Don Long took his seat on one of the buses parked at the Ed Smith Stadium complex on March 12, assuming that he wouldn't rise again until arriving in Fort Myers for a night game against the Twins. The trip lasted about as long as it takes to fill out a lineup card. The bus made four left turns and was back in camp. The Orioles were on the verge of a sports-wide shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. "We left and literally got around the corner and somebody got a call and they turned us...

Are we inching closer to a decision about the 2020 Major League Baseball season? Is the start of the season in South Korea encouraging or discouraging for our chances of a season here? And how in the world did Matt Williams become the highest-paid manager in Korea Baseball Organization history? You've got questions. We've (hopefully) got answers. If you've got something you want to ask - about potential scenarios for this season, about funny stories from past seasons, about which Nationals...

The question has been asked a few times: What happens to Orioles prospects if there is no minor league season? Will they get in games and get some needed reps on the mound and at-bats? Well, if it is deemed safe, almost certainly the answer is yes. No doubt, the Orioles will find a way for their minor leaguers to get those reps if they get cleared to take the field at some point this summer or fall. I would feel really badly for all the minor league teams and their fans if there is no minor...

I got the chance to catch up with high Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals manager Tripp Keister recently and he broke down thoughts on the coronavirus shutdown, their new stadium opening and his potential roster for 2020. This will be Keister's ninth season coaching in the Nationals organization, and he desperately wants to get back to baseball and get a chance to see their brand-new stadium open in Fredericksburg, which was supposed to take place April 23. Unfortunately, the coronavirus...

My father would have turned 80 today, but Stage 4 esophageal cancer took him away from his family and friends in January 2019, leaving us heartbroken that he's gone but also relieved that he didn't suffer. The sentence is harder to type than I imagined. I had to pause in the middle of it. We wouldn't have been able to talk baseball this year, at least in the traditional sense. Every conversation over the phone included a mention of the Orioles. Same with every visit, which on a few occasions...

Eric Thames, like so many other baseball players, media members and fans, turned on his television late Monday night to watch a real, live ballgame between two professional teams. And like so many others who tuned in, Thames was mortified by the sight of a tarp covering the infield at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. "Initially I was angry, because it was a rain delay!" the Nationals slugger said with a laugh. "I turned it on and was like, some baseball finally ... and I turn it on and it's a rain...

The boredom and mind-numbing, stay-at-home routine during the pandemic has led to some interesting and amusing entertainment ideas on Twitter, a place that often should be shut down or rationed in visits to avoid breathing in the pollution. The idea of wearing a mask should have started there. A recent thread was created with baseball players, famous for their years with a specific team, referred to in jest as another organization's legend. Players that fans might have forgotten actually wore...

No, it was not real baseball on an actual diamond. But the MLB the Show Players League provided a few weeks' worth of entertainment, as all 30 big league teams were represented by one of their players in the three-inning video game contests. Fans could watch live via the Internet and the playoffs were actually televised on ESPN networks and FS1. Tampa Bay and pitcher Blake Snell won in the championship series, three games to none over the Chicago White Sox and pitcher Lucas Giolito. For the...

Orioles outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. no longer has MLB The Show to distract him from baseball's lengthy shutdown and uncertain future. He had a blast guiding his video team to a fifth-place finish and a playoff berth as the organization's representative and earning top honors as manager with the current roster. Now he's back to full-on pandemic life like everyone else. Smith isn't ready to offer advice to Orioles manager Brandon Hyde or think about the next phase of his professional life....

New Nationals backup first baseman Eric Thames has been taking care of himself, working out and staying safe at his home in Las Vegas since spring training was shut down in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 33-year-old slugger has had the Nats coaching, training, and strength and conditioning staffs check in to see how he was coming along over the past seven weeks. "In terms of the coaching, everybody is waiting to see what's going to happen once they announce the date (for...