Orioles Fan Fest 2009
Orangebird, his sister, myself and Orangebird’s mom all attended Orioles Fan Fest 2009 yesterday.
The weather was awesome and we had a great time. We got some nice giveaways and met some nice people too!
One of the highlights of the day was the State of the Orioles address and Q&A session with President of Baseball Operations, Andy MacPhail and Manager, Dave Trembley. Both were enthusiastic, but realistic in their expectations for this year’s team. They acknowledged that the starting rotation isn’t ideal and that they had problems getting top-notch pitchers to come to the Orioles. Below is the picture that I took of them on top of the visitor’s dugout.
Dave Trembley and Andy MacPhail
During the Q&A session I was able to ask Andy about the status of the O’s spring training facility and the likelihood that they’ll be moving to Ft. Myers, Vero Beach or Sarasota. He acknowledged that Ft. Lauderdale is less than ideal and that they will be trying to figure out a way to provide the O’s with an improved facility that will allow the major and minor league camps to be located in the same place. Currently the minor league camp is in Sarasota and apparently the fields there are in bad shape due to 3 other teams refusing to play there!!
We then proceeded back upstairs to the Club Level where most of the action was going on, including a variety of Fan Forums (one had fellow MLBlogger Spencer Fordin – who is the O’s beat writer MLB rep), pictures with the Bird, vendors, minor league affiliates, etc. Below is a picture that I took of the Announcers forum (sorry about the quality – I was fighting the balance between sunlight streaming in and indoor lighting):
(From Left to Right) Buck Martinez, Fred Manfra, Joe Angel, Jim Palmer
We then proceeded back down to field level where there were 8 separate autograph stations for fans with at least 3 O’s at each station. We didn’t waste our time standing in the lines, but instead meandered down to the first rows in the sections right next to the stations and were able to get close-up views of the players. The pictures that I took are shown below:
Fans waiting for autographs
Brian Bass, Gregg Zaun, Nick Markakis
Jeremy Guthrie, Danys Baez, Ty Wigginton
(From Right to Left) Mark Hendrickson, Jim Johnson, Chad Moeller, Adam Jones (peaking his head out)
Aubrey Huff, Chris Ray, Jamie Walker
Koji Uehara, Adam Eaton, Felix Pie
Melvin Mora, Dennis Sarfate, Cesar Izturis
Robert Andino (in hoodie), Luuuuuuuuuuuke Scott, George Sherrill and his straight bill
B-Rob, Matt Albers, Ryan Freel
The O’s also had a workout in preparation for their game later that night at Nationals Stadium, which happens to be 2 and 1/2 blocks away from my office (it’s not as nice as it seems!). I was planning on taking more pictures, but somehow the camera was in the video mode and I took some useless video.
During the workout quite a few O’s were interviewed on the big screen, including a few new O’s, such as Koji, Ryan Freel, Cesar Izturis and Ty Wigginton.
For Opening Day, we’ll be in the Upper Deck behind home plate in the front row. We plan on having a banner that says, “Enjoy the O’s Pounding of New York,” with ESPN highlighted. I’ll also be bringing my glove, so hopefully we’ll catch a foul ball.
HOW BOUT DEM O’S!!!!
O’s Fanfest – A teaser (for right now)
We went to Orioles Fanfest today and had a great day. Here are a couple of pics taken with my new digital camera to whet your appetite. By the way, I’m just learning how to use it so pardon the quality! Please check Orangebird’s blog http://upin36011cc.mlblogs.com/ for more details and his perspective. Mine will be delivered later.
O’s Rotation – Part Deux – Pedro the O!!!
And in a surprising move, yesterday the Orioles signed 3-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Jaime Martinez to a one-year deal for an undisclosed sum. One Warehouse official, on condition of anonymity, said the contract was heavily incentive-laden, with bonuses for reaching 100, 150, and 180 innings, plus other incentives for “handcuffing” opposing batters. As you can see, Pedro will be wearing his traditional #45, which was formerly worn by Orioles pitcher Dennis Sarfate. It is rumored that to get Sarfate to give up his number, that Pedro promised to plunk the most hated player on the opposition every time he pitched. When told about the promise, Manager Dave Trembley responded, “Pedro is a pro. He knows how to challenge hitters. We would be foolhardy not to let him pitch the same way for the Birds!”
Please join me in welcoming Pedro to the O’s!!!
O’s Rotation – Scary and Good
First, the scary part:
In his final start before Opening Day, Jeremy Guthrie just gave up eight runs and 10 hits to the Florida Marlins, raising his spring ERA to 10.57. If you add in his World Baseball Classic statistics, he has pitched 19 innings, allowed 47 baserunners and has a combined ERA of 12.32.
Guthrie, who is real nice guy and signed the bill of Orangebird’s hat outside of Wrigley, clearly has been negatively affected by being on the USA World Baseball Classic team. Judging from this quote, he’s quite concerned about his performance:
“Yeah, certainly you should be concerned,” Guthrie said. “I haven’t gotten anybody out … I can’t seem to get any breaks. Some good pitches are getting hit and all the bad ones are getting hit.”
Sound like something a Little League pitcher would say,
not an MLB #1 starter!
Now for the Good!!
Which is likely Orioles #3 starter, none other than Alfredo Simon, whom they signed from the Mexican League. Alfredo Simon, no not that Alfredo:
Nor that Simon:
This is Alfredo Simon:
And here are his Spring Training stats:
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1. A Simon |
BAL |
0 |
0 |
1.13 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16.0 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
8 |
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And that is why he’ll be pitching every fifth day this year.
Oh for the days when you could have 4 solid starters, although all not in solid colors. That was a bit much!!!
Cuellar, Dobson, McNally and Palmer
I’m Extremely Proud to Report That I’m The Father of an Award Winning Writer!!!
I received some absolutely wonderful news this week when I learned that my son Jordan, otherwise known as Orangebird, who is the author of the popular blog, Up in Section 360, (http://upin36011cc.mlblogs.com/) was chosen as the 6th grade winner of Giant Food’s 3rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr./Black History Month Essay Contest. The essay had to address the following topic:
Making a Difference – What Can I Do to Make a Difference in My Community? ”
Giant is a supermarket chain in this area and is well respected for its programs.
This contest was open to legal U.S. private and public school students in grades 6-8 who currently reside in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, or Delaware. Thus, Jordan’s essay was chosen as the best of not just those submitted from Maryland, but those submitted from three states and Washington, DC!!! Now, you may ask, what did Jordan win? Look below for a BIG hint!!
So, I know you’re all wondering (especially our fellow blogger friends), can I read his award winning essay? Of course you can! Thus, without further ado, I present to you the Award Winning Essay of my favorite blogger, Jordan Katz!!!
How We Can Make a Difference
By Jordan Katz
Patuxent Valley Middle School, 6th Grade
I feel there are many things that we can do as a community to make a difference. One of the most important things that we can do is to engage in green behaviors.
One especially effective green behavior is paper conservation. There are many different ways to conserve paper. We could use the reverse side of documents, such as the fliers that schools’ give out. That way we can turn otherwise useless paper into useful paper. If I did this for all the useless fliers I receive, I would be saving trees with each blank side I used. In addition, if all the other students in my school did the same, that would save a lot of trees! Taking it even further, if every student in the country did that, then we could significantly reduce the effects of global warming and help clean the air.
I also see some spotty green behaviors occurring in my school, Patuxent Valley Middle School (PVMS) that need to be pointed out to make a difference. By pointing these inconsistent green behaviors out, I am making a difference. Thus, if PVMS improves on these behaviors the school can make a difference.
In my opinion, PVMS seems to not really care about the environment. A specific example of this behavior was exhibited the other day when everybody in my Core+ class received a humongous packet filled with Maryland State Assessment (MSA) prep worksheets. It was well over 40 pages long filled with worksheets containing questions similar to those that will be on the MSAs, such as identifying the main idea of the text or what was the problem stated and solution found in the text. In fact, the size of this packet motivated me to start working on this essay. I asked my teacher in that class if she thought that we needed that much paper to be properly prepared for the tests and she said, “no.”
I believe that the ideal way to rid PVMS and other schools of this need to produce so much paper is to have the worksheets be available electronically on a computer. I have seen this occur in my Science class. Replacing these large packets with a computer based study guide would not only save paper, but would allow students to type rather than write, which appears to be highly preferred by today’s students and should result in them achieving higher scores.
Another type of green behavior that would make a difference is Trash Free Tuesdays or Waste Free Wednesdays. On those days, students are challenged to create less trash during lunch. Additionally, the grade with the least amount of trash per students would receive a prize or gain a privilege of some sort.
In conclusion, those are the things that myself and the school can do make a difference. In my mind, just by writing this, I feel like I “Can Make a Difference” and that is the ultimate prize for me.
I invite all of you to join me in congratulating Jordan on this outstanding achievement!!
Jordan‘s Dad
This should be a national holiday!!
Today, our Orioles season tickets arrived! This is the Sunday package that we have:
| Date | Opponent | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., April 12 |  Tampa Bay Rays |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., April 26 |  Texas Rangers |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., May 10 |  New York Yankees |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., May 31 |  Detroit Tigers |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., June 14 |  Atlanta Braves |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., June 28 |  Washington Nationals |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., July 12 |  Toronto Blue Jays |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., Aug. 2 |  Boston Red Sox |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., Aug. 16 |  LA Angels of Anaheim |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., Aug. 30 |  Cleveland Indians |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., Sept. 6 | Texas Rangers |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., Sept. 20 | Boston Red Sox |
1:35 p.m. |
| Sun., Oct. 4 | Toronto Blue Jays |
1:35 p.m. |
http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/ticketing/season_plan_e.jsp
Fellow bloggers, please note the BoSox, Indians, Yankees and Rays games. We won’t be attending the Yankees game on May 10, because that is Mother’s Day.
It’s always interesting to see what design will be on the season tickets. In the past, they have used various different Orioles, Camden Yards and associated other things.
One of our season tickets from 2007
This year’s tix have the same picture over and over. It’s a pic of none other than the Greek god himself – Nick Markakis (who happens to be a new father – like my next door neighbor).
We also got our Orange Carpet Card – which is the O’s season ticket holder ID card that provides certain benefits. Check it out, it’s a pretty good deal!http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/ticketing/orangecarpet.jsp
I’ll tell you more later, so stay tuned.
Be back blogging soon!
Hi. I’ve been on a hiatus here, due to a multitude of reasons. I’ll be back soon with the continuation of my stadium tour and probably some notes on March Madness. I need to find some pics of Orangebird from our visit to the Metrodome so you can see him as a 16 month old!!!
Metrodome
I also need to find my pics that I took at Coors, when I saw a game with all sorts of unusual occurences and almost caught a foul ball. I’m pretty sure that the winning “pitcher” never won another game. I’ll find the box score and you’ll be able to see what I’m talking about.
Coors Field
Other than that, I want to say how much “fun” I’m having at the cesspool where I work. Such a pleasure.
Also, the fantasy draft was fun, until the computer stopped updating the status and we had no idea if we drafted who we thought (not always). But, we’re happy with the offense and the relief pitching.
Take care and enjoy the World Baseball Classic and March Madness!!
Ken
Photo Credits:
http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/directionsparking/coors.htm
http://www.mrcesspool.com/units.htm
O’s Spring Training
Thought I’d post some random pictures of Orioles Spring Training for everybody to enjoy!
Gentlemen, this is Orioles baseball.
Keep your eye on the ball!
Is that Jim Palmer behind me?
No translation needed!
So Matt, what can teach the guys about hitting?
That wasn’t so hard, was it?
B-Rob!!
Dude, I’m in the Hall of Fame, but I bet I am still a better pitcher than you!
Wieters practicing his home run stroke.
Nick Markakis tells the barber to leave him alone.
So, how many double plays are we turning this year?
I hate when I have to get the adult size!! Youth was sold out!
If I was being paid as much as these two, I’d have a huge smile also!
Koji!!
Hi, this is Andy McPhail. Can someone open the gate for me??
Give me a hug!
I’ve never signed a baseball bat that looks this weird!
Gentlemen, let’s call it a day!
Ballparks I have Visited III – The House That Ruth Built
The House that Ruth Built was actually the first stadium, other than Memorial Stadium, that I saw an MLB game at. My attendance at the game was part of a trip that I took to the New York – Northern New Jersey area to visit fraternity brothers from the University of Maryland. I was interested in attending a game of whichever NY team was home that weekend and as luck would have it, the Yankees were home and they were facing my O’s! Thus, I was particularly excited to be going to this game.
As you can see below, the O’s won the game, which featured a Grand Slam by Orioles left fielder Gary Roenicke and a complete game by O’s lefty Mike Flanagan. The Yankees runs came on a homer by former Oriole Don Baylor, whom no middle infielder wanted to see barreling into second. This game also included 3 future Hall of Famers in Cal Ripken, Jr., Eddie Murray and Dave Winfield.
| Baseball Almanac Box Scores
Baltimore Orioles 6, New York Yankees 2 |
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| Game played on Sunday, June 17, 1984 at Yankee Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For being such an historic ballpark, Yankee Stadium was disappointing to me. First off, the neighborhood surrounding the stadium was not someplace you’d want to be unless you had to be! We parked in some dirty garage, which had several cars that looked like they hadn’t been moved in decades. I later found out that one of these jalopies actually exploded later that evening while in the garage! Glad that I wasn’t there. The outside of the stadium is quite impressive and the huge baseball bat in front was a sight to see. I think we picked up our tickets at Will Call, but I’m not totally sure. Our seats were way up there in the upper deck, which was severely sloped . We were on the first base side. I was pretty sure that I may have been one of the very few O’s fans there. I was advised not to wear anything identifying me as such so as not to anger any obnoxious people. Mind you, this instruction came from a Met fan. Though we were very high up, the view of the field was excellent. I’m pretty sure that Bob Sheppard was announcing that day, as I remember being told to pay attention to the PA announcer. The inside of the stadium is ugly, dark and narrow. After we got in the stadium, it seemed like we walked forever to get to our seats. And unlike many parks, where you have a view of the field while walking around and can orient yourself as to where you are, I had absolutely no idea where I was until we actually got to our section. The food options were pathetic and the vendors seemed nonexistent. For some reason I stupidly decided that I was hungry and waited in a very long line at a small concession stand and missed an inning of the game! An extremely poor design! And I don’t remember what I ate. I didn’t get there early enough to tour the ballpark, which I would have liked to do. I also didn’t get to visit the other levels. This pre-dated my forays into other ballparks, so I didn’t have anything that I was trying to view, other than the game. I was pleased to have seen a game there and was obviously thrilled that it was an O’s victory that I saw. I hope the New Yankee Stadium is vastly improved, but I don’t think I’ll be sitting in any of those high-roller seats!!! TRIVIA: First person who can tell me who Dayett and O”Berry are wins!
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Ballparks that I have visited – II
Tiger Stadium
I visited Tiger Stadium in late April or early May 1997 when I was in the Detroit area for a business trip. The Tigers were playing the Kansas City Royals, so obviously it was a sparse crowd. I got there very early and was able to take advantage of an $8 ticket deal which gave you seats in the left field bleachers and also gave you a hot dog/slice of pizza and a soda worth $4. Thus, my seat was $4!! I ate my pizza in those seats while attempting to shag some batting practice homers (no luck) and was pretty sure that I saw Tony Clark (at that time the Tigers’ star player) visit with a youth group who had seats out there.
Because I got there so early, I was able to walk around the whole park, sit in some seats and experience the view from different vantage points. Tiger Stadium was a great old ballpark that afforded fans closeup views of the field. As opposed to many modern stadiums, the lower deck wasn’t very wide, thus it appeared that most of the seats were in the upper deck.
The concourses were also very narrow on the lower deck and weren’t much bigger in the upper deck, which has concourses similar to Wrigley Field. Basically a very quaint old ballpark that held a lot of memories. However, I must say that the part of town that the stadium is in leaves something to be desired!
Because the Tigers were already building Comerica, it was obvious that nothing but necessary repairs were made to the stadium. For example, in one of the sections that I chose to sit in the upper deck, the extremely friendly usher had a little plastic step stool for anybody who sat in certain rows where a cement step was missing. The usher was very nice and answered all my questions with pleasure.
The press box was also very close and I was able to get Mitch Album’s attention and get him to wave to me.
The highlight, though was when the Tigers mascot, which is named Paws, actually talked to me! The Bird never talks to people and can only whistle! He was very friendly and answered my questions and let on that he was friends with many other MLB mascots. I brought home a Beanie Baby sized Paws for Orangebird, that is still in our house.
I’m bummed that it has been mostly demolished, but am glad that I was able to see a game there.
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