Once again Opening Da has come to Baltimore. There are few things in the world like Opening Day. There simply are not many annual events that take place that legitimately feel different every year. Even one’s birthday, over time, rings hollow at points but not Opening Day. Every year a new Opening Day brings […]

  The reports of the Oriole’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Yes there are the stat-sheets and theorems and analyses that say the Orioles will not stand a chance. Baseball Prospectus pegs the Orioles as a 74-win team next year.   SEVENTY-FOUR.   “Hogwash,” I say. “Humbug,” I cry! “Bullfeathers,” I add. The Orioles unlikely […]

If anyone out there who reads this has known me for long enough they will most likely be shocked at the words that they are about to read: I am at a loss for words. I, James Clayton Baker, have run out of things to say. Honestly, it has been difficult to write this winter. […]

Yesterday Baltimore woke to learn that Earl Weaver, legendary manager of the Orioles, had passed away. Weaver was 82 years old and collapsed in his cabin attended by his wife while on the annual Orioles’ Fantasy Cruise. Roughly 18 thousand fans attended the Orioles’ annual Fanfest yesterday at the Baltimore Convention Center, as the news […]

Since nothing is really happening in Birdland I feel like I have to take a moment to discuss something else. Recently, MLB unveiled updated batting practice alternate caps for each team and to the surprise to many the Atlanta Braves went retro and brought back their cartoon native mascot affectionately(?) called “the screaming savage.” This, […]

It has been said many times, many ways that the 2012 season for the Baltimore Orioles was improbable at best. By going 29-9 in one-run games the Orioles accomplished something that no team in recent history has ever been able to pull off. This either meant that the O’s were supremely, irrationally, lucky or there […]

The AL East is shaping up to easily be the most competitive division in the American League. With the Yankees aging and the Red Sox looking weak for the foreseeable future the power in the American League looks to be moving out west. I think it is very likely that the top two records in […]

The weather is getting colder and we in Baltimore are staring down December awaiting snow, the Mayan apocalypse and the approach of Nimburu; although only one of those is likely to happen. And if that opening sentence wasn’t evidence enough the offseason has been rather boring so far for the Orioles. Yes, they picked up […]

-Buck Showalter has been voted Manager of the Year by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Good for Buck, he deserves the love and the hardware. It is unfortunate that he came up short in the nationwide vote but Bob Melvin’s team did end up winning the AL West, even if […]

The season ended, and that usually means I need a little bit of time to decompress, evaluate, and consider the things that have happened. I also like to sit down and absorb what the rest of the baseball world is saying about the team and where they need to go next year. For the first […]

The 2012 Baltimore Orioles baseball season officially came to an end last night in the Bronx. Once again the Yankees proved to be one mountain that was just too tall to climb for this improbable team. For the better part of a month the Orioles were staring down their well-heeled rivals from the Big Apple. […]

Last night was a bitter pill to swallow. It was a hard, swift kick to the collective bellend of the greater Baltimore area. For at least the next 10 hours, we will hear about the Yankee mystique and the majesty of the greatest franchise in baseball’s history. The New York Yankees have had so many […]

The Baltimore Orioles have won the elimination wildcard game! They defeated the Texas Rangers 5-1. They will open the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees Sunday night in Baltimore. I watched the game, on Tuxedo Street, in Baltimore surrounded by a block’s-worth of friends, projected onto a warehouse wall. It simply was […]

The Orioles beat the Red Sox. They are tied for first. A win tomorrow and an Angels loss means the Orioles are in the playoffs. Amazing.

The Orioles won their 90th game today. 90 wins. Let that sink in for a moment. With a decisive, dominant, deafening win over the Boston Red Sox tonight the 2012 Orioles became the 19th Orioles team in Baltimore history to attain a 90 win season; they lowered their magic number to three and remained one […]