It was a bizarre week for Orioles ownership, the MASN muzzle and the greed of John Angelos but that hasn’t slowed down the team on the field on the West Coast. Luke Jones and Nestor recap a magical weekend of Orioles baseball in Seattle for Cedric Mullins and a look ahead to San Diego and Oakland.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
baseball, orioles, team, week, point, game, talk, give, ravens, luke, years, players, mullins, play, matteo, playoffs, cedric, told, place, questions
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
CABAC w n s t test Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively into a a strange up all night. World first place baseball. We’re gonna be doing the Maryland crab cake tour down at the beach this week. I will be waking up early on Thursday and Friday to talk to the likes of Senators Ben Cardin, as well as Chris Van Hollen. Wes Moore, many others are going to be joining us on Thursday and Friday. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery in conjunction with window nation. So we will be in Ocean City this week. Our next public merely crabcake tour is the 29th we’re going to be a Pappas and Glenburnie eating that delicious crab cake. I’ve never been to the Pappus and Glenburnie. Looking forward to it. And Rondo county executive Steuart Pittman will be joining us to talk about the kids going back to school Johnny Oh, join us two weeks ago over a drug city. You’ll be hearing that all week long. Look, I’m a little backed up around here this week get 25th anniversary. We were Greenmount station last week up in Hampstead doing all sorts of conversations about sports wagering. We were drug city we were Costas we had winners and losers. We had second Chancers, we had all that but man everywhere I go, and I was a Costas on Sunday night with letter Raskin eating crabs. This is why I did free the birds. And it’s amazing, this free Kevin Brown thing and the owner and all the money and he’s turning stuff down and he’s making news after being quiet, and nobody was paying attention. Everybody’s paying attention to the Orioles right now. Good ways bad ways Mullins goes over the wall. They give up home run. I mean, it has been as entertaining. And I know you weren’t around in 79. But 79 was way like this 89 was way like this. I don’t know that you’ve lived through anything like this on the baseball side. You’re a baseball guy, the runaway of 97 that come from behind and it says nothing quite like this. At this embryonic sort of stage for the franchise where you’re seeing all this other talent come up holiday curse that guys that they’re going to have to make room for at some point. This has been unbelievable to watch this to be in cost this hearing 150 people cheer out loud.
Luke Jones 02:10
Out Loud.
Nestor Aparicio 02:11
Cheer out loud again. And this is West Coast baseball. We’re gonna be up at midnight watching this all week, bro.
Luke Jones 02:18
No question about it. And I’m going to be the one who’s gonna be negative here for a moment, because I’m going to give you just one example of why John Angelos shouldn’t get an additional $300 million. I was over at my sister’s house on Sunday afternoon, had my login ready to go. They downloaded the mass an app on the Roku. It didn’t work. So I had to instead follow it on my phone, which is not nearly as simple, not nearly as convenient. That aside, an incredible weekend of Oreos, baseball, Cedric Mullins wasn’t even in the lineup on Sunday. And that wasn’t surprising, because they’re trying to keep them healthy, coming back from his second groin injury and what three months, he’s missed most of the season since Memorial Day saved for what three weeks, three plus weeks or whatever it was. So they’re trying to keep them healthy. So what he did on Sunday was just a reminder of when he’s at his best. He’s one of the very best players on this baseball team. And when you add a healthy Cedric Mullins into the mix for these final seven weeks, six and a half weeks, whatever we’re down to at this point before postseason. It’s a reminder of this team’s ability to get even better the rest of the way. So just an extraordinary weekend in Seattle again, I full disclosure, I didn’t get to see a whole lot of it because I was at the stadium Saturday night for ravens eagles. And as I mentioned, Madison’s app not working and I saw other people complaining about that on Twitter, but just an incredibly night
Nestor Aparicio 03:52
game was unbelievable, right? I mean, 00 Nobody’s hitting the ball. They win it late. It’s, I mean, it was what 1215 taught me it was it was late when it went down and all of this is happening, but people are up with it on it. When I’m sitting at the bar at Costas, we’re in a Jim Palmer jersey. Everybody’s talking real baseball. I dude, I’ve never been more proud of free the birds and people say to me, why did you do that crazy pull that crazy stunt 17 years ago. It’s because this is what I grew up with. I grew up with this. Every day your father grew up with this. Your mother grew up with this. You’ve been cheated out of this. You’re 40 years old and you’ve been cheated out of this by ineptitude. And and it’s still being incredibly mismanaged. It was not a good week for John Angeles. It may be a good week in the end for Orioles fans, and for the truth, because I’ve been the peddler of the truth. And now that Buck show, Walter’s wife has come out and said that the organization told her I was a bad person. I’m wondering how many other people that they steered away from you like Adam Jones and other people, that it’s unbelievable. bool that this could be happening when the team is having such incredible success. But this isn’t going to rub off on John Angelo’s. I don’t think anybody, you know, the reason this is working is Mike Elias is a genius. And I don’t know what the next step in any of this is. And certainly I’m going to be with the governor this week, I’m going to be with all political people all week down in Ocean City, people say, hey, news to hanging out with the politicians. Let’s figure out what’s going on here. You know, let’s, let’s, let’s, let’s sniff this out. Because I think the Oakland story is a part of this with Las Vegas. And, you know, they’re, they’re out on the West Coast right now. It’s out all night. They’re going to come back in first place. I guess they better at this point, right. Your Tampa now has, as much as John Angelo’s brought the whole world of media onto his lack of integrity and his lies and just and now the money and the stadium lease and all that Tampa has got their own problem, right. I mean, this first place thing with the Orioles it’s such a pipe dream, even three, four months ago, but now that we can see the finish line six weeks from now, see that the Yankees aren’t coming the red boogeyman is not coming. You know, this bike is important for them. Right? And, you know, all parts of this are every night, this going over the fence these are it feels like a real pennant race in that way to me in that, okay, they’re gonna make the playoffs. But now they have to win the division. And I don’t know that we any of us sniffed that that was going to be possible on August 15, which is made the Ravens so I don’t say irrelevant, but so back burner until they do something which they didn’t do Saturday except bore the hell out of you.
Luke Jones 06:44
Yeah, I mean, I mean, the ravens are going to be there. September 10. You know, in the way that the NFL is king in this country period, when it comes that’s
Nestor Aparicio 06:52
three hours a week. The Orioles are plenty oxygen Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday when they’re playing games, right? They will chill. They’re not playing games anymore.
Luke Jones 07:01
There’s always been that appetite to support both. I mean, it’s always been that way. That’s why I’ve I’ve always been so fatigued at the rare times where the two teams have been good at the same time. And you hear those kinds of arguments and debates on social media you only
Nestor Aparicio 07:14
watch the Orioles I mean, it’s I don’t that Yeah, like that. That was never my I stopped Baltimore Colts belt buckle five feet away from my arm, you know,
Luke Jones 07:23
there you go. But I think you just you look at what’s happened over the last week. First of all, you mentioned John Angeles. What is unfortunate about this. And let me rephrase that not unfortunate, let’s say ironic. Johnny Angelos was very integral in in hiring Mike Elias and the one thing that I would actually give him some credit for, if not for everything that he deserves, so much disdain and criticism and, and negative feelings towards is the one thing he has done differently from his father is he has not meddled in the baseball side of things, you know that there had been no accounts of meddling about who to draft or what players to, to bring up or what players to potentially trade. I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 08:09
think Peter really wrecked the organization by not allowing the baseball people to draft. I mean, even when they had top draft picks, they had to take the cheap players. And like that, that was just an unbelievable, I think, in retrospect, a real unbelievable concept that when you’re bad, you have to take the best players. And if you have to pay them, you have to pay them. But Peter was fundamentally against that, like, and from the baseball perspective, they haven’t spent any money either, right. So I do want to play the devil’s advocate on that, which is, by the way, what Frank Wren once told me about the Angelo’s families to go watch the devil’s advocate the movie with Al Pacino. And that will, that’s what he told me in 1998 26 years ago, right? 25 years ago. But the amazing part of this is they’ve done this on the cheap, and at some point, they’re gonna have to spend money at some point. They’re gonna make big boy trades and there’s gonna have to be a grown up in the chair. I don’t know what else to say. I mean, and there’s no feeling that there is right now. And that’s what makes all of this so weird. It has been such a strangely entertaining on the field off the field, the lease, the batshit owner, the team itself, the likability, the fact that the Yankees and the Red Sox aren’t even the bad guys we’re never going to get the beat them in the postseason. You know, and, and we’re six weeks out on this and I’m it pinch me when I’m sitting across this wearing a 66 Palmer jersey and everybody in the bar is talking baseball in August. I got I just, it’s a whirlwind thing for me. It’s Twilight Zone for me, Luke, and what they’re talking about a same thing with Peter in the 90s. Good, bad money. Players deals bullpen is Baumann up Where’s Batista? I mean, everybody knows the ascending pitchers they No CNL Perez has left. And they know, they know the team. They say they’re speaking the language. And that unto itself, is something that my mother didn’t live long enough to see. You know what I mean? Like literally.
Luke Jones 10:13
Right, right. I mean, it’s, it’s exciting. And I think if we’ve learned anything over the last week is all the turmoil off the field with John angelos, and what happened with Kevin Brown? And what’s going on with the lease and all of those big picture questions that do not have answers. And there there is uncertainty, not so much that I think they’re moving or any serious threat of that, but just how are you going to how’s this going to play out in terms of maintaining long term health for the organization, maintaining what Mike Elias has built to your point, whether it’s coming down to augmenting with free agents or with significant trades? Or how about extending a gunner Henderson to long term contract and buying out his first three or four years of free agency, the kinds of things that even small market teams that are run well, that they do so those questions all remain those questions persist, and those questions dominated much of the dialogue over the course of the last week. In the meantime, the Orioles played what was a really difficult trying series with Houston but they were literally one pitch away from winning two out of three from the Astros, and they bounce back and win the final game of that series, avoid being swept another example of how resilient This club has been. And then they go to Seattle, get their butts kicked on Friday night, mariners had been the hottest team in baseball with the winning streak. And then they play to straight, dare I say playoff like atmosphere type game. I mean, it was a great atmosphere in Seattle. Again, full full disclosure. I didn’t get to see a whole lot of it because ravens responsibilities and mass and zap not working on the Roku on Sunday, but by all accounts you follow this and not just all your fans are in it into it but the Seattle fans in Seattle It was an amazing atmosphere. Things did not go exactly as as you plan. Like Baumann gives up the game time homerun that Cedric Mullins brings back next batter hits the game time homerun. You don’t have Felix Batista available on Sunday because he pitched two phenomenal winnings on Saturday. And Cedric Mullins. It’s a two run homer in the tent. I mean, it’s just this is the kind of stuff that
Nestor Aparicio 12:25
and Cedric Mullins has been out of the lineup twice this year. And we’re like, we miss him. And Aaron Hickson, well, what has it been like for this team? Had? He got 600? At bats this year? Right.
Luke Jones 12:35
Yeah, I mean, and it’s tough to say, Well, they’d be even better because they’ve been so good without him. But the point is, they’ve had things that we’ve talked about this all year, from the time of if I had told you back in March, Nestor, that the Orioles would be 28 games over 500 and mid August and be in first place in the American League East
Nestor Aparicio 12:56
I’d say means is back in the rotation. Rodriguez must be up for sci fi of the year. Yeah, I would just el haul would be sure. All those things we talked about in the offseason, right?
Luke Jones 13:07
Exactly. And it hasn’t gone perfectly. Now. They’ve also had other people step up, like no one would have anticipated Ryan O’Hearn would be hitting clean up for the Orioles and playing so well. But now, you know he’s still in the lineup right now castles come back from the vertigo and struggling so mightily at the plate. And he’s, he’s been their best hitter over the last month. So it just speaks to some things haven’t gone as well. But a lot of things have gone well. But I think again, Saturday and Sunday, another great example of how resilient this team is. And look. We can talk about resilience being resilient, we can talk about resolve, we can talk about team chemistry, a lot of times those things are thrown out there when someone doesn’t have something more sophisticated to say or it’s just something you can explain. And look, we can break down and talk about what this team does really, really well. What this team does, okay. And things, frankly, that this team doesn’t do very well. You know, you look at the run differential. They’re not a juggernaut in the sense that they blow teams out night after night after night. And you know, you look at their run differential compared to Tampa us or compared to Texas. So they
Nestor Aparicio 14:16
throw you with four hits until midnight in Seattle and eke out a run in the 10th inning. And they have a guy that’s the fastest guy on the planet, you know, running around that they can stick out at second base and try to steal a game. Yeah,
Luke Jones 14:30
I mean, look, I I’ve made no secret about my feelings on Jorge Mateo continuing to be on this roster. He has no business being in the starting lineup on any kind of a regular basis at this point. But if you are keeping them around and my sense at this point, since they haven’t made the move to Joey Ortiz and to DFA Matteo. It’s first examples of what he did on Sunday, you know, making a slide stealing a base when he’s when he’s right and focused and plugged in when Oh, he can play great defense at shortstop. But it’s a very specialized role. So I assume they’re keeping him around for October. So hey, man,
Nestor Aparicio 15:09
hey, like, I don’t know where his head is. And this is part of Greg Bader telling, you know, Buck show Walter’s wife, I’m a bad guy. And on days when you can’t go to the game, I can’t get in. I don’t know what’s in his head. But it can’t be easy, right? I mean, no one Henderson no one hot. I mean, this isn’t a job. This is a Patrick Queen gig for him. Right? This is a short term, you know, a Obj. I’m only here for a minute, let’s go win. And Matteo is best chance to get a ring as a baseball player is running his ass off with his team and keeping his mouth shut. And when they give him a glove, go out there and play. I mean, and he’s not an outfielder, right? I mean, like, so. I think we’ve seen that. So I would say this about hide, and I’ve never spoken to Brandon, I’ve never met Brandon Hyde. I’ve never been in a room with Brandon Hyde. So I mean, I see him on television. But Pete, and I don’t know how much managing He really does. Because I don’t understand modern baseball, where it’s plug and play. And it’s all based on an analytic for the most part. And you know, and even when Verlander leaves New York and makes fun a buck and goes back says he needs his analytics, he wants his analytics. This is a team that certainly provides all of that right as to why someone would play or not play. But there’s an emotional part of this with the team. Whether it’s Aaron Fraser who felt like he was off the roster off the reservation, and he’s playing again, or whether it’s an Aaron Hicks Susan, income or or her these guys that really weren’t a part of the boys club and stout not being here. And you know, other players making it or not making it or Couser, who’s in witness protection to some degree, right? Like not a one, one, but one pretty good. And like a guy they’re counting on and a guy that other teams would, he’d be their best prospect that 20 other teams in the league, right? So their riches are there. But I think hide and I go back to Buck show Walter and I’ll continue to plug his his wife only for the rest of my life, Luke, so you’ll never get tired of hearing her name around here, because I’ll be bringing that up forever, until the next one comes along. But Buck would say pile divers, and there’s something about Mike Elias, there’s something about SigmaTel there’s something about the heartbeat of these guys they bring in, whether it’s even Fuji, who makes us all wet ourselves, because it looks like he wets himself. When he comes in ball one, ball two ball three. I’m gonna get Stan house on the show at some point here next month to talk about such things, and Greg Olson two, but whatever it is, I have a confidence level that I don’t have an Eric to cost quite frankly yet because he had one meaning. But with Ozzy, when Ozzy would bring players in, it was just sort of like, there’s a nine out of 10 chance that that’s going to be a plus move in some way might not be perfect, it might not be the greatest move. But this Fuji move is on the back end of let’s see the Lopez move the Batista move the Cano move, they still believe in CNL Paret. You know, like the guys they believe in Michaelides as a baseball genius, I’m just gonna like our spout that out because I’m becoming a true believer in that. But more than that, with hide managing these humans at the end of the roster, right? And Adley rutschman Hugging these guys. And being that kind of leader every regiment hasn’t lost hasn’t been swept on a baseball diamond in four years. I mean, that’s. At what point do we annoy him Ray Lewis or you let him dance or do something right? I don’t know. But we’re seeing leadership here at all levels, other than the owner, who’s clearly in the weeds somewhere, as far as the long term direction of the team. But you mentioned Matteo, I just gave you all role players. And how Aaron Fraser had that little pop with Henderson And you and I talked about it, you know, week, week and a half ago, whatever it was, that there’s a chemistry factor here that allows Jorge Mateo to feel involved, right, and feel involved enough to help win a game and Cedric Mullins, being in the infirmary twice this year, to go over the wall and steal a game and come back. And I mean, there really, there have been heroes every night here. And it’s been a lot of fun to watch it really, it feels great. 25 years into having this station to actually talk about why I’ve built this radio station, which is the talk about my love of baseball, and the fun of baseball and the passion of baseball that can link you, your sister, your brother in law, your mother, your niece all in the same place to be disappointed when your Roku doesn’t work and you can’t actually watch the game. But to care that much. And I love it. I love it. And I love every part of it right now. I’m immersed in it even though I’m on the outside.
Luke Jones 19:56
Yeah, there’s no question about it. And I think you know what you he just laid out in terms of the leadership. And it does speak to this right now being separate from a very significant substantial concern and problem with ownership and so many things off the field, it is not impacted what’s happening on the field. And look, I mean, if you and I had talked six days ago about this, I would have said to you, look, I think the players like Kevin Brown just fine. But do I think they’re thinking about that at 705? When they take the field or 1005, when they’re out on the West Coast? No, I don’t, I think they’re focused on the task at hand. And, and that’s winning more baseball games, because they’ve proven to be pretty damn good at doing that. So in those terms, I’m not surprised that they have played the way they have over the last week, even though it’s been, it’s been a grind because you’ve gone up against the defending world series champion. And over the weekend, you went up against the hottest team in baseball, which the mariners had been until the Orioles beat them twice to close out the series. So it really does speak to how uncanny their resolve has been. And, look, they have talented baseball players, they really do. And that’s not to say everyone’s talented, you know, extremely talented on the team. And, you know, Jorge Mateo has got a couple really significant gifts, but his deficiencies or significant deficiencies mean, he’s hit like a pitcher since the end of April, go look at the stats. I mean, I’m not that’s not hyperbole that’s kind of look at his stats compared to Jim Palmer’s career stats at the plate. It is what it is, or Chris Davis is. Yeah, the last batch of his career felt the last two seasons of his career, three seasons of his career, really, but but but your point, and you know, we’re not trying to pick on Matteo here, it’s just but it does speak to,
Nestor Aparicio 21:38
he might slide in, in game seven, and still home.
Luke Jones 21:43
Maybe, maybe. But I could, I could see a scenario where he’s still second and third. And then scores on a sac fly to to give you the lead in the seventh inning of a back and forth game. I mean, who knows? I mean, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played between now and then. And by the way, still some significant questions. bullpen. Michael Givens was def aid on Sunday, that says everything you need to know about how his rehab stint was going. That that was kind of I think it was $5 million. They gave him down the drain. So like alias isn’t perfect. But he has earned so much trust with what he’s done with this organization. What off sigma del and off his lieutenants and all of his front office scouts, analytics, coaches at every level, you know that that’s another kind of undersold part of this. For years, what did we hear the Oreos minor league system is guy would be at single way. And then he’d go to double weigh and the pitching coach, there’s telling them something different than he heard it single way. And he gets the triple A and everyone is on the same page, there is a long term plan and vision to everything they do. And that’s not to say that it’s all perfect. But there is a rhyme and reason to what they’re trying to do in every phase of the baseball side of things. Now, you get into the business side of things, you get into ownership, you get into the least you get into maths and maths and dispute with the Nationals that’s gone on for a decade. Plus, there are so many questions and so many concerns about that, but to this point. And this is where I will give John angelos, the tiniest bit of a compliment. He did hire Mike Elias. And by all accounts, He’s stayed out of that side of things, but to your point. And it’s not necessarily it’s not going to be this year at this point, because the trade deadline has already passed. And there’s not really anything else they could even do of significance. But they will come to a point where you want to make a big move, big signing big trade, resigned some of these young stud players that they have. And that’s where you do have concerns about the ownership side of dysfunction side of things, conflicting, but in the meantime, because I don’t want to be overly negative. Even John Angelos
Nestor Aparicio 23:49
can eff this up over the next eight weeks, whatever
Luke Jones 23:53
they’re destined to be at this point. There’s no reason to think that they can’t reach that. And look, that doesn’t mean they’re gonna win the World Series. There’s still elements of this team that you have questions about, but it’s no different than anyone else. Tampa Bay, go look at their injured list on the pitching side. I mean, they just lost McClanahan. I mean, they are ravaged with injuries on the pitching side. Now, they’re going to hit their way to the playoffs because they’ve been that good and they’ll continue to be good enough. And the Orioles no pitching concerns six man rotation now with Cole Irvin, I had my concerns, but not to the point that I don’t think they’re going to hold on and make the playoffs. It’ll just be a question of, are they going to be the number one seed? Do they hold on and win the division? Or are they going to be the top wildcard and they’re playing three games in the wildcard that
Nestor Aparicio 24:38
will feel like a disappointment to me right now because we have real hope, right? Like where they are right now looking at it, forgetting not making the playoffs. But if they if they if they inch in and lose eight of 10 that at the end of the year and back up and wind up losing the division by two games. I mean, if they lose the division by two games, they’ve backed up five games in six weeks on the on tap Right. And no, it’s not because they’re seeing each other nine times next month, and they get their brains beaten and down at Tropicana Field and which couldn’t be brought up by Kevin Brown by the way, we couldn’t bring that up in the broadcast right? Can’t watch anyway, because they don’t want you to watch baseball, Luke, they own a television network. They they don’t want you to actually watch the gate. Luke Jones is here, Luke, I’m gonna break out because listen, you said the words Kevin Brown twice, maybe three times in this? No, I haven’t said it at all. You and I have not had a conversation about it at all. And matter of fact, we haven’t had a conversation off the air because you lost your electricity. You’re covering football. The the Ravens don’t let me and when you can’t be there, they played an afternoon game. I couldn’t go to the other day because they don’t let me in all this bourgeois going down. And Angela show Walter and all these things. Let’s talk Kevin Brown. Because I didn’t know if you do you know, Kevin Brown.
Luke Jones 25:48
Yeah, I mean, I can’t you know, I mean, I say hello to him. And I mean, I I don’t know him as well as other members of the broadcast team necessarily.
Nestor Aparicio 25:56
I just That’s it. I’m done with that you and I could talk about that whole topic a little later on because you’ve worked for me for 15 years and it’d be really interesting if I if I told you what to say and not say like it’s it’s an and it’s it’s so Angelo’s, it was so percolating. I you know, I give all the maths and team all the credit in the world for not letting it out to anyone that I didn’t get word of this because I would have reported on this a long time ago. Dan Connolly had no problem reporting on it, but you and I will take that up a little bit later. I know we get a lot of football to get to a lot of baseball Orioles are out late there in San Diego all week Luke’s gonna be covering the games. When they let them watch them. Come down to my house. Look, I you know, I’ll let you watch the game my place if you want. We’ll make popcorn. We’ll get beer we’ll get nachos. It’d be fun. Luke can be found at Baltimore, Luke. I can be found anywhere the internet travels this week. We’re going to be Mako this week. Lots of things going on. No one loves your ELS more than we do. We are on it. We’re on the Ravens as well. He’s Luke I’m Nestor. We are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. We never stopped talking. Real baseball. Any race baseball first place baseball. I just want to say that out loud. haven’t been able to say that a whole lot in Baltimore positive
