers gets up near 115 or 120 at bats, he'll come down with "hamstring tightness" or an "oblique strain" and that will be the end of his '25 campaign.

Felix Bautista will likely miss all of the 2026 season after undergoing shoulder surgery on Tuesday of this week. Bautista, of course, had Tommy John surgery in 2023, so he's now had major elbow surgery and major shoulder surgery in the last two years.

What this does for his career is anyone's guess. The easy, knee-jerk reaction is to say "his career is over" and it stands to reason that the big man might not ever be the pitcher he once was after the shoulder injury.

But what's it do for the Orioles in '26? From the cheap seats, I'd say it's not that big of a deal. Now, don't get me wrong, it's great to have a rock star closer in your bullpen. Anyone who says they'd rather not have a bonafide, legit closer is goofy.

However...

I don't think it's a necessity to have a legitimate, game-saving closer in order to be successful.

Lots of teams win by shuffling guys in and out of the closer's role throughout the season.

Do you want a real-deal closer coming out of the bullpen when you have a lead in the 9th inning? You sure do.

But you can still win without one.

What the O's do to cover up the Bautista wound is up in the air right now. But the hope here is they don't go out in the off-season and make it an A-1 priority to somehow acquire a legitimate, bonafide closer. I just don't see that's it all that necessary.

What is necessary, though, is for the O's to drastically upgrade their pitching staff, especially with reliable, veteran bullpen arms.

In fairness to Mike Elias, he tried to do that last off-season but his only real addition, Andrew Kittredge, was hurt for most of the year before being shipped out at the trade deadline.

Kittredge was a good thought last winter. This winter, Elias needs to find four Kittredege's. And the hope thereafter is that all of them can be used in what is now called "high leverage situations" to get three outs in the 8th and 9th innings.

OK, so round one is in the books at East Lake GC in Atlanta and a bunch of guys who really need to play well in the TOUR Championship did just that on Thursday.

With captain Keegan Bradley watching closely, Collin Morikawa (-6), Patrick Cantlay (-6), Justin Thomas (-6), Akshay Bhatia (-4), Ben Griffin (-4), Cam Young (-3), Sam Burns (-3) and Brian Harman (-3) all had solid first round performances.

All eight of those players, and others, have been thought to be potential captain's picks by Bradley when he announces the team next Wednesday.

Oh, in the tournament itself, Russell Henley -- already on the team -- fired an opening round 62 to take a two-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler.

Back to the Ryder Cup.

I'm not sure if Bradley is really using this week as a barometer for his picks, although I suspect he probably has one spot open, in his mind, and three or four players he's considering. To that end, this week might be the "final test", so to speak.

But if Bradley isn't ready, I am. My picks are in.

Before we get to that, though, here's who I think Keegan is taking.

Justin Thomas

Collin Morikawa

Ben Griffin

Sam Burns

Patrick Cantlay

Keegan Bradley

I'm not putting stock in the rumors out there that Bradley is taking Akshay Bhatia and has already informed him of that decision. I'm just not buying it. Bhatia is a nice player and he's had a very solid year but I simply don't think Bradley is taking him. I don't know how or why those rumors started, but whatever. Bhatia isn't getting picked.

If Bradley doesn't select himself, which I still think there's a chance he won't, then Cameron Young takes his spot.

Burns and Cantlay are natural selections and both can play either the better ball or alternate shot format with ease. If any of those six above are concerns about "multi-format" appeal, it's Morikawa and Thomas, both of whom are known to lose their driver swing from time to time. Alternate shot is no fun when the guy driving the ball is hitting it all over the planet.

If above picks hold true, that means Keegan is leaving out Maverick McNealy and Brian Harman from the list of players who finished 7 through 12.

McNealy's flaw? No Ryder Cup experience at all. Harman's flaw? Everyone in golf thinks Bethpage Black is too long for a short hitter like Harman.

Now...here's who I would take.

Justin Thomas

Ben Griffin

Sam Burns

Patrick Cantlay

Cameron Young

Maverick McNealy

I fully realize Bradley has done everything "right" in terms of making the team. I made a strong case here last week for the reasons why he should add himself to the squad. He's won more golf tournaments than any American NOT named Scottie Scheffler over the last three years.

That said, I'm just philosophically opposed to the idea of a "playing-captain". You either put all 100% of your heart into playing or you put all 100% of your heart into being the captain. That's the way I see it. But if Bradley does pick himself next week, it certainly won't be the end of the world. He's an outstanding player in his own right, for sure.

I think all six of my guys make sense.

Of those six, the two greenhorns, Griffin and McNealy, have both done more than enough to justify their selections. Griffin has won twice this year is 4th among all Americans in the FedEx Cup standings and McNealy has made 19 of 23 cuts coming into the TOUR Championship and is 10th in the FedEx Cup standings overall and 5th among American players.

I understand the nuance of captain's picks. Bradley is free to take any six players of his choosing. If he takes Akshay Bhatia or Lucas Glover, for example, that's his flag to fly. He's the captain, after all.

But Bradley has to see the value in Griffin and McNealy. I can't imagine he won't take them both. In fact, I'd be personally disappointed, let's say, if he took Morikawa but somehow left Griffin off the team. Morikawa hasn't won a tournament since the early days of the Biden administration. Griffin won two events since last April's Masters.

So, there's my six.

All in all, by the way, I'm still very "iffy" on the U.S. team's chances for success at Bethpage Black. I hope I'm wrong. But I'm not feeling very confident.

day tripper

According to the club website, Royal Lytham & St. Annes has 174 strategically placed bunkers lining its fairways and surrounding its greens, including 17 alone on the 18th hole.

The bunker on the inside of the dogleg on the par-5 sixth hole is a sight to be seen, as long as you haven’t hit your ball into it. The revetted sod wall must be 12 feet high; it really is a place you could hide to protect yourself.

All of which makes it interesting to report that those bunkers weren’t really the problem with my round at Royal Lytham on Thursday.

In fact, I made an eagle on the 11th by holing a greenside bunker shot, a few minutes after lipping out for birdie while splashing out of a bunker on the 9th hole.

My issue, unfortunately, was my overall play on Lytham’s last five holes, a series of stern par 4s. One of my drives ended up in a bunker, and a few of the others were offline into some bad places. The aforementioned eagle and a birdie on the 16th hole after hitting a wedge to one foot were the only things that allowed me to finish the back nine in fewer than 50 strokes.

Royal Lytham is maybe the most well-known course in the world to begin with a par-3 hole, and it’s a cool scene.

You are right there in between the pro shop and the clubhouse and next to the parking lot. Everyone is watching you, or at least it feels that way. Luckily, the wind was behind, and my 7-iron landed on the green.

Lytham is a difficult course off the tee but less so near the greens, in my humble opinion anyway. There just aren’t many good lies off the fairways, even on shots that aren’t too far offline. Meanwhile, separate from the bunkers, the green complexes are relatively boring and the greens themselves without much character.

The place itself, meanwhile, is full of character for golf historians. Bobby Jones won the 1926 Open at Lytham, and parts of the clubhouse are devoted to him. In addition to a portrait, Jones’ original “Calamity Jane” putter resides behind a case near the upstairs dining room.

After playing the three “Royals” here in North West England, I would put Royal Liverpool at the top, followed by Royal Lytham and then Royal Birkdale. Generally, most people would rank them in the reverse order from mine, but it seemed to me that the changes made to Birkdale in preparation for next year’s Open make the place a bit more modern and penal.

As for the title, Lytham is a bit of a hike from our base in Liverpool, about a 90-minute drive with a little traffic. That, and a lack of space, has kept the club from getting another Open since Ernie Els won there 13 years ago.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club

Yellow Tees, 6,351 yards, Rating 72.5, Slope 139

Final score: 83

Highlights: The eagle on the 11th hole, holing a bunker shot after a driver and hybrid got greenside. I don’t believe I had an eagle for several years before today’s round.

Beatles note: “Day Tripper” was a song about drugs, specifically LSD. The psychedelic experience defined much of the Beatles later music, and I’m not sure always for the better. John Lennon was supposedly the member of the group that believed most in doing acid, and “Day Tripper” was his song.

This contribution was provided by David Rosenfeld, a longtime writer and contributor to #DMD. He will chroncile his golfing journey in England with us over the next week or so.

faith in sports

If you weren't a fan of former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young (now with the Carolina Panthers), you will be after you watch this episode of Sports Spectrum.

What a rock star this young man is! Take 13 minutes out of your day today to hear him speak about football and faith and how he was able to handle the pressure of playing at Alabama by leaning heavily on Jesus during his days in Tuscaloosa.

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

Thursday August 21, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4014

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm, including multiple previous winners, but this week we have chosen a new honoree in catcher-first baseman Creed Willems.

Willems, 22, was selected in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the O’s out of Aledo HS (Aledo, TX) and entering this season he was ranked as the 12th best prospect in the system by MLB Pipeline.

The left-handed hitting Willems has a terrific week for the AA Chesapeake Baysox. He posted a .375 batting average over five games with four extra-base hits, three of which were homers, nine RBI and scored five runs. In addition he drew four free strolls down to first (two walks and two hit-by-pitches) to help compile a .444 OBP and 1.236 OPS.

After a rough start to the month, this week was more of what we saw from Willems over the month of July where he hit .351 with two home runs, three doubles and 10 RBI over 17 games.

Despite the terrific week and hot July, Willems has struggled with consistency a little bit over this season producing several hot and cold streaks. It should be mentioned however, that this is Willems first full season at the AA-level and is just 22-years old, so for a young player to struggle with consistency at this level is not unheard of by any stretch.

He has compiled a very respectable season through 90 games though, hitting .255 with 13 home runs, 18 doubles, 48 RBI and scoring 33 runs. Willems has also posted a .343 OBP and a .779 OPS over his 374 plate appearances.

Many fans began to really hear about Willems after he tore up the Arizona Fall League last fall where he was named a rising star honoree after hitting .338 with eight extra-base hits and posting a .891 OPS in 19 games in the highly touted league. He still has work to do obviously, but he is a player that has room to improve both offensively and defensively, and his performance the latter part of this season will go a long way in showing the organization that he can make the necessary adjustments.

We would be remiss if we did not give a hat tip to the combination of Aberdeen Ironbirds pitchers Luis De Leon, Jacob Cravey, Zane Barnhart and Carter Baumler as they combined to toss a 14 strikeout no-hitter against the Hudson-Valley Renegades (Yankees) on August 16.

This Happy Hour contribution was submitted by Josh Michael.

---

fair or unfair?

We can keep on flying the O's flag here, chatter on about how the Ravens are going to go 14-3 and waltz through the upcoming NFL season, or tackle the sticky debate about Rickie Fowler here today.

I've done enough flag flying until at least Sunday when the O's polish off the Astros in a 4-game sweep. When that happens, I'll be back here reminding you not to make any October plans just yet.

The Ravens are going to enjoy a 4-month regular season cakewalk. We all know that. We'll get into them hot-and-heavy in January when it matters.

So, that leaves Fowler, the once-upon-a-time fair-haired-boy of the PGA Tour who draws a lot of interest here because of my old buddy George and has recently been the subject of some scrutiny with the national media due to the fact that he made it through two rounds of the playoffs and didn't necessarily get there, let's say, "in the right way".

Let's start off with a disclaimer that I have to make so no one's confused. I'm no more of a "fan" of Rickie Fowler than I am, say, of Billy Horschel, Sam Ryder, Davis Thompson or Chris Gotterup.

Rickie Fowler is a great golfer, yes. As I say here all the time, anyone who plays golf on the PGA Tour is, in fact, a great golfer.

But I don't have any special fondness for Fowler at all. I think he's been wonderful for the sport throughout his career, in the same way I think Jordan Spieth has been wonderful for the sport. So, too, has a guy like Jason Day. All three of them are particularly popular because they've matched their golf with their charisma.

If you ask me, I'll take a guy like Fowler and his orange shirts, boyish smile and autograph pen every time over, for example, Fuzzy Zoeller walking around with a cocktail in his hand telling racist jokes while snapping at kids who want his signature.

So, I like Rickie Fowler as a person and he's certainly had a very successful career along the way.

Has he lived up to the expectations people in the sport projected for him coming out of Oklahoma State? Probably not.

But that happens to a lot of people in golf and sports.

Beau Hossler was going to take the PGA Tour by storm. So, too, was Cole Hammer. And Ty Tryon. There are countless names of young players who were "can't miss" who actually did miss, although of those above, only Tryon was a complete bust. The others are still making a living playing the sport.

But the current story about Fowler centers on his use of sponsor's exemptions in 2025 and how the points he earned in tournaments he was otherwise not-exempt-for wound up elevating him into the FedEx Cup playoffs and keeping other guys out.

Fowler didn't win any of those "signature events" where he received sponsor's exemptions, but he played well enough to accrue meaningful points that snuck him into the playoffs, where he actually had two good weeks in Memphis and Baltimore before falling short of the Top 30 that made it to this week's TOUR Championship.

To a similar but perhaps lesser degree, Jordan Spieth is also involved in the story.

For reference, a player needed at least 620 FedEx Cup points to finish in the top 70 and qualify for the playoffs this year.

Of the 665 points Fowler earned during the PGA Tour's regular season, 319 (48%) were produced in the six sponsor exemptions he received into signature events.

Spieth played on five sponsor exemptions in signature events this year. He earned 254 points across those five starts, 29% of the 865 total points he earned all regular season.

There seems to be more animosity -- both here at #DMD and throughout the golf media -- for Fowler than there is/was for Spieth, which seems a bit odd given that both of them primarily did the exact same thing; they parlayed their careers and their value as a marketable commodity into earning exemptions into tournaments.

Spieth, without argument, has certainly had a better career than Fowler. He's won more tournaments and has three major victories to Fowler's zero. That said, Spieth's golf game has eroded over the last five years and he's a shell of the player he was a decade ago. In my mind, Fowler and Spieth have roughly the same chance of winning a tournament they both play, which is probably about 5%.

Anyway, here's where it gets tricky.

And here's where people like George and the others who cry "foul" on guys like Fowler and Spieth are missing the boat.

The guys that were displaced by players like Fowler, Spieth, Gary Woodland and Justin Rose getting sponsor's exemptions ahead of them are, with complete respect, nothing-burgers on the PGA Tour.

One of those players was Davis Thompson, who finished 71st on the points list and didn't make the playoffs.

One of those players was Chris Kirk, who, it could be argued, didn't get to play in Baltimore because he finished 51st (top 50 made it to Caves) and Fowler, for example, shot past him with a T6 finish in the first playoff event in Memphis.

No one in Columbus, Ohio is/was buying a ticket to see Chris Kirk or Davis Thompson play golf.

Kirk, in fact, shot 75-76 at The Memorial. That missed cut cost him valuable FedEx Cup points, as it turned out.

Thompson also played in all of the signature events in 2025. He made 15 cuts in 23 overall events this season.

No one in Topeka, Kansas on a Saturday afternoon is hustling home from his morning round with the boys to settle in front of the TV to watch Chris Kirk or Davis Thompson play The Memorial.

But those two things, popularity and media impressions, are second and third on the list of "why Chris Kirk and David Thompson didn't get jobbed by Fowler and Spieth".

First on the list is the most obvious thing of all: Chris Kirk's golf and Davis Thompson's golf wasn't good enough and they put themselves in the position of getting snagged at the wire by Fowler or Spieth sneaking past them like they did.

It's really that simple.

You can argue all you want that Fowler and Spieth wouldn't have made the playoffs at all if not for the signature event exemptions.

And you're right.

But when they did get into those events, Fowler and Spieth took advantage of their spot(s) in the field and played good golf.

Fowler made 18 of 21 cuts in 2025. Kirk made 15 of 23. So, too, did Davis Thompson.

Spieth made 17 of 19 cuts in 2025.

The truth is, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth played better golf than Chris Kirk and Davis Thompson.

Whether they needed exemptions to get there or not is really neither here nor there to me. Now, maybe that's the competitive golfer in me saying that, but I always contend that's the greatest thing about golf. You show up on the first tee and say "I'm better than you at golf and I'm going to prove it" and then you have 18 holes (or sometimes 36 or 72) to prove that you're right.

The USGA this year changed the qualifying process for the U.S. Senior Open. They did it, without question, to make it more difficult for amateur golfers to get into the field of the actual U.S. Senior Open.

It was, formerly, just an 18-hole qualifier to get in, which was the format in 2021 when I made it to the U.S. Senior Open in Omaha.

Now, there are two stages. An 18-hole "local qualifier" and an 18 hole "final qualifier" and there are hundreds of ex-PGA Tour players (now over 50) who are exempt into the "final qualifier" because of their past performance on the PGA Tour.

So, now, they get a freebie into the final qualifier while I have to make it through the local qualifier first and then I have to beat them and the rest of the field at the final qualifier.

A lot of senior amateurs are complaining about the new format.

I couldn't care less. If your golf is good enough, you'll get through both stages of qualifying. If it's not good enough, you won't make it.

So, when given the chance to compete directly against Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth this year, Davis Thompson and Chris Kirk couldn't beat them.

I see that as the essence of golf, frankly.

Sure, Fowler and Spieth used their marketability to play in those events, but that's only because they've played good golf for ten-plus-years. It's not like those two are Cliff Kresge or Jay Don Blake. Spieth and Fowler are two of the most popular players in the entire sport of golf, in the world, over the last 10-15 years.

Now, if they get an exemption into tournaments and stink it up and shoot 80-77, that's one thing.

But they didn't do that.

They got into the events and played well. And they beat people along the way who wound up not getting more starts because they came up short in the points standings.

I just don't get the anger and the cries of "unfair!".

Davis Thompson and Chris Kirk played golf against Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth and Thompson and Kirk lost. So Fowler and Spieth got to play more golf and Thompson and Kirk didn't.

If Fowler and Spieth stink as much as people say they do, Thompson and Kirk should be the ones embarrassed the most, right? They lost to two chops.

Now, in closing, the argument about Fowler and Spieth on the Ryder Cup team is a non-starter. Neither of them deserve it based on their play. I realize Fowler had a nice playoff run and you can certainly make an argument that on any given day, he's capable of beating the likes of English, Griffin, McNealy, Harman, etc., but I'm not taking Fowler over any of the top 16 or 18 guys.

And there's beyond zero chance I'm taking Spieth. He hasn't hit a fairway since Obama was the President, which is not a good trait in a partners-event like the Ryder Cup.

But the story about guys like Chris Kirk and Davis Thompson getting "jobbed" by Fowler, Spieth and the sponsor's exemptions? It's all sour grapes.

Kirk and Thompson had the chance to beat them in golf and didn't.

And that's why golf is great. The clubs do the talking at the end of the day. Or, in this case, at the end of the year.

com(ing) together

Even if you’re a member of a great golf club in the United States, sometimes you want to get out and play a nice public golf course for some variety. That’s how I’d describe the West Lancashire Golf Club, a links near the Irish Sea about 20 minutes north of Liverpool.

Of course, West Lancs (as they call it) is not a public track. Like many courses in the U.K., it’s a members’ club that accepts and appreciates visitors paying a pretty decent price for the privilege. Still, the feel isn’t the same as the “Royal” clubs on the Open rota.

For instance, you have to purchase tokens for the balls at the practice range located near the clubhouse, and the range itself has mats...although they are nice ones.

Maybe that’s why I had easily my best round of the week at West Lancs, or maybe it’s just that consistently hitting fairways with my driver eventually had to lead to a decent score. Either way, it was an enjoyable day on a nice course, albeit one that lacks the spectacular landscape of Birkdale or the vast expanse of Hoylake.

Back to the public nature of the place...our threesome was joined on the 12th tee by an American who grew up in Richmond but has lived in the London area for the past 17 years.

None of us had even noticed he was there until he passed the group behind us. I learned that it isn’t necessarily typical here for a less-than-foursome to allow a single player to join them if asked, but we did. And the manager of our tour, one of my playing companions, struck up some future business for his company in the last seven holes. Golf, of course, is never always 100% about the game.

Finally, I’d like to use this space to recommend using a caddie whenever possible when coming to links-type courses in the British Isles or even in North America. I’ve had four very different ones — young and reserved, older and quite talkative, young and the kind you’d want your daughter to marry, and young and the kind you’d probably want your daughter to avoid. Yet all of them were great caddies.

For me, I most appreciate the detailed lines off the tee and the suggestions of the “best miss” on approaches. They inspire a certain confidence that allows you to swing freely.

West Lancashire Golf Club

Yellow Tees, 6,246 yards, Rating 71.4, Slope 135

Final score: 76

Highlights: Finishing even par on the front nine for the second day in a row and hitting (according to my count) 11 of 14 fairways.

Beatles note: Today (Wednesday) is the start of “International Beatleweek,” a yearly Liverpool celebration that celebrates the legacy of the band. I suppose it’s mostly a trap for tourists. On Friday night, at the Philharmonic Hall across from our hotel, locally famous John and Paul “impersonators” are performing a greatest hits concert.

This contribution was provided by David Rosenfeld, a longtime writer and contributor to #DMD. He will chroncile his golfing journey in England with us over the next week or so.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was in the headlines this past week after his appearance on Sunday Night Baseball and made a comment about baseball potentially having an expansion on the horizon as well as geographically realigning the divisions.

Manfred’s reasoning for the realignment is reducing travel for players and wear and tear. Baseball hasn’t expanded since the Diamondbacks and Rays joined the league in 1998, and this hypothetical expansion wouldn’t occur until Rays and Athletics are able to figure out their long term stadium situations.

I like the idea of potentially expanding the league but I’m not sure if this is really the right time for the commissioner to bring this up.

Two teams in the league are playing in minor league stadiums right now but more importantly, there could be a lockout after the 2026 season ends as the collective bargaining agreement will have expired.

There will be a battle between players and owners over implementing a salary cap in baseball which it desperately needs. If not a cap, at least a salary floor. There is way too much of a difference from the teams in dead last to the best teams in the league.

For example, the Dodgers will be in contention for a World Series every year for the foreseeable future…call it 10 years.

The Rockies, on the other hand, might not have a winning season in the next 5 years.

There is way too much separation from the good teams and bad teams. The expiring CBA agreement is a story for another time, but if there is an expansion in the MLB’s future, which cities would be the host of new teams? And what would these new divisions look like?

The 2 cities being talked about the most right now are Nashville and Portland.

I’ve also heard Charlotte and Salt Lake City as potential cities as well.

I think Nashville would be a great city for a MLB team. If you remember, a few years ago there were a lot of rumors going around that the Orioles were exploring the idea of moving there.

Portland would also be a fun city to have a team, and I’m sure players wouldn’t mind playing in a climate that is usually in the mid to low 80s in the summer months.

The most intriguing takeaway for me on what the commissioner said Sunday Night is the realignment of the divisions. There are quite a few rivalries in baseball that live in certain divisions which would be awful if those were split up. Yankees - Red Sox, Dodgers - Padres, and Cubs - Cardinals are among the best rivalries in the game.

Luckily, those teams are all relatively close to one another, so a realignment shouldn’t separate them. With new divisions, new rivalries can begin.

I saw a hypothetical division recently that had a division made up of the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, and Mets. Imagine the chaos that would occur in that division. For the Orioles, a new division would probably include the Nationals, Pirates, and Guardians. If this were true, sign me up for that division.

What are your thoughts on an expansion and division realignment? Are you for or against the idea of both and if you like the idea, what cities would you like to see have a team and what would the new divisions look like?

Players of the Week –

Pitcher: Nick Pivetta of the San Diego Padres had an impressive week on the mound as he threw 12.2 innings allowing 2 runs, 3 walks, 7 hits with 15 strikeouts and earning 2 wins in 2 starts. Pivetta is having a career season this year with a 2.81 ERA and a 13-4 record, which is the most wins for any starter on the Padres.

The Padres entered last weekend tied with the Dodgers for the division lead, however, they lost some ground after being swept in L.A. over the weekend.

Two of those losses were by 1 run, and in the 3rd game they were shutout and lost 6-0.

The Padres went all in at the deadline and have the pieces to make a deep run in the playoffs. Their weakest link is the starting rotation which just took a hit as Michael King was just placed on the 15 day IL.

They have arguably the best bullpen in baseball and a high octane offense. The question is…can the starting rotation hold up down the stretch?

Position Player: Michael Harris II of the Braves had his best week yet batting .469 with 4 homers, 13 RBI, and a stolen base.

The Braves might be one of the most disappointing teams this year with a 57-69 record and just about no hope to make the playoffs. There is a lot of blame to go around for this Atlanta team, such as all 5 of their starting pitchers being on the injured list, outfielder Jurikson Profar being suspended for PEDs, and overall play being abysmal.

Harris is an everyday player and was really struggling at the plate from the beginning of the year up until the end of June with a .558 OPS. He was starting to lose playing time until July came around and since then he’s been hitting a lot better with a .348 batting average, 23 extra base hits, 23 RBI, 25 runs scored and 3 stolen bases over the last 41 games.

There isn’t a lot to be excited about if you’re a Braves fan outside of their rookie catcher Drake Baldwin. For now, the Braves need to get healthy and continue to develop their young players who will be contributors next season.

Rookie: The Mets called up their 3rd ranked prospect Nolan McLean last Saturday and he looked good as he earned his first MLB win. McLean tossed 5.1 innings allowing 2 hits and 8 strikeouts. The walks were concerning as he had 4 free passes, but it was his debut and it may have been due to some nerves from his first MLB game.

The Mets desperately needed a spark as they are 5-11 in August and have struggled to get back on track.

McLean’s start on Saturday stopped a 3 game losing steak turning into 4 and gave the Mets a chance to win their series against the Mariners the following day which the Mets were able to do on Sunday Night Baseball.

The Mets now sit 5.5 games behind NL East leader, the Philadelphia Phillies. They currently have the last Wildcard spot and are only up by 1 game on the Cincinnati Reds. The Mets need to be careful as the Reds are red hot right now and can easily take that last Wildcard spot.

Games of the Week –

Friday, August 22nd: Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees (Bryan Bello vs Max Fried)

The Red Sox travel to the Bronx this weekend for a crucial 4 game series. The Yankees have started to play well as of late and have won 7 of their last 10 games and hold the top Wildcard spot.

They will also have their ace Max Fried on the mound Friday night who has been terrific this season with an impressive 13-5 record. The Red Sox are on a 3 game losing steak and are tied with the Mariners for the 2nd Wildcard seed.

The Red Sox will lean on Bryan Bello Friday night to get back on track and avoid being on the outside of the Wildcard race looking in.

Saturday, August 23rd: LA Dodgers vs San Diego Padres (Tyler Glasgow vs Nestor Cortes)

The Dodgers face the Padres for a 2nd weekend in a row but this time the Padres will be at home. Tyler Glasnow has been solid since returning from the injured list with a 3.12 ERA on the season. The Dodgers are getting a lot of pitchers back and healthy both in their starting rotation as well as their bullpen.

If the Dodgers can get another series win against their division rivals, things get very difficult for the Padres to have a chance of winning the division. For San Diego, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. need to be key contributors this weekend as they were relatively quiet last weekend when they were swept in L.A.

Sunday, August 24th: Kansas City Royals vs Detroit Tigers (Seth Lugo vs Jack Flaherty)

The Tigers had a bit of a slump recently but have turned it around and are back to their usual selves. This is a big series for Kansas City. They only sit 2.5 games back in the Wildcard hunt and with the recent struggles from Boston and Seattle, they have a window to climb into the playoffs.

The Royals are getting hot at the right time as they are 8-2 in their last 10 games. Traveling to Detroit and trying to win a series is no walk in the park. They will have their hands full this weekend, but a series win will go a long way.

Wednesday August 20, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4013

are we still giving up on this october?

OK, bear with me now.

And don't be one of those airheads who doesn't read this and just instinctively says, "Give it a rest, dude. They're done."

At least be realistic and look at the schedule with me for a few minutes. For once in your life, be an optimist instead of a Debbie Downer. If you want to be an airhead once you've read it, I'm fine with that. Knock yourself out.

With last night's 4-3 win in Boston -- accomplished despite the fact that the O's manager was in la-la land for some reason -- the Birds are now 59-67 on the year.

Now, follow along.

The top three A.L. teams in the wild card race have 57 (Yankees), 59 (Mariners) and 59 (Red Sox) losses.

Then you have the Guardians (61), Royals (61), Rays (65), Rangers (65) and Angels (66).

All of those teams are trying to get to 86 wins, at the very least. Who knows, though? With all of those teams jumbled up between 57 and 66 losses, plus our battlin' Birds at 67, maybe someone sneaks in with 85 wins or even 84, somehow.

For this exercise, we'll continue to rest on the 86-win total as the requirement to secure a wild card spot.

The Orioles are now 59-67. They're within 8 games of the .500 mark for the first time in a while. A long while.

To get to 86-76, they have to go 27-9 over their final 36 games.

The Astros are coming to Baltimore for four games starting this Thursday night.

For kicks-and-giggles, let's pretend the Birds win all four.

Now they just need to go 23-9 to finish the season.

Then it's the Red Sox in town for four games. What if -- and just play along here -- they take 3 of 4 from Boston in that series?

Now, suddenly, they have to go 20-8 to finish out the season.

See where I'm going with this?

Then it's 9 games against three N.L. teams (3 in San Fran, 3 in San Diego and 3 at home against the Dodgers). If they go 6-3 in those 9, now they have to go 14-5 in their final 19 games.

You're starting to see this thing unfold with me, aren't you?

Pittsburgh comes to town to play out the string in mid-September. That's 3 more wins.

Now they're down to needing to go 11-5 to get to 86 wins.

They're in Toronto for three and then in Chicago to face the White Sox for three. Win two in Toronto and sweep the lowly White Sox and now you've chiseled it down to where you only need to go 6-4 in the final ten games to get to 86 wins.

Seven of their final ten games are against the Yankees. The other three are against the Rays, at home.

Our starting pitching is solid. Kyle Bradish is due back next week. The bullpen seems to have just enough magic to get out of jams and preserve much-needed wins.

And Basallo and Beavers are up for good and contributing, even if they're going to be stymied a little bit down the stretch by the front office limiting their at-bats.

I'm excited. You're excited. Everyone's excited.

And I know what you're thinking. And I also know you don't want to come right out and ask for it because you'd have to eat humble pie in the process.

If you want the O's playoff ticket hotline number, just e-mail me privately and I'll be happy to give it to you.

I hear good seats for the post-season home games are.....as always.....still available.

So tomorrow they'll tee it up in the PGA Tour season finale in Atlanta, appropriately dubbed "The Tour Championship", because the winner gets to claim the FedEx Cup title and the $10 million first prize.

But is it really the "Tour Championship"?

No, it is not.

The player who had the best season, by far, is Scottie Scheffler. No matter what happens this weekend at East Lake GC, Scheffler is the "champion" of the Tour. He won the most events, he secured the most points and he won the most money.

Game, set, match.

Why the PGA Tour can't figure out that it's OK for someone ranked #1, Scheffler, to NOT win the tournament and still be their champion is beyond me.

Sure, there was that time Justin Rose didn't need to win the final tournament to be crowned the season-long champion and it felt a little weird for him to be celebrating a 4th place finish (or whatever it was), but smart people understood. You play all season for the right to not have to win at the end to still capture the big prize.

Anyway, for a few years they created that insanely dumb "staggered" start where Scheffler, as the points leader, started the TOUR Championship at 10-under par and the rest of the field started at a higher score. That was their way of "accommodating" the points leader, which was all well and good, but still created a weird, murky way of crowning the champion.

Now, this year, they've decided that the guy that wins the final tournament of the season is deemed the "Fed Ex Cup Champion" even though, for example, that winner could be Sungjae Im, who doesn't have a win on the circuit so far in 2025.

That's another dumb way to close things out.

Scheffler essentially starts this event with the same chance of being crowned the champion as Sungjae Im. It's beyond wonky.

Because I don't believe in howling at the moon unless I have a solution (or two), here you go.

First, the way to handle the Tour Championship is very obvious. The tournament itself still exists and if you want to have some kind of massive payout for the winner, that's great. Have yourself a 72 hole tournament and call it the TOUR Championship.

Then, simply go back to the way you once had it to determine the FedEx Cup winner. You add up the points at the end of 72 holes and whomever has the most points for the season is the Cup winner.

If Scheffler "only needs to finish 6th or better" to win the season long event, so be it. That's why the other tournaments were so important during the season.

Would it take a little starch out of the TOUR Championship if Scheffler had such a big lead going into the event that he didn't have to play great golf to be crowned the champion? Maybe. But the players to a man already know he's the best player in 2025 because of the massive lead he has in the current standings.

But here's one other consideration I'd give to "fixing" the TOUR Championship.

And perhaps the way to do this is to play this format in Ryder Cup years and use stroke play in non-Ryder-Cup years.

Play a match play tournament as the TOUR Championship. You'd have to increase the field to 32 players to fit the format, but that's fine.

Scheffler would be seeded #1 (using this year as an example) and would play the #32 entry.

You could stagger the points to coincide with how many matches they won. Scheffler, for example, might have to win two matches in the Match Play event in order to secure enough points to win the season long title.

Or maybe he has to win three?

Match play is a riveting, exciting form of golf that would lend itself very well to a TOUR Championship finale. And in a Ryder Cup year, it would also help Keegan Bradley (or the captain) get an up-close-and-personal look at how players fare in the match play format.

No one asked me, of course.

But if they did...

That's what I would do to "fix" the TOUR Championship.

two of us

There were two versions of me walking the links at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Tuesday. It’s a golf story as old as time, so I’ll try to be brief about it.

The first version shot an even-par 36 on the front nine, with easy birdies on both par-5’s balanced by a double bogey on a par-3.

Then, as if it were a bolt of lightning, the second version showed up in the middle of the 10th fairway. The first in a succession of seriously terrible iron shots left me in an awful spot, and a general inability to save shots near the green after that led to a 10-over-par 46 on the back nine.

I make no excuses, and neither should you, but I do have an explanation.

The turf on the links is firm, even more than usual because of dry weather, and I hit irons poorly in those conditions. Being a bit “punchy” with those shots is often the play, and I’ve never been adept at that.

One of the things that separates good players from okay players is that good players prefer the firmness; they hit the ball cleanly most of the time. I have three more rounds to improve at it, and I’m sure I’ll have it down the moment I return to shag carpeted fairways at home.

Royal Liverpool, or Hoylake, is what American golfers think about when they ponder a “links" course.

It’s quite flat, has several holes near the beach, and seems kind of brown when you look out at it from the clubhouse window. I’m not sure that it’s a better course than Royal Birkdale, but it felt like a more traditional British links experience.

A similar experience awaits at Royal Lytham later in the week, though that course apparently has many more bunkers. I guess I can’t wait to find out.

The post-round meal in the members’ dining room on the second floor of the Hoylake clubhouse was also quite traditional...long pants are a must, don’t even think about wearing a hat, and keep that cell phone out of sight.

Before that, servers come out to the 18th green to give every visitor a post-round drink, which I would describe as a non-alcoholic gin and tonic.

One feature of Royal Liverpool I could do without? The internal out-of-bounds that shows up on the right of the both the 1st hole (played as the 3rd hole during the Open) and the 16th hole (played as the 18th during the Open).

I suppose I understand it, as the area between those holes is the expansive practice range. But if the practice range at Birkdale isn’t out of bounds, why should it be at Hoylake?

Royal Liverpool Golf Club

Yellow Tees, 6,331 yards, Rating 72.2, Slope 139

Final score: 82

Highlight: I was the first of 9 in our overall group to tee off, and the other 8 were all watching as I smacked a perfect 3-wood down the left side, thus avoiding the strange internal out-of-bounds.

Wednesday’s round: West Lancashire Golf Club

Beatles note: Hoylake has quite a bit of Beatles-adjacent history. John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia, grew up there, and she returned there after their divorce. Their son, Julian, spent most of his early life in Hoylake.

This contribution was provided by David Rosenfeld, a longtime writer and contributor to #DMD. He will chroncile his golfing journey in England with us over the next week or so.

	NOTES & COMMENT George McDowell
George McDowell is #DMD's foreign correspondent. His international reports are filed from a hardened outpost just across the U.S. / North Carolina border. He writes on sports topics that interest him that he feels might also interest some segment of the wildly esoteric #DMD readership. George has been a big fan of DF and his various enterprises since the last century, and for several seasons appeared as a weekly guest on his Monday evening radio show, Maryland Golf Live, delivering commentary as The Eccentric Starter.

president trump realigns nfl playoffs for 2026

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced late today that the NFL would realign its playoff format for the 2026 season. One team, not otherwise qualified, will be added to the playoffs in each conference. The two teams to be added will be determined by the president the day after the final game of the regular season.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, after several meetings at the White House with President Trump, agreed to the president's proposal.

In response to a reporter's question, the president said, "Several times recently people have come up to me and said, 'Sir, why is it that you don't have more influence with the NFL?' And you know what? They're right. The president should have a hand in what's the national pastime."

When asked how he would choose the teams to be added, Mr. Trump said he would hold individual, closed-door meetings with team owners at Mar-a-Lago, and would announce his team selections after the last meeting. The president responded to a question about the unfairness of allowing teams that didn't qualify to compete for the Lombardi Trophy with teams that did qualify by saying, "Folks have to get real here. There's a lot of money at stake."

The president seemed unaware that he would not be able to select teams in this upcoming season. He said, "That's fake news." But then he added, "We're going to look into that. I will be making selections this year."

Commissioner Goodell had no official comment, but a source close to him said, on the otherwise silent and somber ride from the White House to Washington National, he muttered, "That man's trying to turn us into the damned PGA Tour."

Tuesday August 19, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4012

maybe keep next october open?

It's a shame the O's brass didn't have the temerity to promote Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo a month ago. Maybe the playoff-chase-that-never-was would have morphed into something with potential.

Alas, we'll have to do the old coulda, shoulda, woulda for the 2025 season, but if first-blush-impressions are worthy of anything, the 2026 campaign might be worth waiting for after all.

The Birds continued their mid-August surge with a 6-3 win at Boston last night. Basallo and Beavers both had a hand in the win, with each rookie producing two hits on the night. If you consider both the Astros and Red Sox "good teams", that's 3 of 4 wins over a pair of good, playoff-chasing clubs since Friday.

It would have been nice to have seen the two B's up last month, but it is what it is. What we're seeing now from them is a preview, hopefully, of the impact they will both have in Baltimore in 2026.

It shouldn't be overly difficult to find playing time and at-bats for Beavers. Basallo, one would think, will be relegated mostly to DH duties and occasional days of catching when Rutschman needs a break.

Either way, though, it's evident the O's will have an exciting young core to showcase next April and the early-wager here is the Birds will be a trendy off-season pick to win the A.L. East if Elias successfully overhauls the bullpen in the off-season.

Trevor Rogers was once again a man-amongst-men, as he baffled the hosts at Fenway over 7 innings of 4 hit, 1 run pitching. I hope this doesn't come across as "saying something just to say it", but Rogers' current '25 numbers are Cy Young comparable if played out over 5 months instead of 3 and a half months.

Just for fun, here is the data from Tarik Skubal's last eight starts with the Tigers.

50.1 innings pitched.

34 hits allowed.

15 runs allowed.

10 walks allowed.

65 strikeouts.

In those eight starts, his ERA went from 2.15 to 2.42.

And here's what Rogers has done in his last eight starts.

56.1 innings pitched.

34 hits allowed.

7 runs allowed.

10 walks allowed.

49 strikeouts.

In those eight starts, his ERA went from 1.57 to 1.41.

So...if Tarik Skubal is the best pitcher in the American League, what do the last eight starts say about Trevor Rogers?

He improved to 6-2 last night while lowering his ERA to a miniscule 1.41. If WHIP is your thing, Rogers now sports one of the best in baseball at 0.80.

Rogers' return to glory is like Tiger winning the 2019 Masters. Who woulda thunk it?

A year ago this time, the southpaw was banished to the minor leagues and largely forgotten about by the fan base. The ridicule Mike Elias received for the trade with the Marlins carried on throughout the winter.

And when Rogers wasn't ready and/or stable enough to make it north with the team in April, the jokes and insults only got worse.

It looks like the oft-maligned GM is going to get the last laugh on this one. Trevor Rogers will be the team's opening day starter in 2026. You can make book on that.

So, while this October might be "baseball free" in Baltimore, I wouldn't be so sure about next October.

Second, short and third are all spoken for in 2026. Catching is done. Left field and center field appear on lockdown. There's a potential opening for someone in right field unless Tyler O'Neill pulls a Trevor Rogers and figures out how to be a contributing member of the club.

And if it's not Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle splitting time at first next season, it will be Coby Mayo and someone else. Mayo's here to stay, even if Mounty isn't.

Rogers, Kremer, Sugano, Povich. If those four are back in '26, that's a good start. But as we saw this year, however much pitching you think you need, triple it. Go get a couple of mid-line starters in the off-season and hope that Brandon Young's last four starts are the real deal.

There's still Bradish and Wells in the picture. And who knows what the story is with Grayson Rodriguez?

The bullpen needs a major facelift, no doubt about that. But those guys are like gin joints in L.A., they're easy to find.

Who will manage the team in '26? I have no idea. I'm not even worried about that, honestly. I'll trust Elias on that one. If he thinks Mansolino is the guy, I'm good with it. If he gets someone else, that's fine, too.

So, yeah, go ahead and free up your October in 2025. I have a feeling the Ravens will take our minds off the Major League playoffs, anyway.

But I wouldn't be making any grand plans for The Land of Pleasant Living for October 2026 just yet.

You just might be in Baltimore. Watching baseball at Oriole Park.

Half of the U.S. Ryder Cup team was solidified on Monday when the PGA of America announced that the following players have automatically qualified by finishing in the top six in the points standings: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English.

Four of those six have won a tournament in 2025; Scheffler (5), Spaun (1), Henley (1) and English (1).

Those six will be joined by six captain's picks, with Keegan Bradley's selections coming next Wednesday, August 27.

The current standings from 7 to 16 are:

7. Justin Thomas

8. Collin Morikawa

9. Ben Griffin

10. Maverick McNealy

11. Keegan Bradley

12. Brian Harman

13. Andrew Novak

14. Cameron Young

15. Patrick Cantlay

16. Sam Burns

Thomas appears to be a lock to be added by Bradley, particularly if he hangs on to 7th place in the standings after this week's TOUR Championship. It's highly unlikely you'd leave the 7th place guy off the team.

Under normal circumstances, the 8th place guy would probably be safe, too. But Morikawa has had a very tepid spring and summer. I'd say his chances of being added by Bradley are 50/50 at best. Me? He'd be a "no go" if it were my call.

Ben Griffin has a "regular" win and a two-man win, which should probably count for something in Keegan's eyes since 4 of the 5 rounds in Ryder Cup play are of the two-man variety. Griffin has quietly put together a very nice 2025 season. I'd say he's 70/30 to be added as a captain's pick. He'd be "in" if it were up to me.

Maverick McNealy acquitted himself very well last week at Caves Valley and moved past Bradley into 10th place in the standings. Because of his lack of "Cup" experience, I'm thinking he's 50/50 at best to be a captain's pick. I'm bullish on McNealy as a player and think he's a guy who could win a major in 2026. I'd strongly consider him for the team if I made the call, but I'm anxious to see how he handles the pressure of the TOUR Championship in Atlanta this week.

Keegan has to consider Keegan, even though he fell back to 10th place in the standings this week. Bradley has been one of the best ball strikers in golf over the last two years. We chronicled the idea of Bradley serving as a "playing-captain" here at #DMD last week. It has its good points and bad points. As it stands now, I'm guessing he's 60/40 to pick himself. If he gave me the absolute, no-changes-allowed decision to make, I'd want him to captain the team only and leaving the playing to others. But if he does pick himself for the team, Keegan's quality of golf can't hurt.

I'm guessing Harman and Novak are both 40/60 or perhaps even 30/70 to get selected. Bethpage Black is a little too much golf course for Harman and Novak, while enjoying a nice year, would give the U.S. another player with zero "Cup" experience. I'm leaving both of them off if it's me.

That leaves the three guys currently at 14, 15 and 16. If they stay in those three spots after Sunday's season finale in Atlanta, I think they should be added to the team. Young has played very well over the last month, Cantlay has enjoyed a very productive partnership with Schauffele in past Cups and Burns is almost a lock at this point. His golf has been good in 2025 and his best friend and solid playing partner is a guy named Scottie Scheffler.

Burns, I'd say, is a slam dunk to make the team. I think Cantlay is 80% "in" based mostly on his past successes with Schauffele and others. And I'm guessing Young is probably 50/50 at this point.

In case you're wondering about others who might draw Bradley's consideration, you have Wyndham Clark (17), Lucas Glover (18), Akshay Bhatia (19) and Chris Gotterup (20).

I'd say those guys are all 10/90 to make the team although there was a report from Caves Valley that Bradley met with Bhatia early in the week (and a few others).

Who knows what that could have been about?

"I need to see you play well these next two weeks if you want me to pick you."

Or...

"I just wanted to tell you in person, I'm not picking you."

Either way, I don't see Bhatia making the team this time around, but I do think he is a future Ryder Cup player for the U.S. side.

help!

I need somebody...to make sure my alignment is better, so I stop hitting so many shots to the right. But enough about me. Let’s talk about Royal Birkdale, host to next year’s (British) Open Championship.

In the 2017 Open, on Birkdale’s 13th hole, Jordan Spieth hit what might be the most memorable terrible shot of the 21st century.

Seemingly miles right of the fairway on the course’s practice range, he spent more than 20 minutes figuring out what to do before taking a penalty and dropping a ball, hitting it up near the green and salvaging a bogey. He then caught fire on the last five holes to win the tournament.

While we didn’t play from that tee on Monday, we went up there to take a look. There is a bit of difference now on the hole from eight years ago, but not much change. And I have to say...in all my years of playing golf, I don’t think I’ve ever hit a driver that far offline. And I don’t understand how the range isn’t considered an internal out-of-bounds.

Next year, that area will apparently play host to hospitality tents while a temporary practice range is constructed at Hillside Golf Club right next door.

Birkdale is a proper championship course, as they might say over here. The bunkering on almost every non-par-3 hole seems as if it was placed there specifically to catch drives that are only a few yards off the mark. Personally, I had a hard time picking good lines off the tee, and probably should have laid back on several holes I did not.

Or maybe it just wasn’t my day, and I picked the wrong place to be a bit wild with the driver.

I played with our tour manager and his friend Geoff Harris, who makes a living as a sort-of marketing agent for the many excellent courses in North West England looking for visitors. Geoff won the English Mid-Amateur (35 and older) in 2019 and had an excellent American college career at Old Dominion around the turn of the 21st century. Needless to say, with his trusty 2-iron and a sharp short game, he is a proper links player.

Royal Birkdale is a surprisingly modern place for a club founded in the 19th century.

The members and staff are appreciative of their visitors, and the club has been willing to make a host of changes to keep itself on the rota of Open venues. The most iconic symbol of that modernity is its Art Deco clubhouse, which, to be frank, looks completely out of place on any golf course, let alone an English links.

But I’ll have to let that slide considering the sheer awesomeness of the 18 holes, even the ones that took a toll on me.

Royal Birkdale Golf Club

Blue Tees, 6,205 yards, Rating 71.8, Slope 143

Final score: 82

Highlight: Scoring 3-3-2-3 on the 4 par-threes, including a shot on the 12th that I thought might be an ace but ended up about 6 inches away.

Tuesday’s round: Royal Liverpool (Hoylake)

Beatles note: My Birkdale caddie Mike told me that I must visit a pub called Ye Cracke, just around the corner from our Liverpool hotel. “Cracke” is apparently Liverpool slang for an alley. John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, the Beatles original bassist, used to be regulars there when they were studying at the Liverpool College of Art nearby. Tragically, Sutcliffe died in Germany from a brain hemorrhage at just 21 years old.

This contribution was provided by David Rosenfeld, a longtime writer and contributor to #DMD. He will chroncile his golfing journey in England with us over the next week or so.

Monday August 18, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4011

who else was it going to be?

When you're assessing the final round of the BMW Championship and analyzing how it all unfolded over the final 18 holes, two things are quite clear:

Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet right now -- has been for a while -- and is dominating the sport in a fashion we haven't seen since the halcyon days of Tiger Woods.

And Robert MacIntyre wilted under the Baltimore heat and the pressure of winning one of golf's eight biggest events on the season calendar.

I don't see any way either of those points can be argued.

The MacIntyre story is a painful one for anyone who has played competitive golf at any level. It happens to everyone. There's no avoiding it. Everything that worked for you the day before suddenly doesn't work.

The club feels foreign in your hands. There's a nervous energy that you can't shake. You woke up at the same time, ate the same thing for breakfast and followed your routine to the minute. But it's not working today.

That six foot putt you knocked in with ease 24 hours earlier now can't be made.

Bob MacIntyre is an outstanding player. He's going to be a complete handful at the Ryder Cup next month. He will, I think, be a major champion in golf and could win more than one of those coveted titles. He almost won the U.S. Open this year. His game is tailor-made for Augusta National. Obviously, the British Open is a wonderful fit for his game.

But he's no Scottie Scheffler.

No one is in, fact.

Much like when Mike Trout showed up in Major League Baseball and we hadn't seen likes of a two-way player like that in forever, we haven't seen anything like Scheffler since the hey day of Tiger in the early 2000's.

We've chronicled the stats here enough to highlight why he's the best in the game right now. He drives it straight and on a string, hits his irons ridiculously close and, as we saw to the left of the 17th green on Sunday, his short game is absolutely insane.

Scheffler's putting is good enough to win. He makes a ton of them, he misses a few puzzlers, and always seems to come up with the big one when he needs it, like at #15 on Sunday after he had just authored a sloppy 3-putt bogey on the hole before to give MacIntyre life.

He doesn't have a weakness.

Like Tiger, he's an amazing front-runner. If Scottie gets ahead of you, it's over.

And before you poo-poo the idea of being a front-runner, just remember Bob MacIntyre couldn't handle being the front runner at the BMW. It's not as easy of a task as everyone assumes it to be.

Scheffler winning the tournament at Caves Valley is no surprise at all. None. On Saturday afternoon, a friend in a golf group I was with eagerly said, "Bobby Mac is even money right now to win! And he has a 4-shot lead. I'm going to throw a few bucks on him."

Every guy in the room looked at him and said, "Why would you throw your money away like that? He's not beating Scheffler."

Some folks have to learn the hard way, I guess.

The tournament at Caves Valley marked a courageous attempt to bring the event back to Baltimore after a 2021 tournament that was met with a lot of frustration from those who attended the BMW Championship.

In '21 there were traffic issues, parking problems and a lack of (free) on-course drinking water for patrons. I would never say what happened in '21 was "a mess", but it certainly didn't paint a good picture for the tournament to return to Caves Valley.

This time around, things went better.

So much so, in fact, that a return to the area and the course are "likely" according to a source I spoke with on Sunday evening.

"We're set for the next few years, but I think there's a good chance -- a very good chance -- that we'll likely be back at Caves sometime in the future," they told me.

If various golf-centric websites are correct, 2026 will be in St. Louis, 2027 will be in New Jersey, 2028 will be in San Francisco and 2029 will be in Minnesota. It would seem like a natural move to get back to the East Coast in 2030.

Traffic in and around the course continued to be an issue in 2025 but there's really not a whole lot that can be done to rectify those issues to everyone's complete satisfaction.

Drinking water was provided free of charge on the course throughout the week.

And the tournament itself went off without a hitch. Ticket sales were robust, corporate entertainment was sold out and the golf was remarkable, with the top American player holding off a spirited effort from a rising European star.

Caves Valley is an excellent course and property. It's the only course and club in the Baltimore area that could host an event like the BMW. No one else in Baltimore has the acreage to allow for the corporate hospitality and media set-up like Caves can offer.

That there are routinely traffic issues getting in and out of the course during tournament week is just part and parcel of the facility being nestled a few miles above the Beltway in an area that's largely empty. There are homes out there in the Park Heights area, but there's no real need for wider and improved roads. Very few people travel in that part of the county on the whole.

No one at the PGA Tour told me this, but I think it's very evident. Getting the people into and out of Caves Valley for the tournament itself is really the least of their worries.

Sure, they want it to go smoothly. They don't want anyone having a "bad experience". But the way they see it, you're going to get there at some point. You might get there in 45 minutes, you might get there in 75 minutes or you might get there in 90 minutes or two hours, but you are eventually getting to the course.

They are far more concerned with getting the sponsorship and hospitality angles ironed out to perfection, because, as we know, that's where the money is in big-time sporting events like the BMW.

You're paying $75 for a ticket to the tournament.

A company is spending $200,000 on a corporate tent.

You tell me who they deem to be me important.

They also need to make sure the players are happy with the venue and the various details that go along with the tournament.

Sure, it's a playoff event and they're all coming no matter what, but as we saw with Rory in Memphis two weeks ago, some of the bigger names in the sport could elect to opt out of one of the first two playoff events if their standings in the points race was solid enough.

So, making sure the players are happy is also a vitally important part of the event. Getting them in and out of the property via the use of a private road is (was) important, even if that means less public access.

All in all, the 2025 BMW Championship was a huge success.

The tournament will return to the area sometime soon, as long as the membership at Caves Valley agrees to it.

Baltimore can support big time golf, as they've now done since this decade. Sure, our baseball stadium might not sell out for a playoff game, but that's more about the team and the product and less about the community being invested in supporting an important sporting event.

Scottie Scheffler and Baltimore both showed up this week at Caves Valley.

It was a great 4 days for both parties.

---

While Scheffler was busy polishing off another win, so, too were the Orioles, as they blasted the Astros in Houston, 12-0, on Sunday.

The big news of the day was the promotion of heralded prospect Samuel Basallo who, like Dylan Beavers the night before, produced a base hit in his MLB debut.

We're delve more into this new edition of "the Baby Birds" here on Tuesday, but we didn't want to let Monday come and go without mention of Basallo's promotion to the big league club and the excitement that goes along with seeing two prospects up for the remainder of the season.

Oh, and don't look now, but Dean Kremer is producing a very nice season on the mound for the O's. Take away his three worst starts (and, honestly, he's only had 4 or 5 "off starts" all season) and he's having an outstanding campaign. Maybe not Tarik Skubal-like-outstanding, but VERY STRONG indeed.

Right now, as it stands today, you're looking at a rotation in 2026 that includes Kremer, Rogers and potentially Sugano. Mix in Povich with that group and you might have something. There's no telling which Brandon Young is the real Brandon Young, but if it's the one we've been seeing for the last four starts or so......yes please, more of that.

More on the O's tomorrow here at #DMD.

the fool on the hill...

One morning back in 1931, Dr. Frank Stableford was a bit perturbed.

In his younger days, he was a club champion, but age had taken its toll. Playing into a stiff breeze on the testing 440-yard par-4 second hole at his home club, Wallasey, he realized he could no longer reach the green in the “regulation” two shots. He figured there had to be a way to make the game more enjoyable now that “par” seemed so out of reach on so many holes.

Thus was invented the “Stableford” scoring system, very popular in the United Kingdom but less so elsewhere in the golfing world. You score points on each hole based on the number of strokes you take and then add them up at the end. Once you hit double bogey, you can abandon the hole as you’ll get zero points.

In the UK, it’s typical for your “par” on each hole to be handicap-based, and if you make a par you’ll get 2 points; a birdie will give you 3 and a bogey 1.

Americans are likely more familiar with the modified Stableford system used on the PGA Tour at the tournament now known as the Barracuda Championship. In that event, the system is used to encourage aggressive play in the high elevation...the reward for scoring under par (5 points for an eagle, 2 for a birdie) is higher than the penalty for scoring under par (-1 for a bogey).

As for the “fool on the hill,” that was me, on the dogleg-right 10th hole at Wallasey, listed at only 300 yards on the card. Seeing that I’d driven the ball well on the front, my caddie told me to go for it with a bit of a cut, which I did. I was sitting in light rough about 30 yards from the pin, on a green that’s basically on a cliff.

Knowing that the smart play would be to chip the ball past the hole, I went for the hero shot and tried to get it close...and I almost did...only for the ball to roll down the hill on the (very) firm turf for at least 30 seconds and almost 75 yards.

After that, it took me two tries to get the ball onto the surface. Two putts later, and it was a 6. I was awarded no points, and may God have mercy on my soul*.

Wallasey, on the Wirral Peninsula west of Liverpool and 20 minutes east of Hoylake, is an unknown course that should be better known. The combination of holes in the dunes and near Liverpool Bay is a good one, and the amount of elevation change is unusual for a links course.

Hole No. 2, which got Dr. Stableford going that day in 1931, is a good one, and I was happy to hit two good shots and make a par. I always love good 18th holes with the clubhouse in the background, and Wallasey doesn’t disappoint there either.

Wallasey Golf Club

Yellow Tees, 6,294 yards, Rating 71.9, Slope 132

Final score: 80

Highlight: Reaching the green in two shots on the 530-yard par-5 13th and lipping out the eagle putt.

Monday’s round: Royal Birkdale, site of next summer's Open Championship.

Beatles note: I’ve always through that “The Fool on the Hill” is a very underrated song. The out-of-tune flute that plays throughout the song is unusual, and it’s got a good message.

*That’s a line from Billy Madison, which came before Happy Gilmore, which is sort of a golf movie...

This contribution was provided by David Rosenfeld, a longtime writer and contributor to #DMD. He will chroncile his golfing journey in England with us over the next week or so.

Sunday August 17, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4010

sunday stuff

If the boxscore from Houston last night shows erstwhile Oriole Ramon Urias at 0-for-6 at the plate, how on earth was he the hero at the end of the night?

Because the boxscore will also show that he had one RBI and it was the biggest one of the night, as his 12th inning fielder's choice ground out plated the winning run for the Astros in a 5-4 win.

The battlin' Birds did just that all night. They battled. But they wasted three extra-innings opportunities to take the lead and then finally relented in the 12th inning on the Urias grounder.

Last night's game also marked the Major League debut of Dylan Beavers, who picked up his first big league hit in the 9th inning with a leadoff double, only to be stranded at third base after Mayo, Johnson and Carlson all struck out.

Tony Mansolino threw Houston a split-fingered-fastball to start the game when went with Rico Garcia out of the bullpen in the bottom of the first. Thereafter, scheduled O's starter Cade Povich took over and actually had 10 strikeouts in 5 innings of work, allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs along the way.

At the plate, Gunnar, Westburg and Rutschman went a combined 1-for-14 at the plate. That's, as you know, not good.

Meanwhile, Urias turned out to be the unlikely hero despite not able to get the ball out of the infield in the 12th inning.

Baseball, man. It's a weird sport.

Robert MacIntyre is 18 holes away from thrusting himself into contention for the FedEx Cup title, but he first has to close the deal in today's final round of the BMW Championship.

MacIntyre closed Saturday's third round at Caves Valley with an improbable 50-foot birdie putt to post 16-under-par and lead Scottie Scheffler by four shots. Ludvig Aberg rests in third place at 10-under, followed by Sam Burns and Harry Hall at 8-under.

Unless something really strange happens today, it's effectively a match-play event between MacIntyre and Scheffler. I suppose Aberg could shoot 64 and both MacIntyre and Scheffler could post something like a pedestrian even par round, but given what we've seen, scoring wise, it's hard to imagine both guys in the final group not being under par to some degree today.

MacIntyre is setting himself up for quite a week in Atlanta if he can finish the job today at Caves Valley.

A victory in the BMW will take the Scotsman all the way to 3rd place in the standings and would give him a shot at winning the FedEx Cup with a victory at East Lake in Atlanta next Sunday.

MacIntyre is also setting himself up to be quite the formidable foe at next month's Ryder Cup. Twice on Saturday he engaged with some fans who weren't, let's say, being polite to him while he was trying to putt. After rolling in a tricky 8 footer for par on #14, Bob turned to the stands and quieted someone by putting his finger over his mouth, then pointed at them with his putter while continuing to scowl in their direction.

That's precisely the kind of back and forth we're going to see for three days at the Ryder Cup. Pro-American patrons hassling European players about their appearance, weight, nationality and anything else they can come up with. And the European players, in turn, trying to shut them up with outstanding golf.

It wasn't quite a true Ryder Cup environment out there on Saturday at Caves, but at times it took the appearance of one as Scheffler tried to keep pace with MacIntyre on the back nine.

Burns (-8), Maverick McNealy (-7) and Cameron Young (-5) have steadied themselves in their attempt to catch Keegan Bradley's eye. McNealy, in particular, needed some strong play this week and in next week's finale at East Lake to keep his name on Captain Bradley's list of six picks.

The Ravens beat the Cowboys in Dallas last night, 31-13, and no starter or back-up got hurt. That's pretty much all that mattered from the pre-season thriller in Dallas.

Oh, and Tyler Loop connected on five of his six field goal attempts and, from the department of "worst kept secrets ever", he was named the team's kicker by John Harbaugh following his performance.

There's your full report from Dallas.

Ravens win.

No one of significant got hurt.

Tyler Loop is now officially the "new Justin Tucker".

Pre-season football. It's so good!

when i’m sixty-four...

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,

Stating point of view...

Consider this the first of a few postcards from a (probably) once-in-a-lifetime experience as I play six golf courses in six days on a trip through North West England.

Editor’s note: That’s how they write it here, as opposed to Northwest Baltimore, where I’ve spent some time as well.

Three of the courses you’ve probably heard of because they’ve been the sites of many (British) Open Championships — Royal Liverpool —often referred to as Hoylake and the site of the 2023 Open, Royal Birkdale, site of next year’s Open, and Royal Lytham & Saint Annes, last played host to the tournament in 2012.

The others are no slouches, from what I’ve heard. I’m especially looking forward to Sunday’s round at Wallasey, not far from Hoylake and one that many suggest ought to be ranked higher than it is.

Special thanks to Scotland Tours for organizing the trip. According to CEO Angus Watson, this was originally intended for a group from the Massachusetts Golf Association, a long-time client of the company. When that organization had to cancel, the tee times were still booked, so the idea was hatched to open it up to whomever might be interested in playing 108 holes in six days.

As for the Beatles, well...our group will be based in Liverpool for seven nights, so it seems appropriate, especially with the devotion shown to the Fab Four here at #DMD. For those who might be wondering, I flew into Manchester, so shout out to Oasis.

Upon wandering about two blocks from the hotel, I found the small side street that you see in the photo, so I already feel at home although I’ve never played on the “links” before. And if you were wondering, I’m not 64...only 52, though a couple people have accused me of having a “midlife crisis” by taking this trip.

Two notes before I go...

According to legend, When I’m Sixty-Four was one of the earliest songs written by Paul McCartney, probably when he was around 14 years old. It didn’t appear as a Beatles song until the 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s album. Paul is now 83 years old.

Forget about the Fab Four. I thought about the “Crab Five” when I ran into former Northwestern center Matthew Nicholson in the Amsterdam airport. He was headed to Manchester to start his career in the British Super League. If you’re seven feet tall and can rebound, you can keep playing for a long time.

This contribution was provided by David Rosenfeld, a longtime writer and contributor to #DMD. He will chroncile his golfing journey in England with us over the next week or so.

Saturday August 16, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4009

almost perfect

I was scanning the Major League schedule on Friday night late yesterday afternoon and casually said to a friend who is, let's say, "occasionally interested in the outcome of certain games" and said to him, "Young vs. Valdez tonight in Houston. It feels like the perfect night for a reverse lock."

Brandon Young was starting for the Orioles and Framber Valdez was starting for Houston. Everything about the game called for a 7-0 Houston win.

"I'm telling you," I said. "Young throws a gem and Valdez gets knocked around. You just know it's going to happen."

Alas, we moved on to other topics, like "is Scottie Scheffler a better golfer than Rory McIlroy, "how many majors will Scottie win?" and so on.

Final from Houston: Orioles 7, Astros 0.

Brandon Young had a perfect game going into the 8th inning before giving up the one and only hit of the night to the hosts.

Reverse lock.

Felt it. Called it. Didn't bet it.

Speaking of almost perfect, day two of the BMW Championship was a lot like day one, as Robert MacIntyre backed up his opening round 62 with a nice, tidy 64 on Friday to take a whopping 5 shot lead over Scottie Scheffler at Caves Valley.

Ludvig Aberg -- perhaps the most disappointing "star" on the TOUR in 2025 -- moved into 3rd at 8 under par, followed by Hidek Matsuyama at 7-under.

It is, officially, MacIntyre's event to lose.

Funny enough, if you take the Scotsman's name off the leaderboard, Scheffler's 9 under par total through 36 holes is precisely what tournament organizers were probably hoping we'd see for the midway leader.

After Patrick Cantlay (and Bryson DeChambeau) shot 27-under at Caves back in 2021, the TOUR said, "We can't that kind of birdie-fest if we ever go back to Caves", so massive steps were taken to chop away some of the scoring.

The course was renovated, the greens made more difficult, holes were changed and two of the course's par 5 holes were converted to long par 4's for the BMW Championship.

No one was going to shoot 27 under par for four days ever again at Caves Valley.

Well, don't look now, but MacIntyre is halfway there at 14-under.

However, I'm fairly confident he's not going to post that number by late Sunday afternoon. He might get into the low 20's or something like that, but he's not shooting 27 or 28 under par.

Scheffler's stronghold on the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings seems safe, at least for another week. If he doesn't win at Caves, he's almost certainly going to finish in the top five. And, yes, I still think there's a very good chance he wins the BMW. But if he doesn't he's still going to be hard to catch in the FedEx Cup standings next week in Atlanta.

Maverick McNealy gave his Ryder Cup hopes a shot in the arm on Friday with a round of 64 to move to 6-under for the event. Sam Burns did the same, catching Keegan Bradley's eye with a start of 68-67 at Caves Valley.

Patrick Cantlay (67) and Cameron Young (66), both of whom are going to need to rely on Bradley using a captain's pick on them, made a statement on Friday. Both of them should move on to Atlanta next week unless something catastrophic happens over the weekend.

Earlier in the week, Bradley said in a press conference that "anyone still playing in the playoffs is under consideration" (for a Ryder Cup spot), which bodes well for those playing nice golf but might dampen the chances for someone like Andrew Novak, who currently sits in 12th place in the Cup standings but shot 72-76 to start the BMW and is in next-to-last-place through two rounds.

Others who have been mentioned by the media as potential picks are doing their best to show Bradley good form heading into next week's TOUR Championship; Of those, only Ben Griffin (-1) and Rickie Fowler (-3) are under par, while Brian Harman (+3), Chris Gotterup (+3) and Akshay Bhatia (+4) need to make more birdies over the weekend.

As expected, the golf course has held up much better this time around.

The altering of par from 72 to 70 has helped, obviously, but the first hole has gone from a handshake (380 yards to 450 yards) to a beast right out of the gate and the final two holes on the front are both excellent tests of tee-to-green golf.

The first three holes on the back side are where TOUR players make their meal money. It gets much harder after that. Even for the best players in the world, holes 4, 5 and 6 are not for the meek of heart.

Traffic issues aside -- and as I noted here yesterday, the location of the course just makes it a difficult place to get in and out of, it's no one's fault in particular -- the event has put an awesome spotlight on Caves Valley. It's truly one of the best clubs and courses in America.

One person who is very fond of it is Robert MacIntyre.

Oh, and speaking of the Ryder Cup, he's going to be a handful for the American team at Bethpage, that's for sure.

In fact, the whole European team is going to be a handful.

Friday August 15, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4008

bobby mac to the rescue

Before I start with Thursday's bullet points from the BMW Championship, I'll be transparent and mention I'm not in Baltimore and not at the tournament this week.

Everything's fine, in case you were wondering.

Someday down the road I'll talk about this week at Caves Valley and how it came to pass that I would forego attending the event in 2025. Right now, let's focus on the golf tournament itself.

It was everything Caves, the BMW and PGA Tour wanted on Thursday. And then it rained.

And once the players came back out to the course after a 2-hour-plus rain delay, Caves Valley became, can we say it here, Mount Pleasant.

Three under par was the best score of the morning wave who beat the storms. Viktor Hovland had that honor, joined by Rickie Fowler for a while. It looked like the changes to the course and the altering of par (from a 72 to a 70) had done its job.

Then it rained and the place turned into birdie-city.

Scottie Scheffler went on a run, moving to top of the leaderboard at 4-under par along with Jason Day, who would eventually slip back with a couple of late bogeys.

Tommy Fleetwood did one better, settling for 5-under par.

And then along came Robert MacIntyre, who nearly won the U.S. Open back in June. MacIntyre made 7 birdies on the back nine, including his last six holes, consecutively, to finish the day at 8-under 62. And that round included TWO bogeys!

Try as they might, the powers-that-be in golf have never figured out how to combat soft conditions. And they try to do it, trust me. But they can't. Once the greens are soft, it goes from golf to darts for the best players in the world.

Bobby Mac was throwing darts down the stretch.

Caves Valley installed the "sub-air" system two years ago in an effort to handle exactly what happened on Thursday. That system, built under the entire property, essentially serves as a wet-vac, sucking out the moisture from the fairways and greens to keep them as balanced as possible.

But it can't return the course to the exact condition it was before the rain. Not in 30 minutes, anyway.

So when the players came back out after the rain delay, the BMW went from having the look of The Players Championship or even mini-major to looking like the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Professional golfers feast on soft greens.

And there was a lot of feasting late on Thursday afternoon.

It's way too early to start looking at the leaderboard and how the event connects with both next week's TOUR Championship and the potential for Ryder Cup consideration.

But some guys helped and hurt their cause on Thursday, albeit only for 18 holes.

Akshay Bhatia (+5), Lucas Glover (+5) and Cameron Young (+4) have all been mentioned this week as possible captain's picks by Keegan Braddley. Bhatia and Glover are in danger of not making it to Atlanta next week while Young is likely "in", but he needs to pick up the pace over the final three rounds to keep Bradley's attention.

Chris Gotterup (+3), Brian Harman (+3) and Patrick Cantlay (+2) were a little better, but not by much. All three of them need to rally over the final 54 holes as well.

On the flip side, Mav McNealy (even), Collin Morikawa (even) and Sam Burns (-2) put themselves in a nice position through round one. If not for the back nine eruption by MacIntyre, they'd be right in the thick of it after 18 holes.

McNealy and Morikawa are currently inside the top 12 in the point standings for the Ryder Cup while Burns is on the outside-looking-in.

These next 54 holes will go a long way in determining who plays next week and who plays at Bethpage in late September.

MacIntyre's stellar play and Scheffler's rise up the leaderboard thankfully overshadowed a blossoming story during the morning, which has now plagued the tournament on both occasions Caves Valley has hosted the event.

Traffic was a disaster.

There were reports of it taking 90 minutes and 2 hours to get from the general parking lot at the Owings Mills Metro to the golf course on Park Heights Avenue.

I joked with "Matt", who e-mailed me at 10:30 am to say it took them 85 minutes to get there that he could have almost walked from the train station to the course in 85 minutes. I'm not sure if that's true, but you get the point.

I'm not going to hammer tournament organizers about the traffic. I'm sure they tried everything they could to improve upon it this time around.

It could be this simple:

Caves Valley is an incredible piece of property and a great golf course.

The PGA Tour is the world's biggest and best professional golf entity.

The BMW Championship has a storied history that makes it one of the best tournaments on the TOUR schedule every year.

Caves Valley is a wonderful place to play, either as a member or a guest. I cherish every opportunity I get to play there.

All that said...

It could be this simple:

Because of where it's located, you simply can't hold an event like the BMW Championship or any other significant TOUR event that requires traffic attention.

A U.S. Amateur or Walker Cup? Those would certainly work. People attend those events, but not nearly in the numbers they attend the BMW.

But it's really starting to appear like the course's location just isn't suitable for events like the BMW. And that's a shame.

	The Stats Nerd And His Numbers
Contributed by #DMD's data and numbers analyst The Stats Nerd

I happened to be in London last August when the Oasis reunion tour started to bubble up again. But this wasn’t my first rodeo with rumors of this sort. So I wasn’t holding my breath.

But after we bounced over to Ireland it became official: the Gallagher brothers were going to run it back again for the first time in over 15 years.

Across the pond the announcement was, of course, all over the news. It was the biggest story of my entire trip. First the official announcement, then the lottery for the right to buy the tickets and finally the ticket sales themselves. All of it.

Front page news. Opener on the nightly news. Mayhem.

People were crying with excitement in interviews and screaming with rage when they didn’t get the ticket allotment they thought they were entitled to.

I briefly toyed with the idea of buying tickets for the Wembley shows but was pretty confident the initial UK/Ireland only tour dates would soon be followed by dates over here in the States so I held off. (Judging by the clips I’ve seen I may have made a mistake).

The band is/was FAR bigger in the UK than they have ever been in the US but I was blown away. Pubs were playing “Wonderwall” and “Live Forever” and everywhere we went I overheard people talking about the reunion. Fans were MAD FER IT.

I honestly can’t think of a band in the US that would garner that level of excitement for a reunion. Frankly I’m not sure there is a US based band that is revered and idolized here the way Oasis is in the UK. They are that big.

But as I thought about it I realized it was really a ton of nostalgia driving all of the mania. The songs are the songs (and they have a HELL of a catalog of bangers) but there are other bands that have rabid fans and catalogs that warrant big tours and sold out shows. Why is this different? Why this band?

Well for people of a certain age, Oasis is MASSIVE. I listen to those early hits and 30 years ago feels like it was just yesterday. As we age we get fewer and fewer opportunities to feel like kids again. We wake up every day, grind out our work, pay the mortgage, act (somewhat) sensibly and then wake up next Monday and do it all over again.

At least for me, and apparently several million people across the pond, the shows are a chance to relive it all…to remember those times that life was about sitting in your car listening to What’s the Story Morning Glory with friends. Or sitting in your room popping Definitely Maybe into the CD player for the first time.

Back then you had to read about a band in Rolling Stone or NME or wherever you got your cultural fix. If you were lucky and it worked out just right a local DJ or friend would play something for you that hit just right.

We weren’t bombarded with cultural touchstones minute by minute for days on end with a computer we carry around in our back pocket. There was something about discovering a new favorite band that made it feel like you were joining a small club that others didn’t even know about. Not saying that was better necessarily just that digesting music or TV (or whatever) was a far different experience.

My history of the band is quite vivid. I was rifling through a record store (Towson Record and Tape Traders to be precise) and heard “Rock ‘N Roll Star”. I asked someone who it was and then immediately bought the CD Definitely Maybe. I was hooked.

I devoured that album and then 18 or so months later I was BLOWN away by What’s the Story Morning Glory. I listened to them both a zillion times and can still belt out the chorus to “Cast No Shadow” just as easily as the bridge to “Live Forever”.

Subsequent albums were a bit more hit or miss but the highs were still incredibly high even if not reached quite as often.

But here we are 30+ years after the release of Definitely Maybe.I hadn’t listened to the band all that much in the last 20-ish years if I’m being honest. I last saw them live in probably 1996 or 1997. They were fine but nothing earth shattering.

Hardcore partying and constant front page rows with other rock stars & celebrities had tainted their image in my eyes. They could be a bit….Much??

With all the bickering between the brothers their releases became less and less important to me. I more or less tuned them out. Sure they had some late era bangers like “Lyla” (2005) and “Little by Little” (2002) but none of their last 3 records had any meaningful impact over here in the States.

But nostalgia has a way of softening those prickly edges and bringing the good memories flooding back. Now I listen to the setlist they have been playing and I hardly remember the things that turned me away from this great band. Instead I hear the magic they produced when I was a youngster in my early 20’s just starting off in life.

Two lower class brothers from a broken home in Manchester. They didn’t take themselves too seriously the way some of the grunge era artists of the early 90’s did.

In fact, they openly rebelled against those bands and their perceived self importance. They just wanted to be rock stars in the biggest band in the world with their own guitar based rock with a punk attitude.

Would this tour have been the same if the band had released 5 mediocre records over the last 15 years with 1 or 2 bangers on each? I highly doubt it.

The fact that most thought they would never reunite added some urgency. So here I sit watching clips on YouTube of the Manchester & London shows hoping against all hope that the US shows are as lively and energetic as the UK ones. I don’t think that will be the case but we can hope.

So what is Stats Nerd going to do? I’m going to go to the shows at the Rose Bowl. I’m going to belt out all the songs one after another with my wife and kids. I’m hoping those sitting around me are as hyped up for it as I am. Because part of the Oasis experience is the communal aspect of it all.

I’m seeing one of the most impactful bands of my lifetime live again when I never thought that would be the case. I’m going to buy some merch and absolutely bathe in the NOSTALGIA. For one night I’ll remember what it was like to be 30 years younger with far fewer cares and worries.

And when the intro to “F*&^ing in the Bushes” cues up I’ll be grinning from ear to ear for the subsequent two hours. To quote the great Liam Gallagher himself, “It’s gonna be BIBLICAL mates”.

(Next up on my reunion wishlist is The Smiths)

faith in sports

Oleksandr Usyk is a heavyweight boxing champion who is also a believer in Jesus Christ.

If you have six minutes today to watch something incredible, this is what you want to watch for six minutes.

His testimony is incredibly poignant given that he beats people up for a living. Can a boxer be a Christian and a believer in Jesus? Why of course he/she can.

Please take some time to watch Usyk's incredible testimony.

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

Thursday August 14, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4007

oh captain, my captain

Ever since Tiger Woods sent that text to the PGA of America in June of 2024 and backed out of the captaincy for this year's Ryder Cup competition, the very topic of the U.S. captain's role has been a touchy subject.

It was indeed bizarre how the PGA of America came up with Keegan Bradley as its ultimate finalist. They never even interviewed him.

There wasn't one phone call.

Not even a casual conversation over a bagel and coffee at TOUR stop where the question was at least put on the table, "If you were the captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, what would you do with that role?"

They merely called Bradley on a Friday morning a few days after Woods backed out and said, "Keegan, we'd like you to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain next year. Will you accept the position?"

So, this whole thing is already a little weird given that situation and the way it played out.

And now, it's even more weird, because Bradley is legitimately able to be a "playing captain" if he so chooses and almost no one would argue with him that he is, from this year's stable of candidates at least, one of the 12 best American players available for selection.

The question, then, isn't "Should he pick himself in two weeks when he makes his six captain's picks?"

That answer is "Yes, he should."

Rather, the question is, "Should the captain of the team also entertain a playing role?"

And that one isn't quite as easy to answer.

For starters, we have to remember that, with all due respect, we're not talking about the idea of Tiger Woods in his prime also serving as a playing-captain. That one would have been a no-brainer, despite Tiger's somewhat tepid record in the bi-annual competition.

If Tiger (or even Phil, for that matter) would have wanted to captain a U.S. team circa 2006, you would have gladly allowed them to both play and coach. No questions asked.

Bradley is a very good player, obviously. He's clearly been one of the 10 best American players over the last 16 months. In fact, here's a fun fact that could win you a beer or two at the neighboring water hole.

Of all the American players in the top 20 in Ryder Cup standings, other than Scottie Scheffler, who has the most wins on TOUR over the last three years?

Since the 2023 season, who is it?

It's not Justin Thomas. It's not Harris English. It's not J.J. Spaun.

And, no, it's not Xander Schauffele, even though you're almost 100% certain that's who it is.

And it's not Patrick Cantlay or Wyndham Clark, either.

It's Keegan Bradley. With four wins.

He won twice in 2023, once last year and once so far this year.

Keegan Bradley, as a player, should be on the Ryder Cup team.

But will that in any way take away from his ability to effectively captain the team?

If the answer to that question is even a remote "maybe", then he simply shouldn't do it.

The way I see it, Bradley can't possibly get blamed if he doesn't add himself to the team and the U.S. gets waxed by the Europeans at Bethpage.

If the Americans fall 16-12 or something like that and Bradley doesn't add himself but, instead, gives his spot, in theory, to Cameron Young or Sam Burns, I can't imagine people are going to be running around saying, "If Bradley would have played instead of adding Cam Young, we might have won!"

But if he does add himself to the team and, say, goes 0-2 in the team competition and then gets run out of the gym by Ludvig Aberg in the Singles on Sunday, he's going to get blasted.

"You can't do both things," people are going to say. "He should have just been the captain and let Cameron Young or Sam Burns play on the team. They're better players anyway."

Of course, Bradley could also play two or three matches and play well. That's a very real possibility given his last year and a half of solid play. But that margin for error thing. It's pretty small.

I also want Bradley able to buzz around in a golf cart on Sunday and be available for any and all issues that might come up during the pivotal Singles matches, which, as we know, is always ultimately where the Cup is decided every other year.

Who can ever forget Bradley wanting to fight Miguel Angel Jimenez a decade or more ago in the Match Play event when Jimenez told Bradley's caddie to "shut up" during a rules flare-up between the two players?

That's the guy I want out there on Sunday at Bethpage when Tyrrell Hatton tries to weasel his way into getting a controversial free drop from a cart path that isn't a cart path when he's 2 down to Jordan Spieth Rickie Fowler Ben Griffin with three to play.

I can just hear Bradley now.

"Hold up, Ben, I got this. You go back over and get ready to play your shot when it's your turn. Tyrrell, there's no f**king way that's a cart path. You know it. Your caddie knows it."

"I don't know, mate, it looks pretty bare over here. Someone in the gallery said Patrick Cantlay got a drop from here in the fourball on Friday."

"I doubt that ever happened. But I know what's not happening right now. You're not getting a drop from here. Hit your ball from where it lies. And get a move on, would you, Burns and Rahm are standing on the tee with their hands on their hips waiting for you to play."

I want Bradley available on Sunday for those moments, when the Europeans try to pull a fast one on some of our more inexperienced Cuppers like Griffin, Spaun, McNealy or Henley.

And despite what I personally think about Bradley's golf game (my opinion is VERY elevated over most folks...I think he's a GREAT player), the reality is there's not all that much difference on a daily basis between the likes of Bradley and Cam Young or Bradley and Patrick Cantlay or Bradley and Sam Burns or, heck, even Bradley and someone like Lucas Glover or Brian Harman.

Don't get me wrong. If Bradley picks himself, that's fine.

I just think having Bradley as a full time captain and then adding one of those guys -- Cantlay, Burns, Young, Glover -- is better than the combo of Bradley (captain) and Bradley (player).

So, no, I don't think Bradley should add himself to the roster.

For the record, I do think he's going to pick himself unless something really weird were to happen over the next two weeks with guys beneath him in the standings.

Akshay Bhatia, for example, would have to be a strong consideration if he were to win this week or next and have a nice finish in the other event. He's currently 20th in the standings but could move down into the 14th or 13th spot if things worked out for him points wise and others dipped in the last two events.

I'd take Bhatia on the team, for sure. Same with Lucas Glover. If he were to do something particularly eye opening in the last two tournaments, I'd definitely consider him as well.

In the end, it's all about "serving" and what role you believe the captain should have.

I just think Bradley serves the team much better by focusing all of his energy on being the captain and nothing else.

If something weird happens and he wins this week or next, then he'd be in that odd spot of almost being forced to pick himself.

But failing that, I think it's best for the U.S. chances if Bradley just wears the captain's hat and gets his brass knuckles ready for the inevitable flare-ups we're going to see at Bethpage.

Truthfully?

I think he's the best man for the job. And if the U.S. wins next month, I'd run Keegan back out there in Ireland in two years as well.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

There was a new poll released yesterday ranking the top 5 candidates for AL & NL Rookie of the Year award and both leagues have a new favorite to win since the last poll was published in mid-June.

In the American League, Nick Kurtz of the Sacramento A’s is running away with the award after receiving 32 1st place votes out of 33 available.

He has now become the favorite over his fellow teammate, Jacob Wilson, who has been hurt since being hit by a pitch back in early July. It’s a shame that an injury will most likely take Wilson out of the running for the award after the year he was having. He should be able to play again at some point this season, but it will be too little too late.

Kurtz is having a terrific season with a 1.012 OPS and 23 homers with 62 RBI in 81 games played. What solidifies his chances for the award is the historic night he had a few weeks ago when he went 6 for 6 with 4 homers and 19 total bases which is debated to be the greatest single game performance in baseball history. The bat he used in that game has also been sent to the Hall of Fame.

It’s hard to not make a case for Kurtz to win this award, especially with him continuing to play well. If this was any other year for Wilson and if he was still healthy, the award is likely his.

Roman Anthony received the only remaining 1st place vote left in the poll. The Red Sox have a great player in Anthony, and will have him for quite some time as he signed his 8 year, $130 million deal last week. If he was called up earlier in the year, maybe he would have a better chance at winning Rookie of the Year, but there just doesn’t seem like there’s enough time left. Being a finalist is a nice honor to have, which he will presumably be, but the number 1 prospect in baseball will not be taking home any hardware this year.

The National League Rookie of the Year race is very close, and the leader according to the poll is Drake Baldwin of the Braves receiving 24 1st place votes, followed by Augustin Ramirez of the Marlins with 4, then Isaac Collins of the Brewers with 3.

What I find interesting is the contrast between the MLB poll and what the betting markets are saying as DraftKings has Isaac Collins, 3rd place in the poll, listed as a slim favorite to win the award. The poll gave 24 votes to Baldwin and he’s not even the favorite in the betting market is very strange to me.

Drake Baldwin and Isaac Collins have very similar numbers on the year, and Baldwin plays catcher which is a much harder position to play compared to Collins who is an outfielder.

Perhaps the writers who vote on the award put more emphasis on how well the team the player is on has performed this year? The Braves are awful this season with injuries across the roster, and the Brewers are the hottest team in baseball right now and have won 25 of their last 29 games.

If the race is that close, it could be the deciding factor. The betting market is certainly agreeing with that assumption.

This race makes me think back to last year’s AL Rookie of the Year race, where Colton Cowser was considered a slam dunk by many to win and he eventually lost to Luis Gil, pitcher for the Yankees. Looking at that race, Pitcher is a much more difficult position than Outfield, which supports the idea that position is the ultimate tiebreaker. Then again, the Yankees had a better record than the Orioles last year, maybe that was the deciding factor?

I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on this. If there’s a close race for any of the season awards, what is the ultimate factor that determines the winner if the margins are close?

Players of the Week –

Pitcher: George Kirby continues to pitch like an ace for the Seattle Mariners in a rotation that has multiple guys who could be the number 1 starter in many different pitching staffs across the league. Kirby tossed 13 innings this past week allowing 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 16 strikeouts while also earning 2 wins in both of his starts.

Granted, he did face 2 struggling teams in the White Sox and Orioles, but you can’t take away from him that he did what he was expected to do. One thing we’ve talked about a few times this year with the Seattle Mariners is lack of consistency, specifically for the offense.

The Mariners made some splashes at the deadline bringing in 1st baseman Josh Naylor and 3rd baseman Eugenio Suarez. Naylor has been great on offense battling .286 since becoming a Mariner. Suarez has been the opposite hitting .098 since the deadline.

Pitching continues to be the backbone of this club, and the Mariners have been red hot winning 8 games in a row and 9 of their last 10. They are currently tied for the AL West with the Astros, who have slowed down recently and just had to put their premier closer, Josh Hader, on the 15 day IL with left shoulder strain.

The Mariners have the pieces to take this division from the Astros and have a chance to host a playoff game for the first time since 2022.

Position Player: Junior Caminero had a great week for the Tampa Bay Rays batting .417 with 5 homers and 8 RBI. With those 8 RBI from this week, that pushes him to 5th most in the American League. Caminero also has the 6th most home runs in baseball with 33 on the campaign.

This Rays team was right in the mix a month or so ago for the AL East, but have fallen to 4th place in the division and are now 12.5 games back from the Blue Jays. They have had some big injuries to their lineup and still remain without their ace Shance McClanahan, but the falloff in my opinion has been their schedule which has had the Rays host only 4 series since July 1st.

Due to their old stadium, Tropicana Field, losing its roof from hurricane Milton last year, the Rays have been playing their home games at the Yankee’s Spring Training facility, Steinbrenner Field. MLB doesn’t want games to be played outside in the middle of July/August in the Florida heat, which I completely agree with. That’s not fair or safe for the players.

I just wonder how this Rays team would be if they had a more balanced home/away schedule, where they don’t have to travel for 3 or 4 series in a row for 2 months. For that to happen, the Rays need an indoor stadium. The roof at Tropicana Field has been undergoing repairs this year and should be ready for play next season.

Rookie: Drake Baldwin has been a bright spot for the Atlanta Braves in a season that has been riddled with injuries. Baldwin batted .318 this past week with 2 homers and 11 RBI and continues to make a strong case to be the NL Rookie of the Year. Baldwin has exceeded expectations this season and was planned to be a backup catcher for Sean Murphy, but his bat has put himself in the lineup nearly every night as either starting at catcher or DH.

Games of the Week –

Friday, August 15th: San Diego Padres vs LA Dodgers (Michael King vs Clayton Kershaw)

The Padres and Dodgers have developed a heated rivalry the past few seasons, but this year it has seemed to reach a new level. These clubs and their fanbases flat-out despise each other. In previous series this year, we’ve seen pitchers on both sides throw at superstar players like Manny Machado and Shohei Ohtani.

The cherry on top for this series is that the Padres and Dodgers are tied for the NL West, and nothing would make the Padres happier than going to Dodger stadium this weekend and taking a series as well as the division lead. The Dodgers have gotten great production from the ageless Clayton Kershaw this season who is 6-2 with a 3.14 ERA. Can the southpaw throw a gem against the Padres and earn a crucial game 1 win in this series?

Saturday, August 16th: Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds (Quinn Priester vs Zack Littell)

The Reds will have their hands full this weekend as they host the hottest team in baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Reds remain right in the Wildcard hunt being 2 games back from the struggling New York Mets. This Brewers team is no joke and have surprised a lot of people this season with their young roster.

The Brew Crew have the best record in baseball and are currently on their 2nd 10 game win streak this season. It would be quite an achievement if the Reds can pull off a series win as the Brewers haven’t lost a series since July 26th against the Marlins.

Sunday, August 17th: Seattle Mariners vs New York Mets (George Kirby vs Clay Holmes)

The Mariners travel to Queens for a 3 game series against a Mets team that is in a free fall. The Mets are playing themselves right out of the NL East division race and need to get back on track fast. They will have a tough time going up against one of the hottest teams in baseball in the Mariners and are also facing the Hot Corner’s pitcher of the week, George Kirby. The Mariners should have no problem taking 2 of 3 in this series and continue their quest for the AL West.

Wednesday August 13, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4006

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm, including multiple previous winners, but this week we have chosen a new honoree in left-handed pitcher Luis De Leon.

De Leon, 22, was signed by the Orioles as an 18-year-old in the 2020-21 international signing period out of the Dominican Republic for $30,000. The 6’3’’ De Leon is currently ranked as the 21st best prospect in the O’s system.

The lefty had a very nice week for the High-A Aberdeen Ironbirds in his start against the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) on Saturday. De Leon tossed six shutout innings while allowing just three hits, walking none and striking out a robust 12 batters while needing just 76 pitches to do so.

It marked the second straight scoreless start for De Leon. Over his past two, he has tossed 11 shutout innings while allowing just six hits and striking out 18. Even more impressive is the fact that he has not walked a single batter over those two starts.

It’s very nice too see De Leon staying away from the free pass as that has been his Achilles heel since coming state-side. It has been a work in progress for him with his command and it’s starting to show some benefits.

In 2023, he walked 5.0 batters per nine innings over 53.2 innings pitched and in 2024 he walked 5.0 batters per nine innings over 87.2 innings pitched. This year, he has drastically reduced that number down to 3.9 walked per nine and since joining Aberdeen, that number is down to 3.4.

He certainly still has some work to do, and is beginning to show the improvement you hope for. If he can have a strong finish to this season, we could see him make the jump to Double-A next year where more fans will get the opportunity to see that nice, hard sinking fastball that he possesses.

This edition of "Happy Hour" was submitted by Josh Michael.

---

"all in all it's just another brick in the wall"

Well, this is what happens when it's August 13 and the baseball team stinks and it's a Ryder Cup year.

You have two options. You can sit around and lament the O's lethargic 1-0 home loss to the Mariners on Tuesday night or you can argue about Ryder Cup captain's picks.

I guess you could also dissect these pre-season Ravens injuries to defensive backs, but no one knows any of the guys who are getting hurt.

We'll stick with choosing between option A and option B.

As I followed along with the O's last night, the popular Pink Floyd song "Another Brick In The Wall" played in the background.

How appropriate, huh?

The Birds wasted a virtuoso pitching performance from Dean Kremer in falling to the visitors from Seattle, as the Mariners won their 8th straight game on the heels of a solid start from their own guy, George Kirby. Seattle scored one run in the first inning and that was it for the the night.

But one run was good enough on a night that saw the Orioles churn out just five base hits. Five. All night.

The Baltimore outfield was something to behold last night. With Colton Cowser (concussion) and Tyler O'Neill (who knows?) out with injuries and Dylan Beavers on the "Do Not Disturb" list in the minors, Tony Mansolino got to trot out this future Hall of Fame trio on Tuesday evening; Noda, Carlson and Allen.

You might be wondering if they have first names. I'm not sure.

Noda, Carlson and Allen sounds like a prestigious Washington D.C. law firm though, doesn't it?

Anyway, those three, along with late-game substitutes, "Johnson and Jackson", managed two of the team's five hits in their collective 9 trips to the plate last night.

Let's be honest, Dylan Beavers might also go 2-for-9 in his first nine trips to the dish when he eventually gets promoted to the big leagues in May of 2027.

Who knows, maybe the O's are playing chess while the rest of us down here on Earth are playing checkers.

Anyway, it was a 1-0 loss and a wasted gem from Dean Kremer.

As Pink Floyd said, it's just another brick in the wall. The way I see it, that's 66 of the team's eventual 90 (92?, 94?) losses out of the way.

Each loss is a brick. Just another one in the wall.

So, we can break down that loss brick by brick or we can sit around and debate the U.S. Ryder Cup team like Old George has been doing for a couple of days here at #DMD.

Personally, I've had just about enough of the Orioles.

At least with the Ryder Cup thing, there's varying opinions on the team and the upcoming picks that Keegan Bradley will make after next week's TOUR Championship concludes the season and the points race.

I got a couple of interesting e-mails on the subject yesterday. Both were connected to the captain's pick concept.

Miles wrote:

Drew, I'm just curious what you think about this idea. Why wouldn't Keegan Bradley have quietly spread the word a month ago that the last six tournaments of the PGA season were qualifiers for a predetermined number of Ryder Cup picks that he owns? Like maybe two of them. That way, he'd be getting the hottest golfer in the standings over those last 6 tourneys and no one could really argue that point. If it was Rickie and Jordan or Cam Young and Denny (or whoever it turned out to be) then that would be an easy sell to the players and the fans, wouldn't it? What do you think?

Well, first off, I think any idea that somehow brings together the 12 players playing the best at the time of the Ryder Cup is a great idea. So, your "qualifier" idea isn't a bad one. This, of course, is exactly the argument people in the golf world are making for Chris Gotterup and Kurt Kitayama right now, in fact.

Collin Morikawa hasn't done jack squat since March. In fact, jack squat called and said, "Yo, you plan on doing anything, golf wise, sometime soon?"

Maverick McNealy has made 18 of 22 cuts this year but he doesn't have a Top 10 finish on Tour since April. He's made a lot of cuts, just not a lot of birdies.

Meanwhile, someone like Gotterup hasn't missed a cut since June and has only finished outside of the Top 25 twice in his last 7 events. Oh, and he won the Scottish Open and finished 3rd at the British Open a month ago.

You might argue "Collin Morikawa is a better golfer than Chris Gotterup" and be right. But in no way, shape or form has Collin Morikawa had a better last four months than Chris Gotterup. It's indisputably in favor of Gotterup.

The same goes for McNealy. You might think Mav is better at golf than Gotterup, but he hasn't been better since June, that's for sure.

So, in Miles' concept, Gotterup would almost assuredly be "piling up points" via the July/August qualifier concept.

That said, while the idea is decent enough, I don't know how it would go over with the PGA of America. They have their own qualifying system in place, one that they believe works just fine, despite the fact that the Americans haven't won in Europe since 1993.

By the way, no one asked me, but if they put me in charge of determining the method by which players make the Ryder Cup team, I'd simply denote 15 tournaments in the current Ryder Cup year and designate them as "qualifying events" and that's how the team would be made up.

I wouldn't necessarily need captain's picks. There are 15 events (including the majors and signature events and a few others) to earn points. The top 12 point getters make the team.

The way it's done now, Andrew Novak (currently 12th), for example, might be accruing some of his points in "second tier" events where the fields are weaker and the "real players" aren't playing that week.

Just designate 15 events and go from there. And only in this year. Last year doesn't count for anything in my opinion. Heck, I can lose my golf game in a week, let alone a year. This year is the only year that should matter in terms of Ryder Cup qualifying.

So, Miles, I like your concept. You could even make it four players getting added that way instead of two players being added that way and I'd be OK with it.

That said, the PGA of America wouldn't allow for a "one month race" like that, even if it's a good idea.

The other e-mail came from Jonathan:

Drew, I'm just wondering how important you think it is that Ryder Cup players get along with one another when it comes to the selection process for Keegan Bradley? There were two guys on Golf Channel talking about Jordan and Rickie in particular and they were saying both of those guys are very close to Justin Thomas and how J.T. would definitely like to have one of those two to lean on at the Cup. How important is that in your estimation?

I don't know that I like the term "get along with" because I think it suggests that some players might not get along and I just don't see that. I think nearly every player under consideration for the team gets along just fine with the rest of their (potential) American teammates.

The question is, instead, "How important is it for players on the team to have a reliable, comfortable playing partner for their (up to) four team matches in the Ryder Cup?"

And that's a very fair question indeed.

In fact, it might wind up being the very reason Sam Burns winds up on the team once Keegan makes his picks.

It's also why Patrick Cantlay might wind up being on the team.

Burns and Scottie Scheffler are close friends and have played team events together in the past and are compatible both on and off the course.

Cantlay and Xander Schauffele have slayed it in previous Cup (Ryder and Presidents) outings and in the two-man Zurich Classic. They've arguably been the best American duo over the last 3-4 years, in fact.

"Being close friends" isn't important. But being an outstanding golfer (which Burns and Cantlay are) and being close with guys like Scheffler and Schauffele is very important.

Now, it's fair to point out that Spieth and Thomas have had a long relationship and have been successful in past Cup events and they were most certainly not the tonic for Zach Johnson in 2023 in Rome. That said, there's a huge difference between playing at home and playing in Europe. The two are nothing at all alike.

I would have no problem at all if Bradley took Spieth or Fowler (for example) to partner up with Thomas at Bethpage if -- and it's important to read this and understand it -- either of them were playing well enough over the last four months to justify their selection.

Alas, Spieth didn't even play well enough in 2025 to make it to Baltimore this week and has just two Top 10 finishes since May. You simply can't take him.

Fowler has had a much better season than has Spieth, but he needed a weekend surge at Memphis last Saturday and Sunday just to slip into the field at Caves Valley. That said, he's done two things over the last two weeks that have potentially caught Keegan Bradley's eye.

Twice now, in successive weeks, Fowler has faced the end of his season and stared it down and lived to play another week.

He entered the final week of the season needing to play well to stay inside the Top 70 and advance to the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs and he did just enough at Greensboro to do that, shooting 69-68-70-69 to finish T44 and make it to Memphis.

Then last week he needed a Top 8 finish in the playoff event to move on to Baltimore for the BMW and he posted 66-69-66-69 to come in at T6 and book his ticket to Caves Valley.

He's likely going to need something inside the Top 5 this week at Caves to advance to the TOUR Championship next week.

Say what you will about Fowler and his $52 million career, but staring at your season ending two weeks in a row and playing well enough to move on to the next week is worthy of praise.

It's one thing to shoot 69 on the PGA Tour. Anyone can do that. It's another thing to shoot 69 when 70 or better ends your season.

Fowler did that two weeks in a row. He teed it up on Sunday knowing every single shot he hit that day could keep him alive or end his season.

That said, I'm not willing to take either of those two over Cantlay and Burns. I'm just not. Despite the fact that he's #1 in the world, Scheffler does need a partner in four of the five Cup matches. I realize he could probably beat Hatton and Rose by himself in the fourball match, but Scheffler needs someone for alternate shot. Enter Sam Burns.

The same for Schauffele. He can partner with just about anyone, sure. But it's undeniable that he and Cantlay have a special thing going when it comes to team competitions.

Oh, and there's also the idea that Keegan Bradley, the captain himself, is facing the concept of choosing himself to play on the team since he's well inside the top 12 in the current Ryder Cup standings.

If he does pick himself, that's one less spot for guys like Cantlay, Burns, Cameron Young, Fowler, Spieth and so on.

For what it's worth, both Fowler and Cantlay said yesterday during media sessions at the BMW that they fully support Bradley picking himself, even if it comes at their expense.

We'll tackle the Keegan Bradley story here tomorrow.

Now...back to that Orioles outfield and the 1-0 loss to the Mariners last night.

On second though, never mind.

Tuesday August 12, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4005

Let’s check in on some of our old Orioles and their progress in their new homes.

I realize it’s only been two weeks, so it’s a small sample size. But let’s also frame this with the knowledge that some dudes named Dylan Carlson, Jeremiah Jackson, Greg Allen, Ryan Noda, and Jordyn Adams went a combined 1 for 28 this past weekend as the Orioles dropped 2 out of 3 to the Homeless A’s.

Cedric Mullins – 8 games played; 4-24, 4 runs scored, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB, slashing .167/.310/.292. Let me just add that going to this past Saturday’s game drove home just how much I miss watching Ceddy play. There’s a glaring need in CF for this team; I’m an eternal optimist for hoping the Orioles will make an offer this winter. Dumb, I know…

Ramon Laureano – 10 games played; 10-38, 4 runs scored, 1 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, slashing .263/.317/.474. This is where I admit to rooting for San Diego to make a World Series run.

Ryan O’Hearn – 9 games played; 3-22, 1 run scored, 1 HR, 3 RBI, slashing .136/.333/.273. A bit of a slow start in his new digs, but something tells me he’s going to have a few clutch hits for the Padres in the next month and a half.

Ramon Urias – 7 games played; 6-18, 3 runs scored, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, slashing .333/.400/.611. Can’t you just see Ramon hitting a big homer into the Crawford Boxes in Houston in September? He’s made for that ballpark. Who knows, maybe Twine Palmer becomes a thing in Baltimore in 2028?

Bryan Baker – 11 games pitched; 0-2, 7.59 ERA, 10.2 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 3 HR allowed, 9R, 9 ER. Of all the pitchers Elias dealt, Baker was the one I scratched my head about most, not because I worried about losing him, but because I wondered what Tampa Bay saw in him. His early returns don’t surprise me.

Gregory Soto – 6 games pitched; 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.1 IP, 4H, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Situational usage by the Mets is what should be expected. This guy is going to lose a big game for them sometime in September. We all can agree on that, right?

Seranthony Dominguez – 6 games pitched; 0-0, 9.64 ERA, 4.23 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 7 Ks, 7 R, 5 ER. Call me crazy, but I’d like to see Elias or his successor go after Dominguez in the offseason. I trust him more in a setup role than Yennier Cano right now.

Andrew Kittredge – 4 games pitched; 0-1, 10.80 ERA, 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HR allowed, 6 Ks, 4 ER. Yawn. This guy never moved the needle for me. He’ll be one of those guys I remember to use on the Immaculate Grid someday when I see an Orioles and Cubs box.

Speaking of the Cubs…

I won’t go into great detail here, because a game at Wrigley Field deserves much more description, but I will tell you with 100% conviction that if you’ve never been to the Friendly Confines, and you’re a baseball junkie like me, well, what are you waiting for?

My sons and I enjoyed an absolutely perfect summer day two Saturdays ago. Blue skies, a fair breeze (even if it was blowing in a bit), great seats, and a Gunnar 3-run bomb in the top of the 8th inning.

Top it off with a Chicago dog with grilled onions and mustard, the crowd belting out Take Me Out to the Ballgame in the 7th inning Stretch (one of the greatest traditions in the Game), and all three boys expressing their amazement of the scene, and you have the perfect recipe for an unforgettable time.

The Orioles will be there again in 2027. Mark your calendars now.

This Happy Hour contribution was submitted by Mark Suchy.

---

news and notes parked here...free

One of the biggest golf tournaments of the year is in Baltimore this week, as the 2nd round of the FedEx Cup playoffs takes place at Caves Valley in Owings Mills.

The BMW Championship was also played at Caves back in 2021 and it was littered with operational flaws that were highlighted by both media members and fans in attendance.

To their credit, the folks who run the event listened to some of the complaints and took steps to correct them this time around. Most notably, in 2021, there was no free drinking water for anyone on the property. If you wanted water on a steaming hot August day in The Land of Pleasant Living, you had to buy one for $6.00.

This year, you'll be able to buy bottled water, of course, but there will also be water stations throughout the course with free water for those who have a water bottle with them.

Traffic in and around the property was also a disaster in 2021. Caves Valley is tucked into a small area just off of Park Heights Avenue in Northern Baltimore County and it's already not easy to get to when you're just driving out there on a "normal" day. So, tournament officials took steps to fix that this time around as well, changing some traffic patterns in the vicinity of the course this week.

But it's two steps forward and one step back, apparently.

Back in 2021, you could shuttle over to the course free of charge by parking at the Owings Mills Metro Station and taking the 7 mile ride hassle-free (except for the aforemtioned traffic snags).

In 2025, that shuttle still exists. And, as I'm sure they'll be quick to point out, the shuttle is still free. But now it costs $15.00 to park at the Metro Station.

That's a double bogey that even Tommy Fleetwood wouldn't produce on the back nine on Sunday.

It's not the money. Heck, I almost thought it was a typo when I saw $15.00. If you're going to gouge people, why not just make it a nice even number of $20.00 and go from there?

It's the principle. You're making people pay $15.00 to park off the property and then shuttling them 15 minutes to the course?

And you can't pay for the parking at the location this week. You have to advance-purchase a "digital parking pass" for the day you want to attend. "No parking fees will be collected at the Metro Station" the information read. Wait until people get wind of that as they pull up to the parking location this week.

It's one thing if you want to charge people $20.00 (or more) to park across the street in the 50 acres of open fields they have and then allow for free parking at the Metro Station. Options. Give me options.

But nailing folks for $15.00 to park and then having to shuttle them from there is terrible. What if you want to go three times this week? It's $45.00 to park. Come on, man.

I saw in the Comments section where someone mentioned the inevitable outcry if Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo are brought to Baltimore "too early" and struggle in their early days as big leaguers.

The comment read: As for Beavers (and Basallo), even if there's a limited chance of an off-field benefit by waiting a few more days, why not? Plenty to criticize Elias for, why the obsession with not calling up these guys? If they come up and struggle people will claim Elias is destroying their confidence lol.

Confidence-schmondfidence. This isn't the CYO. It's Major League Baseball. You're going to get called up and you're going to struggle. Those two go hand-in-hand.

These two dudes aren't coming to Baltimore and hitting .444 for the rest of the season.

In fact, the whole idea of bringing them up now during a wasted season is to get them acclimated to just how difficult it is at the big league level.

That way, when next April rolls around and everyone decides to try again, they'll be better suited for the rigors of playing baseball that matters.

As to the point about "waiting a few more days" due to whatever an "off-field benefit" is, I don't get that one. All you're telling the player that you're not bringing up is "We know you're ready but we want to drag this out as long as we can for (XXXX reasons)."

All the player has done is produced at whatever level you've played him at over the last couple of years and now, when it's time to "move up" to the last level, you play around with him and waste a month where he could be learning the big league craft and going through the inevitable highs and lows of playing in Baltimore against Major League competition.

Maybe some airheads would bellyache about "confidence" but I sure wouldn't. Bring them up and stick them in there and let's see what they can do and can't do in August and September so they can improve on that before next April.

I expect them to struggle. It's like going from playing Clifton Park to Congressional CC. "But I shoot 75 all the time at Clifton," you'd say as you sign for 93 at Congressional.

Don't worry about their confidence. Worry about making them into big leaguers. The sooner they get started on that, the better.

God is great indeed, as we saw first-hand last night in Houston. Alex Bregman made his long-awaited return to Houston on Monday as Boston opened up a series with the Astros. It was Bregman's first game back in Houston after signing with the Red Sox in the off-season.

The lead-off hitter in the first inning got on base. Bregman followed. And he launched a 2-run homer in his first at-bat back in Houston.

It never fails.

I wish I would have been paying more attention to the schedule and circumstances last night, because I would have almost certainly thrown down a few bucks on Bregman to homer or have 2+ total bases or something like that. In a player's first game back against his old team, it's almost a guarantee he's going to do something special.

I learned this nuance about sports when I was in the soccer business. On any occasion we traded a player or he left us as a free agent and signed elsewhere, it was just about a slam-dunk he'd score a goal in Baltimore the first time he was back in the Civic Center/Baltimore Arena.

Paul Kitson did it to us. I even asked him before the game not to score on us and he laughed and said, "Oh, Sunshine, don't you worry. Uncle Paul has a special treat for Coops (head coach Kenny Cooper) tonight. Two goals. Maybe three, even," he said near the visitors locker room.

He scored three goals for Cleveland in a 6-3 win over the Blast.

The first game back always includes some magic.

Speaking of the Astros and Houston, they got a big home run from Ramon Urias last night in that 7-6 win over Boston.

You remember Urias, right? He played in Baltimore for several years before being traded to the Astros at the deadline last month.

Oh, won't you look at that? The Astros are in Baltimore August 21 through the 24th.

There's no telling which game Urias will start at Camden Yards, but I'd suggest you -- *ahem* -- "plan accordingly", if you know what I mean.

The U.S. Ryder Cup team continues to formally take shape, as it was announced yesterday that J.J. Spaun and Xander Schauffele have now secured enough points to clinch spots on the American team that will take on the European squad in late September.

Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun and Xander Schauffele. That's a nice start.

But you need nine more players. Who will they be?

The next three on the points list are 99% safe. Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English will all be on the team, even if one or more of those three somehow slips out of the automatic top 6 over the last two weeks of the season.

Justin Thomas (currently #7) is also safe. He's on the team, no matter if he stays at 7, falls to 8, etc.

That leaves 5 spots to divvy up between, I'd say, 10 players.

Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa, Maverick McNealy, Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak are currently occupying the 8 through 12 spots in the standings (not in that specific order, by the way).

Others to consider would be Brian Harman, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay and perhaps then someone with the hot hand like Chris Gotterup or, can we even say it, Rickie Fowler.

I think Gotterup and Fowler would be tough sells for Bradley given that they were largely unheard from for most of the PGA Tour season, but if you're looking for a guy playing solid golf in August, those two fit the bill.

Gotterup won the Scottish Open and then turned around and finished T3 at the British Open the following week. He would need to do something special this week at Caves Valley and then make the field at East Lake next week and be impressive there, too, but that's why all of these events count towards the Ryder Cup and captain's pick selections.

Fowler has made 17 of 20 cuts this year (which, frankly, I didn't realize) and hasn't missed a cut since the end of June. While his performance hasn't been spectacular by any means, he's coming off a T6 finish at Memphis last week and slipped into the field in Baltimore with some great play on the weekend in the playoff opener.

But while he's driving the ball very well, his iron game is "off" and his putting is "down" in 2025. I don't know that I want a guy playing at Bethpage who has 200 yards to the hole and is only 50-50 to get the ball on the green from there.

I like "new blood" in the Ryder Cup. That's just me. I wouldn't be adverse to taking Gotterup if he plays well this week and next, but I'd definitely pass on Fowler.

That said, there are still guys to add.

Is Keegan going to add himself to the team? He should. His play has certainly warranted it.

But if he doesn't, that's another spot to give away.

I haven't changed much in terms of my thinking. If I were picking the team, I'd go Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Ben Griffin, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay and, at this point, Cameron Young. If Young flatlines over the last two weeks and Gotterup plays well, I'd make that swap.

The BMW Championship and TOUR Championship will ultimately decide who plays and who doesn't.

Monday August 11, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4004

it's basically about character now

Paul from Towson launched into a lengthy tirade on Sunday regarding the "State of the Orioles" and most of his angst and irritation was well placed and acceptable.

One of his final digs at the organization included a somewhat tepid defense of the players, who are collectively in the midst of a (current) 53-65 season and two more months of going through the motions and trying not to get hurt in the last couple of weeks prior to the end of the campaign.

Paul wrote: And as much as I want to fault the players for being disinterested throughout the course of any given baseball game, I can't really blame them either. They see what an absolute joke this organization is first hand. They're the ones who show up every day to suit up and play for what's basically a little league coach and his clown shoes coaching staff. They're the ones who have witnessed the idiot GM turn an up and coming playoff team into a minor league team in less than a years time. They also know, the good ones anyway, that they won't be around long enough to build anything here, and that they will be making the real MLB money somewhere else. The players see the fraud up close, and they know exactly the band of idiots they're playing for. If the front office isn't going to try, why should they?

Is he right?

Or should the players be held accountable despite ownership and the front office seemingly falling asleep on the job?

It's a discussion worthy of some good bourbon and a fire pit.

And I'm not sure there's really any true answer.

It's worth noting, before I go into my own overview of ownership and the front office, that baseball players are employees. Plain and simple. Now, they are employees with incredibly liberal workplace rules and regulations given their ability to collectively bargain for those accommodations over the last three or four decades, but they're employees nonetheless.

They are all paid a salary -- $800,000 is the league minimum these days -- to work. Their job is to play baseball.

You can debate or argue or wordsmith your way around the notion that baseball players are employees all you want, but there's really no way around that fact. They are employed to play baseball.

They aren't employed to play baseball only when things are going well. They're employed to play baseball 162 days a year. They're employed to play baseball no matter if they like their co-workers, don't like them, like their bosses, don't like them, and so on.

And they're employed to play baseball even when the season is pretty much over on August 1st and there's still two months of "work" remaining.

Imagine someone coming to you and your place of business and telling you that your work responsibilities will loosely "end" on September 30 and won't resume again until February 1st, but you have to give it your all in August and September, no matter what.

Anyone can play hard and give it their best and be a "team player" when things are going well. This falls under the same general principle as the golf story I shared last week about one of my JV golfers who posted a score of 104 a few weeks ago in a tournament, only to bounce back and win a FCA Maryland Golf event last week at Pine Ridge.

When he posted that score of 104, he was doing something very few players wouldn't have done in the first place. Lots of guys turn in their card and stand there and take fist bumps when they shoot 74. And lots of guys grumble about having a bad back or a stomach bug when they shoot 104.

Give me the guy that turns in his card when he shoots 104 and says, "Yeah, that's what I shot. I'll be back, though. Don't worry about me."

There are Orioles who no doubt probably feel the way Paul wrote about: "If the front office isn't going to try and the owner isn't going to spend money and we're going to lose a bunch of games, why should I put out my maximum effort?"

I can't speak of anyone by name who feels and plays that way, but I'd be naive to think there's no one on the current roster who is jaking it. I'm sure there are several who are.

But those are precisely the guys I don't really want around if I'm Mike Elias.

Those are the guys who, trailing Kansas City, 1-0 in the Wild Card series last year, and scuffling through two or three innings of Game 2, packed it in and said, "Eff it...let's just get this thing over with so I can get to Turks and Caicos by the end of the week for some R&R."

Anyone can dig in and "man up" and play hard when things are going great.

That doesn't take much gumption or heart at all.

It's the guy (or gal) who shows up, plays hard and wants to earn their paycheck despite the losing that's worth keeping around.

That's the way I see it, anyway.

Mike Elias isn't looking for the best 25 players.

He's looking for the right 25 players.

I don't know how many "right" players he currently has, but I'd bet you a gazillion dollars it's not 25. I guarantee you there are some bad apples in that locker room.

Now, your argument might be, "Well, he brought them to town" and that much is true, sure. But he also brought them to town expecting them to dig in and man-up and give it their all in good times and bad times. He didn't think they'd pansy-out on him after six or eight weeks of lousy baseball.

Players, as we all know, want the glory and the spotlight and the pay increase when things are going well. But they're rarely ever going to offer a rebate if things don't go as planned.

I once had a soccer player's agent say to me, "He gets an extra $5,000 if he scores 35 goals and another $5,000 if he scores 45 goals."

His player had scored 34 goals for us in the previous season.

"Sure thing," I said to the agent. "And if he scores less than 30, he gives us $5,000. Right?"

Of course that wasn't "right". The player wanted a guaranteed reward if he exceeded expectations but wasn't willing to give something back if he failed to meet expectations.

I never expected him to sign up for the "rebate plan". I just wanted to point out to him and his agent how one sided it is (was) when you're negotiating a contract.

"If things go great, reward me. But if things don't go great, don't look at me."

Elias is under the gun in 2025 because the team he assembled at the start of the season never really came to fruition. Like, not at all.

Now, there's no telling what would have happened if Grayson Rodriguez would have been healthy since jump street. And there's no telling how good the O's would have been early in the season if guys like Westburg, Cowser and Mountcastle would have been available, together, from day one on.

Injuries happen to every team. That much is true.

But the team Elias put together for 2025 never materialized. You can blame him for Tyler O'Neill if you want. We all speculated in the winter that O'Neill was a coin-flip given his injury history. By general baseball standards, O'Neill is relatively cheap. I'm not defending the signing. I'm simply saying it was a coin-flip and Elias called "heads" and it came up "tails".

He was, however, right about Ramon Laureano and it looks like he was right about Tomoyuki Sugano, too. And, even though it took a year to prove it, it looks like he was right about Trevor Rogers as well.

Anyone reading this who thinks they know more about baseball and baseball players and running the "baseball product" of a professional team more than Mike Elias also probably assumes they can be the lead singer of Led Zeppelin.

You do NOT know more about baseball than Mike Elias. You just don't.

Now, is there a chance the O's could prosper more with a different general manager? Maybe. Who knows?

But to suggest that Elias is some kind of silly fool who doesn't "know baseball" is, well, very silly indeed.

To me, the real story of the organization lies in ownership.

I was a bit of a lone wolf last spring when Rubenstein started buying people beers, squirting fans with water in right field, dancing on the dugout after the 7th inning, and getting his own "Bobblehead Night" at the ballpark.

I was a lone wolf because I said, "That's not what you want from an owner."

There's really only two things you want from an owner of a sports franchise: Their money and their ability to let the experts do the job they were hired to do.

That's all you need from an owner.

Again, in fairness, Rubenstein isn't the sole owner of the organization. It's not all his money the team is spending. But he's the face of the ownership group, for sure. And to that end, you still need those two things: his money and his ability to stay out of the way.

Now, I have no idea if he's staying out of the way. Neither does anyone else.

I think he lets Elias do whatever he wants, but I have no way of knowing that for sure.

But the other part of the equation is more important. When Elias says this November, "I need $250 million for Pete Alonso for the next six years", will Rubenstein give it to him no questions asked?

(I have no idea if Pete Alonso would consider Baltimore and have no idea what his salary would be if he did...I just used $250M because it was a nice, round number.)

The owner of the team is there to bankroll the club's payroll. Plain and simple. You're the owner. When the team makes money, you and your partners get to split it up and keep it for yourselves. If the team doesn't make money, you foot the bill. It's a simple game.

Don't bellyache about having to pay exorbitant salaries and guaranteed contracts. You knew all that stuff when you bought the team.

If Rubenstein doesn't want to support the improvement of the club, that's on him and the rest of the ownership group.

And that's where the fans come into play.

They're either going to continue to support the club in the stands or they'll start to stay away like they did circa 2005 when the team flatlined on the field and at the gate.

You probably know by now, but if not, I'll repeat it: Ticket prices will go up again next season it was announced last week. They're in the midst of what will be a 70-92 campaign and they haven't signed one free agent for the '26 season and yet, they had the audacity to raise prices for next year.

Was that Rubenstein's idea?

If so, that's a swing and a miss. With the bases loaded. That's two ticket price hikes in two years. Not cool, pal.

If it wasn't his idea, he should have stopped it before it became a thing. Either way, Rubenstein's going to shoulder the lion's share of the blame, in my book.

The owner of the team should have his pulse on his (her) organization and on the community at the same time. Rubenstein knew Peter Angelos wasn't a popular figure in town, particularly over the last 15 years of his ownership tenure.

Why go in like a bull in a china shop?

I didn't get it when it happened in April of '24 and I still don't get it now in August of '25. It all made no sense.

This will most certainly be a "reset" off season for the organization.

They have to figure out what they're doing for a manager (the bet here is Mansolino is "re-positioned" back in the big league organization and someone else takes over as manager) and have to decide if Elias is sticking around for more of "lift off".

The owner isn't going anywhere, of course, but it's his responsibility to do those two things I mentioned above: Spend money and stay out of the way.

How will the "reset" go this winter? That's the big question.

Poor Tommy Fleetwood. He just can't close the deal for anything, can he?

Fleetwood was poised to win his first PGA Tour event yesterday in the playoff opener at TPC Southwind in Memphis, but he butchered a guaranteed-birdie on the easy par 5 16th hole and made a sloppy bogey at the 17th, eventually settling for a 3rd place tie with Scottie Scheffler.

Justin Rose won the event in a 3-hole playoff with J.J. Spaun, who looked like he might have won the tournament on the 2nd playoff hole after he rolled in an improbable 30 foot putt in front of Rose, but the veteran Englishman responded with a 12 footer for birdie of his own to send it to the 3rd extra hole.

Rose then made another birdie putt of outside 12 feet and watched Spaun pull his 8-foot tying birdie putt left of the hole to give Rose the 12th win of his PGA Tour career. Spaun -- who won the U.S. Open in June -- wound up a hard luck loser for the second time this season, as he also fell in a playoff to Rory at The Players back in March.

The big story was Fleetwood's failure to win and Fowler's ability to sneak inside the top 50.

Rickie Fowler finished in 48th place in the standings and earned a full exemption in 2026, meaning he gets to play in all 8 signature events next year and won't need sponsor's invites to compete in 2026.

Jordan Spieth? He'll need some of those invites, as will Wyndham Clark, after both of those guys wound up outside of the top 50.

In terms of the Ryder Cup chatter, Cameron Young -- who won last week in Greensboro -- displayed more excellent play in Memphis with a 5th place finish. If captain Keegan Bradley is looking for the "hot hand" right now, it might be Cam Young.

Kurt Kitayama, who won two weeks ago in Minnesota, Patrick Cantlay and Ben Griffin have all been referenced lately as captain's pick considerations. All three finished 9 under par in Memphis, although Kitayama will not be playing in the BMW or TOUR Championship as his season ended on Sunday when he finished outside the top 50.

It's officially "BMW Week" in Baltimore and the best 50 players are at Caves Valley, battling for the right to finish 2nd to Scottie Scheffler at next week's season finale in Atlanta.

Sunday August 10, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4003

a lot on the line today

Before we go through what's in store for the players in Memphis today, let's look back at last night's Orioles loss to the A's in Baltimore.

On second thought. Maybe not.

The Birds did on Saturday what they did on Friday, which is to say they looked interested for one inning and then pretty much went through the motions thereafter.

Holliday, Westburg and Henderson (homer) had three hits in the first inning of the 11-3 loss.

No one else on the team had a hit after the first inning until Ryan Mountcastle singled to right field with two outs in the 9th inning.

Oakland Sacramento isn't very good. Then again, neither are the Orioles. But losing 11-3 at home to the A's is like the varsity team losing a scrimmage to the junior varsity squad. It shouldn't happen, in other words.

Besides not registering a hit from the second inning through the eighth inning last night, the other head-scratcher of the night was Jeremiah Jackson in right field again, where he pretty much has no business playing.

Because Mike Elias won't call up Dylan Beavers for reasons the GM refuses to acknowledge, the 30,000 plus in the stadium on Saturday were treated to what could kindly be called a "minor league performance" by Jackson in right field.

I had a friend texting me during the game bemoaning Jackson's play, to which I replied: Why do you care? I mean, the Orioles obviously don't care and it's their team and their record. If they don't care about having quality play in right field, why do you care?

All that said, if I'm the Orioles, I sorta-kinda do care who plays well in these last two months and who stinks it up as the squad plays out the string of a disappointing 2025 season.

It reminds me of the story Ozzie Newsome told once upon a time when he drafted Gary Baxter. "I was watching tape on Gary (Baxter) and there was a game where Baylor was getting blown out and there he (Baxter) was, with 5 minutes left, making tackles and defending the pass like it was 20-17 with 3 minutes left in the game."

"I knew right then and there he was my mind of player. His team is losing by 34 points and you'd never know the difference."

I realize these baseball games don't really matter now, not after the dismal start to the season and Elias selling off 8 guys at the trade deadline.

If the Orioles finish 65-97 or 72-90, what's the difference, really?

But it's who plays well and who doesn't when the games don't matter that counts for something, in my mind.

Anyone can play hard and give it their all when they're making millions and the team's record is 70-50. That's easy to do.

Show me the guy who plays hard and gives it their all when the team is 50-70 and they're still making millions despite the club's performance.

I'll take him.

So, yes, we can abandon the O's on a nightly basis. Why sit there and watch 9 innings of baseball when the team is interested for about 30 minutes?

But while you're abandoning them, keep an eye out for the player(s) still producing a quality effort game-after-game. You probably won't see many of them, by the way. But appreciate the ones you do see.

There is a lot riding on today's final round of the PGA Tour's playoff opener in Memphis, where Tommy Fleetwood owns a one-shot lead over Justin Rose and a two-shot advantage over Scottie Scheffler.

Fleetwood is looking for his first win, ever, on the PGA Tour.

Rose is looking to solidify his spot in the playoff standings and guarantee he'll be in Atlanta in two weeks playing in the TOUR Championship.

Scheffler is looking to further add to his dominant 2025 season and top spot in the playoff standings with two tournaments remaining.

But there are a lot of other bigger and more important stories lingering in Memphis.

Andrew Novak (-11) is looking for his first individual win of the season to go with a 2-man team win at New Orleans earlier in the year with Ben Griffin. If Novak wins in Memphis, his Ryder Cup stock rises dramatically with Keegan Bradley, it's safe to assume.

Ben Griffin (-9) has two wins this season already and is inside the top 12 in the Ryder Cup standings, which means he's going to receive heavy consideration from Bradley. If Griffin can piece together a quality round today and finish somewhere within the top 5, that would help his chances in a big way to get that Ryder Cup call from Captain Keegan.

Rickie Fowler (-9) would probably need a significant finish today (top 5?) to finish inside the top 50 and earn a trip to Caves Valley next week for the BMW. But let's say Fowler puts up a good number today and gets into the BMW and, for kicks and giggles, what if throws up another top 5 next week in Baltimore? Keegan wouldn't use a captain's pick on him, would he?

Patrick Cantlay (-7) is a Ryder Cup veteran who is outside the top 12 as it stands now but is almost assured of being in Baltimore next week, where he won back in 2021 in that wild 6-hole playoff with Bryson DeChambeau. What if Cantlay squeezes into the top 5 today in Memphis and then makes some noise next week at Caves? Do you add him to the U.S. team?

Collin Morikawa (-7) is one of the most polarizing Ryder Cup considerations going these days. He hasn't won in three years on TOUR and has played mediocre throughout 2025, with only a 2nd place finish back in January (Sentry) and March (Arnold Palmer Invitational) to show for his campaign. If Morikawa (who will play in Baltimore next week) can do something special at Caves and follow that up with nice play in Atlanta at the TOUR Championship, maybe that's enough to sway Bradley to add him to the team?

Cameron Young (-5) won last week's event in Greensboro and was thought to be making a case for himself to catch Keegan's eye. He'll be in Baltimore next week, too. Something in the 60's today and a top 5 finish at Caves might just be enough to get Bradley to say "yes".

A dozen players are playing for their life today. Solid play in the final round could send them to Baltimore and keep their dream alive of playing in the TOUR Championship in two weeks. And poor play today could end their year.

Among those guys needing to play well today to guarantee they're at Caves Valley next week are J.T. Poston (51st), Jhonattan Vegas (50), Kurt Kitayama (47th), Chris Kirk (48), Rickie Fowler (49) and Denny McCarthy (45).

Who wins and loses today in Memphis is important, yes.

But the drama that's going to unfold with the rest of the players will be far more compelling than who gets to raise the trophy.

Caves Valley.

Atlanta.

The Ryder Cup.

It's all on the line in Memphis this afternoon.

Saturday August 9, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4002

trivia answers

OK, here are the answers to the trivia questions, minus question #4, which I screwed up.

1. Only one player in Major League history has hit 60 or more home runs on three separate occasions but didn't lead his league in homers in any of those seasons. Who was it?

Answer: Sammy Sosa.

2. Who is the only pitcher in Major League history to lead both leagues in shutouts in the same season?

Answer: C.C. Sabathia

3. Only one player in Major League history has both a zero home run season and a 30 home run season. Who is it?

Answer: Kirby Puckett

4. Name the "father-son duo" that each recorded 319 home runs in their careers.

Answer: Cecil and Prince Fielder

5. The all-time pitching leader in pick-offs was a stalwart left-hander with 146. Who was it?

Answer: Steve Carlton

6. Who is the only pitcher to ever hit a home run in his first career at-bat? Hint: It happened before the year 2000.

Answer: Hoyt Wilhelm

7. Only one pitcher has ever been the winning pitcher in the clinching game of the ALDS, ALCS and World Series. Hint: It's happened in the last 25 years. Who was it?

Answer: Derek Lowe

8. Who is the only pitcher in Major League history with a perfect game, immaculate inning and 4-strikeout inning?

Answer: Felix Hernandez

9. Who was the first African American player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame who did not play in the Negro Leagues?

Answer: Bob Gibson

10. Since 1967, only one player has hit for baseball's Triple Crown (led league in average, HR's and RBI's). Who was it?

Answer: Miguel Cabrera

---

three hits...and a win

Baseball is so weird sometimes.

Last night the Orioles produced two hits in the first inning and another in the third inning and that was it for them, hits wise.

Three hits for the entire game.

And they won, 3-2.

I'm not sure what's more shocking. Three hits and a 3-2 win or Tyler O'Neill going on the injured reserve list. Again.

I'll go with the 3 hits and the 3-2 win.

The O's are officially calling it "right wrist inflammation" for O'Neill, which is code word for, "dude is always hurt".

The good news? O'Neill will likely be back again next season. He controls his player option, remember. So the O's have that going for them...which is nice.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to see how much baseball trivia you really know this morning. Now, you can cheat the system and look these up online if you want. Or you can man-up and answer them to the best of your knowledge and see how many you get right. It's your call.

For the record, I got 6 of the 10 right. I'll tell you which six tomorrow here at #DMD.

Throw your answers in the Comments section. I'll post them in a "Happy Hour" piece tonight.

Good luck!

1. Only one player in Major League history has hit 60 or more home runs on three separate occasions but didn't lead his league in homers in any of those seasons. Who was it?

2. Who is the only pitcher in Major League history to lead both leagues in shutouts in the same season?

3. Only one player in Major League history has both a zero home run season and a 30 home run season. Who is it?

4. Name the all-time leading home run "father-son duo". Each of them recorded 319 home runs in their careers.

5. The all-time pitching leader in pick-offs was a stalwart left-hander with 146. Who was it?

6. Who is the only pitcher to ever hit a home run in his first career at-bat? Hint: It happened before the year 2000.

7. Only one pitcher has ever been the winning pitcher in the clinching game of the ALDS, ALCS and World Series. Hint: It's happened in the last 25 years. Who was it?

8. Who is the only pitcher in Major League history with a perfect game, immaculate inning and 4-strikeout inning?

9. Who was the first African American player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame who did not play in the Negro Leagues?

10. Since 1967, only one player has hit for baseball's Triple Crown (led league in average, HR's and RBI's). Who was it?

Baseball knowledge scale:

0-2 right: Yikes, really?

3-5 right: Not bad, but there were some freebies in there

6-8 right: Like throwing a quality start

9-10 right: MVP, MVP, MVP!!

Maybe Tommy Fleetwood will be ahead by so much at this week's FedEx Cup playoff opener in Memphis that he can't blow the lead. The veteran Englishman still doesn't have a win on the PGA Tour despite very successful career on the DP European Tour.

But that might change on Sunday if things continue to go his way. Fleetwood (-13) leads by four shots heading into today's play, which will contain some late 2nd round play after play was suspended due to weather on Friday afteroon.

Last month in Connecticut, he was poised to finally break through and win a TOUR event before he made bogey on the final hole at The Travelers and then saw Keegan Bradley roll in a short birdie putt moments later to nip him by a shot.

Collin Morikawa, who hasn't won in three-plus years, is four shots behind in Memphis. If you think Fleetwood needs a win, Morikawa is equally as desperate if not more so to get into the winner's circle.

The top 50 players in the standings after Sunday's final round in Memphis will move on to Caves Valley to play the BMW Championship next week.

Local favorite Denny McCarthy (-3) needs a T15 finish or better to guarantee himself a trip to Baltimore next week. He's currently in 14th place after two rounds in Memphis.

McCarthy can still make the Top 50 even if he finishes outside the top 15 at this week's event in Memphis, but a T15 or better gets him in for sure.

In our ongoing effort to polish things up here and make it the best it can be, we're going to first ask nicely (today) and then, if need be, start blocking IP addresses.

Please do not post a comment here using someone else's name, moniker or ID.

As in, "Delray Rick", for example. You know who you are. And so do I. And it's not cool.

There's one "Delray Rick" here. Not two. Just one. But we have two people posting as Delray Rick.

If you post using someone else's name or moniker, you're going to get the boot from here. I'm sorry. But them's the rules.

Friday August 8, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4001

some of the things they do...

There's really only one "good" time to raise ticket prices in the sports world.

And that's after you've won the championship, of course.

I mean, if you can't raise prices after you win the title, when can you raise them? Right?

So that being said, any occasion other than after a championship season is always going to be looked upon in a negative way.

But did the Orioles really think raising prices for the 2026 campaign was the prudent move in light of everything that's transpired over the last 12 months?

Remember, they raised them last August, too, in the first year of David Rubenstein's ownership. And now...again? A swing and a miss.

It's not only a slap in the face to a fan base that's been more than patient with this franchise over the last 10 years, it reeks of entitlement more than anything.

"We're going to 'modify' our ticket plans (they love that word, 'modify') and you're going to pay the increase because we're the Orioles and we're Major League Baseball and you're going to help us foot the bill."

That's essentially what they're saying by raising the prices for a second straight summer and going one step better (or worse) than that by increasing the number of games you have to buy at the same time.

Sure, it's only a modest 3% increase. And they do offer a 10-game plan and a 30% "buy back" feature, which is their way of saying, "But wait, look at the concessions we're making for you."

But the reality is the O's have no shame at all. They're jacking you up from 13 games to 20 games and from 29 games to 40 games.

Yes, they're giving you special trinkets along the way, like your own gate to enter and guaranteed give-away items and other novelties like that which are all nice touches, but also cost them zero dollars to maintain and present to their ticket plan holders.

They're taking more of your money, though. In some cases, a lot more of it. And in return, all they're really promising are tee-shirts, bobbleheads and the chance to see batting practice.

It would be different if they were promising a better baseball team or an investment in the on-field product. Instead, they're telling you now they're taking more of your money and not really presenting you with qualified reasons why you'd be smart to buy in.

I was a plan holder for four straight years a decade ago. It came at the right time in my life, with my son being interested enough in the games to sit there for seven innings or so before he wanted to head home to play Roblox. The only feature of the ticket plan I purchased that I honestly "wanted" was the same seat for every game I attended.

The rest of that goofy stuff -- give away items and my own gate to enter and all the other "benefits" meant very little to me, personally. I just wanted to know I could sit in the same seat -- one that I hand picked -- when I attended games.

Oh, and I wanted the team to be at least presentable on the field.

Same seat and a decent team. That's all I wanted.

For a while, I got those things. But once the team's performance turned south and the ticket plan changes came around every year or two, I lost faith in the organization.

I got several e-mails from outraged ticket plan holders yesterday vowing to give up their seats because of Thursday's news about the plan and price increase for 2026.

No one likes prices to go up, obviously. But this move seems like it wasn't thought out very well.

"We need more money. Raise the prices." That seems like the way it was all handled internally.

My guess? The O's are going to experience a lot of push back in the coming weeks from people who are otherwise their most loyal customers.

You're on the path to a 70 win season, tops, and you just gutted 35% of your roster at the trade deadline, and your response to those two things is to raise ticket prices for next year?

Some of the things they do make zero sense.

That said, it's probably better than waiting until mid-January to announce the signing of Chris Davis and, at the same time, roll out the (increased) ticket prices for the season that starts in three months.

At least this time, they didn't wait until the week before the Super Bowl to tell people how much tickets would cost them in April.

But it's all still bogus.

We've gone through this before, but it bears repeating.

When the O's need more revenue, their remedy is always "charge the current customers more". They do it with ticket holders and they do it with corporate sponsors and advertisers.

"Charge the current customers more..."

Instead of: "Go out and find more customers."

And here's a warning shot for the future: As the regional sports network concept continues to crumble and entities like MASN lose almost all of their government mandated cable affiliate access, teams are going to lose millions and millions of dollars in TV revenue.

So, more than anything, ticket sales and sponsorship sales are going to take on even greater importance over the next decade or more.

If they were truly entreprenurial, the Orioles would give every ticket plan holder who bought seats to this year's fiasco some sort of modest, but significant rebate on '26 tickets.

"The rack rate for your particular ticket plan is $400 per-seat for 20 games. If you'll renew with us right now for next year -- not knowing what improvements we're going to make in the off-season -- we'll knock off $50 for you."

Do something -- anything, really -- to show your most loyal people that you appreciate them. Besides a free floppy hat and the chance to run around the bases after a Sunday afternoon home game, that is.

The obvious comparison a lot of people around town were making yesterday was Ravens vs. Orioles.

"At least the Ravens win every year," was a constant theme shared numerous times on radio shows yesterday.

The Ravens have a "pace" to their ticket increases. There was a time when they raised them every other year, like clockwork, no matter what the team did on the field.

The Orioles don't seem to have any idea of how or when to do it. So they just raise them. And they create new and "interesting" ways to get more of your money. They basically say, "You're paying more and you're going to more games, which means you're paying more in more ways than one."

That the Ravens are successful nearly every single year is more about them and less about the Orioles, but it does make it easier to announce you're dinging your customer for more money when you're in the playoffs nearly every January.

If the Orioles would have waited until November to raise prices and would have done that on the heels, say, of signing someone like Pete Alonso, I'm guessing the outcry wouldn't have been anywhere near as loud as it was yesterday.

I don't quite understand why they would announce the '26 prices now, anyway?

What is the possible benefit from doing it now?

Above everything they did on Thursday, that's probably the most puzzling part of it.

Everyone needs more revenue.

Ticket price increases are generally "part of the business".

Baseball players and administrative costs are going up every year. So is travel, insurance, staffing and so on.

I get those elements of the business, even if I think the Orioles almost always figure out a way to step on their you-know-what while they run their business.

What I can't understand is why announce it on August 7?

Why aggravate a group of people who are already put off by the team's performance in 2026?

Sign a few guys in the winter and then raise the prices.

At least then, you have a legitimate excuse.

It turns out the green sex toy story in the WNBA is/was actually a clever -- I guess that word fits -- marketing ploy by someone trying to promote crypto currency.

Most observers assumed it was someone trying to agitate female players in the basketball league.

Instead, it was an attempt to gain media exposure.

Unlike ESPN and their website, who went to great lengths to explain it and promote it and essentially give the group behind the stunt(s) millions of dollars in free promotion and advertising, I'm not going to do that today.

I'm just going to remind everyone that the sooner you stop mentioning their name and identifying them, the sooner they'll go away.

The whole idea of throwing the toy on the court was/is intended to be funny, which it sorta-kinda is, but only because it's a novelty, kind of like throwing an octopus on the ice at a Detroit Red Wings hockey game.

Throwing things at athletes or onto a playing surface of any kind is wrong, of course. There's no way anyone can ratify that sort of behavior.

But doing it to gain promotional favor seems really lame. If you want to get everyone's attention at a WNBA game, buy a courtside ad or buy an ad in the game program or set up a table in the concourse. In other words, do it the right way.

Throwing something on the court -- even something as harmless as a sex toy -- is a bush league way of going about it.

The interesting sidebar to this whole story is the dichotomy between throwing an octopus (Detroit), plastic rat (Miami) or hat (any NHL arena) on the ice and throwing a sex toy on the court at a women's basketball game. The octopus, plastic rat and hat are part of hockey's "heritage" if you will.

"We don't want you throwing anything on the ice, ever, because of player safety. But you can throw an octopus, plastic rat or hat on the ice and those things don't count."

So what's the deal in the WNBA? Is it the idea that it's a sex toy being thrown on the court that's so off-putting? If it were, say, a plastic Snoopy figure, would that matter as much?

I don't know the answer, by the way. I'm just asking the question.

That said, the crypto company got exactly what they wanted from ESPN and their website. They wanted publicity. And they got it.

They say they have other "stunts" planned for the future and asked us all to "stay tuned to see what [we've] cooked up".

I'm good, thanks.

In fact, I'm not staying tuned. I'm tuning out.

faith in sports

When the Major League Baseball All Star Game made it to Atlanta three weeks ago, the best players in the world gathered for a couple of nights to showcase their skills.

Some of them soaked in the spotlight while others actually shared the spotlight...with Jesus.

Take 5 minutes today to see and hear numerous players from Atlanta share their testimony on why playing for Jesus is just as important as playing for $10 million, $20 million or $30 million.

It's always refreshing to hear today's star athletes remind us of why they're there in the first place: Because God put them there with their talents.

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 7, 2025

#DMD

Issue #4000

rare air in boston

Before we do something distinctly unsettling -- praising the Boston Red Sox organization -- we'll simply note that today is our 4,000th consecutive day of publishing here at #DMD.

That's a lot of typing over the last 11 years.

We'll save "the story" and some other tidbits for a couple of more weeks when we celebrate our annual "#DMD Day" on August 25, but just know that we're grateful to all of you who are reading this and still make it a point to stop by every day, or most days, to see what we have to say and to chime in with your own thoughts on occasion.

A month or so ago I bumped into someone who is a #DMD reader and he said something I'd never really given much thought to: "It's amazing you write about sports every single day when we don't have a pro hockey, basketball or Division I college in Baltimore. I don't know how you do it."

Now, there's some fine print there. We do have Division I colleges in Baltimore. Several of them, in fact. But none of them are of the "major" variety when it comes to football, basketball, etc.

And while I consider the Capitals to be a "local" team, it's obvious they don't play in Baltimore and aren't a team we technically call our own. The same goes for the Wizards.

So, yes, we do write about sports here on a daily basis without the benefit of a "University of Baltimore" playing in the Big Ten or Atlantic 10 or Big East. That's true.

And while we do offer modest coverage of the Capitals during the hockey season, there's very little full time hockey or pro basketball coverage at #DMD.

I never really thought much about that until a new friend brought it up to me recently.

We do a lot with a little here, as the saying goes.

Thank you, all of you, for your continued patronage of #DMD.

I never really considered how far we could go with this when it all started back on August 25, 2014. 4,000 days? Heck, I wasn't sure we could ever reach 400 days. Alas, here we are, still.

Thank you.

I thought the last thing I'd be doing in issue #4000 would be praising the Boston Red Sox organization.

But that's what we're doing today.

They deserve it.

The Red Sox announced on Wednesday they've agreed to an 8-year contract extension with Roman Anthony, their #1 prospect, who is in the middle of an outstanding rookie season in Boston.

It's basically the Red Sox signing their version of Gunnar Henderson (different position, but same future expectations) to a $130 million extension while he is still learning how to be a big league baseball player.

If things go really well for Anthony, the deal could bloom from $130 million to $230 million over the next eight years.

Anthony, 21, has been outstanding for the Red Sox since his June 9 debut, hitting .283/.400/.428 with 2 home runs and 19 RBIs in 46 games entering Wednesday's game with Kansas City.

With elite plate discipline and power potential, Anthony has ascended to the top of the Red Sox's lineup, hitting anywhere between the No. 1 and No. 3 spot, and is widely viewed as a future MVP candidate by nearly every baseball analyst.

And now the Red Sox have him locked up on the cheap (relatively speaking) for the next 8 years.

That's good business in a sport where those two words don't often collide in the same sentence. "Good" and "business".

Anthony seems like he gets it, too. He wasn't forced to sign for $130 million. He wanted to sign for $130 million.

"We're playing such great baseball. I didn't want to be a distraction to anyone," Anthony told reporters at a Wednesday news conference. "But I knew that this is where I wanted to be, and I'm having a blast. And I just wanted to continue that."

"I don't know what the future holds, but I believe that I will be the best version of myself every single day," Anthony said. "It was a deal that was obviously more than enough for me and for my family and at a place that I want to be in."

Wow. Does he have a little brother?

Imagine finding a player who is actually really, really good who also isn't a greedy, "hold out for every nickel you can get" kind of guy.

If Anthony pans out to be the special player everyone's projecting him to be, his "paltry" $130 million contract over the next 8 years will help the Red Sox attract prominent free agents who require larger sums of money to woo them to Boston.

Everyone wins.

Oh, sure, Roman Anthony might be passing up the opportunity to make $600 million in five years when he would have been a free agent, but he'll eventually become a free agent at age 30 and will have time to break the bank, still, if his game warrants it and his desire to do so is intact.

Give the Red Sox credit. And Anthony, too.

This is very smart baseball business.

Sure, Anthony could make $800,000 for a couple of more years. He'd plod along making the rookie minimum for a while and then reach arbitration and cash in on a fairly big deal at that point.

Or, if you're the Red Sox, you just go ahead and pay the kid what you think you should be paying him and get it over with now.

This isn't quite as hard as saying, "Man, the Flyers sure do have a great team" or "That Beatles album has a bunch of really good songs on it", but praising the Red Sox and saying, "That's a smart baseball move in Boston" is making our skin itch just a little bit.

That said...

You have to give it to the Red Sox. They have themselves a good one up there in Roman Anthony.

And this is also makes you wonder why the Orioles couldn't pull off the same thing with, say, Gunnar or Westburg or, maybe next year, Beavers or Basallo.

It's obvious there's a way to get it done. It just takes money.

Wait, never mind. "It just takes money" leaves the Orioles out of it.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

MLB had their Speedway Classic game this past weekend which they had been promoting for months, and it was a complete disaster.

The game was scheduled to take place last Saturday with the Braves and Reds, and the field was built in the infield of Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. The game was scheduled to start at 7:00 Saturday night on FOX, but heavy rain caused there to be a long rain delay which ultimately led to the game being postponed.

In between the delay and cancellation of the game, MLB approved for the game to start 2 hours later than the originally scheduled start time, but the game didn’t even make it out of the 1st inning as rain fell during play.

In the bottom of the 1st inning, the infield looked like a swimming pool. As I watched this, I couldn’t help but think about the safety of the players. MLB was trying to save face and have and get the game in any would they could, but player safety should always come first.

This was an embarrassment for MLB. The fans who stuck around and waited out the rain reported that concessions ran out of food and drink during the rain delay.

I understand baseball is trying really anything they can to grow the game, but this hurt baseball’s image. Playing the game on Sunday meant that both the Reds and Braves would have to make multiple roster moves to bring in pitchers who could fill-in and pitch on Sunday to complete the game, and both teams lost an off day as the MLB season plays on in the dog days of summer.

In the MLB’s defense, they can’t control the weather obviously, but why was the game only scheduled for one night? With all the money they invested in this, why not make it a weekend series?

Or have 3 different games scheduled over the weekend?

It just seems like with all they put into this, it’s such a big gamble to put it all for one night.

I never really bought into this idea of playing a baseball game at a race track. Just because schematically it’s possible doesn’t mean it should be done.

I personally think they should bring back the Field of Dreams game like they did a few years ago with the Yankees and White Sox, where both teams wore jerseys inspired by their clubs from the 1920s, and of course the cornfield in the outfield.

I think everyone enjoyed that game and its nostalgia from the movie “Field of Dreams.” Baseball has done some good things this season to help promote the game, such as rivalry weekend earlier this year.

The Speedway Classic, however, was not one of their better decisions.

Players of the Week -–

Pitcher: Nathan Eovaldi of the Texas Rangers had a strong week earning 2 wins in 2 starts. Eovaldi tossed 15 innings allowing 7 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and 10 punch outs. Eovaldi’s record now stands at 10-3 on the season as the Rangers remain in the Wildcard hunt, a half-game behind the Yankees for the last playoff spot.

That last spot for the AL Wildcard is up for grabs as the Yankees continue to free fall since the trade deadline and the Cleveland Guardians now having 2 bullpen pieces being investigated for sports gambling activity.

The Rangers didn’t make significant splashes at the deadline, but they did bring in effective players like starter Merrill Kelly from the Arizona Dbacks, reliever Phil Maton from the St. Louis Cardinals, and Danny Coulombe from the Minnesota Twins.

The Rangers were certainly not the most aggressive team at the deadline, but they addressed areas that needed help and got better. The way it’s looking now, the last wildcard spot in the American League is the Rangers to lose.

Position Player: Shea Langeliers continues to have a great 2025 season for the A’s, as this past week he batted .522 with 4 homers, 5 RBI, and 1 stolen base. Langeliers has been on fire for the past 2 weeks with a 1.453 OPS in that span.

Over the last week, the performance that really stands out was from Tuesday night against the Nationals. Langeleirs went 5 for 6 with 3 homers and a double in his first start batting in the leadoff spot and also became the 5th catcher in MLB history to hit 20 plus homers in 3 of his first 4 seasons.

He has hit 10 home runs since the All Star break, which is tied with Kyle Schwarber for most in baseball. This Athletics team has really turned a corner this season, although their record might not reflect that.

But there’s no denying the young offensive talent they have. If the A’s could get some pitching help, they could be a playoff team within the next few years.

Rookie: Roman Anthony continues to develop nicely at the big league level for the Boston Red Sox as he hit .353 over the last week with an RBI and also had a walk-off single against the Astros last Friday night.

Anthony’s name made the headlines yesterday when he inked an 8 year, $130 million contract. The contract will become active starting in 2026 and includes incentives that can increase the contract value to $230 million.

This is the 2nd rookie the Red Sox have managed to get under contract this season, as earlier this year they signed Kristian Campbell to an 8 year, $60 million contract.

When I saw this I couldn’t help but think why the Orioles haven’t tried doing this with their young players? There’s definitely a lot of risk with signing a rookie to a long term deal as you can get burned or look like a genius depending on how the young player develops.

But if you take the “sit and wait” approach, the cost is only going to go up if he plays well and you might end up being priced out on a player if you wait too long.

At some point, you have to take a chance and say this player is our guy and we want him to be a franchise player.

Games of the Week –

Friday, August 8th: Philadelphia Phillies vs Texas Rangers (Zack Wheeler vs Merrill Kelly)

The Rangers will be hosting the NL East leading Phillies this weekend and will have their newly acquired starting pitcher Merrill Kelly on the mound. The Phillies will have their ace and NL Cy Young favorite Zack Wheeler on the bump as they look to increase their lead in the NL East.

The Rangers have been playing well this week as they just took 2 of 3 from the Yankees.

The Texas offense is starting to fire on all cylinders and if that continues, they can take this series from the Phillies and potentially take the last Wildcard spot which is currently held by the Yankees.

Saturday, August 9th: Houston Astros vs New York Yankees (Framer Valdez vs Luis Gil)

With how the Yankees have been playing going back to just before the trade deadline, this is a nightmare match-up for them. The Astros travel to the Bronx which earlier this season may have seemed like a very difficult location to travel to and win a ball game, but now it has been as easy as taking a stroll through Central Park.

One of the issues for the Yankees this season has been starting pitching. They just got Luis Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, back into their rotation after a long injury-related layoff, and he will be making his 2nd start of the season.

On the other side, the Astros will have Framer Valdez who is having a career year with a 2.83 ERA and an 11-5 record.

Sunday, August 10th: New York Mets vs Milwaukee Brewers (Sean Manaea vs Quinn Priester)

The Mets travel to American Family Field where they take on one of the hottest teams in baseball. We talked about how well this Brewers team has been playing a few weeks ago and that trend has continued as they are 8-2 in their last 10.

The Mets have done the opposite of the Brewers as they are 2-8 in their last 10. Reality is starting to hit this Mets team all at once.

Outside of their “big 4” which is Lindor, Alonso, Soto, and Nimmo, there just isn’t much production anywhere else in the Mets lineup.

And even their “big 4” hasn’t done much of anything recently.

The Mets were nearly no hit yesterday by Gavin Williams of the Cleveland Guardians, but the no hitter was broken up in the 9th inning on a Juan Soto solo home run.

A series win for the Mets will bring a lot of confidence to this club, especially taking 2 of 3 against a very good Brewers team. Sunday’s game will be a challenge, as Quinn Priester is scheduled to start for the Brew Crew, who owns an 11-2 record with a 3.15 ERA this year.

Wednesday August 6, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3999

"you never know"

Two weeks ago yesterday, the FCA Maryland Golf program I help run held a junior tournament at Chesapeake Bay GC up in Rising Sun, MD.

As far as tournaments go, it was generally non-descript. There was solid play, including a winning score of 71 posted by one of my Calvert Hall players, Ashton McMyne, and the whole event went off without weather issues or anything else that might have stymied us along the way.

But it will go down as one of the more memorable tournaments of our summer schedule for reasons that didn't come into full focus until this week when we staged our annual FCA Maryland Golf Match Play Championship at Pine Ridge on Monday and Tuesday.

One of the best things about golf is the fact you never know what's going to happen. You can play great today and lousy tomorrow. You can play awesome on the front nine and terrible on the back nine.

You can make two birdies in a row at holes 11 and 12 and then go double, double, bogey on the next three.

You just never know.

About 30 minutes before play started back on July 22 at Chesapeake Bay GC, a player in the field, Brody Blazer, came up to me near the first tee. He didn't look good.

"Coach, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. There was a look of worry on his face. I assumed he wasn't feeling well.

"Sure, Brody," I said. "What's up?"

"Coach, I don't know how to say this," he started. "But I can't hit the ball. Like, at all. I've hit balls on the range for 25 minutes and I can't the ball in the air. Every single shot is on the ground."

This was particularly alarming because Brody is a nice player. I don't know his exact handicap, but I've seen him shoot 9 hole rounds in high 30's or low 40's for our Calvert Hall JV program on numerous occasions. He has a good golf swing.

"Let's take a look," I said. "We'll figure something out in the next 15 minutes, I'm sure."

Brody was dealing with that familiar golf illness that sounds like "thanks" but is hardly something you're thankful for when you experience them.

I don't even say the word. I call them the "Laterals", "Hosel Rockets" or "El Hosel" but I won't actually say the word. Anytime a golfer says the word (sh*nks) in my presence, I walk away as quickly as possible. Even standing there and watching Brody deal with them was unsettling for me, because I know how awful it was for him.

"Grip, stance, posture," I said to him. "Let's go through those three things real quick. Have you changed any of those things recently?"

He had not.

There were some quick fix things I suggested, all designed to get the ball to stop hitting the hosel of the club. "Just try to hit every ball off the toe of the club, on every swing," I suggested. "If nothing else, that's a band aid for an 18 hole round that might work."

It didn't work. Well, it did, sort of. Brody didn't hit many "laterals" during the round, but he also hit a lot of balls off the toe of the club and lost valuable accuracy and distance in the meantime.

I saw him after 7 holes.

"Any better?" I asked.

"I got off to a terrible start," he replied. "I went triple, double on the first two holes but I've played better the last few holes. It's fine. I'm having fun."

He said all of that with a smile, despite being probably 6 over through 7 holes and clearly having no chance at all to win the tournament.

As the day ended and scores started coming in, I overheard other players talking about Brody's pre-tournament "issue".

Because they're kids and they don't realize that they, too, will have a day where something very similar happens to them, they openly challenged the golf gods right then and there by innocently laughing and giggling at Brody's plight.

"I wonder if he'll break 100?" one of them playfully teased.

A few minutes later, Brody came in, signed his card and handed it to me.

He shot 104.

Because they're kids and they don't know how to delicately dive into a subject like that, his friends just jumped in with the question right away.

"What did you shoot?" one of them asked.

"Did you get rid of the sh*nks?" another one wondered.

"Did you break any clubs?" someone asked, with a laugh.

I was busy handling scoring duties and didn't really hear the follow up conversation to those questions, but I looked over at one point and Brody was just sitting there, drinking a Gatorade and talking with them like he shot 74 instead of 104.

I wrote his score on the board.

It was there for all to see.

104.

The following Monday, July 31, we had another tournament at Winters Run GC in Bel Air. Brody was in the field for that one as well. I wondered if he would play.

He played.

And he finished tied for 3rd with a nice score of 78.

"Looks like you got it figured out," I said to him after the event.

Brody smiled. "Yeah, I've been practicing hard," he said. "That was a wild day last week. But it's all good now."

Fast forward to this week at Pine Ridge.

16 players were in the High School division of the Match Play Championship. Brody got in as the #12 seed.

When the dust settled after two days of golf -- two matches of 18 holes per-day -- Brody Blazer was the Match Play champion.

He defeated three higher seeds along the way and played well enough in yesterday's final to defeat Andrew Herman, an excellent young incoming 9th grader at Gilman.

All of that was made possible by what happened to him two weeks earlier at Chesapeake Bay GC.

He shot 104 and turned in his card.

Brody didn't withdraw before the tournament started, even though he knew there was a good chance he was going to shoot a million that day.

He didn't pack it in after 9 holes.

He didn't claim he wasn't feeling well or his back was bothering him.

He just kept on playing.

And when it was over, he turned in his card.

He didn't crumble it up and throw it away.

He signed for 104 and turned it in for everyone to see.

That made him a real golfer. I hope, 50 years from now, he remembers that day. July 22, 2025 was the day Brody became a real golfer.

A lot of kids wouldn't have turned in 104.

A lot of them wouldn't have finished all 18 holes.

And very few of them would have handled shooting 104 the way Brody did.

I preach to my Calvert Hall players all the time: "You shot it. It's your score. Turn in your card and own it. In the same way you'd turn in a 70 and stand around and field fist bumps and hand shakes, turn in your 90 and own it."

Only this wasn't a 90. It was a 104.

But he turned it in and handled the heat that comes with it.

And yesterday, he navigated his way through a very strong Match Play field to win the championship.

There were a lot of good players at Pine Ridge on Monday and Tuesday, but the guy who wound up winning deserved it, for sure.

Golf will lift you up and it will also break you down. It's how you handle those moments that matters the most.

	NOTES & COMMENT George McDowell
George McDowell is #DMD's foreign correspondent. His international reports are filed from a hardened outpost just across the U.S. / North Carolina border. He writes on sports topics that interest him that he feels might also interest some segment of the wildly esoteric #DMD readership. George has been a big fan of DF and his various enterprises since the last century, and for several seasons appeared as a weekly guest on his Monday evening radio show, Maryland Golf Live, delivering commentary as The Eccentric Starter.

a stench to high heaven

Current and former PGA Tour Player Advisory Council members or Policy Directors Jordan Spieth, Mackenzie Hughes, and Rickie Fowler edged ahead of three non-members into the FedEx Cup playoffs. Spieth, Hughes, and Fowler used FedEx Cup points amassed in Signature Events to which they were granted sponsors exemptions and the three bumped golfers were not. Tough luck, Davis Thompson, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Ben An. No Memphis playoff for you (and no chance at the $3.6 million first prize or the guaranteed $40,000 for last place).

Sponsors exemptions into the Tour's Signature Events are used primarily to reward current and past Player Advisory Council members and Policy Directors. A majority of the exemptions into the high-paying and high point-yielding events in 2024 went to such members. In 2025, an astounding 68% of the exemptions (19 of 28) went to current and former PAC members.

Rickie Fowler led the field this year with six exemptions. Of the total prize money he garnered (so far), 58% of it was won in Signature Events into which he was exempted. [He was also given a sponsors exemption into the PGA Championship, but missed the cut.] His FedEx Cup standing without exemption points was #113 – with those points he was #64.

Bye bye, Davis Thompson.

Spieth was next, having been gifted five exemptions. Without exemption points, he was #72 – with them he was #48.

Bye bye, Nicolai Hojgaard.

Mackenzie Hughes had only two sponsor exemptions in 2025, but he milked them for enough FedEx Cup points to move from #112 without them to #59 with.

Bye bye, Ben An.

Note that PAC members Gary Woodland and Keith Mitchell also gleaned a large number of FedEx Cup points through sponsors exemptions into Signature Events [Mitchell had one exemption and Woodland was given four], but their overall totals left them at #72 and #75 respectively. A few more points for them and it would have been bye bye, Cam Davis and Matti Schmid.

Patently, it's time for rule changes with respect to sponsors exemptions, but that may be like asking the U. S. Congress to lower their pay or rein in their gold-standard health care policies funded by taxpayers.

Suggestion 1 – prohibit PGA golfers with official capacities from participating in Signature Events and major championships unless they have qualified with their clubs, as all other golfers must do.

Suggestion 2 – allow those golfers with official capacities who are gifted sponsors exemptions to keep the money they win, but prohibit them from being credited with FedEx Cup points. As shown, three golfers who earned spots in the Top 70 with their clubs have been pushed out of those spots by golfers who were playing with advantages not offered to others. As I understand it, these three golfers have not only been bumped from the 2025 playoffs, they also are not guaranteed Tour cards for the 2026 season. Spieth, Hughes, and Fowler, by virtue of finishing in the Top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings after the Wyndham, are guaranteed cards for 2026.

Failure to address and rectify this situation will render the PGA Tour's oft-stated declaration that it operates a meritocracy as no more than hot air.

For the golfers entrusted with official positions by and supposedly for their fellow PGA Tour members, we suggest this as their official theme song:

Tuesday August 5, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3998

"if they don't win it all, john has to go"

You know football season is on the horizon when the calls start streaming in during the various Baltimore radio shows and folks start issuing ultimatums.

One of them I heard on Monday.

Marcus called into the The Fan yesterday afternoon and authored this gem. "They have Lamar, Derrick, Dee Hop and a top 5 defense," he said. "If they don't win it all, John has to go."

Wow.

If the Ravens don't win the Super Bowl this season, Marcus thinks the head coach has to get the boot.

We're nothing if not predictable here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

The Ravens enter virtually every season with a "Super Bowl or Bust" mentality. The Orioles enter virtually every season hoping they play games that matter in the month of September.

Marcus isn't the only person in town who thinks the head coach should be fired if the Ravens don't win the Super Bowl this season. He just happens to be the one that I heard say it out loud on the radio yesterday.

You know, for sure, there are plenty of others in town who think the same thing. It's always the coach when the team doesn't win.

But here's the reality with the Ravens in 2025.

It won't be a popular take, but it's the truth.

Do you know who the heat is on FAR MORE than it's on John Harbaugh?

You know.

The quarterback.

Now, I'm not going to say something dumb like "If the Ravens don't win the Super Bowl next year, Lamar has to go."

He's a top 5 quarterback in the league, after all. You don't just jettison a guy like that if he fails to win a Super Bowl.

But if the Ravens somehow don't win the Super Bowl this season -- and we're presupposing Lamar stays healthy for the entire season -- it's pretty much on Lamar.

He's the quarterback, after all. He's the guy that gets $50 million a year. The Ravens gave him that contract because they thought, rightfully so, that they couldn't win without him. And that means, in contrast, they gave him that money because they think they can win with him.

At some point, Lamar has to win a Super Bowl in Baltimore.

All the greats win one. Well, except for Dan Marino, Jim Kelly and Fran Tarkenton.

The best of the best always wind up winning one, at least.

They might only win one, but they win one.

Some might win two (Roethlisberger, Eli, Elway, Peyton), three (Mahomes) or seven (Brady).

But the greats of the last three decades all won at least one ring, including Warner, Brees, Favre and Rodgers.

The "best" QB to not win in the last 30 years? Probably Philip Rivers. I think Lamar is a better quarterback than Rivers, but right now they've pretty much accomplished the same thing.

And before you say something about "MVP awards", I don't consider those more important than winning Super Bowls.

If you asked me who was (is) a better quarterback, Roethlisberger or Lamar, I'd say "Roethlisberger". He went to 3 Super Bowls. He won 2 of them. Lamar hasn't been to one yet. Super Bowls are everything to a quarterback in the NFL.

Josh Allen is in the same boat as Lamar. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he won the MVP award last year. Who cares? He hasn't played in a Super Bowl yet. Wake me up when he plays in a Super Bowl.

John Harbaugh won a Super Bowl.

You might be one of those airheads who says, "Yeah, he won one because of Ray and Reed". In that case, when Lamar finally wins one there will be folks saying the same thing, again: "The only reason John won another Super Bowl is because of Lamar."

Harbaugh has a ring, no matter how he got it.

Lamar doesn't have one.

That needs to change, soon, if Jackson wants to be considered one of the true greats in this generation of outstanding quarterbacks.

If he doesn't win one, he'll hear a lot of comparisons to Rivers and Allen.

Rings don't lie.

Speaking of football, last night's baseball game in Philadelphia had what resembled a football score, as the O's got shellacked by the Phillies, 13-3.

It was actually close for a while. The teams, ummmm, traded field goals early on. It was 3-3 in the 6th inning. And then the Phillies scored 8 runs to make it 11-3 and that was the end of that.

They tacked on a couple of more runs to finalize the scoring at 13-3.

This is going to be a pretty dismal final two months of the baseball season. I mean, the first four months weren't exactly The Who's Greatest Hits or anything like that, but there were periods of decent play and at least a little life was on display last week during that 3 of 4 series win over Toronto.

That's all gone, now.

This O's squad will be very fortunate to win 70 games at this rate. You have to remember, a bunch of teams they're going to play from here until the end of the season will actually be trying and needing to win. It's bad enough when you stink and you're playing other mediocre-or-worse teams. Going up against playoff-hungry teams is going to be a tall task indeed.

Like a lot of you, I suppose, baseball is in my "summer DNA". The games are on, I'm following along, I'm anxious to see what unfolds in the next inning and, yes, I'm a little more excited the next day when I get to chronicle an O's win instead of an O's loss.

This two-month spell we're just now starting, where the games don't matter at all...it's just very, very deflating.

No offense at all to the Ravens, but training camp is a total nothing-burger these days. Ever since J.K. Dobbins tore his knee up a few years ago, the Ravens have basically shut it down in August and kept the starters from doing anything even remotely associated with "playing football".

And I'm not saying that's wrong, by the way. I mean, in what world does it make sense to have Lamar Jackson running around out there in August in a game that doesn't matter at all?

But with that decision to sit him and the other 15 important players comes the collateral damage of making pre-season football a nothing-burger.

It's just not worth following.

The regular season? Oh, yes, definitely worth following. Pre-season football? Eyewash. Like watching paint dry, basically.

And that makes the O's collapse in 2025 even more heartbreaking.

It's only about six weeks, granted, but these are truly the dog days now that the deadline has come and gone and the 13-3 losses are starting to come at us in rapid-fire-fashion.

I'm jealous of the folks in Boston and New York. They might not make the playoffs, but at least September baseball will matter to the Red Sox and Yankees.

If you watched last night's game in Philadelphia, you saw -- *gulp*, dare I say it? -- a real sports town supporting their (good) baseball team on a Monday night in August. 41,099 were on hand. It resembled a bit of a playoff environment in the bottom of the 6th when the Phils exploded for 8 runs.

I was more than a tad jealous as I watched it all unfold. I'd be fibbing if I said otherwise.

We are at least a year away from that kind of scene in Baltimore. Maybe next August the games will matter again and we'll be on the good end of one of those 8-run uprisings and the stadium will shake, rattle and roll like it did last night in Philadelphia.

Editor's note: It's here where I'll remind you that not everything about Philadelphia sports is glitz and glamour. The Flyers haven't been to the playoffs since Clinton was President (OK, maybe they have?) and they haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1975. So, yeah, baseball and football are solid in Philly. But the hockey team?? Stinker-rooooooo.

For now, though, we're waiting for that first Ravens regular season game to get our blood going again.

Last night's O's loss in Philadelphia didn't move the needle one bit. 4-3, 6-3 or 13-3. Who cares?

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

Question of the Week --

What did the Orioles get at the deadline and will any of the players help in 2026?

First, here's the nuts and bolts of the work Mike Elias did last week:

* Bolstered minor league depth with a few high upside pitching prospects

* None of the prospects are particularly close to the majors

* Watts-Brown may be the lone piece that could impact the major league team next season

* The rest will provide more ammo to make trades at the 2026 deadline if the Orioles are looking to buy

The Orioles were highly active at this year’s trade deadline, moving a small army of expiring contracts as well as a few pieces with a year of control. In return they received a bevy of prospects, a few of which may have bright futures.

Unfortunately, given the market for rental players, the O’s weren’t able to secure any players with obvious potential to help the major league team next season. For the most part the trades bolstered the depth of the minor league system, especially at the lower levels, with some high ceiling prospects.

Of the prospects acquired, only starter Juaron Watts-Brown and reliever Cameron Foster appear to have a shot at contributing in 2026. Perhaps the best way this prospect haul can help a contenting Orioles team next season is to provide additional ammo for deadline deals next July if the team is buying for a stretch run.

Below I’ll run through each of the prospects received, with their rank in the prospect list of their previous org, where the pundits suggest they fit in the Orioles rankings and their outlook and timeline to the majors.

From the Mets for Gregory Soto --

Wellington Aracena - RHP

Previous Rank: 19

O’s Rank: 22

Affiliate: Aberdeen (High A)

ETA in Baltimore: 2028

Strength: Hard-throwing power starter

Cameron Foster - RHP

Previous Rank: NR

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Norfolk (AAA)

ETA: 2026

Strength: Middle reliever with good command

From the Blue Jays for Seranthony Dominguez --

Juaron Watts-Brown – RHP

Previous Rank: 10

O’s Rank: 9

Affiliate: Bowie (AA)

ETA: 2026

Strength: Polished four-pitch starter with plus slider

From the Astros for Ramón Urías --

Twine Palmer – RHP

Previous Rank: NR

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Delmarva (Low A)

ETA: 2028

Strength: Projectable 6'5" power arm, raw but enticing

From the Cubs for Andrew Kittredge --

Wilfri De La Cruz – SS

Previous Rank: 17

O’s Rank: 23

Affiliate: FCL Orioles (Complex)

ETA: 2030

Strength: Switch-hitting shortstop with advanced bat and plus arm

From the Mets for Cedric Mullins --

Raimon Gómez – RHP

Previous Rank: 30

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Aberdeen (High A)

ETA: 2027

Strength: 104 mph flamethrower with wipeout slider

Chandler Marsh – RHP

Previous Rank: NR

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Aberdeen (High A)

ETA: 2027

Strength: Strike-throwing righty; steady middle-relief profile

Anthony Núñez – RHP

Previous Rank: 14

O’s Rank: 24

Affiliate: Chesapeake (AA)

ETA: 2026

Strength: Late-inning reliever with plus slider/changeup combo

From the Padres for Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano --

Boston Bateman – LHP

Previous Rank: 4

O’s Rank: 6

Affiliate: Delmarva (Low A)

ETA: 2028

Strength: 6'8" power lefty with mid-90s fastball and frontline upside

Cobb Hightower – INF

Previous Rank: 6

O’s Rank: 21

Affiliate: Delmarva (Low A)

ETA: 2028

Strength: High-contact bat with mature approach; potential 2B regular

Tyson Neighbors – RHP

Previous Rank: 12

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Chesapeake (AA)

ETA: 2026

Strength: Strikeout-machine closer prospect with lethal slider

Victor Figueroa – INF/OF

Previous Rank: 29

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Aberdeen (High A)

ETA: 2028

Strength: Lefty corner bat boasting big raw power

Tanner Smith – RHP

Previous Rank: NR

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Delmarva (Low A)

ETA: 2028

Strength: College-polished arm; swingman depth with solid pitchability

Brandon Butterworth – INF

Previous Rank: NR

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Chesapeake (AA)

ETA: 2028

Strength: Versatile, glove-first utility infielder with on-base skills

From the Tigers for Charlie Morton --

Micah Ashman – LHP

Previous Rank: NR

O’s Rank: NR

Affiliate: Chesapeake (AA)

ETA: 2026

Strength: Tall lefty reliever; tough angle and pinpoint control

Monday August 4, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3997

to promote or not to promote...

One topic that's sure to start percolating soon here in The Land of Pleasant Living is one centerering on Dylan Beavers.

He, along with Samuel Basallo, are the two most talked-about prospects in the O's organization.

With the O's blowing up the team last week and punting on the 2025 season, there's nothing else to focus on, really, except "next year" and "re-tooling for the future".

In the case of Beavers and Basallo, calling them up now -- or at the very least, sometime in August -- makes a lot of sense. They both are likely going to be up with the big league club next year in some capacity, whether that's coming north with the team out of spring training or being promoted sometime in mid-May once the meet of the 2026 schedule commences.

But it also might not make sense to bring them both up now. Those who think it's wise to leave them in the minors have their reasons.

That's why Mike Elias gets paid the big bucks, I guess.

Me? I'm always a "bring them up now" guy. My history in sports, whatever you want to call being involved with a professional soccer team for 17 years and the rest of what I've been involved with sports-wise, has taught me one thing that's pretty much undeniable.

Nothing beats experience.

If you've "been there and done that", your chances for success are much greater than someone who hasn't been there and done that.

Right now, Beavers and Basallo have both been extraordinarily successful in the minors. And that's great. Really, it is. If you're not great in the minors, you have no chance of being great in the majors.

That said, it's a MASSIVE jump from Norfolk to Baltimore. Or Bowie to Baltimore. Minor league baseball is a great breeding ground for professional players, but there are decades of stories about guys who could hit the cover off the ball at Triple A but couldn't generate the same production with the big league club.

Experience is everything.

So why not bring them up now and give them two full months of Major League experience in a mostly no-pressure situation where it doesn't "really" matter if they go 2-for-4 or 0-for-4?

I don't really see any value at all to keeping them down in the minors. I know there are always going to be arguments about tenure and service time and all that stuff, but I think a player's improvement and ability to contribute next season trumps any discussion about his contract and arbitration or anything else you can come up with to stunt a guy's growth and promotion to the bigs.

Bring them both up now and let them play. Let them experience the chartered flights and the $110 daily per-diem and the pre-game and post-game meal spreads and the media hounding them and the autograph seekers and, yes, even the pretty girls who like to hang around the team hotels.

Everything about Major League Baseball is bigger and better and harder to adjust to than anything those guys experience in the minors.

It takes time to figure it all out. Just ask Heston Kjerstad.

I don't see any reason to keep those two out of Baltimore at this point. The team is terrible, the games no longer really matter and the experience of playing over the next two months will benefit both Basallo and Beavers greatly next April when the games are important again.

I don't run the team. But if I did, they'd both be in Baltimore for the last two months of the season.

Tell Tyler O'Neill his hamstring is bothering him and he needs to rest it for, oh, about 60 days. And as much as Jackson, Handley and any other back-up catcher has been adequate enough, let Basallo catch a game or two a week and get his bat in the lineup a couple of other times somehow.

Two months of experience in 2025 might be a huge help in 2026.

Five years later, Cameron Young finally won on the PGA Tour cruising to a 6-shot win at The Wyndham on Sunday and moving to 16th in the FedEx Cup standings.

He's had a weird, weird journey on the PGA Tour.

Young has played in 94 career TOUR events and has made the cut in 73 of them. He was a 7-time runner-up before yesterday's elusive victory and has finished in the Top 10 in all four major championships, including a Top 5 finish in the U.S. Open, PGA and British Open.

Cameron Young is an excellent player who just couldn't close the deal and win. Until yesterday, that is.

Now, he's likely going to play in all three FedEx Cup events and will enjoy all the benefits of a Top 30 player, including invites to all signature events and major championships in 2026.

But there's even more...

What did yesterday's win do for his chances of being added to the U.S. Ryder Cup team?

It's unlikely that he's done enough to snag one of the six spots with his performance to date. But what if he plays well next week in the playoff opener at Memphis? What if he's in the hunt there or has another excellent tournament in Baltimore in two weeks at Caves Valley?

Collin Morikawa is currently 8th in the standings but he hasn't won a tournament in three years and has been lousy since May. Do you want Morikawa on the team or Cameron Young on the team?

There are likely only going to be four U.S. captain's picks available, remember. Bryson DeChambeau is going to get one of the six and Keegan Bradley himself is going to get one as well.

That leaves four picks.

We're going to assume that Justin Thomas slips inside the Top 6 and takes DeChambeau's spot.

So who else out there deserves serious consideration for a captain's pick?

Jordan Spieth is getting a lot of push, but I just don't see how adding him to the team makes any sense at all. I realize he and J.T. have a bond and a friendship and there is something to be said about "teaming up" with a partner you're comfortable with, but you have to be able to play great golf, too, don't forget.

I don't think Spieth is playing great golf.

Ben Griffin deserves one of the spots for sure. He's 6th in FedEx Cup points and has two wins on the year, including a win in a 2-man team event (New Orleans), which you would think bodes well for him since, wait for it, the Ryder Cup is (mostly) a 2-man team event.

That's 3 down and 3 picks to give away.

Patrick Cantlay is going to get some "Spieth-like-push", but his 2025 season has been very spotty. He made one cut in the four majors (Masters) and has one (yes, one) Top 10 finish since mid-February. Like, Spieth, he has a natural Ryder Cup partner in Xander Schauffele, but Cantlay's 2025 campaign isn't very deserving of a pick by Keegan Bradley.

Sam Burns has almost the same '25 stats as Cantlay, but his overall play has been a little better, including that spirited run at the U.S. Open that was impacted by two lunatic rules officials denying him casual water relief on the back nine on Sunday.

Burns is also very close with Scottie Scheffler. You might have heard of Scheffler. He's pretty good at golf. And I'm not sure Keegan Bradley directly asks Scheffler, "Do you want Sam on the team?", but if he does, I assume Scottie nods his head yes.

Morikawa hasn't won this year. Or last year for that matter. Cantlay hasn't won in 2025. Neither has Burns.

Cameron Young has won, though.

A week ago, I probably wouldn't have considered Cameron Young. I was pretty much ready to add Cantlay and Burns, citing the two of them as "the best option(s) available".

I might call it a dead heat now.

All three will tee it up in Memphis this week in the playoff opener.

If they each play well and move on to Baltimore for the second of the three playoff events, perhaps you lean towards adding Cantlay, Burns and Young to finish out the 12-man team.

But if they don't play well in the playoffs, then who? Brian Harman? Maverick McNealy? Chris Gotterup? Wyndham Clark? Could Spieth sneak in if he plays well in Memphis, Baltimore or Atlanta?

Cameron Young's unlikely win on Sunday in Greensboro has added some intrigue to the whole thing, that's for certain.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 4-3

Season Record: 51-61

AL East Standing: 5th (13.5 GB of Tor 8.5 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Gunnar Henderson - .333 AVG 2 HR 9 RBI 4 BB

The Orioles showed signs of life this past week, taking three straight before dropping the series- closer against division-leading Toronto. That was followed by a deadline sell-off and an uninspired weekend series against the Cubs.

The O’s kicked off the week with an 11-4 victory over Toronto on Monday. Adley Rutschman returned from injury with authority, delivering two doubles and two RBI in a three-hit night.

Ramón Laureano, Cedric Mullins, Coby Mayo, and Colton Cowser each homered as the Orioles collected 16 hits. Zach Eflin lasted just four innings, but the bullpen picked him up with 4.2 shutout innings.

Tuesday’s doubleheader brought continued fireworks, starting with a 16-4 rout of the Blue Jays. Tyler O’Neill homered for the fourth straight game, and Ramón Urías contributed two home runs and four RBI.

The Orioles tied an MLB record with five sacrifice flies, showing impressive situational hitting. Veteran Charlie Morton picked up the win with six innings of three-run ball in what would be his last start in an Orioles uniform.

The nightcap was a tense affair, with Baltimore clinching a 3-2 victory. Rutschman again came through in the clutch, delivering a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth inning. Corbin Martin secured his first career save, escaping a tense ninth-inning jam. Ryan O’Hearn sparked the offense with an RBI triple earlier in the game.

On Wednesday, the O’s narrowly missed sweeping Toronto, dropping a dramatic 9-8 contest. Despite early homers from Ryan O’Hearn and Jordan Westburg, a five-run Toronto seventh inning proved decisive. Gunnar Henderson and Rutschman provided late RBI to keep it close, but the Orioles ultimately fell just short.

Following a travel day, Baltimore opened their interleague series against the Cubs on Friday with a tough 1-0 loss. Trevor Rogers was magnificent once again, pitching eight innings of one- run ball. The Orioles managed just two hits against Cubs rookie Cade Horton and three relievers, unable to capitalize on a ninth-inning threat.

Saturday brought redemption as the Birds rallied late for a thrilling 4-3 win. Trailing 3-0 in the eighth, Jordan Westburg singled home a run before Gunnar Henderson launched a dramatic three-run homer to put the Orioles ahead. Grant Wolfram earned the win in relief, and Keegan Akin locked down his first save with a tense ninth inning.

The Orioles fell in Sunday’s rubber match, losing 5-3 on a ninth-inning walk-off homer by Justin Turner. Baltimore had tied the game in the top of the inning on Ryan Noda’s clutch pinch-hit single, but Turner’s blast sealed the series win for Chicago. Brandon Young delivered a solid five-inning start for the Orioles despite the loss.

There were a few strong candidates for Player of the Week. Jordan Westburg helped pace the offense with a .444 average on the week including a homer, double and four RBI. On the mound Trevor Rogers continued his dominant streak with eight strikeouts over eight one-run innings and Corbin Martin was impressive out of the bullpen with 3.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts and one walk.

However the award this week goes to Gunnar Henderson, who has seen his power resurging recently. Gunnar batted .333 on the week with two homers and nine RBI, delivering several clutch hits, including the game-winner on Saturday.

Down on the Farm:

Norfolk --

- Beavers - .520OBP 3HR 5RBI SB 6BB

- Bradish - 6.2IP 7H 5ER 5K 1BB

Chesapeake --

- Estrada - .348AVG 2HR 3RBI 2B 3B BB

- Butterworth - .450AVG HR 4RBI

- German - 5.1IP 1R 2H 9K 2BB

- Gibson - 5IP 0ER 1H 6K 1BB

AAA Norfolk endured a difficult week against Memphis, going 2-4. Dylan Beavers continued to lead the offense with another impressive week, making a case for a promotion to the big leagues.

Beavers got on base at a .520 clip with three homers, five RBI and six walks on the week. Top prospect Samuel Basallo had a quieter week, but did manage to launch his 21st homer. On the mound, Kyle Bradish made his next rehab start in Norfolk, getting roughed up for five runs on seven hits, but the good news was his five strikeouts and making it through 6.2 innings.

AA Chesapeake struggled similarly, finishing 1-5 against New Hampshire. Newly-promoted Aron Estrada and new addition Brandon Butterworth both made immediate impacts. Estrada homered in back-to-back games, putting up a .348 average on the week while Butterworth posted a .450 average and his first homer for the club.

Pitching prospect Trey Gibson stood out with five dominant shutout innings, striking out six while allowing just one hit and one walk. Nestor German was impressive as well, striking out nine over 5.1 innings, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks.

Tomorrow here at #DMD, Randy takes an in-depth look at the O's trade acquisitions at last week's deadline and offers evaluations on all of the new baby Birds.

Sunday August 3, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3996

no need to go bananas over it

Unless you spent Friday and Saturday in a cave, you saw all of the uproar about the barnstorming Savannah Bananas "baseball" team setting up shop for two nights in Baltimore.

They played to two sold out stadiums at Oriole Park.

I have no idea who won the "games", if you will. I'm not sure that's even the point.

The big storyline humming around town has been the ultra-silly argument: Why can the Bananas sell out the stadium and the Orioles can't?

There are plenty of things to talk about when it comes to the Orioles and baseball and attendance, no two ways about it. But using the Bananas' ability to sell tickets as a way of criticizing the Major League team in town is just not a realistic connection.

The Orioles and the Savannah Bananas have nothing in common, at all, when it comes to justifying their importance by how many tickets are sold at the stadium.

That they both play "baseball" is even arguable. The Orioles actually play baseball games that matter. In a real league. The "realist" league of all, even.

The Bananas stage an entertainment event for 2 hours and 30 minutes that includes a form of baseball as part of its attraction.

I thought people were smart enough to realize that.

That the Bananas can sell out a baseball stadium of 45,000 is a true testament to their product, don't get me wrong. I'm in no way denigrating what they've done in producing a very wholesome, worthwhile event. I didn't get down to the stadium to see it myself, but only because my schedule got in the way.

But using the Bananas ability to sell out OPACY as a way of poking at the Orioles? Really lame.

The two products are totally different.

Now, if you want to suggest there's something wrong with the Orioles and/or Major League Baseball because, for example, the Birds couldn't sell out either playoff game last October, I'm all for that discussion. Let's have at it.

I remember last October having that very chat with my buddy Glenn Clark on his show and it was Clark's contention that no one in the country wants to watch the Wild Card series. I don't remember the exact stats, but there were only a handful of sold out stadiums for the Wild Card series and Baltimore, obviously, wasn't one of them.

I'm not here to say baseball is broken, although it's fair to point out that baseball itself has made some changes over the last couple of years to repair itself on the run, including altering the number of times a pitcher can be changed and implementing a "pitch clock" to speed up the game a little bit.

If we started a new baseball league tomorrow in this country, I don't think we'd just copy-and-paste Major League Baseball rules. For starters, we'd want to be different just for the sake of saying, "Look, it's baseball, but it's new and improved".

And we'd also want to put new rules into place to perhaps repair the cracks that baseball history has caused.

I'm just spitballing here, but a new baseball league might look like this:

7 inning games

Identification of a "marquee player" who can bat whenever he wants

Stadium configurations the same from city-to-city to create more uniformed statistics and data

Two foul balls count as a strike

No intentional walks

Home team gets four outs in the bottom of the 9th if they're trailing

It would still be "baseball", but with a twist.

Even if we don't consider baseball broken right now, I think we'd all admit there are things about it that are backwards but history won't allow us to change it.

The fact that a home run to right field at Fenway Park isn't a home run in Los Angeles or Seattle or Arizona seems odd from a statistical standpoint. That's just one example.

I've often said the easiest way to "fix" soccer in our country would simply be to eliminate the absolutely asinine offsides rule. That alone would create significantly more goal-scoring opportunities in every game.

Soccer should also take two players off the field and play 9 vs. 9 instead of 11 vs. 11.

There's this weird thought that Americans want to see "more scoring" with their sports events.

That's not true.

Americans want to see more "action". If you eliminated offsides and took two players off the field in soccer, you'd very naturally create more goals, but that's only because you'd first be quadrupling the amount of "action" in and around the goal area. There would also be more saves by the goalkeepers as well.

Hockey would be wise to do the exact same thing. Eliminate offsides and take a player off the ice. Voila! More action.

Hockey could also widen the goal by six inches each way or make the goaltenders wear reasonably sized pads like the old days.

If we re-invented baseball, we might either make every playing field smaller (325 feet everywhere, like a box instead of rounded, giving way to far more home runs) or every playing field larger (440 feet everywhere so there's more "space" for singles and doubles and "action" and less home runs).

I don't think we'd keep it the same as it is now. That is, if creating more "action" was the ultimate goal.

Anyway, back to the Bananas.

That they sold out the stadium in Baltimore says more about them and their marketing than it does about the Orioles and their failure to capture the city.

The Bananas were here for two nights, a Friday and a Saturday.

Why didn't they play in Charm City on a Tuesday and Wednesday?

We all know why.

Why did they pick August 1 and August 2?

Why not April 23 and April 24?

We all know why.

They hand-picked two great dates when the O's were out-of-town which, quite obviously, created the absolute perfect ticket-selling-storm.

The Orioles play 81 times. They play, at some point during the season, on every day of the week. Sometimes they play nine straight days at home. The crowds in those games might range from 15,000 to 35,000.

No matter what anyone wants to admit to in the front office, the reality is Major League Baseball is all about three things; day of the week, promotional give-away, weather.

If you have a Friday night in July and you're giving away a tee-shirt or a hat or a bobblehead, you're doing 35,000 or more.

If it's a Tuesday night in April, you're doing 12,000.

If the Bananas picked a Tuesday or Wednesday in April to invade Charm City, they wouldn't have welcomed 90,000 people over two nights.

If a locak movie theater ran "Gone With The Wind" for 10 straight nights, they'd sell out the place the first four nights, draw decent numbers the next four, and then the last two nights would be "family and friends" in the theater.

If you then aired "Happy Gilmore 2" at 8 pm and 11 pm the next night, it would be standing room only for the 8pm showing with a line outside the theater stretching for blocks for people wanting to get into the 11 pm showing of the comedy film.

Does that mean Happy Gilmore 2 is a better movie than Gone With The Wind?

The Orioles certainly have issues, attendance wise. With all due respect to my pal Glenn Clark, last October's tepid playoff attendance was proof positive of that. And while I will agree that other teams didn't sell out last October, I'm not necessarily worried about them.

Baseball in Baltimore has changed a lot over the last 25 years or so.

The downtown stadium was the right idea at the time, no two ways about it. While I don't subscribe to that silly notion that Oriole Park was "the stadium that changed baseball forever", there's no doubt putting the ballpark up in the Inner Harbor area was the right thing to do.

But if we were starting over today? Right now? And the money gods said, "Unlimited funds, put the stadium anywhere you want", it probably would go up somewhere off of I-83 just past Hayfields CC in Sparks.

That would not only be more convenient to everyone living north of the city, but it would also make it much easier for the folks in York, PA and areas in Southern PA.

The problems with the Orioles, though, extend far beyond the stadium. Does downtown Baltimore still have a "stigma" from a safety standpoint? Probably. But it shouldn't. I don't know that I'd go walking around Federal Hill or Charles Village at 1 in the morning by myself, but I'd have no problem walking around Federal Hill or Charles Village at 1 in the morning with 200 people walking along with me.

There's safety in numbers, in other words. People get concerned about going downtown, but they forget that while they're down there parking and walking there are thousands of others doing the same thing.

The Orioles have issues that are more about the Orioles and baseball in general than anything else.

Baltimore -- and Maryland -- broke up with the baseball team during that Decade of Despair from 2000 through 2010 or so. People got put off by the way the team was run, the losing that was taking place, and the way the organization handled themselves, from ownership down to the team's front office.

That relationship never really repaired itself. There have been some high points over the last dozen years, for sure. A new generation of O's fans are in Baltimore now. But even they aren't interested enough in the team or the sport to pack the stadium every night.

So let's not get suckered into thinking the Orioles are a bad product because a two night barnstorming entertainment event sold out the venue and the O's can't do the same thing.

The Orioles have their own problems, but the Bananas aren't one of them.

Saturday August 2, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3995

it was happy...but it wasn't good

As is almost always the case, the sequel just didn't exceed or match up to the original.

Rocky was great. Rocky 2 was good, but not as good as the first one.

The Hangover was belly-laugh funny almost from start to finish. The Hangover 2 had its moments for sure, but it wasn't anywhere as good as the first one.

Jaws was a generational flick that was memorable and outstanding. The second one? Ehhhh, it was OK.

Even Beverly Hills Cop fell victim to the same forumla. The first one was great. The second one was good.

Coming to America? The first one was awesome. Coming to America 2? Complete waste of time.

And now, Happy Gilmore can lay claim to the same result.

The first, original Happy Gilmore was awesome. Was it goofy and chaotic and a little unreal at times? Well, of course. 90% of movies contain moments that remind you they're not actually "real". But it was funny. Really funny.

Happy Gilmore 2 was pretty lame.

The sequel came out last week on Netflix and opinions have varied on it from coast-to-coast.

I did my best to avoid any reviews, but I knew the general make-up of the sequel. Happy tries to send his daughter to a dance school but first has to conquer the film's attempt at a PGA Tour-LIV Golf feud by defeating something called the Maxi Golf League.

I won't sit here and tell you not to watch Happy Gilmore 2. In fact, I'm probably going to wind up doing the exact opposite.

But I'm going to warn you in advance: It's borderline terrible.

My almost-18-year-old son was even halfway bored with it, and he likes and appreciates "goofy".

35 minutes into the movie, he looked over at me and said, "What do you think, Dad? It's pretty bad, huh?"

I think the film had a good premise, actually. I don't want to go into too much here because, honestly, I don't want to spoil it for those of you who are going to watch it.

But the premise they had in the palm of their hand (Happy's adult "breakdown" and his effort to return to the glory days) is the one they quickly dismissed, and the film instead turned into a weird storyline and a handful of cameo appearances by celebrities and professional golfers that included not nearly enough "funny" from those guys and gals.

Here's all you need to know about Happy Gilmore 2. The two funniest moments of the film were Xander Schauffele falling into a table during dinner and saying, "I think I have a fork stuck in my butt", to which Rickie Fowler shouted, "That's what she said!" and Scottie Scheffler getting arrested at a tournament for punching a fellow player and when the cops come out to the tee box to get him, Scheffler turns around, puts his hands behind his back and says, "I know the drill..."

Yeah, those were the funny moments. The really funny moments.

Adam Sandler is generally awesome, by the way. The original Happy Gilmore character was Sandler's Mona Lisa, acting wise. It was basically him, in real life, playing a goofy, unorthodoxed golfer in a film role.

Happy Gilmore 2 was not his Mona Lisa. Let's just leave it at that.

He looked bored, uninterested and, frankly, like a guy just trying to collect another $20 million for a film he didn't really believe in.

All that said...

If you liked the original, you have to watch Happy Gilmore 2.

It's going to be terrible.

But you have to watch it anyway.

First off, your mileage may vary on the movie. You might actually like it and find it funny.

You might think I'm being a harsh critic, even.

Or, like me, you might just laugh a few times and think, "Eh, they gave it a try. It didn't work, but they gave it a try nonetheless."

The good news? Unlike The Hangover series, who went three efforts deep before realizing they were out of ideas, there will definitely NOT be a Happy Gilmore 3.

The second one was the end of their ideas.

They should have stopped at the first one, though.

To borrow a golf term...Happy Gilmore 2 was a double bogey.

You can go ahead and open up your October calendar now. I mean, you have those three Ravens games in October I highlighted here a couple of weeks ago. Keep those dates open, for sure.

But as it relates to baseball in October, open up your calendar. There will be no games in Baltimore this fall.

The "second season" started yesterday with a 1-0 loss to the Cubs in Chicago.

Trevor Rogers was outstanding. He went 8 innings and allowed just 4 hits and 1 earned run. He couldn't really do anything more than he did.

For all the dismal and bad baseball we've watched thus far in 2025 and will no doubt continue to watch (maybe), Rogers has been a shockingly bright silver lining. He was awesome on Friday at Wrigley Field.

But the O's had 3 hits on the day. Three. In 9 innings.

Get used to it, kids. By "it", I mean the losing.

Now, settle in, grab a chair, and sit around me in a circle so I only have to say it once:

I was wrong.

I didn't think Mike Elias was going to dismantle the team in the fashion he did. I figured they'd move Mullins and maybe Morton or Eflin. And I thought there'd be a way to overcome those losses and still make a go of it in September.

Alas, they traded away four bullpen arms, four other valuable every-day-type players, and a starting pitcher.

They kept the core intact, which is awesome.

But the team as we knew it for the first four months of the season is kaput. Gone.

And their (remote) playoff hopes? They're gone, too.

So, these last two months will simply turn into "evaluation opportunities" for some of the new names and a chance for the core players to keep improving their games.

The final scores won't matter.

That's going to seem weird, but it's true.

The results of the games from now until the end of September simply won't matter.

I watched all or some of nearly every game this season up until Thursday's trade deadline. I still thought the games mattered.

I bet I won't watch 10 more games this season. I'll miss baseball.

The O's are 50-60 today. If they finish 65-97, it's the same as finishing 74-88. No one will care at all if they win 65 games or 74 games.

If they somehow completely flatline and finish with 65 wins, will you not go to games next April? You know they're going to lose. They know they're going to lose. We all know what's coming. Losing.

I'm not here saying what Elias did on Wednesday and Thursday was "wrong". I think he did the only thing he could do given the circumstances he created and, thus, was working with.

But the collateral damage from those nine departures is going to be very evident in both the standings and the attendance at the ballpark.

I don't think many people will be going to Oriole Park in August and September.

Why would you go, after all?

All you're going to see are 6-1, 8-2 and 11-3 losses night after night.

Friday August 1, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3994

fire sale for the future (?)

I feel like what we saw yesterday with the Orioles is similar to what we witness every April with the NFL Draft.

In other words, 32 of the smartest football people in America -- probably even the world -- pick college football players they feel will be great fits for their team.

And then we wait two or three years to see if they were correct in their various assessments.

Mike Elias got rid of six veteran players on Thursday in a whirlwind of activity that started late Wednesday evening and ended just before 6 pm with the departure of Charlie Morton to the Tigers.

It's not the "getting rid of" part that is concerning. Not for me, anyway.

It's the "what comes next?" part that is worthy of worry.

Mullins, O'Hearn and Morton are free agents at the end of the season. There's no telling where they'll be next year, although it's certainly possible that someone like O'Hearn could find himself back in Charm City given his production and the O's need for someone like him as a versatile bat and glove.

Losing them yesterday wasn't huge.

Laureano, Kittredge and Urias might have been part of the '26 team, although Laureano and Urias would have been part-timers at best.

Losing those three yesterday wasn't huge, either, although it's fair to point out that Laureano is having one of his best seasons ever and Urias is steady and reliable when pressed into duty.

But none of those six departures will cost the O's a chance to win the A.L. East next year.

The players they acquired, though? They might be part of the '27 or '28 edition of the O's that guns for a division title or wildcard playoff spot.

And that, much like the NFL Draft, is part of the unknown science that comes with taking a chance on athletes.

Trading known commodities for unproven prospects who probably have a 25% chance of ever making a real, multi-year contribution in the Majors is risky business indeed.

Some of the prospects -- particularly the ones acquired from San Diego for O'Hearn and Laureano -- appear to have significant promise if the ratings of the Padres' farm system are accurate.

But nothing's guaranteed. Nothing at all.

The last two months of the season will give people like Mayo, Dylan Carlson and perhaps even Heston Kjerstad the opportunity to prove they can handle the every day pressures of big league baseball.

Ryan Mountcastle is due back next week. He and Mayo will split the 1B/DH stuff for the rest of the season, one would assume.

Colton Cowser will move to centerfield, most likely, which means his defensive skills will be even more important. Tyler O'Neill isn't really a right fielder, even though he plays one on TV. And left field, previously occupied by Cowser, will now be open and available for an audition.

The logical choice there is Kjerstad, but his defensive skills are more of a liability than his work with a bat in his hand, if you can believe that.

This would also be the perfect time to give someone like Dylan Beavers -- the club's #3 rated prospect -- two months of "live" bullets, so to speak. Beavers could very well be part of the O's '26 opening day lineup. Let's see how he handles the action in August and September.

The biggest challenge moving forward for the O's comes in the pitching department.

They don't have any.

And there's not really any on the horizon, either.

They did acquire some arms in the flurry of deadline deals on Wednesday and Thursday, but none of them look like they're going to be the next Bob Gibson or Roger Clemens, let alone the next Chris Tillman or Dean Kremer.

Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells are both returning soon after year-long stints on the I.R. Trevor Rogers looks like he's legitimately going to hold his own moving forward. Kremer is on-again, off-again, but certainly not terrible.

Sugano is what he is -- a guy who will give up 2 or 3 runs in the first three innings and then give you three more decent innings and live to throw another day. He's not great. But he's useful.

Zach Eflin could have been dealt yesterday if not for the fact that he can't stay healthy. Someone will give him a 2 or 3 year deal this off-season. Let's just hope it's not the Orioles.

The pitching department in Baltimore is looking very shaky heading into the 2026 campaign.

The smart move for the rest of this year? Whenever the O's play, take the "over".

They're going to give up a lot of runs over the last two months of the season. And lose a lot of games, too, most likely.

Mike Elias did what he had to do yesterday. He took his 50-59 team and essentially dismantled the fringes of it, leaving a young, somewhat vulnerable core of players who will now take the baton from guys like O'Hearn and Mullins and try to guide the Birds back to the promised land.

Whether yesterday's deals are going to pave the way for future success remains to be seen.

If you believe in Mike Elias, you have to assume the prospects will eventually bloom into contributing big leaguers in Baltimore.

If you're not an Elias enthusiast, you'll wait around to say "I knew it!" when the prospects from the 2025 fire sale yield little to no favor at all.

I'll wait it out and see what happens, but only because I don't know either way if yesterday's deadline moves were solid or lousy. I won't say "I knew it!" because I simply don't know.

So to that end, I wasn't impressed or depressed by what I saw yesterday.

It's just the way baseball goes. You give up a few veterans every summer to re-stock your farm system and the cycle begins all over again.

And, yes, it does feel a little bit like that right now...starting over again.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

MLB Players of the Week for July 21-27 --

Pitcher: Sandy Alcantra of the Miami Marlins is looking like his former Cy Young self with an impressive week of tossing 12 innings allowing 7 hits, 3 walks, and no earned runs with 8 strikeouts while earning a win in both games he started.

Alcantra is another guy whose name was tossed around as someone who could be dealt, but in the end he stayed in Miami. His 6.38 ERA probably scared some teams off at the deadline. It's best for the Marlins that they keep him in Miami. The talent is still there, and he is capable of being one of the league’s best pitchers.

Position: Our old friend Manny Machado had a great week for the Padres. Manny batted .552 with 2 homers, 9 RBI, and a stolen base. Manny made some headlines earlier this week when he was jawing at an assistant coach for the Cardinals after the benches cleared.

No one knows what was said, but in the clip when everyone was appearing to calm down, Manny exploded out of nowhere and was going after Cardinals coach Jon Jay.

Manny and Jon are former teammates, and both grew up in Miami, so I’m not sure if there’s bad blood from the past that was brought up, but neither one shared what was said that escalated the situation.

As we’ve seen when Manny was an Oriole, he’s a fiery guy and has been the center of scrums more than a few times before. On the field for Manny, he still plays terrific 3rd base and is consistent as ever at the dish.

Manny and the Padres are 4 games back from the Dodgers and currently in the last Wildcard spot in the NL.

Rookie: Nick Kurtz of the Sacramento Athletics makes another appearance as the rookie of the week after a very strong week but more specifically, the historical performance he had last Friday against the Houston Astros.

Last Friday, Kurtz went 6 for 6 with 4 home runs, 8 RBIs, and had 19 total bases. We highlighted earlier this season when Eugenio Suarez of the Arizona Diamondbacks had a 4 homer game and became the 19th player in MLB history to do so. Kurtz now becomes the 20th player in MLB history after Friday’s game.

He also tied Shawn Green’s single game record for most total bases in a game with 19 however, Kurtz’s had on more RBI than Shawn Green when he set total bases in a game record.

No-one in baseball’s 150 year history has a player finished a game with at least 6 hits, 6 runs, and 8 RBI until last Friday.

There is a legitimate argument to be made here that this is the best single game performance the game of baseball has ever seen. I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on this. Do you think this is the best single game performance or does another come to mind?

If you play in a fantasy baseball league like myself, I would check in your league if Kurtz is available and add him now. Over the last month, Kurtz leads the league in homers with 12, 31 RBI, .402 average, .485 OBP, and .989 slugging. He’s making a name for himself and also making a strong case for AL Rookie of the year which his teammate, Jacob Wilson, was previously running away with, but now the race is tightening between the two.

Games of the Week --

Friday, August 1st: Detroit Tigers vs Philadelphia Phillies (Tarik Skubal vs Ranger Suarez)

Two of the best teams in the league square off for a weekend series in Philadelphia as the Tigers look to get back on track and get out of their recent slump. The Tigers will have Skubal on the bump who continues to look like the best pitcher in baseball. Luckily for the Phillies, they will have one of their 3 Cy Young candidates scheduled to start in Ranger Suarez. The Phillies are slightly behind the Mets in the NL East but have been playing good baseball as they are 6-4 in their last 10. The NL East race is shaping up to be neck and neck all the way to the end of the season.

Saturday, August 2nd: Houston Astros vs Boston Red Sox: Colton Gordon vs Walker Buehler

This is a big series for the Houston Astros who are starting to lose their lead in the AL West as the Mariners are only 4 games back and have already made some moves such as acquiring Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks. The Red Sox are still holding onto a Wildcard spot but for now they aren’t in the last Wildcard spot. Both the Astros and Red Sox are 5-5 over their last 10 and both would love to go on nice winning streak.

Sunday, August 3rd: Kansas City Royals vs Toronto Blue Jays: (Seth Lugo vs Chris Bassitt)

The Royals need to get going in a hurry if they want to have a chance at another playoff run this October as they are 4 games back from the Wildcard. They will have Seth Lugo on the bump who has been solid this year and just recently signed a 2-year extension to stay in Kansas City. They will face the Blue Jays who have been hot but have cooled off in their series vs the Os as the Orioles took 3 out of 4. I do like Chris Bassitt and thinks he’s better than his 4.24 ERA. He’s won 11 games this season so he’s definitely doing something right when it’s his turn in the rotation.

faith in sports

This might be the best thing you'll ever watch.

It's 8 minutes long.

Ernie Johnson, the beloved basketball commentator, is a Christian who lost his son, Michael, four years ago.

In the video, Johnson talks about a high school basketball coach and his son.

I don't want to say anything else about it. I would just ask that you take 8 minutes today to watch it.

God is great, indeed.

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

Thursday July 31, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3993

I'll have a lot more to say about today's trade deadline activity in tomorrow's edition of #DMD, but one thing is abundantly clear from the deals Mike Elias engineered over the last 24 hours.

He has punted on the 2025 season.

And he has clearly turned the future of the franchise over to five players; Holliday, Gunnar, Adley, Westburg and Mayo.

Now, what use the O's get out of the players they acquired in the trade deadline frenzy is another story. No one really jumps out at this point as a bonafide, "he's going to be a stud" type of Major League player.

The guess here is a few of those guys will have cups of coffee in Baltimore someday and the others will be names you've forgotten about by the time the 2028 season rolls around. That's usually the way trade deadline deals work.

But that occasional diamond in the rough surfaces. And that's why teams like the Orioles stock up on prospects. If one or two of them pans out into the next Cedric Mullins or Charlie Morton, then you made the right deal.

The 2025 season, though, is definitely no longer of interest to Mike Elias.

Last year, remember, they acquired players at the deadline. This year, they had a fire sale.

I'm not here to bash Mike Elias. He had to move O'Hearn, Mullins and Morton. Laureano, Urias, Kittredge? They didn't have to be moved. But like I wrote here earlier today, the heart says "keep those guys" but the head says "we can do better than those guys".

If I were going to bash Elias on anything at all, it would center on quitting on the team with two full months of baseball remaining. They could have traded the three veteran free agents and at least attempted to add a veteran or three to help navigate their way through the last 50'ish games.

Alas, Elias simply cashed in his chips and that was that.

The 2025 season is over in his eyes.

That said, that's why he makes the big bucks and we sit here and opine on his moves.

If he knows what he's doing, these deals will help the team get better.

It might not even be 2026 when they improve. These deals today might not yield fruit until 2027 or even 2028.

But will Elias see those years in Baltimore?

That's the biggest question of all.

---

urias, kittredge gone overnight

I probably will not do this right today.

I mean, from the perspective of owning an internet-based business that focuses on "chatter", I probably need to be howling from the rooftops about how Mike Elias basically "gave away" Ramon Urias and Andrew Kittredge overnight.

That's what most of the folks on the web have done over the last 8 hours.

Like I said, I'm probably going to get this wrong this morning.

The great Jay-Z once said in a song, "You know why they call a project a project, 'cuz it's a project."

They call baseball players prospects at the beginning of their career because they're all prospects. We're all babies at some point in real life. Every single one of us, no matter how big and bad and brave we become as adults, had to have our diapers changed when we were little because we couldn't do it ourselves.

Mike Trout was a "prospect" at one point. He turned out to be pretty good at baseball.

The Birds shipped Ramon Urias off to Houston late last night, picking up a reasonable pitching prospect in Twine Palmer along the way. I know names don't strike anyone out but "Twine" is certainly interesting and once upon a time, another "Palmer" turned out to be a decent pitcher for the Orioles.

A lot of folks were bellyaching about Elias "doing his old club a solid" and how Palmer for Urias was out-of-balance.

Maybe.

But I'm not going to be the bellyaching about it and doing the "website owner is outraged" thing today. Urias is a good baseball player, yes. He's actually one of those "plays like a Raven" type of dudes who can hit reasonably well and fields his position extremely well.

I think every team needs a Ramon Urias on their team, frankly.

That said, as long as Jordan Westburg stays healthy (I know you're snickering right now, you're entitled to), there's really no place for Urias to play in Baltimore. And, unlike Jorge Mateo, who, when he was healthy, really wasn't anything more than a bench warmer who started every Sunday game and then pinch-ran two or three times during the week, Urias deserves more than to ride the pine in my opinion.

In other words, to me, losing him hurts in the heart, but not in the head. It's OK to let him go.

And if Twine Palmer turns into something similar to, say, Dean Kremer somewhere down the road, O's fans will be looking back on Urias-for-Palmer with great delight.

I have no idea what's going to happen. So I'm not going to whine about it.

The O's sent Andrew Kittredge to the Cubs overnight as well. So far, no one knows what they got in return.

I can't imagine it's much of anything, frankly. Maybe Elias owed the Cubs a favor from a time gone by. I have no idea.

I traded for a player once when I was in the soccer business and I almost certainly got the better end of the deal, originally, because the team I got him from was shedding payroll and didn't really want a player as part of the deal with-a-contract-attached. They asked for money originally and I said "no", so it was processed as "future considerations" with the league office and media.

"Just remember me down the road when I need something from you," the Cincinnati GM said to me.

The team went out of business and I never got to repay the favor, but I certainly would have done my best to hold up my end of the bargain in the future.

Maybe that's what is going on with Kittredge. I don't know. But either way, I can't see the O's getting much in return for the right handed relief pitcher.

Kittredge was signed for $9 million for 2025 with a club option for $9 million next year. I get it, $9 million in today's baseball world is sorta-kinda chopped liver, but I think the O's can be more resourceful with his $9 million in 2026.

If you came here today to see me jump up and down about how Elias sucks and he doesn't know what he's doing and "no wonder we're not going anywhere with this dude running the show", I'm going to disappoint you.

We're losing guys that pretty much didn't matter in the long haul. I like Urias, but he's not going to be the World Series MVP anytime soon. And Kittredge is just a guy who throws a baseball. There's really no need to fret over losing those two guys.

Now, had the O's dealt away Felix Bautista the way the Twins sent their closer to Philly yesterday, we'd be having a legit conversation about what we got in return for Bautista.

By the way, I probably would have done that deal with the Phillies for Bautista, but that's a story for another day.

In the end, Elias is trading away very expendable pieces and getting a little something in return. We'll hopefully still be here in 2026 and 2027 evaluating the deals in full and grading the GM on his expertise at that point.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

Today marks one of the most exciting days on the calendar for baseball fans which is the MLB trade deadline.

Clubs will need to make tough decisions and part ways with players to help their teams contend for a World Series or to bring in young prospects to rebuild for the future.

If you are looking to bring in premium talent to help contend for the World Series, has your team done enough to do so? Or if you are selling, are you satisfied with the return you got from one of your players that you parted ways with?

Of course, all of these questions are speculative at the time of the trade, and nobody knows for sure how things will pan out. We’ve seen many times before how buyers at the deadline have been burned from the prospects they’ve dealt to acquire a major league rental.

What always comes to mind for me is when the Chicago White Sox traded away Fernando Tatis Jr. for former Padres Starting Pitcher, James Shields. Shields was not particularly successful for the White Sox, and Tatis Jr. has evolved into a superstar over the past few seasons for San Diego.

It’s a fine line MLB GMs have to walk. Even if you think you have a full grasp of the prospect you’re trading, you just never know what they will amount to in the future.

In this week’s segment, we’ll take a look at some of the top trade candidates and attempt to predict a landing spot for each player. To make it a little more fun, why not make a game of it? To keep score, if you predict one of the players below will be traded, give yourself 5 points. If you predict they won’t be traded and they aren’t, give yourself 5 points. If you predict the team the player gets traded to, give yourself another 5 points.

Before we get into it, I would also like to share my condolences to the Sandberg family as Chicago Cub Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg passed away earlier this week at the age of 65. Sandberg was loved by Cubs fans for his outgoing personality and his elite performance on the field.

Off the field, he was truly a first-class human being and a family man who greatly impacted the lives around him. He was a role model for the young players in the clubhouse and a great teammate who kept things light and inspired others. Ryne Sandberg’s legacy and impact on the game of baseball will never be forgotten, and his family and friends will be in our thoughts and prayers.

Now onto the top trade candidates we could potentially see dealt today.

1. Eugenio Suarez – Arizona Diamondbacks 3rd baseman.

We’ve talked about Suarez a lot over the course of this season and know he’s been a name linked to many teams.

Earlier this week, there was a scare when Suarez was hit in the hand by a pitch and had to leave the game. Luckily, the X-rays were negative for any breaks as teams looking to acquire Suarez all exhaled.

Suarez will be dealt today and even though he is a free agent next season, so many teams want him there will be a prospect bidding war, and the winner will most likely go to whoever has the deepest farm system.

The more I watch this Milwaukee Brewers team, the more I like them. They just won a series against their division rival Chicago Cubs and are playing great baseball.

They have the pitching staff to go on a deep run. When we discussed the Brew Crew last week, we highlighted how they play a lot of small ball and don’t rely heavily on extra base hits.

I think the Brewers are going all in this year and want to add a power hitter to their small ball lineup and will do whatever it takes to bring in one of the top power hitters in the league.

Trade Prediction – Suarez gets traded to the Milwaukee Brewers

2. Jhoan Duran – Minnesota Twins closer

The Twins flame throwing closer can solve a lot of bullpen issues for many teams. As we all know, you can never have too many bullpen arms.

Duran is having a solid season in Minnesota with a 2.01 ERA and 16 saves. Earlier this week Twins fans thought their star closer was traded as Duran was seen on camera walking around the bullpen and hugging his teammates which appeared to be him saying goodbye.

Duran was in fact not traded which brought relief to Twins fans. I guess he just needed a hug that day or maybe it’s his pregame ritual/superstition, but what looked like him saying his final goodbyes was indeed not the case.

The Phillies are a solid team but have spots that need upgrades. The biggest holes are center field and their bullpen, especially after their closer Jose Alvarado was suspended earlier this year and won’t be eligible for the playoffs.

Duran is a perfect fit. He won’t be cheap though as he still has 2 years left of team control, so it will come at a cost to move him.

I’ll throw in one more name here that I wouldn’t consider a top trade candidate but nonetheless a solid player: Cedric Mullins.

Mullins, as we all know, plays gold glove caliber center field and does have some pop on offense. The Phillies have close to zero production coming from center field right now.

Mullins would be a great fit in Philly. In regard to our trade deadline game, we’ll include Mullins for our scorekeeping.

Final Prediction - Mullins and Duran traded to Philadelphia.

(Editor's note: Duran was traded to Philadelphina on Wednesday. This story was filed with #DMD early Wednesday morning.)

3. Mitch Keller – Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher

Like bullpen arms, many teams would love to add a quality starter to solidify their rotation, and Keller is the perfect guy to do that. Keller is having a career year with a 3.53 ERA, and the Pirates will be selling anything they have to bring in more impact bats to their lineup.

Keller is under contract for 3 more years, which totals $55 million. This could make teams hesitant to take on that contract and risk, but for clubs with higher payrolls, that won’t be a problem.

The Boston Red Sox are in the middle of the Wildcard race and their rotation has a big dropoff behind Garrett Crochet. Keller is a perfect fit to fill that void and provide quality innings for the Red Sox which will be crucial down the stretch.

Final Prediction – Keller gets traded to Boston Red Sox

4. Ryan O’Hearn – Baltimore Orioles 1st Baseman/DH

As Ben McDonald calls him, “Turn and Burn O’Hearn”, has been a fan favorite since coming to the Orioles and has completely turned his career around.

From being picked up on waivers by the Orioles to being a pinch hitter to now an everyday player, he’s really made a name for himself in Charm City.

It’s going to be tough to see O’Hearn go. He’s a veteran leader in the clubhouse and when times were really tough earlier this season, he never gave up on the team.

Many teams could use Ryan O’Hearn. He is a terrific left-handed hitter and plays solid 1st base. I don’t expect a huge return for him as he becomes a free agent this offseason.

I would have originally picked O’Hearn to go to the Mariners but since they acquired 1st baseman Josh Naylor, that landing spot closes up. I’d like to see O’Hearn go to the Houston Astros where he can play in his home state and have a great chance of winning a World Series.

Christian Walker, the Astros current 1st baseman, has been playing somewhat disappointing with a .238 average and 115 strikeouts in 390 at bats.

O’Hearn is an upgrade there, or they can use him as a DH. Wherever O’Hearn plays for the Astros, it’s a great all around fit.

Final Prediction: O'Hearn gets traded to the Houston Astros

Tomorrow here at #DMD, we'll look at Jack's Players of the Week and preview an exciting weekend of baseball ahead.

Wednesday July 30, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3992

#dmd orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm, including multiple previous winners, but this week we have chosen a new honoree in outfielder Nate George.

George, 19 (turned 19 in June) is currently ranked as the 5th best prospect in the Orioles’ system per MLB Pipeline. He was selected in the 16th round of last year’s MLB Draft out of Minooka Community HS (Minooka, IL) and has been extremely impressive in his first professional season.

Last week, he continued to produce at the dish hitting .370 (10-27) with a triple, three RBI and two walks to go along with four stolen bases as well. He added four runs scored to go along with posting a .414 OBP and .858 ops over seven games.

The performance was a continuation of a terrific debut season. George began the season, like many 18 year olds do, with the Orioles’ Florida Gulf Coast league team down in Sarasota. It took all of 23 games before the O’s made the decision to promote him up to the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds.

Over his 23 games in the Florida Gulf Coast League, George posted an incredible line with a .383 batting average, .451 OBP and 1.006 OPS. He hit three home runs, a double, two triples, scored 20 runs and knocked in 14 RBI over 92 plate appearances. Once he got the call to Delmarva, George did not slow down one bit. Over 33 games with the Shorebirds, he has hit .336 with 13 extra-base hits, 19 RBI and 21 stolen bases.

It was evident that the Orioles really liked George as they signed him well over-slot with a $455,000 signing bonus after selecting him in the 16th round last year. The tools are there with some development along the way, but one thing the O’s will not have to develop is his speed as the dude can flat out fly. He’s obviously not in the current outfield conversation that the Orioles are about to go through for the rest of this season, but I expect George to likely finish this season with Delmarva, though a late-season call up to Aberdeen could be in the cards as well. Keep an eye on this young outfielder.

Lastly, we do want to give a hat-tip to fellow prospects Trey Gibson (Chesapeake) and Ryan Cabarcas (Aberdeen) who each won their respective league’s Pitcher of the Week honors for their performances last week.

This "Happy Hour" contribution was provided by Josh Michael.

Well, that was a tough one today at the steamy baseball stadium in downtown Bawlmer. It looked promising for a while after the O's jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

The brooms were brought in from the trailers in the parking lot, but, alas, they went unused.

The Birds ultimately fell to the "other Birds" from Toronto, 9-8, snapping their modest 5-game winning streak and going from chopping 4 games out of the Jays' advantage over to them to just 2 games. Weird how the math works like that. One game costs you two, basically.

Maybe we should have dealt Yennier Cano to the Blue Jays instead of Seranthony Dominguez, huh?

All in all, though, taking 3 of 4 from the supposed best team in the division is a nice way to end the month of July.

It was an odd setting in the clubhouse after the game as both Ryan O'Hearn and Cedric Mullins appeared on the verge of getting emotional while discussing the possibility of being dealt to a new team within the next 24 hours.

It's one thing to get traded. It's another thing to sorta-kinda know you're going to get traded but nothing is happening and every time your phone dings you break out in a cold sweat and hope you don't look down to see a text message from the ID: MIKE ELIAS.

Over the last 24 hours, these names have been bandied about on the internet by industry experts who offer the caveat of, "Don't be surprised if this guy gets traded by the Orioles":

O'Hearn, Mullins, Morton, Bautista. Rutschman (I know, some people are crazy), Laureano, O'Neill (yeah, right), Eflin, Akin, Cano (not after today) and Sugano.

My guess? Zero, one, two or three of those guys go. They're not trading Bautista, they're not trading Adley, they're not trading O'Neill and they're not trading Sugano.

I could see a scenario where a few guys in that remaining group get moved, but as I said on Glenn Clark Radio today, I also wouldn't be surprised if Elias doesn't get enough value for any of them and just stands pat and rides out the 2025 season as is.

Eli in Towson e-mailed me this afternoon and asked what the betting odds are on Elias making at least two trades either today or tomorrow.

I have no idea. Maybe (-210) that one trade gets made and (-160) that two get made?

And maybe +120 that three or more get made?

I mean, they're trading someone I assume. But it does feel weird that it's Wednesday at 5 pm and no one has been dealt today.

John Harbaugh told the media today that both Isaiah Likely and Zay Flowers will miss time after suffering training camp injuries.

The news on Likely is not good after the talented tight end suffered an injury on the final play of practice on Tuesday.

He'll need surgery on his foot and will be out roughly 6-8 weeks. It doesn't appear to be a Lisfranc injury or anything "serious" like that, but his status for the season opener is certainly up in the air.

Flowers, Harbaugh said, "has a camp thing" and will miss an undisclosed amount of time. Your guess on that is as good as mine.

That could be anywhere from a season-ending ACL injury to a bunion on his toe that is giving him trouble.

Flowers could return next Monday or he might miss the whole season. Harbs doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to detailing the severity of injuries.

This contribution for "Happy Hour" was submitted by the site owner himself, who is here to remind you, "Keep your October open, you quitter."

---

"they just look...different"

If this 2025 baseball season doubled as a horse race, you can hear Larry Collmus describing the action like this:

"And now, from off the pace, it's the Orioles, moving up with great intention, picking off horses along the way."

There's still a lot of horse race remaining, that's true. But the O's are now looking spirited and enthusiastic, as opposed to listless and pedestrian. They're suddenly looking like they might be a factor in this thing after all.

The naysayers will sit back and dismiss what's happened over the last two days. I get it. It's three wins. Toronto was due to drop a few, the analysts will say.

But ever since Friday's heartbreaking home loss to lowly Colorado, the Orioles look different. Even the most ardent hater of the team would have to agree with that statement. There's a different "appearance" about the club, if you will.

Winning, they say, is contagious.

So, too, is losing.

But when you're winning and things are going your way, sometimes all you have to do is show up and put your best foot forward and things work out in your favor.

Take the final at-bat of last night's doubleheader sweep over Toronto. Corbin Martin vs. Bo Bichette, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and two outs. Who are you taking in that exchange? Bichette every time. Every. Single. Time.

And with a 3 and 2 count, Bichette was assuming Martin was going to throw something strike-worthy or else the bases would be loaded. Instead, a 96 mile per hour fastball ripped out of Martin's hand and about 2 feet above the strike zone.

Ball four. Bases loaded. Heartbreaking loss on the horizon.

Except Bichette swung at the ball up around his eyes and that was the ballgame.

When you're winning, those are the breaks you get. When you're losing, Bichette takes ball four and the next guy up laces a double down the left line to plate all three runners.

Things are starting to roll in favor of the O's.

They're 50-58 now. I said a week or two back one of the keys for the Birds would be reaching 50 wins before they reached 60 losses. Well, they managed to do that.

Next up on the "need to" chart is getting to 60 wins before they get to 65 losses. If they can somehow do that and be 60-65 with 37 games remaining, who knows where they might finish?

Yes, I'm still being overly optimistic. You might even be right in saying I'm overly, overly optimistic. I'd sign off on that.

Even at 50-58, they still have to go 36-18 to finish 86-76. That's obviously VERY good baseball, from any team. But it's certainly not impossible baseball. It can be done.

Now, for all we know later today the O's ship out O'Hearn, Mullins and/or Morton. Maybe Eflin goes, too. Who knows?

But there's also a chance the Birds "buy" a decent player or two over the next day or two, even with those pending free agents finding new teams for the last two and a half months of the season.

Seranthony Dominguez got the ultimate embarrassing pink slip yesterday when the O's dealt him to Toronto in between games, effectively saying, "We're so excited to get rid of you that we're willing to face you in about three hours."

Other than that, and the previous two deals involving Baker and Soto, Mike Elias has been quiet this month. That might change tomorrow and Thursday. Or Elias could be watching this recent surge unfold and think to himself, "Hmmmm, maybe we do have something here after all."

After today's game with the Blue Jays, the Birds head off to the road for six vs. the Cubs (3) and Phillies (3). They're back home after that to host the Athletics (3) and Mariners (3). Can they go 9-3 in those 12? That would be huge. 8-4 would be good. 7-5 doesn't help much.

This horse race isn't over yet. There's still heavy traffic ahead and it might be true...there was just too much ground to make up after the slow start.

But the Orioles are starting to move up. With great intention, even.

Something's going on. These Birds just look "different".

The situation involving two Guardians pitchers under investigation for ties to gambling shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. Not because it's Luis L. Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase in specific. But the ability to make quick, easy money is just too, well, quick and easy to make.

Sure, it seems weird that baseball players making $5 million a year (Clase) would do something stupid like involve themselves in a situation where perhaps their yield out of the whole thing is a "paltry" $100,000. But wait. Do that once a week or once every two weeks and then see what you have after 26 weeks.

And if you're somehow "only" making $1.5 million or so, those $100,000 envelopes make a real impact.

I know what you're thinking: "A $10,000 envelope would make a real impact, too." I hear ya on that.

Anyway, there are almost certainly more of these stories to come. Gambling has essentially taken over baseball. And every other sport.

I'm not accusing Bo Bichette of anything when I say this. But.......

That 3rd strike he swung at to end last night's game certainly had the look of a suspicious strikeout. I don't think Bichette was involved in anything nefarious. Not at all. But with these gambling stories floating around, every "odd" thing that happens in a game is going to be over analyzed now.

When you can bet on what the next at-bat will produce or how many strikeouts the starting pitcher is going to have or anything where one person can directly influence the outcome, all you're asking for there are entpreneurs with access to a player or two to ask them, discreetly, "How would you like to make an extra $25,000 today in a way that virtually no one can detect?"

"Oh, you mean all I have to do is walk the first batter of the inning and I get 25 grand? Just walk the first dude? That's it? Sign me up, bro."

It's just too easy.

"I don't have to lose the game on purpose or anything like that? I can just walk a dude in the 2nd inning and I get 25 grand? I'll do that every game I pitch."

Well, it would be easy if not for these nerds who sit in their basement and chart every single pitch of every single game know what the odds are of Emmanuel Clase (example) throwing a slider into the dirt tonight when he hasn't thrown one slider in the dirt all season.

And, so, when Clase throws another pitch in the dirt two nights from now, the alarms go off.

You used to be able to just "not have it tonight" and the manager would come out, grab the ball, pat you on the butt and say, "Just not your night big guy" and that would be it.

No one would say anything about it. No one would bring up that you haven't walked three straight batters in almost four years or that your first-pitch strike ratio was 78% until your last three outings when you suddenly slipped to 63% in that category.

It used to just be that you were allowed to have an off night or two and no one would bat an eye.

But that ship has sailed. All gone.

I don't follow the Blue Jays at all. So I have no idea about Bo Bichette's habits at the plate. But does he always swing at crazy pitches like the one that ended the game last night? Or was that a first from him last night? Hmmmmmmmm.

Again, I'm not here to say Bichette was up to no good last night. I think he wanted to slap a ball into right field and give Toronto the lead and he swung at a bad pitch. If he wanted to strike out intentionally, he would done that without swinging at a pitch above his eyes.

But once upon a time some dude behind the Astros dugout was banging on a trash can to alert Houston hitters what pitch they were about to see.

My point?

Never say "never". As in, "A team would never resort to banging on trash cans to cheat and win" -- or -- "Bo Bichette would never intentionally strike out."

Now, granted, the Astros were trying to win while the two Guardians pitchers were apparently trying to make some extra money. They are certainly two different things.

But one thing for certain: gambling and cash money are two dangerous bed mates.

I don't think Bichette was involved in anything weird last night, but I bet the Guardians were surprised when they first heard of Clase's involvement in the gambling investigation.

Then again, didn't Clase give up three big homers in last year's A.L. playoffs?

Hmmmmmmm...

Wait, he'd never do "that", right? Not in the playoffs...

The final regular season PGA Tour event of the year starts tomorrow in Greensboro, NC and some big names are in a precarious spot with 36 or 72 holes remaining in their campaign.

The top 70 players after Sunday's final round of the Wyndham get to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs and keeps their TOUR card for 2026, which is a huge benefit to anyone who finishes 70th or better in the standings.

If you fall outside of the top 70, you'll also have to fight to keep your TOUR card for next season, although there will be a few fall events to help accrue additional points in that chase to finish inside the top 100.

Look at the list of those from 60 through 70 heading into tomorrow's first round.

60. Tony Finau

61. Rickie Fowler

62. Davis Riley

63. Kevin Yu

64. Erik van Rooyen

65. Nico Echavarria

66. Emiliano Grillo

67. Cam Davis

68. Patrick Rodgers

69. Ben An

70. Matti Schmid

While none of those players has ever won a major championship (yes, we're looking at you two, Tony and Rickie), you're talking about 10 highly accomplished players who all have their work cut out for them to make the FedEx Cup playoffs this year.

Finau and Fowler can clinch without help this weekend with solo 23rd (Finau) and 12th place (Fowler) finishes. Anything worse than that for those two and they'll need others outside of the top 70 to play poorly and help keep them inside the magic number.

This is a huge weekend on the PGA Tour, particularly for anyone hoping to catch fire for the playoffs.

Finau and Fowler are the two biggest names on the bubble for sure, but there are some outside the top 70 who are big names and in danger of missing the playoffs.

Among them are Gary Woodland (75th), Adam Scott (85th), Tom Kim (89th) and Max Homa (106th).

Imagine a FedEx Cup playoffs where those four and stars like Finau and Fowler aren't playing in two weeks in Memphis.

This is also begins the stretch run for Ryder Cup evaluations. Although the field in Greensboro is very average by TOUR standards, there are a handful of players with captain's pick hopes playing the Wyndham. Most notably, Ben Griffin, a 2-time winner this year who is currently inside the top 12, could really help his cause with solid play in Greensboro.

Jake Knapp might be on Keegan's radar as well. He's playing in Greensboro.

Both Finau and Fowler, in a fight just to keep their TOUR card, would have to do something magical both this week and in the playoffs to make Bradley consider using a pick on one or both of them.

Interestingly enough, Keegan Bradley was Ben Griffin two years ago. He had won twice in the '23 season and was considered my many to be a favorite for a captain's pick, but was bypassed by Zach Johnson.

Bradley knows the disappointment of that call he took from Johnson. Could that work in Griffin's favor this time around?

Greensboro will start answering that question, tomorrow.

Tuesday July 29, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3991

don't let us get hot...

Just as the O's were finishing off opening up a can of you-know-what on the Blue Jays last night in Baltimore, I wandered into a place on Coastal Highway in Ocean City in search of a late cup of good coffee.

There's "coffee" and then there's "good coffee". If you know, you know.

Anyway, the O's game was on and it was the top of the 9th inning.

Julian assured me the coffee was excellent and off he went to prepare it.

To my right was an older fellow, probably around my age, and he was wearing an Orioles tee-shirt with "1" and "Roberts" on the back.

"That's a collector's item," I said, pointing to his shirt. "And it still fits!" I added with a laugh.

He smiled and tugged at it. "I only wear it when I'm down here."

Richard is in Columbia most of the time but has a place on 134th Street in Ocean City and just bought his "forever home" in Charleston, SC in early June. He's moving down there full-time in September.

"I'll miss the O's but won't miss the taxes in Maryland. Scandalous..." he said as his voice trailed off.

As some dude named Kade Strowd put the finishing touches on the O's 11-4 win on the TV in front of us, I said, "Don't let us get hot!"

I said it to myself, mostly. I wasn't saying it to engage Richard in a conversation or anything. It was just something to say as Bo Bichette grounded into a game-ending double play to end his night with 4 hits in 5 at bats.

Richard laughed. "This team has been cooked since May when they fired the manager," he said with a snort.

"They kind of had to do that," I said. "It was either that or fire 20 players. And they couldn't do that."

My new friend looked over at me with a look that said, "You're kidding, right?"

"It was either fire the manager or fire the wonderkid general manager," Richard shot back. "And the GM is the one who fired the manager to save himself."

I paused for a second to think back. "Wasn't 'Wonderkid' what they called Nate in Ted Lasso?"

I considered shifting the conversation to Ted Lasso at that point. "Hey, did you hear they're doing season 4 of 'Ted'?", I might have asked. I really didn't feel like sifting through the rubble of the O's season with this dude that I was only meeting because I wanted a coffee on a warm Monday night at the beach.

But before I could change the moment, Richard hopped back in. "Elias is a bum," he said. "At first I thought he was a younger Andy MacPhail. Now I think he's a guy who lucked into this position and wasn't ready for it. He was the perfect assistant GM. Some people aren't cut out for the top role. They're better being second in charge."

I didn't even get the chance to say anything before he roared on.

"You watch and see, this week will come and go and we're not trading away anyone," Richard predicted. "O'Hearn will still be here, Mullins will still be here, O'Neill will still be here. The pitchers will be here. Get rid of the Japanese pitcher, he's soft. Get rid of Morton. Take some damn risks."

Richard rolled on. "Elias forgets that in baseball you're either in first or last. And if you're in last, you should stay there until you're first. Like a few years ago when he first got here and hired Brendan (sic) Hyde. They were awful and then they made it back to the top and that was great."

Editor's note: I'm about 95% sure he called the ex-O's manager "Brendan Hyde". I found that curiously odd. He repeated it one other time and I tried to coax him into saying "Hyde" one more time to see if he said "Brendan" or "Brandon" but he only called him "Hyde". So, Richard, if you happen to be reading this...were you saying "Brendan" or "Brandon" last night?

I finally got a word in.

"No one is taking O'Neill," I said. "I think we were the only team dumb enough to sign him and that's only because we thought he'd hit 25 homers in Baltimore off of left-handed pitchers."

"OK, but what about the others?" he shot back.

"I don't know. I mean, sure, it seems reasonable to think O'Hearn, Morton and Mullins would go somewhere," I say. "But, I don't know, maybe Elias thinks they still have one more run in them."

Julian brought me the coffee I came in for and I was happy to pay and roll out.

Richard looked at me and smiled, "You can't be serious," he said. "This team is cooked. They won a game tonight, big whoop-dee-dooo. They won't win another game in this series. Maybe one at the most. You really think they can make a run?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess that depends on what we both think a "run" is but yes, I think they can sneak their way back to somewhere around .500 heading into September. And if they do that, who knows?"

"I'll have whatever he's drinking in that coffee," Richard said to Julian and a younger female server behind the counter. "What did you put in there, tequila?"

"Just remember me if they make a run," I said as I doctored my coffee with cream and sugar. "Remember that crazy guy you met the night they beat up on Toronto who told you it was possible."

They call Maryland 'The Land of Pleasant Living' and rightfully so, especially when you're at the beach. There's probably never been a better description of a place -- OK, maybe calling Las Vegas "Sin City" was equally appropriate -- than to call Maryland 'The Land of Pleasant Living'.

In another life, sometime a couple of hundred years from now, I'll live and work at a beach resort in Maryland or Delaware. I could see myself owning a golf-themed bar or restaurant in Dewey or Ocean City. I love the six months of hustle and bustle and the six months of recovering and preparing that goes into "beach life".

People like Richard are awesome to meet. They are, truly, the folks at the end of the bar that John Harbaugh once referenced.

There's a late 50's guy, maybe even older, wearing a Brian Roberts tee-shirt from probably 15 or 20 years ago, still rooting for the Orioles, but confined to his dislike for a general manager he's (probably) never met and never once discussed baseball with, even.

But he's loved the team forever (I assume) and, like me and everyone else, just wants to see another World Series game in Baltimore at some point, any point, before we expire.

The losing, though, gets old. And even though last night was wonderful to see, it can't make up for 2008 or 2018 or 2025, even. There's just been so much losing over the last 25 years that even people like Richard can't cling to the fact that maybe, just maybe, this Orioles team has a miracle in them.

I walked back to our place enjoying my coffee and enjoying the win over Toronto. Richard might be right. They might lose tonight, the O's that is, and they might wind up losing 3 of 4 or splitting the 4 games with the Blue Jays.

But I'll keep clinging to the fact that they might win 3 of 4 this week and they might go on a nice little run over the next 2 weeks and somehow be, say 60-65 in a few weeks.

Last night was only the 6th time all season they had their true young "core" on the field on the same night as starters. Six times. All season. Six times with Henderson, Westburg, Cowser, Adley and Holliday.

So, I'm still here. Not quitting yet, no matter what Richard (and others) think.

Now, maybe today they trade away O'Hearn and Ced and Morton. And that would change things for sure. But until then, I'll assume Mike Elias feels the same way I do.

"Don't let us get hot..."

Monday July 28, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3990

"how do you sleep at night?"

The best baseball hitter of my lifetime got inducted into the Hall of Fame yesterday.

Ichiro Suzuki should have been a unanimous choice if not for one stone-cold-moron who decided the Japanese star wasn't worthy of a Hall of Fame selection when the balloting took place for the class of 2025.

Alas, Ichiro got every vote possible sans one, and yesterday was his big moment in Cooperstown, New York.

You might think Pete Rose was a better hitter than Ichiro. You could also throw around names like Rod Carew, Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn, all of whom are also in the Hall of Fame.

I won't sit here and argue to the moon with you about Rose vs. Ichiro or Gwynn vs. Ichiro. It's like arguing over Sammy Hagar vs. David Lee Roth. They were both great. At different times.

Here's what I'll offer in defense of Ichiro. He produced 200 or more hits in 10 consecutive seasons. Rose also had 10, 200 hit seasons, but they weren't consecutive like Ichiro's were.

None of those other guys did that or came close to doing it, really. Boggs had 200 or more hits in 7 consecutive seasons. He was next best behind Ichiro.

Anyway, the point is one of the all-time greats got inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame yesterday. And if not for some nitwit who thought they were being cute, Ichiro would have been a (rightfully) unanimous pick.

As I watched the Hall of Fame induction yesterday, I wondered what I'd say to the person who didn't check the box next to Ichiro's name during the voting process.

"How do you sleep at night?" was what I came up with.

You watch baseball -- for a living, even -- and you didn't think Ichiro Suzuki was a Hall of Fame baseball player the day he was eligible?

#clownfreakinshoes

There are 7 stories below about Ichiro and his magical career. Which 5 are true and which 2 are false? Answer in the Comments section and I'll post the answers later today.

1. There are only two players in MLB history whose 3,000th career hit was a triple. Paul Molitor and, yes, Ichiro Suzuki. That's it, they're the only two.

2. In his career, Ichiro recorded a hitting streak of 20-or-more-consecutive-games on 7 different occasions. Only two other players had more than 7, 20-game hitting streaks in their career; Pete Rose (8) and Ty Cobb (8).

3. Ichiro actually hit better against left-handed pitchers (.329) than righties (.304). That batting average off southpaws is the highest on record for a lefty batter in the history of baseball.

4. In his entire career, Suzuki never once, not ever, compiled a monthly batting average under .295. Every month in his career, he hit at least .295!! Un-freakin-real.

5. Ichiro played 18 seasons in the big leagues, but didn't record a grand slam, a hit by pitch or a 4-RBI game until July and August, 2019, in his final season as a MLB player.

6. Suzuki hit for the cycle twice in his career and the historic occasions came exactly one month apart in the 2001 season (June 21 vs. Colorado, July 21 at Texas).

7. Ichiro won the American League batting title, the AL Rookie of the Year Award and the AL MVP Award in 2001, and he remains the only player in MLB history to win all three in his first season. (Fred Lynn is the only other player to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the MVP Award in the same season, doing so with the Red Sox in 1975.)

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 4-6

Season Record: 47-58

AL East Standing: 5th (15.5 GB of Tor 8.5 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Trevor Rogers - 13IP 2R 6H 8K 3BB

The Orioles began the second half on a rocky note, suffering through a challenging ten-game stretch that saw struggles both on the mound and at the plate. Baltimore managed just four victories during this span, highlighting ongoing issues that have plagued the team throughout the season.

The Orioles stumbled out of the All-Star break last Friday, opening the second half with an 11-1 loss in Tampa. Charlie Morton was rocked early, allowing five runs in the first three innings, including a three-run homer by Junior Caminero. Defensive mistakes compounded matters, and Gunnar Henderson’s ninth-inning double produced the only Orioles run in a forgettable evening.

Saturday brought more frustration. Dean Kremer delivered seven strong innings of one-run ball, but late bullpen struggles and defensive miscues resulted in a 4-3 defeat. A costly throwing error by Ryan O’Hearn in the eighth inning allowed the Rays to push across the deciding runs.

Baltimore rebounded on Sunday, avoiding a sweep with a 5-3 victory behind homers from Jackson Holliday and Alex Jackson. Gunnar Henderson’s two-run double highlighted a decisive three-run third inning. Trevor Rogers continued his outstanding run with another quality start and Félix Bautista navigated a tense ninth to earn the save.

The series in Cleveland began poorly, with a 10-5 loss on Monday. The O’s initially built leads of 3-0 and later 5-3 thanks to Ramón Laureano’s big night (two-run single and two-run homer). However, the bullpen faltered badly, surrendering seven unanswered runs after a shaky start from Tomoyuki Sugano.

The woes continued on Tuesday, as the Birds fell 6-3. Starter Brandon Young struggled again, while reliever Gregory Soto’s wild sixth inning proved decisive. Despite bases loaded with no outs in the fifth, the Orioles managed only a single run.

Ramón Laureano provided the lone bright spot with a solo homer.

Mental mistakes marred Wednesday’s loss, a narrow 3-2 defeat. Baltimore ran itself out of a key rally in the third inning, spoiling Zach Eflin’s solid return from the injured list. The Guardians’ clutch hits in the 8th turned the game in their favor after a Jackson Holliday homer tied it 2-2 in the 6th.

The O’s salvaged the series finale in Cleveland on Thursday with a gritty 4-3 victory. Ramón Laureano’s first-inning homer and Gunnar Henderson’s go-ahead single in the seventh propelled the Orioles. Charlie Morton battled through 6.2 innings, and Gregory Soto earned his first save of the year.

Returning home, the Orioles lost a seesaw opener to the Rockies, 6-5 this past Friday, despite hitting four early homers. Colorado rallied from a four-run deficit, ultimately winning on Ezequiel Tovar’s late solo homer.

Baltimore unleashed their frustration with a deluge of runs on Saturday, demolishing the Rockies 18-0. Cedric Mullins starred, hitting his 100th career home run and making a spectacular diving catch in center field, while Tyler O’Neill homered and drove in three runs. Trevor Rogers dominated again, allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings.

The Birds clinched the series on Sunday with a 5-1 win. Tomoyuki Sugano delivered six sharp innings in a final audition before the trade deadline. Meanwhile Tyler O’Neill continued his hot streak with a homer in his third straight game. Gunnar Henderson added insurance, scoring cleverly from second base on a wild pitch.

There were several candidates for Player of the Week, largely due to the offensive explosion on Saturday. Gunnar Henderson displayed some timely hitting as well as great awareness and hustle throughout the week, hitting for a .303 average with four doubles, seven RBI and four stolen bases.

Coby Mayo started to heat up with some regular playing time, reaching base at a .500 clip on the week with a homer and two doubles in just 18 plate appearances.

Tyler O’Neill made a big impact in his return from the IL, homering in three straight games and posting a .440 OBP for the week, along with six RBI.

However, the award once again goes to Trevor Rogers, who has been putting on a show on the mound for the past month. Rogers delivered two dominant starts, tallying eight strikeouts in 13 innings while surrendering just two runs on six hits and three walks.

The two starts brought the southpaw’s season ERA down to 1.49 with a 4-1 record. Let’s hope he can carry this success into next season.

Down on the Farm --

Samuel Basallo continued to impress at AAA Norfolk, going 5-for-5 with two doubles and his 20th homer Friday’s game. At just 20 years old, Basallo became the youngest player in Tides history to reach this milestone. He went 6-10 on the week with two doubles in addition to the home run, pushing his OPS for the season over 1.000.

Dylan Beaver also continued his stellar campaign, reaching base at a .477 rate on the week with three homers, seven RBI and 13 walks. He now has a .303 average on the season with 13 homers, 21 stolen bases and a .912 OPS.

Cade Povich had a strong week, pitching 8.1 innings while striking out 12 and allowing just two runs. Povich will likely be on his way back to Baltimore after the O’s trade several of their starting pitchers at the deadline.

Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle also appeared on rehab assignments, while Heston Kjerstad continued to struggle mightily since his return to the minors.

At AA Bowie it was two pitchers leading the headlines. Trey Gibson pitched 11.1 innings over two starts, striking out 17 while walking just two and surrendering just one run on five hits.

Nestor German also posted high strikeout numbers, fanning 15 over 10 innings, and allowing just four runs.

Question of the Week –

Will the Orioles acquire any useful pieces for next season at the trade deadline?

The MLB trade deadline is rapidly approaching, closing at 6 pm on Thursday. The stumbles out of the break solidified the Orioles role as active sellers in this deadline.

Following the trade of Gregory Soto to the Mets, the O’s still have at least six more obvious trade candidates, mostly veterans on expiring contracts who could offer value to contenders down the stretch.

Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins, Charlie Morton, Zach Eflin, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Seranthony Dominguez all have expiring deals and represent the most likely players to move.

Ramón Laureano and Ramón Urías, both under team control through next season, could also draw interest, as could Tyler O’Neill, though his value may be limited by injuries and performance.

However, a quick look at the trade market and rumor mill doesn’t inspire much confidence that the Birds will land impactful pieces for the 2026 roster. Early returns, like the Soto deal that brought back the Mets’ 19th-ranked prospect Wellington Aracena and unranked minor-leaguer Cameron Foster, suggest the Orioles will primarily acquire mid-level pitching prospects, relievers with potential, or players on the fringe between Triple-A and the majors.

Names floating around the rumor circuit include Mason Black (RHP, Giants), Blade Tidwell (RHP, Mets), Drew Gilbert (OF, Mets), and Jacob Reimer (3B/OF, Mets). Realistically, the best-case for impact in 2026 appears to be securing pitchers who can compete with Cade Povich, Chayce McDermott, and Brandon Young for back end rotation spots next season, or picking up a few lottery-ticket bullpen arms.

Otherwise, these moves will more likely add organizational depth rather than high-upside prospects.

Perhaps the front office can get creative and surprise us. Maybe packaging several of these rental players together to get back a decent major leaguer for 2026, but thus far there haven’t been many intriguing names linked to Baltimore.

Teams can always use as much starting pitching as they can get their hands on, so even some lottery-ticket type pitchers are better than nothing. There is no reason not to trade the cohort of expiring contracts, given the trajectory of this season. So the O’s will take what they can get.

On the bright side, trading O’Hearn and Mullins could open regular playing time for young slugger Coby Mayo, who has begun heating up at the plate recently. Additionally, Dylan Beavers, the Orioles’ top outfield prospect currently performing well at Norfolk, could get an extended audition in the outfield down the stretch if Mullins (and potentially Laureano) are dealt.

Similarly, if Morton, Eflin, and Sugano depart, the door would open wide for pitchers like Povich, McDermott, and Young to stake their claim for 2026 rotation roles.

In short, while Orioles fans shouldn’t expect franchise-altering returns at this deadline, the trades should at least clear paths for younger talent to showcase their skills over the final months of a challenging season.

Sunday July 27, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3989

it turns out 18 is a magic number

OK, so that 18-0 O's win over the Rockies last night was fun.

It doesn't make up for any of the team's season-of-gloom or anything like that, but running up the score, even on a lousy team like Colorado, is fun to do a few times a year.

18 runs is a whopper of a total in 8 innings worth of trips to the plate.

It was so bad for the Rockies that even Tyler O'Neill lit them up.

We all know what probably happens today, right? O's score 2 runs in the first inning on 4 hits, then get one hit the rest of the way and lose, 3-2, when the Rockies score twice in the top of the 9th off of Seranthony Dominguez.

Editor's note: Wait, Sugano is starting for the O's. Colorado jumps out to a 3-1 lead after two innings, then Sugano doesn't allow a hit until the 6th. It's 4-3 O's in the top of the 9th and then the Rockies score 4 times to win 7-4. That's more like it.

Or maybe the Birds win 12-2 because, well, Colorado is terrible. Like, they're beyond bad. They make the Orioles look like the '27 Yankees.

Anyway, the Birds are now 46-58 on the year, which leaves them still with 18 games of "wiggle room" to make the playoffs. Their "magic number", if you will is 18.

I know you think it's over. I know that. But if you've been around #DMD for any period of time, you know I generally don't operate in that manner. Once that "E" (eliminated from playoff contention) is next to their name, I'll call it officially over.

I'm right there with you. I also assume it's over. That said, I'll wait another couple of weeks until they're at 70 losses, at least, before I go ahead and call the funeral home.

I told you last week, I'm not a quitter. If there's still some life left, I'm not quitting.

Saturday came and went without the O's making any trade dealine moves, but the Yankees acquired a player -- Amed Rosario -- who resembles Ramon Urias, Ramon Laureano or a combination of both.

Rosario is more of an infielder (Urias) than outfielder (Laureano), but he has played all of the outfield spots in his career.

I'm not here to beat on Mike Elias for not making that deal. Beating on him for not shipping O'Hearn to Seattle might be a reasonable exercise, but maybe he didn't want to give Urias or Laureano to a division rival or maybe the haul wasn't enough for Elias and the O's.

Rosario cost the Yankees right-hander Clayton Beeter, a 26-year-old right-hander in Triple-A who has made five major league relief appearances, and Browm Martinez, an 18-year-old outfielder in the Dominican Summer League.

Beeter made his major league debut last season and gave up six runs in 3.2 innings across two relief appearances this season.

Martinez is batting .404 with a 1.139 OPS in 18 games this season, his second in the Dominican Summer League. He signed with the Yankees for $130,000 last year.

Maybe Beeter-Martinez wasn't enough for Elias to deal with the Yankees. Maybe they never called the O's. I have no idea.

The Royals also picked up someone who resembled Ramon Laureano when they acquired Randal Grichuk from the Diamdonbacks.

Heck, this season, Laureano looks like Babe Ruth compared to Grichuk, who has just 7 HR's and is hitting a paltry .240 in 71 games.

Who would have thought we'd be gung-ho to deal Laureano at the deadline, right?

Baseball's weird, man.

Back in Balwmer, Cedric Mullins made a diving catch in centerfield last night and later hit a 3-run homer and the O's social media department made a big deal of it all. And rightfully so.

But it also felt like maybe, just maybe, they knew something we all didn't? That maybe Mullins would be pulled from the game in the 7th inning and, well, you know, we'd be hearing about a deal for Mullins just after 11:30 pm.

Alas, there was no news.

Other than Bryan Baker and Gregory Soto, Elias hasn't moved anyone at the deadline, despite some very obvious candidates who will be free agents this winter; O'Hearn, Morton, Eflin and Mullins.

The Giants lost a starting pitcher on Friday, Landen Ruopp, which seemingly would send San Fran to the phones to acquire a starting pitcher for the stretch run. Morton or Eflin would be perfect fits out there. Right? Right?

Here's the one thing that struck me last night while I watched the O's pile on the hapless Rockies and surfed the internet for baseball trade news.

This -- and "this" means following the trade deadline -- is actually more fun than the season itself. At least here in Baltimore, anyway.

I'd hate to see guys like Mullins, O'Hearn etc. move on to another team, but the whole mid-season-movement thing is more captivating than watching the O's meander through dismal campaign.

18 is also the magic number for PGA Tour player Chris Gotterup, who might very well be 18 holes of great golf away from being strongly considered for the Ryder Cup team.

Golf, like baseball, is weird.

A month ago, if I would have whispered to you -- "I think Chris Gotterup might wind up on the U.S. Ryder Cup team" -- I'm sure you would have thought I was a complete loon.

"Chris Gotterup? Who is he?" you would have asked.

And rightfully so. Gotterup was a great college player who, like most TOUR newbies, needed a couple of years earning his stripes on the Korn Ferry Tour and worked hard just to keep his TOUR card.

But then he won the Scottish Open out of nowhere and finished 3rd in the British Open last weekend.

He's currently 16 under par at the 3M Open in Minnesota, trailing co-leaders Akshay Bhati and Thorbjorn Olesen by two shots with 18 holes to play.

If Gotterup somehow wins today, he most certainly would go from "let's see what he does" to "maybe we need to think about adding Gotterup to the team" for captain Keegan Bradley.

Even if Gotterup doesn't win today, he's starting to build a case for himself. If he plays well in the FedEx Cup playoffs, that would certainly increase his stock as a captain's pick.

But Chris Gotterup......on the Ryder Cup team? Really?

Well, here's what I say about golf. And I realize captain Keegan isn't going to call me or anything, but here's what I always say.

Golf is generally a 3-week sport.

You play great (or above your level, let's say) for 3 weeks.

Then you slip back and struggle for 3-weeks, all the while trying to figure out which 3-week period is really "you". Was it the 3 weeks of 3 great play or the 3 weeks of so-so play?

And then you spend 3 weeks in golf's abyss, trying new swing theories, watching YouTube videos or seeing your golf teacher.

In other words, every 9 weeks you actually play decent golf for 3 weeks. The other 6 weeks you spend in misery.

It's probably not quite that way for Chris Gotterup. He's been playing outstanding golf for a long time in his life, dating all the way back to his college days at Rutgers and Oklahoma.

But this, what we're seeing right now, is an amazing "heater".

If he wins or threatens to win today and then plays well in the FedEx Cup playoffs, how does Keegan not at least consider him for the team?

Morikawa hasn't won jack squat all year.

Neither has Fowler or Spieth or Cantlay in any of the other "tried and true" that Bradley will no doubt be pressured to consider.

Gotterup has a win and a 3rd place finish in the British Open -- both in July -- and could be a factor in today's final round and again in August during the playoffs.

Isn't "going with the hot hand" part of evaluating captain's pick selections?

Saturday July 26, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3988

they all hurt, but that one...

I don't know which way I'd rather have it.

Get run out of the gym, 11-1, like the Marlins and Rays did to the Birds recently.

Or lose 6-5 to the woeful Rockies, at home no less, after running out to a quick 4-0 lead.

It's one thing to lose 24-2 or 15-3 at home, like has happened to the Orioles during this forgettable 2025 campaign.

It's another thing, entirely, to squander a 4-0 lead at home on what essentially was "Guaranteed Win Night" with the worst team in baseball in town for the start of a 3-game get-well-series.

The losses...they all hurt. But that one last night? It left a mark for sure.

And so the O's magic number for watching the playoffs from their living room or man cave is now down to 18. They have 58 losses. 76 will basically eliminate them from the playoffs.

Time is not on the side of the O's at this point.

Mike Elias did put the wheels in motion on his second deal of the trade deadline period when he shipped lefty Gregory Soto to the Mets on Friday for a pair of (probably not all that promising) pitching prospects. Soto joins Bryan Baker as the first two ex-Orioles to be part of a modest, small July fire sale.

Ryan O'Hearn is probably the next guy to go sometime in the next day or two. Seattle, who acquired 1B Josh Naylor from Arizona on Thursday, was thought to be a possible destination for O'Hearn, but that ship has now officially sailed with the arrival of Naylor.

Someone will likely snag O'Hearn, though, as Elias sifts through the plethora of prospect options he's getting dangled in front of him.

Charlie Morton might also be on his way out in the next few days. Pitching is always a premium this time of year and Morton's last 8 starts have been good enough to lure a playoff contender into giving up something of little value to bring him in for the 2-month stretch run.

The Birds are probably frantically trying to figure out a way to move free-agent-to-be Zach Eflin at the deadline, but a bulging ERA and two trips to the I.R. so far this season don't make him a very attractive trade piece.

Eflin will wind up signing in the winter with the Yankees or Red Sox or Dodgers, so if the O's can get something reasonable for him at the deadline, they might as well pull the trigger on whatever they consider to be the best offer.

So it's Soto and Baker, so far, who have left for greener pastures.

And it doesn't appear like the O's are going to do much of anything else. Truth of the matter, they don't have a whole lot to pawn off, and, other than pitching and someone to (hopefully) replace Tyler O'Neill, the Birds aren't really desperate to add much of anything else.

Last night's 6-5 loss to the Rockies also included a very strange "night off" for Gunnar Henderson, which made very little sense in the grand scheme of things.

You're playing at home, on a Friday night, and 25,000 people bought tickets to see this collection of ne'er-do-wells face the worst club in all of baseball and you're going to pick that night to rest the team's biggest name and brightest star?

Talk about bizarro-land.

Give Gunnar a day off on Sunday if he's that exhausted. The Birds are famous for those Sunday "punt lineups" anyway.

Or better yet, get his "off days" aligned when the team is on the road so you're not disappointing ticket buyers who, against their better judgment, plunk down hard earned money to see the O's play at Camden Yards.

It's nitpicky, admittedly, and it gets all the more frustrating when the club squanders a 4-0 lead and loses to the Rockies. It's one thing for Tyler O'Neill to beg out of a recent game due to "general body soreness". Who cares if he's not out there?

But Gunnar has to play. It's baseball, remember. They're not digging ditches.

Come on man.

Speaking of taking a beating, those in the food and beverage biz at Camden Yards are getting gut-punched game after game in 2025.

Not only is the team's attendance down roughly 16% from last year but associated revenues within the stadium are down even more.

An associate of #DMD's who is directly involved in the food and beverage end of things at Camden Yards says they're off by more than 22% over a year ago.

"It's partly the attendance," the associate tells us. "But it's also the team itself. When the team is winning, especially at home, folks are energized to buy more food and drink. They'll spend money on a hat or a shirt, too, but it's that extra sandwich or extra beer in the 6th or 7th inning that adds up for us. We were riding high this time last year. 2025 has been tough for us."

When asked about the differences in management philosophy between the old (Angelos) and new (Rubenstein) ownership groups and whether that was impacting their bottom line, the food and bev associate didn't see any real connection. "This is all about the attendance and the on field product taking a hit from a year ago," they say. "Ownership does matter occasionally, but in this case, it's really all about numbers and nothing else."

When the O's are winning, everyone's happy.

When the O's are losing, the impact is felt in many different areas.

In trying to tidy up from yesterday's piece here about the Harbaugh visit to see President Trump, I wanted to touch on one thing I can't seem to shake as I think about the story.

One element of the whole thing that stood out to me when going back over the "John Harbaugh visits the White House" story is how the Ravens gave it zero coverage of their own. I've dug around as much as I can and I can't find any mention of the visit on the team's website or related social media posts from the club.

I could be wrong. Maybe I'm missing it. But I can't find anything.

The story itself was first reported by USA Today.

Several local news stations picked up on the story and ran with it. I can see that with a Google search. But I can't find any "coverage" of the visit by the Ravens.

That in and of itself seems strange to me, if true.

Your head coach meets the President of the United States and you're not there to blow it up and shout from the rooftops "Look at us!"

Who made that decision within the framework of the team's P.R. department? It sure seems odd.

Is that a tacit sign from the Ravens that they didn't approve of John's visit?

Or did they even know it was going on in the first place?

Were they embarrassed that the USA Today broke the story about their own coach meeting up with the most powerful person in the free world? Maybe so.

Could it be this? That the PR people in the organization aren't supporters of the President and, therefore, made their own command decision not to cover their head coach visiting the White House?

Wouldn't that be something?

"Yeah, we know our coach is meeting with President Trump today, but since I didn't vote for him and I don't support what he stands for, we're not publicizing his visit."

I don't know what happened. Like I said from the start, maybe the Ravens did cover it and I've somehow just not been able to find anything online about it.

But if the club tried to bury his visit to the White House, then there's only one follow-up question needed: Why?

Friday July 25, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3987

why do we care?

There was an interesting attempt at what we'll call "journalism" earlier this week at Ravens training camp.

The question posed to John Harbaugh wasn't really about football, although it was centered on the city in which his football team plays its home games. So, maybe in that way, it was almost about football.

Kyle Goon, a reporter for the Baltimore Banner, was presented with the opportunity to ask Harbaugh a question following a training camp workout.

Goon could have asked one of the softball questions everyone wanted to ask:

"How impressed are you with the condition of Derrick Henry?"

"Have you and Mark Andrews talked at all about the 2025 season in wake of the way the 2024 campaign ended for him?"

"How strange will it be to look out there this week and throughout the pre-season and not see Justin Tucker kicking for your team?"

Instead, Goon opted to ask Harbaugh a question about his recent visit to the White House to meet President Trump.

The question wasn't the tried-and-true "Can you talk about your visit to the White House and what it meant to you to meet the President".

Rather, the question was framed in a way to highlight some negative things President Trump has said about Baltimore and Maryland in the past and, on balance, how Coach Harbaugh manages to settle those comments with himself and his values given that he lives in Maryland and works for a team that calls themselves the "BALTIMORE" Ravens.

The internet, per its tradition, exploded into a 50-50 sea of outrage and support.

Lots of people thought Goon's question was a hatchet job.

Lots of people thought he was well within his rights to ask the question of Harbaugh.

As is always the case in our country, it turned mostly into a forum on politics.

If you're a supporter of the President, you thought the question was bush league.

If you're not a supporter of the President, you thought the question was rightfully posed.

Me?

I thought Mr. Goon had every right to ask the question. He was afforded the opportunity to ask one question at the media gathering and that was his question.

That he wasted his question on a visit to the White House instead of something football-related is dumb, to me, but I also know John probably wouldn't like the Mark Andrews question I referenced above or a question about Roquan Smith and whether or not John thinks the veteran linebacker is going to take his fitness more serious in 2025.

You get your one question as a journalist and you ask the question of your choosing. And you live with the aftermath.

That the Banner -- and Goon, for that matter -- tilted the story to attack both President Trump and Harbaugh can't be surprising to anyone. They are a liberal leaning entity for sure.

It would be similar to CNN asking Harbaugh the same question and then putting together a 2-minute news story about it. Of course CNN is going to bash the President and John Harbaugh. What else do you think they'd do?

Had Harbaugh visited with President Biden this time last year, I'm quite certain Mr. Goon's question, if it centered on that visit, would have asked something open ended like, "How was your visit with the President, Coach?"

It wouldn't have included anything about his son's laptop, the embarrassing way his party shunned him last summer or anything else of that nature.

That I, a dummy from Glen Burnie, can figure this out says more about the people authoring the topic and less about me, I can assure you of that.

I understand the nature of asking a thoughtful, digging question when given the opportunity. I get it. I was there once, asking those questions of Harbaugh and others. No one wants their question to be considered quotidian or meaningless.

I also completely understand the whole idea of defending your turf or territory. The only people who can say bad things about Baltimore are people from Baltimore, basically.

I can say "Look, we all know Baltimore sucks," and that's OK because I'm born and raised here and I wear the merit badge.

But if you're from Albany, New York or Lynchburg, Virginia and you say "Baltimore sucks", well, that's just not going to be tolerated.

Glenn Clark and I famously once got almost a week's worth of radio out of the Pittsburgh Steelers sending their summer basketball team to a high school in Harford County to play the faculty and members of the PTA.

"You're allowing the Steelers...the Pittsburgh Steelers...to step foot in the state of Maryland?" we screamed for three or four days.

To us, it was indeed appalling that a Harford County school would stoop to the lowest of lows by bringing in the Steelers and promoting them as good citizens in our very own state. But the reality, of course, is what Clark and I pulled off for nearly a week was simply schtick. Good, fun, radio schtick.

No one really cared that the Steelers were in Harford County getting promoted for their goodwill. But we pretended like people should have cared.

And that's what happened with this Banner blow-up. No one really cares that John Harbaugh went to see the President. But people pretend like they care because they, themselves, wouldn't want to meet him. It's schtick.

We're very protective of our own home soil around here, which I guess was the point Mr. Goon was trying to make when he asked John Harbaugh about his visit with President Trump.

Harbaugh, of course, turned the question into something far more manageable and seemed genuinely excited to meet the President, even remarking it was the 4th President he's met, which puts him three shy of matching his brother, Jim, who has met 7 Presidents in his lifetime.

And that's where Mr. Goon and the Banner don't seem to get it.

There are still people in this country who support and endorse the President simply because he or she is, in fact, the President of the country.

I have no idea if John Harbaugh voted for Barack Obama, but Harbaugh said this week his visit with the-then President a while back was "awesome".

When President Obama came to the Towson Center once upon a time to watch a Towson-Oregon State basketball game because his brother-in-law was the coach, I stood up in a respectful manner when the music started and he entered the building. A lot of others sat there and did nothing. I thought that was wrong. He's the President of the country. We need to respect that position.

That's how I was raised, at least.

I have no idea if Harbaugh voted for Donald Trump last November, either.

But I do know this: There are some people who can visit the office of the President and meet the President and think that's cool and awesome without regard for whether or not they agree with their political alignments.

I'd like to think I'm one of those people I'm referencing.

If I got the chance to go to the White House and meet the President, I'm going. I don't care who it is, I'm going. It's the freakin' President! I'm going.

But the other interesting thing about the article the Banner published this week is the question no one seems to be tossing around.

"Why do you care?"

I mean, really. Why do you really care?

It's football season. Ask a question about losing in the playoffs every year or about Derrick Henry or Ronnie Stanley or the new kicker or Cooper Rush, the back-up quarterback.

Ask a football question.

Why do you care, at all, about John Harbaugh's visit to the White House? Who gives a rat's rear-end? I know I sure don't.

To me, more than anything else, that's the topic that seeps out of this whole thing.

"Why do we care so much about what athletes, musicians and celebrities think about politics?"

I don't care who John Harbaugh, Lamar Jackson or Derrick Henry voted for. I just don't care.

All I want are touchdowns and wins.

It's the same thing I say about musicians like Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen or Alanis Morrissette. Please don't preach to me about politics. Please don't. I don't care at all what you think about the government or the President.

Just sing "Jeremy" or "Thunder Road" or "Ironic". Please.

It's probably also important to remember that it was the Banner that broke the Justin Tucker story last January. My guess is the Ravens will never forget that and the Banner might even be feeling a little tension in the building whenever they're around.

I don't know that to be true, but I was once in that situation with the Orioles and I remember, vividly, the icy cold nature I was treated by O's PR folks when it was clear they didn't want me in their presence.

I'm not suggesting the writers at the Banner wake up every morning and say, "Hmmmm, how can we dig at the Ravens today?" but I can assure you the Ravens feel that the Banner wakes up every morning and says that.

The penultimate paragraph in the Banner article summarized everything you need to know about their stance and their opinion as it related to Harbaugh's White House visit.

For a principled person, an invitation to the White House is not an automatic acceptance. The office means only as much as the people occupying it. You don’t have to let a president who abuses power draft off your legacy as a Super Bowl-winning coach.

That paragraph was written by someone who does not respect or care for the President. Message received. It probably would have been more meaningful and authentic to just write something like that in an article that says, "Why I Despise The President" instead of using John Harbaugh's visit to do your dirty work for you.

But that's just how I see it. I'm not a professional "journalist". I'm just a guy with a tee-shirt that says I am.

There are four or five not-so-subtle digs in there intended to nick at both the President and the football coach.

"For a principled person" is clearly an attempt to hint at the fact that maybe you're "not principled after all" if you're a fan of the President.

"The office means only as much as the people occupying it" is meant to suggest that the only people in the office who are fit to serve there are people we happen to align ourselves with. If you're "with me", you're fine and you're worthy of the office. If you're "against me", you don't belong in the office.

"You don't have to let a President who abuses power" is an obvious full-blown jab at the manner in which the President does his job. It doesn't "suggest" that the President abuses power. It says, in no uncertain terms, the President abuses power.

"If you don't agree with that, well, I'm sorry, you're just wrong" is what the article shouts out loud.

So, if you flew in from Pluto and I only showed you those three sentences and then asked, "The Baltimore Banner...supporters of the President or not supporters of the President?", what would you say?

You'd say, right away, "They're not supporters of the President."

For whatever weird reason, the Banner wants us to know they don't like the President. And they're entitled to that opinion.

But why drag the football coach into the story to do their dirty work for them? Just write articles and bash the President if that's your thing.

The Banner's mistake is assuming I care what they think about the President. I do not. Not one bit.

Ask the football coach football questions. I do care what he thinks about football, for sure, since that's where his expertise lies and that's how I'm connected to him and his team.

I don't need to know, nor do I care, why he went to the White House and met with President Trump.

I just don't see why it's important in the least.

Sometimes the answer is the overly obvious one that you want to ignore because it doesn't fit your attack-mode-agenda.

It's like the courtroom scene in A Few Good Men when Tom Cruise prints out all the phone calls Jack Nicholson made and there were several to a "703" number and Cruise presses him for a reason that call was made.

Cruise: "And who did you call at 7:35 am?"

Nicholson: "Oh, that was my sister who lives in D.C."

Cruise: "Oh? And why did you call her?"

Nicholson: "I wanted her to know I was coming to town and see if she wanted to have dinner with me."

Maybe John Harbaugh wanted to go meet the President because the President invited him and John thinks meeting the President of the country is a real treat.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Everything these days doesn't have to be a conspiracy, no matter what the media tries to hoodwink us into thinking.

faith in sports

As you know, last month I attended the FCA National Competitor's Camp, where over 1100 boys and girls spent four days at Liberty University learning more about God and their various sports.

Those of you who have supported my various FCA endeavors over the years were a part of that camp in a small but important way. Your support allows me to attend, teach and minister the boys and girls who visit the camp every year.

This was the first year of the camp at Liberty. After three decades at Kutztown University in central PA, the camp moved to a bigger location with more access to fields, stadiums and chapel venues.

Kutztown was great.

Liberty was amazing.

The video below is the summary of the camp with an incredible inspirational testimony within the video.

Take 8 minutes this morning to see what we were able to accomplish at Liberty University this summer.

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

Thursday July 24, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3986

magic number: 19

OK, so, yeah, I didn't think we'd be sitting here on July 24 talking about a "magic number" for the Orioles to miss the playoffs in 2025.

But that's where we are, unfortunately.

With last night's 3-2 loss to the Guardians, the Birds now have 57 losses. And only 44 wins.

That means, using the calculation of 86-76 securing an American League wild card spot, that the Orioles have 19 losses left to spread out over their final 61 games.

I know you're probably doing the math and shaking your head like I did last night when I broke it down. The Birds have to go 42-19 between now and the end of September to finish 86-76.

It's over almost over, sports fans. Is there a glimmer of hope, still? I mean, sure. Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson, remember? The Giants beat the Patriots, remember? It's sports. Weird things happen.

But it seems pretty unreasonable to think the O's can win 42 games in 61 attempts when they've only won 44 times in 101 attempts thus far in the 2025 campaign.

And, don't forget, sometime in the next 3 or 4 days, the O's might unload a few players that actually helped them win 44 games.

You have to assume Ryan O'Hearn is all but gone. Of all the pending free agents that have 2-month value to someone out there, it's O'Hearn. I don't think he'll be Steve Pearce of 2018 or anything like that, but O'Hearn can land somewhere and help a playoff bound team in my opinion.

I don't think Cedric Mullins has much of anything to offer at this point, but maybe someone gives the O's a bucket of balls and four Southwest Airlines tickets for the veteran centerfielder.

And maybe there's a pitching-thin team who will take Charlie Morton just for the sake of having him around in case a regular guy gets hurt or they need a spot starter here and there. You could do worse than Charlie Morton, I suppose.

If nothing else, O'Hearn's departure will allow us to see what the every day version of Coby Mayo looks like. Predictably, after getting on base FOUR times on Tuesday night in Cleveland, Mayo rode the pine last night against the Guardians. I don't know what to say about that, other than it makes zero sense to me. Like, beyond zero.

Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Guards wasted a rare solid outing from Zach Eflin, who woulda-shoulda-coulda had some trade value if not for that pesky 5.78 ERA and multiple trips to the I.R. in 2025. But still,let's remember that the Marlins were able to unload Trevor Rogers and his 2-9 record and 7 run ERA on the O's last summer. Maybe the Birds can find someone asleep at the wheel next week to take Eflin. Who knows?

19 games. That's all the O's can lose between now and the end of the season.

I know exactly what you're thinking. "They're going to have 76 losses by this time next month." Maybe so. That's actually a fun little game. Will the O's lose 19 times in the next 30 days and be "unofficially" eliminated from the post-season on August 24, 2025?

The Land of Pleasant Living is a lot more pleasant when the months of August and September include meaningful, pivotal baseball games to follow.

I love the Ravens as much as the next guy, but I'm not all that interested in daily training camp updates, pre-season football, and which upstart free agent rookie defensive back might steal that final roster spot.

I want baseball in the summer and football in the winter.

Sadly, our baseball season might not even make it to September before it loses its value.

Magic number: 19.

It's tough to take.

There's still time between now and "d-day" for Keegan Bradley, but as I wrote here earlier in the week, his choices for captain's picks on this year's U.S. Ryder Cup team are pretty slim indeed.

The new standings are out and, as expected, Harris English has slipped into 6th place and is now one of the automatic selections. That is, if the season and points chase ended today, which it doesn't.

Justin Thomas dropped out of the top six with English's runner-up finish at the British Open.

Russell Henley (4th) and Bryson DeChambeau (5th) are all but securely in the top 6. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and J.J. Spaun are now "in" for the late September battle with the European squad.

I'll give the season the opportunity to play out. There are two regular season events remaining (Minnesota this week and Greensboro next week) and then three FedEx Cup tournaments. Those five events will decide the final standings for the Ryder Cup team.

But I'd say right now, unless something dramatic happens, here's who I would add to the team:

Justin Thomas.

Ben Griffin.

Keegan Bradley.

Brian Harman.

All four of those guys are currently ranked somewhere between 7th and 12th in the standings.

And then I'd add Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay, who are currently 14th and 15th respectively.

I'll maintain the flexibility to change if need be. If someone catches fire over this last month of the season, I'll consider them for sure, particularly if it's a veteran with some previous team/cup experience.

But for now, that's what I see as my U.S. team heading into the Ryder Cup.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

Baseball is back after the All-Star break ended last week, and things are heating up fast, specifically in the AL East and the NL Central.

The Toronto Blue Jays have come out of the woodwork in July, starting the month with an 8-0 record and now with a 14-4 mark since July 1st. They currently have a slim 4 game lead over the Yankees in the East, with the Red Sox and Rays a couple of games behind New York.

They have been one of the hottest teams in baseball, with an offense leading the league in batting average and on-base percentage. Pitching remains to be an issue with the Jays as their team ERA comes in at the 20th highest in baseball at 4.09. With the deadline next week, the Blue Jays, among many others, will have pitching listed on their shopping list.

I can’t help but question this Blue Jays team. Are they the real deal this year? It seems like we’ve seen good Blue Jays teams earn a playoff spot the past few years but then they get bounced early.

The Blue Jays haven’t won the AL East since 2015 and haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. Since 2020, the Blue Jays have earned 3 Wildcard berths and were swept in each of those Wild Card series’.

This is what leads me to question this Blue Jays team. They just haven’t gotten the job done when it mattered the most.

What you can’t take away from them is that they’re playing great baseball right now and have overtaken the Yankees in the AL East, who have struggled immensely going back to the beginning of June.

I don’t think this Yankees team will stay down for long. It’s a bad slump for sure, but I still see them crawling out of this and taking the division back from the Blue Jays. I hope the Blue Jays prove me wrong. Their fan base deserves better performance in the playoffs and they are certainly due for a division title in Toronto.

We’ve discussed this before, but this feels like a do or die type season for the Blue Jays. Maybe not winning the division but making the playoffs and advancing will be crucial for management. It may seem cutthroat, but with the 5th highest payroll, expectations should be high for this club.

The Blue Jays, as we just discussed, are one of the hottest teams right now however, the Milwaukee Brewers are THE hottest team in baseball. The Brew Crew just had an 11-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday and are now tied with the Chicago Cubs for the division lead in the N.L. Central. What is leading to their success? It’s a combination of 3 things: They pitch very well, they play great defense and the Brewers play small ball better than any other team.

What is small ball?

It’s basically an offensive strategy of manufacturing runs without extra base hits. Stealing, bunting, hit and run, and sacrifice flies are all keys to small ball, and the Brewers are better than anyone else at that strategy.

Players have to buy into this philosophy, and they have the roster to do it in Milwaukee.

This isn’t a roster of players with high salaries, and the Brewers aren’t a club with a large payroll. In fact, the Brewers have the 7th smallest payroll in baseball. They only have 2 players earning more than $10 million this year.

There’re not many players on their team that fans from other clubs would recognize. As Brewers reliever Grant Anderson describes them, they are an “island of misfit toys.” They pride themselves on their style of play and believe they will outwork you and if they can put up 3 runs, that’s enough for them to win a ball game.

It’s a bring your lunch pail and hard hat to work type of mentality. I will always root for a club with a small market like the Brewers, and after a terrible start to the season, here we are in late July, a week away from the trade deadline, and the Brewers are tied for both the lead in the NL Central and the best record in baseball.

I don’t think the Brewers will be too aggressive at the deadline. Maybe they try to get an upgrade at shortstop, as our old friend Joey Ortiz, who was part of a trade package last year to acquire Corbin Burnes, is having a bad year with a .214 average, 7 homers, and 30 RBI. Other than that, this club is solid and meshes perfectly together.

To the Cubs credit, they haven’t played badly to give up the division lead. The Brewers have just been unbelievable. The Cubs and Brewers are polar opposites on offense, as the Cubs lead the league in runs scored and have hit the 3rd most home runs.

Here you have two teams with completely different approaches to offense competing for the division. This will be fun to watch down the stretch.

Players of the Week –

Pitcher: Our NL Cy Young prediction earlier this year, Christopher Sanchez of the Philadelphia Phillies, has been incredible this year and in his last start against the Red Sox, he threw a complete game. Many people, including myself, believe Sanchez was snubbed of an All-Star spot last week and should have been in over Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski. That didn’t seem to get to Sanchez’s head though as he tossed a complete game in his first start back from the break.

In his 9 innings of work, Sanchez gave up 4 hits and 1 run while also punching out 12 with no walks. That moves his record to 9-2 on the season and lowers his ERA to 2.40. Even though he’s currently the 3rd favorite at +2000 odds to win the NL Cy Young, only behind Paul Skenes and Sanchez’s teammate, Zack Wheeler, I still think he has a chance to win it as there’s a lot of baseball left to be played.

Regardless, those are great numbers and Sanchez could be the ace on many other teams in the league. As I was looking at the NL Cy Young betting odds, one thing that’s scary if you’re a New York Mets fan is the Phillies currently have 3 starting pitchers that are in the top 5 betting favorites for the NL Cy Young.

Even though the Phillies have a slim lead in the NL East, pitching goes a long way and might be the difference in who wins the division.

Position Player: Eugenio Suarez of the Arizona Diamondbacks makes another appearance as player of the week as he batted .333 with 5 homers and 8 RBI this past week, which boosts him to now being tied for most homers in the National League at 36 with Shohei Ohtani and bumps him to league leader in RBI with 86.

Unfortunately for Dbacks fans, Suarez is almost certain to be traded before the end of the trade deadline as he’s playing on an expiring contract. It’s hard to say exactly where he will land as all contenders in need of a 3rd baseman with pop will want him. Even if you have a solid 3rd baseman, you might want to trade for him just for his bat and put him at DH.

He’s not Rafael Devers, so I wouldn’t expect any issues from him if he was asked to move to DH. When we reviewed the National League a few weeks ago, we highlighted the New York Mets as a possible suitor for Suarez.

I think that’s still possible, but which team has the prospects to outbid the Mets for Suarez and could use a 3rd baseman upgrade? The answer is the Detroit Tigers, with the 2nd best farm system in baseball, and a club that will likely be very aggressive over the next week.

Rookie: Matt Shaw had high expectations this year as a rookie and was one of the favorites to win NL Rookie of the year for the Cubs, but going into the All-Star break he has struggled to adjust to Major League pitching. This week, something clicked as he had a very strong performance batting .533 with 2 homers, 5 RBI, and 2 stolen bases.

Shaw has collected hits in 5 straight games since the All-Star Break, with 3 of those games seeing multi-hit performances. The youngster has been a streaky hitter in his young career, but the talent is there. He’s also been a base bandit for the Cubs with 13 stolen bags on the year out of 15 attempts.

Will the Cubs keep the rookie 3rd baseman in the lineup moving forward, or will they also be in the running for the sought after Eugenio Suarez?

Games of the Week –

Friday, 7/25: LA Dodgers vs Boston Red Sox (Emmet Sheehan vs Bryan Bello)

The Dodgers have been in a slump the past few weeks and had a 7-game losing streak that ended just before the All-Star break and are 1-4 since play resumed from the break.

Pitching continues to be the Achilles heal for the team. Injuries to the pitching staff have grown as closer Tanner Scott was just added to the list with elbow inflammation in his throwing arm.

The large lead they once had in the NL West is diminishing as the Padres have gained ground and are 4 games back from the defending champs. The Red Sox continue to stay alive and hold the last Wildcard spot over the Rays, Rangers, and Guardians who are all less than 3 games back.

This is a big series for both clubs, can the Dodgers get back on track or will the Red Sox win a series against the defending champions and extend their lead in the wild card race?

Saturday, 7/26: Philadelphia Phillies vs New York Yankees (Ranger Suarez vs Marcus Stroman)

The Phillies will travel to the Bronx over the weekend and look to take advantage of the recently struggling Yankees and extend their lead in the NL East. The Phillies will have Ranger Suarez, who is the 3rd Phillies starter named in the top 5 in betting favorites for the NL Cy Young, scheduled to face Marcus Stroman who has not pitched well thus far in 2025.

Stroman has only pitched in 7 games this year due to a knee injury, but since his return he’s pitched to a 5.64 ERA. Stroman will look to turn the ship around for his season, which will be challenging going against the Phillies and their potent offense.

Sunday, 7/27: Toronto Blue Jays vs Detroit Tigers (Max Scherzer vs Jack Flaherty)

Two division leaders will face off over the weekend in a big 4 game series. This series might be bigger for the Blue Jays but nonetheless, still important for the Tigers as well.

The Blue Jays need to be careful here as the Tigers are one of the best and most complete teams in baseball and have been all year. If the Blue Jays can split the 4-game set, that’s a win and you walk away happy.

If they lose 3 of 4, things get even more interesting in the AL East, especially if the Yankees win their series against the Phillies. The Blue Jays have been hot…and this is not the series you want to cool down.

Wednesday July 23, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3985

o's minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our #DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm in a short week due to the All-Star Break, but ultimately the selection belongs to utility infielder Jeremiah Jackson.

Jackson, 25 (turned 25 last month) garners his second selection as our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the week. The former 2nd round pick of the Los Angeles Angels continued his torrid run since joining the AAA Norfolk Tides on June 3.

Last week over three games, Jackson hit a robust .462 (6-13) with two home runs, five RBI and five runs scored. He also posted a 1.385 OPS and swiped three bags as well.

As I mentioned, Jackson has been on a torrid pace since joining the Tides. Over 36 games, he has posted a .381 batting average with a 1.095 OPS over 153 plate appearances. He has hit 11 home runs, 14 doubles and scored 27 runs to go along with eight stolen bases.

But the offensive number that stands out and is a nice reprieve from many others is that Jackson has only stuck out 17 times in those 153 plate appearances.

When Jackson earned his first nod as Player of the Week from us, I stated that it’s hard to call him a prospect at age 25, but it’s hard to ignore the production he is posting at the AAA-level.

With the Orioles about to become sellers and the current state of their injured list, I can certainly see a scenario where Jackson gets a call-up sometime over the next couple of months.

This edition of Happy Hour was contributed by Josh Michael.

---

locksley bears all

Before we go over what Terps football coach Mike Locksley said yesterday, let me first step up, take the mic and go ahead and get this over with.

*taps mic*

"Check...check...check one two. Check."

"Sound OK?"

I pause for dramatic effect.

"I'd like to say, here this morning......that I was wrong about Ramon Laureano."

I look around. It appears some of you want a further explanation.

"He's not a stiff," I pronounce.

OK, are you happy now?

I was right about Gary Sanchez. He's a stiff.

Laureano, though, is not.

Now, I will say this, though.

What we've seen from Laureano might be more about the other guys than him. I mean, what's it say for your baseball team when it's July 23 and Laureano has 13 home runs and that's tied for the team lead?

Even O's broadcaster Dave Johnson danced around the topic last night late in the 6-3 loss in Cleveland.

"He's been pressed into full time duty, which is not what the Orioles expected when they signed him. They figured he would only play every fourth day or so, maybe get six or eight at bats a week, tops."

Alas, he's been perhaps the club's best overall player, hitting .279 with 13 HR's and 41 RBI. His work in the field has also been outstanding, although no one really cares all that much about defense in baseball any longer.

It's hard to say Laureano has been the team's MVP when you have fair-haired-boys like Gunnar and Holliday on your squad, but the reality is he's been just as good as those two. Call it a dead heat, if you want.

But, again, is it actually good news that a journeyman like Laureano is perhaps your team MVP well into the second half of the season?

It's good if you're Ramon Laureano. It's not so good if you're the Orioles, I'm guessing.

All that said -- I was wrong.

He's not a scrub at all. He's a nice, competent, reliable baseball player. Now, perhaps Laureano's chakras are in line in Baltimore and this is a bit of an overachieving campaign for him. That's certainly possible.

But all in all, he's a guy you actually want on your team, as I see it now. In a weird kind of way, I'd like to see him stick around past the trade deadline and into next season.

Weird, huh?

Mike Locksley aired some very dirty laundry on Tuesday and you can bet it's not going to go over well in College Park.

But it was probably both necessary and cathartic for Locksley to admit it publicly.

The boom of "NIL" in college football ruined his locker room last year. And, with that, it also ruined his team and their season.

"I own the fact that I lost my locker room last season," Locksley told ESPN during a pre-season Big Ten preview. "And this is Coach Locks, the locker room king, telling you this landscape, I had to choose between paying young players who were coming in or reward the older players that have been through the fire, three bowl wins, and I tried to do both with limited resources. And that's what you get: a locker room with the haves and have-nots."

Yikes.

Calling your team "haves and have nots", even a squad from a year ago, is probably not going to go over very well.

The Terps finished 4-8 last year and dropped all but one of their Big Ten contests.

Maryland had more players selected in the NFL draft (six) than wins, and lost their last five games, all by 14 points or more. Locksley attributed part of the struggles to the changing financial landscape in college football, as Maryland had to make decisions on how to compensate players through NIL deals and ultimately created some divisions and locker room tensions.

"Now you go outside my locker room and I have a sign that says: 'Leave your Louis belts, leave your financial statements and your car keys outside of this locker room, because in here we're all going to pay the same price for success or failure,'" he said. "If I've got to put my desk in that locker room, I will. A valuable lesson learned."

Locksley, of course, isn't the first college coach to experience a shift in attitude and performance because of the changing landscape of their sport(s). But he's one of the first ones to actually come out and say what we all sorta-kinda knew anyway. The players are spoiled and the coaches can no longer coach them.

This, of course, isn't going to change anytime soon.

In fact, you know the truth and so do I. It's only going to get more expensive and, if you can imagine this, even more complicated and tense in college locker rooms all over the country.

And it will certainly not get much better for folks like Maryland and Mike Locksley, who simply don't have the resources to compete with the country's biggest, say, 50 football programs. Maryland might be able to compete with Rutgers or Iowa for players but they're not prying anyone of value away from the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, et al.

If Michigan wants that offensive tackle from the D.C. suburbs and Maryland wants him, Michigan's getting him. If Michigan only sorta-kinda wants him, maybe the Terps can snag him. But when the Michigan football program really wants a kid, he's going to Ann Arbor, not College Park.

So Locksley might wind up still having a team of haves and have nots, unfortunately.

Only this time around, he's seemingly going to be better prepared for it.

Tuesday July 22, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3984

"is that all there is?"

Scottie Scheffler certainly isn't the first professional athlete to come to the realization that winning and the "thrill of victory" is fleeting. He's just one of the very few to admit it, that's all.

I've shared this one here before but it hit home once again last week when I heard Scheffler speak about his run of success in the world of professional golf and how it doesn't measure up to the other things he cherishes in his life. Namely his faith and his family.

I had the incredible honor and privilege of playing two practice rounds with Bernhard Langer at the 2021 U.S. Senior Open in Omaha. Through my connections with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, I was introduced to the 2-time Masters winner and World Golf Hall of Fame member and we gathered to play on Monday and Tuesday of tournament week at Omaha CC.

Our conversations over the two days danced from topic to topic; golf was a focal point, naturally, and so was faith and Christianity.

"I won the Masters in 1985," Langer told me that day, in a story he has shared all over the world on numerous occasions. "It was incredibly exciting for me as a young professional golfer. You dream of winning the Masters as a young junior and then you get to play in the tournament and that's a dream come true. But then to win it......" his voice trailed off.

"So Vicki (his wife) and I go back to the hotel and we celebrate with some of our friends and we have a great night," Langer continued. "I've won the Masters. I know it's life changing but I don't really know how quite yet. But I know it's a big deal."

"The next morning, I'm sitting there with Vicki and I'm not feeling anything at all. It's like just another Monday morning. I'm getting ready to go to Hilton Head for the next tournament."

"'Is that all there is?' I said to her. She looked at me and said, 'What do you mean?' and I repeated it again. 'Is that all there is?' I wasn't feeling anything special or feeling any kind of euphoria any longer. It was a very strange feeling to have one day after winning the biggest tournament in the world."

"I get to Hilton Head and naturally everyone comes up to congratulate me and that was great and then, all the sudden, it was over. Everyone went back to their practice on the range and I'm just standing there again, alone, and I'm thinking, 'There has to be more to it than this.'"

"I go out on Thursday for the first round of the tournament and I'm just another player trying to make birdies and play well. The fact I had just won the Masters didn't mean anything. I just kept thinking to myself, 'I thought it would be much different than this.'"

Langer would, a couple of years later, become a Christian and start a new journey in his life. He often jokes how, during his 1993 Masters interview in Butler Cabin, he became the first player to ever use the words "Jesus Christ" in two different ways after winning the Masters.

"In 1985, I sat there and said, 'Jesus Christ, I've just won the Masters.' Today I'm sitting here saying, "I just won the Masters and I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."

Langer made friends with a Baltimore gentleman named Larry Moody, who at the time was the PGA Tour chaplain and had been urging Langer to attend the TOUR's weekly Tuesday Bible studies. The decision to stop by on a Tuesday night and hear what Moody and others had to say about faith and religion changed the 2-time Masters champion's life forever.

"I stopped putting my identity in winning golf tournaments and started putting my identity in trying to please Jesus," Langer would tell me that day as we walked along the fairways of Omaha CC.

"It was the greatest decision I ever made," he said.

Langer, of course, didn't stop winning tournaments. In fact, he would go on to win over and over again, with 42 career victories on the European Tour, plus a record 47 wins on the Champions (Senior) Tour here in the U.S.

But his life changed, as he said, when he realized winning was fleeting and temporary but Jesus was permanent.

Scheffler made some eye-opening comments last Tuesday during media day at Royal Portrush, where he was asked to describe how he handles and embraces all of the success he's enjoyed over the last three years.

"That's something that I wrestle with on a daily basis," Scheffler said. "It's like showing up at the Masters every year; it's like why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don't know because, if I win, it's going to be awesome for about two minutes."

Scheffler continued, "You win [a tournament], you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister's there, it's such an amazing moment. Then it's like, OK, what are we going to eat for dinner? Life goes on. It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes."

And yet, like everyone else in professional golf, Scheffler continues to work at his craft with the goal of enjyoing those "few minutes" after a win because, more than winning, he doesn't like to lose.

"It sucks. I hate it, I really do," Scheffler said of losing. "We work so hard for such little moments. I'm kind of sicko; I love putting in the work, I love getting to practice, I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don't understand the point."

"This is not a fulfilling life," Scheffler said in closing. "It's fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart."

Scheffler, it would appear, has it figured out. What, exactly is "it", you might ask?

We know he has the golf part figured out. 18 wins in the last three years (if you count the Olympic gold medal) and 4 majors is proof enough that he knows how to play golf better than anyone in the world right now.

But he appears to have the "other part" figured out, too.

Like Langer, he understands that winning and success and all that comes with it are just temporary and short-lived. There's always another step to take.

Your golf game might go away, but Jesus never does.

But it's not just about golf. Every single person reading this right now has experienced the exact same feeling that Scheffler described last week in Northern Ireland.

You might have finally received that big promotion at the office that came with more money, more benefits and more stature. It was awesome for a week. Or a month. Or, maybe even a year.

But at some point, the glow went away and you were chasing something new and "better" once again, whatever that might be.

Along with all the good stuff the new position brought you, there were also more headaches, more meetings and more time spent away from your family. "It's getting hard, not easier," you think. "I was better off just being one of the guys."

Perhaps you bought that dream house. You moved in, enjoyed the pool and patio, invited friends over a few times, and thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of your labor. Then one morning you wake up and realize, "It's just a house."

The same can be said for athletic accomlishments, whether they're of the amateur variety or on the professional level.

"Is that all there is?"

I remember sitting in the player's lounge at the U.S. Senior Open having an iced tea after Monday's practice round and there, around me, were guys like Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Rocco Mediate and Jerry Kelly.

They were laughing and telling stories, sharing a cocktail or two, and rolling through memories of winning, chasing Tiger and getting old.

I didn't think they wanted to hear about my three wins in the Baltimore Publinx in 2000, 2004 and 2009, so I just kept to myself and enjoyed my iced tea.

That's when I had my "a ha" moment. My story and my journey and how I got to Omaha was cool, but it was only cool for me. Rocco Mediate didn't care how I got there or who I was or how I used to make putts on the Mount Pleasant practice green dreaming of someday playing in the U.S. Open.

As Sonny had to remind Calogero in the movie, A Bronx Tale, "Nobody cares..."

Except Jesus. He cares. He always cares.

Scottie Scheffler has discovered the "secret" to golf and it has nothing at all to do with what your right elbow does in the downswing or how your chest opens up at impact or how many knuckles on your left hand need to face the ground on your backswing.

He's discovered that winning is great, but there's not much to it once you break it all apart and look at it closely.

You win this week and you have to jump right back in and do it again or people will say, "He's lost it. He can't play any longer."

You win this week and the 2 year old is still pooping in his diaper and your wife hands him off and says, "I've been dealing with him for 14 hours, how about you take him for a while?"

You win this week and there's still water coming into the living room through a hole you can't find.

Winning doesn't fix everything and it doesn't change a diaper and it doesn't repair a roof.

Scheffler's open devotion to his faith and to Jesus is the backbone of his career.

"I'm going out there to do the best I can and to glorify God and His son, Jesus, whether that's finishing 1st or 20th or missing the cut," he said after winning his 4th major on Sunday.

"Playing for Jesus is ultimately a lot easier, at least in my eyes. I know he's going to be there no matter how I play. Either way, no matter where I finish, I have Him."

Scheffler's epic run over the last three years and his words last week at Royal Portrush seem to be conflicting in the world of sports, where winning is considered "everything" and losing is avoided at all costs.

One of the problems we've created in our society over the last two or three decades is going out of our way to avoid losing or disappointment. Not only do we attempt to avoid it, we're actually raising a generation of folks who are afraid of it.

"Everyone gets a trophy" is the common sports analogy we've heard for a long time now.

And it's true, of course. Instead of explaining to our sons and daughters that the first place team members get the trophy because they won, we give that team the biggest trophy and then the 2nd place team members get a slightly smaller trophy and the 3rd place team members get a trophy slightly smaller than the ones the 2nd place team received and so on.

"Why didn't I get a trophy?" has an easy answer. "Because you didn't win."

But because we're too uncomfortable explaining that reasoning or, gasp, having to admit to our children that "Johnny" is better at baseball or golf than he is, we just give him a trophy of his own and make him believe he was just as good as "Johnny".

Losing is actually good. It creates the balance necessary to enjoy winning, when it comes around, and to also motivate the competitor to aspire to greater heights, if that's something he or she wants to do.

I recently had a parent of a child in our FCA golf program reach out to me to withdraw her son from an upcoming event because "He's afraid he isn't going to be able to compete with the other kids."

In other words, he's afraid he's not going to win.

So he's just going to sit out instead of trying to win.

First off, the parent has to teach that child the meaning of the word "compete". Just by signing up and playing in the event, you are, in fact, "competing". Whether your play measures up to the others is the essence of the competiton, of course, but you're competing when you tee it up with them and play with and against them.

But imagine the life lessons they're teaching their 13 year old when he says "I'm afraid I might lose in that tournament so I don't want to play after all" and they say, "Yeah, that's a really good idea."

You play, you lose (or you win) and it's all very, very temporary.

You might win the next time you play. And if you do, that, too, will be temporary.

I encounter a lot of young golfers (and some adults, too) who are always hesitant to turn in their scores when they've played poorly.

They'd rather "NC" (no card) and not have "85" next to their name than to have that score on the board for everyone to see.

I always tell them the exact same thing.

"Half the people don't even know who you are and couldn't care less what you shoot, they're only worried about themselves. And the other half wishes it was 95 instead of 85."

But it's all temporary and fleeting.

Losing is part of the journey. You have to lose to get to the point where you learn how to win. And that's why putting your identity in sports is dangerous.

You're going to lose. It's inevitable. Winning might not be inevitable, but losing sure is.

Golf has blessed me and it has also let me down over the years. I've won 32 events of some kind in my golfing life, but I've played in well over 600 tournaments over the last 40 years. I've lost a lot more than I've won.

For every one of those 32 events that I've won, I've played at least three rounds of terrible tournament golf. But I've never, not once, failed to turn in my score or withdraw from a tournament because of poor play.

I've let myself down plenty, that's for sure.

But Jesus hasn't let me down. Never. Not once.

Scottie Scheffler is finding out the same thing. Golf will occasionally let him down. Winning will even occasionally let him down. But Jesus will not let him down. Never, never, never.

That's not the only reason Scheffler's the best golfer on the planet in 2025, but it's certainly part of it.

Monday July 21, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3983

Imagine the nerve it must take to beat on your employer for "fair wages" when the business you're in loses $50 million annually and the business you compare yourself to generates in excess of $10 billion in revenue.

Such is the case with the players in the WNBA, who seem to forget they're not the "N" BA but, instead, are the "W" NBA. And the WNBA is a money-loser to the tune of roughly $50 million annually according to recent reports.

This past weekend at their All-Star Game, WNBA players wore tee-shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us", which must have been some kind of secret-code for something other than what it read on the shirt.

Pay "you" for what, exactly? You already receive a salary for playing basketball. You can't possibly believe your salary should be commensurate or equal to what a "run of the mill" NBA player makes. Right? Right?

Does the NBA owe the women who play in the WNBA a bunch of money that hasn't yet been delivered to them or something?

I'm being serious when I ask that.

What did those shirts really mean?

"We get a very tiny percentage of all the money that's made through the WNBA, which obviously is made through the entertainment we provide," said Napheesa Collier on the decision to wear the shirts. "So we want a fair and reasonable percentage of that."

I guess the $64,000 question is this: What money has been "made" by the league?

I don't think any has been made.

I certainly don't disagree that players should receive some percentage of merchandise sales and such. What that is, I have no idea.

But this is a league that has very little broad appeal within the country's sports profile and wouldn't be alive, at all, if not for the cling-on funding provided by the NBA and those who invested in the league back in 2022.

There is a place for women's professional basketball in our country. I'm not a pickleball or cornhole player, but both of those "sports" are now being aired on cable television. In other words, if there's some degree of athleticism involved and a final score is kept, someone, somewhere is interested in it.

But the idea that the WNBA players are being financially mistreated in some fashion seems backwards when you consider the annual financial bath the league takes.

Very few people buy tickets. Very few people buy TV advertising. Very few people buy team shirts or swag. It's a niche sport, which is all well and good. So, too, is indoor soccer.

"Pay Us What You Owe Us" should be changed to "Thank You For Paying Us In The First Place".

---

there won't be another tiger, huh?

The debate is officially underway.

To be fair, Tiger vs. Scottie has been flickering for a while now. Scheffler won 9 tournaments last year, that is if you count his Olympic gold medal victory as a "tournament win".

But with Scottie's cruise-control triumph at the British Open yesterday, the comparison between the two has reached "official" territory.

It's on.

And I'm here for it.

If you're willing to concede that Tiger's PGA Tour career is over (and I am), the numbers are in. He won 82 career TOUR events and 15 major championships. He also won 3 U.S. Juniors and 3 U.S. Amateurs and some folks count those, too, but for discussion purposes, let's focus on what Woods did as a professional.

82 wins from 1996 through 2019. 15 majors. And not that it matters, but he also won the career grand slam THREE times. Oh, and he did have that "Tiger Slam" in 2000-2001 when he held all four majors at the same time.

That's what Tiger did.

Scheffler has won 17 PGA Tour events so far. And 4 majors. Plus that aforementioned Olympic gold medal.

So is the Tiger vs. Scottie comparison even worth discussing?

Yes, it most certainly is.

For the first time in forever, or at least since Woods reached his zenith in the early 2000's, someone has come along that is a legitimate challenge to his greatness.

Mickelson was awesome, but he was never really a threat. Now, some might say one of the reasons why it was Tiger (one) and then, ten lengths back, Phil (two) was because of Tiger's unreal play. And that's true, I guess. No one could beat Tiger, including Phil.

No one ever really challenged Tiger during his 12-season period of dominance in the majors from 1997 through 2008.

He won everything, everywhere.

Well, that's also what Scottie's doing.

For the last three years, he's been the best player in the world and it's really not even all that close. Back in the old days it was Tiger and then Phil. Since 2022, it's been Scottie and then Rory.

No one is close to Scottie.

And while he's nowhere close to accomplishing in his career what Tiger accomplished in his, here's what I'm willing to say without hesitation. These last three years from Scheffler have produced the same quality of golf that Tiger produced in his best three.

Tiger's career? Right now, it's much better. Then again, he had the better part of 25 years to win 82 times and capture 15 majors.

Scheffler has won 17 times, with 4 majors, in three years, basically.

Advanced data wasn't really available during Tiger's period of dominance. But it's available in Scottie's career. And the data is staggering.

He's first in shots gained, total.

First in shots gained, off the tee.

First in shots gained, approach.

21st in shots gained, putting.

14th in total driving.

8th in greens in regulation.

2nd in proximity to the hole.

6th in approach shots outside of 200 yards.

2nd in scrambling.

1st in scoring average.

1st in birdies-made-after-bogeys.

And 1st in money, wins and everything else that matters.

Tiger was great. No two ways about it.

He might even be the best ever at golf.

But he spent most of his career feasting on the par 5 holes and holing putt-after-putt under the gun.

Having watched both of them operate, I'm here to say Scheffler's actual "golf" -- hitting from the tee, into the fairway, and then onto the green -- is equal to or better than what Tiger produced.

Tiger did it for 12 years.

Scottie's done it for 3 years.

I don't know that Scheffler can keep it up for 9 more years.

His priorities seem different than Tiger's were back in his day.

Woods was singularly focused on winning, period.

Scheffler, as he discussed last week at the British Open, is focused on his faith, family and golf.

I don't say this to be disrespectful to Scottie and his career intentions, but he might not "want greatness" as much as Woods did when he was at his zenith and chasing down Jack Nicklaus.

Scheffler might be very comfortable just being...well...Scottie Scheffler, professional golfer.

Tiger wanted to be the greatest golfer of all time.

And he might very well be just that.

But that doesn't change what we've seen from Scottie Scheffler since 2022.

His golf, intentional or not, has been just as good, if not better, than what Tiger produced along the way.

We always thought there'd never be another Tiger.

It's 2025, and I'm not so sure that statement is true any longer.

(Oh, and speaking of winning, tomorrow here at #DMD, I'll tackle what Scheffler said last Tuesday about being great at golf and how conflicting all of it is.)

Part of what transpired yesterday at Royal Portrush was the American Ryder Cup team getting cleaned up by virtue of some impressive fourth round play.

With his 2nd place finish, Harris English has essentially locked up a spot, no matter if he sneaks into the top 6 as an automatic qualifier or has to be added via a captain's pick.

English hasn't missed a cut since Maryland was playing in the Big Ten basketball tournament. Is that true, you're wondering? Yes, it is.

He won at Torrey Pines in late January and also finished T2 at the PGA in May.

English is "in".

So, too, is Bryson DeChambeau, who rebounded from a disastrous first round to finish at 9-under par and most likely lock up a top 6 automatic spot. Like English, if he somehow winds up outside of the top 6, Keegan Bradley is picking him.

And Russell Henley, who finished T10 at Portrush, has also solidified his spot on the team, one way or the other.

As it stands now, these guys are "in": Scheffler, Schauffele, Spaun, Henley, English and DeChambeau. It stands to reason that Justin Thomas has also secured a spot, even if he slips from his current 6th place standing and needs a captain's pick to make it.

If you count J.T., that's 7 of the 12 roster spots accounted for.

At this point, Bradley almost has to add himself to the team. His play over the last 18 months has been outstanding. That's 8 of the 12 spots.

Sam Burns will likely snag one of the captain's picks. He's statistically the best putter on TOUR over the last 12 months, coulda-shoulda-woulda won the U.S. Open if not for some heinous rules interpretations on Sunday, and, this is important, also happens to be one of Scheffler's best friends and is a natural pairings partner for the world #1.

If we're right about Burns -- and we'd bet we are -- that's 9 of the 12 spots accounted for.

Ben Griffin is certainly worthy of a pick. He has two wins (albeit one of those was a 2-man event) and played very well at Oakmont CC. He did miss the cut at the British by a shot, which robbed him of valuable Ryder Cup points. It's certainly not a lock that he's going to Bethpage, but I'd say the lean favors him.

Collin Morikawa? I think he's out. His golf has been ragged, at best, in 2025.

Patrick Cantlay? I'd bet he's in, particularly if he has a solid finish or two in the three FedEx Cup events.

Jordan Spieth? Out. Just not enough good golf on a consistent basis from him. And, yes, I know he's best buds with Justin Thomas. But Spieth's watching this Ryder Cup from his home.

Other interesting names would be Lucas Glover, Maverick McNealy, Wyndham Clark or Daniel Berger. McNealy might wind up within the top 12, which would give Bradley ample reason to pick him. Clark, despite his anger issues this season, can turn it on at a moment's notice, as we saw over the last four days at Portrush where he finished T4. Glover is steady and a veteran influence, as is Berger.

Griffin and Keegan, himself, are the two "X" factors. If they get picked, that leaves just 2 other open spots.

Is it even remotely possible that Bradley would consider Chris Gotterup for one of those spots? Gotterup didn't do much of anything for the first five months of the season, then improbably won the Scottish Open and finished 3rd at the British Open.

I'm not saying he should be picked. It would be risky to add someone like Gotterup in a mammoth event like the Ryder Cup. But I am saying that if he somehow wins in Minnesota next week or Greensboro the week after or has a couple of Top 10 finishes in playoff events, Bradley might have to consider adding the former Rutgers standout.

The Orioles won on Sunday. I guess that's a bit of "breaking news", huh? They managed to hold on to a 5-3 win in Tampa Bay, but it turned into a 9th inning nailbiter thanks to Felix Bautista.

The win moves the Birds to 44-54 on the season. For those keeping count at home, that now means they have to go 42-22 over their last 64 games to reach the much-discussed 86-76 mark and (most likely) earn an American League wild card spot.

I know what you're thinking. You don't have to say it out loud.

But I'll keep on keeping on with those guys until, say, they reach 66 losses before August 20. If they reach 66 losses by this time next month, I'll pack it in.

Until then, I'm still here, still reporting on them, and still watching the games, even if it's with the TV remote in my hand.

And don't look now, but the woeful Rockies are in town this coming weekend for what should be three O's wins. If they can just pinch 3 of 4 this week in Cleveland somehow, they might be closing in on .500 again by the time Toronto comes to town for four HUGE games next week. Then they take to the road to face the Cubs (3) and Phillies (3).

Their whole season basically comes down to these next 17 games. Something in the 13-4 or 12-5 range and they will have clawed their way back into it, as improbable as that might seem.

I told you yesterday. I'm not a quitter.

Sunday July 20, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3982

we're almost there

I'm not a quitter by nature, so getting me to the point where I say "it's over" is a pretty tough task.

I realize others are different and that's fine. You might have quit on the Orioles two or three weeks earlier than I did (or will) and there's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't make you a bad person. It just means you quit before I did. Nothing more.

And while I'm not there yet, I'll step up today and say, "We're almost there".

Last night's 4-3 loss in Tampa Bay was just about the fate-sealer.

Baltimore led early, 2-0, and took a 2-1 lead into the 8th inning, where Tampa Bay then erupted for three runs to take the lead. The O's did manage a 9th inning run, but that was it.

And, so, while they certainly didn't "quit" last night -- Mullins was the potential tying run at 2nd when Holliday made the game's final out at the plate -- there are some troubling indicators of future performance within the club and it wouldn't be at all surprising to see this edition of the Orioles completely cave in over the final two months of the season and finish with something like a 64-98 record.

When you lose games 24-2, 15-3, 17-1, 11-0, that's a sign of something besides "it just wasn't our day".

It would be akin to losing every Sunday in football by scores of 38-7, 36-10, 42-13, 48-14, etc.

Getting run out of the gym a dozen times during your first 100 or so baseball games is definitely a sign of something more deep rooted than the manager, the injuries, and so on.

Anyway...

The Birds are now 43-54, which means, if you're going to use 86-76 as the measuring stick for the post-season, they have to go 43-22 to finish with that record.

It's worth noting, I guess: Last year, 86 wins did make the post-season in the American League. In 2023, it took 89 wins to garner a Wild Card spot. 86-76 was good enough to make it in 2022.

So, we're sticking with 86 wins as the goal for these O's.

Anything less and you have to assume they're not going to the playoffs.

And with each loss now, it's looking more and more like there won't be baseball in Baltimore in October in 2025.

That's a bummer.

Where's the blame lie?

Well, no one person in particular should get, or deserves to get, all of the blame.

There's a lot of moving parts.

They tried firing the manager. That didn't work. It rarely does, by the way. But getting rid of the manager at least put the spotlight where it belongs in the first place...on the players themselves.

Have there been some puzzling personnel decisions over the last year or two? Of course. The Rogers for Stowers and Norby deal still looks a little out of whack, but it's not as lopsided as it was at one point. And, again, there's no guarantee that Stowers and Norby would have done in Baltimore what they've done in Miami.

That deal, at least to the Orioles, was always about Rogers. If the Birds got a credible, reliable left-handed pitcher in exchange for two (good) prospects, so be it. You can't trade two bums for someone great. If Rogers turns out to be a 32-starts-a-year guy with an ERA in the 3's, it was a good deal in the end. As Tom Petty once said, "The waiting is the hardest part."

But not spending money on a free agent pitcher in the off-season looks like a bad decision now. And, no, I'm not counting Charlie Morton. I'm talking about a multi-year deal on a "real" pitcher with years of service to give to the O's. Morton's been OK. They needed way more than "OK", though.

The Grayson Rodriguez injury was huge. They had to find someone else to make his 32 starts. That's easier said than done. We found out it's not Brandon Young, if nothing else.

Jordan Westburg's on-again, off-again 2025 campaign didn't help, either.

Adley Rutschman morphing into Brook Fordyce wasn't expected.

Tyler O'Neill turning in whatever he's turned into hasn't helped.

We're not going to break it all down today. There's no need to do a full autopsy in mid-July. We'll have plenty of time to do that once the "E" (eliminated from playoffs) is next to "ORIOLES" in the standings.

But it's going to feel weird around here not paying attention to the September games.

Very weird, indeed.

We still have to check in to see what happens today and this week in Cleveland. It's not over yet. But we're getting close to calling it.

I know most of you have quit on the Birds.

I get it.

I'm closing in on doing the same thing, trust me.

It just takes me a little longer, that's all.

There are a bunch of guys hoping Scottie Scheffler has a (very) rare off day when they play the final round of the British Open this morning at Royal Portrush.

Scheffler has a 4-shot lead with 18 holes to play.

There are only six players within six shots of the lead. Haotong Li of China, who was a promising international star a decade ago, is in second place at 10-under par. Matt Fitzpatrick is at 9-under par. And then it's four guys at 8-under, including Rory, Hatton, English and last week's winner in Scotland, Chris Gotterup.

Scheffler has made one bogey in his last two rounds of golf.

And this isn't the John Deere Classic, remember. It's a major championship played on one of the more trickier courses in the Open Championship rotation.

Golf's a crazy sport. Just ask Greg Norman. Assuming you're going to win because you have a 4-shot lead is the most dangerous thing you can do. You go bogey, par, par, par, par, bogey and Haotong Li goes par, birdie, par, par, par, birdie and your 4-shot lead is gone.

But it certainly feels like Scheffler is in a great spot with 18 holes remaining.

The three par 5 holes will likely decide the outcome today.

If Scheffler makes 3 birdies there, that might be good enough on its own barring some kind of wacky quadruple bogey or something like that.

But you can assume someone from off the path will make a run at some point. McIlroy's not chopped liver, after all. Neither is Matt Fitzpatrick, who couldn't buy a putt on Saturday while slipping back from a one shot deficit to a five shot deficit.

If one of those guys within six shots of the lead can cobble together an all-time round of 63 or 64 today, who knows what might happen?

In the end, it's all on Scheffler's racquet. If he takes care of the three par 5 holes and makes another birdie or two along the way, that's probably going to be enough. All he has to do is keep his eyes on the road and his hands upon the wheel, as the great James Douglas Morrison once said.

Finishing a golf tournament is hard, though. It's not for the meek of heart.

And even though Scheffler is obviously the best player in the world right now and he's led an incredibly charmed golfing life over the last three years, you never puff out your chest in golf and say "this one's in the bag" until you're standing there holding the trophy.

We'll save the accolades for the winner in Monday's edition. If it's Scheffler, that will give him four majors and push him to within one U.S. Open victory of completing the career grand slam.

If it's someone else, we'll break it down accordingly here tomorrow.

In addition to who wins and who doesn't, crucial Ryder Cup points are available to U.S. players in today's final round. Russell Henley can just about sew up his spot on the American team with a top 10 finish. So, too, could Harris English.

Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, and the captain himself, Keegan Bradley, could add closure to their Ryder Cup chances with something in the mid 60's today.

Guys like Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa wasted a glorious opportunity to double-up on much-needed Ryder Cup points by missing the cut at Portrush. DeChambeau stared missing-the-cut right in the face and said, "You're not beating me," rallying from 5 shots off the cut line on Friday to make play the weekend and virtually cement his spot on the team even if it requires a captain's pick from Keegan.

Guys like Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman are in "last ditch effort" mode to impress Bradley. They need something special today, like a top 5 finish, and then probably need to win at least one FedEx Cup event to jump ahead of others for consideration as a captain's pick.

A gentle reminder that I'll be on the air talking golf today from 4-6 pm on 105.7 The Fan. "Fairways and Greens" welcomes in the newest Maryland Open champ, Benton Weinberg, at 5 pm for a discussion about his win at Country Club of Maryland this past week. We'll have more golf for you as well during an awesome 2-hour show. Please tune in.

Saturday July 19, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3981

keep your october open

OK, I know it's early. But, like most people, I tend to start scheduling things two or three months in advance.

I assume you do the same thing.

It's almost August now. Can you believe it, by the way? The summer is moving along all-too-rapidly for me.

Before you know it, September will be here. I'm making my first-ever trip to Bandon Dunes in early September. I can't wait.

I have a few golf-related trips planned for October as well.

And November.

Heck, Thanksgiving is only four months away.

But let's get back to October for a minute.

I'm going to give you a piece of advice today. I hope you take it.

Keep your October open.

Yes, I'm serious.

And when I say "keep your October open", I'm talking about the whole month, basically.

You probably think I'm nuts, don't you?

I'm not.

I'm urging you. Keep your October open.

On Sunday, October 5, the Ravens host the Texans. Houston's pretty good, you know. Best helmets in the league. And that QB in Houston is pretty daggone good. It's a 1 pm kick-off. Early October in The Land of Pleasant Living is, well, "pleasant". That first Sunday in October could be a Chamber of Commerce afternoon in Bawlmer.

The very next Sunday, October 12, the L.A. Rams come to town. It's another 1 pm kick-off. I have a Baltimore vs. Philadelphia golf tournament that day, but I'll be at the stadium in spirit. You should go. That one feels like a double-digit Ravens win.

Two weeks later, on October 26, it's another easy win when the Bears are in Baltimore for a 1 pm tilt. Late October in Baltimore. Might need a hoodie or something similar that day. Fall will be in full bloom by then. I love fall in Maryland, don't you?

You thought I was kidding when I said "Keep your October open", didn't you?

Three Ravens home games in four weeks during the month of October. Make plans now!

Every sport known to man has a stupid rule or three for sure. Why they don't get fixed is anyone's guess. But those dumb rules are out there.

In football, a quarterback can throw the ball from his 30 yard line to the other team's 30 yard line and his wide receiver might have but a 10% chance of actually catching the pass. But if he gets interfered with by a defensive player, the offense gets the ball on the 30 yard line. It's a 40-yard penalty, essentially. And it's maddening.

In baseball, the umpire can miss 5 or 10 ball/strike calls in any given game, but if you turn around and say, "Hey, Blue, that wasn't a strike, it was a ball," you get thrown out of the game. That's one of, oh, about 5 dumb rules in baseball.

You play nine innings trying desperately to get a runner to second base in any and every inning, at the very least, and then in the 10th inning, you automatically get a runner stationed there.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Golf has dumb rules, too.

For instance, you and I are standing on the 3rd hole at Eagle's Nest. It's a short par 4 of 360 yards or so. There's out-of-bounds all the way down the left side of the hole. The entire planet is open to your right.

You tee off first. In a shocking display of your awful golfing ability, you swing and miss at the ball. A complete whiff.

Shocked, you take your ball and tee, put it in your pocket and say to me, "I need a second to recover from that. Please go ahead and tee-off."

I make a great golf swing. The ball leaves the clubface with a piercing sound, like it was blasted out of a shotgun. It's pulled a hair left, but not wildly so.

It travels 275 yards in the air. It hits just left of the 100 yard post on the left side of the fairway and bounds in the direction of out-of-bounds. It winds up being 2 inches out of bounds.

Your friend who whiffed on his original tee-shot puts his ball back on a tee and is now hitting his 2nd shot from there.

You, who hit it 275 yards in the air with your original tee-shot, are now hitting your 3rd shot from the tee when you tee it up again.

Make it make sense.

Shane Lowry found out about another one of golf's dumb rules yesterday in the 2nd round of the British Open.

Lowry was taking a practice swing in the rough and supposedly his ball moved from its original position and rules officials were notified of the faux pas and determined that it was Lowry's practice swing that caused the ball to move.

How far did the ball move, you're wondering?

Maybe...maybe...1/16th of an inch. And that's being generous.

So, your ball can come to rest two feet to the right of a cart path in the heavy rough, but because you're standing on the cart path you're allowed to pick up the ball out of the rough, take your stance away from the path, and then drop your ball using "free relief".

You can actually pick up your ball from where it lies and drop it somewhere else.

And that's OK.

But your ball moving 1/16th of an inch isn't OK.

So weird.

Lowry handled it well yesterday, but no one would have blamed him had he blown his stack once rules officials confirmed he was being hit with a TWO-SHOT PENALTY.

You read that right.

His ball moved 1/16th of an inch and he got docked TWO shots. One would have been bad enough. But two? #clownshoes

I have a few questions for the reading audience this morning. Maybe you know the answers?

1. Will Grayson Rodriguez pitch in a Major League game next season? Not this season. Next season...

2. I know Kyle Stowers had a big day in Baltimore last Sunday. But when's the last time he hit a game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning for the Marlins? Huh? Huh? Huh?

3. Would you rather the Orioles get one top "A" prospect and two good "B" prospects from the Phillies, a National League team, in exchange for Felix Bautista, or two top "A" prospects and one good "B" prospect from an American League team for Bautista? In other words, would you rather the Orioles take a LESSER deal from the Phillies because they won't have to face Bautista as much as they might if he goes to an American League team?

4. Scottie Scheffler is in the lead at the British Open at 10-under par. The gambling fairy lands on your shoulder and offers you this: "You have to put up $100. If Scheffler wins the tournament, you get $350 back...your original $100 and $250 more. If Scheffler doesn't win but finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th (including ties), you get your $100 back and that ends the wager. But if he finishes 5th place or worse, you have to contribute another $500." Are you taking that bet?

5. Anyone heard if Coldplay plans on touring anytime soon?

Friday July 18, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3980

the key word over the next 7 days is "fleece"

When the O's resume the 2025 season tonight in Tampa Bay, they'll be kick-starting what will be a season-defining seven days.

They play three against the Rays and then travel to Cleveland for four with the Indians Guardians. (Yes, for the record, I typed "Indians" in there first and it was like that for 35 minutes until I proofed this edition and found the faux pas. Old habits die hard, especially when it's something silly like changing the name of a team.)

The Birds enter the second half at 43-52 after a dismal home weekend series with the Marlins, which saw the hometown nine drop the last two games by a total tally of 17-1.

They're up against it, now. And with the trade deadline looming now, Mike Elias has to make the call this coming week.

I said as far back as mid-May that I thought the club had to be 48-52 at the 100-game mark in order to be a "buyer" at the deadline rather than a "seller".

To reach that position, the Birds have to win their next five games. It is possible, obviously. But even at 48-52, does Elias have enough confidence to add quality instead of relinquishing quality by the end of the month?

Winning five of these next seven would put the O's at 48-54 with exactly 60 games remaining. That's still six games under .500, though. And it's likely going to require the Birds to be 10 games over .500 (86-76) to secure a wild card spot in the American League.

So, we're back to the math again.

The Birds are 43-52 right now. To get to 86-76 they have to finish the season going 43-24.

I'm always someone who says "But wait, we still have a chance."

And the O's do still have a chance. The problem is, of course, that their chances are very slight. And with that, you're going to have to make a call and be willing to stick with it, because teams are going to start calling soon -- if not already -- about guys like O'Hearn, Bautista, Mullins, Morton, Rogers, et al.

Mike Elias didn't seek me out for assistance, but I guess at this point I'd simply offer this: "If you get an opportunity to fleece someone this week, you should probably take it."

I'm not necessarily interested in trading the likes of Bautista or Rogers. Pitching is already a premium with these Orioles. Letting our closer go somewhere else and sending the only good left-handed starter we have to someone else seems kind of backwards to me.

That said, the key word in this endeavor is "fleece".

Some folks might say the Marlins "fleeced" the Birds last July when they got two starters for Rogers, who labored for 8 months in the pitching dungeon before rebounding this summer and looking like the Trevor Rogers the O's hoped they'd get in 2024.

If the Birds can fleece someone for Bautista or Rogers, so be it.

But on the whole, I'd rather keep those two and let guys like O'Hearn, Mullins and Morton chase their championship dreams elsewhere.

Now, I also understand we're probably not fleecing anyone for one of those three guys. I do get that. We're sorta-kinda trading them just for the sake of trading them. But if Coby Mayo winds up getting a legit look over the last two-plus months because we move O'Hearn at the deadline, maybe that's the win-win scenario the O's are looking for at the end of the day.

You get a potential big league contributor in exchange for O'Hearn and Mayo plays 45 of the last 55 games and gets 250 Major League at-bats between now and the end of the season. That's a fair swap for sure.

But if you're getting rid of O'Hearn and Mayo isn't the guy prospering from that move, what's the point?

I'm not looking to move Rogers but if you're desperate for a left-handed pitcher and you're willing to get fleeced, go ahead and call. But you better be ready to get the worst of the deal. Otherwise, it's a no-go.

The same goes for Bautista. You better be ready to blow me away with two or three legit pieces/prospects if you think I'm giving you one of the three or four best closers in the game.

In a weird kind of way, I don't want to lose Bautista but I'm willing to lose him if it means I'm getting a couple of guys who can help in 2026 and beyond.

I'm only willing to lose the closer if I can do to the (insert team here) what the Marlins did to the Birds last July. In other words, if this next time year "Smith and Jones" are both regulars for the O's and Bautista is elsewhere, I'm willing to listen to a potential trade.

So that's a bunch of "ifs" we're dealing with when it comes to the Birds and deadline.

If they don't win 6 of 7 over the next week, it's time to start wheeling and dealing.

If they're getting rid of guys with service time remaining like Rogers and Bautista, they better be getting a haul in return.

If they're moving guys like O'Hearn, Mullins, etc., the playing time available because of those departures needs to go to guys currently on the organization's 40-man roster.

A lot of "ifs" there.

They'll all be answered starting tonight in Tampa Bay.

Day one (and a half) of the British Open is in the books and the leaderboard is starting to take its appropriate shape.

Some dude name J.S. Olesen was 4 under after 18 holes and then even par after 19 holes. After not missing a shot in Thursday's opening round, he promptly jacked two balls out of bounds on the first tee in the second round and made quadruple-bogey eight.

The British Open is famous for someone you've never heard of hanging around for a day or two before they realize what's going on and they blow up.

Brian Harman, who won the tournament out-of-nowhere two years ago, is rising up the leaderboard as I write this at 7:25 am on Friday.

He's a very adept and dangerous links golfer is Harman. He drives it straight, flights his irons high or low depending on the pin location and when he gets hot with the putter, you better watch out.

Fiery Tyrrell Hatton, who (happily, to some) melted down late in the U.S. Open last month, is back again, vying for his first major title. Hatton is a "wears his heart on his sleeve" kind of guy, which some folks admire and some folks detest. He couldn't care less what you like, though. He's a madman. But he's also a terrific player.

Harris English, who appeared in #DMD's "Great Eight", is also hanging around at 5-under par as of this writing. A win for English at this week's event would cement his spot on Keegan Bradley's Ryder Cup team. He's enjoying the best season of his career in 2025. Could this be his week? Maybe so.

Some guy named Scottie Scheffler posted a 3-under par round on Thursday and will be odds-on-favorite to win if he can do that again on Friday and be near the top of the leaderboard. The winds are picking up a bit in Northern Ireland as the day goes on, though, so Scheffler might not get the favorable weather that the early guys are receiving on Friday.

McIlroy, Fleetwood, Westwood, MacIntyre, Fitzpatrick, Hojgaard -- Europeans all hanging around who have a chance as well.

It's way too early in the tournament to go through all the names, but anyone who finishes the first 36 holes within 8 shots of the lead still has a puncher's chance. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

faith in sports

Christian Jones is an offensive tackle at San Diego State.

I assume he's a very good football player.

I don't know. I don't follow SDSU football very closely.

But I do know he's a VERY GOOD human being. I know that for sure.

It only took me 20 minutes to discover that about him.

If you're one of those people who thinks today's generation is totally lost and aimless, give yourself 20 minutes today to watch and listen to this young man.

He'll change your mind.

This is one of the best athlete interviews I've seen in recent years. It will certainly make the rounds at Calvert Hall in September when we resume classes and our FCA huddle meets every Thursday morning.

Please watch it. Christian Jones is a rock star.

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

Thursday July 17, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3979

all the seasons in 18 holes

When this morning's first round of the British Open commenced at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, spring was in the air. 63 degrees and breezy, in other words.

By the time Scottie Scheffler teed off at just after 11 am over there, the temperature was almost 70 but the breeze had the 3-time major champion and others still sporting sweaters or quarter-zips as their tour of the course kicked off. Summer wasn't far behind.

But by the time Scheffler and Shane Lowry and others reached the 7th green just before 12:30 pm, fall was beckoning. The rain was coming down, the breeze had picked up and those on the course had moved into "survival mode" for a while.

Winter is on the way, too, one would assume.

Welcome to the British Open, where, if you're lucky, you might get to experience all four seasons in four and a half hours.

The Open Championshp -- as they call it over there -- is the sport's most mercurial and unpredictable major championship.

You know what you're getting every year at Augusta National in April.

The course will be perfect, the greens will be spectacular, the back nine will decide things and someone will do something incredibly memorable or incredibly painful on the incoming nine on Sunday afternoon to create yet another Masters memory.

You know what the PGA Championship brings in May.

The course will be long -- far longer than it actually should be -- and the rough will be high and the PGA of America will go to great lengths to allow for both success and punishment. They want to see an equal number of players make birdies and bogeys. They want it to be hard, but not too hard. They move the event around from course to course looking for the perfect host.

You fully know what's coming every June at the U.S. Open.

As we saw at Oakmont CC in June, the United States Golf Association sets the challenge -- the player vs. the course. Who wins? They pride themselves on making it difficult enough that even the best players in the world reach the scoring tent at the end of the round and say, "F--- this place." That's what they want. Carnage. Anger. Disappointment. Misery. Someone eventually wins, but in most years the champion's biggest emotion isn't joy, it's relief.

And then you have the British Open, where you have zero idea before the event begins if the winning score will be 2-under par or 18 under par.

In the UK, because they think they're better than everyone else, they simply refer to it as the Open Championship because, you know, if you consider yourself a golfing enthusiast of any degree, you know the "Open Championship" is the British Open.

I called it "the British Open" recently at Eagle's Nest and a member from Wales said, "Now, now, you know it's the Open Championship."

I said, "When they play the U.S. Open in June, how do you know it's played in the U.S. and not, say, in Ghana?"

Before he could answer, I chipped in with this: "I mean, we could call it "The Open Championship" as well and just assume you knew it was being played in Pittsburgh or Long Island or San Diego."

He wasn't amused.

"When I hear "Open Championship", I have no idea if it's in Turkey, Greece, Australia or West Palm Beach," I said. "When I hear "British Open", I know it's played in the United Kingdom."

He nodded and sipped his beer. I thought he might buy me a glass of red wine. He didn't.

Anyway...

I love the British Open.

It's the way golf is meant to be played. They get the course ready to go just like they would for the members on a Thursday, dress it up as best they can, and then say to the players, "OK, have at it. Be ready for bad weather, bad bounces, deep bunkers, long rough and anything else mother nature throws your way."

At the British Open, you can hit it 300 yards off the tee right in the middle of the fairway and your ball might bound over a hill and roll into a deep bunker that was placed there 150 years ago because, who knows, someday there might be a major golf event there and wouldn't it be nice to have a bunker in the fairway to collect a shot or two and challenge the players?

On the next hole, you can hit it 300 yards off the tee into the deep rough but your ball might find a perfect patch of open territory where you can hoist your 8 iron onto the green. In the group right after you, a fellow competitor might hit the same drive and wind up in the same knee high grass as you, but it requires a 12-person search party to find his ball.

At the U.S. Open, if you hit your ball in the rough, you're pretty much dead.

At the British Open, you never know what's going to happen.

It's sunny for four holes.

It's windy for the next four.

It pours the rain for the four after that.

Every player's golf bag has a rain suit, extra towels, rain gloves, sunglasses, sunscreen and Tylenol.

One of the reasons I've always loved golf is because you show up on the first tee with the other players in your group and you each effectively say, "I think I'm better than you at golf. Let's go find out if I'm right."

But the other reason is because the course also says the same thing. "You think you're good at this sport?" the course might say. "Well, we'll see about that. Good luck with the 4th hole today. Wait until you see where that pin location is. Oh, and that left to right ball flight you like to play won't come in very handy on the par 3 10th hole when you see where that pin is. Watch out for the pond on #17. And the rough at the 18th will really get you if you keep hitting those snap hooks off the tee like you've been hitting for two weeks."

If the U.S. Open is about survival, the British Open is about sticking to it and fighting the fight until the course finally relents and says, "OK, you've made your point. You win."

At the British Open, you're going to hit great shots that get terrible rewards and you're going to hit terrible shots that get great rewards.

It's at the British Open -- or any linksy kind of course like Royal Portrush -- where you can be 3 feet off the green and have to swipe at the ball with the pace of a 40-yard shot or you can be 75 feet off the green and feel more comfortable putting the ball to the pin that's roughly 40 yards away in total.

I don't want to give them too much credit over there, but the truth is golf in the U.K. is "better" than golf in the U.S. The course they're playing today at Royal Portrush is largely the same course your grandfather played back in 1965. And it will be the same course your grandson plays in 2065.

They don't really doctor anything up over there. If the course is soft, you go play it soft. They don't have underground electronic systems in place that suck the moisture out of the playing surface. If it's wet, it's wet.

And if it's baked out and firm, that's how you'll play it. They don't drive around in little trucks and water the heck out of the place to make sure it's nice and green. If it's brown and hard, that's the way you play it.

Even the tournament itself is somewhat understated on the property itself. Yes, there are grandstands and the occasional sky box for sponsors and corporate types, but nothing like you see at the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship.

In America, the United States Open is an opportunity to make money. In the U.K., their "Open" is about creating a great event in which the best player will be standing alone at 6 pm on Sunday with the championship medal around his neck.

I love the Open Championship British Open.

orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm including some of our recent selections, and for the first time this year, we have Co-Players of the Week: Samuel Basallo and Cohen Achen.

The decision to have Co-Players of the Week was not easy, however when you have two minor league players garner their own league’s Player of the Week nods, it’s tough not to highlight both of them.

Achen, 23 (turns 24 at the end of July) was the Orioles’ 14th round selection in last year’s draft out of Lindsey Wilson College (Columbia, KY) and has been pitching for the High-A Aberdeen Ironbirds over the past couple of months after starting the year with Low-A Delmarva.

Last week, in a rare relief outing, Achen was fantastic against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) tossing five shutout, hitless innings while striking out six. The only batter to reach against him was due to catcher’s interference in the 3-1 victory.

Achen’s performance garnered him the nod for the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week.

Basallo, 20, becomes the first player to earn a second selection from DMD as the Minor League Player of the Week and for good reason. The 10th ranked prospect in all of baseball per MLB Pipeline had another fantastic week for the AAA Norfolk Tides earning the International League Player of the Week nod.

Over five games last week, Basallo went 7-18 with three home runs, three doubles, three walks and 10 RBI.

He posted a .389 batting average for the week as well as a .500 OBP and 1.556 OPS. It’s more of the same for Basallo as his home run total now sits at 19 over 62 games and 253 plate appearances. He is also boasting a .383 OBP and .975 OPS for the Tides this year while drawing 39 free passes against 55 strikeouts.

It's not a matter of if, but when Basallo eventually gets the call to the big leagues. If I were a betting man, I’d lean towards late August, early September just because there is no rush to get him to Baltimore with the O’s looking like a team that is destined to miss the playoffs.

Congratulations to our Co-Players of the Week, but I would be remised if I did not give a hat-tip to Jack Crowder, Adrian Delgado, Joe Glassey and Deivy Cruz who combined to toss a no-hitter on July 10 against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros) in a 2-1 victory for the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds.

The Orioles Minor League Player of the Week was contributed by Josh Michael.

Wednesday July 16, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3978

so...you call that a magical ending?

I'm certainly not going to go as far as saying the MLB All-Star Game has been "ruined" with the advent of the extra innings "Swing Off" we saw on Tuesday night.

They might not have that particular thing happen again for 5 years. Or 10. Or 15. Who knows?

But here's what I would say: No one really "won" or "lost" last night's mid-season classic.

The game ended in a tie.

It was setting up to be a classic, maybe even one of those dreaded instant classics, what with the American League storming back from a late 6-0 deficit to tie the score at 6-6 thanks to 9th inning heroics from Bobby Witt Jr. and others.

But then, as soon as it really got interesting, Major League Baseball decided to stop playing the actual game itself and instead switched over to something akin to wiffle ball in Miss Kay's front yard back in the old days.

They went with the Home Run Derby, essentially, to decide the game.

Meh.

Jorge Castillo, the outstanding national baseball writer for ESPN.com, called the finish "enthralling", which saw Kyle Schwarber hit 3 straight homers to give the National League the victory.

I don't think "enthralling" was the word I was going for, but whatevs.

Schwarber's 3 homers came with the N.L. trailing 3-1. The American League had a chance to extend the game thereafter, but Tampa Bay's Jonathan Aranda went 0-fer in his three attempts to tie or move the A.L. into the lead.

Rubbing more salt in the wound from his 3-homer performance in Baltimore on Sunday, Kyle Stowers came through with one homer in his three at-bats during the extra-innings gimmick.

OK, so the game ended in a 6-6 "tie", basically. The National League was cited as the winner based on the 4-3 advantage in the Swing Off contest.

I get it.

You can't be out there all night in a meaningless mid-season game.

And it's also not like the All-Star Game is important these days. Circa 1972, the All-Star Game actually meant something. Other than the World Series, it was the only time all season we got to see the National League and American League square off in a game that counted.

For a lot of us in American League cities, other than Saturday's "Game of the Week" when N.L. teams were featured, the All-Star Game was the only occasion we got to see Dale Murphy, Cesar Geronimo, Tom Seaver, Lou Brock and others.

Let's be honest. It won't hurt to tell the truth here. A significant piece of collateral damage connected to Interleague play was the All-Star Game. It used to be a big deal. It's not a big deal any longer.

And you can tell it's not a big deal to the powers-that-be in the league itself when they go to a Swing Off to decide the winner.

It's not all that different than what they do in hockey to decide regular season games, except in the case of the NHL, they're actually doing something in the shootout that they do in the game, too. The offensive player is gifted a breakaway against the goaltender, which you might see 1, 2 or 3 times per-game.

The Swing Off isn't "real" because the pitchers aren't throwing 95 MPH. They're tossing batting practice, effectively, with most pitches thrown in the 50-60 MPH range according to last night's telecast.

Imagine a football game ending in a tie and the kickers trotting out to kick three field goals with just them and the holder out there.

Or a basketball game ending in a tie and three players from each team all getting five three-point attempts to decide the outcome.

It is exactly what it is: a gimmick.

Then again, baseball has that extra innings rule these days where you start the 10th inning (or inning thereafter) with a runner on second base. That's also a gimmick, of course.

All of this stuff, the Swing Off, the extra-innings rule, etc., are done for one reason and only reason only. To protect players from "overuse".

Guys like Seaver, Bob Gibson, Jim Palmer, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, et al would laugh at that notion, I'm sure. Palmer threw 211 complete games in his career for crying out loud. Less baseball? Heck, he always wanted to play the most baseball he could.

So, let me get myself situated here so I can climb up on the soapbox and not risk injury while doing so. Us 62 year olds aren't as nimble as we were once upon a time.

Here's how I saw last night: It sucked.

Not because they went to a gimmick to end the game. The actual drama produced by the Swing Off was pretty cool. I mean, Schwarber needed to hit 2 homers to tie the contest or the game was over. He hit 3 instead. That was neat.

But it sucked because it offered, at least to me, a stark reminder of how out of balance things have become in sports these days.

We can't even play the freakin' All-Star Game to its completion any longer because some dude making $25 million a year can't throw 15 more pitches or take one more at-bat because the player's union stood up a while back and said, "These guys are working too much as it is."

I didn't hate the Swing Off. But I hated everything it stands for.

These guys are coddled worse than Buffy protecting Mrs. Beasley in the old "Family Affair" sitcom.

It's not the money they make. I get that. $50 million (plus) for Shohei seems about right. The players are the show. If the owners are making $25M a year themselves without doing anything except sitting in the sky box drinking Silver Oak, the players should get their piece of the pie. I'm all for it.

But it seems bizarre to me that a guy making $40 million to play baseball can't, you know, actually "play" baseball when he's asked to play baseball.

"OK, we're heading to the 10th inning, you're up 2nd Smith. Look for the change-up if he gets ahead of you."

"You know, Skip, I don't know. I've already had three at-bats tonight. I'd hate to get to a big game on September 24 and not have enough energy in that one because I had to play in the All-Star Game back on July 15."

"Tom, can you go back and throw 10 or 15 more pitches for us in the 10th inning? Get us to the bottom of the inning. We have our big horses coming up. We'll end this thing and get the win."

"I don't know, man. I've already thrown 24 innings in relief this season. Heck, last week I pitched in four games in seven days. I think I threw 58 pitches last week, bro."

So, I'm happy to be "that guy" this morning. Proudly so, in fact.

It's like the scene in Caddyshack when Judge Smails is at dinner bragging about how great his country club is and, out of nowhere, Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) steps up and says, "Are you kidding? You think I'd join this crummy "snobatorium"? Why, this whole place sucks!"

I'll say it.

The ending of last night's All Star Game was enthralling. It wasn't fascinating or meaningful in any way at all.

It sucked. That's right, it sucked.

But it sucked not because of the action or the talent but because the whole game has eroded into how-do-the-players-showcase-themselves but only until they've reached their limit of one or two at-bats or 20 pitches thrown?

The All-Star Game used to be about playing a meaningful game to decide which league is better.

Now it's nothing more than an imposition for 90% of the players who get the nod to play in the mid-season classic.

In fact, calling it a "classic" is an embarrassment.

There's nothing "classic" about asking a baseball player to play baseball and the rules he helped negotiate saying, "No more baseball for me tonight. I'm baseball'd out."

The way the game ended last night wasn't beautiful or awesome or magical in any way.

It was dreadful.

That said, it's a perfect microcosm of what our country has become.

Entitled.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns. #5 was Tommy Fleetwood. #4 was Ludvig Aberg. #3 was Harris English.

#2 was Robert MacIntyre.

#1 Sepp Straka -- This is setting up to be Sepp Straka's British Open. Not because he's playing particularly great going into the tournament. In fact, it's because he isn't playing all that great that makes me think Straka is do for something big this week at Royal Portrush.

He has two wins on the PGA Tour this season; American Express in January and the Truist in May. Sandwiched in and around those events has been outstanding golf from the Austrian. But there's also been some not-so-great golf, like at the three majors in 2025.

Straka missed the cut at the Masters. He missed the cut at the PGA. And he missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

And that's a reason why I love his chances this week.

Straka plays his best golf when he's the forgotten guy. He plays his best golf when he's off everyone's radar.

His "regular" record on the TOUR this season is outrageously good. He's 3rd in FedEx Cup points and has made 15 of 19 cuts.

In 12 of the 15 events where he's made the cut, he's finished in the top 25.

But in the majors? Peeee--yeeewwww. Stinky, stinky.

That said, last week at the Scottish Open he was very solid, finishing in 7th place at 10-under par, just five shots behind winner Chris Gotterup.

It's setting up to be just the kind of week where Straka, the forgotten star, comes through with a huge win at Portrush.

No one is expecting much from him this week, which is precisely when he plays his best golf.

He's currently at +4500, which tells me the oddsmakers have a hunch he might be a factor.

I think he's going to be a huge factor.

Now that you've seen our complete "Great Eight", I think it's fairly obvious what our angle is this week, right?

We went with players who don't yet have a major win under their belt. We think a first-time major winner -- like Shane Lowry back in 2019 or J.J. Spaun last month -- comes out of the pack to win.

Tuesday July 15, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3977

a tuesday gift from the gods

This one, I swear, couldn't have been scripted any better.

As I was going through the conversation, all I could think was, "Happy Hour...Happy Hour...I can't wait to share this at Happy Hour."

So I'm in Philadelphia to play golf today. And because traffic on I-95 is entirely unpredictable, I left four hours early for a drive that should take roughly 2 hours or so.

I jetted up the interstate like Jeff Gordon in the Charlotte 500. No traffic. No issues. Easy peasy.

So I figured I buzz into a diner near Conshohocken for a quick bite to eat.

I'm there enjoying my coffee when two guys in their 30's sit directly next to me.

"Jones" and "Will" were their names. They notice my golf attire and ask me if I'm playing somewhere. I say yes. We talk golf for two minutes.

"Where you from?" Will asks.

"Just outside of Baltimore," I reply.

Jones perks up.

"What happened to the Orioles?" he asks.

"He's a baseball junkie," Will says with a laugh. "You'll be here all day talking baseball with him if you don't leave now."

"He's a hockey guy, he doesn't know anything about baseball," Jones says and bumps Will on the shoulder.

"Haven't been to a game in 10 years," Will boasts. "Maybe more like 12 or 13."

"That's like me with the Flyers," Jones says. "I haven't been down there to see a hockey game in forever."

Like I said, a gift from the gods.

"You're a hockey fan?" I say to Will.

"Huge," he replies.

"We don't have a team in Baltimore, so I don't know much about hockey," I say, trying to give off as much disappointment as I can.

"You have the Capitals down there in D.C.," Will says.

"I know," I say. "But Baltimore and D.C. don't mesh when it comes to sports," I explain.

My food arrives. The conversation stops and those two start talking about a fishing trip they're taking next week.

But I can't resist.

"How are the Flyers?" I ask. "Good team?"

"Nooooooooo," Will says. "They suck."

"I don't follow it much," I say in between bites, "but I thought they were one of the better teams. No?"

"They haven't been any good for 15 years," Will responds. "Their front office has their head in their a** every year."

I don't say anything. I just let the aggravation build.

A minute or so goes by.

"As good of a sports town as Philly is, it's a shame the hockey team isn't better," I say.

"You're telling me," Will says.

"Maybe they'll be better this coming season," I state.

"No chance," Will replies. "No chance. They suck. They're gonna finish in last place again."

Their food arrived and the conversation died down. I'd had enough, though. Mission accomplished.

My meal ended and I got up to leave.

"Good luck to your Phillies," I say to Jones.

"And to your Flyers...good days are ahead, maybe," I say to Will.

"Not for a few years at least," he says with sadness in his voice.

I got out to my car and just sat there for a second, reveling in the last 20 minutes. Having a great breakfast at a diner for $11.00 plus a $4.00 tip was awesome.

But coaxing a Flyers fan into telling me how bad the Flyers are...was absolutely priceless.

---

"someone has to judge you"

Jayson Stark of The Athletic got the ball rolling last week with a scathing first-half review of the Orioles, calling them "the most disappointing team of modern times."

I read the article and gave it the due it deserved.

Stark -- if this sort of description actually exists -- is a baseball expert who also happens to be a three decade member of the media.

Some folks are in the media and cover baseball but they aren't really experts of the sport. They're actually experts of their craft, which is generally journalism, media, etc.

Jayson Stark really knows baseball.

Now, calling the O's the most disappointing team of modern times might be a tad over the top, but if that's what he thinks, that's what he thinks.

There's no arguing at all that the 2025 first-half Orioles are, in fact, disappointing. I'd also assume you would agree they've been "very" disappointing given their A.L. East win in '23 and their second straight playoff berth a year ago.

Sure, they haven't yet won a playoff game in the Mike Elias era, but they made the post-season in '24 and '23 and there was really no reason to think they wouldn't make it in '25.

So that's how Stark piled on with his commentary recently. The first half of the season is over and the Birds are mired in last place and appear to have the look of a squad that's going to flatline their way to a 75-win campaign unless something drastically changes over the last two and a half months of the season.

The tailspin that is the 2025 season has also impacted the club at the gate. Attendance is down roughly 16% thus far in '25, with the team averaging 23,000-plus so far.

You can do the quick math and see what 3,000 tickets per-game at $28 (average price) per-seat will do to your bottom line. It's $90,000'ish per night. There's 81 home games. $8 million pays for a lot of Ramon Laureano's or Andrew Kittredge's.

So on the field it's been a bummer and off the field it's been a bummer.

Criticism like that -- "they're not only the most disappointing team this season, they're the most disappointing team of modern times" -- is probably good for clicks and all, but I can't imagine the Orioles give a rats-rear-end what Jayson Stark thinks.

And the Orioles, to a man, aren't dumb. They know they're 43-52. They have the internet. They're know they're in last place.

But there is a question that is now starting to percolate and will linger around the club for the rest of 2025.

I think you know what it is, even if you don't want to talk about it in dark places at parties that no one in your neighborhood wants to acknowledge.

Here's the question: Will Mike Elias survive this?

There are some rumblings from the Warehouse that he might not.

I don't want to say a whole lot more than that right now, but the salt in the hour glass is starting to dwindle. And it might not get refilled when it's empty.

Elias was, for a while at least, the town's fair-haired-boy. And with good reason.

When he showed up here, there was no real plan of attack for improvement. The club was way behind in both analytics and international scouting, two areas that Elias vowed to focus on and improve. And to his credit, he achieved those goals.

The club was surprisingly competitive in the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign at 25-35, then started to show signs of life in 2022 when they finished with 83 wins. A year later, they were the shocking winners of the A.L. East, but were quickly ousted by the red-hot Texas Rangers in the ALDS.

Last season saw them trickle back a tick, but they still won 91 games and made the playoffs as a wild card team, only to flatline offensively in two home playoff losses to the upstart Kansas City Royals.

"I wouldn't say that loss to the Royals put him on the hot seat," a team associate told #DMD this week. "But a second straight two-and-out, at home, didn't do much to gain him favor with the new ownership group."

In comparison to Peter Angelos, David Rubenstein seems far more like Steve Bisciotti in terms of patience with "his people".

But therein lies the rub.

Rubenstein didn't hire Elias. He inherited him.

Steve Bisciotti didn't hire David Modell or Brian Billick. They were both part of the purchase price. But he brought in Dick Cass to help him complete the full ownership transfer from Art Modell and then, of course, gave Cass the President's role and moved the younger Modell into the always exciting "advisory position".

A few years later, he got rid of Billick and brought in John Harbaugh.

Rubenstein inherited Elias, Brandon Hyde and the rest of the front office staff.

They aren't "his people".

At some point, they're getting replaced. It's just the way things work.

One of them, Hyde, already got expurgated. Whether Tony Mansolino is "David Rubenstein's guy" remains to be seen, but the bet here is Mansolino isn't part of the team's staff in 2026.

The question, though, again, is this: Will Mike Elias be the team's GM next season?

I'm not so sure.

And this isn't me advocating for his firing, either. I'm just asking the (obvious) question that's attached to a club that goes through a terrible season one year after a second straight disappointing post-season finish.

Will Mike Elias survive?

I have a friend who was a local judge for two-plus decades. One day, after a round of golf, I asked him about the "pressure" of sitting up there and ruling on people's lives.

"It's not easy," he said. "But after a while you get used to it. Someone has to judge you if you break the law or there's a disagreement that needs to be settled in court."

"You seem pretty cavalier about him," I pressed him.

"Well, at first it was daunting," he said. "My second year I had a domestic case that involved a popular member of the community and I remember being called "soft" when I gave him 30 days in jail. I thought that was a harsh sentence at the time. Today that same crime would have resulted in a year or more, at least.

Six years later, I was on the bench for a vehicular manslaughter case that was fairly high profile in town and I had to sentence the guy and I took into account his behavior during the trial and the fact he didn't seem at all remorseful about his role in the whole thing. Ten years was the maximum I could give him and that's what I did. He thought he was getting 5 with maybe 2 or 3 suspended. He got all ten. I remember leaving the court room that day and realizing I just sentenced someone to ten years in prison. I don't know that I could have done that as a rookie judge."

"Over time," he continued, "it just becomes obvious that you have a job to do and once you've heard the verdict and you know what the state mandates are, you can make the right call."

"I just happened to be the last line of defense," the judge said. "Someone has to judge you. It turned out to be me."

I bring that up today to issue a small "alert" here at #DMD.

Some of this will fall under "new news" and some of it will just be a gentle reminder for some of you who like to work the creases of what's acceptable and what's not acceptable.

I'll start at the end first and get the hard part out of the way.

Someone has to judge you and what you write and contribute in the comments. And since there's no one else in my department except for me, basically, it's going to fall on me to judge you.

I do have someone who monitors the comments section for vulgarity and other nonsense, but whenever something like that gets posted, I receive a text and I can go about deciding if it needs to be removed or not. If I'm unavailabie for some reason, my rule of thumb to my editorial assistant is "If you think it's objectionable, delete it."

But let me be clear so there's no confusion and so no one thinks I'm dodging the issue here.

It's not "Jake's Morning Dish" or "Nathan's Morning Dish". It's "Drew's Morning Dish". And so, the buck ultimately stops with me.

So here's where we're going from here.

If you're one of the 95% of folks who post comments here that are well intentioned, reasonable, insightful, etc., you won't be impacted in the least by what you're about to read.

You can even be wrong with your opinion and that's OK.

Just keep on posting and commenting and being part of the 95% that's "good".

But what we're going to start getting rid of are comments that add nothing at all to the general discourse of the website.

We've had a bunch of them this summer. I get rid of them when I come across them. The folks who posted and then got deleted didn't care one iota that their work got removed. You know how I know that? Because not one of them sent me an e-mail and said, "WTF, dude??? You took down my comment."

They posted with the sole intention of creating trouble. And so, they got the axe.

If you're one of those 5% who posts dumb stuff designed to just ruffle feathers, you're probably wondering who makes the decision to remove your comment(s)?

I do.

It's me, entirely.

Someone has to judge you. If someone didn't judge you, you'd just post craziness whenever you want.

So I'm going to judge you. And if you don't like getting your stuff deleted, here's a tip from the top: Be better.

It's here where I'll also remind you that eventually I'll just flag your IP address and you'll be blocked from commenting entirely. You'll then have to resort to finding other ways to be an airhead, which you probably will, and the game will continue that way until you've run out of IP addresses or energy.

A few of you are on IP address number three here. You should take up golf or boating or some other endeavor that keeps you busy.

I'm also going to remind all of you, again, that you have to post a name or initials with your commentary. We don't have many rules here but that's one of them. We have one grandfathered nickname here -- "UnitastoBerry" -- and that's my decision and on me and that's the end of that story.

Someone here occasionally posts as "DownE'Ocean", whatever on earth that is. That doesn't fly. That's not a name. I don't know what it is, but it's not a name.

If you're not willing to use YOUR name for whatever bizarre reason -- or your initials -- just post as "John" or "Bill" or "Murphy" or "AA" or "BB". I don't care. But you have to use a name or initials when you post a comment here.

If you don't, your comment -- however insightful it might very well be -- will come down.

The great news, as far as I'm concerned, is that we generally go through this about once a year. I'll remind you, you'll oblige me for a while, and sometime in 2026, I'll be back here with another (gentle) reminder.

Thanks, as always, to the 95% of you who make this place great.

As for the 5% who don't contribute to the greatness, the judge is waiting for you.

Someone has to do it. It might as well be me.

Just like my real judge friend, 10 years ago I probably let some stuff slip by or I wasn't as critical as I am now. Over time, though, I've realized it's my job here to keep the place moving in the direction I'm most proud of and that might mean, occasionally, having to judge you.

I'm the only one in my department doing the judging.

If you don't like getting your commentary removed, you have, as I see it, three distinct options.

1. Post better comments that add some quality to the discourse.

2. Stop posting comments.

3. Start your own website and post whatever you like there.

Are we good?

Good.

On we go.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns. #5 was Tommy Fleetwood. #4 was Ludvig Aberg. #3 was Harris English.

#2 Robert MacIntyre -- He's a left-handed version of Brian Harman. And with all due respect to Harman, if he can win a British Open, so, too, can "Bob" MacIntyre.

MacIntyre shoulda, coulda, woulda won at Oakmont CC last month if not for the heroics of J.J. Spaun at 17 and 18 on Sunday.

It feels like he's on the verge of something great. An Open Championship title at Royal Portrush would certainly quality as "something great".

In 18 TOUR events this year, MacIntyre has made 16 of 18 cuts. He's 20th in FedEx Cup points.

He was "off" last week the Scottish Open, where he made the cut in defense of his 2024 title, but finished at +2 with a T65.

That doesn't matter.

What does matter is he's a solid, young player, enjoying one of the best years of any European player not named Rory McIlroy, and he's primed, perhaps, to win one of golf's four majors this week in Ireland.

Oddsmakers like his chances, too. "Bobby Mac" is currently at +3500.

Monday July 14, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3976

boat raced by the marlins?

Yesterday's 11-1 loss to the Marlins marked the end of the first half of the season for the Birds.

They limped to the finish line worse than Side 2 of the album "Beatles for Sale", losing to a very pedestrian Miami team by a combined score of 17-1 on Saturday and Sunday at Camden Yards.

You probably heard by now, but if not, here was the icing on the cake: Ex-Oriole Kyle Stowers homered in his first three at-bats and eventually put together a nifty little 5-for-5 day with 6 RBI.

Lots of people took Stowers' performance and used it as an opportunity to do a drive-by on O's GM Mike Elias. I get it. I mean, Stowers had a very good first half for Miami.

But when that deal was made last July and the Birds obtained Trevor Rogers for Stowers and Connor Norby, I don't remember people in town doing jumping jacks and handstands about the future of Kyle Stowers in Baltimore. There was virtually nowhere for Norby to play in Charm City, so his departure was eyewash. And, as we've seen in Miami, he's not exactly turning into Jose Altuve or Dustin Pedroia.

Stowers is enjoying his "full playing time" status with the Marlins. His meteoric rise has been tempered somewhat this season by the resurgence of Trevor Rogers, but make no mistake about it, people in Charm City are going to roast Elias for shipping off a guy who has put together a very nice campaign with the Marlins...thus far.

That he did what he yesterday was more about the baseball gods than anything else. No disrespect at all intended to Kyle Stowers, but he's not having another 3 homer game or another 6 RBI game this season. The golf gods gifted him a chef's kiss afternoon in Baltimore on Sunday. There's no other explanation needed.

And please don't be one of those airheads who looks at the numbers Stowers is putting up in Miami and just presupposes he would put up those exact same numbers in Baltimore this season. Everything is different.

You can't take what Stowers has done with the Marlins and just cookie-cutter it into what he would do with the Orioles. Tyler O'Neill hit 31 homers for the Red Sox last season. How come he hasn't hit 31 with the Orioles this season?

Baseball doesn't work that way. No sport works that way. But there will be airheads around town who just assume Stowers would have 19 homers and 54 RBI with the Birds.

Enough about Stowers.

Let's talk about the O's and where they go from here.

They hit the All-Star break in an uncomfortable spot. They're in last place in the A.L. East with a 43-52 record.

If you believe it will take 86 wins to snag one of the three Wild Card spots in the American League, that means the Birds have to finish 43-24 to post a record of 86-76 in 2025.

38-29 would be decent baseball.

40-27 would be excellent baseball.

43-24 would be scorched earth baseball.

I just don't see the Orioles and "scorched earth baseball" colliding in the season's second half.

This thing isn't over yet.

But it's approaching over, I'm afraid.

It's one thing to ask the team to get hot and move closer to .500.

It's one thing to hope they can win 8 of their first 10 after the All-Star break and show signs of life.

It's another thing, entirely, to think the Orioles can go 43-24 in their last 67 games.

I just don't see how that's possible.

The big topic in my social circles the last week or so has centered on the trade deadline and who I think the O's should trade.

This one's actually pretty simple.

Follow this golden rule: If the player in question is under contract in 2026 (and beyond) and you're 100% confident he can help you win next season (and beyond), you keep him.

In this particular group I'd list guys like Rogers, Kremer and Bautista. All three of them have been floating around the MLB rumor mill over the last couple of weeks as potential trade options for Mike Elias, but I wouldn't deal any of those three if I ran the team.

Now we go to guys who are free agents at the end of the season; O'Hearn, Mullins, Sugano, Laureano, Mountcastle, Morton, Dominguez, Soto.

Whether I want them back or not next season is somewhat important, but I also have to remember that just because, for example, I want Ryan O'Hearn back in Baltimore next season doesn't mean I'm getting him back in Baltimore next season. The key word in "free agent" is......"free". They can go wherever they want.

So, yes, I'd trade any or all of those guys if I can something reasonable in return. I don't have to fleece someone to move Dominguez or Soto. I'll take what I can for them. In fairness, none of those eight guys are doing anything really special overall in 2025, although O'Hearn had a nice first two months and Morton has enjoyed an excellent June and July.

Heck, here's the bizarre part: Laureano might actually be the team's hottest trade commodity right now. Maybe what's happening in Baltimore is an outlier, but he's doing the job both at the plate and in the field.

To me, on a 1-to-10 scale, O'Hearn is a "7" trade chip. Morton is probably a "6". Sugano is a "5". No one wants Mountcastle because he's hurt. Mullins, Laureano, Dominguez and Soto are all "4's".

If I ran this team, I'm not doing anything at the trade deadline that makes me worse heading into the 2025 off-season. I'm concerned (if I'm the GM) about the organization's history of not pursuing high dollar free agents, so I'm certainly not going to make a bunch of rash, "trade for the sake of trading" deals now with the back-up plan of, "We'll just spend a bunch of money next winter and beef up our roster that way."

But if someone wants O'Hearn, Morton or Sugano, they're going to have to give up something "real to fairly real" for any of them. At least that's the way I see it.

Despite their record and spotty, disheveled play in 2025, this is an organzation with some very intriguing pieces at key spots in the field and batting lineup.

Gunnar, Westburg and Holliday are three players that virtually every team in baseball would take in a heartbeat.

If those three stay healthy and stay interested over the next few years, the Birds start each season with a puncher's chance of being good.

Oh, and I'll throw this out there just for kicks.

The one current everyday player under contract for the next several years that I'd potentially move is Colton Cowser. This year he's hitting .221 with 8 HR and 18 RBI. He has 30 hits this season. 30. In three-plus months of baseball, an everyday player has 30 hits.

His on-base-percentage is .279, which is awful.

I'm just not sure we're ever going to see a whole lot more out of him than what we're seeing now.

If you could package Cowser with O'Hearn and a pitcher like Sugano or Morton and get a good prospect (or two) that could potentially fit in and play next season, I'd consider that move.

You're not bringing Morton back. Sugano is 50/50 at this point. O'Hearn might be back if he finds no takers in the free agent chase. Cowser you have, but if you platooned three "4 A" players over the 162-game campaign, I guarantee their combined contribution would be similar (or better) than Colton's projected 14 HR and 32 RBI this season.

So, you're losing two of those guys most likely anyway. It would almost be a Cowser-for-solid-prospect deal in reality.

In general, I'm not in favor of moving young players with years of service available to me, but I don't see Cowser improving all that much. In fact, there's a strong argument he's regressed now that he's made his way around the league for a couple of years.

This is, as we've seen, a flawed baseball team.

As David Rubenstein pointed out last week in a rare in-season interview, injuries have crippled the team in 2025. What was going to be a versatile, favorable starting pitching staff went to hell-in-a-hand-basket right out of the gate when Grayson Rodriguez was shelved.

Zach Eflin has been on the injured list twice already. Cade Povich is currently out. Only Kremer and Sugano have managed to man-up for the entire campaign.

Kyle Bradish will return sometime in the next 30 and if he's fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, we might see 6-8 decent starts from him to close out the 2025 campaign.

But early season (and mid season) injuries to guys like Westburg, Cowser, Mountcastle and Rutschman have curbed the club's offense as well.

Some folks in town accused Rubenstein of "making excuses", but injuries have most certainly impacted the team in 2025. And, yes, every team deals with them. But in the case of this particular O's squad, the ones they were hit with, timing wise, were too much to overcome in the season's first half.

So what's to come?

Well, if they play something close to .500 for the remainder of the season, let's say 35-32 over the last 67 games, that will give them 78 wins on the season. I'd say that's about the best we can expect from the Orioles.

And if they fold their hand at the deadline and ship out 3 or 4 (relatively) important pieces, you might see something more like 68-94 instead of 78-84.

Better days are ahead, I think.

"Better days" won't come around until 2026, though.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns. #5 was Tommy Fleetwood. #4 was Ludvig Aberg.

#3 Harris English -- Remember a few years back when Brian Harman blitzed the field and won the Claret jug? No one expected that triumph, but Harman took advantage of a favorable Thursday-Friday weather draw and putted his way to a 5-shot lead by the time Sunday morning rolled around.

I could see someone like Harris English doing the same thing this week at Royal Portrush.

Over the last decade or so, some fairly off-the-radar Americans have won major titles. Webb Simpson at the U.S. Open back in 2012. Wyndham Clark at the 2023 U.S. Open. Brian Harman at the aforementioned 2023 British Open. J.J. Spaun last month at Oakmont CC.

Harris English fits right in with that flow.

And he's having his best year ever on the PGA Tour, with 15 cuts made in 17 events, winning once (in San Diego) and compiling 3 top 10 finishes and 9 top 25 finishes. He's currently 8th in FedEx Cup points and will almost certainly be playing in all three playoff events unless something really wacky happens with his play over the last month of the season.

He's 3 for 3 in majors this year, with a T12 at the Masters, a T2 at the PGA and a T59 at Oakmont CC in June.

His career numbers at the British Open aren't great, admittedly. He's made the 6 times in 9 tries but has just one T15 finish as a "best showing" claim.

But this is his year. English is close to playing his way onto the Ryder Cup team. Something favorable at Portrush might very well lock him in to Keegan Bradley's team.

Amazingly, you can get him at numbers like 100-1 or 125-1 right now depending on your source. Scoop him up at that price. Quickly.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

Week Record: 3-3

Season Record: 43-52

AL East Standing: 5th (11.5 GB of Tor 7.5 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Ramon Laureano -- .381 AVG HR 2 DB 7 RBI SB

After a promising recent surge, the Orioles once again managed only to tread water. After blowing a lead to the Mets to start the week, they swept a doubleheader but then could take just one from the Marlins over the weekend.

The weekend series effectively ended any realistic hope of climbing back into the Wild Card race and cemented the Orioles’ position as sellers at the trade deadline. The Birds need to be lights out to pull themselves back into the playoff picture and there isn’t much room for .500 weeks.

Following a day off Monday, the O’s opened their week Tuesday with a tough extra-inning loss in the series opener against the Mets.

They built a 6-2 lead behind a 6th inning rally sparked by Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano, with Jackson Holliday adding a homer in the 7th. However, the bullpen faltered, allowing homers to Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso to tie the game.

The Mets capped their rally in the 10th with Juan Soto’s RBI single. Rookie Brandon Young did have an immaculate inning, a rare bright spot in a frustrating defeat, but it was undone by Bryan Baker’s very maculate inning (four runs allowed with no outs) in the 7-6 defeat.

After a rainout on Wednesday the Birds bounced back with a doubleheader sweep of the Mets on Thursday. In Game 1, Gunnar Henderson’s pinch-hit two-run homer in the eighth propelled the Orioles to a 3-1 victory. Grant Wolfram earned the win in relief after another solid outing from Charlie Morton and Félix Bautista locked down his 18th save with a perfect ninth inning.

In the nightcap, Baltimore’s bats remained hot in a 7-3 win. Jordan Westburg starred, launching a two-run homer as part of his three-RBI game. Alex Jackson added two doubles and scored twice. Tomoyuki Sugano pitched six effective innings, allowing three runs for his seventh win.

The Orioles kept rolling on Friday, opening the Marlins series with a 5-2 win. Dean Kremer dominated over seven shutout innings, striking out seven while allowing only three hits. Baltimore’s offense provided timely hits, including RBIs from Westburg and O’Hearn in the 1st and a two-run double from Ramón Laureano in the 3rd.

Momentum stalled sharply on Saturday, as Miami blanked the Orioles 6-0. The O’s offense failed to support another gem from Trevor Rogers (6.2IP 1R 2H 8K). Marlins starter Janson Junk held the O’s lineup to five scattered hits. Gunnar Henderson’s two doubles marked the Orioles’ few offensive highlights.

Baltimore’s woes continued Sunday in an 11-1 blowout loss to Miami. Former Oriole Kyle Stowers haunted his old team, belting three home runs and collecting six RBI. Starter Brandon Young endured another rough outing, giving up seven earned runs over four innings. A late Ramon Laureano solo homer provided the Orioles’ only offense on an otherwise forgettable day.

There were several candidates for Player of the Week. On the mound, Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer both delivered gems, building on their recent success.

Gunnar Henderson was clutch at the plate, delivering a game changing homer off the bench to start the week and finishing with a .421 average including the homer and three doubles.

Nonetheless, it was surprise offensive leader Ramon Laureano that took the award this week. Laureano batted .381 on the week with a home run, two doubles and seven RBI. He also tacked on a stolen base and played solid defense in the outfield.

Laureano has been a pleasant surprise for the O’s and he may just net them a piece to help next season if a desperate team seeks a useful outfield bat at the deadline.

Down on the Farm –

AAA Norfolk split their weeklong series against Jacksonville. Samuel Basallo provided a highlight with a game-tying two-run homer in the ninth inning on Friday, setting up a 5-3 victory in extra innings.

Basallo led the Tides offense on the week with a .500 OBP, .389 average with three homers, three doubles and ten RBI. The big week lifted Basallo’s season-long OPS to .974 (4th in the league) with 19 homers (2nd in the league) for the youngest player in the league.

Basallo has done nothing to diminish his outlook as a future star this season. However, it appears the Orioles are in no hurry to call him up, at least not until his rookie eligibility for next season is secured. If the recent rash of catcher injuries hasn’t spurred a call up, it may just not be in the cards this season.

Pitching prospect Chayce McDermott delivered his most promising start of the season on his way back from injury. McDermott limited the Jumbo Shrimp to one run on five hits with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings.

AA Chesapeake had an uneven week against Reading, splitting Saturday’s doubleheader but dropping three games overall. Max Wagner shined in the Baysox’s lone win Saturday, hitting two home runs for his first career multi-homer game. Catcher Creed Willems continued to lead the Baysox offense, batting .353 on the week with two homers and four RBI.

On the mound, 24 year old Levi Wells delivered four shutout innings with six strikeouts and one walk. Meanwhile, Zach Eflin made his first AA rehab start, pitching four innings while giving up two runs on five hits.

Sunday July 13, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3975

marlins beat o's with a junk pitcher

OK, the "junk pitcher" comment was low hanging fruit.

You knew it was coming.

His last name was Junk. His pitching, at least on Saturday in Baltimore, was far from it.

The Marlins got a terrific start from Janson Junk and used a late 4-run rally to turn a nailbiter into an easy 6-0 win on Saturday in Bawlmer.

Trevor Rogers acquitted himself well in his first start against his former team. Rogers worked into the 7th inning of a 0-0 game, then gave up a run and departed trailing 1-0.

The Birds couldn't do anything against Junk and two other Florida relievers, and then Scott Blewett came in and, well, he blew it, giving up 4 runs in the 9th inning to turn a 2-0 game that was still in question into a 6-0 laugher.

Junk...and Blewett...both in the same game. Talk about a couple of lay-ups for the editorial staff here at #DMD, huh?

So the O's dropped a 6-0 decision to Miami and will finish up the proverbial first half of the season today with one more contest against the Marlins. A win today and they're 44-51 at the deadline. A loss and they're at 43-52 and on the outskirts of that mythical 48-52 record I've been referencing after 100 games.

None of these games in July are "must wins" or anything like that, but 7 games under .500 at the break would be a lot better than 9 games under .500 at the break.

There's no use in re-hashing what happened on Saturday at Camden Yards. The Orioles managed just 6 hits in total (5 off of Junk) and had one extra-base hit all day (a double by Gunnar).

You're not beating anyone with 6 hits and no runs scored.

End of story.

But if you're looking for the silver lining of the day, it was Trevor Rogers...again.

Yes, he suffered the loss, but he gave up 1 run in 6.2 innings of work. What more do you want from the dude?

And now the question has to be asked: Has Rogers done enough over the last month to have any trade value in late July? Or should the Orioles continue using him in 2025 with a eye to the 2026 campaign?

Getting Rogers to perform up to expectations in 2025 is almost like signing him as a free agent. You gave up two players for him LAST YEAR. After his abysmal performance in '24, the O's had to be thinking "let's cut bait with him and take the "L" we so richly deserve".

Instead, the veteran southpaw has been awesome in 2025 with the big league club.

Trade him? Or keep him?

It's hard to believe we're talking about Trevor Rogers in a "trade him or keep him" discussion, isn't it?

This is setting up to be a pretty big day for some American golfers at the Scottish Open.

What was once a sleepy little tournament played the week before the British Open has turned into quite a big deal now that most of the top players in the world sign up it. This year is no different, with almost every top name competing in Scotland and then hopping on a short flight to Ireland later on today to begin their prep work for next week's "Open Championship" as they call it over there.

American Chris Gotterup is looking for his 2nd career win on the TOUR, but this would be a massive victory for him compared to the alternate-site event he won at Myrtle Beach last year.

Gotterup played his college golf at Rutgers, then transferred to Oklahoma and earned his TOUR card through the PGA University program, which gives out TOUR cards to the top 10 college players in any given season.

Even with a win today, Gotterup is unlikely going to catch the attention of coach Keegan Bradley, who is now starting to reall sift through all of the viable candidates for the Ryder Cup squad.

Gotterup just doesn't have enough cachet to get Bradley to consider him.

But you know who could catch the captain's attention today?

Wyndham Clark could, that's who. He's 9-under par and just two shots back. And a win for him today and a decent showing next week at Royal Portrush might be enough to get captain Bradley to start thinking about adding the 2023 U.S. Open champion to the U.S. Ryder Cup squads.

Andrew Novak (winner in the 2 man in New Orleans) and Harris English (winner at Torrey Pines) could both use another win to thrust their name in front of Keegan Bradley. And with a win today by either of those guys, all they'd really need between now and mid-August is either one more outright victory or a few top 5's in the FedEx Cup events that start in three weeks.

Andrew Novak a Ryder Cup player? Maybe, yes.

English and Novak are both at 7-under par, which isn't stone-dead just yet. They could shoot 5 or 6 under today and have the leaders to shoot 1 or 2 under and they'd be hoisting the trophy at day's end.

Clark, English and Novak. They have a lot to gain by winning today in Scotland.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns.

#4, Ludvig Aberg -- I was worried there for a while that Aberg might win the Scottish Open, which would have made winning the British Open next week very difficult.

Alas, he had a poor round three yesterday and is likely not winning this week's event in Scotland.

But he sure could win next week.

If you ask the TOUR players who the actual "best" player is that doesn't have a major title, almost every one of them would tell you it's Aberg.

He does have a tendency to go cold with the putter from time to time, but all in all he plays without a blemish in his game.

Aberg drives it far, hits it straight, has a great iron game and doesn't really need much of a short game because he hits it so far and straight. But when called upon, his chipping and work around the greens is excellent.

He's going to win a lot of majors in his career.

Next week could be the first of many.

He's at 20-1 for the British Open, which is right about where he should be.