Good morning Birdland,
The first day of postseason action is in the books, and after some fireworks in the early slate, boy did the evening games disappoint.
Austin Riley hit a late three-run homer to lift the Braves 5-3 over the Phillies in the opener. The White Sox jumped out to the early lead, then saw the Astros chip away a bit before running out of time in a 6-3 win for the South Siders. And then there was basically no drama in New York or San Diego. The Red Sox could do nothing against Cam Schlittler.
Our old friend Adley Rutschman went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, and the Yankees prevailed 9-0. Michael King was similarly dominant for the Padres. Manny Machado had two hits, including a home run, while Austin Hays was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the 8-0 win over the Cubs.
There are four more games on the docket today, all at the same times as Tuesday, so from 2 p.m. through midnight at least you should have pretty consistent baseball to watch/listen to on NBC, NBCSN, or Peacock. Or you could be like me and accidentally fall asleep sometime around 9 p.m. trying to get your kids to just go to bed. That’s why the condensed game highlights exist.
On the Orioles front, it was an expectedly quiet day. There are unlikely to be any roster moves of consequence until after the World Series, so we have some time to decompress.
The biggest news of the day was that a renovation is coming to the left-field upper deck area at Camden Yards. This is something that had been discussed for a while now, and it’s about time they did something. The team has rarely allowed fans to even sit in the section the last view seasons. It used to be an area known for cheap tickets and good views, particularly on weekend evenings, when they used to sell $5 student tickets. But that was a long time ago at this point.
The plan will be to replace about 2,000 seats in the section and turn it into a “new social space.” The renderings indicate it will essentially be a wide open concourse with a dedicated bar, some concession stands, tables, televisions, and drink rails.
It was understood several years ago when the Orioles and the State of Maryland agreed to a 30-year lease that upgrades were coming to Camden Yards. This is the latest in a slew of renovations that have been done to modernize the stadium. Just this year the team added a bar to the flag court, upgraded the sound and video systems, and added more premium club level suites. In addition to this change in left field, the story on MLB.com indicates that “The Orioles will be announcing additional renovations to various areas of the ballpark later this year.” So, more to come there, it seems.
Now can the front office build a team that actually makes people want to show up and watch the on-field product? That has proven more difficult than originally expected.
Links
O’s to renovate LF upper deck at Camden Yards, add social space | Orioles.com
Here’s more on the planned renovations. Should be another busy offseason for construction crews at Camden Yards, at least.
Orioles core issues addressed at press conference | Roch Kubatko
Roch mentions how the Orioles attendance numbers were in the bottom third of the league again this season. That is largely a reflection of the team and how it has under-performed recently. It just doesn’t make sense to fork over a bunch of cash to go watch yet another season of mediocre baseball, no matter how fancy some of the stadium upgrades may be.
What went wrong with the 2026 Orioles, according to their players | The Baltimore Banner
All of the quotes are interesting, but Chris Bassitt’s seem the most relevant. He is a veteran that has been on good teams and bad teams. He knows what works, and his opinion is that the guys that you expect to be leaders need to actually walk the walk. It’s a pretty direct call to action for Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Bradish, Pete Alonso, and Shane Baz, among others.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Seth Smith turns 44 today. He wrapped up his 11-season MLB career with a one-year stay in Baltimore back in 2017. In that season he hit .258/.340/.433 with 13 home runs.
- Curtis Goodwin is 54 years old. The outfielder made his big league debut with the Orioles in 1995, and would go on to be a nice defense-first option in center field that season. The Orioles then traded him after the season, along with another prospect, to the Reds in exchange for David Wells.
- John DeSilva turns 59. He pitched in two games for the Orioles in 1995.
- Yorkis Pérez is 59 as well. The southpaw made his way to Baltimore in 2002, when he was an occasional member of their bullpen, compiling a 3.29 ERA over 27.1 innings that season.
- The late Robin Roberts (b. 1926, d. 2010) was born on this day. The Hall of Famer spent parts of four seasons in Baltimore from 1962-65. In that time he had a 3.09 ERA over 761.1 innings.
This day in O’s history
1978 – Orioles second baseman Rich Dauer makes his first and only error of the season in the finale. His 86 games and 425 chances without an error are American League records.
1989 – The Orioles, who had taken on the identity as the “Why Not?” team after losing 107 games the season prior, just miss out on the playoffs by two games. They lose 4-3 to the Blue Jays, the team they were chasing, on the final day of the regular season to finish second in the AL East.
2012 – The Orioles beat the Red Sox and clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 1997, though their exact seeding and whether they will be AL East winners or wild card finishers remains up in the air.
