We're all (Adam) Jonesing for Orioles baseball right now, but you're not missing it on this particular day because April 16 was scheduled as an off-day to begin with. How's that for rationalizing? If not for this pesky pandemic, the Birds would have just hosted the Cubs for a pair, the Wednesday game coming on Jackie Robinson Day. That's the one day during the season when you can't tell the players even with a program, since everybody's wearing No. 42 in honor of the great Dodgers...

(Note: You can watch Game 6 of the World Series tonight on MASN at 7 p.m. Eastern time.) Man, oh, man, did a lot of stuff happen in this game. I mean, this one game alone included Alex Bregman carrying his bat to first base after homering, then Juan Soto responding by doing the exact same thing. It had Stephen Strasburg tipping his pitches in the top of the first, then making a correction and pitching so well he actually took the mound for the bottom of the ninth. It had Adam Eaton hitting a...

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...

I returned home from spring training 10 days early because of the coronavirus pandemic. I haven't seen my daughter or been able to hug her since I left for Sarasota, with news that I'm going to be a grandfather. And I haven't seen my mother and can't celebrate her 80th birthday today beyond another phone call and promises that we'll be together again. I've written about the many ways that sports influenced my relationship with my father, who passed away in January 2019, five months after...

A big second half was important to catcher Jakson Reetz's potential move up in the Nationals organization. Reetz, a third-round 2014 selection in the First-Year Player Draft, hit .282 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs for high Single-A Potomac after the All-Star break. In the first half, he had hit .220 with only one homer. His slugging percentage jumped from .300 to .563. The Carolina League All-Star told me his focus at the plate from July on was critical to those number jumps. He finished with 18...

A random assortment of tidbits for you on this Sunday morning with no baseball ... * We put the World Series re-watch on hold for a couple of days so we could line up the final two games with MASN's rebroadcast schedule. So look for my re-watch article about Game 6 on Monday morning, with MASN showing the game at 7 p.m. Then I'll have my re-watch article about Game 7 on Tuesday morning, in advance of the telecast at 7 p.m. Hope you've been enjoying the entire experience all over again. * As...

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...

Catcher Tres Barrera made his major league debut late last season with the Nationals, appearing in two games. The Eastern League All-Star got off to a good start with Double-A Harrisburg and never looked back. Barrera was able to crank out 23 doubles, eight homers and 46 RBIs in the spacious FNB Field. "Tres had a great year last year," said Nationals minor league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich. "Put him in a different park, give him the big league balls, he'd probably hit 15-20 homers...

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...

A Nationals employee who was with the club during spring training in West Palm Beach tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home, has completed quarantine and is now symptom-free, general manager Mike Rizzo revealed today during his regular, weekly conference call with reporters. The male employee, whose name was not revealed, tested positive "well after we shut down the facilities in West Palm Beach and D.C.," Rizzo said. "And fortunately he's home and resting and doing well. His...