2024 MLB

[Todd Anderson]

14 Days until the Orioles have pitchers and catchers report!

oh...

and Baltimore native and founder of the Carlyle Group David Rubenstein JUST BOUGHT THE TEAM along with... O's legend, Cal Ripken, and others.

So pumped!!!!

 

[JBrax]

14 Days until the Orioles have pitchers and catchers report!

oh...

and Baltimore native and founder of the Carlyle Group David Rubenstein JUST BOUGHT THE TEAM along with... O's legend, Cal Ripken, and others.

So pumped!!!!

The Orioles are going to be pretty good this year Todd! I can only imagine your excitement level. As a Royals fan I’d be happy with .500 ball to be honest. Ownership spent some money this offseason which didn’t surprise me considering they’re trying to build a new downtown stadium. Can anybody beat the Dodgers this year?

 

[Todd Anderson]

It’s going to be a great season of ball - win or lose. The O’s picking up an ace last week certainly helps.

Surprised the Royals want a new park… seems like the one they’re in is really nice. At least it looks that way on TV!

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens this season with the Dodgers. Mega payroll rarely delivers sure shot wins - just look at the Mets, Padres, and Yankees last year. Though, it certainly gives teams a huge advantage.

I’m glad LA is in the National League… let them be the NL’s problem ;-)

 

[Mike Schramm]

Still waiting for my Cubbies to resign Bellinger. I think they have a legitimate shot to win the NL Central. If they do make the playoffs I don't believe they will get far, so just making the playoffs would be a successful season in my opinion.

Now, Todd's Orioles on the other hand should have higher expectations than that.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I hope so... but, Mike, it seems like everything I root for turns to mush!

Not signing Bellinger is interesting. Why are teams so hesitant? I bet the Cubs ink him to a 1 year deal. With spring training underway, Cody, Nate Snell, etc are going to get desperate!

 

[Mike Schramm]

I would think they’d be itching to get back on the field! It’s surprising there are still so money free agents this far into the offseason. I definitely don’t want the Cubs to give him some super long expensive contract where they end up overpaying him for 4 or 5 years towards the end.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Two words: Scott Boras

That guy plays hardball! Almost too hard!

Agree on the crazy long extension. At this point in his career it would be a mistake to pay him until he’s 39

 

[Mike Schramm]

Boras isn’t afraid to ask for too much for his clients. It’s kind of annoying, honestly.

Then again, if I was good enough to be playing I’d want him as my agent.

 

[Todd Anderson]

He represents two of Baltimore's budding stars. Makes me cringe to think about it... There's very little chance they'll re-sign these guys once they hit free agency. I guess I can hope for contracts before that, but I'd imagine he'll create issues around that scenario too.

 

[Mike Schramm]

Somehow I missed the first post saying that Cal Ripken is partial owner of the Orioles. That is awesome! So cool to have the face of a franchise stay with the club like this.
I think I may still have his brother Billy's baseball card laying around. You know the one I'm thinking of...

 

[Todd Anderson]

The one where write an obscenity on the knob of the bag? LOL… he was a character.

It was pretty cool to see Cal, Billy, and Cal Jr all in uniform on the same team… Billy wasn’t quite as good as Cal Jr, tho. Cal was something special!

The ownership group has lots of faces to it, including Michael Bloomberg who has donated $3.5 billion to Johns Hopkins (which is located in Baltimore).

The expectation is that this group will loosen the purse strings, but we’ll have to wait and see how that goes. The fact is: once the Nationals arrived in Washington, the Orioles went from a mid- to mid-large market team, to a small-mid market. Tho, they still can rank in the top 10 for TV viewership… and have done so for many years while the Nats have been in DC… it makes it really hard to compete $-wise against the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox

 

[Mike Schramm]

Yeah, being used to the NL Central, I can't imagine trying to compete in the AL East. Like you said, there's a lot of money in that division. The fact that the Orioles are holding their own and winning is a testament to that team. It's going to be a fun summer!

 

[Todd Anderson]

I hope so... we need it. Desperately!

Opening day spring training is this coming Saturday. Red Sox vs O's.

I'm going to be there!

 

[Mike Schramm]

NIIIIIIIIICE! Are the Orioles in FL? I've always wanted to make it out to Arizona, but being a teacher I can't just take time off in the middle of the semester. Spring Break is the last week of March and the regular season is starting then.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Yes, they're training complex is in Sarasota. This is 3rd or 4th time I've made it down to the opening day spring game. Honestly, it's just fun to smell grass and feel the sun! Both teams will play quite a few regulars for 4 innings or so before rotating in younger talent. But it's still a fun experience – as a bonus, both of my daughters (who are in college) are flying in from different parts of the country. By some grace, they are baseball fans... but we're also a tight-nit family, so it's a win-win on many fronts.

 

[Mike Schramm]

That's awesome! Sounds like it will be an amazing time!

My 13 year old son is a Cardinals fan, just to spite me. We think he was jealous that I paid more attention to the Cubs in 2016 than I did to him.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Hahaha... oh man, ouch! 2016 was worth it, tho. That was a win for the ages!

Hopefully, your boy will see the error in his ways and return to the Cubbies as he ages. And if he doesn't, you might need to resort to crocodile tears and/or a bribe.

My youngest attended the University of Virginia for one year before transferring to Vanderbilt. That was tough for me. As a Marylander, Virginia is the competition. Of course, I supported her and bought some UVA gear. But the second she transferred, that gear went straight to charity!!

So, I kinda get what you're experiencing. Though the Cardinals take things up a level... that would be equivalent to the Yankees or Sox in this house. Not sure if that would fly. I might have panic attacks over that!

 

[Mike Schramm]

I can only imagine the smile on your face as you dropped off that UVA gear. You’re a good dad for supporting her when you did!

It’s kinda fun bantering with him about Cubs/Cards. Every once in a while he’ll slip and show some interest in the Cubs, so I still have hope. We agree on all other sports, but baseball is easily my number 1, so he hit me where it hurts.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I’m right there with ya. Baseball trumps all… it’s serious business!

One of my struggles is watching movies during the baseball season - I watch 130-ish games a season. Really puts hurt on free time for watching anything else. I’m determined to figure out a way to squeeze in a movie or two a week… but… baseball always comes first!

 

[Mike Schramm]

You are more committed than I am. 130 games!?! I'll catch bits and pieces of the vast majority, but it always seems I have something else going on that keeps me from sitting and watching all nine innings. I do like to listen on the radio. I'd say that is where I do most of my following along.

I can't imagine trying to squeeze in movies with that much baseball. That's dedication!

 

[Todd Anderson]

Well, to be fully transparent, It's solid chunks of games... not all 9 innings straight through every night... some of it on the radio (which, I love too).

 

[Mike Schramm]

It feels very, I guess the word is "nostalgic", to listen on the radio. Depending on who is televising the game sometimes I will choose the radio over watching it.

 

[Todd Anderson]

For sure... if you listen enough, the announcing crew weirdly becomes like a friend. I know that sounds corny, but you get to know so much about them as they fill what would otherwise be dead air.

 

[Mike Schramm]

Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer are the Cubs radio announcers. Ron came on a handful of years ago, but Pat has been doing it for a long as I can remember. And you're absolutely right, I feel like if I ran into Pat Hughes out and about I could easily just shoot the breeze with him because I have been listening to him for so long.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Kids flew in from college… got the whole crew here! Game was fun. Sadly, almost time to leave