Like all professional baseball players right now, O's prospect Gunnar Henderson is not playing in any games or getting any needed at-bats. This was slated to be his first full pro season after the Orioles drafted him last June.
The O's selected Henderson with the first pick of the second round, No. 42 overall, out of Morgan Academy in Selma, Ala. He was a two-sport star there and was the Player of the Year in the Alabama high school ranks in both basketball and baseball.
Henderson said...
Trey Mancini has become the leader of the Orioles, a role he embraces and takes very seriously. Recently, he showed us he could even lead from his hospital bed or his couch at home.
Mancini updated all of us in an article in The Players' Tribune yesterday. He underwent surgery on March 12 to remove a malignant tumor from his colon and confirmed that he's been undergoing chemotherapy treatments since April 13 that will last for six months.
"If baseball returns in 2020, it will probably be...
The chance that we are going to see something resembling a baseball season in 2020 seems to be getting better. But we still have no idea what that could mean or look like.
It seems many plans and options continue to be discussed. Nothing has been settled on. There is nothing that can be settled on at this point. Baseball officials obviously are aware that nothing will happen unless it can be deemed safe for all.
At one point we heard about the Arizona plan. Then there was an Arizona/Florida...
Had the baseball season started on time, or whenever it does begin in the minor leagues, the Orioles are excited to see several first-year pro coaches at work. There is a heavy flavor of youth, especially among the organization's hitting coaches.
Among the new hitting coaches on the farm as of 2020 are Tim Gibbons at Double-A Bowie, Ryan Fuller at Single-A Delmarva, Anthony Villar at short-season Single-A Aberdeen and Patrick Jones with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Orioles. Tom Eller is...
So the question has now been asked countless times: Does the shutdown of baseball hurt a rebuilding team like the Orioles?
An obvious answer is yes, because young players, especially those in the minors, are not getting at-bats or innings right now. They're not working with coaches and gaining information from data and analytics. They are not competing against an opponent and learning how doing the small things right can lead to big wins and big personal gains.
The good news is that no team is...
We don't know for sure, since there were no radar guns at the time, but those that saw lefty Steve Dalkowski pitch have said he threw his fastball well over 100 mph. Maybe 110 mph, maybe even 115 mph. Not kidding.
His fastball was legendary. But so was his walk total. Dalkowski, once an Orioles farmhand, died recently at 80. Sadly, he died due to the coronavirus.
As a kid, I heard about and read a bit about Dalkowski. He was an O's legend of sorts. One who never threw a pitch in the majors....
So I was at it again yesterday, recording another Zoom video interview. That's three now with a few more coming. Hopefully, our readers here are enjoying the interviews and stories.
Today's chat, with former Orioles pitcher and current MASN broadcaster Ben McDonald, featured some great insights and stories. Fans have been thrilled to have Big Ben back with the organization the last few years.
He and Adley Rutschman are the only two humans on the planet that can say they were drafted No. 1...
You could argue for hours which Oriole is the best of them all since the team arrived in Baltimore in 1954. Several players should get legit consideration.
But for me, and today's blog, I asked myself this question: Who is the most important and significant player in Orioles history?
Again, several worthy candidates. But my choice is Frank Robinson. All teams want to be able to make that trade that provides the final piece of the puzzle. To acquire the player that puts them over the...
A lot of Orioles fans may not know Brian Shallcross' name. He is the general manager of the Double-A Bowie Baysox. This former William and Mary kicker has been with Bowie since 2003.
He's one of the good guys that works hard, most of the time behind the scenes, to keep his organization humming. The Baysox have a first-rate staff and they love their fans and community.
I recently chatted via Zoom video with Brian about several topics. At the of the end of this blog, you can click to watch the...
So much for that. We had a 12th seed over a fifth seed in the opening round of the 32-squad MLB Dream Bracket. The fifth-seeded all-time Orioles were swept in four straight games by the No. 12 all-time Houston Astros.
I recently wrote about how this simulation tournament worked here.
So in the simulation, a team of Birds that included Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Jim Palmer didn't win a game. What the heck!
They lost to Houston by scores of 9-3, 2-1, 8-3 and...
Recently in this space, I wrote about how the Orioles minor league staff was keeping in touch with farm players, often through Zoom videos. They have been working with and instructing players on a variety of aspects of the game.
One of the coaches taking part in the videos is 28-year-old Patrick Jones, one of the organization's first-year coaches. Before the season was put on hold, he would have been working with young players in extended spring training right now and then was set to be...
How would an all-time Orioles team do against all-time teams from the rest of Major League Baseball? We're about to find out through the magic of game simulation.
Obviously, they can't actually take the field!
MLB, in conjunction with Out of the Park Baseball, on Thursday unveiled the MLB Dream Bracket with the tournament to begin Monday and Tuesday. The MLB Dream Bracket is a 32-team best-of-seven simulation featuring all-time teams for each of the 30 current MLB franchises, as well as teams...
His last start of an outstanding 2019 season never made it into his final season stats. That's because it was a postseason start. But in a season when right-hander Gray Fenter reminded the organization why he got an overslot draft bonus, it was a gem.
In a best-of-three South Atlantic League playoff series against Hickory last September, Single-A Delmarva faced a must-win Game 2. Fenter pitched 6 1/3 scoreless on four hits with no walks and 13 strikeouts. He was dominant, but the Shorebirds...
The Orioles, since their first season in 1954, have won 100 or more games five times. The first four times they did so, they made the World Series, even though they lost three times. The fifth time they did so, they didn't even make the playoffs.
The 1980 Orioles went 100-62 but finished second in the American League East, three games behind the New York Yankees. Baseball featured four divisions then and 100 wins would have been enough to win any of the other three divisions that year. But not...
Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb made just three starts last year due to injuries, and he's hoping the coronavirus pandemic won't keep him from seeing the mound this year.
Cobb was a guest on the "Vinny and Haynie Show" on 105.7 FM The Fan on Tuesday and said he hopes to get back to playing as soon as possible.
"As a player, at this point, even though we've been home for probably a month or so, I'm itching just to go play ball," said Cobb. "So, I don't care what it looks like. I don't...
He often did things with little fanfare. He just wanted to play hard, give his all and see his team win. But there are no more baseball wins in the future for former Oriole Steve Pearce.
He announced his retirement in a rather understated way. Boston radio station WEEI was replaying Game 1 of the 2018 World Series Monday night and had Pearce on as a guest. During that interview, he announced his career was over.
"You know what? It has been a good run. I have 10 years in there. Right now, I am...
We know that Camden Yards is "the ballpark that forever changed baseball" when it opened for business. The first game was played there on April 6, 1992 when Orioles right-hander Rick Sutcliffe pitched a complete-game five-hitter. The Orioles beat Cleveland 2-0 in a game that took just 2 hours, 2 minutes.
After the opening of Oriole Park, the era of the cookie-cutter symmetrical stadium gave way to a new generation of ballpark construction. Now parks could feature new amenities, but still be...
A few days ago in this space, Orioles director of player development Matt Blood explained how players and coaches on the O's farm are keeping active and trying to improve themselves in various ways during the shutdown of baseball.
Much of this is happening via video chats on Zoom.
"As a group, we've had Zoom calls on just about everything there is to have a call on. Hitting, pitching, defense, strength and conditioning, nutrition, mental skills, research," he said. "We have calls with the...
At a time when there are no live games to watch, what are baseball fans and our blog readers doing to get a sports fix? Have you found something fun to watch involving sports or the Orioles that you stumbled upon?
If yes, feel free to share with all of us today. Maybe we'll learn something or find something to enhance our stay-at-home viewing options.
I've watched a few old O's games or parts of them. We are used to tuning into MASN's "Orioles Classics." Even though the end result was...
Earlier this week, we discussed the Arizona plan in this entry. Now there is a Arizona/Florida plan, according to a report yesterday by USA Today sports.
In spring training there is a so-called Grapefruit League and a Cactus League. This plan calls for each of the states to host the 15 teams they currently host in spring and there would, for one crazy year only, be no American or National League. No fans would be in attendance at these games.
It's another option, another possible plan to try...