Good morning Birdland,
We are getting spoiled this year with playoff baseball. The games, as a whole, have been pretty great, including this World Series. And now, we get to maximize our fun with the magic
of a Game 7 on Saturday night in Toronto to see who takes home the Commissioner’s “hunk of metal.” This is as good as it gets!
Obviously, I would prefer to see the Orioles playing in this game. They have never even played in, let alone won, a World Series in my lifetime. And it’s one of those bucket list things that I have no control of—unless the Orioles finally come to the senses and give me Mike Elias’ job. Until then, I wait.
But seriously, if/when the Orioles do get back to a World Series, I cannot even imagine the anxiety levels. I get all worked up watching these Blue Jays/Dodgers games, and I only moderately care which team actually wins. How am I supposed to survive my favorite team going through this? Please Orioles, get there sooner rather than later, while I’m still young-ish and my heart can take it.
This year’s World Series will end tonight, or possibly tomorrow morning if we have another 18-inning thriller. You get the point. We know the Blue Jays are starting Max Scherzer, while it sounds like the Dodgers are planning to trot out Shohei Ohtani on short rest, although that has not been confirm.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Game 6 that, as you would expect, everyone but Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches on Friday, is available. That includes Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow, who also pitched in the Game 6 win. Ohtani, then, is the logical starting choice. He would be on three days rest from his losing performance in Game 4.
These are the sports moments that feel like scriptwriters are involved at some level. Ohtani, the international face of baseball, perhaps the greatest all-around player of all time, will be the very first batter of the game AND the starting pitching for the defending world champions. I mean, come on! It’s must-see stuff.
Links
There’s more turnover in the Orioles’ hitting coach group. Could this mean actual change? | The Baltimore Banner
Let’s hope so! The team is not going to overhaul the players on the roster. This is the crew that we have to roll with. That’s not a bad thing! These guys are clearly very talented, and many of them have had big league success. But it does seem like the league has caught up and maybe passed them by a bit. Hopefully the new manager and whatever hitting coaches he brings in can also provide a fresh perspective.
Chirinos will not return as O’s bench coach (source) | MLB.com
Bench coach may be the role on the coaching staff that is closest to the manager. It needs to be someone that the manager trusts and can confide in. So it always seemed unlikely that a new manager was going to inherit and keep the bench coach left by his fired predecessor. And the same is true from Chirinos’s perspective. He would want to be on the staff of a manager that he knows and jives with. Hopefully he lands a role elsewhere.
Latest On Lucas Giolito | MLB Trade Rumors
This is only Orioles-related in that they are likely to seek veteran pitching this offseason, and Lucas Giolito could fit the mold of what they want. He was solid in 2025 (145 innings, 3.41 ERA, 120 ERA+, 4.17 ERA). But he comes with a career of injury concerns, so be advised.
This, that and the other | Roch Kubatko
A wrap up of some of the Orioles upcoming contract decisions, and some intriguing feedback on prospect Ethan Anderson. It seems entirely possible that the value of the 2024 draft class is being left up to Anderson, Nate George, and (maybe) Austin Overn. Besides that…ehh.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Eric Hanhold turns 32 today. He pitched in 10 games for the 2021 Orioles, which is the last time he appeared in an MLB game.
- Steve Tolleson turns 42. He served as a utility option for part of the 2012 season in Baltimore.
- The late Fernando Valenzuela (b. 1960, d. 2024) was born on this day. He is best known for his legendary years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he did spent the 1993 season with the Orioles.
- Happy posthumous birthday to Jim Pyburn (b. 1932, d. 2011). His entire three-season MLB career was spent in Baltimore, where he played from 1955-57.
This day in O’s history
1960 – Orioles shortstop Ron Hansen is voted AL Rookie of the Year, garnering 22 or 24 votes. Two other Orioles (Chuck Estrada and Jim Gentile) get the remaining two votes
1979 – The Orioles get bought by Edward Bennett Williams for $12.3 million.
