Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Our torturous hiatus from baseball is over. After a three-day break following the Championship Series round, the World Series begins tonight. It’ll be the Dodgers (bleh) against
the Blue Jays (yuck) in a matchup in which I, personally, will be rooting for the meteor. First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 8 PM at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Despite my indifference about these teams, there are some good story lines here. The Blue Jays will be looking to win their first World Series in 32 years. (Orioles fans: “Only 32? Must be nice.”) The Dodgers will be attempting to solidify their modern-day dynasty by winning their second consecutive championship and third since 2020. There’s also the whole U.S.-vs.-Canada angle, as the neighbor nations battle for baseball supremacy in a year in which the countries’ relationship has been, um, fraught.
And of course, Shohei Ohtani is always a major story line in himself. He’s coming off of possibly the greatest individual game in baseball history, in which he crushed three home runs as a batter and struck out 10 as a pitcher to finish off a sweep of the Brewers in the NLCS. Now he’s playing against the team that he famously snubbed in free agency for the Dodgers two years ago. Plenty of sportswriters have already made some version of the “This time, Shohei really is on a plane to Toronto” joke. It’ll be interesting to hear the Toronto crowd’s reaction to Ohtani tonight. I’m betting it won’t be friendly.
So, yes, I’ll be watching, even if I don’t particularly care about the outcome. This will be our last chance to watch baseball for a while, at least until the World Baseball Classic in March, which I’m much more excited about than this World Series. Will you be tuning in for these next four to seven games, Camden Chatters?
Links
Reshaping O’s bullpen will be key for potential turnaround in ’26 – MLB.com
The Orioles have had past success in cobbling together a solid bullpen out of castoffs and no-names, though they might have gone a little too far in that direction after the trade deadline this year. It wouldn’t hurt to pick up some proven arms this time.
Should the Orioles trade for Mike Trout? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
I think BaltimoreBaseball readers are getting a little stir-crazy. Here, one guy suggests the O’s trade for Mike Trout and another suggests they trade for Bryce Harper. Rich Dubroff roundly (and rightly) dismisses both ideas.
Orioles affiliate Frederick Keys unveil new logos after rejoining organization – The Baltimore Sun
Frederick is officially back as the Orioles’ High-A affiliate. Shake your keys!
The Toronto Blue Jays are writing a script for the Orioles to follow – Steve Melewski
If the first step is to sign a homegrown star to a $500 million extension, I’m not holding my breath that the Orioles will be following in the Jays’ footsteps.
Gausman is one notable example of a pitcher who stagnated with the Orioles and then thrived elsewhere. But in fairness, two other teams also cut him loose before he rejuvenated his career with the Giants and now the Jays. See, the Orioles aren’t the only team that screwed up!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! One current Oriole has a birthday today: right-hander Colin Selby turns 28. The gloriously bearded Selby appeared in 14 games for the Birds from 2024-25. Former Orioles born on Oct. 24 include infielder Omar Quintanilla (44); lefty Arthur Rhodes (56); and right-hander, Baltimore native, and occasional MASN broadcaster Dave Johnson (66).
Not Orioles-specific, but on this date in 1972, the legendary Jackie Robinson passed away of a heart attack at age 53. Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in the streets in Harlem for his funeral procession, paying respects to the man who heroically broke baseball’s color barrier and became one of the most consequential Americans in history.
