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. 

I have been mulling for a long time what to do about the epidemic of pitching injuries in baseball.  The plague has affected every organization, the highly successful ones like the Braves and Dodgers, the improved ones like the Orioles, and the weaker teams, too.

Tonight after the Orioles salvaged a split with the young and improved Washington Nationals with a well-pitched 4-1 game without too many strikeouts on either side, a lightbulb went on in my baseball-obsessed brain. 

WHY NOT LIMIT THE NUMBER OF STRIKEOUTS ALLOWED IN EVERY PROFESSIONAL GAME, MINORS AND MAJORS?  

My rule would force pitchers to better learn their craft, the Art of Pitching as Tom Seaver called it in the book I wrote with him over 40 years ago. 

It certainly would cut down on the number of injuries caused by throwing harder and harder and excessively spinning the ball. These dangerous processes start in the early teenaged years and ultimately wreck too many arms. 

I had thought about rewarding major league organizations with more draft choices if their pitchers go through seasons uninjured.  Or conversely, taking draft choices away from teams that have too many injuries.   But I don't see how those changes could be easily enforced.

CUTTING DOWN ON THE NUMBER OF STRIKEOUTS COULD BE AND SHOULD BE ENFORCED. 

Maybe I have been subconsciously influenced by the huge success of Banana Baseball, started by Jesse Cole's Savannah Bananas that now has several teams playing a game that it is part circus, part vaudeville, and always part some recognizable form of baseball.  Except that there are rewards for quick innings.  And Banana Baseball assures customers that a game will never take more than two hours.  

Last month, ESPN and ESPN2 aired in prime time a three-game series of Banana Baseball before sold-out crowds at the Louisville Bats minor league ballpark. It is a fun kind of entertainment and only slightly comparable to the Harlem Globetrotters.  One big difference is the opposition teams often win the games unlike the Washington Generals that almost always lose to the Globies. 

Speaking of enjoyable fast-moving sports, I think a big reason that the Paris Olympics proved such a success, artistically and TV ratings-wise, is that the action was quick and compelling.  Track and field always has that element going for it and swimming too.    

I must admit that I have never been a big fan of the Olympics because of the enormous costs to host cities and the history of political violence.  Fortunately, Paris 2024 was not plagued by discord. In fact, one possible volleyball argument was defused when the loud speaker played John Lennon singing "Imagine".   

The two basketball finals pitting USA against France were positively gripping.  And each game was completed in under two hours because of 10-minute quarters and the absence of endless commercials. 

Men's head coach Steve Kerr had revealing comments after Team USA beat France, 98-87 in a game far closer than the final score indicated. He was used to the dramatics of Steph Curry, 36, who he coaches on the Golden State Warriors - Curry's 4 threes in the last 3 minutes sealed the American win in the final and were instrumental in the big semi-final comeback against Serbia.  

The tournament MVP went to 39-year-old Lebron James who Kerr never had coached. He said he has become a lifelong fan of James for his ability to know when to assist and when to take charge.  Kerr praised the whole Team USA for embracing the pressure of knowing that winning only a silver medal would mark them forever as huge disappointments. 

The USA women on Saturday were dealing with even greater pressure having the goal of winning an unprecedented 8 gold medals in a row. 

They were led by A'ja Wilson, a college champion at South Carolina and winning a ring with the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces. A huge surprise contribution came from Kahleah Copper, a 2021 champion with the Chicago Sky. 

The women's team had to come back from a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat France, 67-66, in about as dramatic a game as

one could hope to see. Gabby Williams' final shot for France at the buzzer was only inches from being a three that would have forced overtime.

Women's coach Cheryl Reeve, also with championship pedigree as longtime leader of the Minnesota Lynx, echoed Kerr afterwards about dealing with the pressure of expectation.  "I told the team that we are trying for one gold medal," she said to NBC's Zora Stephenson after the victory. She stressed that the other seven victories were really no concern for this group. 

Reeve also used an expression about knowing where your feet are. I find the concept elemental and spiritual. Most of us don't realize that our feelings begin in our feet.  The mind should never forget that, the good coaches advise.

Though I promised last blog not to get too involved in the political campaign until after Labor Day, Tim Walz, the newly-minted Democratic V-P 

candidate, used to coach high school football in Nebraska and Minnesota.  He exhorted his defense:  "11 on the ball."  

Next time more on the pennant races heating up all over MLB's 6 divisions.  For now always remember:  Take it easy but take it; Stay Positive Test

Negative; and 11 ON THE BALL!