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good morning! At the time of writing, we are not suspended by the Baltimore Orioles. I’m Levi Weaver, with Ken Rosenthal here — welcome to The Windup!
Ken’s Notebook: O’s owners shut down criticism of broadcasters
The Baltimore Orioles’ outrageous treatment of play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown, described. AthleticBritt Crowley is no stranger to the Angelos franchise.
In 1996, the Orioles Not awarded the contract Beloved play-by-play announcer John Miller fell out of favor with owner Peter Angelos because he wasn’t hitting enough of a homer.
“They have to be an advocate for the team,” Angelos said of his broadcasters. “They need some blood for the Orioles.”
Miller, then 45, did OK. He immediately joined the San Francisco Giants and has been the play-by-play announcer for the past 27 seasons. He called games for ESPN from 1990 to 2010 and received the Ford C, baseball broadcaster’s highest honor from the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Frick received the award.
At the time Miller left, I was a columnist for The Baltimore Sun. Just before Angelos runs him off, I Wrote a paragraph He warned that the Orioles would be “wrong all the time” by refusing to bring him back.
“Baseball is a talking game, a game of endless debate and second-guessing,” I wrote. “If the Orioles lose Miller, the quality of that discussion on their broadcasts will go down, and the fans will ultimately suffer,” he said.
Miller, then and now, was not overly critical. But even today he calls the game as he sees it. If he needs to point out a mistake, he will. As I wrote, “His knowledge is so vast that he spots flaws that other announcers overlook. His authenticity is part of what makes his broadcasts unique.
The crazy part about Brown’s absence — though he hasn’t made a TV broadcast since July 23, which the Orioles say isn’t a suspension — is that he’s reportedly having trouble praising the team without criticizing it. His “offense” is a reference to the Orioles winning more games at Tropicana Field this season against the Tampa Bay Rays than the last two years.
That statement qualifies as not only a fact, but a testament to the Orioles’ turnaround. But John Angelos, Peter’s son and the team’s managing partner, explained that the game was clearly a knock on the team’s previous performance, even though his media relations department’s game notes described a similar improvement.
It’s amazing how history repeats itself. More than a quarter-century after Miller left, the Angels franchise is once again trying to interfere with the Orioles’ broadcasting. The team’s on-field performance can fluctuate. But some things never change.
So, you are like this
The line between tragedy and comedy is always finely drawn. The Yankees lost 5-1 to the shambolic White Sox last night, falling back to 5 1/2 games back in the wild-card race. For the Bleeding Pinstripes, it’s just the latest in a string of misfortunes that appear to contribute to the season’s tragic end.
Nevertheless, an inexplicable spirit of humor appeared in Chicago last night. In the top of the eighth inning, home plate umpire Los Diaz ruled out Anthony Wolfe on strikes. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was fed up with what he felt It was a poor zone All night long, he was thrown out of the game for going out and arguing balls and strikes. So far, nothing out of the ordinary.
But at some point, Boone blew a gasket. When the standard expletive-laden trade didn’t satisfy his anger, he decided to escalate. Something a little bolder, more dramatic. Should he throw a cooler or kick dirt? No, too old school Done. Climb the wrong pole? No, too dangerous.
Mock the umpire’s strikeout call by dubbing harder than any 2015 teenager has ever dubbed?
Bingo.
To make it even more fun, a pitch called strike three (which is pitch no. 4) dies.
After the game, Boone was at a loss for words for a few seconds Before agreeing“I heard it was Anthony’s strike, maybe.”
It’s wrong, but it feels right
A month ago, at the top of the second inning of the All-Star game, two-thirds of the players on the field wore the Texas Rangers logo on their caps. Nathan Ewaldi pitching, Marcus Siemian at second base, Corey Seager at shortstop, Josh Jung at third base, Jonah Heim at catch and Adolis Garcia at right field. It was the first time a team fielded six players in an All-Star game at the same time since the Brooklyn Dodgers did it in 1951.
It’s a testament to the Rangers roaring out of the gates after six losing seasons, sitting in first place in the AL West for all but one day this season (April 8).
They’re still there (they’re up three games on the Astros after last night’s win in Oakland), but five of those six All-Stars since that July night have been dinged at some point. Eovaldi is reportedly weeks away from returning from a forearm issue, Seager came out of IL after spraining his thumb on a second base bag, Garcia missed a few games after being hit on the hand by a pitch, and Heim didn’t play. Since July 26 with a wrist injury.
News broke yesterday that Jung suffered a broken thumb while bearing the brunt of a 109.4 mph George Solar line drive on Sunday and will require surgery in the next six weeks.
Throw in an injury to Jacob deGrom (Tommy John, out for the season) and that’s a pretty stacked team. Still, they’re on a seven-game hitting streak since the first of this month.
Please spare a moment; Because I need your signature before you leave
When I was nine years old, I learned about the autograph. I don’t remember exactly how Although I doubt it has anything to do with the 1989 Bowman baseball cards, I do know about them – each card featured the player’s autograph pre-printed on the front. While most kids become autograph hounds, I have to admit that I took a less virtuous route: I learned how to make them.
Fortunately, I wasn’t trying to cash in on my new talent. I thought each was a unique art form, like handwriting. I still remember Pascual Perez writing his name in all caps except the last letter of his first name.
So today’s story by Cody Stavenhagen about the art of the autograph really intrigued me. Mike Trout learned to take the time to give Torii Hunter a good autograph. Hunter says he learned from Harmon Killebrew. Killibrew? Who knows (he passed away in 2011) but his freshman year was 1954. You don’t often find a subject that far apart by a few degrees.
The world of autographs is different now than it was in the 1950s. Card companies often ask players (especially early in their careers) to sign thousands of autographs.
These days, the art of autographing leans more towards skill than talent. But this story is a great insight into an aspect of the game that most people don’t think much about unless they’re holding out a card or a ball in hopes of getting a souvenir.
me Ah, as a party trick, I can knock off a more convincing Nolan Ryan autograph.
Baseball card of the week
What, I’m going to mention that particular card and not make it the card of the week?
Handshakes and high fives
Yuri Perez returned to the Marlins, but the Reds won a battle that saw “NL teams put a lanky southpaw rookie on the mound trying to capture the final wild-card spot.”
Tim Anderson getting a bad ending isn’t new this week, but suspensions have been, and he received a six-game timeout from MLB, while Jose Ramirez received three.
It’s power rankings time, and the Mariners are up Eight Points from last week (Cubs up to five).
The Astros finally visited the White House after winning the World Series last year, and they met a Phillies fan.
The Angels’ post-deadline slump continues apace. Last night against the Giants they took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning. Lost 8-3. They have lost seven in a row. Meanwhile, the team they’re trying to catch in the wild-card positions (Toronto) has won four straight. Hyun Jin Ryu – Second start back from Tommy John surgery – He pitched a no-hitter in the fourth against Cleveland, but left the game when he took a rebound from the knee. X-ray was negative.
President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski Joined Starkville this week. The podcast was so good that Jason Stark wrote an article to accompany it.
(Top photo of Felix Bautista after the Orioles win at Tropicana Field: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
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