Lee Lowenfish

It really helps to remember baseball cliches as the marathon of a baseball season turns into the upcoming September sprint. One of my favorite adages remains "Tomorrow is your best friend."  Especially when there are still 30 games left to play. 

Of course, being a fan means you can't be rational about your team because you can do absolutely nothing about influencing the outcome.  If you start thinking in macro terms about how the fates will do your team in, you wind up a total emotional mess. 

You have to remember that you signed up for this by becoming a fan. Think George C. Scott as Patton and Patton himself before D-Day:  "It beats shoveling shit in Louisiana." 

Saying all this, let me try to answer my question:  "What has happened to the Orioles?"  Injuries are clearly a factor for a team that is playing under .500 ball since late June. Here are some of the key ones to players that were leaders as well as statistical contributors: 

**Starter Kyle Bradish, gone until deep into next year with Tommy John surgery.

**Reliever Danny Coulombe, who might return in late September to provide steady bullpen work.  I'm pretty sure manager Brandon Hyde rues

having him pitch a second inning in his last appearance before the bone chips had to be removed from his left pitching elbow. But then again, winning the game at hand is the manager's first duty.  

**Second and third baseman Jordan Westburg whose broken throwing hand from an HBP may not heal until late in September.  Hard to put into words and certainly statistics what his scrappiness and will to win means to the Birds. 

**Second baseman Jorge Mateo out with a serious elbow ligament injury after a freak collision up the middle with shortstop Gunnar Henderson.  He may well need surgery that could end his career with the Orioles.  Originally signed as a 16-year-old by the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic, it took Mateo more than 10 years and a stint with the Padres organization to finally get a nearly-regular chance to play - his speed and baseball sense are sorely missed. 

Yet every team has injuries. For a variety of reasons, obvious and less obvious, the 101-win team of 2023 has not re-emerged. The macro view - "Every season is different," another favorite cliche - reminds us that the 2023 Orioles were swept in three games by the eventual World Series-winning Texas Rangers.  (The Rangers will not make the playoffs this season, another lesson in how hard it is to repeat in this age of free agent baseball and 24/7/365 media coverage that adds to the noise that can overwhelm struggling players and teams.) 

On the micro level, I don't what has happened to Adley Rutschman.  He hit only .132 in July and while his BA has doubled in August, he is not consistently driving the ball.   The George Steinbrenner in me - my Hobbesian view of human nature insists that we all have the angry boss in us somewhere - wonders why he is doing shoe commercials instead of finding his stroke! 

Adley did recently miss a couple of games with a bad back, perhaps from too much weight lifting. My guess - and it is just a guess - is that the serious injury to Bradish and to pitcher Grayson Rodriguez - still on the IL at this crucial time of season -  may have come from excessive lifting. 

When Adley is on, a switch-hitter with good gap power, the whole lineup seems better. Maybe he has a hidden injury not disclosed or the pressure of a pennant race and never failing at anything he has ever done in his heralded career has gotten to him.  He remains an easy player to root for. 

Meanwhile, backup James McCann has been invaluable for his courage exemplified by his unbelievable refusal a few weeks ago to leave the first inning of the first game of a doubleheader after being hit in the face with an errant pitch from a Blue Jay pitcher.  He suffered several nose fractures but after changing his bloody uniform top, he returned to the game to keep Rutschman from having to catch the whole doubleheader. 

The Orioles' remaining schedule is not particularly onerous although they must face the Dodgers in LA Tues thru Thurday Aug 27-29 and then go to tailend Colorado Aug 30-Sep 1.  I wrote down the September schedule eagerly not long ago, but now my anticipation has faded for the three games in New York against the Yankees Tu-Th Sep 24-26 for the AL East title. 

If we manage somehow to stay in the wild card race, those final three games at Minnesota Sep 27-29 may be even more important. Minnesota and Kansas City are very alive in the wild card race and both have a chance to knock Cleveland out of first place.  As a congenital supporter of the underdog, I hope the Royals and Guardians have a chance at October baseball. 

I haven't even gone into Oriole pitching woes - other injuries to starters and bullpen meltdowns. It is not all demoted closer Criag Kimbrel's fault either.  But enough of my whining! We still have a chance if the players believe. And forget the unexpected triumph of last year and maybe more important, forget the end of the streak earlier this season where they had not been swept in a series for over a year and a half.  

They did have two dramatic victories against Houston this past weekend:  An 8th inning grand slam by Anthony Santander and a pinch-hit bases-clearing double by 20-year-old Jackson Holliday (but his only hit in his last 24 ABs.)

Holliday's hit came after the Orioles honored the three new members of the Orioles Hall of Fame.  So here's the good news from the stories of the new inductees.   

**Scout Dick Bowie who signed outfielder Al Bumbry, future major league pitchers Ken Dixon and Jesse Jefferson, and was the only scout in the

organization (and a rare one throughout baseball) that saw Cal Ripken Jr's future as an infielder not a pitcher.  Bowie's son accepted the honor.

**Terry Crowley, outfielder and pinch-hitter extraordinaire who became an outstanding hitting coach for Orioles and other teams.  I am proud to

mention Crowley was excelled at Staten Island's Curtis High School.   

**Right fielder Nick Markakis, one of Crowley's star pupils who collected 2388 hits with .288 BA, .780 OBP in a career mainly with the Orioles. He was another player that many scouts projected as a pitcher but Tony DeMacio, Orioles scouting director at the time, insisted that (a) Nick was a definite number one draft pick with the kind of swing that would make him an everyday player (and also the talent to become a fine defender), and (b) he held off the critics who claimed Nick was only being signed because then-owner Peter Angelos was also of Greek descent. 

BTW I added Markakis's OBP above, but I can do without the high-tech scoreboards like the one I saw at the NY Mets' CitiField during the recent Oriole series.  It lists first OBP (On-Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage) and BA is hard to find.  This is a rant for another time.

And I do want to thank the Mets for replaying a great defensive play that Gunnar Henderson made against the Mets in last

week's series. It is so rare for a home team to credit visitors with great plays!  

Here's a sad closing note that needs mention  - In today's NY Times (M Aug 26) I read Emily Schmall's story about the late night fire on Th Aug 22 at Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario, California, that destroyed the old wooden ballpark where "A League of Their Own" was filmed over 30 years ago.  Earlier John Goodman as the "Babe" and John Sayles' "Eight Men Out" had also been filmed there.  

For a commercial film, "A League of Their Own' has always rested in a special place in my heart for its love of baseball.  Many years ago I met Jon Lovitz at the US Open not far from the Mets ballpark (then Shea Stadium, now CitiField).  I told him I liked his portrayal of the scout and he was humble, saying it was a well-written part - I must add that in re-seeing the film recently I found the role a bit too stereotyped. 

In the lively recent book by Erin Carlson, "No Crying In Baseball," about the making of Penny Marshall's film, Tom Hanks, who played the team manager loosely based on Jimmy Foxx, said:  "Football is war.  Basketball is struggle.  Baseball is life." 

BTW Another tidbit in Carlson's book is that someone who tried out for the film and didn't get cast but did OK in her tryout was Marla Maples. 

RIP, Jay Littleton Ball Park, that according to Schmall's story was named after a former semi-pro ballplayer who became an MLB scout and passed on in 2003.  Am always glad to remember any scout devoted to the game.  

That's all for now - Stay Positive Test Negative and Take It Easy But Take It, still my mantras. 

Blame me, Oriole fans. The Prince of Paranoia went out of character and conceived a new alter ego, Agent 161 031 221, in the wake of the Orioles' 17-5 rout of the Yankees on Thursday afternoon June 20.  That was the line score on a day the Birds scored in every inning but the 4th. 

It was my first jaunt to Yankee Stadium this season and I never expected a laugher, but once Juan Soto didn't react to Gunnar Henderson's first-pitch liner to right and it became a double, the die seemingly was cast on this very steamy afternoon.

It was a rare off-day for the Yankees' surprise ace so far, Luis Gil, who came in with a 9-1 record and a low ERA.  He was knocked out during a six-run Oriole second inning and Yankee relievers didn't fare much better.

I didn't really expect future games would be so easy.  I knew that the Astros are improving and are loaded with talent with championship pedigree and a good farm system. But I didn't expect a sweep this past weekend at Minute Maid Park, especially with our two best starters working the first two games, Grayson Rodriguez and Corbin Burnes. 

A sweep is what happened because the baseball gods are very capricious and are wary of overconfidence. Rodriguez seemed in control on Friday night with a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 5th, but with two out and two on - both well-stroked singles on fastballs - he hung an off-speed pitch to center fielder Jake Meyers and in a twinkling it was 5-3 Astros.

This is Grayson's first full year in the majors so he remains a young pitcher, but with three Baltimore starters out for the year and longer - Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells - Rodriguez needs to step up.  He didn't get an out in the bottom of the 6th and the rout was on. 

The Orioles did make Friday's game interesting with a barrage of 7th and 8th inning homers but that only cut the deficit to 14-11. To coin a phrase (LOL), "Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades." 

In the Sa/Su day games, Houston starters Ronel Franco, who pitched a no-hitter earlier in season, and veteran southpaw Framber Valdez simply outpitched Baltimore's ace Corbin Burnes and reclamation project Albert Suarez. 

The Astros are now only two games under .500 and just five games in lost column behind the first-place AL West Mariners. Houston has lost their share of pitchers for the season, too, notably Jose Urquiddy and Cristian Javier and are also temporarily missing powerful right fielder Kyle Tucker, but they still have a potent lineup from top to bottom. 

Next up for the Orioles at home are the Cleveland Guardians who have lost two less games than the Orioles at 49-26 and are leading the AL Central 

by 7 games in the loss column over Minnesota.  The Texas Rangers come into Baltimore the last weekend of June and they are now only 3 games

below .500 and Max Scherzer was excellent in his first start of the season on Sun Jun 23. 

There is no word but EPIDEMIC to describe what is happening to pitchers this season.  There is no easy explanation except that the reward system for amateur signings and big contracts is heavily weighted towards Velocity and Spin Rate.  Until organizations stress Pitchability and Durability, the casualty rate will go on and on.  

AND NOW THE TRIBUTES TO MAYS AND SUTHERLAND:

The timing of the passing of Willie Mays was eerily appropriate.  Mays died on Tues June 19 at the age of 93 as MLB was preparing to celebrate the Negro leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. MLBTV was covering a minor league game at Rickwood when the TV coverage was interrupted with the news of Mays' death.  Rickwood later hosted an exciting MLB game between the surging Cardinals and the sagging Giants. 

A tip of the cap to Richard Goldstein whose NY Times obituary of Mays contained a fact I didn't know.  Condoleeza Rice's mother taught Willie at Fairfield Ala. Industrial HS.  She was tolerant of some of his absences because of his baseball responsibilities.  (I knew that Condi's father was one of the recipients of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from A Birmingham Jail" - the senior Rice did not believe that educated Blacks should take part in demonstrations.) 

Another kudo to Anthony Castrovince of mlb.com for his June 12 piece, "How Hollywood Saved Rickwood Field." In a twist of remarkable irony, it turns out that when Ron Shelton was looking for a site to film his bio-pic "Cobb" in the early 1990s, he chose Rickwood Field because it dates back to 1910 during the heyday of Cobb's career. 

"Cobb" is not a great movie, marred by Shelton's reliance on sportswriter Al Stump's questionable recounting of interviews in the last year of Cobb's life.  Yet this connection made me think of something Branch Rickey said in his only book, THE AMERICAN DIAMOND:  The only player he ever saw that had a greater will to win than Jackie Robinson was Ty Cobb. 

Rickey also once uttered a potent description of Willie Mays:  "The secret to his success is the frivolity in his bloodstream."  I don't have many memories of games that Mays played as a New York Giant, but I do remember going with my father to the Polo Grounds to see pre-game fielding and batting practice at the Polo Grounds.  During every pre-game fielding drill, Mays showed off his cannon of an arm in throws to home, third, and second.

Here's one other Mays story to share.  Sometime before the pandemic, I won a raffle at a NYC Baseball Writers Association dinner.  The prize was a painting of me and my favorite NY ballplayer. I sent a photo of yours truly to artist John Pennisi and I have the result framed in my living room with a caption added by the artist.

Lee:  "Say Hey Willie, Leo says if Thomson gets on, I'm pinch-hittin' for you."

Willie: "Lee, how did you get on the field?" 

Here's also a fond farewell to actor Donald Sutherland, 88, who passed away two days after Mays on Jun 20.  He too deservedly received of a front page obit in NY Times (though understandably not nearly as large). 

I never met Sutherland but I loved his work on film including "M*A*S*H,"  "Klute," and the remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". How could a sports fan like me ever forget Sutherland's character who gets so infested with the alien pods that he loses interest in the NBA finals.  (That was in early 1980s when the entertainment aspect of NBA hadn't take over, but that's another story.) 

Sutherland was a genuine baseball fan and as a native of Canada, he especially adored the Expos who entered MLB in 1969. I love the story of Sutherland on a film assignment in Europe in October 1981, spending a few hundred dollars on a phone call to North America so he could follow a radio broadcast of the Expos-Dodgers NLCS playoff.  He was a true fan and never used his celebrity to draw attention. 

That's all for now.  Next time I post i'll be an 83-year-old.  Just remembered that 1983 was the last world championship year of the Orioles.  The Prince of Paranoia doesn't really believe in omens or jinxes but I just may retire Agent 161 031 221. 

Stay positive test negative, and take it easy but take it over.