It was a special weekend of memories of the 1983 World Series team but the current Orioles team answered the first-place call with an impressive trio of wins against the once-time menace of the New York Mets. Luke Jones and Nestor recap the magic of Orioles baseball at Camden Yards.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
orioles, years, pitched, team, talked, verlander, baseball, good, weekend, pitcher, batista, point, october, game, justin verlander, week, crowd, kyle gibson, young, playing
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
What about w n s t, Towson, Baltimore. Baltimore positive we have a positively been celebrating 25 years. I’ll have the logo up at some point I swear we have a brand new logo. It’s been 25 years I’ve been so busy this weekend in between watching baseball monitoring football fake football was even involved last week and concert Ng and summering and watermelon eating and doing all the things we do. Luke Jones has been footballing and baseball and primarily baseball and a little bit ended the nights as I don’t know that we got even for 69 Dude, but like it always feels good to beat the Mets on behalf of my father. Welcome back. How are you and a double duty seeing all week? I have no idea what you’re gonna do on Thursday when they don’t let me into either place and you have to cover both of them in the pennant race. But Saturday night I felt I look I saw pet Ben and Tara was on a hill I made a decision had a great night. But Saturday night look really special.
Luke Jones 01:00
It was a special weekend Nestor. I mean, it really was when you consider where this club is when you consider Buck show Walter coming into town. I mean, the one thing you feel bad about with beating up the New York Mets over the weekend is it came at the expense of Buck show Walter. Adam Jones was there Friday night, as you mentioned that the 1983 World Series team celebration complete with Rick Dempsey leading a an Orioles chant that gave you goosebumps and then finishing off the sweep on Sunday afternoon. Attendance wise about 100,000 people over the three game series. I mean a sellout Saturday night. Good crowds, solid crowds on Friday and Sunday. What what isn’t there to like, I mean, it was just it was a great weekend for the Orioles. They’re up to 70 wins. You know, as I pointed out, after Sunday’s when they’ve had 13 seasons since 1983, where they didn’t get the 70 wins for the entire season. So what it’s here
Nestor Aparicio 01:56
for all 13 Of those, by the way. I mean, it’s just that all 13 on the radio, by the way, too. Yeah. over 32 years. Yes,
Luke Jones 02:02
just but but just a reminder of how forgettable the it’s been for the most part since 1983. But also, special things are happening right now. And you see that with this club. And as much as there was excitement to see cow and Eddie and Palmer and Rick Dempsey and go down the list.
Nestor Aparicio 02:19
Oh, Gary Radnicki Gary Radnicki that’s my favorite Oreo. Gary, right. You
Luke Jones 02:23
go here. Okay. You know what I believe my mom’s favorite Oreo as well.
Nestor Aparicio 02:28
You got a good mother. I knew there you go. I mean, now it’s confirmed. You know, you had a good mother. So yeah, but brother Lo and Flannery. They were never really pleased with me that I loved Radnicki and I told Rodney King Rodney King, I walk the streets of downtown Atlanta, I must have been 10 years ago, whenever the last time they feed these guys or when Rennick he came back from one of the Hall of Fame things. I’ve only met Gary Ranchi once or maybe twice in my life and like, you know, that was Kiko Garcia was my 79 guy, right? When it came was a part of that. But then once Kiko left, it was all ready for me, but we all have our favorites and, and, you know, the strangest part for me and we’ll get to the baseball because what’s not to like about any of this? Right? But if we’re going to talk about 83 Seeing the guys come back, and then the thoughts are like, okay, Floyd Rayford. Okay, where’s Richard our and I knew rich had had incredible health issues and, and my, my dad’s favorite player was rich tower, he talked about your mom, my loved my dad loves rich tower, because rich tower was Triple Crown winner, and Rochester and like all that. And so, you know, for the people that weren’t a part of it. My heart went for Fannie. And for those of Sammy Stewart, the people that weren’t here, I think about those teams because that that was that’s what began all of this. I sit around here and pat myself on the back for 25 years, you’ve been here 15 years, and no 1983 Oriole, 79 to 83. That whole era and the Colts leaving just to have them all come back. 40 years later, I remember when the 66 team did their thing was sports, legends and Angelo’s refuse to acknowledge the 66 Orioles. Incredible, true, I documented all this. But now to see this happen at this point in my life. 40 years, man, long time we lose people and to see healthy baseball players and so many of them out there and to see them get their roses as you would like to say, I thought that that was really really, it was special. I really was.
Luke Jones 04:23
It was and it was also really neat to hear so many of the guys from the 83 team talk about you know express their excitement about the current club. And I mean, that’s look celebrating the past is awesome. And my goodness. 40 years later, they’re almost mythical beings right but because it’s been such a forgettable four decades of Orioles baseball since 1983, safe
Nestor Aparicio 04:47
glam color and lens Takata and Bill swaggered it out there they were piled divers for for crying out loud I divers right in front of Bach.
Luke Jones 04:56
Absolutely so but but but to hear their accent Ain’t meant to hear how many of them were familiar with what’s going on right now with the Orioles. I mean, that’s just that’s special. And I express that as someone who as I’ve said many times and for anyone listening, I was two weeks old when the Orioles last won the World Series. I’m going to be 40 in October. I mean, how long it’s been, it’s been a minute as the as the cool kids like to say these
05:23
two were too
Luke Jones 05:24
8so. So yeah, whether that’s going to happen this year, whether it’s next year, whether you hope at some point here in the not too distant future with the Orioles having this young core of players that they do that it is neat to recognize the past, but also do it at a time where there’s so much excitement about the present and the future. Now the Orioles have had the celebrations over the last few decades. You know at various times, it’s been one of the few things they’ve actually done pretty well Overall, I’d say in terms of
Nestor Aparicio 05:52
sense of. Yes, I would agree with that. Yeah. So so they’ve had the 20 years he owned the team where he didn’t do anything. I’ll point that out. But once the statues came and Jana Murray came in, I think he started selling some tickets and seeing the place get filled up, they realized that this nostalgic thing that maybe you want to get along with Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray, maybe you want to make nice with those guys. Maybe you don’t want to have Adam Jones out in the media saying he was cut out and cut off and like and have a guy named map Reese, you have a station where he’s banned. I mean it their history, the Orioles histories, all they’ve had for all of these years and Camden Yards. And this upside down bird that loses 100 games every year, this fresh start and this beginning. Look, man, I mean, am I a part of it? I’m sitting watching it every single night until they offered me a legitimate press credential and come down there. I’m not real big on giving them 50 bucks. I’m not right. But that being said, I I’m into it every night. I’m watching it every night. And more than that. I’m watching a whole generation of people younger people get involved in it in some way and have their Kiko Garcia have their Gary Rennick you have their Brady Anderson have whoever their guy is and seeing these young players and this is the beauty of it. It’s not a one match. It’s not Otani and shroud and nobody else right. Every day, there’s a McCann or there’s a Matteo to either screw up or not run out of what would have been an inside the park home run I listened to on radio and they don’t even tell you what’s going on on the radio, because they all work for the team. But the every day, there’s a different star, which is the original part of the song 45 years ago. Now let’s get a little crazy Oriole magic going on 50 years of that, but this isn’t a one man band. It’s not rushman every night, it’s not Henderson every night. It’s not something out there every night. And certainly from the pitching perspective. It feels like Batista and a lot of other things. But they’re getting pitching especially against bad teams. And I think the Mets think and that’s gonna get our fill on the Astros this weekend, whatever their cheating hearts are this year. But the but they they’ve taken care of business and they’re beat bad teams good the way they should
Luke Jones 08:11
they beat everyone. I mean, look at what their record is against teams above 500. You know, compared to the rest of the league there. This isn’t the Orioles just feasting on the bad teams. And that’s that they’ve beaten everyone, you know, there’s their 28 games over 500. In early August, they’ve won 70 games already. I mean, they’re right there with the Braves who just have fewer losses. So I mean, you just said it while they do have their best players. And you know, I’ve said this for a while now since mid May. I think gunner Henderson has been their best position player rutschman still right there. And again, it’s not a two man team. Let’s be clear about that. No one’s suggesting that. But when you’re talking about young guys leading the way, and then on the pitching side, the rotation we’ve talked about it a lot. It’s was it good enough? It’s not bad. But questions about the young guys with their innings limits and all that. We know that they’re going to continue to rely heavily on their bullpen, and that’s led by Felix Batista, who the good thing was they were able to get him some rest he pitched on Sunday hadn’t pitched since Monday in Toronto before that. So they’ve relied on some other guys. I mean, look at Sunday, getting to Batista CNL Perez who is pitching better looking a little more like the CNL Perez that we saw last season. They need much more of that from him down the stretch.
Nestor Aparicio 09:32
He was in a position to lose the game for them Sunday, right? I mean, like it didn’t, but a double down the line and they lose on Sunday.
Luke Jones 09:38
But he got out of it and he won the game for them. On an on a day where Kyle Bradish the command was off you know that was not Kyle Bradish his best effort you know, he was disappointed about that but they picked him up so you know press picked him up. Cole Irvin comes in the game in the seventh inning. I mean, go look at what the score has been when Brandon Hyde is typically brought cowork and into the game, it’s typically been their way ahead or the rare occasion where they’re way behind. So he pitch well for them, you know, Fujinami a fantastic eighth inning. I mean, what threw one ball 102.6 miles per hour. You see what kind of stuff he has. It was almost
Nestor Aparicio 10:16
like a nine strikes nine swings, that three strike
Luke Jones 10:20
was close. Right They call that inning. Yeah, well, they actually call that an immaculate inning, he came that close to having three strikeouts on nine pitches. You know, of course, they’ve got one, one ball put in play against him. But so the point was, they use some other guys in their bullpen to get to Batista. We’ve talked about that so much. And that’s going to continue to be so true for them down the stretch, as we’re talking about, you know, what the rotation is looking like in terms of, you know, backing off some young starters here and there trying to manage their innings here and there. You know, we’ve already seen this right now with Tyler wells at buoy, and they’re gonna have to do a little bit more of that kind of stuff. That’s why they got Jack clarity. That’s why it was so important for them to add a veteran starter to the mix. But they’re gonna we
Nestor Aparicio 11:05
knew those 12 or 14 innings a week were going to be significant. I mean, that the Flaherty edition. I look. People pooped on it last week, one way or another. He came out he pitched well. We were over at Costas doing the show on Thursday doing the 25th anniversary with the Maryland lottery window nation and watching. And he’s better than what they have. Right. I mean, that. So if that’s the addition and you give up some April 2 baseman and some prospects and a relief pitcher, fair enough. I mean, they made the team better last week. Good enough that time will tell in October, right? Did they spend enough money? Could they have spent more money? I mean, I can’t go back to the trading that led you can’t equate them with other teams, when players are deciding where they’re going to go. When Eduardo Rodriguez says I don’t want to go to the Dodgers, which needs to the Orioles have to have somebody sign up. I mean, we talked about Adam Jones last week, denying going 80 miles up to Philadelphia been pissed off 10 years later about it, right. So like the trading deadline, there’s a lot more emotion money, all that involved that just say, it’s not strat ematic it’s not rotisserie baseball, you don’t just get to pick who you want. They added a solid rotation guy who’s gonna give them innings and certainly gonna give them something in October that you hope is going to be positive. Once he takes the ball. The real thing for him is taking the ball in that playoff game was game one, game two. And what happens then? Because they feel like he’s a big boy. And so far so good.
Luke Jones 12:36
Absolutely. I mean, you kind of look at how the pundits evaluated the Orioles trade deadline. I mean, first and foremost, Verlander and Max Scherzer. And I saw a few MLB, national writers, analysts, whatever you want to call them. point this out. Verlander ensures or kind of saved the trade deadline from being a dud overall, in terms of the talent that was that ultimately was traded. I mean, we talked about so many different guys who ended up not being traded. And so it was Johnny. Right, exactly. I’m gonna Otani. You mentioned Eduardo Rodriguez. And I mean, if one of them Rodriguez isn’t a three time Cy Young Award winner, you know, but in the case of Scherzer and Verlander, you had two historic future Hall of Fame pitchers moving but beyond that, there weren’t a ton of high profile rate Nate household name type players that were dealt, it was more guys that you had to kind of look into, you know, into the weeds type guys that either were having a good year or guys that have been good in the past, but weren’t so great this year. Point is, I think, by and large, once you got past the disappointment of some of the more conventional names that the Orioles you know, seemingly were in the mix at least a little bit for, you know, I mean, whether they were ever really seriously close to getting Justin Verlander, they were at least exploring that. So, you know, once you got beyond that, you took a step back and you take a deeper dive into the numbers, you realize, you know, they did pretty well with Jack clarity. And we’ll see how it plays out again, is he’s
Nestor Aparicio 14:08
Jack Flaherty in the offseason or a player like that, just given his stats, you would have been much happier, and you pitched all offseason that they didn’t do enough. They didn’t do enough. It didn’t do enough. And I kept saying, well, let’s see what they do with the deadline. Let’s see what the team looks like in August. If they’re a competitive team. They’re beyond all of that. And if they would have added a no, they would have been better the first four months and they added the jack Flaherty right, like add a $15 million pitcher or 12. If you were to add that kind of boldo Jimenez kind of Chris Benson, whatever those guys have been in bad years. If you have added one more of those Kyle Gibson kind of pitchers, you would have said, All right, they’re a little more serious. They put together some veteran talent. And here we are in August and they’re everything and that and they’ve added a pitcher, so I don’t know I’m I’m not upset with them. And it’s not even about their record or whatever. I I’m not upset at Shawn for not spending money that he couldn’t spend. But there is going to come a point and I keep saying this. First off, they don’t have a lease. So I’ll mention that in every single segment because that that’s the ocean until they figure that out. We’re just we’re playing games here. You know, we got a girlfriend, not not not a wife. But when it comes time to spend money, I’m wondering whether they’ll have money, how much money they’ll have to go chase their own Ohtani is when the time comes, but leveling all that out. I’m okay with where they are. But they’re also the lowest payroll, I start to see crowds show up on Saturday night, I start to see people engaged with the product and buying all of this new stuff. And I’m thinking alright, we’re saving the money to spend it later. Right. So later we’ll come in later comes but they did the best they could do last week. I’m I’m not up in arms about that. I’m I’m ready to say, All right, let’s get means healthy. Let’s figure out the haul given you know, all those bullpen guys to get one or two of those guys back for an inning or three or five at some point in the next six, eight weeks. So that in October, you have the best team possible on October 3, fourth, fifth, right.
Luke Jones 16:10
Yeah, I think that’s fair. And I will still, I will still say I would have really liked to see another bullpen arm at it. I’m not gonna move away. Fujinami was the arm. Right? Well, in addition to him, you know, I don’t think it’s a
Nestor Aparicio 16:23
lot of innings the first two weeks here, right? I mean, he’s up every other night. Right?
Luke Jones 16:27
I’m not it’s not a knock on Fujinami. I’m just saying another arm to add to what they have. Because
Nestor Aparicio 16:33
they’re using him they’re considering him like their second best, or maybe they’re starting Cano sort of in the Nether, you know, like, they’re hoping they’re relying on you can be that guy there. When he’s plugging guys with the bases loaded? It’s certainly not good. I mean, I looked at that and said, bed wetter. I don’t need that, you know, but but
Luke Jones 16:52
I’m not saying an either or things here. I’m saying I’m fine. I like to Fujinami arm, add another one and that and that’s what I would like to have seen. I’m Jack Flaherty again. I said this to you last week after the deadline had passed. It was interesting to look at his numbers and keep kind of diving in to where he is. And look, he’s had some injuries the last couple years, the fact that he has pitched this year and he’s healthy. You knock on wood that that continues. But this is a guy who was on his way to be in the future ace of the St. Louis Cardinals when you look what at looking at what he did in 2019. I mean, it’s fourth in Cy Young voting in the National League that year. I mean, that’s how good he was at age 23. That’s a heavy burden that to then carry to duplicate that to match that as you get get into the subsequent years. And then the COVID year, that was just a weird year for everyone, especially young pitchers, I think. And then he had some injuries after that. So he’s finally healthy. The numbers, the raw numbers in terms of era and whip don’t look great. But when you kind of dive into it, there’s still some upside there especially come into a better team team with a better defense behind him. So he was that move that as I looked at him a little bit more closely. I like that, as opposed to Justin Verlander understanding the asking price, the money all the different things involved there that I wasn’t anti getting Justin Verlander. Let me be very clear about this. But looking at some of his numbers, you do see some substantial drop off with some of the peripherals for him compared to even last year. And he’s 40. So look, Justin Verlander is going to pitch in the postseason. The Orioles will be fortunate to miss him over the series against Houston. But my point is, I’m in agreement with you on clarity. I think they did well, they did not give up any pieces that I think are going to notably, harm or dent their future. You know, when you look at the guys that they gave up, maybe the 19 year old pitcher, you know, show Walter who is interesting, but a minimum of three or four years away from the Major League. So you can’t let that hold you back from making a move that’s going to help you try to win this year. And who knows if Jack Flaherty pitches well. And this kind of goes back to what you just said in terms of looking back at last offseason and some of the pitchers that the Orioles could have signed but now they kind of settled for Kyle Gibson, so to speak, Jack Flaherty pitches, well, what’s not to say? The Orioles don’t give them a three or four year deal. And he becomes you know, maybe not the race, but you’re kind of that anchor on one of those anchors to go with Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez and kind of look at it that way. So we’ll see how it plays out. But it is you know, it was very important for the Orioles to add to the rotation and they were able to do that Fujinami you see the upside I think that’s evident Sunday was a great example of that. Just a matter of first of all heart. Can they get him a little more consistent, throwing strikes a little more consistently when he’s on? He’s as good as anyone They have other than Felix Batista, and maybe he’s as good as Felix Batista when he’s on, but it has been fleeting. And we’ve also seen the not so good Fujinami and some of these outings, so we’ll see how it plays out. In the meantime, it was good to see some other arms, step up for them over the weekend, again, they kind of an uneven start from Bradish, uneven start from Kramer on Friday night where he kind of lost it. And, you know, maybe that’s the sign of some of these young guys, and this is where they’re gonna have to manage their workload a little bit. We saw two examples over the weekend of their younger starting pitchers moving along pretty well overall, and then kind of running into trouble. And that sixth inning and, you know, that’s something you see in baseball a lot, you know, third time through the order and, and things of that nature. I mean, we’ve talked a lot about that, as far as how starting pitching has changed, but you had that so it was really good to see Kyle Gibson do what He did on Saturday, which was give them length pitch really well. And they were able to, like I said, Felix Batista ended up having almost a full week of rest in between outings. And now that was good to see. They need to have some more periods like that here and there. At the very least, we’ve talked about it Felix can’t throw every single night. He’s not gonna be able to handle every single save situation necessarily. Because despite the fact that they’re 70 and 42. We know the Orioles play a heck of a lot of close games. So I mean, that’s what they do. Save for what Friday night against the Mets. So one weekend on so many different levels, the off the field stuff, you know, the pageantry of the 83 team coming back and really good baseball on the field. They they they pitched well, they swung the bat. Yeah, didn’t swing the bats. Great on Sunday, but certainly did Friday and Saturday. And as you pointed out, James McCann big big night on Friday. They’ve gotten you know, Jordan Westbrook had a big night on Friday including his first home run at Camden Yards. So it was good to see that and the Orioles just keep rolling and to your point. A bad still expensive nets team although not as expensive as they were a week ago coming into town and the Orioles did exactly what you’d expect them to do, which is they’re a really good team. The Mets are not and they took care of business and a three game sweet.
Nestor Aparicio 22:17
Alright, so the Astros in. You get to measure yourself against the cheaters and then a you like a really, you know summer, California I always think of the Baltimore Sun a little black boxes that they would have on the front page with the innings of the seventh and eighth and ninth inning. We’ll be in Seattle doing Late Night Baseball all weekend and then off to a San Diego which I wish I was going to San Diego next week and then Oakland after that there’ll be nobody there next weekend. They get back against the Blue Jays Of The Week of the 22nd Astros in this is another measurement it’s nice to beat up on the Yankees or the Red Sox when they stink. I think the Astros Are you know least in the recent times and in our front office. This is a measurement stick the next couple of days
Luke Jones 23:04
it is although it’s funny to say that because the Orioles have a record what six and a half games better than them so it just speaks to how how really good the Orioles have been all year but but you’re right I mean you’re talking about the defending World Series champs and you know it’s a team that had looked different but with Verlander being back in the in the picture for them looks a little more familiar maybe
Nestor Aparicio 23:25
six and a half games better with him.
Luke Jones 23:28
I don’t know if it’ll be that much better and in two months, but your point is well taken. You add someone like that, even if he’s not the same Justin Verlander. It’s still Justin Verlander is mind. It’s still his experience. It’s so as hard you know, you’re talking about a future Hall of Famer. So
Nestor Aparicio 23:43
that night we have Flaherty against Verlander in game seven here because well, then you’ll you’ll measure that I
Luke Jones 23:50
guess. Sure. At payouts if you told me that’s gonna happen. I’ll sign up for that right now. Whether, whether it’s in Baltimore in Houston, however, we’ll see who’s chatting
Nestor Aparicio 23:59
Morris.
Luke Jones 24:00
Yeah, yeah. So I mean, it’s, it’s fun to think about that. But, you know, we chuckled, but nothing far fetched about that at this point. I mean, it’s just, you know, they’re gonna be in the tournament, it’s just gonna be a matter of how it goes. You roll the dice as bucks show, Walter used to always say, Have you
Nestor Aparicio 24:17
did you just eliminate their magic number? Did you just put them in the playoffs? Did you on August 7.
Luke Jones 24:23
Is it really bold to say that? Well, I mean, what’s your what’s their
Nestor Aparicio 24:28
their betting number? 92%. What’s their number to make the playoffs right now? It’s ridiculous right? 95%
Luke Jones 24:33
plus 95%. Okay, Nestor they go 500 The rest of the way from here on out they wouldn’t 95 games. I mean, think about that. That’s that’s the territory where they are right now. That’s not to say that they’re gonna win 110 But I mean, barring this would be a an all time kind of Oh, right. What down their legs. So we got it. Yeah, I’m gonna not expecting that to happen, whether they’re going to win, whether they’re going to hold on to win the division or whether, you know Tampa is going to have something to say about that. I mean, Toronto, by the way, has played really well against everyone but the Orioles. So don’t don’t dismiss their
Nestor Aparicio 25:13
there’s nothing about them that makes me think they’re the 78, Red Sox, Luke.
Luke Jones 25:17
I mean, it’s just, they’re really good, you know, and we can talk about what that what their version of really good means for October, and you know, wondering about their rotation wondering about their experience level, because you’re just talking about a bunch of young guys, although, sometimes I think that can also work to your advantage, where you have a bunch of young guys who, they’re so confident, and not even cocky, but they’re just confident and they’re bold, and maybe a little too young to realize that, hey, why can’t we be here, right? You know,
Nestor Aparicio 25:49
my prediction is October is going to be about speed because one run is going to kill, and being able to manufacture or run in the new game, where if the pitcher holds the ball too long, you get a ball, if the crowd gets unruly, I remember back in the NFL in the 80s, they would actually stop and ask the crowd to quiet down because the quarterback didn’t like it on the road. Like that literally happened in the NFL when I was a kid, that there was so much noise. And I’m wondering how a place like Camden Yards that last I checked, we still serve beer, and we still have Ravens fans. And I remember the Pedro Martinez game, even though it was 20 years ago, and I could see how raucous it can be when you get a football crowd there. Now, that being said, when the tickets are $425 to go to the ALCS, it’s gonna change the crowd dramatically. I mean, I just want to say that I’m gonna say that for the first time, because you put them in the playoffs at 95%, I want to make sure everybody understands when the playoff tickets get sent out, you’re gonna need a second mortgage, it’s different, right? It’s it, it’s different than it even was 10 or 15 years ago, we’re World Series tickets are going to be scalped by Major League Baseball, not going to be any $250 Get ins for the World Series. So if they get to that level, I’m wondering what the crowd is who’s in the stadium, what the level of noise would be. But I think there’s a real crowd factor in October, that’s going to screw with pitchers, it’s going to screw with base runners. Just the game’s different, the game is played different, it’s pitched different. The lineups are different. In October, I think this is about a Jorge Mateo, or a speed game or catchers. You can’t pick off any more speed is going to change the game in October. That’s my bold August prediction.
Luke Jones 27:28
Well, I mean, we’ve seen more stolen bases in general in baseball this year. So I don’t think what
Nestor Aparicio 27:32
happens in game five, and you’re not so tight. In the seventh inning, it’s it speeds gonna change the game in October, I really believe that and your bench and having that sort of speed, where you draw lead off, walk on a three two pitch and get the second base and you you can manufacture that run, that’s going to that’s going to be a difference maker, and this team can do that. But if you can’t do that, it’s going to be trouble.
Luke Jones 27:56
It might that what you just laid out might be the only reason that Jorge Mateo is still a Baltimore Oreo at this point. I mean, let’s face it, since April has been a disaster at the plate, go look at what is go look at a slash line since May 1, and then go look at Jim Palmer’s career slash line. I’m not saying that to be mean. It’s factual, just stats numbers. He’s He’s hit like a pitcher since since April. Now he had the big April. And since then, he’s hit like a pitcher. But he’s the fastest guy on the club. He can you know, when he does get on base, and the problem is he can’t steal first base. But when he does get on base, he has that uncanny ability and potential to turn it into a triple. I mean, that’s just the way that’s the way he is. So it appears at this point in time since we have not seen them make that move to Joey Ortiz. And I’m not saying that won’t happen. I’m not saying that. That shouldn’t happen, quite frankly. But it has not happened at this point. The longer we go on here with Jorge Mateo still being on the roster, it lends itself to what you just laid out there in terms of you look at a postseason roster. It is much more specialized. Right. You have a smaller starting rotation, your bullpen might have, you know, an extra maybe not even extra arms, but different arms out there. Right. You know, you got a couple of starting pitchers out there who might come in in the third or fourth inning of a game. If your starters not really playing all that are faring all that well. And your bench looks different. You have someone out there who are on your bench who’s going to be a pinch runner. It was I’m trying to think and not in 2014 QUINTON Berry who didn’t play for the Orioles much at all. He was on the roster for one of those postseason series may have been both why he was really fast. So you know, so you’ll see that so we’re getting ahead of ourselves. I mean, there’s still two months to go and a lot of baseball to be played between now and then a lot. We’re gonna have to find out about this club between now and then. Hey,
Nestor Aparicio 30:00
was all that hot sauce with Adam Frazier and and Henderson, Toronto. I get this feeling Henderson is the young guy there might be a little cocky cocky there. And I know the old school JJ Hardy ball gamers the circle. There’s always somebody that like that. I don’t know that. I don’t know any of these guys. I’m not afforded that privilege, right. But but that was that was a weird optic for a team that’s in this position. Right? It just it didn’t look good.
Luke Jones 30:28
I guess I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I think. First of all, gunner was a little overzealous, there. It’s like, Dude, what are you doing? I mean, it was a routine pop up. You know, this isn’t. This wasn’t a ball hit to the gap where the center fielder calls off the left fielder who
Nestor Aparicio 30:43
what’s he doing over second base?
Luke Jones 30:45
Exactly. But that said, I don’t think there was any issue there. Lingering. Fair enough whatsoever. It was just it was weird optic. It really was. It was weird. But I also think people made a little bit too much of it on Twitter. Like I said, I and that was that was the Thursday afternoon. Yeah, that was Thursday afternoon. I was I was at Raven, so I didn’t see it live. So but gunner is really well liked. These guys really liked each other. I mean, they do. It’s, it is a young, close knit team. The veterans on this team are respected. But they also Kyle Gibson feels younger this year. You know, he hasn’t come out and said that. But you can just tell you know, some of the guys on this team and what kind of gifts are always waiting
Nestor Aparicio 31:31
a long time to win. Everybody’s been waiting a long time to win. Even Gunnar Henderson feels like he’s been waiting a long time to get here. You know, Adley rutschman feels like he’s been waiting. And it’s time to win right now. It’s not like they’re not thinking like, well, I’m wait to the fifth year to do this. I mean, yeah, you feel that you you feel the energy around this team. And that’s, that’s part of winning. That’s, that’s why they’re playing 650 ball.
Luke Jones 31:53
And as far as the off field stuff, you see, you see the outfits come into the stadium, you see, you know, the Homer hoes and all the different stuff they’ve been doing all year. I mean, these guys have fun. I mean, they’re really good, but they they really enjoy playing the game and they really enjoy each other. And you know, it’s that whole does winning breed chemistry or just chemistry breed winning. That’s kind of a give take thing I know I’ve always landed on the side of you tend to really like your teammates when you’re having fun and what’s the way best way to have fun to win and I think that’s where the Orioles have find themselves at this point. So you know what, we’ll see how it goes. This week Big series against Houston as you said a little bit of a measuring stick although it’s funny to say that because the Orioles have the better record but you know the big road trip coming up against a couple teams who are either playing well or in the case of the Padres. They need to play well. So this is definitely doesn’t get too much easier as they move forward here but we’ve been saying that all year and it hasn’t mattered the Orioles just keep rolling.
Nestor Aparicio 32:57
Russia was gonna hit five bombs and Seattle this weekend. Luke Jones is here we’re headed down to the Astros games this week. Luke also be doing all things in Owings Mills. We are going to be a Greenmount station on Wednesday doing the Maryland crab cake tour. Eating one of my favorite crab cakes up in Carroll County gets a great guest as well. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery in conjunction with our friends at window nation our 25th anniversary underway. If you’re sick of it, we’re just getting started. We are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore and we never stop talking Baltimore positive
