It was great that the Orioles swept the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this week but as our resident Baltimorean trapped in Florida and old sportswriter Joel Poiley will tell you, it’s still mostly a mess for the first-place franchise that also has new ownership but an old and successful way of producing a competitive baseball franchise.

Joel Poiley joins Nestor from Tampa to discuss Orioles chasing Rays and AL East strangeness

Nestor Aparicio and Joel Poiley discussed the Orioles’ recent three-game sweep over the Tampa Bay Rays, highlighting the team’s improved starting pitching and the importance of consistent performance. They noted the Orioles’ current record of 8-12, 8 games under 500, and the need for better hitting and defense. Joel criticized the team’s management, particularly the handling of players like Grayson Rodriguez and the lack of defensive prioritization. They also touched on the broader issues of baseball’s analytics-driven approach and the challenges of engaging fans in a declining market. Joel’s book on Tom Matte was also promoted.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Promote Joel Poiley’s Tom Matty book on the show and related channels before the end of the episode (announce availability and where to buy)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend/host the Maryland Crab Cake Tour event at Sorrento in Arbutus on June 10 (confirm details and promote the appearance)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Organize World Cup coverage beginning June 11 (prepare schedule and promotional plan for broadcast coverage)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Go to the Ivy Bookshop to pick up/feature Joel Poiley’s book and confirm its in-store placement
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attempt to organize an event at PD Corinji in Highlandtown (explore feasibility and try to put something together)

Orioles’ Recent Success and Upcoming Events

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles’ recent three-game sweep over the first-place Tampa Bay Rays and the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.
• Nestor mentions upcoming events, including a visit to Sorrento of Arbutus on June 10th and the World Cup beginning on June 11th.
• Nestor introduces Joel Poiley, a long-time sports writer and author, to discuss the Orioles’ performance and the AL East standings.
• Joel Poiley praises the Orioles’ recent success but cautions against overoptimism, emphasizing the importance of starting pitching.

Joel Poiley’s Perspective on Orioles’ Performance

• Joel Poiley highlights the significance of starting pitching, noting that it keeps the team competitive.
• Nestor and Joel discuss the Rays’ recent performance, including their loss in New York and the close game on Monday.
• Joel mentions the wild card spot, noting that many teams are still within reach, and advises against focusing on it too early.
• Nestor and Joel agree that the Orioles should assess their position by July 1st to determine whether they are buyers or sellers.

Joel Poiley’s Background and Writing

• Nestor Aparicio promotes Joel Poiley’s book on Tom Matty, available at the Ivy Bookstore and other locations.
• Joel shares his background, including his upbringing in Baltimore City and his move to Tampa for sports writing.
• Joel discusses his current freelance work with Tampa Bay newspapers and his interest in writing another book.
• Nestor and Joel reminisce about their mutual connections in the sports writing community, including Rick Vaughn and Joe Maddon.

Challenges of Covering the Rays and Orioles

• Joel Poiley talks about his experience covering the Rays during the Orioles’ poor performance and his preference for watching hockey and football over baseball.
• Nestor and Joel discuss the challenges of covering the Rays and Orioles, including the analytics-driven approach to managing the game.
• Joel shares his frustration with the current state of baseball, emphasizing the importance of managing people rather than just numbers.
• Nestor and Joel discuss the differences between covering the Rays and Orioles, including the impact of ownership and the community’s perception of the teams.

Orioles’ Ownership and Community Impact

• Nestor Aparicio criticizes the Orioles’ ownership, particularly Peter Angelos, for their poor management and mistreatment of players and fans.
• Joel Poiley agrees, noting that the previous owner, Vince Naimoli, also had a negative impact on the Rays’ community engagement.
• Nestor and Joel discuss the importance of winning to re-engage the fan base and the challenges of attracting new fans to the Orioles.
• Joel mentions the Rays’ efforts to build a new stadium on the other side of the bay and the community’s mixed reactions to it.

Orioles’ Pitching and Hitting Performance

• Nestor and Joel discuss the Orioles’ pitching performance, including the struggles of Grayson Rodriguez and the impact of injuries on the team.
• Joel emphasizes the need for the Orioles to find consistent hitting and improve their defense to be competitive.
• Nestor and Joel talk about the importance of having a strong middle of the order and the challenges of relying too heavily on home runs.
• Joel highlights the need for the Orioles to make roster changes, including potentially replacing Grayson Rodriguez and improving their defensive capabilities.

Joel Poiley’s Final Thoughts and Book Promotion

• Joel Poiley shares his final thoughts on the Orioles’ performance, emphasizing the importance of winning and improving the fan experience.
• Nestor Aparicio promotes Joel’s book again, encouraging listeners to purchase it and support local sports writing.
• Joel mentions his upcoming book proposal and his continued interest in writing about sports and local history.
• Nestor and Joel conclude the conversation, expressing their hope for the Orioles’ continued success and the return of a strong fan base.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles, Rays, AL East, starting pitching, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, baseball, ownership, attendance, defense, hitting, bullpen, injuries, analytics.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Joel Poiley

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home, we are W N S T A M 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We’re Baltimore positive, positively getting through the weekend and through the week as we get ready for a mandatory mini camps. Luke’s going to be out in Owings Mills for all that, but in the meantime, they’re gonna play baseball each and every day we’re gonna have the World Cup next month, and I’m gonna have as many crab cakes as humanly possible, trying to put something together at PD Corinji up in Highlandtown, so we could talk some proper football and Copa Mulliao, or as I call it, the most corrupt thing on earth. But in the meantime, the Orioles are playing their back to relevancy after a three game sweep over the first place Tampa Bay Rays. The Maryland Crab Cake Tour returns to Sorrento of Arbutus. I’ve never had the crab cake over there. Looking forward to spending a little time with Harold Henry over there, and doing that. That’ll be that’s coming up after, well, after I get back. Let’s say that on the 10th of June, we’ll be at Sorrento. We’re working on the World Cup, beginning 11th. We’re going to be Gertrude’s in June. We’re going to be at Green Mount Station in Hampstead, beautiful pastoral Carroll County. And I tell you, what this guy disappeared from all things Baltimore about four decades ago. He went down to Tampa. He turned a life of sports writing into a pastime of golf and beaching and sunning himself, but he is a Baltimore on, as all of the artwork behind him, even back to the Baltimore Colts. Joe Poili is been with us for a long time. He jumps in. You know, I thought of you before the first Tampa series, and I was going to bring you on. It was kind of busy. It was like Preakness time. I was doing horse racing. I had some things going on, and I wasn’t ignoring you. I was just sort of like, I’m gonna let it breathe, this Tampa, Baltimore thing. And then I was gonna bring you on before the series. And then I did a bunch of shows, and I had things going on, Spring Steamers in New York and Pittsburgh. I was out in Vegas, and I left you alone. And then earlier in the week, I’m like, I gotta have Joel on, because, like, they’re playing the Rays, and I’m like, I’ll have him on before the Blue Jays, but after the Rays, and then we can read last rights, because you’re a feisty MFR when you need to be, and I had a feeling like another three game sweep, and you would have been on fire the morning after that, and instead you come here to praise the Baltimore Orioles today. Joe Poili, don’t you?

Joel Poiley  02:34

I come not to bury the Orioles, but to praise them. I had all these notes, man,

Nestor Aparicio  02:41

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Shakespeare going on, you had it all happening for me.

Nestor Aparicio  02:44

I was

Joel Poiley  02:45

going to trash him. I’m as happy as anybody to see that, but you know we still have to pump the brakes a little bit, and we’ll talk about that. But yeah, it’s like you put on Facebook the other day, and as you get the starting pitching, it starts with that. It keeps you in these games.

Nestor Aparicio  03:08

Without that, you have no chance to win,

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Joel Poiley  03:10

right? It’s like Paul Richards always said, you’re never as good as you look when you’re winning, or as bad when you’re losing. I mean, the Rays were not the best team at baseball, even though they had the best record, and you know this, a lot of sports is timing. I mean, the Rays were still playing well. They lost a tough game Sunday in New York in extra innings, and then that crazy game here on Monday, which could have gone either way. And then the last two nights they didn’t play well. We got the pitching, the hittings coming around, and see this whole wild card thing, though, is given everybody, I think, somewhat false optimism. They say I wrote this down. There’s still 10 games, 10 teams within six games of the wild card spot. Don’t even talk to me about the

Nestor Aparicio  03:58

Memorial Day. They should be

Joel Poiley  04:00

right,

Nestor Aparicio  04:00

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you know. Nobody should stink so bad that they should be out of it right now.

Joel Poiley  04:05

Bingo, don’t talk to me about the wild card until about august 20, maybe. You know,

Nestor Aparicio  04:11

well, you

Nestor Aparicio  04:11

need to talk about it july 1, because you got to figure out whether you’re a buyer or seller in modern parlance. When you, especially when you have Ruchmans and Andersons, I mean, they mismanage Machado from a value standpoint, if they weren’t going to win, and they need to figure out what they are, but to your point, unless you really stink july 10, you could say I’m within five games, right?

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Joel Poiley  04:34

Exactly, and you know there’s still what, four games under 500 and you got to remember they lost five out of six on that road trip before they came home, so basically they’re just back to where they were, but they’re trending in the right direction, and that’s what we’re looking for, and they’re beginning to piece some things together. This would be an interesting series, I know Luke was saying seven. Three on his home stand, they already won five games, because none of us thought they’d sweep the Rays. They go two and two against Toronto, you know, you’re breaking even. I think Toronto was a game ahead of us. I never, and this is a God’s honest truth, I never look at the standings until Memorial Day, because I like to let the first third of the season play out. Look, I follow them. I knew they were close to last. I mean, anytime you’re eight games under 500 you’re not going to be close to first. And I knew all about the wild card thing, you know, because people were writing about. But let’s set that aside. Let’s just play good ball for a couple months and see what happens. But they still have a lot of issues, you know. That

Nestor Aparicio  05:43

Joel Poili is our guest. He is an author. He’s written a book on Tom Matty that you can pick up. I’m sure we’ll promote that before we get off of here as well. I saw your book somewhere. I meant to take a picture of it. Where was I? I was somewhere kind of cool, that was sporty, that your book was

Joel Poiley  05:59

sitting down.

Nestor Aparicio  06:00

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Oh yeah, you know where

Joel Poiley  06:02

it is, the Ivy

Nestor Aparicio  06:05

bookstore. No, no, no, no, it’s better than that. This is better than that. Now I’m going to ask you a really personal question here. Do you like my hair?

Joel Poiley  06:14

Well, you

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Nestor Aparicio  06:15

let

Nestor Aparicio  06:15

it out,

Joel Poiley  06:16

you said you were about to get it clipped a little bit. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  06:19

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my hair stylist, gentleman’s gentleman, your book is in gentlemen’s gentlemen on the days, that’s

Joel Poiley  06:27

great.

Nestor Aparicio  06:27

Sam Lamantia and Tom Matt, there’s well, there’s a whole Tom Matty thing there. Your book is in the little glass case there, so there you have it. That had

Joel Poiley  06:36

to be because of Zeeman, because he’s been pitching the book all over town, but

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Nestor Aparicio  06:41

somebody got a haircut from Paul Lee, and gifted him a copy of your book that sits right next – you’ll appreciate this – right next to this picture of Dave Grohl and the pick that Peter Frampton gave him backstage when I took him backstage with sticks about 20 years ago, so and Paul was a guitar player in my band, Bridgemont High, so your book is at least in the window, don’t steal it, but get a haircut when you stop by Gentleman’s Gentleman Joppa, right next door to my chiropractor, Elliot Chiropractic Life. So your book’s right over there, and I have, you know, I have a copy of your book, I should go grab it and hold it up. I’m listen, man, I’m seeing Triumph tonight with Ray Bachman. For hold that up, tell everybody about your book, and then we’ll talk some more. Basically,

Joel Poiley  07:22

well, you know, it came out a couple years ago, but my wife was asking me about it, because I came up with another idea last night to try and pitch it. Well, I’ve tried before, like in the airport up there, but Hudson News has a crazy thing about, you know, they only run so many books, but it’s still relevant. I mean, anything that you want to know about the old Colts, and if you’re still interested, and I mean, Maddie was such a legend up there that if you love those old guys, you will love the book, you know that

Nestor Aparicio  07:56

I’m selling you, man. Let everybody know you’re one of.. now, where did you grow up, is it Woodlawn, Pikesville, somewhere west side? Where were you?

Joel Poiley  08:04

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I was in Baltimore City till I was about 13, not too far from Pimlico Racetrack. I don’t know.

Nestor Aparicio  08:10

Okay,

Joel Poiley  08:11

I don’t know if people were

Nestor Aparicio  08:12

heights,

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Nestor Aparicio  08:12

is what you would say.

Joel Poiley  08:13

Yeah, I don’t know if people remember the old Coons Dairy. I don’t even know if it’s still there. I was living on Lynn View Avenue when they built Northern Parkway like in the mid to late 60s.

Nestor Aparicio  08:24

Wow,

Joel Poiley  08:24

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and then 13, and we moved to the county. I mean, it was close to Pikesville, but not closer to Randallstown. Then I went to Milford. I lived in Scott’s level apartment, so it was Old Court and Scott’s level road.

Nestor Aparicio  08:38

And right now, right where you are, I had a friend that lived in those apartments,

Joel Poiley  08:42

yeah, really. And then Paul Blair lived there, that’s where I got friendly with Paul. Okay, and then I went to Milford, UNBC, and everybody’s heard that before. So,

Nestor Aparicio  08:51

well, and then off to Tampa to be a sports writer. He’s written a book on Tom Mattie, for my audience edification, and for myself, you text me very regularly about local Baltimore sports, what’s Ravens or Orioles? You’re kind of on it, but you immersed in life down there, and you covered all kinds of sports, college sports, in different things that you worked on, wrote pieces, a newspaper reporter, like you know, like Bill Free was here, everything, a little bit of this Jackman covered everything, man of all trades, right? And how much baseball do you watch? How much Rays versus Orioles do you watch? Because, like, even with my pal Pete Williams, who I’m sure you know down in the Tampa area, USA baseball writer, when I get to him now, he’s like, I don’t watch it as much like as I used to. If the kids aren’t into it now, you’re more like retirement down in Florida, same time zone, which kind of, you know, it’s different if you’re on the West Coast trying to stay up with the Orioles or whatever in the middle of the afternoon, but it feels to me like when the Orioles are relevant, you want to watch them six days a week, if they were on fire, you would, so I’m. Asking you from the race perspective, when they catch fire, and they’ve been by far the better franchise over the last 20 years, right? Yeah, like in your market, no one cares about the race, but you love baseball, and you don’t go to the games, and you live on the other side of the bridge. Now they’re back in the blimp again, like, and you always offer to, like, cover games for me, and go to Sarasota, you’re down in Tampa, like, do you, they’re playing simultaneously, or the Ray’s a part of your life just because you live there

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Joel Poiley  10:27

a little bit. Well, I’m retired, but I’m still writing. I mean, I have a little freelance gig with this group of Tampa Bay newspapers, which is actually funded by the St. Pete Times. Now it’s the Tampa Bay time, so I’m still writing. I’m working on another book idea, but I don’t want to say a whole lot about it right now. It’s just a proposal. I got into the Rays during this period, like you’re talking about, when the Orioles were terrible, from when Madden got here. I just, I got to know Joe. I was, I didn’t cover the team every day, but I was doing a lot of freelance work, and I was over there a lot, and

Nestor Aparicio  11:07

you’re one

Nestor Aparicio  11:07

of the guys that likes baseball that wants to be at the ballpark, right?

Joel Poiley  11:10

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Right. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  11:11

we’re in the same way that Craig Heisler wanted to be at the ballpark, Ginsburg doesn’t do it anymore, and he’s still at the ballpark. I mean, you know, Luke, if he didn’t do this anymore, he’d probably go to the ballpark, you know, as a fan, a little bit more often, and enjoy himself. So, I would say, for you down there, where the place is empty, and you mentioned Rick Vaughn, is one of my all-time favorite people. Rick Vaughn wanted you at the ballpark, because you’re a local sports writer that felt the heartbeat of his team, that was always trying to get, as you pointed out, from the beat, were there the day they landed, you know, like they didn’t have enough Joel Poiliz who wanted to be at the ballpark.

Joel Poiley  11:44

Well, I wrote the first story when Chuck Lamar was named general manager here, that’s going back a ways, or for the old Tampa Tribune. Rick, Rick was great to me, because, like I said, I was a freelancer, I had another part-time job, full-time job out of the industry, because I left newspapers like 2000 just because I saw where the industry was going, but I kept my hand in, and Rick was always great. Yeah, so the Madden years from, like, oh, a what I liked about the Rays then that I don’t like now is this was before they started losing all their guys, and they started to get good, and they had, see, that’s the thing, like

Nestor Aparicio  12:23

was that, like Carl Crawford era, kind of in there,

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Joel Poiley  12:25

Jay Upton, Carlos Pena, Longo Bartlett, great shortstop, Ben Zobrist, and the pitching staff stayed stayed the same for about five years, you know, Shields, Price, Cobb, Garza, Balfour, Fernando, Rodney was a great closer for a couple years. They were fun to watch, and I loved watching Joe outmanage guys, and the Orioles were so bad then. And people, you know, in Baltimore would ask me, well, who you rooting for? It’s like I’ll always bleed Baltimore, but the Rays were just more fun and more

Nestor Aparicio  13:00

well, and the Orioles will play nine games a year, Dan. They’re down there every eight weeks, right?

Joel Poiley  13:03

Right. But I don’t go there often. I only go a couple times a year. I go once every series when the Orioles are here. So I think I may have texted you last week. I went to the 16 six debacle the first Monday night when the Rays were here, when the Orioles were playing terrible. But no, I don’t watch every inning of every game, but I read a lot and follow it. Full disclosure, the way I feel about the game now, I prefer watching hockey or football, but you know, I still follow baseball. It’s just the analytics part of it, and this would be part of my book, if, if it comes to fruition, it’s ruined the game. Nestor, I mean, we, that’s a whole other direction to go into, but it has killed my love for baseball. Just be, I will say this: one of the guys that I’m working with, potentially on the book, Hall of Fame pitcher, because I’m doing a lot of research, he had a great line. I asked him, “Do managers manage? Because the last time I was on, you know, we were talking about Alberna’s, and we both agreed it’s really not his club. And this guy had a great line. He said, “Managers today are managers of information, not people. And the rest of his quote was, “When you don’t manage people, you lose. All these guys now are just given the numbers, given the statistics, and you can tell it’s like, look, I’m glad Cowser hit those two home runs, but what I’m getting at is I’d find the two pitchers that threw those home runs, Kenley Jansen and the other cat the other day, because there’s only one spot that Kauser can hit the ball, and they threw it in her half belt high. You, we all know, you throw him up and away, he’ll swing at it, really down and in, can’t hit a curve ball to save his life. Good kid, I’m happy for him. But my point is, everything is numbers driven, so if you’re asking me. No, I don’t hang on every pitch. I watched a little bit of the past three nights, you know, and raised TV down here, but I was doing other things around the house, and I was following the game, you know, on the computer too. So, you know, I stay in touch.

Nestor Aparicio  15:15

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Gee, you, you live on the Tampa side, and this is getting into the weeds for Baltimore people, but do you hate going there to Tropicana Field?

Joel Poiley  15:24

No, because it reminded me of, like, when I lived in Baltimore, and once we moved to the county, I mean, it was still 45 minutes, you know, going all that. I remember to ride down University Parkway, and then the traffic would get closer as you got to Memorial. No, it’s just have other things going. I mean, well, my daughters are both grown now,

Nestor Aparicio  15:46

but when you go there, is it an experience that you know? Because listen, and I’ll bring this up, and I didn’t bring it up with Luke, because he pisses him off, and we have too many things when they’re sweeping the rays. We, you know, I don’t want to talk about how empty the stadium looks, right? I could talk about that anytime, but it is kind of alarming to me when I put on an Oriole game on week nights, and it looks like the Expos, you know? I mean, it looks like, oh my god, this.. it was.. it’s 80 degrees, and.. and they have Peter Lonzo, and they have Gunner Head, you know, they have Ruchman, they have played. it’s not Rio Ruiz, and who are these guys, or whatever, and I often wonder, in a place like Tampa, and in Miami, where in Miami, by far, by far, Joel, and I mean this, am I patronizing you, or Rick Vaughn, or any Joe Madden, I would by far prefer to go to Tropicana Field than to go to Miami to that blimp and see a game down in Miami, there, understanding the weather, you know, I’m out in Vegas a week ago, it’s 105 degrees, like you have to have a dome, right, and they’re building one for the A’s out there, but the notion that it’s such a bad experience and why it didn’t work in Tampa, and you’re front line, dude. You were a sports writer at the newspaper when it happened. You wrote the Chuck Lamar piece, Boggs, McGriff, Aroy, Ho, you know, like all the early changing the jerseys, all of that, and even the winning. I mean, once they started really winning a World Series, now 1819 years ago, that started to happen for them, and I was at the game seven when they played the Red Sox. My wife and I drove – you can look this up on YouTube – we drove from Miami, the Ravens played a 1o’clock game, and at 4o’clock I left the locker room. Billick was still the coach,

Joel Poiley  17:37

right?

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Nestor Aparicio  17:38

I drove across Alligator, and my wife drove. She drives like Steve McQueen, dude. She was doing 95 miles an hour through the episodes, unbelievable. And you know, we hit the turn at 75 and went, and we literally parked the car across the street and bought tickets on the street for 20 bucks

Joel Poiley  17:56

for

Nestor Aparicio  17:57

game

Nestor Aparicio  17:58

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seven, game seven of the American League Championship Series. We were there that night, and like, and it was all Red Sox fans. I don’t know what to say when, like, the love goes away and the passion goes away for guys your age or my age, and I’m heading towards your age to be like, and the kids with the shirts now, you know, the rally, taking the shirts off in left field, that’s awesome, that’s great. The Orioles have tried the bird squirting and all of that stuff, but there is a thing with going to the ballpark in Tampa specifically, where I’m like, what did the community want other than a winner, and I keep thinking that the Orioles mantra from Greg Bader 30 years ago, back, I mean, Maroon didn’t suffer this because the team still was packed, but after Angelo screwed it up, like Albert Bell era, turn of the century, Ravens win the Super Bowl, the Orioles mantra was a big orange middle finger with the bird saying you’ll be calling us for playoff tickets, you’ll want those seats. Those seats are gold. Those seats behind home plate, everybody will want them. I remember when there was a fist fight when they moved the fans from Memorial Stadium over there about who was going to be where, and the Orioles moved from the third base to the first base side, and like it was consternation, as before PSLs, before we had a football team, so I mean I have a long memory for the value of an Orioles ticket or a sporting ticket or the value of the baseball team, or I see the Colts banner behind you, we lost the team here, so I have the value of the Ravens, and what that means that Lamar is running around, but I often wonder what they’re going to do to dust themselves off to pick it up to the point where people are going to come and pay full price. They charge the dogs $20 on Wednesday. Joel, I’m not making this up. The dog, it costs $20 to bring your dog and 40 for you if you want to bring your dog, but if my wife and I just went down there, you and I came to town, we get in for 12 bucks, like, so I.. it’s real. Really, a weird dynamic that they’re trying to sell this. I feel like the owners don’t know what they’re doing. My bigger point would be eight games under 500 and then the seller, that’s no way to go. And that’s one of the things that sunk the Rays in the beginning was that they stunk, and the Yankees fans and the Red Sox fans came down there, and the dome was perceived as a bad experience. We have the best ballpark in this, you know, we have all this access, people get there from 95 people in the county, all trumped up, don’t want to come downtown, and all of that Tampa situation, and whether that franchise is going to be there, and move that franchise, and like that hangs eternally over them as someone that you’ve been there from the beginning and watched it, and it’s never caught on. I mean, even when they’re in World Series, win worlds like they still have never managed to get people to want to come and see them play baseball. And I think the Orioles are at that point right now where, like, they’re trying to get people to come to the games, but they’re restricting games. I mean, Friday night, sail it off, they’re on Apple TV, they don’t play, you know, they’re on my app that night, and I don’t know what. And then they’re going to walk off the job in four months, right? They’re going to shut the sport down. I’m just worried about all of it, as I see these two franchises try to make it happen and spend the money on players, and you’re live there and I live here. These are two places where it’s like time has forgotten them from a fan base standpoint, even though the Yankees and the Red Sox make all this money and spend all this money, the Orioles have had a little bit of success, but Tampa is what the North Star for everybody, you know.

Joel Poiley  21:34

Well, we’ve talked about this before, and you know Rick Vaughn would attest to this, and this is where ownership comes in, one of the reasons people did not go to the Rays in the beginning, and even when they got better, was because of the owner, Vince Namoli. I mean, this was the kind of guy where, when they would have a two week or a 10 game home stand to save money, he wouldn’t clean the stadium between games, you know, people throw stuff under their seat, spill things, so to play stunk. It’s never a bad experience going over there, you know. Seven two degrees air conditioned, it’s rainy season, you know. I didn’t mind going to Steinbrenner last year, even though it was a joke, you know, because it’s a minor league stadium, but because I was used to going to outdoor games in Baltimore, but it was very hot, and a lot of my friends complain about it, but it’s not a terrible experience going to the tribe. I don’t mind going over to Howard Franklin, I mean, you know, Nestor knows what that’s all about, the

Nestor Aparicio  22:35

causeway, the

Joel Poiley  22:36

causeway, but or the Gandy Bridge is another way to get there, but a lot of it was early ownership, and I people, we’re

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Nestor Aparicio  22:47

in early ownership for the Orioles. They are, listen, man, for you being an old fart in me and my Aparicio and your Brooks and your Boog, and our Jim Palmer, and all that, and they don’t treat Jim Palmer right, it, they don’t, Brooks is dead, you know, Earl’s Louie’s the oldest living Hall of Famer. We’ve lost Dick Gordon, who represented Louie, who would be the guy bringing him back to give a pap away for the 60th anniversary of their, of their World Series this year. Only a handful of those guys left alive, right. So, for me, I’ve never said this before. The Orioles are an expansion franchise for Rubenstein and Eric Eddie.

Joel Poiley  23:26

Yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  23:27

I mean, they have no fan base, they have no season ticket sales. They were left for dead by Angelos and left with a lot of debt, so they have to make money, they have to spend money, they have to spend more Alonso’s, they have to make more mistakes on Basset, more mistakes on Tyler O’Neill, like you know they’re going to have to invest in a Ruchman or Anderson or whatever holiday, somebody have to pay somebody, like I feel like these two years where they run around and do Papa Wave and pimp up Cal and finish in last place, right, last year lose a half a million fans their first year. The general manager, I’m writing Fire the General Manager blogs, which I know you want to get to, Joel, by the way. Joel Poili is our guest, if you’re listening on radio down at Tampa. So for me, you’re giving me the aorta. They’ve had horrific ownership here for 30 years, horrific, it couldn’t, dude, it never took a freaking day off of being awful, even when Adam Jones was here, and it was decent. Adam Jones was mistreated, right? So, by these people, so Brooks Robinson was mistreated by these people, John Miller was mistreated, so like I don’t feel special at all, even though I was a demagogue, and what else did he call me, delusions of grandeur, all those that was accurate, but for me, these new people pissing on me, disappearing, sitting behind home plate when it’s convenient, making a bobble head, you know, showing up, saying we have our wallets are open, you know, we’re open for. Business like great, the stadium’s empty. One night it’s black night, the next night it’s white night, the next night it’s HBC night, the next night it’s going to be Italian night. I mean, they’ve gone through neighborhood night, neighborhood jerseys, black night, Hispanic night. I’m not invited to Hispanic night, by the way. I’m the Hispanic that they don’t invite, like it’s I like they got Mandalorian night, right? They’ve done Tupac night, they’ve done Nelly night, they’ve done hip hop night, like, and it’s 12 bucks to get in, it’s 80 degrees, and other than the 40 kids that had their shirts off down in left field, like I, like, I don’t know where the buy-in has to be them winning. I mean, Luke keeps saying that, but, but once that happens, are people going to go back and pay full? They had $10 tickets the other day after the second walk off with Cowser, and I said to Luke, I said, if I were a buyer and I wanted to get a bobble head in August or something, something, something, or I had a night where I was going to take my niece back to the ballpark. $10 tickets could turn me on to pick a night and buy some tickets. I don’t know how many people bought, but I mean, I am worried about their pulse off the field as much as you and I talk about it on the field, and the pitching, and I’m gonna do that every day, but like they need to make you want to sit up every night at 630 in Florida, where the weather’s nice, and really want to watch. They need to make everybody who’s ever loved the Orioles sit up, and that’s only going to be winning, I think.

Joel Poiley  26:31

8

I, that’s it, man. You touched on, I mean, you can go a lot different directions. I mean, I don’t understand a lot of what they’re doing, you know, the thing with the press box and premium seating, I understand it. They’re just trying to make more money and get all their rich friends to pay a lot of the freight. Winning matters, and they’ve been bad. I thought about this the other day. I mean, obviously they haven’t won anything in 43 years, but a lot of those years it was terrible baseball, and I know I’m 69 so I mean I’m sure the fan base up there, or you know, they’re not aiming it at somebody my age, but winning beats losing beats you down, and it beats fans down, I,

Nestor Aparicio  27:13

you’re the guy that it’s worth 50 bucks or 100 bucks to go to a game to a 20 year old kid that has no association with anything beyond Delmon Young, and maybe they met Adam Jones one day 12 years ago. Like, I don’t know what would inspire young people. I mean, the Caps have won a championship, the Nationals have won a championship, the Ravens are competitive every year. Like, I sort of get all of that, and I get why my name’s Aparicio, and you’re a 69 year old white dude from West Baltimore that loved to grow up the Orioles in 7071 like 79 I mean, like we hold on to all of that, and that’s what may give it more value to us when they actually see the Knicks right now, right? Like literally, if you’re a Knicks fan, what have you had for all of these years that this is a premium experience if you’re a Knicks fan, and when the Rays achieve it, it doesn’t even – it doesn’t even resonate in the community, because the first owner was so bad that they didn’t have a Bug Pal, they didn’t have a Brooks Robinson, they didn’t have a Johnny-U, they didn’t have any of that, and this team is sort of squandered it, other than Ripken sitting behind home plate and Palmer on the broadcasts, and the stadium being empty. I mean, that’s why, dude, I ran into two of their cats out in Vegas, and it’s not like I’m peacocking around being a jackass, but I’m like, your stadium’s empty and you treat me like garbage. What are you doing? I’m not looking to fight with you people. I wasn’t looking to fight with the last guy, but he was a prick, and everybody in the city knew it. And I said to those guys, I’m like, he owed everybody at the money pool, everybody at the pool money at some point, and and he pissed everybody here off, and he offended everybody in every way possible. And this is your franchise now, and the first two years I don’t know that you’ve done anything to alleviate that,

Joel Poiley  29:05

right?

Nestor Aparicio  29:06

Like the guy that comes in after Trump, or the woman, I mean, I don’t know, we don’t vote for women in this country, apparently, but whoever comes in, the first order of business isn’t even fixed in America, it’s cleaning up the reputation, so that somebody would trust us ever again to do business again. That’s what he bought, and he doesn’t even understand it, because he’s so checked out as a billionaire and so lost in the Whistler, that like, and to your point, it’s the mole, and I’m saying they need to figure that part of it out here too, if they’re going to get people’s money, because you and I are old enough and care enough to and have enough to buy a $75 ticket if I wanted to, but I go online and look and I say I love baseball and I know what it’s worth to me and I don’t know what it’s it’s like a Springsteen ticket. The other night, right, like I love Springsteen, but it ain’t worth that much to me, and I didn’t feel like enduring driving to DC to do it, even for 50 bucks. So there is a point where you just sort of tap out, and for you and me watching the games on TV, the games are great on TV, like it’s hard to get people there at any price, and I do worry about the optics and all of it, I really do, and it felt Tampa Bay-ish to me, which is why I’m even engaging you in what can make people love it again, other than just winning, because winning didn’t even make people love it there in the modern era.

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Joel Poiley  30:31

Well, you kind of answered your own question. I mean, the previous owner, Angelos, and his minions ticked off a lot of people, and from what I can gather from people up there, you know, because I still have a lot of friends and family there, Rubenstein and his minions have not been that great in the community, that they don’t make people feel welcome, and then when you pile on top of that, the team’s been lousy, pretty much, I mean, I know it was okay in 24 for half a year, but they’ve been pretty bad, I think. The line of demarcation for the team being bad was what, June 27 of 24 when Ruchman got hurt, and then they were bad the entire second half, horrible last year, and then we’re coming up on almost two years of bad baseball, so you combine those things in ownership that doesn’t embrace the fans, and you know, raises ticket prices and season ticket prices with losing. It’s weird down here, though. Nestor, because, yeah, they’ve been pretty good since, oh, wait. Well, you know this, because you’re a family, you know, near here. I mean, people love baseball. Here, there is a colloquialism, kind of like the Baltimore DC thing, where you know people don’t like going to Washington. Here, they don’t like going over the bridge. Like I said, I didn’t mind. I just have other things going on. That’s why I don’t go. I don’t go that often. Now,

Nestor Aparicio  31:59

some

Nestor Aparicio  31:59

people would say it’s a blimp. It looks, it’s unappealing. Everybody in baseball pisses on it, right? The roof flew off, you know. And I think to myself, I’ve been to every stadium in the league, and I never hated going there, and I’ve been there a dozen times for baseball games, playoff games, and mostly empty. It’s empty a lot. I’ve never can’t think about.. I don’t know that well. It wasn’t full for game seven of an American League Championship series, right? Like, so I was there. It wasn’t full that night, so I can’t say that I’ve ever been there. You know, when I was there, when it was almost full, was an NCAA tournament. I saw Kentucky and Duke play down there in Marquette, you know, back in the 90s when the Orioles spring train down at Al Lang, but I, I’ve never seen it full, and I’m thinking to myself, is this where we are with the Orioles? You know, the bobbleheads people love that stuff. I mean, but I don’t. Does that work to loving baseball?

Joel Poiley  32:56

8

They’re gimmicks. Well, when they first started playing at the Trob, I always said when I’d go over there, I felt like I’m going to a baseball game, but I feel like a Kenny Rogers concert is going to break out. It was just weird. I covered hockey over there when they called it the Thunderdome. I

Nestor Aparicio  33:16

remember that they played hockey in there,

Joel Poiley  33:19

but you know, they’ve cleaned it up since, and I’m always been going a long time, because that’s not a bad experience. But say, what’s going on with the new owners? Just to kind of update people there, I mean, they want to build a stadium on this side of the bay, right across street from Raymond James, kind of make it, but

Nestor Aparicio  33:37

it’s not

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Joel Poiley  33:38

done. Oh, it’s not even close to done. There’s all these memorandums going back and forth, and even a lot of people here that want baseball, like me, say, ‘Look, we have too many other problems here. We need mass transit. Education’s not good.

Nestor Aparicio  33:53

Well, when you can make a case that it’s been there 30 years and has had no impact, that’s terrible. I mean, somebody did something – Baltimore Brew, maybe in the last couple days about the impact of the Orioles over 30 years, and what it really means to downtown when nobody comes and nobody goes to the hotels and nobody goes to the restaurants, and Phillips isn’t two blocks away anymore. Like, bro, I live down there, I lost a quarter of a million dollar, I lost more than that on my condo, but like, like, you know, money I put in, and then couldn’t get out because nobody wanted to be downtown, and that’s why I started Baltimore Positive, but part of that was the exodus of 48,000 people coming downtown 80 times a year, like it was for a decade until Angelo’s wrecked it, and maybe this is indicative of FIFA getting wrecked by, you know, kings and mafia, and football being taken over by people that want to play it seven days a week and play, you know what I mean, like these venture capitalists, and all this money that comes in, maybe Rubenstein and Araghetti, they’re so arrogant that they don’t think they think someone. Like Katie Griggs is capable and competent enough to like resuscitate a franchise that they have, you and I have all heart strings. Oh, I own the Orioles, you know what I own? I own 6000 people in the ballpark last night,

Joel Poiley  35:13

right?

Nestor Aparicio  35:14

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That’s what I own. I don’t own Boogan Brooks in the parade and the trophy, and you know, I own an empty stadium until I fill it up.

Joel Poiley  35:22

Yeah, and maybe some of it too. Nestor is kids today, you know. Baseball can be boring, it can be slow. I mean, I like some of the speed up rules we talked about the ABS system and all that, but some of it could be that, that in today’s age, it’s not a game for young people, if that makes sense. So, you really do have to win to draw people. I was thinking about this the other day, you know, before you contacted me about coming on. If the Orioles had really gone in the tank in this home stand, like Luke said, I mean, you don’t want to say this season’s over, but the way they’ve been playing, you know, that place would have even been more empty during the summer. I will see how this little spurt goes. It’s five out of six. Let’s, let’s not run away with ourselves here, but it could still be pretty empty during the summer. But I guess

Nestor Aparicio  36:18

most, let’s get on to the field, Joel. I mean, Joel Poili is my guest, author of the Tom Addy book. Like, I know you want to talk about the team and things happening. We just did a three game series with the Rays, and one of the reasons I wanted you on, because you’re down in Tampa, and you, you watch. That’s why I asked, how much of them do you watch, because I haven’t seen a lot. They kicked the ball around as bad as the Orioles, if not worse. Luke pointed that out. Um, you know, I do get the feeling that that middle of the order that they have there is a murderer’s row in a way that until the Orioles find their Henderson, Ruchman, O’Neill, Ward, you know, all these 30 home run threats, it’s got to happen, it’s got to happen for them, Alonzo, I think I could pencil him in, he’ll be

Joel Poiley  37:00

okay,

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Nestor Aparicio  37:00

whether it’s impactful RBIs and impactful home runs like the Cows or home runs were earlier in a week, but it’s been an exciting week to talk. I mean, I’m looking forward to.. I have a Casper Wells on too, like I’m.. I’m so delighted that they’ve won a couple of games, because if they had lost a couple to the Rays this week, you and I be reading rights on them right now, and we’d be having a Lamar camp out, waiting for the end of July.

Joel Poiley  37:24

There’s no question about that. It’s funny, because one of the headlines down here today was, “Let’s get out of Baltimore and come home, you know, it’s right, because everybody’s stressing down here after three losses. You made a point about Alonzo and the home run, so you know, let’s get in the weeds a little bit. I’m still not pleased with Gunner. 13 home runs, 28 RBIs. Dude, in our day, you hit that many home runs at the end of May, you should have about 40 RBIs. I texted Nestor about a month ago that, you know, I have no inside info, but I could tell by the way Gunner was swinging from day one, his agent, Boris Steve Boris, got to him. Hey, dude, nobody cares if you hit 220 hit 35 or 40 jacks the next two years, and I’ll get you your bones in some big city, you know, the Dodgers or somewhere, the Yankees, because here’s the thing, Nestor, why was Gunner a better hitter last year, even though he had the bad ribs and he couldn’t torque and twist? He had five triples and 37 doubles, and most of that was the left and left center. He was a better hitter now. He only knocked in 67 runs, I think, because nobody in front of him was on, because the team was terrible, and he had no protection behind him. Look, I’m glad you know anytime they score runs, there’s still a team to me that depends way too much on the home run. It wouldn’t have mattered, say the last two nights, because they got great starting pitching, but I like to see more of the four singles and a double inning. Now, the first inning last night, that was fun. I mean, you don’t see that very often. The first seven guys get on.

Nestor Aparicio  39:08

I went to Costa’s, I sat down, I ordered. Now it’s five nothing, boom! I’m like, I’m coming back to Costa’s,

Joel Poiley  39:13

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go there more often, right? Good luck,

Nestor Aparicio  39:16

get the salmon, same Michaels. Yeah,

Joel Poiley  39:19

but hey, we’re glad to see Adley back. I read something in the off season, Adley said, and Adley usually does not say much to the press, you know. I’ve said this before, I call him the Derek Jeter of interviews, give them, give the press something, but say absolutely nothing. But he said, I read something from him in the off season where he said, I don’t know what happened to my swing, but that wasn’t me, you know, where his ass on both sides of the plate was falling back into the dugout, that’s why I don’t like holiday swing, that it, but I love this from the sense of analytics, he hits that cheap 337 foot home run the other day, and nobody was talking about exit for. Velocity, because he basically popped the damn thing up, but it was a home run, you know, buddy. I don’t like his swing, but they had played a little better since he got back. I mean, I don’t know if he’s just given the infield well

Nestor Aparicio  40:12

plays Alexander’s been okay, and Leo Tamara is, I mean, their role players have done, I mean, words, Ward’s gonna walk 150 times, you know, like they’re they, they’re great contributions, but by and large, the starting pitching hasn’t been good enough to get them through. The bullpen got them through in the wins that they had in April,

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Joel Poiley  40:30

right?

Nestor Aparicio  40:31

But their stars haven’t been stars. I mean, you know, well, Luke calls my aircraft carriers, or whatever. I mean, Henderson needs to hit 385 and you know, have 11 home runs and 12 doubles and two triples this month, and they need to go on a, you know, 16 and seven kind of tear. They’re they’re on the road to that right now, but finding the bats for, I mean, Mayo’s hitting a buck and a half, and Alonso’s hitting a buck and a half, and Gunner Anderson’s in a buck and a half. It’s where they were two, three weeks ago. No wonder they’re five games under 500 you know,

Joel Poiley  41:08

right? And look, Cows are still strikes out too much. I looked at the numbers the other day, he’s striking out 37% of the time. Now, interesting thing about Gunner, prior to this year, Gunner struck out like every four and a half times up, which, which unfortunately is about average for MLB batters now. This year, he’s striking out about every three and three quarter times, so if he gets that fifth at bat in the game this year, he’s striking out more than likely. I just, I always like to see him hit balls up the middle. I mean, he is correctable, it’s not his stance or anything. I just think somebody got to him prior to the season, said just, just hit the jacks, nobody cares anymore if you hit 220 which is sad, you know. But you look at the other guys, yeah, I mean, I like Blaze Alexander, he’s a nice little player, and he can play a lot of different positions, but here’s where I’m going to get into Elias a little bit, and why they miss Westberg. We’ll get into the pitching in a minute, and I think they miss Westberg big time, because I think we would both agree he was – he may not be the best athlete, but he was their best clutch hitter. You know, I loved his two strike approach. It’s february 20 when they announced he’s got that issue with his elbow, so he does that platelet rich plasma thing, which we all know. I’ve read a little bit about it, and my brother-in-law’s real intelligent guy, and he’s a doctor, and we’ve talked about it. It never works. What it is is like an option for the player to not have surgery, and hope that maybe it makes it play livable, but you would still need the surgery. So, it turns out, obviously, like pitchers that have had it, like with Bradish, he needed the surgery. February 20, dude, Elias had five weeks to figure third base out. They took Mayo off of third base last year because he can’t play the position. I know he’s made some decent plays this year. He’s also cost them a bunch of games. He is not a good fielder. Here’s what I’m getting at. I’m going to go old school on you and the fans up there. 1983 Orioles competing, you know, they’re going to win a world title that year, but this is late June. The one hole that that team had was third base. It’s late June. What does Hank Peters do? He makes a just a straight cash deal with Seattle to get Todd Cruz, who was just kind of not playing a lot there. Cruz was a shortstop, but he had played some third base. Cruiser probably hit 202 for his lifetime, of course. The first game with the Orioles, everybody will remember, he hit two three run Jackson, Detroit, but they got him to solidify the infield, dude. He was like Manny Machado, you remember Cruz, he had a cannon of an arm, he solidified that infield, and then what happened later in the year was they, when he batted near the bottom of the order, they called Cruz, Dempsey, and Dower to Three Stooges, but they all contributed in their own way.

Nestor Aparicio  44:11

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So did Floyd Rayford, so that’s, you know, right,

Joel Poiley  44:13

my man Floyd, you know, who started 83 at third base, maybe you’ll remember a guy named Leo Hernandez, who they had picked up from, like, the Mexican League, they had a black hole with third, you know, first after Brooks left, then Doug took over, then when they traded Doug for Dan Ford for a couple years there, yeah, it was Rayford, Glenn Gulliver, they couldn’t find a third baseman, and you know, Cruiser filled that need, great move by Hank Peters. I’m sorry, Elias, you blew it. You had five weeks,

Nestor Aparicio  44:45

but there’s a reason they didn’t want Len Cicada playing over there every day at that point, and that’s where they are right now, is saying, like, all right, is Blaze Alexander a guy we want to give 540 at bats to in this case, and now making holiday a third baseman, which

Joel Poiley  44:59

no. Part

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Nestor Aparicio  45:00

of this

Nestor Aparicio  45:00

with the Elias thing, and I’ll let you get on to it. By the way, Joel Poili is our guest here. If you’re listening on radio, it’s just the fact that this team’s defense – it’s not a priority for them. Alan and I talk about this all the time, Alan McCallum and I, but more than that, that it plays out on the field when they’re like, “Yeah, just go over to third and play Jackson, and you’re young, you’re an athlete, you’ll figure it out, dude. This is the major leagues. What are you doing?

Joel Poiley  45:23

Albert has said the same thing a couple weeks ago. Remember, and it kind of surprised people. This organization has not prioritized defense for a while, kind of shocking. You can see it on the field, but the Orioles remind me of, like, well, two things. I think one of them, I texted you, I call them the Roseanne, Rosanna Danas of baseball. If it’s not one thing that goes wrong, it’s the other. Or I equate them to an erector set with no connecting parts. They have some pieces, but they don’t connect. They give away more free bases, like free candy. And then, when you lose a game by one or two runs, people who really aren’t into the game that much, don’t you know, Alan and Luke, and you guys would, but you lose a game five four, but you go back over to early part of the game in the third inning, they botched the relay, Cowser and O’Neill are kicking the ball all over in the gap on a double when the guy gets from second to third, and other teams who can hit a sac fly knock him in, and then late in the game when you’re down four two. The one thing I’ll say about this team is they don’t quit, they rally late, but they give away so many runs early, and it’s because they don’t prioritize defense. I mean, look, it’s catching up to the race. I mean, they’re probably worse than the Orioles defensive. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  46:45

8

that’s what I say. How do you play 700 ball kicking the ball around? Like, that’s really hard

Joel Poiley  46:50

to do. Pitching and their hitting approach is different. When you

Nestor Aparicio  46:53

say pitching, pitching that leads the defense, unless you’re striking people out. Right?

Joel Poiley  46:57

Right now, let’s talk about the Orioles pitching for a minute. Well, let’s talk about O’Neill. They have to DFA General Soreness. I’m wondering when Beavers comes back if that’s the end. Probably not, because Elias won’t admit that as a colossal mistake. I didn’t like that signing from the beginning, Nestor, because Boston knew something – he had like what, 33 dingers or something in 110 games in his last year, there, like three years ago now, they knew something. His body is breaking down, he’s been trending, playing fewer and fewer games for the last three, four years, even before the Orioles got him. And I mean, he’s a 240 strikeout artist, like everybody else now. And so you get him to hit left-handed pitching, and what is he two for 50 against? It’s ridiculous, and I know he has a good arm, but I don’t, I don’t really think he’s a great outfielder either. So, somebody has to go. Tommy Pham is interesting, and Tommy’s probably over the hill, but Tommy’s a guy that will kick some ass in the clubhouse, and I think it’s been good to have, like, Elias and Basset, because they needed some adults in the room there, especially when you’re not playing well. But if it’s fam that they bring up to replace O’Neill, Tom, if people don’t know Tommy’s background, I mean, he was abused by his dad, his dad went to prison, I mean, he’s a hot head, that’s why he’s played on like what, 13 teams in 10 years, but if he has anything left in the tank, but he’s the kind of guy that will get in your face when things go wrong and you don’t play the game the right way, so I don’t know why Elias signed him, maybe just to scare O’Neal or whatever, but how you going to scare somebody making 15 point 5 million a year, but as far as the pitching, I’m glad to see Bradish finally finding it, but he’s an interesting case to me. He remember his four or five starts at the end of last year, everybody said, “Whoa, he’s back, and then the first, what, six or seven this year, he’s all over the place, his command’s not good. I’ve talked with a lot of guys who had the Tommy John surgery, even the rotator cuff surgery, Ben McDonald. I talked to him when he went through it. That’s reconstructive arm surgery, man. These guys come back and tell me I have to learn how to throw again. The ball feels different coming out of my hand. So, long story short, it looks like now we’re getting the real brattish, but it took him six or seven starts to get his command down and be the guy we wanted, but this is the other thing that ticks me off about the Orioles, when their guys go bad, they fall off a cliff. Trevor Rogers, okay, we didn’t expect them to pitch to a one point 80 ra all season, but now we can’t get anybody out.

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Nestor Aparicio  49:45

Well, the cliff of where Richmond went last year, and we’re going to figure out where the cliff of Henderson is this year, right? Like, yeah, I would agree. The cliff part of the pitching is I expected more can. Assistance and Bassett, too. I mean, I don’t know where you were on him, but I felt really good about the team and ownership and spending money

Joel Poiley  50:09

right

Nestor Aparicio  50:10

on a four starter, but he’s got at least look like a four starter. He’s got to give him a chance to win. He’s gonna be representative,

Joel Poiley  50:15

8

right? Well, remember when we talked before, I predicted 85 wins because I thought they’re starting pitching could be good, you know, winding Elias into this. I gave him a B plus early in the off season, but as the off season went on and he didn’t acquire a top of the rotation guy, I downgraded it to like the B or B, well, B minus after he didn’t come up with somebody to replace West Burger, because I don’t know, was Ramon Yuria still out there? He had to get somebody, or a good field, no-hit guy, so that’s still kind of a black hole, because going back to Holiday, I don’t think he’s a third baseman, I don’t think he’s a great second baseman. The problem would be, I mean, when Westy gets back, Gunner is probably a better third baseman than shortstop. It’s just misplaced parts, all these disparaged parts that don’t fit. But going back to the pitching, Boz was like that down here, he could look really good for three innings and then give up four runs in the fifth inning. Glad to see his last three starts, he’s looked good.

Nestor Aparicio  51:22

Well, Kramer would, would unravel after, like, an error or something goes wrong, or whatever. That I mean, we had Jimenez did that, Ponson. Did you know there’s a long history of that, right? Like, what happens after something goes wrong? And to your point, both of these franchises, by the way, they kick the ball around enough that pitchers are going to have to work to a fourth and fifth out in or an extra base, and that’s on four. It’s hard to win that way. I mean, the good Yankees teams, the good Dodgers teams, the good Philly, good good race teams, the good Joe Maddon teams didn’t, didn’t,

Joel Poiley  51:55

oh no,

Nestor Aparicio  51:56

play through Longoria is going to throw the ball in the dugout 36 times this year.

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Joel Poiley  52:00

Well, remember Joe, when he came up with all these great acronyms, run preservation, run

Nestor Aparicio  52:06

preservation. I love that John Portland’s been watching the game, all the games. You just admitted to me you like hockey and football more than you like baseball. It’s crazy, but he is a sports writer in semi retirement. I think we all are. He’s also the author of the Tom Maddy book that you may see around town, including A Gentleman’s Gentleman, and I won’t bother you on your next book or anything like that. And you know, you down in Tampa, you think it’s your birthright to have the Stanley Cup Finals down there this time of year too. So there’s a little bit of that going on too. You know, Florida had it on the other side last year, and now Carolina’s going to have ever looks like the sun thing with hockey’s worked out all right, right?

Joel Poiley  52:42

Yeah, I’ll let you know what goes on with the next book, but I mean, just to preclude or conclude a little bit about the pitching, Efflin was a huge loss because he’s much better than a five and he was consistent. How he pitched with a bad back for first 10 years and pitch that well. I don’t know, so they’re trying to piece it together. Brandon Young, good for Gibson, got his first win last night, but it’ll all come down to the pitching, because that hides a lot of problems. But let’s see if they can keep it going.

Nestor Aparicio  53:16

8

Gotta hit the ball too. Joe Boyle is down at Tampa. Luke is at Oriole Park at Camden Yards all weekend, the Blue Jays in town, and then into next week we’ll have more, one more week of optional, and then mandatory mini camp two weeks from now. If you’re on the WNST tech service, you get it all first. Breaking news, all brought to you by Cole Roofing and Gordian Energy. I am Nestor. We are WNST AM 1570 Hold that book up. Tell about the book, Last Man Standing. Go ahead, put it up there.

Joel Poiley  53:43

Get it on Amazon. Get in your favorite barbershop. Get it, the Ivy Bookshop up there. It’s still out there.

Nestor Aparicio  53:49

I gotta go to the Ivy Bookstore. I’m gonna do that for you, just that, because I like books. I ain’t read new books. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with

Joel Poiley  53:57

us. Love.