We are loving these offseason baseball conversations but will the Hot Stove heat up enough to energize the Baltimore Orioles fan base for the first time in a generation? Time will tell. Ron Cassie of Baltimore Magazine joins Luke Jones and Nestor for a Baltimore baseball offseason primer of hopes and possibilities for David Rubenstein and Michael Arougheti to step up and into the big leagues of MLB payroll.
Ron Cassie from Baltimore Magazine joined Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio to discuss the Baltimore Orioles’ offseason. They touched on the team’s recent World Series appearance, the new manager Craig Albert, and the need for a potential rebuild. Cassie shared his personal connection to Baltimore and the Orioles, highlighting the team’s struggles with runners in scoring position and the potential of young players like Adley Rutschman and Jackson Holliday. They also discussed the importance of acquiring established talent and the impact of the new coaching staff on player development. The conversation concluded with reflections on Babe Ruth’s legacy and the upcoming Turkey Trot event.
Baltimore Magazine and Baltimore Baseball Offseason Primer
- Nestor J. Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning his location at Pizza John’s in Essex and discussing his recent experiences with crinkle cut fries and pizza.
- Nestor mentions the Maryland lottery and GBMC, promoting the importance of PSA checks.
- Nestor introduces Ron Cassie from Baltimore Magazine and discusses the potential topics of the show, including baseball, policy, politics, and city history.
- Luke Jones and Nestor discuss their previous interactions with Ron Cassie and introduce Stan Jaboski from Chicago, Illinois.
Ron Cassie’s Baseball Background and Family History
- Ron Cassie shares his family’s baseball history, mentioning his father’s fandom for the Brooklyn Dodgers and his grandfather’s love for the Yankees.
- Ron recounts his grandfather’s experiences attending games at Yankee Stadium and the origin of Babe Ruth’s nickname “the Bambino.”
- Ron discusses his own early experiences with baseball, including playing catch with his cousin and imagining himself as various players.
- Ron talks about moving to Baltimore in the 1980s and his initial experiences with the Orioles, including attending games at Memorial Stadium and watching games on TV.
Ron Cassie’s Immersion in Baltimore and Orioles Fandom
- Ron Cassie describes his immersion in Baltimore culture, including listening to WHFS and reading the City Paper.
- Ron shares stories of attending Orioles games by sneaking into Memorial Stadium and watching games on TV with friends.
- Ron discusses his love for Baltimore and the Orioles, despite the team’s struggles in recent years.
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the current state of the Orioles, including the recent World Series and the new manager, Craig Albert.
Current State of the Orioles and Managerial Changes
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the recent press conference announcing Craig Albert as the new manager of the Orioles.
- Luke Jones expresses his positive impression of Craig Albert, noting his personable nature and genuine excitement about the opportunity.
- The conversation touches on the importance of managing people and the role of analytics and technology in modern baseball.
- Ron Cassie and Luke Jones discuss the potential impact of the new manager and coaching staff on the team’s performance.
Challenges and Opportunities for the Orioles
- Ron Cassie and Luke Jones discuss the challenges facing the Orioles, including the need for a rebuild and the team’s struggles with runners in scoring position.
- The conversation includes a discussion of the team’s young talent, such as Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holiday, and Colton Cowser.
- Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of making multi-year signings and bringing in established Major League talent.
- The discussion touches on the potential impact of the new coaching staff and the need for a strong starting pitching staff.
Historical and Cultural Significance of Babe Ruth
- Ron Cassie shares his admiration for Babe Ruth, discussing the legendary player’s impact on baseball and his interactions with black baseball teams.
- The conversation includes stories of Babe Ruth’s charitable activities and his influence on the game.
- Ron Cassie highlights Babe Ruth’s complex personality and his contributions to baseball history.
- The discussion touches on the importance of preserving Babe Ruth’s legacy and the impact of his actions on the game.
Personal Reflections and Future Plans
The segment concludes with a light-hearted discussion about pizza and family, as Nestor prepares to leave for the Turkey Trot.
Nestor J. Aparicio shares his experiences attending the Colt 75 reunion on behalf of the Babe Ruth Museum.
The conversation includes personal anecdotes about attending Orioles games and the unique atmosphere of Memorial Stadium.
Nestor and Luke Jones discuss their plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, including participating in the Turkey Trot.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Baltimore Orioles, offseason, new manager, Craig Albert, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holt, Colton Cowser, rebuild, World Series, baseball analytics, hitting coaches, pitching staff, Toronto Blue Jays, Babe Ruth.
SPEAKERS
Ron Cassie, Luke Jones, Speaker 1, Nestor J. Aparicio
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:00
What home we are, W, N, S, T, AM, 1570 task, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are positively in Essex, not Dundalk across the bridge on we’re pizza John’s. I’ve already had crinkle cut fries, proper gravy. They were delicious salad over here, and I had a pizza day. My wife’s not here. She doesn’t eat green peppers. So I ordered a pizza. A lot of green peppers on it so I could mange on that. It’s a pepperoni as well. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have Raven scratch offs to give away here. Also our friends at GBMC taking good care of me. Get your PSA check, fellas, you know what I’m talking about. I have my special night coming up in two weeks, so I’ll be off the air that day. Ras left the building. John Hoey from the y is going to be here. We’re going to talk turkey trot. My pal, Todd Schuler, Bill Cole were here earlier, arguing about AI and kids sports and the n, i L and all that. But I’m keeping Luke extra time here. We got plenty of football on the air this week as well, but Ron Cassie is here for Baltimore magazine. And you know, I could talk bike riding with you. I could talk all sorts of policy and politics and the city and history and all of this stuff, but you’re like, a legit baseball dude. And I thought you and Luke, do you guys even know each other? Have you met in a press box or anything like that? Or, No, we’ve been on the show, I think once before. Yeah, oh, you’ve been on the show. Okay,
Luke Jones 01:12
yeah. I mean, we don’t know Joe. We don’t know each other extremely well, though.
Speaker 1 01:16
I don’t know if you like Stan jaboski is here from Chicago, Illinois, so I you know people all come together off season game seven, Ron, we, you know, was one of the greatest World Series ever. And I know, yeah, he goes back to 69 with the Mets, so he has a whole different thing that goes on with that. Yeah, he’s got a different Hoey. I’ll deal with you later on. You New Yorker types, you know, but, yeah, we are Mets guy.
Ron Cassie 01:42
Though I was born in North Jersey. My dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. He was the classic family. My dad’s a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. My uncle, his older brother, was a New York Giants fan. That’s great. And the grandfather was a Yankees fan. My grandfather would be 94 and I took him to a game at Camden Yards. Live that long to see the Yankees play, but he saw Babe Ruth and Garrick play. He was my father. He was a pin setter at a bowling alley, and they’d save their nickels. He was that my grandfather was Frank his cousin was Frankie, too. Everybody’s name Frankie in the family, and they would save their nickels and go see a double header at Yankee Stadium. You know the reason that Babe Ruth is nicknamed the bambino, it’s all the Italians in the bleachers the Polo Grounds, like my grandfather, who called the bambino. That’s where that comes
Speaker 1 02:27
from. Nice. That’s great. Well, I spoke to the Orioles.
Ron Cassie 02:38
Move forward. So my dad for swears baseball, and the Dodgers leave for Los Angeles his senior year in high school. My dad played baseball, but then a couple years later, he has me and a couple, you know, and the Mets are born, and I start following the Mets little kid, my dad start nationally guy, so we’re all Mets fans in my my family via the old Brooklyn
Speaker 1 03:00
Dodger 69 win probably help for the rest of your life. Then an 86 you know? How about since then?
Ron Cassie 03:06
You’re, you know, you’re, you’re five years old, six years old, and you’re, you’re playing catch with my cousin, and you throwing pop ups to each other. One of you is Tommy Agee, the other one’s Cleon Jones, and you throw the ground balls. I’m left handed, so I threw the ground balls my right hand cousin, he’d be bud Harrelson. I’d be Don Clendenin or Ed crane pool over there. And that’s all he did in the summer. You know, it’s just
Speaker 1 03:27
those kind of the same cloth. Yeah, no, you’re from Jersey. You root for the wrong team.
Ron Cassie 03:32
Well, no, but listen, I moved here in the early 80s, and the mid 80s, right after they won the World Series Orioles, and I went to Memorial Stadium. I had crabs the first time I had natty bow and I moved here. I’m like, where am I going? You don’t have this
Speaker 1 03:46
Cassie writes books about how great Baltimore is, like, literally, so you have immersed in an outsider way to fall in love with Baltimore and the Orioles. Are you
Ron Cassie 03:57
my early 20s? You know? I listened to the old whfs. I read the City Paper. Lived in Waverly where, you know, people who had cars, I didn’t, but they put the cones out, you know, and they sell a parking space for the Orioles games. We’d be there having a couple beers, watching a game on TV, a little black and white TV, and and game was tied or close up to three innings, you’d walk over to over Memorial Stadium, you know, you get some some dad and his kid were leaving because the weeknight get your stuff, get their stuff, let you in. You give $5 to the Usher. He wipes off a seat behind the dugout, and you watch six innings of baseball. I mean, yeah, of course, I stayed and fell in love. Who wouldn’t? All right, all right. Well,
Speaker 1 04:39
I just want, I want Luke to know your back. So where are you on this offseason for the Orioles? I mean, we had a beautiful world series, we had a press conference. We have a new manager. We we don’t have Angeles to talk, but you and I going back to had a lot of battles about Angelos and when that was ever going to end? Yeah, and what Nashville, right? And John A and all that. Well, it’s. All set now we got Mr. Moneybags and arroghetti, another New York Mets guy, and we’ve got a new manager. He was at the habba I don’t know if you heard, you know, he’s a new manager, yeah. And we were impressed by the press conference and impressed by him, I think, in regard to his pedigree and what this represents for the organization. But it’s a little bit of a fresh start, but last place ticket sales down, Mojo down, Blue Jays on the way up now, in a in a competitive way, in the division, things have gotten harder for the Orioles since this guy bought the team. In my mind,
Ron Cassie 05:33
well, I want to ask Lu to weigh in, but I, like a lot of people, fell in love with the baseball over again. The World Series. You know, I let go. I stopped watching. Was about halfway through this year. I didn’t go to any more games. Tough to play. I didn’t want to watch anymore. And because all the reasons I don’t want to go to Apple TV, they’re not feeling the competitive team. There’s, you feel like you’re getting soaked every time you go the ballpark. So I kind of just, you know, they’re not competitive. I’m not going to go. And then the World Series was so great. You know, I get you get excited again, and the World Baseball, World Baseball Classic is coming up. So I’m excited about that. You know, my Venezuela jersey. There you go, Venezuela. By the way, I’ve heard of him, geeking out. They’re playing like Dominican Republic are both in the same group in Miami in March. I’m thinking, like, I’m gonna, sounds really good. I’ll go see that group play, yeah, but I don’t know, you know, like, I have a couple feelings about the Orioles is, like, like, one is, it’s, it was great. Made the playoffs. It’s time for a whole, like, other rebuild, right? We got, like, holiday we’ve talked about this. Henderson, maybe Sammy the catcher, bacillo is going to be a great player. You know, westburg, Richmond are, you know, probably going to be like good pieces. They’re not, I don’t think they’re superstars. They’re kind of past that age already, where, if they were superstars, they would have really emerged by now. You know, young talent expressed itself pretty early in baby Henderson. Henderson. Henderson is, I think holiday maybe has potential. We believed rushman was that he’s not. He just hasn’t really materialized offensively. Is that kind of all star Johnny, bench kind of catcher, right? He’s He’s not that guy. I think they’re old enough. They’re in their mid 20s where, if they did have that kind of talent, would have expressed themselves, maybe bacilli does. Colton cows are, you know, just, you know what? He hit 194 last year or something. I’m not sure about a lot of the players they have about their talent level anymore. That’s another kind of rebuild. Of course, the pitching is in shambles for injuries and variety reasons. I don’t know what another what a manager does. I’ve always kind of been perplexed in baseball, like, I feel like in football, it’s all that matters, right? If you have a great coach and a great team, they win wherever they go. I don’t know if that the manager has that kind of impact the same way in baseball, obviously going to all new hitting coaches, right? Yeah, yeah. So I the coach seems as a great pedigree. He’s, you know, classic kind of great defensive catcher with no bat, which is like your dream for good manager.
08:15
Good Manager was Weaver,
Ron Cassie 08:17
right? Great second baseman, infielder can’t hit, like, that’s kind of the classic, you know, I mean, with Johnny Oates, I don’t, I think probably full Bruce, bro, she’s that guy. But yeah, so I don’t know. I’m interested to hear what you guys say about the manager. I wasn’t at the press conference. Yeah,
Luke Jones 08:32
I mean, and, you know, just to rehash it a little bit, I mean, I of the three individuals that sat there, meaning David Rubenstein, michaelias and Craig Albert, as I was most impressed with Albert Nestor. Now some Nestor. Now, some of that is, he’s the new kid on the block. I hadn’t heard him speak other than a few YouTube videos here and there. But he seemed personable. He seemed like he had a sense of humor. He seemed genuinely excited about the opportunity. He seemed excited about it was the greatest day of his life. Yeah, you can see that. And you know, his wife’s there, his kids are there. I mean, he’s holding his holding his daughter. And I know, you know that as as cranky sports writers and sports reporters, we can kind of, oh, you know why it was, it was a charming moment. I mean, it it humanizes somebody in a way that, frankly, we haven’t seen Mike Elias humanized in that way, in the way that Craig Albert has, right off the bat. And that’s not a bashing Elias. It’s just a compliment to Albert as and, I mean, all you’ve heard around baseball is how many people really like this guy. And Rubenstein talked about it Elias talked about it during the press conference, that as they were talking to other people, whether other others, they were interviewing, or just talking about other candidates, how Albornoz kept coming up coming up with others where they said, I don’t know if you’ll be able to get Craig like he’s got a good deal in Cleveland. He’s not in a rush. Steven Vogt and him are like Best Buddies, but if you can get him, that’s the guy you want to hire. And they got him, so that’s something that they should feel encouraged by. Now, you know, to your question, as far as what a manager does for all the analytics. And technology and the way that the game is fundamentally changed in so many different ways. It’s still about managing people, and for Cook, for a manager, and for coaches, they’re, you know, part of their job with the analysts and the people that are handling the data is to really drill down and figure out what actually is going to matter, what’s going to be relatable to players, what’s going to be helpful to them, and not just information overload. And that’s where, like he said, he flat out, said, I love stats, I love numbers. But we also need to figure out what exactly is going to help. And some guys, Ted Williams, wrote an entire book, what set 678, you know how science six decades ago, whenever it was, you know, but you think about little nine boxes, Ted Williams would have been the greatest player of all time if he had all this data at his disposal, because that’s how much of a genius he was, and how I remember players talking about Mickey Mantle once did an interview where he was talking to Ted Williams at an all star game, and Ted was asking him all these questions, and he said he went into a slump for the next three weeks because he didn’t know what the heck Ted Williams was talking about, right? And Mickey Mantle said that. So you have players like that, and then you have players that are, I don’t want to say this too simplistically, but see, ball hit ball, right? I mean, it’s much more of a they’re a gifted athlete, and it might be, hey, give me a couple little things here. What should be looking on, looking for first pitch, if I get down, oh, two, or if I work a two, two count, what’s, what’s this pitcher most likely to throw in that? Ideally,
Ron Cassie 11:33
that’s what you want to get to. As a hitter, exactly. Relax
Speaker 1 11:36
and yeah, like a quarterback, reading defenses, Right exactly.
Luke Jones 11:39
Some quarterbacks will process. I mean, you have someone like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady just maniacal in how they prepared, whereas Brett Favre was a gunslinger, and he was going to have games where he threw five touchdowns and he had other games where he threw five interceptions, right? So you always have different human beings that are incredibly gifted, but they’re still different as professional athletes, that that’s why it is coaching, still managing. Yeah, and I think you’re hoping you know, to your point, with some of these guys that didn’t perform as well this last year, or in the case of Adley rutschman, going back a year and a half now, you know a fresh set of eyes, a fresh perspective, some fresh ideas, that you hope that even if what you were trying to implement the last year and a half with him wasn’t necessarily bad, but it didn’t work. So maybe a different message, a different set of eyeballs that, yeah, brings a new perspective and some more success.
Ron Cassie 12:33
I think Buck Showalter was a great right manager, sure. I think Brandon High was, I think great manager for the Orioles. That way. He weathered all that, those terrible seasons, and then managed to produce two playoffs,
Luke Jones 12:45
sure, at the same time
12:46
with the same guys. Terrible all the
Ron Cassie 12:49
way. Yeah, and you can’t, obviously, last year couldn’t fire 27 guys. The manager goes but, or we were used to say, you know, momentum is the next day starting pitcher. And so that’s, that’s that’s my I seems like a great hire. And it is, like you said, it’s, you know, in some ways, it’s one of the best things about sports. When somebody reaches that level, you’re a minor league ball player, and now they’re in their, you know, 40s or 50s or something, to get that head coaching job, it’s a great moment for them and their families. It’d be interesting to see if the new coaching staff because, like, they said, like, how much do the hitting coaches they have, like, three or something, right? Yeah, they helped, because they were, last year, like, worst in runners with scoring position, batting average, walks they’ll take, don’t draw walks. They didn’t hit with runners in scoring position. And they changed rushman for the worst. They Yeah, and they’ve changed some guys for the worst. It made you a little nervous with the aggression and trying to hit when they make the playoffs two years because they’re winning more one run games anybody else. It’s like, we love to watch that baseball, and they’re resilient, but it’s also scary, because baseball is a tricky game. Yeah, tightrope that’s gonna go sideways, probably. So it’d be interesting, you know, to see what kind of impact he has. I’m really mostly interested in seeing, you know, what kind of starting pitching staff they put together. And, you know, we really haven’t seen if, if Rubenstein is putting his money
Speaker 1 14:15
where, yeah, that’s Sure. Where’s the money, where’s the attention. But you mentioned something about managing people and Ron had a snide conversation these guys 25 and made it yet that’s an interesting observation, because
Luke Jones 14:28
they’re not that some of those
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:30
guys are Adley rutsman is going into his age 28 season for catcher standards. That’s not remotely This is where a guy like me, even as jaded and what a jerk I am on the radio right. I still look at athlete rutchman. Is Adley rutschmann. It’s Jackson holiday. It’s Oh, he’s a one cows. There’s a lot of repair. Oh, my God, we got you come at it from the Yeah, we got failed prospects here. And Craig Albert has may come in here and say, rushman, I don’t care if you’re. One, one or one, 100 Dude get in a cage. Whatever you are on March 25 is going to dictate what you are on my team. Whereas Brandon Hyde saw all these guys as baby birds, and they were all his children. And, you know, I got to keep rushman in the lineup, and I want to hurt this guy’s feelings and move him down, or move him in the outside comes in and says, You’re not my golden child. I didn’t draft you. You just use the player to me. Yeah. And I think that that philosophically is where Elias gets outside of himself in dealing some of these guys that have failed, disappointed, or in the case of Henderson, and I brought this up, and I’m not going to leave this alone, excelled and aren’t going to take your money come free agent time, because if you’re not going to sign some of these guys, then their time clocks and their asset pieces become how you’re going to get that picture. Yeah, because to this minute, we’ve dealt Ortiz and Stowers and Norby and whatever. We haven’t touched any of pretty well, yes, the hours been okay, but we haven’t touched any of the untouchables. Yeah. And I think in the old world, when they’re little plants and you’re watering them, like Jackson holiday, you can’t have him. He’s Jackson holiday. Well, he’s a 22 year old guy. What’s his ceiling? Now? Is the ceiling? It’d be a 288, or with 18 awards. Or is his ceiling 115, time, MVP going to the Hall of Fame. I don’t
Ron Cassie 16:24
know. I don’t know about another guy. He’s not really that young, actually. I mean, guys like Cal and Eddie. Now, I know these are exceptional Hall of Famers, but they came up, they were like 19 and 20 and one. Little funny point about the hitting with runners in scoring position, because this I saw a weird statistic. They’re both, like, top five all time, and sack flies. Now, I know they played a ton of games, but like, that kind of productive out is another thing the Orioles never had last year. To your point, these guys strike out a ton. They don’t walk. They don’t even have productive outs. Really hurts. But I just think some of these guys, and I’ll Jackson Holly is still very young, and gunner is obviously an electric talent, potentially generational talent. Still, a lot of the other guys look like pieces. I mean, Westbrook, actually, who didn’t get
Luke Jones 17:13
hurt, really like is, I like Westbrook. The availability is such a
Ron Cassie 17:16
tight swing. He’s not a guy’s gonna go into extended slumps to me and he plays all positions, he hustles, he runs. He’s like a classic, you know, maybe not an all star player, but a guy. He’s gonna win you a lot of ball games. The other guys, cows are, I haven’t seen it
Luke Jones 17:34
yet, from Kobe mayo, yeah, I struggle with because he’s still young. Now. He’s not as young as holiday but he’s, I think, going to be 24 this coming year. You look at how he profiles, I still would, you know, I’m not a betting guy, but if you asked me to bet whether he’s going to be a successful guy, that could be a 30 home run guy in the majors or not, I still lean towards that. My problem with him is, I don’t know how quickly that’s going to come together, because that profile where it’s a lot of swing and miss, like, I’ll use Chris Davis as an example, yeah, end of his career aside, Chris Davis was a wildly successful acquisition for the Orioles. You know what he ultimately became, but he didn’t really become that guy that was a true middle of the order, 35 to 50 home run guy, until he was
18:25
like 26 neither did Santander, right? Santander,
Ron Cassie 18:27
yeah. I mean, you know, left handed here for the Orioles, the blonde hair guy, can’t remember his name,
Luke Jones 18:33
right now, what? Who went to Miami? No, he’s just the Orioles outfielder, oh, Dylan beavers,
Speaker 1 18:39
no, Stowers. Now the other guy, oh, has to curse that, yeah.
Ron Cassie 18:45
What’s happening? He’s got a health issue, right? It’s been a healthy
Luke Jones 18:49
I don’t know how much of that pertains to just how mightily he struggled this year where, I mean, yeah, look, he from the opportunity, yeah, when Colton cows are breaks his thumb. You know, practice thumb on the first Sunday of the season. I mean, he had a two month runway to play every day, and he just did not take advantage of it. He has a health issue. What they’ve said since the end of the season, it does sound like they have their the medical staff, and anyone treating him has their arms wrapped around it. It sounds like they’re optimistic he’s going to be ready for spring training. But, I mean, I kind of, he’s almost in that Grayson Rodriguez Tyler O’Neill category. From, yeah, even less so though, because we just, there hasn’t been any body of work. From,
Ron Cassie 19:30
it seems like we’re back. We were, yes, years ago. I mean, it’s a little bit, it’s little bit five years ago. No,
Speaker 1 19:36
Angelos is not here. So we got that. I mean, well, when you perceive and these guys are going to spend money
Luke Jones 19:41
well, and then you got a couple and I would also say, and I would also say, like, okay, look, Colton cows didn’t have a good year. I’m not gonna sit here and sugar coat that he finished second as American League rookie of the year the year before. Where’s the truth? Is he closer to that player he was two years ago? Or is he closer to the player he was this year? If he’s closer to the player he was this past? Year, then he’s, at best, a platoon.
Speaker 1 20:02
That’s why this is so bipolar, who has had a body of work over two years. It’s been even similar, maybe,
Luke Jones 20:08
maybe even Conor Henderson, who was back, was still very good in a vacuum this year was not was a far cry from what he was the first half of 24 where he was, for my money, the MVP, the
Speaker 1 20:19
American this offseason? What are we judging them on? You know, we judging Trevor Rogers well, and this is radish on eight weeks of work last year. And this, mystically I am, and
Luke Jones 20:29
this is why you can’t approach this offseason in the way they did last year, which they clearly put so many of their eggs in the baskets of just this young core, right? And look, this young Corps is still extraordinarily important to their success. If all these guys flop, they could have a $200 million payroll this year, and it’s probably still not going to work out right? That’s how important it is Now that said, if I’m being realistic, I can’t sit here and say that every single one of those guys is going to click to the degree that that we’re talking about them potentially been able to so that’s why you do need to bring in some established Major League talent, a number one, number two, number three starter at you know, at worst, a number three starter, another guy for the back end of the rotation. Certainly, they’re going to need a couple high leverage relievers. They absolutely need an outfielder that can move the needle, doesn’t, you know, I’m not, not saying it necessarily needs to be Kyle Tucker, or that it’s going to be Kyle Tucker, but
Speaker 1 21:26
they better hope someone legit, the kid that they signed last year, right?
Luke Jones 21:30
Ramon laureana, yes, yeah, who would look quite nice in an Orioles, you know,
21:34
but you wouldn’t be impressed by that, no? And
Luke Jones 21:37
sure, and that’s also the point of Look, you can’t, if you’re Mike Elias, it can’t be all about winning the offseason from a perception standpoint, although I have said to you, I think that is important. I think you do need to make some higher profile. Doesn’t mean the highest profile signing, but I think you need to make a couple multi year signings that look very legitimate. Reason
Speaker 1 21:59
to talk. Sure, sure. They need to make you text me too. We got to talk baseball.
Luke Jones 22:04
But that said, I will also say that doesn’t prohibit you from continuing to make some of the off the beaten path signings that they’ve made, like acquiring Ryan O’Hearn a few winters ago, and look how great that was, or just bringing kittridge back three days. Sure that I like the Kittredge move. Now I don’t want that to be one of their two best moves that they make to their one last
Ron Cassie 22:23
relief pitcher they have sure about, no questions. Interesting.
Ron Cassie 22:26
I don’t think it’s talked about a lot. Is that being in this division, right? Sure, lot of money Toronto, even more with Toronto be successful and, well, I was kind of rooting for Toronto because that’s shed and Guerrero thought, thinks
Speaker 1 22:41
it’s dirty, but that’s okay. I remember seeing a Gaston. I was just much more I grew up with the Blue Jays being like the Yankees. I just felt conflicted. But I’m not rooting for the divers
Ron Cassie 22:53
either. I’ve watched some Orioles Toronto games and some bars up in Toronto. I did not have a good experience those fans, to be honest. Oh, really, I don’t think they this nice Canadian, sure, American, American, but, like, I think they didn’t like Almar coming here. Well, I never thought about that, but it was more like I was in Boston.
Luke Jones 23:10
I wondered if it was more the CTO Gaston. It was like
Speaker 1 23:16
being fought with Donaldson. We had that going on right with the bat, yeah, yeah. We had that. And we had to Encarnacion, yeah, like all that, although I think was it Donaldson with Oakland at that point maybe, I think maybe, well, I think so. I’m thinking, so, yeah,
Luke Jones 23:28
well, I didn’t, he had a few Spats with a few different teams,
Speaker 1 23:32
but I’m not looking to fight with the Canadians. I’m not a tariff.
Ron Cassie 23:35
But I thought bischette and Guerrero together had been together, and they had a window, and those guys are great ball players. And I was happy to I was hoping to see them coming
Speaker 1 23:44
at this offseason, is what he trying to do here. I’m talking about,
Ron Cassie 23:48
yeah, but here’s the point I was gonna make, is the schedule is such that we don’t play these teams the way we use right? Our schedules are inundated going out, but no, we don’t. It’s easier for a lower market team like the Orioles or Tampa Bay to compete, because we’re not playing in the high dollar Toronto, Red Sox and Yankees more often than you know, Milwaukee is right, three wild cards too, right? Yeah, so you can, it’s not like we’re gonna get pounded by the Yankees. I don’t know you spend 24 times. So, like,
Luke Jones 24:20
we were Zed up, it’s more about 19 was the peak. It’s
Ron Cassie 24:23
more now it’s 12 more balanced. So we’ll talk about being in this, having to compete. It’s, you know, it’s a little level, more level of playing field, right? I mean, first thing they’ve done to help the Orioles in a generation, but, right? I mean, I would love to see the TV money be you guys are talking about be spread around kids in football, right? Sure, well that, but that’s where make it more democratic or socialist in your way? I called it socialist. Democrat model. Called it he called it socialism. Whole league is socialism, right? These franchises, we pay for the stadiums and everything else break.
Nestor J. Aparicio 24:59
Like Luke I you know, go watch some football. Luke Jones is here. We got some baseball. Ron Cassie, editor, what I call senior editor. Senior Editor. Well, you heard your hair was looking a little silver. Maybe you seen your editor.
Luke Jones 25:13
Oh, senior hearing about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, yeah, cool. Well, you guys get together, get some critical early 20th baseball. On the early 20th century baseball. Yeah, that’s, that’s my wheelhouse for 30 reading and all that.
Ron Cassie 25:27
The favorite, how exciting. One of my favorite I did for the magazine was I did a profile basically a Babe Ruth 100 years after the trade, right? And, you know, it’s just amazing guy from Baltimore, and he’s really like a saint, right? Like he’s a sinner. He’s like the worst sinner ever then. But then he’s also like going to orphanages, and he refuses to quit playing black baseball team to get suspended. And he goes to visit a leper colony in Hawaii, like they won’t a lot of lepers to come to the game. So he goes to leper colony. He takes the Yankees inside, sing, sing, prison to play. You know, scrimmages or whatever
26:04
it gave. Is interesting that I think
Luke Jones 26:06
he was incorrigible, but so be loved and had. This is why great qualities.
Ron Cassie 26:10
Yeah, he would go to when they play somewhere. He would go to the south, wherever you go, the black house, when the White House will he refuse. So he, he really is like an extraordinary figure. Why he’s beloved and why he like went when he went to Japan and he went to Cuba. In these places, his interactions are not because there’s a lot of white ball players in those days who barnstormed against black teams, and most of them didn’t like it, and some of them tolerated they made money. And there’s a handful. And this is what the black ballplayers, say, if you read it, there’s a handful like Babe Ruth, who loved it and became friends. So he really is an interesting, great character to the game, and really is deserved to be beloved. And if people gave Hank Aaron crap back in the day, as you remember, we’re old enough for breaking his record, right? It’s like Babe Ruth would have been the first guy rooting for a Hank Aaron. You know what I mean? Like, the whole narrative of him breaking in this racism against Hank Aaron would have, you know, I’m sure had babe roll over in his
Speaker 1 27:08
grave one then I’m gonna go drinking with the two of you down in the bed. We’ll sit on the steps of Babe Ruth Museum, where Babe Ruth birthplace.
Ron Cassie 27:14
What a great museum. Plug.
Speaker 1 27:18
You know, I love Babe Ruth Museum. Yeah, by the way, I attended the Colt 75 reunion on behalf of the Babe Ruth museum a couple months ago. Any room Bert Jones is in on is a room I need to be. You know, same thing with Lydell Mitchell,
Ron Cassie 27:30
the rusted rifle. Was that his
Speaker 1 27:32
nickname? Yeah, you were Jets fan. Probably right. Was his nickname, though? Yeah, my first game was Joe
Ron Cassie 27:36
names. I did like Lydell Mitchell. Knows those colts team, the sack pack. It did like those guys playing that dirt infield Memorial Stadium. You was a kid. You’re watching play in this dirt infield. You see the row house is the back of the ballpark in the 70s. It’s a different vibe. That stadium.
Speaker 1 27:52
That’s my childhood right now. You know, that’s that field right now. John Hoey at the Y is, there is a great transition right 33rd Street.
Luke Jones 28:00
I would what a transition. One of the My fondest memories was driving the games. And, you know, it’s very residential area, and you’d see the light towers, and you’d see the lights on, and like, as a seven year old, like, I have goosebumps,
Speaker 1 28:15
goosebumps, just, you know, just great. We love sports. We’re in Essex. We love pizza too. It’s pizza. John, it’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have Raven scratch offs giveaway. Ron’s gonna hang out and stay because you’ve actually done the turkey trot, right? I have it. Plan to do it this year again. Yeah. Well, there you go. Thanksgiving Day. My wife’s going out of town on Thanksgiving Day, and I’m free. So I told John staff, I’m like, it’s like, that old bill weather, so use me, baby. Here I am Thanksgiving. I’m available, so I’m gonna be a turkey trot this year. So the why is coming on next? I gotta find out about the Dundalk situation with the Y last time I saw John Hoby, we were in Randallstown. We’re gonna talk about the why and everything they’re doing this month. And I’m gonna let Luke leave
Luke Jones 28:54
why, because he needs to eat pizza. I was gonna say, You got to send me home with some pizza. Are you
Speaker 1 28:57
gonna take some for your sister, your brother in law, your nieces, your mother and your brother, I guess so. Or I can just keep what if I buy you want me to text rocks right now? What does she want? I can text her. What’s rocks? 100 pizza, probably
Luke Jones 29:11
pepperoni and meat sauce. She’s a big meat sauce. Well, get her a
Speaker 1 29:14
large that’s it. Man. Luke’s got family Essex, from Essex to the southern Pennsylvania with love back for more. We’re at Pizza John’s in Essex. We’re going to talk about the why in the community. Stay with us.
