Thursday July 17, 2026

#DMD

Issue #3979

all the seasons in 18 holes

When this morning's first round of the British Open commenced at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, spring was in the air. 63 degrees and breezy, in other words.

By the time Scottie Scheffler teed off at just after 11 am over there, the temperature was almost 70 but the breeze had the 3-time major champion and others still sporting sweaters or quarter-zips as their tour of the course kicked off. Summer wasn't far behind.

But by the time Scheffler and Shane Lowry and others reached the 7th green just before 12:30 pm, fall was beckoning. The rain was coming down, the breeze had picked up and those on the course had moved into "survival mode" for a while.

Winter is on the way, too, one would assume.

Welcome to the British Open, where, if you're lucky, you might get to experience all four seasons in four and a half hours.

The Open Championshp -- as they call it over there -- is the sport's most mercurial and unpredictable major championship.

You know what you're getting every year at Augusta National in April.

The course will be perfect, the greens will be spectacular, the back nine will decide things and someone will do something incredibly memorable or incredibly painful on the incoming nine on Sunday afternoon to create yet another Masters memory.

You know what the PGA Championship brings in May.

The course will be long -- far longer than it actually should be -- and the rough will be high and the PGA of America will go to great lengths to allow for both success and punishment. They want to see an equal number of players make birdies and bogeys. They want it to be hard, but not too hard. They move the event around from course to course looking for the perfect host.

You fully know what's coming every June at the U.S. Open.

As we saw at Oakmont CC in June, the United States Golf Association sets the challenge -- the player vs. the course. Who wins? They pride themselves on making it difficult enough that even the best players in the world reach the scoring tent at the end of the round and say, "F--- this place." That's what they want. Carnage. Anger. Disappointment. Misery. Someone eventually wins, but in most years the champion's biggest emotion isn't joy, it's relief.

And then you have the British Open, where you have zero idea before the event begins if the winning score will be 2-under par or 18 under par.

In the UK, because they think they're better than everyone else, they simply refer to it as the Open Championship because, you know, if you consider yourself a golfing enthusiast of any degree, you know the "Open Championship" is the British Open.

I called it "the British Open" recently at Eagle's Nest and a member from Wales said, "Now, now, you know it's the Open Championship."

I said, "When they play the U.S. Open in June, how do you know it's played in the U.S. and not, say, in Ghana?"

Before he could answer, I chipped in with this: "I mean, we could call it "The Open Championship" as well and just assume you knew it was being played in Pittsburgh or Long Island or San Diego."

He wasn't amused.

"When I hear "Open Championship", I have no idea if it's in Turkey, Greece, Australia or West Palm Beach," I said. "When I hear "British Open", I know it's played in the United Kingdom."

He nodded and sipped his beer. I thought he might buy me a glass of red wine. He didn't.

Anyway...

I love the British Open.

It's the way golf is meant to be played. They get the course ready to go just like they would for the members on a Thursday, dress it up as best they can, and then say to the players, "OK, have at it. Be ready for bad weather, bad bounces, deep bunkers, long rough and anything else mother nature throws your way."

At the British Open, you can hit it 300 yards off the tee right in the middle of the fairway and your ball might bound over a hill and roll into a deep bunker that was placed there 150 years ago because, who knows, someday there might be a major golf event there and wouldn't it be nice to have a bunker in the fairway to collect a shot or two and challenge the players?

On the next hole, you can hit it 300 yards off the tee into the deep rough but your ball might find a perfect patch of open territory where you can hoist your 8 iron onto the green. In the group right after you, a fellow competitor might hit the same drive and wind up in the same knee high grass as you, but it requires a 12-person search party to find his ball.

At the U.S. Open, if you hit your ball in the rough, you're pretty much dead.

At the British Open, you never know what's going to happen.

It's sunny for four holes.

It's windy for the next four.

It pours the rain for the four after that.

Every player's golf bag has a rain suit, extra towels, rain gloves, sunglasses, sunscreen and Tylenol.

One of the reasons I've always loved golf is because you show up on the first tee with the other players in your group and you each effectively say, "I think I'm better than you at golf. Let's go find out if I'm right."

But the other reason is because the course also says the same thing. "You think you're good at this sport?" the course might say. "Well, we'll see about that. Good luck with the 4th hole today. Wait until you see where that pin location is. Oh, and that left to right ball flight you like to play won't come in very handy on the par 3 10th hole when you see where that pin is. Watch out for the pond on #17. And the rough at the 18th will really get you if you keep hitting those snap hooks off the tee like you've been hitting for two weeks."

If the U.S. Open is about survival, the British Open is about sticking to it and fighting the fight until the course finally relents and says, "OK, you've made your point. You win."

At the British Open, you're going to hit great shots that get terrible rewards and you're going to hit terrible shots that get great rewards.

It's at the British Open -- or any linksy kind of course like Royal Portrush -- where you can be 3 feet off the green and have to swipe at the ball with the pace of a 40-yard shot or you can be 75 feet off the green and feel more comfortable putting the ball to the pin that's roughly 40 yards away in total.

I don't want to give them too much credit over there, but the truth is golf in the U.K. is "better" than golf in the U.S. The course they're playing today at Royal Portrush is largely the same course your grandfather played back in 1965. And it will be the same course your grandson plays in 2065.

They don't really doctor anything up over there. If the course is soft, you go play it soft. They don't have underground electronic systems in place that suck the moisture out of the playing surface. If it's wet, it's wet.

And if it's baked out and firm, that's how you'll play it. They don't drive around in little trucks and water the heck out of the place to make sure it's nice and green. If it's brown and hard, that's the way you play it.

Even the tournament itself is somewhat understated on the property itself. Yes, there are grandstands and the occasional sky box for sponsors and corporate types, but nothing like you see at the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship.

In America, the United States Open is an opportunity to make money. In the U.K., their "Open" is about creating a great event in which the best player will be standing alone at 6 pm on Sunday with the championship medal around his neck.

I love the Open Championship British Open.

orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm including some of our recent selections, and for the first time this year, we have Co-Players of the Week: Samuel Basallo and Cohen Achen.

The decision to have Co-Players of the Week was not easy, however when you have two minor league players garner their own league’s Player of the Week nods, it’s tough not to highlight both of them.

Achen, 23 (turns 24 at the end of July) was the Orioles’ 14th round selection in last year’s draft out of Lindsey Wilson College (Columbia, KY) and has been pitching for the High-A Aberdeen Ironbirds over the past couple of months after starting the year with Low-A Delmarva.

Last week, in a rare relief outing, Achen was fantastic against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) tossing five shutout, hitless innings while striking out six. The only batter to reach against him was due to catcher’s interference in the 3-1 victory.

Achen’s performance garnered him the nod for the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week.

Basallo, 20, becomes the first player to earn a second selection from DMD as the Minor League Player of the Week and for good reason. The 10th ranked prospect in all of baseball per MLB Pipeline had another fantastic week for the AAA Norfolk Tides earning the International League Player of the Week nod.

Over five games last week, Basallo went 7-18 with three home runs, three doubles, three walks and 10 RBI.

He posted a .389 batting average for the week as well as a .500 OBP and 1.556 OPS. It’s more of the same for Basallo as his home run total now sits at 19 over 62 games and 253 plate appearances. He is also boasting a .383 OBP and .975 OPS for the Tides this year while drawing 39 free passes against 55 strikeouts.

It's not a matter of if, but when Basallo eventually gets the call to the big leagues. If I were a betting man, I’d lean towards late August, early September just because there is no rush to get him to Baltimore with the O’s looking like a team that is destined to miss the playoffs.

Congratulations to our Co-Players of the Week, but I would be remised if I did not give a hat-tip to Jack Crowder, Adrian Delgado, Joe Glassey and Deivy Cruz who combined to toss a no-hitter on July 10 against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros) in a 2-1 victory for the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds.

The Orioles Minor League Player of the Week was contributed by Josh Michael.

Wednesday July 16, 2026

#DMD

Issue #3978

so...you call that a magical ending?

I'm certainly not going to go as far as saying the MLB All-Star Game has been "ruined" with the advent of the extra innings "Swing Off" we saw on Tuesday night.

They might not have that particular thing happen again for 5 years. Or 10. Or 15. Who knows?

But here's what I would say: No one really "won" or "lost" last night's mid-season classic.

The game ended in a tie.

It was setting up to be a classic, maybe even one of those dreaded instant classics, what with the American League storming back from a late 6-0 deficit to tie the score at 6-6 thanks to 9th inning heroics from Bobby Witt Jr. and others.

But then, as soon as it really got interesting, Major League Baseball decided to stop playing the actual game itself and instead switched over to something akin to wiffle ball in Miss Kay's front yard back in the old days.

They went with the Home Run Derby, essentially, to decide the game.

Meh.

Jorge Castillo, the outstanding national baseball writer for ESPN.com, called the finish "enthralling", which saw Kyle Schwarber hit 3 straight homers to give the National League the victory.

I don't think "enthralling" was the word I was going for, but whatevs.

Schwarber's 3 homers came with the N.L. trailing 3-1. The American League had a chance to extend the game thereafter, but Tampa Bay's Jonathan Aranda went 0-fer in his three attempts to tie or move the A.L. into the lead.

Rubbing more salt in the wound from his 3-homer performance in Baltimore on Sunday, Kyle Stowers came through with one homer in his three at-bats during the extra-innings gimmick.

OK, so the game ended in a 6-6 "tie", basically. The National League was cited as the winner based on the 4-3 advantage in the Swing Off contest.

I get it.

You can't be out there all night in a meaningless mid-season game.

And it's also not like the All-Star Game is important these days. Circa 1972, the All-Star Game actually meant something. Other than the World Series, it was the only time all season we got to see the National League and American League square off in a game that counted.

For a lot of us in American League cities, other than Saturday's "Game of the Week" when N.L. teams were featured, the All-Star Game was the only occasion we got to see Dale Murphy, Cesar Geronimo, Tom Seaver, Lou Brock and others.

Let's be honest. It won't hurt to tell the truth here. A significant piece of collateral damage connected to Interleague play was the All-Star Game. It used to be a big deal. It's not a big deal any longer.

And you can tell it's not a big deal to the powers-that-be in the league itself when they go to a Swing Off to decide the winner.

It's not all that different than what they do in hockey to decide regular season games, except in the case of the NHL, they're actually doing something in the shootout that they do in the game, too. The offensive player is gifted a breakaway against the goaltender, which you might see 1, 2 or 3 times per-game.

The Swing Off isn't "real" because the pitchers aren't throwing 95 MPH. They're tossing batting practice, effectively, with most pitches thrown in the 50-60 MPH range according to last night's telecast.

Imagine a football game ending in a tie and the kickers trotting out to kick three field goals with just them and the holder out there.

Or a basketball game ending in a tie and three players from each team all getting five three-point attempts to decide the outcome.

It is exactly what it is: a gimmick.

Then again, baseball has that extra innings rule these days where you start the 10th inning (or inning thereafter) with a runner on second base. That's also a gimmick, of course.

All of this stuff, the Swing Off, the extra-innings rule, etc., are done for one reason and only reason only. To protect players from "overuse".

Guys like Seaver, Bob Gibson, Jim Palmer, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, et al would laugh at that notion, I'm sure. Palmer threw 211 complete games in his career for crying out loud. Less baseball? Heck, he always wanted to play the most baseball he could.

So, let me get myself situated here so I can climb up on the soapbox and not risk injury while doing so. Us 62 year olds aren't as nimble as we were once upon a time.

Here's how I saw last night: It sucked.

Not because they went to a gimmick to end the game. The actual drama produced by the Swing Off was pretty cool. I mean, Schwarber needed to hit 2 homers to tie the contest or the game was over. He hit 3 instead. That was neat.

But it sucked because it offered, at least to me, a stark reminder of how out of balance things have become in sports these days.

We can't even play the freakin' All-Star Game to its completion any longer because some dude making $25 million a year can't throw 15 more pitches or take one more at-bat because the player's union stood up a while back and said, "These guys are working too much as it is."

I didn't hate the Swing Off. But I hated everything it stands for.

These guys are coddled worse than Buffy protecting Mrs. Beasley in the old "Family Affair" sitcom.

It's not the money they make. I get that. $50 million (plus) for Shohei seems about right. The players are the show. If the owners are making $25M a year themselves without doing anything except sitting in the sky box drinking Silver Oak, the players should get their piece of the pie. I'm all for it.

But it seems bizarre to me that a guy making $40 million to play baseball can't, you know, actually "play" baseball when he's asked to play baseball.

"OK, we're heading to the 10th inning, you're up 2nd Smith. Look for the change-up if he gets ahead of you."

"You know, Skip, I don't know. I've already had three at-bats tonight. I'd hate to get to a big game on September 24 and not have enough energy in that one because I had to play in the All-Star Game back on July 15."

"Tom, can you go back and throw 10 or 15 more pitches for us in the 10th inning? Get us to the bottom of the inning. We have our big horses coming up. We'll end this thing and get the win."

"I don't know, man. I've already thrown 24 innings in relief this season. Heck, last week I pitched in four games in seven days. I think I threw 58 pitches last week, bro."

So, I'm happy to be "that guy" this morning. Proudly so, in fact.

It's like the scene in Caddyshack when Judge Smails is at dinner bragging about how great his country club is and, out of nowhere, Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) steps up and says, "Are you kidding? You think I'd join this crummy "snobatorium"? Why, this whole place sucks!"

I'll say it.

The ending of last night's All Star Game was enthralling. It wasn't fascinating or meaningful in any way at all.

It sucked. That's right, it sucked.

But it sucked not because of the action or the talent but because the whole game has eroded into how-do-the-players-showcase-themselves but only until they've reached their limit of one or two at-bats or 20 pitches thrown?

The All-Star Game used to be about playing a meaningful game to decide which league is better.

Now it's nothing more than an imposition for 90% of the players who get the nod to play in the mid-season classic.

In fact, calling it a "classic" is an embarrassment.

There's nothing "classic" about asking a baseball player to play baseball and the rules he helped negotiate saying, "No more baseball for me tonight. I'm baseball'd out."

The way the game ended last night wasn't beautiful or awesome or magical in any way.

It was dreadful.

That said, it's a perfect microcosm of what our country has become.

Entitled.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns. #5 was Tommy Fleetwood. #4 was Ludvig Aberg. #3 was Harris English.

#2 was Robert MacIntyre.

#1 Sepp Straka -- This is setting up to be Sepp Straka's British Open. Not because he's playing particularly great going into the tournament. In fact, it's because he isn't playing all that great that makes me think Straka is do for something big this week at Royal Portrush.

He has two wins on the PGA Tour this season; American Express in January and the Truist in May. Sandwiched in and around those events has been outstanding golf from the Austrian. But there's also been some not-so-great golf, like at the three majors in 2025.

Straka missed the cut at the Masters. He missed the cut at the PGA. And he missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

And that's a reason why I love his chances this week.

Straka plays his best golf when he's the forgotten guy. He plays his best golf when he's off everyone's radar.

His "regular" record on the TOUR this season is outrageously good. He's 3rd in FedEx Cup points and has made 15 of 19 cuts.

In 12 of the 15 events where he's made the cut, he's finished in the top 25.

But in the majors? Peeee--yeeewwww. Stinky, stinky.

That said, last week at the Scottish Open he was very solid, finishing in 7th place at 10-under par, just five shots behind winner Chris Gotterup.

It's setting up to be just the kind of week where Straka, the forgotten star, comes through with a huge win at Portrush.

No one is expecting much from him this week, which is precisely when he plays his best golf.

He's currently at +4500, which tells me the oddsmakers have a hunch he might be a factor.

I think he's going to be a huge factor.

Now that you've seen our complete "Great Eight", I think it's fairly obvious what our angle is this week, right?

We went with players who don't yet have a major win under their belt. We think a first-time major winner -- like Shane Lowry back in 2019 or J.J. Spaun last month -- comes out of the pack to win.

Tuesday July 15, 2026

#DMD

Issue #3977

a tuesday gift from the gods

This one, I swear, couldn't have been scripted any better.

As I was going through the conversation, all I could think was, "Happy Hour...Happy Hour...I can't wait to share this at Happy Hour."

So I'm in Philadelphia to play golf today. And because traffic on I-95 is entirely unpredictable, I left four hours early for a drive that should take roughly 2 hours or so.

I jetted up the interstate like Jeff Gordon in the Charlotte 500. No traffic. No issues. Easy peasy.

So I figured I buzz into a diner near Conshohocken for a quick bite to eat.

I'm there enjoying my coffee when two guys in their 30's sit directly next to me.

"Jones" and "Will" were their names. They notice my golf attire and ask me if I'm playing somewhere. I say yes. We talk golf for two minutes.

"Where you from?" Will asks.

"Just outside of Baltimore," I reply.

Jones perks up.

"What happened to the Orioles?" he asks.

"He's a baseball junkie," Will says with a laugh. "You'll be here all day talking baseball with him if you don't leave now."

"He's a hockey guy, he doesn't know anything about baseball," Jones says and bumps Will on the shoulder.

"Haven't been to a game in 10 years," Will boasts. "Maybe more like 12 or 13."

"That's like me with the Flyers," Jones says. "I haven't been down there to see a hockey game in forever."

Like I said, a gift from the gods.

"You're a hockey fan?" I say to Will.

"Huge," he replies.

"We don't have a team in Baltimore, so I don't know much about hockey," I say, trying to give off as much disappointment as I can.

"You have the Capitals down there in D.C.," Will says.

"I know," I say. "But Baltimore and D.C. don't mesh when it comes to sports," I explain.

My food arrives. The conversation stops and those two start talking about a fishing trip they're taking next week.

But I can't resist.

"How are the Flyers?" I ask. "Good team?"

"Nooooooooo," Will says. "They suck."

"I don't follow it much," I say in between bites, "but I thought they were one of the better teams. No?"

"They haven't been any good for 15 years," Will responds. "Their front office has their head in their a** every year."

I don't say anything. I just let the aggravation build.

A minute or so goes by.

"As good of a sports town as Philly is, it's a shame the hockey team isn't better," I say.

"You're telling me," Will says.

"Maybe they'll be better this coming season," I state.

"No chance," Will replies. "No chance. They suck. They're gonna finish in last place again."

Their food arrived and the conversation died down. I'd had enough, though. Mission accomplished.

My meal ended and I got up to leave.

"Good luck to your Phillies," I say to Jones.

"And to your Flyers...good days are ahead, maybe," I say to Will.

"Not for a few years at least," he says with sadness in his voice.

I got out to my car and just sat there for a second, reveling in the last 20 minutes. Having a great breakfast at a diner for $11.00 plus a $4.00 tip was awesome.

But coaxing a Flyers fan into telling me how bad the Flyers are...was absolutely priceless.

---

"someone has to judge you"

Jayson Stark of The Athletic got the ball rolling last week with a scathing first-half review of the Orioles, calling them "the most disappointing team of modern times."

I read the article and gave it the due it deserved.

Stark -- if this sort of description actually exists -- is a baseball expert who also happens to be a three decade member of the media.

Some folks are in the media and cover baseball but they aren't really experts of the sport. They're actually experts of their craft, which is generally journalism, media, etc.

Jayson Stark really knows baseball.

Now, calling the O's the most disappointing team of modern times might be a tad over the top, but if that's what he thinks, that's what he thinks.

There's no arguing at all that the 2025 first-half Orioles are, in fact, disappointing. I'd also assume you would agree they've been "very" disappointing given their A.L. East win in '23 and their second straight playoff berth a year ago.

Sure, they haven't yet won a playoff game in the Mike Elias era, but they made the post-season in '24 and '23 and there was really no reason to think they wouldn't make it in '25.

So that's how Stark piled on with his commentary recently. The first half of the season is over and the Birds are mired in last place and appear to have the look of a squad that's going to flatline their way to a 75-win campaign unless something drastically changes over the last two and a half months of the season.

The tailspin that is the 2025 season has also impacted the club at the gate. Attendance is down roughly 16% thus far in '25, with the team averaging 23,000-plus so far.

You can do the quick math and see what 3,000 tickets per-game at $28 (average price) per-seat will do to your bottom line. It's $90,000'ish per night. There's 81 home games. $8 million pays for a lot of Ramon Laureano's or Andrew Kittredge's.

So on the field it's been a bummer and off the field it's been a bummer.

Criticism like that -- "they're not only the most disappointing team this season, they're the most disappointing team of modern times" -- is probably good for clicks and all, but I can't imagine the Orioles give a rats-rear-end what Jayson Stark thinks.

And the Orioles, to a man, aren't dumb. They know they're 43-52. They have the internet. They're know they're in last place.

But there is a question that is now starting to percolate and will linger around the club for the rest of 2025.

I think you know what it is, even if you don't want to talk about it in dark places at parties that no one in your neighborhood wants to acknowledge.

Here's the question: Will Mike Elias survive this?

There are some rumblings from the Warehouse that he might not.

I don't want to say a whole lot more than that right now, but the salt in the hour glass is starting to dwindle. And it might not get refilled when it's empty.

Elias was, for a while at least, the town's fair-haired-boy. And with good reason.

When he showed up here, there was no real plan of attack for improvement. The club was way behind in both analytics and international scouting, two areas that Elias vowed to focus on and improve. And to his credit, he achieved those goals.

The club was surprisingly competitive in the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign at 25-35, then started to show signs of life in 2022 when they finished with 83 wins. A year later, they were the shocking winners of the A.L. East, but were quickly ousted by the red-hot Texas Rangers in the ALDS.

Last season saw them trickle back a tick, but they still won 91 games and made the playoffs as a wild card team, only to flatline offensively in two home playoff losses to the upstart Kansas City Royals.

"I wouldn't say that loss to the Royals put him on the hot seat," a team associate told #DMD this week. "But a second straight two-and-out, at home, didn't do much to gain him favor with the new ownership group."

In comparison to Peter Angelos, David Rubenstein seems far more like Steve Bisciotti in terms of patience with "his people".

But therein lies the rub.

Rubenstein didn't hire Elias. He inherited him.

Steve Bisciotti didn't hire David Modell or Brian Billick. They were both part of the purchase price. But he brought in Dick Cass to help him complete the full ownership transfer from Art Modell and then, of course, gave Cass the President's role and moved the younger Modell into the always exciting "advisory position".

A few years later, he got rid of Billick and brought in John Harbaugh.

Rubenstein inherited Elias, Brandon Hyde and the rest of the front office staff.

They aren't "his people".

At some point, they're getting replaced. It's just the way things work.

One of them, Hyde, already got expurgated. Whether Tony Mansolino is "David Rubenstein's guy" remains to be seen, but the bet here is Mansolino isn't part of the team's staff in 2026.

The question, though, again, is this: Will Mike Elias be the team's GM next season?

I'm not so sure.

And this isn't me advocating for his firing, either. I'm just asking the (obvious) question that's attached to a club that goes through a terrible season one year after a second straight disappointing post-season finish.

Will Mike Elias survive?

I have a friend who was a local judge for two-plus decades. One day, after a round of golf, I asked him about the "pressure" of sitting up there and ruling on people's lives.

"It's not easy," he said. "But after a while you get used to it. Someone has to judge you if you break the law or there's a disagreement that needs to be settled in court."

"You seem pretty cavalier about him," I pressed him.

"Well, at first it was daunting," he said. "My second year I had a domestic case that involved a popular member of the community and I remember being called "soft" when I gave him 30 days in jail. I thought that was a harsh sentence at the time. Today that same crime would have resulted in a year or more, at least.

Six years later, I was on the bench for a vehicular manslaughter case that was fairly high profile in town and I had to sentence the guy and I took into account his behavior during the trial and the fact he didn't seem at all remorseful about his role in the whole thing. Ten years was the maximum I could give him and that's what I did. He thought he was getting 5 with maybe 2 or 3 suspended. He got all ten. I remember leaving the court room that day and realizing I just sentenced someone to ten years in prison. I don't know that I could have done that as a rookie judge."

"Over time," he continued, "it just becomes obvious that you have a job to do and once you've heard the verdict and you know what the state mandates are, you can make the right call."

"I just happened to be the last line of defense," the judge said. "Someone has to judge you. It turned out to be me."

I bring that up today to issue a small "alert" here at #DMD.

Some of this will fall under "new news" and some of it will just be a gentle reminder for some of you who like to work the creases of what's acceptable and what's not acceptable.

I'll start at the end first and get the hard part out of the way.

Someone has to judge you and what you write and contribute in the comments. And since there's no one else in my department except for me, basically, it's going to fall on me to judge you.

I do have someone who monitors the comments section for vulgarity and other nonsense, but whenever something like that gets posted, I receive a text and I can go about deciding if it needs to be removed or not. If I'm unavailabie for some reason, my rule of thumb to my editorial assistant is "If you think it's objectionable, delete it."

But let me be clear so there's no confusion and so no one thinks I'm dodging the issue here.

It's not "Jake's Morning Dish" or "Nathan's Morning Dish". It's "Drew's Morning Dish". And so, the buck ultimately stops with me.

So here's where we're going from here.

If you're one of the 95% of folks who post comments here that are well intentioned, reasonable, insightful, etc., you won't be impacted in the least by what you're about to read.

You can even be wrong with your opinion and that's OK.

Just keep on posting and commenting and being part of the 95% that's "good".

But what we're going to start getting rid of are comments that add nothing at all to the general discourse of the website.

We've had a bunch of them this summer. I get rid of them when I come across them. The folks who posted and then got deleted didn't care one iota that their work got removed. You know how I know that? Because not one of them sent me an e-mail and said, "WTF, dude??? You took down my comment."

They posted with the sole intention of creating trouble. And so, they got the axe.

If you're one of those 5% who posts dumb stuff designed to just ruffle feathers, you're probably wondering who makes the decision to remove your comment(s)?

I do.

It's me, entirely.

Someone has to judge you. If someone didn't judge you, you'd just post craziness whenever you want.

So I'm going to judge you. And if you don't like getting your stuff deleted, here's a tip from the top: Be better.

It's here where I'll also remind you that eventually I'll just flag your IP address and you'll be blocked from commenting entirely. You'll then have to resort to finding other ways to be an airhead, which you probably will, and the game will continue that way until you've run out of IP addresses or energy.

A few of you are on IP address number three here. You should take up golf or boating or some other endeavor that keeps you busy.

I'm also going to remind all of you, again, that you have to post a name or initials with your commentary. We don't have many rules here but that's one of them. We have one grandfathered nickname here -- "UnitastoBerry" -- and that's my decision and on me and that's the end of that story.

Someone here occasionally posts as "DownE'Ocean", whatever on earth that is. That doesn't fly. That's not a name. I don't know what it is, but it's not a name.

If you're not willing to use YOUR name for whatever bizarre reason -- or your initials -- just post as "John" or "Bill" or "Murphy" or "AA" or "BB". I don't care. But you have to use a name or initials when you post a comment here.

If you don't, your comment -- however insightful it might very well be -- will come down.

The great news, as far as I'm concerned, is that we generally go through this about once a year. I'll remind you, you'll oblige me for a while, and sometime in 2026, I'll be back here with another (gentle) reminder.

Thanks, as always, to the 95% of you who make this place great.

As for the 5% who don't contribute to the greatness, the judge is waiting for you.

Someone has to do it. It might as well be me.

Just like my real judge friend, 10 years ago I probably let some stuff slip by or I wasn't as critical as I am now. Over time, though, I've realized it's my job here to keep the place moving in the direction I'm most proud of and that might mean, occasionally, having to judge you.

I'm the only one in my department doing the judging.

If you don't like getting your commentary removed, you have, as I see it, three distinct options.

1. Post better comments that add some quality to the discourse.

2. Stop posting comments.

3. Start your own website and post whatever you like there.

Are we good?

Good.

On we go.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns. #5 was Tommy Fleetwood. #4 was Ludvig Aberg. #3 was Harris English.

#2 Robert MacIntyre -- He's a left-handed version of Brian Harman. And with all due respect to Harman, if he can win a British Open, so, too, can "Bob" MacIntyre.

MacIntyre shoulda, coulda, woulda won at Oakmont CC last month if not for the heroics of J.J. Spaun at 17 and 18 on Sunday.

It feels like he's on the verge of something great. An Open Championship title at Royal Portrush would certainly quality as "something great".

In 18 TOUR events this year, MacIntyre has made 16 of 18 cuts. He's 20th in FedEx Cup points.

He was "off" last week the Scottish Open, where he made the cut in defense of his 2024 title, but finished at +2 with a T65.

That doesn't matter.

What does matter is he's a solid, young player, enjoying one of the best years of any European player not named Rory McIlroy, and he's primed, perhaps, to win one of golf's four majors this week in Ireland.

Oddsmakers like his chances, too. "Bobby Mac" is currently at +3500.

Monday July 14, 2026

#DMD

Issue #3976

boat raced by the marlins?

Yesterday's 11-1 loss to the Marlins marked the end of the first half of the season for the Birds.

They limped to the finish line worse than Side 2 of the album "Beatles for Sale", losing to a very pedestrian Miami team by a combined score of 17-1 on Saturday and Sunday at Camden Yards.

You probably heard by now, but if not, here was the icing on the cake: Ex-Oriole Kyle Stowers homered in his first three at-bats and eventually put together a nifty little 5-for-5 day with 6 RBI.

Lots of people took Stowers' performance and used it as an opportunity to do a drive-by on O's GM Mike Elias. I get it. I mean, Stowers had a very good first half for Miami.

But when that deal was made last July and the Birds obtained Trevor Rogers for Stowers and Connor Norby, I don't remember people in town doing jumping jacks and handstands about the future of Kyle Stowers in Baltimore. There was virtually nowhere for Norby to play in Charm City, so his departure was eyewash. And, as we've seen in Miami, he's not exactly turning into Jose Altuve or Dustin Pedroia.

Stowers is enjoying his "full playing time" status with the Marlins. His meteoric rise has been tempered somewhat this season by the resurgence of Trevor Rogers, but make no mistake about it, people in Charm City are going to roast Elias for shipping off a guy who has put together a very nice campaign with the Marlins...thus far.

That he did what he yesterday was more about the baseball gods than anything else. No disrespect at all intended to Kyle Stowers, but he's not having another 3 homer game or another 6 RBI game this season. The golf gods gifted him a chef's kiss afternoon in Baltimore on Sunday. There's no other explanation needed.

And please don't be one of those airheads who looks at the numbers Stowers is putting up in Miami and just presupposes he would put up those exact same numbers in Baltimore this season. Everything is different.

You can't take what Stowers has done with the Marlins and just cookie-cutter it into what he would do with the Orioles. Tyler O'Neill hit 31 homers for the Red Sox last season. How come he hasn't hit 31 with the Orioles this season?

Baseball doesn't work that way. No sport works that way. But there will be airheads around town who just assume Stowers would have 19 homers and 54 RBI with the Birds.

Enough about Stowers.

Let's talk about the O's and where they go from here.

They hit the All-Star break in an uncomfortable spot. They're in last place in the A.L. East with a 43-52 record.

If you believe it will take 86 wins to snag one of the three Wild Card spots in the American League, that means the Birds have to finish 43-24 to post a record of 86-76 in 2025.

38-29 would be decent baseball.

40-27 would be excellent baseball.

43-24 would be scorched earth baseball.

I just don't see the Orioles and "scorched earth baseball" colliding in the season's second half.

This thing isn't over yet.

But it's approaching over, I'm afraid.

It's one thing to ask the team to get hot and move closer to .500.

It's one thing to hope they can win 8 of their first 10 after the All-Star break and show signs of life.

It's another thing, entirely, to think the Orioles can go 43-24 in their last 67 games.

I just don't see how that's possible.

The big topic in my social circles the last week or so has centered on the trade deadline and who I think the O's should trade.

This one's actually pretty simple.

Follow this golden rule: If the player in question is under contract in 2026 (and beyond) and you're 100% confident he can help you win next season (and beyond), you keep him.

In this particular group I'd list guys like Rogers, Kremer and Bautista. All three of them have been floating around the MLB rumor mill over the last couple of weeks as potential trade options for Mike Elias, but I wouldn't deal any of those three if I ran the team.

Now we go to guys who are free agents at the end of the season; O'Hearn, Mullins, Sugano, Laureano, Mountcastle, Morton, Dominguez, Soto.

Whether I want them back or not next season is somewhat important, but I also have to remember that just because, for example, I want Ryan O'Hearn back in Baltimore next season doesn't mean I'm getting him back in Baltimore next season. The key word in "free agent" is......"free". They can go wherever they want.

So, yes, I'd trade any or all of those guys if I can something reasonable in return. I don't have to fleece someone to move Dominguez or Soto. I'll take what I can for them. In fairness, none of those eight guys are doing anything really special overall in 2025, although O'Hearn had a nice first two months and Morton has enjoyed an excellent June and July.

Heck, here's the bizarre part: Laureano might actually be the team's hottest trade commodity right now. Maybe what's happening in Baltimore is an outlier, but he's doing the job both at the plate and in the field.

To me, on a 1-to-10 scale, O'Hearn is a "7" trade chip. Morton is probably a "6". Sugano is a "5". No one wants Mountcastle because he's hurt. Mullins, Laureano, Dominguez and Soto are all "4's".

If I ran this team, I'm not doing anything at the trade deadline that makes me worse heading into the 2025 off-season. I'm concerned (if I'm the GM) about the organization's history of not pursuing high dollar free agents, so I'm certainly not going to make a bunch of rash, "trade for the sake of trading" deals now with the back-up plan of, "We'll just spend a bunch of money next winter and beef up our roster that way."

But if someone wants O'Hearn, Morton or Sugano, they're going to have to give up something "real to fairly real" for any of them. At least that's the way I see it.

Despite their record and spotty, disheveled play in 2025, this is an organzation with some very intriguing pieces at key spots in the field and batting lineup.

Gunnar, Westburg and Holliday are three players that virtually every team in baseball would take in a heartbeat.

If those three stay healthy and stay interested over the next few years, the Birds start each season with a puncher's chance of being good.

Oh, and I'll throw this out there just for kicks.

The one current everyday player under contract for the next several years that I'd potentially move is Colton Cowser. This year he's hitting .221 with 8 HR and 18 RBI. He has 30 hits this season. 30. In three-plus months of baseball, an everyday player has 30 hits.

His on-base-percentage is .279, which is awful.

I'm just not sure we're ever going to see a whole lot more out of him than what we're seeing now.

If you could package Cowser with O'Hearn and a pitcher like Sugano or Morton and get a good prospect (or two) that could potentially fit in and play next season, I'd consider that move.

You're not bringing Morton back. Sugano is 50/50 at this point. O'Hearn might be back if he finds no takers in the free agent chase. Cowser you have, but if you platooned three "4 A" players over the 162-game campaign, I guarantee their combined contribution would be similar (or better) than Colton's projected 14 HR and 32 RBI this season.

So, you're losing two of those guys most likely anyway. It would almost be a Cowser-for-solid-prospect deal in reality.

In general, I'm not in favor of moving young players with years of service available to me, but I don't see Cowser improving all that much. In fact, there's a strong argument he's regressed now that he's made his way around the league for a couple of years.

This is, as we've seen, a flawed baseball team.

As David Rubenstein pointed out last week in a rare in-season interview, injuries have crippled the team in 2025. What was going to be a versatile, favorable starting pitching staff went to hell-in-a-hand-basket right out of the gate when Grayson Rodriguez was shelved.

Zach Eflin has been on the injured list twice already. Cade Povich is currently out. Only Kremer and Sugano have managed to man-up for the entire campaign.

Kyle Bradish will return sometime in the next 30 and if he's fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, we might see 6-8 decent starts from him to close out the 2025 campaign.

But early season (and mid season) injuries to guys like Westburg, Cowser, Mountcastle and Rutschman have curbed the club's offense as well.

Some folks in town accused Rubenstein of "making excuses", but injuries have most certainly impacted the team in 2025. And, yes, every team deals with them. But in the case of this particular O's squad, the ones they were hit with, timing wise, were too much to overcome in the season's first half.

So what's to come?

Well, if they play something close to .500 for the remainder of the season, let's say 35-32 over the last 67 games, that will give them 78 wins on the season. I'd say that's about the best we can expect from the Orioles.

And if they fold their hand at the deadline and ship out 3 or 4 (relatively) important pieces, you might see something more like 68-94 instead of 78-84.

Better days are ahead, I think.

"Better days" won't come around until 2026, though.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns. #5 was Tommy Fleetwood. #4 was Ludvig Aberg.

#3 Harris English -- Remember a few years back when Brian Harman blitzed the field and won the Claret jug? No one expected that triumph, but Harman took advantage of a favorable Thursday-Friday weather draw and putted his way to a 5-shot lead by the time Sunday morning rolled around.

I could see someone like Harris English doing the same thing this week at Royal Portrush.

Over the last decade or so, some fairly off-the-radar Americans have won major titles. Webb Simpson at the U.S. Open back in 2012. Wyndham Clark at the 2023 U.S. Open. Brian Harman at the aforementioned 2023 British Open. J.J. Spaun last month at Oakmont CC.

Harris English fits right in with that flow.

And he's having his best year ever on the PGA Tour, with 15 cuts made in 17 events, winning once (in San Diego) and compiling 3 top 10 finishes and 9 top 25 finishes. He's currently 8th in FedEx Cup points and will almost certainly be playing in all three playoff events unless something really wacky happens with his play over the last month of the season.

He's 3 for 3 in majors this year, with a T12 at the Masters, a T2 at the PGA and a T59 at Oakmont CC in June.

His career numbers at the British Open aren't great, admittedly. He's made the 6 times in 9 tries but has just one T15 finish as a "best showing" claim.

But this is his year. English is close to playing his way onto the Ryder Cup team. Something favorable at Portrush might very well lock him in to Keegan Bradley's team.

Amazingly, you can get him at numbers like 100-1 or 125-1 right now depending on your source. Scoop him up at that price. Quickly.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

Week Record: 3-3

Season Record: 43-52

AL East Standing: 5th (11.5 GB of Tor 7.5 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Ramon Laureano -- .381 AVG HR 2 DB 7 RBI SB

After a promising recent surge, the Orioles once again managed only to tread water. After blowing a lead to the Mets to start the week, they swept a doubleheader but then could take just one from the Marlins over the weekend.

The weekend series effectively ended any realistic hope of climbing back into the Wild Card race and cemented the Orioles’ position as sellers at the trade deadline. The Birds need to be lights out to pull themselves back into the playoff picture and there isn’t much room for .500 weeks.

Following a day off Monday, the O’s opened their week Tuesday with a tough extra-inning loss in the series opener against the Mets.

They built a 6-2 lead behind a 6th inning rally sparked by Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano, with Jackson Holliday adding a homer in the 7th. However, the bullpen faltered, allowing homers to Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso to tie the game.

The Mets capped their rally in the 10th with Juan Soto’s RBI single. Rookie Brandon Young did have an immaculate inning, a rare bright spot in a frustrating defeat, but it was undone by Bryan Baker’s very maculate inning (four runs allowed with no outs) in the 7-6 defeat.

After a rainout on Wednesday the Birds bounced back with a doubleheader sweep of the Mets on Thursday. In Game 1, Gunnar Henderson’s pinch-hit two-run homer in the eighth propelled the Orioles to a 3-1 victory. Grant Wolfram earned the win in relief after another solid outing from Charlie Morton and Félix Bautista locked down his 18th save with a perfect ninth inning.

In the nightcap, Baltimore’s bats remained hot in a 7-3 win. Jordan Westburg starred, launching a two-run homer as part of his three-RBI game. Alex Jackson added two doubles and scored twice. Tomoyuki Sugano pitched six effective innings, allowing three runs for his seventh win.

The Orioles kept rolling on Friday, opening the Marlins series with a 5-2 win. Dean Kremer dominated over seven shutout innings, striking out seven while allowing only three hits. Baltimore’s offense provided timely hits, including RBIs from Westburg and O’Hearn in the 1st and a two-run double from Ramón Laureano in the 3rd.

Momentum stalled sharply on Saturday, as Miami blanked the Orioles 6-0. The O’s offense failed to support another gem from Trevor Rogers (6.2IP 1R 2H 8K). Marlins starter Janson Junk held the O’s lineup to five scattered hits. Gunnar Henderson’s two doubles marked the Orioles’ few offensive highlights.

Baltimore’s woes continued Sunday in an 11-1 blowout loss to Miami. Former Oriole Kyle Stowers haunted his old team, belting three home runs and collecting six RBI. Starter Brandon Young endured another rough outing, giving up seven earned runs over four innings. A late Ramon Laureano solo homer provided the Orioles’ only offense on an otherwise forgettable day.

There were several candidates for Player of the Week. On the mound, Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer both delivered gems, building on their recent success.

Gunnar Henderson was clutch at the plate, delivering a game changing homer off the bench to start the week and finishing with a .421 average including the homer and three doubles.

Nonetheless, it was surprise offensive leader Ramon Laureano that took the award this week. Laureano batted .381 on the week with a home run, two doubles and seven RBI. He also tacked on a stolen base and played solid defense in the outfield.

Laureano has been a pleasant surprise for the O’s and he may just net them a piece to help next season if a desperate team seeks a useful outfield bat at the deadline.

Down on the Farm –

AAA Norfolk split their weeklong series against Jacksonville. Samuel Basallo provided a highlight with a game-tying two-run homer in the ninth inning on Friday, setting up a 5-3 victory in extra innings.

Basallo led the Tides offense on the week with a .500 OBP, .389 average with three homers, three doubles and ten RBI. The big week lifted Basallo’s season-long OPS to .974 (4th in the league) with 19 homers (2nd in the league) for the youngest player in the league.

Basallo has done nothing to diminish his outlook as a future star this season. However, it appears the Orioles are in no hurry to call him up, at least not until his rookie eligibility for next season is secured. If the recent rash of catcher injuries hasn’t spurred a call up, it may just not be in the cards this season.

Pitching prospect Chayce McDermott delivered his most promising start of the season on his way back from injury. McDermott limited the Jumbo Shrimp to one run on five hits with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings.

AA Chesapeake had an uneven week against Reading, splitting Saturday’s doubleheader but dropping three games overall. Max Wagner shined in the Baysox’s lone win Saturday, hitting two home runs for his first career multi-homer game. Catcher Creed Willems continued to lead the Baysox offense, batting .353 on the week with two homers and four RBI.

On the mound, 24 year old Levi Wells delivered four shutout innings with six strikeouts and one walk. Meanwhile, Zach Eflin made his first AA rehab start, pitching four innings while giving up two runs on five hits.

Sunday July 13, 2026

#DMD

Issue #3975

marlins beat o's with a junk pitcher

OK, the "junk pitcher" comment was low hanging fruit.

You knew it was coming.

His last name was Junk. His pitching, at least on Saturday in Baltimore, was far from it.

The Marlins got a terrific start from Janson Junk and used a late 4-run rally to turn a nailbiter into an easy 6-0 win on Saturday in Bawlmer.

Trevor Rogers acquitted himself well in his first start against his former team. Rogers worked into the 7th inning of a 0-0 game, then gave up a run and departed trailing 1-0.

The Birds couldn't do anything against Junk and two other Florida relievers, and then Scott Blewett came in and, well, he blew it, giving up 4 runs in the 9th inning to turn a 2-0 game that was still in question into a 6-0 laugher.

Junk...and Blewett...both in the same game. Talk about a couple of lay-ups for the editorial staff here at #DMD, huh?

So the O's dropped a 6-0 decision to Miami and will finish up the proverbial first half of the season today with one more contest against the Marlins. A win today and they're 44-51 at the deadline. A loss and they're at 43-52 and on the outskirts of that mythical 48-52 record I've been referencing after 100 games.

None of these games in July are "must wins" or anything like that, but 7 games under .500 at the break would be a lot better than 9 games under .500 at the break.

There's no use in re-hashing what happened on Saturday at Camden Yards. The Orioles managed just 6 hits in total (5 off of Junk) and had one extra-base hit all day (a double by Gunnar).

You're not beating anyone with 6 hits and no runs scored.

End of story.

But if you're looking for the silver lining of the day, it was Trevor Rogers...again.

Yes, he suffered the loss, but he gave up 1 run in 6.2 innings of work. What more do you want from the dude?

And now the question has to be asked: Has Rogers done enough over the last month to have any trade value in late July? Or should the Orioles continue using him in 2025 with a eye to the 2026 campaign?

Getting Rogers to perform up to expectations in 2025 is almost like signing him as a free agent. You gave up two players for him LAST YEAR. After his abysmal performance in '24, the O's had to be thinking "let's cut bait with him and take the "L" we so richly deserve".

Instead, the veteran southpaw has been awesome in 2025 with the big league club.

Trade him? Or keep him?

It's hard to believe we're talking about Trevor Rogers in a "trade him or keep him" discussion, isn't it?

This is setting up to be a pretty big day for some American golfers at the Scottish Open.

What was once a sleepy little tournament played the week before the British Open has turned into quite a big deal now that most of the top players in the world sign up it. This year is no different, with almost every top name competing in Scotland and then hopping on a short flight to Ireland later on today to begin their prep work for next week's "Open Championship" as they call it over there.

American Chris Gotterup is looking for his 2nd career win on the TOUR, but this would be a massive victory for him compared to the alternate-site event he won at Myrtle Beach last year.

Gotterup played his college golf at Rutgers, then transferred to Oklahoma and earned his TOUR card through the PGA University program, which gives out TOUR cards to the top 10 college players in any given season.

Even with a win today, Gotterup is unlikely going to catch the attention of coach Keegan Bradley, who is now starting to reall sift through all of the viable candidates for the Ryder Cup squad.

Gotterup just doesn't have enough cachet to get Bradley to consider him.

But you know who could catch the captain's attention today?

Wyndham Clark could, that's who. He's 9-under par and just two shots back. And a win for him today and a decent showing next week at Royal Portrush might be enough to get captain Bradley to start thinking about adding the 2023 U.S. Open champion to the U.S. Ryder Cup squads.

Andrew Novak (winner in the 2 man in New Orleans) and Harris English (winner at Torrey Pines) could both use another win to thrust their name in front of Keegan Bradley. And with a win today by either of those guys, all they'd really need between now and mid-August is either one more outright victory or a few top 5's in the FedEx Cup events that start in three weeks.

Andrew Novak a Ryder Cup player? Maybe, yes.

English and Novak are both at 7-under par, which isn't stone-dead just yet. They could shoot 5 or 6 under today and have the leaders to shoot 1 or 2 under and they'd be hoisting the trophy at day's end.

Clark, English and Novak. They have a lot to gain by winning today in Scotland.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns.

#4, Ludvig Aberg -- I was worried there for a while that Aberg might win the Scottish Open, which would have made winning the British Open next week very difficult.

Alas, he had a poor round three yesterday and is likely not winning this week's event in Scotland.

But he sure could win next week.

If you ask the TOUR players who the actual "best" player is that doesn't have a major title, almost every one of them would tell you it's Aberg.

He does have a tendency to go cold with the putter from time to time, but all in all he plays without a blemish in his game.

Aberg drives it far, hits it straight, has a great iron game and doesn't really need much of a short game because he hits it so far and straight. But when called upon, his chipping and work around the greens is excellent.

He's going to win a lot of majors in his career.

Next week could be the first of many.

He's at 20-1 for the British Open, which is right about where he should be.

Saturday July 12, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3974

o's are buying...but who?

OK, two more wins over the Marlins this weekend and the Birds will be 45-50 and most certainly not in a position to be selling off any "real" pieces this month at the trade deadline.

Bryan Baker's gone, but that had nothing at all to do with "selling" and everything to do with "this guy stinks and we can get Tampa Bay to overpay for him so let's do it."

But once the Birds return from the All-Star break, they're going to shift their attention to buying, not selling. I do see where it's possible that the O's might not do anything of substance at all at the deadline, deciding instead to "standing pat". They just don't have a lot to give away in the trade department so they might have to stand pat on necessity, not desire.

But on the whole, given the choice of buying or selling, they're going to buy, given they'll only be 5 or 6 games out of a wildcard spot at the deadline.

Who are they buying, though?

All kidding aside, they might need a veteran catcher. I know the standing joke on the internet is the three toughest jobs in Baltimore are, 1) Orioles catcher, 2) Baltimore City Police Officer, and 3) Baltimore City school teacher. It's only half-funny, I guess, but it's true. Being an Orioles catcher is tough work these days.

If they could land a veteran catcher cheap, they might be wise to do that. Especially one that, you know, can both throw and hit.

They could definitely use a right handed bat to go along with O'Hearn at first base/DH. It's apparently not Coby Mayo. At least not in 2025.

The problem? There aren't any available, really. Josh Naylor of the Diamondbacks is being talked about a lot as a possible trade candidate around the league, but he's basically Ryan O'Hearn 2.0. The O's need a right handed bat or three, not another lefty.

Marcell Ozuna of the Braves might be this year's version of Eloy Jimenez a year ago, except Ozuna will probably at least break a sweat trying to be a contributor. However, he's been nicked up with injuries (again) and his value at the deadline will rest almost strictly on his health.

If Ozuna's hip continues to bother him, his appeal as a trade piece in July is almost nil.

However, if he's somehow healthy and motivated, Ozuna could be an asset to the O's or another playoff-hungry team.

The other big names that might be available; Bregman, Arenado, Suarez, all play third base and don't appear to be a natural fit with the Birds. And none of those guys are coming to Baltimore (or anywhere else) to be a show pony and only play a few times a week. If you get Alex Bregman, you're playing him. Like, every day. So he wouldn't fit in Baltimore unless Jordan Westburg gets hurt again.

Wait. On second thought, maybe a back-up/fill-in/substitute 3rd baseman isn't a bad idea after all. Westburg does enjoy a monthly trip to the injured list, it seems.

There are outfielders in the mix worth thinking about; Taylor Ward of the Angels is one that comes to mind right away. He'd basically take the spot of Tyler O'Neill which, well, isn't a bad thing at all.

Pitching? There are lots and lots of arms available.

Starters are plentiful if the O's want to snag one for the stretch run. Luis Severino of the A's will draw a lot of attention, as will Zack Littel of the Rays. After giving Tampa Bay Bryan Baker, the O's might have ruined their friendship with the Rays, but Littel will be much sought after if Tampa Bay is going to part company with him.

Edward Cabrera, who faced the O's last night in Baltimore, is expected to be made available by the Marlins. Sandy Alcantara is also thought to be available, but that one will come with a huge asking price.

Bullpen arms are also going to be easy to obtain. Seth Lugo of the Royals will get a nice off-season free agent deal next winter, so Kansas City might be willing to let him go in July if they get a big bang for their buck in return. The Yankees are apparently interested in Lugo. Who knew?

If nothing else, I can see the O's standing pat with regard to position players and adding one or two bullpen guys, including a lefty to offset the loss of Keegan Akin, however long that might be. Adding two relievers probably makes the most sense. Who knows, maybe even three if they can make those deals without giving up a lot of talent in return.

A month ago, buying at the deadline instead of selling was a laughable thought.

But now it's far more of a reality.

A right handed bat or two. A couple of quality arms in the bullpen. That's really all the O's need.

That's pretty much what they tried to do last summer, remember. Dominguez and Soto. Jimenez. Rogers. Eflin. Elias wasn't afraid to pull the trigger on deadline deals last year.

But July deals might might be a bit tougher this summer. Some of the team's younger trade collateral is already gone. Maybe Kjerstad or Mayo has to go in a deal this month, but realistically the Birds don't have much to give up this time around.

There was some yapping a week or so back that the both the Dodgers and Phillies are interested in Felix Bautista, which seems kind of natural. It's like saying, "I'm interested in Jennifer Aniston."

But being interested and getting Bautista are two totally different things. I don't really want the O's to trade him, but if they were to deal him at the deadline, I'd certainly much prefer to see him go to a National League club. If the Dodgers or Phillies vastly overpaid for him and the O's fleeced one of those teams in a Bautista deal, I'd probably wind up eventually being OK with it.

Right now? I say keep Bautista. But I'm willing to listen to what any team has to offer for pretty much any player except Gunnar, Westburg and Holliday. Everyone else can be had for the right price.

Selling does remain an option if the O's want to get rid of guys like Baker, Kittredge, Cano or Soto, even. You know, players who don't crush you if they're gone tomorrow.

In the end, though, it seems reasonable to think the O's basically must be buyers if they want to leapfrog over 6 or 7 teams and make the playoffs as a wild card team.

Will they buy?

And who will they give up?

We're going to know in two weeks or so.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay. #6 was Sam Burns. Tommy Fleetwood was #5.

#5, Tommy Fleetwood -- He might still have some residual scar tissue from that loss to Keegan Bradley three weeks ago, but if Tommy Fleetwood can shed that by next week, we think he has a great chance to win at Royal Portrush.

I know he's been snakebit on the PGA Tour and all. But his talent and ball striking abilities are unquestionably "major worthy". And winning the British Open seems very much like something he's apt to do long before he wins a tournament on the PGA Tour. It would be very "Fleetwood like" for him to win at Portrush.

The only question, as we saw at the Travelers last month, is this: Can he close?

He couldn't close the deal at the Travelers. He's failed to close the deal a few other times on the PGA Tour. But he's finished other events on the DP European Tour. He's won over there.

So why not win "over there" again next week at the British Open?

We love his chances.

He's currently listed at +2800 next week. Those odds are a little slim for a guy with no career wins on the TOUR, but we get it. He's playing a home game, basically, next week. We still think he's a great investment.

Friday July 11, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3973

stranger things...have happened

OK, I'm going to say it now and occasionally I'll come around here and remind you that I said it on July 11, 2025.

You know, just to remind you.

Keep your October open.

That's it. I'm telling you today.

Don't blame me if you don't keep your October open and then you're suddenly scurrying because you scheduled a weekend golf trip with the boys or you caved in and told your wife you'd go see her mom up at Cape Cod on the second weekend in October.

Keep it open. Keep. Your. October. Open.

The Birds are 42-50 and starting to percolate a little. Two out of three or even a 3-game sweep of the Marlins this weekend and the hometown nine will be perched in a nice spot at 44-51 or 45-50. And from there, anything can happen.

Mike Elias might have tipped his hand early with yesterday's trade of Bryan Baker to Tampa Bay, but I think that was more about getting the draft pick than it was about "selling" as the trade deadline approaches. Elias wouldn't normally send a player to a division rival unless the deal was simply too good to be true.

Why the Rays wanted Baker of all people is beyond me, but some of you like the Beatles and some of you like Blink 182, so I get it. I have to imagine Tampa Bay could have found something better than Baker if they had rummaged through enough bullpens around the league, but whatever.

In case you missed it, Baker had quite the debut last night for Tampa Bay. He arrived in Boston at 3 pm after learning of the trade, then entered the game in the bottom of the 7th with a 3-1 lead and the wind at his back. 10 minutes later, Baker had allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks and the Rays were asking Mike Elias what the return policy was on the merchandise they had just purchased earlier in the day.

Anyway...good luck to Bryan Baker. And good luck to the Rays with Bryan Baker.

Keep your October open, sports fans.

That's all I'm saying.

So, with that theme in mind -- you know, "stranger things have happened" -- let's look at some things that (mostly) did happen in the world of professional baseball.

You have two jobs this morning. 1) Keep your October open, and, 2) Tell me which of these two things below actually didn't occur in the history of Major League Baseball.

Like, for example, did you know Cy Young, as great as he was, never actually won a Cy Young award? It's true. (Or is it?).

Anyway...I'm here all week. Tip your wait staff, please.

So, it's important to remember the rules. They're simple to follow. You can't use Google, ChatGPT or any other form of internet assistance to come up with the right answer. Use your brain. If you went to Loyola Blakefield, you can just take a wild guess.

I'll post the answers in the Comments section later on this afternoon.

OK, here we go. 5 of these 7 are real. Two are not. Which two aren't?

1. The great Stan Musial finished his career with 3,630 career hits. That's the 4th most in Major League history, for those that don't know that and want to impress a pretty girl at the dockside bar on a summer weekend sometime soon. But did you know this? Musial had exactly the same number of hits at home as he did on the road -- 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 away. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

2. Don Mattingly had 6 career grand slams in his 14-year run with the New York Yankees. Amazingly, all six of them came in one season, 1987, which ties a Major League record (with Travis Hafner) for single-season slams. Mattingly never hit a grand slam in any other season in his 14 year career except in 1987 when he hit those six.

3. Eric Bruntlett of the Phillies recorded the first-ever unassisted triple play to end a National League game on August 23, 2009. Playing second base with runners on first and second, Bruntlett caught a line drive (1st out), stepped on second base (2nd out) to get the guy going from second to third and then tagged out the guy coming from 1st to 2nd. Oh, and here's what's really weird. Bruntlett made consecutive errors in that inning that put the two runners on base in the first place.

4. Orel Hershiser of the Dodgers has the MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings (59), but did you also know that in those 59 scoreless innings in 1988 he didn't walk one single batter? He went 23-8 that year and did have 73 walks, but none of them came in the seven games that comprised his 59-inning scoreless streak.

5. Nolan Ryan threw 7 no-hitters in his career and struck out a MLB record 5,714 batters, but only captured one Cy Young award and even that had an asterisk, as he shared the award with Jim Kaat of the Twins in 1972. One year later, he finished 2nd to Jim Palmer for the '73 Cy Young award.

6. In the third at-bat of his career, Ichiro Suzuki hit a double to raise his average to .333. For the rest of his career, Ichiro's career batting average never dipped below .300. Not once. Not, like, ever. He started his career hitting .500 in his first game (2/4) and never again saw his career batting average go below .300. Un-freakin'-real.

7. Khris Davis (not our Chris Davis, the other one, with a "K") played four consecutive seasons of 120-games plus and in each of those four seasons, his final batting average for the year was .247. He hit .247 in 2015 with Milwaukee and then hit .247 in '16, '17 and '18 with the Oakland A's.

OK, your task is to pick the 2 that aren't real.

And............go.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

gold cup: what we learned

Road to the Final: Steady Progress and Resilience

The U.S. Men’s National Team put together a commendable run to reach the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, navigating group play and the knockout rounds with steady, if unspectacular, performances.

Fielding a roster missing most of the European-based starters, the Americans topped Group D with a perfect 3-0-0 record.

The US opened with an impressive 5-0 win over an overmatched Trinidad and Tobago. They followed that with a tougher 1-0 win over a more talented Saudi Arabia. The Americans secured the top spot in the group with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Haiti in the group finale.

In the quarterfinal, the team survived a stern test from Costa Rica, battling to a 2-2 draw before prevailing in a dramatic penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Matt Freese emerged as an unlikely hero by saving three spot-kicks, and the U.S. advanced 4-3 on penalties.

Diego Luna’s electrifying first-half brace (two goals) propelled the U.S. to a 2-1 semifinal win over Guatemala in St. Louis, punching a ticket to the Gold Cup final, setting up a heavyweight final clash with archrival Mexico.

Through these stages, the U.S. displayed defensive grit and moments of attacking promise, even if they often had to grind out results rather than win with flair.

Facing Mexico in a tournament final on home soil, the U.S. got off to the perfect start but ultimately could not hold off El Tri’s rally.

In front of a heavily Mexican-leaning crowd in Houston, the American side struck first when center-back Chris Richards headed home a long free kick in just the 4th minute. That early goal jolted the crowd and gave the U.S. a surge of belief.

For the remainder of the first half, however, Mexico responded by seizing control of possession and pinning the US in their own end. The equalizer arrived in the 27th minute, as Raúl Jiménez got a step on Tim Ream in the box and blasted a first-time shot past Freese to make it 1-1.

The second half saw a more balanced battle, but as the half wore on Mexico’s quality in midfield began to tilt the match. In the 77th minute, a glancing header off a free kick found Mexico’s captain Edson Álvarez narrowly onside to nod home the game winning goal.

The US lacked the attacking quality to find the equalizer and Mexico hoisted their second straight Gold Cup trophy.

Richards Steps Into Leadership Role

Chris Richards was the clear standout for the US throughout this Gold Cup run. Richards not only cemented his place as a starting center back, but emerged as one of the team’s most indispensable players.

Still only 25, Richards played every meaningful minute of the tournament and embraced a leadership role usually reserved for more seasoned veterans. His poise on the ball and line-breaking passes out of the back were crucial in breaking through defenses throughout the tournament.

In addition, Richards demonstrated his aerial dominance on both ends of the field, battling with opposing attackers and providing a valuable set piece target with several critical goals.

His performances in this Gold Cup leave no doubt that he’ll be anchoring the back line in next summer’s World Cup. The next step will be finding him the right partner in central defense to form a reliable duo (more on that later).

Tillman Makes A Case for Larger Role

With the absence of attacking stars like Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna, the burden of creativity fell to 23-year-old Malik Tillman.

Despite some rough moments in the final against Mexico, Tillman largely thrived in this role, frequently catalyzing the US attack. His talent was apparent coming off a season where Tillman was named to the Team of the Season while helping his club PSV to a Dutch league title.

However, in a US shirt, Tillman had only shown flashes of potential in previous call-ups. In this tournament he put together his most consistent run of form for the USNMT.

Tillman not only led the team in goals + assists but was also one of the few players that looked competent against the tougher competition the US faced in the two pre-tournament friendlies.

Deployed largely as a central attacking midfielder or second forward, he was given the keys to the American attack and he used them to great effect. Tillman led the team in chances created and looked comfortable taking on defenders with the ball at his feet, something the U.S. often lacked when he wasn’t on the field.

Tillman possesses a smooth touch and an ability to glide past challenges in midfield, which helped the U.S. unlock bunkered defenses at times when the attack was otherwise stagnant. He also displayed a willingness to get “stuck in” to tackles defensively, starting several promising counter attacks.

By tournament’s end, Tillman made a convincing case that he belongs with the full A-team going forward. With his blend of vision and technical ability, he is positioning himself as a candidate to seize a regular role in the U.S. midfield as World Cup 2026 approaches.

With a $46 million dollar move to German Bundesliga power Bayer Leverkusen on the horizon, Tillman has a chance to really push his game to the next level.

Luna Shows Flashes

Another youngster who flashed his potential was Diego Luna, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder who provided some much-needed creativity. During the group stage, he showed a few moments of inspiration: a clever through-ball here, a nifty dribble there.

It wasn’t until the knockout rounds that Luna truly announced himself. In the quarterfinal against Costa Rica, with the U.S. trailing, Luna scored his first senior international goal to pull the game level before halftime.

It wasn’t just that he scored but he also did the work in the buildup to help set up the goal. Luna built off that game with a career day in the semifinal, scoring two outstanding goals to lead the US past Guatemala.

That game showcased everything Luna can bring to the table, however his performances were not without inconsistency.

For every eye-catching turn or inventive pass, there were stretches where he drifted out of games or made sloppy turnovers. He especially seemed to fade from the game against the tougher competition from Switzerland, Turkey and Mexico.

The takeaway on Luna is that the talent and creativity are undeniably there but he will need to continue developing his consistency and impact over 90 minutes.

He’s probably not ready for a starting role with the full-strength team just yet, especially with players like Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah on the field. That said, Luna’s trajectory is encouraging.

This tournament gave him a taste of high-level competition and should fuel his growth. If he can build on these flashes and become more polished, he could force his way into the 2026 picture as a super-sub or more down the line.

Starting Striker Remains a Question Mark

If one recurring issue was highlighted yet again in this Gold Cup, it was the USMNT’s ongoing lack of a clinical No. 9. The Americans entered the tournament without their top-line strikers – Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, and Josh Sargent were all absent for various reasons – and unfortunately none of the forwards in the Gold Cup squad managed to truly fill that void.

The team’s goal-scoring output often had to come from midfielders or even defenders, as exemplified by Richards scoring in the final and Tillman shouldering much of the creative burden.

In the group stage, feel-good story Patrick Agyemang feasted on the minnows racking up a couple of goals against weaker opposition, but against stronger defenses the U.S. frontmen struggled to find the net.

Agyemang has some clear strengths, his physicality was able to overwhelm weaker defenders, helping him win battles for balls in the channels that initially seemed hopeless.

Unfortunately his flaws were on full display in this tournament as well, with a heavy touch often killing attacking moves and examples where his reading of the game was a step slow.

In the knockout games versus Costa Rica and Mexico, Agyemang was largely kept quiet, finding more difficulty with the more experienced and quality defenders those teams threw at him.

This lack of a reliable goal-scorer up top underscores how important it will be for Balogun, Sargent, or Pepi to step up in future competitions.

Each has shown promise at either club or country with Pepi and Sargent coming off especially impressive club seasons. Hopefully we will see most or all of them when the team reconvenes in the fall.

Center-Back Pairing: Finding the Partner for Richards

While Chris Richards solidified himself as a defensive cornerstone, the Gold Cup also raised questions about his ideal center back partner moving forward. Veteran Tim Ream started alongside Richards for most of the tournament.

Ream, now 37, provides calm leadership and positional discipline, qualities that were valuable in helping guide a young back line to the title match.

However, the pace and intensity of the final against Mexico laid bare Ream’s limitations at this stage of his career. On Mexico’s equalizing goal, Ream was a step slow to react to the through-ball that freed Jiménez.

Throughout the night, Mexico’s attackers looked to target the space behind Ream, knowing he doesn’t have the recovery speed he once did. Simply put, what Ream offers in steadiness he lacks in athleticism, and against top-tier opponents that becomes a problem.

Ream won’t be getting any younger or more athletic by next summer’s World Cup, so the lesson for the U.S. is that they need to identify a long-term partner for Richards as they build toward that tournament.

There are several more athletic candidates for the role, including Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty and potentially Noahki Banks.

They all have pros and cons, but the important thing will be for Pochettino to give these players some opportunities to play with Richards and see how the pairings complement each other in the limited games available between now and next summer.

Looking Ahead

Despite the sting of a final loss to Mexico, the 2025 Gold Cup provided the USMNT with both encouragement and a clear roadmap of what must improve. In a measured, forward-looking sense, there were signs of progress.

The American team held its own with a largely inexperienced roster, and in reaching the final the team at least met expectations.

Outside of the individuals mentioned above, nobody raised their stock significantly. Tyler Adams remains a solid defensive midfielder and team leader who will start in most if not all games.

Johnny Cardoso had several disappointing performances, before missing the rest of the tournament with injury concerns. For a player rumored to be heading to Atletico Madrid, fans were hoping to see a lot more from him in these games.

The starting goalie job continues to be an open competition. David Freese was serviceable for most of the tournament, coming up with clutch saves in the Costa Rica shootout, but otherwise doing nothing spectacular and occasionally stumbling with the ball at his feet.

The rest of this roster is likely too green to have much chance at the 2026 roster. Sebastian Berhalter and Jack McGlynn both impressed with their free kick ability, but neither shined in all aspects of their midfield or attacking roles.

It certainly would have been nice to have the full “A” team get a month together and see where they stood against a full-strength Mexico team after the failures in the Nations League and last summer’s Copa America.

Though there are good reasons to allow some of these overworked stars to have a break from the seemingly never-ending club and international calendar.

One does have to wonder just how the team will build chemistry in a limited set of friendlies before the big show next year. Pochettino will have to hope he can bring in his true first-choice lineup for the September friendlies against South Korea and Japan and that he isn’t hamstrung by early-season injuries. It will be interesting to see how many of the players from this Gold Cup roster are present for those games with everyone potentially available.

Ultimately this tournament may leave more questions than answers with the short run up to the World Cup.

Pochettino will have to maximize the time available to him to work out the best starting combinations, sort out the fringes of the roster and build a true identity and cohesion among the core players in order to propel this team to a run beyond the typical expectations.

The veteran manager now faces the pressure of delivering results worthy of his high salary.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland. #7 was Patrick Cantlay.

#6, Sam Burns -- You're starting to see the trend, I assume. Sam Burns is yet another one of those players without a major who seems destined to win one -- or more -- at some point in his career.

He had a great chance to do that at Oakmont CC in June, but got nipped at the wire by some shaky ball striking and a couple of insanely out of place rules decisions by the USGA regarding casual water.

Still, Burns definitely has what it takes to win a major and the British Open might be a perfect fit for him. Even though he didn't handle the last few holes great on Sunday at Oakmont in what quickly became "U.K. weather", he did slog it around pretty well over the four days in what became a wet, long golf course with lots of trouble just off the fairway.

If you believe in the golf gods, Burns might very well be there on Sunday at Portrush with yet another chance to win a major.

He's currently at +6500, which, like Cantlay, seems almost too good to be true.

Sam Burns at 65-1 to win the British Open? I'll take that, yes please.

faith in sports

One of the things we talked about with our golfers at FCA camp last week was the ability to say to your friends, "I believe in Jesus."

We encouraged them to share that message when they returned home. And to share it with their friends at school in the fall.

"Don't be afraid to tell people you believe in Jesus!" I told them all.

And to that end, I showed them this video of their sports heroes doing just that.

You've seen this one here before, but it's always worth watching and remembering that even the greatest of the greats need God's help to navigate the difficulties of their career and their sport of choice.

If God is good enough for Kevin Durant, He should be good enough for you, too!

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday.

Thursday July 10, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3972

collusion? well, duh, yes, of course

The story about the NFL and the NFLPA agreeing to hide the findings of a collusion hearing involving long-term guaranteed contracts had everyone in an uproar on Wednesday.

I get it. But I also don't get it.

I mean, I understand why people would be concerned about the two parties trying to hide the results of the ruling. I don't quite understand that part of it myself.

But people acting shocked over the whole thing? I don't get that.

For starters, here's what people want to know: Why would the NFLPA not want their clients to know how scummy the owners and GMs were?

Then again, let's ask that famous question, in Latin: cui bono?

Who benefitted from the players not knowing the results of the collusion hearing?

I don't know. That's above my paygrade.

Of course the owners and GM's didn't (and still don't) want guaranteed contracts.

Who would?

But guaranteed contracts are what the NFLPA and the players themselves crave. More money. More money. More money.

The collusion case itself stemmed from the Browns' signing of Deshaun Watson to a fully guaranteed deal in 2022. Once that happened, teams quickly scurried to make sure they weren't "next in line" to face the pressure of giving a QB a guaranteed deal like the one Watson received.

The Ravens and GM Eric DeCosta testified in the hearing. DeCosta was directly in the crosshairs of the collusion case because of Lamar Jackson's deal in 2023, which turned out not to be fully guaranteed after a lengthy, year-long negotiation between the two sides.

There were gobs of text messages and e-mails that flirted with the notion of collusion. Some were very direct, like the ones between the Chargers and Cardinals involving Arizona's pursuit of Kyler Murray, while others were a bit more gray and discreet.

Through it all, though, one thing was very obvious. The owners and GMs were not at all happy with the Browns letting down their guard and giving Watson a fully guaranteed $230M deal.

In the end, the arbitrator ruled while there wasn't collusion, there was an attempt at collusion.

Got it?

Right. It's very weird.

I just don't understand why everyone is getting antsy about this story.

The owners didn't want any player to have a fully guaranteed contract.

That simple concept has helped to wreck baseball and basketball. The NFL owners aren't dumb. They know a player with a fully guaranteed contract is also a satisfied player with a fully guaranteed contract.

Where's the incentive to show up every day and try to be better than you were the day before when you're getting your salary paid out in a guaranteed form no matter what you do?

So, sure, the NFL owners definitely didn't want players having guaranteed contracts.

Tell us something we didn't already know.

That they tried to act like it didn't happen was their own fault. That they tried to hide it and disguise it and play dumb when called out on it was also their own fault.

That said, they were risking a lot of anti-trust freedom if they admitted to collusion.

So all everyone could do was speculate.

The NFLPA knew what was going on. "We know you're colluding. And you know that we know. And we know that you know that we know."

I just don't understand the uproar.

That the two sides conspired against the players isn't all that shocking. There's always another side to the story. That the NFL Players Association tried to hide the results of the arbitrator's ruling.....now that might be a little unsettling and worthy of investigation.

The NFLPA works for the players, not the owners.

Why the NFLPA didn't want their client to know the results of the hearing is weird.

But the owners trying to hide it from the players? Totally expected. It might not be the kosher thing to do, mind you. But totally expected.

These people are playing chess, not checkers.

The owners want to control salaries as best they can and the players want to be as overpaid as they can possibly be overpaid.

It's as natural as peanut butter mixed with jelly.

I don't see why everyone is flummoxed by the whole idea of owners and collusion and trying to control salaries.

Everyone knew it was going on.

Well, except the arbitrator, apparently.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

We had some unexpected news break this past Sunday as the Nationals announced they fired manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo.

Martinez has been with the club for the past 8 seasons and compiled a record of 500-622, while Rizzo was the GM since 2009. Both Martinez and Rizzo were with the club back in 2019 when the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in the World Series.

Since their World Series title, the Nationals have been in a long rebuild, finishing in 5th place in the NL East in 4 of the last 5 seasons. The club began selling off assets during the 2020 season with players like Max Scherzer, Juan Soto and Trea Turner shipped out for a return of prospects.

The team is starting to see some of those prospects pay off at the Major League Level with Mackenzie Gore looking like a true ace of the rotation along with James Wood and CJ Abrams leading the offense.

All 3 of those players came from the Juan Soto deal alone.

This week's news was a real head scratcher for me, especially firing Mike Rizzo when you’re a week away from the MLB draft. Dave Martinez’s seat seemed to be getting hot this year however, he can’t do anything but manage the team that was put together for him by the general manager.

Rizzo had to put together a competitive team using a payroll that’s the 23rd lowest in baseball. The biggest contract during Mike Rizzo’s tenure was the contract he gave Stephen Strasburg, which was a 7-year, $245 million dollar deal that's eating $35 million in cap space this season.

Strasburg was the World Series MVP in 2019 and signed that long term deal the following year, which was negotiated by the well-known agent Scott Boras. Strasburg retired in April of 2024 after a career marked by many injuries.

This was obviously a big mistake made by Rizzo in hindsight and is eating almost 30% of the team’s payroll. I don’t see the benefit of firing him now, especially with the draft next Monday, other than you get a head start in the hiring process.

Even with the head start, you don’t necessarily know who will be available to fill these roles until the season is over. I think Rizzo and Martinez deserved better than this and it’s unreasonable for ownership to have expected this club to be a serious contender this season.

If you were going to fire them, it should have happened before the season started, or even a month ago when they lost 11 games in a row, not the week before the MLB draft and a few weeks away from the trade deadline.

We had a few players reach some big milestones this past week with Manny Machado reaching 2,000 career hits and Clayton Kershaw recording his 3,000th strikeout.

Manny, now, 32, has actually hit two big career milestones in 2025. Last month, the ex-Oriole hit his 350th career homerun and then Monday he recorded his 2,000th career hit. Manny is the 12th player in baseball history to reach 350 homers and 2,000 hits by age 32 or earlier.

In case you're wondering, 8 of the 11 players on that list are Hall of Famers. The other 3 are Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujos, who aren’t eligible yet for the Hall of Fame but are surely both getting in, and the other is Alex Rodriguez, who will have a difficult time getting approval into the Hall from voters due to steroid use in his career.

Manny will be the starting 3rd baseman at the All-Star Game next week, marking his 7th time being voted to the summer classic in his career.

Clayton Kershaw became the 20th player in MLB history and the 4th lefty to reach the 3,000 strikeout milestone as he approaches the 18th hole of his career. Kershaw has had a tremendous career and reaching this milestone is a huge achievement, especially with the injuries he's had to overcome along the way.

He will also be in the All-Star Game next week as a “Legend Pick” designated by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, which is the 2nd time it’s ever been used. The last time Manfred used his “Legend Pick” was back in 2022 when he picked Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujos to be in the All-Star Game.

This will be Kershaw’s 11th All Star Game and the southpaw is also a lock to make it Cooperstown when he decides to hang it up.

Players of the Week --

Position Player: Trevor Story of the Boston Red Sox is starting to get on a roll which has been highly anticipated by Red Sox fans going back to when he signed a 6-year, $140 million dollar contract back in 2022.

Since signing his contract with Boston, Story has struggled at the plate and has battled injuries. He’s having his best season with Boston this year, and this past week, he batted .440 with 3 homers, 10 RBI, and a stolen base.

Boston has been hot recently, winning 8 of their last 10 games and are still in the playoff hunt even after trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. Story is starting to pick up some of the slack left behind by Devers and he’ll need to continue to do so for Boston to make a run for a playoff spot.

Pitcher: This might be a surprise to you as it was to me, but the Maimi Marlins are one of the hottest teams in baseball and are 17-7 going back to June 10th, which is tied for the best record in either league in that span.

Part of that reason has been pitching, specifically, Eury Perez. Perez had an outstanding week, throwing 11 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk, while punching out 15 batters and earning 2 wins.

Perez is a young player and debuted back in 2023, but missed last season due to Tommy John surgery. He is now fully recovered and back to being the hard throwing righty he was in his rookie season. This Marlins team has some very talented young players and even though they will be sellers at the deadline, Perez won’t be going anywhere given how much team control he has left on his contract.

If all goes as planned, the Orioles will have a date with Perez this coming Sunday as the Marlins take on the O’s at Camden Yards for a weekend series.

Rookie: Cam Smith of the Houston Astros had a nice week batting .343 with 6 RBIs and scored 4 times. Cam Smith was originally part of the Chicago Cubs organization and was one of the main pieces in the trade that sent Kyle Tucker from Houston to Chicago.

Cam Smith has power but in his rookie season, he’s been more of a bat for average guy with his average sitting around .290 for the year. Smith was drafted last year with the 14th overall pick out of Florida State and blew through the minor leagues, only playing 32 games before making his MLB debut, which makes him the 3rd fastest player to make his debut in the draft era.

Smith is a great addition to the Astros lineup and is currently the 2nd favorite to win American League Rookie of the Year at +170 odds, only behind Jacob Wilson of the Sacramento Athletics.

Games of the Week --

Friday, July 11th: Seattle Mariners vs Detroit Tigers (Luis Castillo vs Casey Mize)

The Mariners will have their hands full this weekend as they travel to Motor City and take on the American League leading Detroit Tigers. We’ve talked about the Mariners and their starting rotation in the past. This weekend they'll be put to the test.

Castillo is a solid veteran starter with a 5-5 record and a 3.30 ERA this season. Can he silence the red-hot Tigers, who have won 8 of their last 10 games while also facing Casey Mize, who has 9 wins on the season thus far?

Another interesting piece to keep an eye on this weekend is if Cal Raleigh can break the record for most home runs hit before the All-Star break. The current record is 39 homers by Barry Bonds, Cal is at 36. Comerica Park, home of the Tigers, is a deep ballpark which will add more of a challenge for Cal to break the record and he will face Casey Mize on Friday and Tarik Skubal on Saturday, with Sunday’s starter TBD.

Mize and Skubal both have sub 3 ERAs. The odds are against Raleigh for sure, but I’ll be rooting for him to break the record.

Saturday, July 12th: Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros (Jacob deGrom vs Framber Valdez)

The Houston Astros are officially back and are one of the most dangerous teams you can face right now. Even the Dodgers couldn’t keep up with these guys when they played in a series last weekend as the defending champs were swept and outscored 29-6 by Houston in L.A.

The Astros, however, will have to overcome 2-time Cy Young Winner Jacob deGrom, who is pitching to a 2.29 ERA this year. The last time Houston faced him, deGrom pitched 8 scoreless innings, and the Rangers won 1-0.

The Astros will have a good chance of keeping this game close with Framber Valdez on the bump. This pitching matchup is a heavyweight fight and should be a low scoring game.

Sunday, July 13th: Chicago Cubs vs New York Yankees (Shota Imanaga vs Will Warren)

A great interleague matchup looms on Sunday as the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs travel to the Bronx for a weekend series against the evil empire. The Cubs are facing the Yankees at the right time as the Bronx Bombers are 3-7 in their last 10 games and have fallen out of the lead in the AL East.

There’s a lot to digest with what’s going on in the Bronx, with a lack of offense and frustration growing as well as fans calling for Aaron Boone to be relieved of his manager duties. There couldn’t be a better time for the Cubs to face the Yankees, and they’ll have their ace Shota Imanaga on the mound set to face this Yankees offense that’s limping into the All-Star break.

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8 was Viktor Hovland.

#7, Patrick Cantlay -- Yep, we're still on him here at #DMD. At some point, Patrick Cantlay is going to win a major championship. He just is. And we want to be there, front and center, when it happens.

Despite not having a win this season, his 2025 campaign is still stellar. He's made 13 of 15 cuts with 8 top 25's and 3 top 10's.

If there's truly a list of "Best Players Without A Major", he's in the top 3 for sure.

He's made the cut in 5 of 6 appearances at the British Open, with a career best T8 in 2022.

No stats, no data, no analysis.

We believe, much like we saw with J.J. Spaun at Oakmont last month and with Xander Schauffele last year and Matt Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark in years prior, majors are won by players who are "supposed" to win them along the way.

Patrick Cantlay is supposed to win a major. He's simply too good not to win one at some point.

Royal Portrush could be where it all happens for him.

And Cantlay could be next year's Scheffler or Schauffele, where once he wins one, he wins another one or two in a short period of time thereafter.

It's hard to win on the PGA Tour.

It's even harder to win a major championship.

Only the best players win a British Open.

Patrick Cantlay is a "best" kind of player who just might win the Claret Jug.

And his odds, right now, are staggering. You can get him at +5500. That seems like a typo. There's just no way Patrick Cantlay should EVER be 55-1 to win a tournament in which he's playing.

Wednesday July 9, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3971

o's minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm including some of our recent selections, but ultimately this week’s selection belongs to right-handed pitcher Trey Gibson.

Gibson, 23, is currently ranked as the Orioles’ 14th best prospect per MLB Pipeline and had a terrific week for the AA Chesapeake Baysox.

The 6-foot-5, 240 pound righty tossed a complete game shutout (7 inning game) against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (SF Giants) on July 2. Over his seven frames, Gibson allowed just one hit, didn’t walk anyone and fanned six. He was also pretty efficient as well needing just 83 pitches to complete the game and 55 of those went for strikes.

His performance was certainly a standout as he was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for June 30 – July 6.

Since his promotion to AA, Gibson has made five starts for the Baysox and has posted an impressive 2.05 ERA and 0.987 WHIP over 26.1 innings pitched. In addition, the righty has struck out 31 batters against 11 walks and has held opponents to a miniscule .161 batting average and .470 OPS.

Gibson is quickly looking like a diamond in the rough. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023 out of Liberty University and just turned 23 a couple of months ago. Over his time with both High-A Aberdeen and Chesapeake, he has struck out 98 batters this season, which leads all Orioles’ minor leaguers and ranks 10th in all Minor League Baseball.

He certainly is not coming to Baltimore this season as he needs to continue to progress, but it is very encouraging to see the improvement in his command this year against 2024.

This year he has improved his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 3.92 up from 3.03, as well as reduced his hits per nine innings and walks per nine innings.

Finishing the '25 campaign with a strong showing at the AA level would certainly set him up well to possibly begin next season at AAA, which every player knows means you are one call away from the big leagues.

Today's edition of "Happy Hour" was contributed by Josh Michael.

---

(another) gut punch

Conventional wisdom suggests that in a season of 162 games, you win a few like the Orioles lost on Tuesday night at home to the Mets.

You know, the kind of games you "steal" for lack of a better term.

You're down 6-2 in the 8th inning and then, out of nowhere, you rally to tie the score at 6-6 and win the game in extra innings.

Over 162 games, you'll win 3 or 4 like that and lose 3 or 4 like that. Those nights balance out.

Except in the case of our '25 Baltimore Orioles, it feels like they aren't balancing out. Maybe they will. That would be good. But as of now, they're not.

Last night's 7-6 loss to the Mets definitely left a welt.

It was all but done after a Brandon Young masterpiece and two solid innings of work from Soto and Dominguez got the Birds into the 8th inning with a 6-2 lead.

But Bryan Baker got roasted for a pair of two-run homers to turn a done-deal-win into here-we-go-again. Even though the game eventually moved into the 10th inning, that 8th inning was the game's undoing.

The Mets scored in the top of the 10th but wasted a bases loaded situation to keep it close at 7-6.

In the bottom of the 10th, the O's had their "big three" up with that silly ghost runner stationed at second base, but Westburg (whiff), Henderson (foul pop out, nice at bat there, bub) and O'Hearn (ground out to second) couldn't generate a hit and that was that.

That one stung.

In some ways, last night's collapse was worse than the one in Tampa Bay back on June 18. At least in that one, the 8-0 lead came about in the second inning. Yes, an 8-0 lead in baseball should be secure no matter the inning, but that one, at least, you can look to and say "Well, Tampa Bay still had 8 at bats left to score 8 runs."

Last night before a really nice weeknight crowd of 35,200 at Citi Field South, the O's were up 6-2 in the 8th and had the game in hand. Just make a couple of three foot putts and this one's in the bag. Right? Right?

Not right.

The Birds are now 40-50 and in desperate need of at least four wins in these last five games before the All-Star break.

Never mind that only two other teams in modern baseball history have suffered 50 losses in their first 90 games and still made the playoffs that same year. Records are made to be broken or, in this case, "joined".

But four wins over these next five games will put the O's at 44-51 at the All-Star Break and give the team a little bit of momentum -- if that's possible -- heading into the proverbial second half of the season.

I've been saying for roughly two months now that the only way I could see the club not being a "seller" at the deadline would be if they could somehow scratch their way back to a 48-52 record at the 100-game mark.

Flyers fans, leave your calculators in the desk. I got this math handled for you. At 40-50 right now, the Birds have to go 8-2 in their next 10 games to get to 48-52.

Maybe?

Could they?

I think we all know the answer but none of us wants to say it out loud.

Let's see where the the Birds are after this Sunday's series finale vs. the Marlins first. We'll take it from there once we know the club's record after 95 games.

But I'm sticking with what I've been saying all along. 48-52 is the bare minimum. Anything worse than that and I'd be selling off pieces (if we have anything of value to trade, which is very questionable) at the deadline.

With Manny Machado recently recording his 2000th career hit, I figured it would be a good idea to revisit the trade that sent him to the Dodgers back in 2018.

OK, maybe we shouldn't.

The Orioles got one working, functional piece from that deal and it turned out to be pitcher Dean Kremer.

Yusniel Diaz, Ryan Bannon, Zach Pop and Breyvic Valera all turned out to be nothing burgers.

It was Machado for Kremer. Not quite Adam Lambert for Freddie Mercury, but close enough that the comparison might fit.

The issue, as it turned out, wasn't really about who the O's got in return for Machado.

The issue was...they waited a year too long to ship out the mercurial superstar and get something "really big" in return for him.

By waiting until his walk-year, they essentially lost at least 50% of their trade power with Machado. "Renting him" for two months is much different than having him with you for two months and then a full season the following year.

What was worst about it all is that the O's knew, I mean, they freakin' KNEW, they weren't re-signing Machado once he reached free agency.

It wasn't like, "Well, I don't know, maybe he'll stay." He was always gone. Always.

And, so, they got Dean Kremer for him.

Now, yes, getting Dean Kremer for Manny instead of getting nothing for him if he reached free agency was a win. Sure. Kremer's better than nothing.

But the O's botched that whole thing worse than Mark Andrews in the second half of the Bills playoff game last January.

Why do I bring this up today?

Just to get you thinking about these two words.

Ready?

Gunnar.

Henderson.

Start the clock.

I quickly want to address an issue that has cropped up a couple of times recently and it has to do with people leaving anti-religion, anti-God, anti-Jesus comments in the wake of the terrible flooding tragedy in Texas.

When you leave a comment here that is intended to be blasphemous towards God or Jesus, it gets deleted immediately and then, in the same instant, you're permanently gone. That's it. No chance for parole. No more posting comments for you here at #DMD. Bye Felicia.

You can blast me, golf, Calvert Hall, Rush, Training Day, Ted Lasso or anything else I care about. Go ahead and do your thing.

But you're not coming to my website and blasting God or Jesus. Sorry, it's just not happening. You can make of that whatever you want and you can think it's wrong or that I'm "censoring" you or anything else your distorted brain wants to create, but you're not coming to this website and criticzing God or Jesus.

Sorry, but definitely not sorry. Go the dark web and wrestle around with the other pigs and get dirty that way. But you're not spreading your dirt here.

That's all.

As our President likes to say these days, "Thank you for your attention to this matter."

our british open great eight

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the golf season's final major of the calendar is set to take place at Royal Portrush in Ireland, July 17-20.

Over there, because they think the rest of the world doesn't exist, they call the British Open the "Open Championship". We call it what Jim McKay used to call it. The British Open.

We call it the British Open because that's what it is.

And so, on we go.

There are endless storylines with this year's event.

Can Rory cap off a remarkable, career-defining campaign with a "home game" win in Ireland? The last time the British Open was played at Royal Portrush (2019), McIlroy missed the cut and had to watch a fellow native son, Shane Lowry, hoist the Claret Jug.

Can Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd major of the season and move to within a U.S. Open victory of the career grand slam?

Will a LIV golfer other than Bryson finally man-up and win a major championship?

Is it time, finally, for Ludvig Aberg to break his maiden and win the first of what most people assume will be many majors?

Does Justin Rose have one more major in him? He was close at the Masters. Do the golf gods owe him one?

As always is the case over there, the "weather draw" will likely be a huge factor in who is on the first page of the leaderboard in the final round. Will the late/early tee-time rotation get the benefit or will early/late get it? No one knows until the day of, basically.

We'll list our top 8 here between now and Wednesday, July 16. You're going to notice a theme if you pay close attention.

We're not listing Scottie Scheffler. I'll just tell you that now. And the reason we're not listing him is because it should be fairly obvious by now that he has a great chance to win the golf tournament. I mean, he's the best player in the world by 10 lengths. If he plays as well as he's capable, he's winning.

That said, we have a theme with our Great Eight. Here they are.

#8, Viktor Hovland -- You're going to notice something as we publish our eight players. We've eschewed our normal in-depth statistical analysis of fairways hit, greens hit, shots gained, etc. They're all still important. They're just not as important at the British Open, that's all.

Hovland has enjoyed a nice year thus far. He's made 10 of 13 cuts and has a win to his credit at the Valspar back in March. He made the cut at the Masters, PGA and the U.S. Open, where he finished 3rd in the rain and slop at Oakmont CC. That weather, by the way, could be similar to what he faces at Royal Portrush. Keep that in mind.

It's worth noting that Hovland has been bothered by some neck soreness that forced him to withdraw from the Travelers the week after that U.S. Open performance, but he's in the field this week at the Scottish Open, for what that's worth.

His history at the British Open is OK. He's made 3 of 4 cuts as a professional with a T4 finish back in 2022.

Viktor Hovland is too good to not win a major title in his career. He should win more than one, actually. It seems reasonable to think that his first one might come in 2025 at Royal Portrush.

He's currently at +3000 for the British Open.

Tuesday July 8, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3970

four years ago today

When they announced my name on the first tee of the 2021 U.S. Senior Open at Omaha CC and it was my turn to "play away", I remember looking down the fairway to my left and seeing the entire area outside the ropes filled with spectators.

There was a guy, maybe 120 yards away leaning into the restraining rope. He was wearing a bright red baseball hat of some kind.

All I remember was looking at him and saying to myself, "I sure hope I don't hit that man with this tee shot."

It wasn't exactly the kind of positive reinforcement I needed as a "final swing thought" before I teed off in the U.S. Senior Open. But when I saw him and his red hat, it's what came across my mind.

Thankfully, I didn't hit him. In fact, my first tee shot on the opening hole bounded harmlessly into the middle of the fairway and left me with 140 yards to the hole.

"Where did that go?" I asked my caddie, Serge, after I picked up my tee.

Before he could answer, I continued: "I blacked out at impact."

He snickered and took my driver from me and put the head cover back on.

"Right in the middle of the fairway, dude," he said, with a fist bump to match.

All of that happened four years ago today. On Thursday, July 8, 2021.

I put together a very nice round of tee-to-green golf on that Thursday, but my putter didn't fulfill its end of the bargain. I hit 11 of 13 fairways (Omaha CC had five par 3 holes) and 10 of 18 greens.

I toured the 7300 yard course in 81 strokes in that first round, with four putts missed inside of 6 feet and a nasty 360 degree lip out on the 18th hole that robbed me of a great sand save on the closing green.

If I would have putted even "decently" on that first day, my score would have been more like 76 instead of 81. Alas, you have to count 'em all in golf, and when I added them up after the round, it was an "81".

Frankly, it could have been 91 and I wouldn't have cared any more or any less. I played the best I could, balky putter and all, and hit a bunch of really nice, memorable shots in that opening round.

It's one thing to hit a 190 yard second shot into a green at your home course and leave yourself 20 feet for birdie. That's a great shot in golf, on any course, under any circumstances. It's another thing entirely to hit a 7-wood from 190 yards right into the middle of the green on the 4th hole at Omaha Country Club in the first round of the U.S. Senior Open.

In casual conversation with other golf enthusiasts, the topic of "what's the best shot you've ever hit" gets tossed around. I always go back to that 7-wood at the 4th hole on July 8, 2021. It left the club perfectly, soared high into the area, covered the front right bunker with ease and landed nicely right in the middle of the green.

The crowd at the green clapped loudly in appreciation of the shot.

Had they known it was me, a guy from Baltimore who used to stand in the fairway of the 15th hole at Mount Pleasant and say, "You gotta par these last four holes to make the U.S. Open", they might have clapped even louder.

I also played the par 5 16th hole like I knew what I was doing in Thursday's opening round. I nailed a nice drive about 260 yards into the fairway, played a perfect 5 iron layup shot to 100 yards, and zipped a perfect sand wedge onto the upper level of the two-tiered green to within 15 feet of the hole.

No, I didn't make the putt.

But I played that hole in a way that would have made the course designer, Perry Maxwell, very proud. As the saying goes, "I took what the hole was willing to give me." Some of the longer hitters that week were able to get their ball up near the green or into the front bunker in two shots, greatly increasing their chances to birdie the hole.

I just played it simple and within myself. Fairway, fairway, green, putt, putt. Par. Thank you very much.

I made bogey at 17 and 18 that day. I missed the fairway at 17, played a smart recovery shot, then hit a wedge for my third before failing to make a 15 footer for par. At 18, I hit a great drive right in the middle of the fairway but still had 225 yards to the hole. I hit a 5-wood into the front bunker, splashed a nice sand shot to 10 feet or so, then experienced that wicked lip-out I highlighted above.

To end this where I started, I made the U.S. Senior Open in 2021 by qualifying at Argyle Country Club with a round of 69.

I had been close a few other time earlier in my 50's, including once at Applebrook in Philadelphia where I sat on a retaining wall behind the 18th green and watched two players in successive groups make birdie on that final hole to knock me out of qualifying for the Senior Open.

God had a plan for me that day. I just didn't know what it was.

In 2021, I found out what the plan was in the 3-man playoff. After making three straight pars (including a heartbreaking miss of an 8-foot birdie putt that would have sent me through on the 3rd playoff hole), I got to the 4th playoff hole and had a 16-foot birdie putt.

"I've made this putt a thousand times at Mount Pleasant on the practice green," I said to myself as I studied the break.

And that was true. On countless occasions I stood on that green putting with my buddy Greg Ruark and one of us, if not both, would mumble something like, "And now...this 5-footer...to win the Masters."

Or, "He just needs to two putt from 40 feet here and he wins the U.S. Open."

Or, "From 20 feet away, if he makes this, he goes to the U.S. Senior Open."

I always tell people that to play any kind of high level sport, but particularly golf, you have to be a bit of a dreamer.

It's what we all did in the backyard when he adopted Eddie Murray's batting stance in wiffle ball. "Now batting, number thirty three...Eddie......Murray." In that moment, we were not only Eddie, but we were trying to put ourselves into that position where maybe, someday, they'd call out our name at the stadium.

And, so, on that Monday, June 14, 2021, I stood over a 16-foot putt at Argyle CC and said to myself, "I've made this putt a thousand times on the practice green at Mount Pleasant."

You have to be a dreamer.

And I made it. Just like a bunch of other times at Mount Pleasant. Except this time, it actually meant something.

Why do I bring all of this up today?

To remind you that you can do anything you put your mind and heart to.

It was Theodor Herzl who said, "If you will it, it is no dream."

In other words, with strong determination and effort, even seemingly impossible goals can be achieved, and what might appear as a distant dream can become a reality.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You can do whatever you want if you put your mind, body and soul into making it happen.

Once a year now, on July 8, I take a few minutes to remember my journey to Omaha and how it's important to share how I made something happen that seemed almost impossible to achieve given that only a dozen or so amateurs in Maryland ever have played in a U.S. Senior Open.

I would say, without hesitation, all of those guys were more "qualified" to make it than I was. I've played against and with many of them and they're all great amateur golfers. In some ways, I don't belong in their company.

But then, I remember this...

If you will it, it is no dream.

Go on and do what you want to do and remember that statement. You can do it.

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

Week Record: 4-2

Season Record: 40-49

AL East Standing: 5th (11.5 GB of Tor 7.5 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Rogers - 12IP 7H 5BB 2ER 11K

The Orioles kicked off July with a solid week, finishing strong with a weekend sweep of the Braves in a battle of the two most disappointing teams in MLB this season.

Despite the 4-2 week, the O’s gained little ground in the Wild Card race, as the Mariners also swept their weekend series. Baltimore sits at 40–49, remaining fifth in the AL East and 11.5 games back from the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays and 7.5 games behind Seattle for the final Wild Card (with six other teams ahead of them).

Their recent performance, highlighted by the sweep in Atlanta, signals potential for improved second-half play, but as the All-Star break and trade deadline approach, the Orioles will need to play even better to have any hopes of contending down the stretch.

The Orioles started their week with a thrilling extra-inning victory in Arlington. Gunnar Henderson delivered a clutch performance, hitting a go-ahead two-run homer in the 10th and then a two-run double in the 11th to add some insurance.

Ramón Laureano had a standout night as well, going 4-for-6 with three doubles. After Adolis García tied the game for Texas in the 10th, the O’s showed resilience, pulling away in the 11th inning to secure the 10-6 win.

On Tuesday, Jacob deGrom was once again too much for the O’s offense, limiting them to just two runs over six innings. Gary Sánchez provided Baltimore's only offensive highlight with a two-run homer, but Orioles pitching struggled in the loss, with Brandon Young surrendering three runs in four innings before Matt Bowman came on and gave up four more in just 1.2 innings, leading to a 10-2 loss.

In the rubber match on Wednesday the Birds’ bats were silenced by Nathan Eovaldi and the Rangers’ bullpen, while the Rangers offense jumped all over Tomoyuki Sugano in the 6-0 loss. Sugano allowed six runs in just 4.2 innings, continuing a downward trend after a strong start to the season.

It seems the league has started to figure out the Japanese veteran and he will need to make some adjustments in the second half of the season.

The Orioles bounced back on Independence Day in Atlanta behind veteran Charlie Morton (5.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 K) and returning Jordan Westburg, who homered and collected three hits. Cedric Mullins contributed a two-run homer, and Félix Bautista earned his 17th save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, preserving the 3-2 victory.

On Saturday the Birds outlasted Atlanta in a slugfest featuring multiple lead changes. Tyler O’Neill and Jordan Westburg went back-to-back with massive long balls in the 3rd, and Colton Cowser added another in the 4th. Ramón Laureano's RBI double in the 10th broke a 6–6 tie, followed by Jacob Stallings' game clinching two-run double. The Orioles' bullpen trio of Baker, Bautista, and Cano shut down Atlanta late to secure the 9-6 win and the series.

The O’s completed a three-game sweep over the Braves with another strong pitching performance from Trevor Rogers (6.2 scoreless innings, 6 K) and an outstanding day from Jackson Holliday (4-for-4, two-run homer). Seranthony Domínguez earned the save in the 2-1 win, despite surrendering a solo shot in the ninth.

There was a clear cut candidate for this edition of Player of the Week. Trevor Rogers continued his dominant form in 2025, helping the O’s to two wins by limiting Texas and Atlanta to two runs over twelve innings while striking out eleven and walking just five.

Rogers has certainly been a bright spot over the past few weeks. Others deserving mention were Jordan Westburg, who returned from injury to go 4-8 with two homers and three RBI, and Felix Bautista who earned a win and a save over three scoreless and hitless innings while striking out four.

Down on the Farm --

AAA Norfolk had a rough week, going 1-3 against Durham with two games rained out. The only standout at the plate was outfield prospect Dylan Beavers, who continued an impressive season hitting .444 on the week with two homers, five RBI and a stolen base.

Beavers is now OPSing .911 on the season with 10 HR, 24 RBI and 19 SB. At 23 years old, the 33rd pick from the 2022 draft is certainly making a case for a late season look with the Orioles. His .319 batting average is currently 4th best in the International League.

On the mound, 24 year old pitching prospect Cameron Weston delivered a solid start on Saturday, limiting Durham to two runs over six innings with three strikeouts. Weston is second on the Tides in strikeouts with 83 on the year.

At AA Chesapeake, catching prospect Creed Willems paced the offense with a .471 average on the week including two doubles and three RBI. 23 year old Trey Gibson provided the standout pitching performance, with a seven inning shutout, allowing one hit while striking out six and walking none.

Question of the Week --

Is Trevor Rogers’ success real or a small sample size mirage?

Few Orioles fans expected Trevor Rogers, a former All-Star who struggled badly after arriving in a trade from Miami last season, to emerge as a cornerstone of Baltimore’s rotation in 2025.

Yet through five starts, Rogers sports a stunning 1.57 ERA and 0.87 WHIP. Is this sustainable, or just a mirage? What might it mean for the Orioles rotation in 2026?

There appear to be several notable changes this season that could be driving Rogers success. First of all, the southpaw has significantly adjusted his pitch mix, adding a new sweeper to his arsenal and relying less on his four-seam fastball. This new diversity has created deception, allowing Rogers to reduce hitters’ effectiveness, particularly right-handers, who are managing just a .194 wOBA against his fastball.

The new sweeper has been especially effective, generating a whiff 56.3% of the time in limited usage, by far his highest swing and miss pitch.

Rogers has also improved his pitch location, cutting down on high fastballs and targeting the inside edges, greatly enhancing his effectiveness. By elevating the fastball less predictably and keeping off-speeds near the knees, Rogers has kept hitters guessing. The improved fastball command also means fewer hitters’ counts and thus more opportunities to use his wipeout changeup or slider when ahead.

Another crucial improvement from last season is the return of Rogers’ fastball velocity. After averaging just around 91 mph in 2024, he’s now consistently hitting 93–94 mph and occasionally touching 96 mph, possibly due to intensive offseason training at Driveline Baseball.

This velocity uptick has reflected in his sinker as well. Rogers appears to have shifted his release point a bit closer to his body which may be providing enhanced tunneling and sharper vertical break on his slider.

Rogers’ "Stuff+" (Fangraphs) has improved from 89 to 94 since last season, more in line with his 2022-23 number, though still not close to his 2021 All-Star campaign.

All of this has led to a much improved K/BB ratio, which is sitting at 3.00, compared to just 1.73. Rogers is striking out more with the improved swing and miss stuff and his improved control is leading to fewer walks. Rogers is generating whiffs across his entire pitch repertoire, reflecting both improved stuff as well as pitch execution.

While Rogers’ exceptional early performance includes a low BABIP, low home run to fly ball rate, and a high strand rate, which are likely not completely sustainable, the underlying metrics suggest his resurgence is genuine. His expected ERA metrics hover around the mid-3.00s, indicating he may regress somewhat, but still remain a solid rotation contributor.

Trevor Rogers' turnaround in 2025 appears rooted in real improvements rather than sheer luck. With Rogers under team control through at least 2026, he could be a key piece in next season’s rotation if he can maintain these changes to his mechanics, mindset, and approach.

Even with some regression to the mean, a Rogers that nets out as an average MLB starter (think Dean Kremer level), would be a valuable piece for next season, given that every team now needs 6-8 serviceable starters to contend with inevitable injuries.

Anything beyond that would be a real bonus and could help push the Os rotation to a different level. Let’s hope Rogers can maintain his success for the remainder of 2025 as the league adjusts and the sample grows larger.

Monday July 7, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3969

happy hour q and a

Bruce K. asks -- "I saw your antagonizing attempt with the "Oasis is better than the Beatles" comment on Sunday so I have to ask, where would you rank the Beatles in terms of all-time best English/British bands? Humor me please."

DF says -- "I have no way of answering that. At first blush, these bands all better than the Beatles (in no order) - Led Zeppelin, Queen, Oasis, The Smiths, Coldplay. You want me to go on is or that enough? You might say "James" or "Keane" or "Simply Red" are better than the Beatles and I'd say, "OK, sure."

I've never said the Beatles were terrible. I've said they are overrated. They have a few good songs. It's not like I'm equating them to "Face Dancer" or "The The". I'm just saying they were overrated. 81% of their songs sound the same. Anyway, I answered your question."

Ramey asks -- "You're a guy who talks about winning all the time. On your radio show earlier today (yesterday), you said "Even if Brian Campbell wins today, I don't see how he's a consideration for the Ryder Cup team." What would it take for you to think he was worthy now that he's already won twice this year?"

DF says -- "I don't have the exact data in front of me but I think his four best finishes in 17 tournaments this year are two wins and two T32's. I'm pretty sure he's missed more cuts than he's made.

Brian Campbell is an excellent player. Anyone with a TOUR card is excellent. Anyone who wins on TOUR is beyond excellent. But neither event he won featured a strong field. And, yes, that does account for something. It would be different if he was 13 or 17 in cuts made, had two 3rd place finishes, a T5, a T6 and 7th place finish to go with his 2 wins.

Alas, he's caught lightning in a bottle twice in three months. That's not enough to convince ME. But I'm not the captain, either."

Art asks -- "Who is better? Gunnar or Manny?"

DF says -- "Wow, that was short. And to the point. I mean, Henderson is in his 3rd season. It's hard to compare the two. If you're asking who is going to ultimately have the better career, I guess I'd say that Gunnar hopes he can do what Manny has done in his career.

Manny's going to the Hall of Fame someday.

The jury is totally still out on Gunnar going to Cooperstown, because he's only played 3 seasons.

If you're saying I can only have one of those guys on my team, at his zenith, I'd take Manny. And I was (am not) not a fan of Manny's attitude at times when he was in Baltimore. But the dude's a baller, plain and simple. He can hit, he can defend. He can do it all."

---

a sign of life...maybe?

A year from now, the United States will be hosting the World Cup, which also means they'll be playing in the month long tournament as well.

It's been a fairly bleak last 12 years for the U.S. when it comes to international success.

Heck, it's been a bleak last 16, 20, 24 years for the U.S. soccer program.

And by "bleak", let's not get it twisted. The Americans are good at soccer. They're not a bottom feeder or anything like that. They've had some success in various competitions, including the World Cup.

But they've never been a threat to win the World Cup. Never.

And I don't think they're going to be any kind of threat next year, either.

But there was something interesting taking shape last night in Houston, where the Americans dropped a 2-1 decision to Mexico in the final of the Gold Cup.

I wouldn't say the U.S. played "well" last night. Far from it. But they showed real signs of promise in small patches in the game. Now, to take that from 10 minutes to 20 minutes to 45 minutes to 90 minutes...that's the goal.

El Tri used mostly their "A squad" in this Gold Cup, save for a starter or two. The U.S. cobbled together a mix of mostly new guys with a veteran name or three mixed in.

Make no mistake about it, Mexico was the better team last night. But it wasn't a 2-1 "thrashing" or anything like that. Mexico had a bit more polish in the offensive end and that margin of quality was enough to get them the win.

The U.S. rolled out a rather young, raw lineup, and there were times when the play on the field was actually...inspiring...and...entertaining.

And last night's U.S. squad wasn't even the team's "B" roster. They were missing six or eight of their very best players. There might have been only a few guys on the field last night who will see significant action next summer.

But there were moments on Sunday evening where the U.S. side looked, should we say, "international".

Diego Luna looks promising. He's young and green, but promising nonetheless. One thing about him, when the ball gets on his foot, he's thinking about taking it to the goal. He needs to improve before he can demand starting/regular playing time, but there's some hope for Luna in '26 and '30.

Sebastian Berhalter, the son of ex-U.S. skipper Greg Berhalter, also showed flashes of something unique last night. If his last name wasn't Berhalter, people would probably have an enlightened opinion of him. Even if he only winds up being a set-play artist, that's better than nothing.

As we saw with Mexico's game-winning tally last night, free kicks matter, too.

Malik Tillman and Alex Freeman both looked like they might develop into something useful. Neither of them backed down when pressed and Tillman, in particular, looked like he was willing to get stuck in and send a message when it was necessary to do so. Freeman had an excellent goal scoring chance late in the first half but his close-range header hit the Mexican goalkeeper in the face.

Maybe all four of those guys had a case of beginner's luck in this edition of the Gold Cup, but each of them should likely find themselves on the U.S. roster next summer.

Package them with the likes of Pulisic, McKennie, Weah, Reyna, Adams, Musah, Robinson, Aaronson and Dest and you could have the makings of a competitive side.

Make no mistake about it, anything except advancement through group play and at least one win in the knockout stage next summer will be deemed failure, and rightfully so, for the American program. But they have a chance to do that. A very good chance, I'd think, given what they have returning and what we saw in this Gold Cup.

Now...here's the concern.

In the past, the CONCACAF qualifying slate gave us a chance to preview the talent and assess who might step up and be a factor in the World Cup games.

But with the U.S. hosting World Cup '26, qualifying isn't necessary. The U.S. received an automatic berth.

So, over the next 12 months, the only thing left are friendly match-ups that lack the tension and importance of qualifying games.

What we saw in this Gold Cup was, essentially, the "final tune up" that actually meant something.

There were lots of good moments, as evidenced by the Americans making the tournament final against Mexico.

The U.S. side needs to work on some stuff, for sure, but it was definitely a blessing to see new faces and hear new names wearing the red, white and blue. If you're going to see someone ball watch in the defensive end, I'd rather it be Chris Richards than John Brooks, for example.

If we have to endure watching another winger attempt to appropriately collect the ball, settle it, and beat a defender one-on-one, I'd rather watch Luna or Tillman try to make something happen than one of the retreads like Jordan Morris or Josh Sargent.

Someone young is better than someone old. At least in the case of U.S. soccer, anyway.

It's a little bit like the U.S. Ryder Cup team. We've seen enough of Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler, et al. I'd rather give it a shot with someone like J.J. Spaun and Davis Thompson and Maverick McNealy. Let's change it up a bit and see if "new" works better than "old.

I have no idea what the U.S. will do next summer in the World Cup, but if this year's Gold Cup is a barometer of things to come, you can sign me up to watch it unfold.

As a famous baseball manager in town said once upon a time: I like our (new) guys.

---

Speaking of a "sign of life", is that Trevor Rogers I see getting people out with alarming regularity and leading the O's to a summer revival?

Maybe so, yes.

Rogers was outstanding again yesterday and the O's finished off a sweep of the sputtering Braves in Atlanta with a 2-1 triumph.

The Baltimore offense didn't do much in two of the three games, but Morton (Friday) and Rogers (Sunday) more than made up for it with two stellar starts as the Birds got to within 9 games of .500 with Sunday's win.

The O's are now 40-49.

Let's not get the cart before the horse, but.......oh, forget it, let's go ahead and put the cart right where it belongs. Directly in front of the horse.

The Mets and Marlins come to town this week for three games each. 5 wins in 6 outings will put the Birds at 45-50 at the All-Star break.

A record of 45-50 will almost certainly guarantee that Mike Elias won't be a "seller" at the trade deadline.

Whether the O's are buyers instead of sellers remains to be seen, but there's no way Elias throws in the towel on the season if the Birds are somewhere around 6 or 7 games out of a wild card spot when the season resumes on July 18 in Tampa Bay.

Interestingly enough, both Morton and Rogers might wind up being coveted pieces by a playoff contender later this month. It's likely neither of them would garner the O's much in return, but a desperate team -- like the Yankees, perhaps? -- might cough up a little something extra to get a veteran arm like Morton or Rogers for two months plus the post-season.

A lot will be made this week about Miami's Kyle Stowers being added to the All-Star Game, but that's really only because the Marlins had to have a representative in the mid-season classic. Stowers (.280) and Connor Norby (.237) have been "decent" in Miami, but neither of them would have made a dent in the 2025 Orioles roster. so there's no use in complaining about it.

The bad news? If one of those two (or both) has a big game in Baltimore next weekend, you know the pitchforks will be sharp on social media.

The good news? A Trevor Rogers 3-hit, 1 run allowed performance on Saturday against his former team will help cool people off around town.

As I wrote here six weeks ago when the team was almost ready to completely implode before the players got Brandon Hyde fired, the only goal I wanted to see them accomplish was to at least make September interesting around here. And no, not for Ravens football.

I wanted the O's to work their way back into the season in such a way that a game or two or three in September "matters". They aren't quite there yet, obviously, because September is seven weeks away, but if they keep doing what they've been doing under Tony Mansolino, they just might make September baseball worth something in The Land of Pleasant Living.

Is that a fair........point?

I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself.

But, seriously. This O's team might very well be at or above .500 by the time late August rolls around. And if they are, they're in it just like the other 5 or 6 teams who will be vying for a wild card spot.

After what we saw from them in April and May, September baseball that matters is about all you can ask for.

---

Let's field a few questions from the audience today, tomorrow and the next day and try to get caught up a little bit. I'm sorry I've been lax in the Q & A department. I'm on it this week, promise.

Brad asks -- I was watching the PGA Tour event today (Friday) and the announcer was talking about a player hitting a "peeler" for his first shot off the tee and I've never heard of that before and was wondering what it is. I'm only an occasional golfer (5x a summer maybe) so maybe this is new lingo I haven't picked up on. Can you tell me what it is?"

DF says -- A "peeler" is just another word for a fade (for a righty that's a shot that goes left to right) but when it's hit off the tee it's usually a lower ball flight than normal. It just "peels" out there, like a small slice, if you will. Good question, though. I can see where it would be confusing if you don't know what they're talking about."

M.J. asks -- "Here's one for a future Q & column. Is this "win it all or you're done" territory for Harbaugh in 2025? Please say it is. It has to be, right?"

DF says -- "I think you know the answer to that. There's very little chance Steve Bisciotti is ever firing John Harbaugh. Harbaugh will no longer be the coach in Baltimore when he no longer wants to be the coach.

"Win or you're fired" leaves a very small margin, doesn't it? I mean, look at last year. They beat the Steelers in the playoffs, roll into Buffalo, play the Bills toe-to-toe, and Lamar hits Mark Andrews on the two point conversion and Andrews doesn't catch it.

How is Mark Andrews not catching a ball that a kid from Calvert Hall or Loyola would catch (well, OK, maybe not the kid from Loyola, but you know what I mean) the fault of the head coach?

Anyway, the answer is "no". John Harbaugh isn't in a situation where he gets fired if the Ravens fail to win the Super Bowl. Now, if they somehow flatlined with a full and healthy roster and went 5-12 or something like that, you might see Harbaugh on the hot seat in '26.

But Lamar Jackson is never going 5-12 in the NFL. He wins 8 of the 17 games by himself every season."

Jason C. asks -- "I don't want to open a wound that's probably healed by now but I'm wondering if you look back on your time at the radio station and regret the fight between the station and the Orioles back in the day? I've always wanted to ask you that question."

DF says -- "Well, it's funny you use that word "regret", because I think the whole episode between the station and the organization was "regrettable" on both sides. It's not really worth re-hashing now. What's done is done. Would it have been better for me and the station if we wouldn't have gotten on their bad side? Absolutely.

But, would it have been better for the Orioles if they would have been decent on the field and wouldn't have lost their way with their own baseball community by continually making gobs of money while showcasing a terrible product? Absolutely.

Did we dig our heels in and go "extra hard" on them to make our point? Probably, yes.

Did they mistreat us and go out of their way to fill the relationship with tension and toxicity? Definitely.

Neither side wanted to give in. In the end, they won, because the guy with the barrel full of ink always beats the guy who has a pen full of ink. So they won the war.

Standing up to them was, in a way, our civic duty given how awful they were and how much money the ownership group was raking in every month via cable TV.

No one else was willing to do it. So we did it.

Did it work out in the end? I don't know. We're all still around. As Denzel said to Ethan Hawke at the end of Training Day, "You can shoot me...but you can't kill me."

Sunday July 6, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3968

yes, they are officially back

I wasn't sure I'd be able to say that on July 6, 2025.

By "that", I mean, I wasn't sure I was going to be say, "They are back. Officially."

I mean, I was hopeful.

But you never know how it's going to go.

Now we know, though.

They're back.

And if Saturday night was any indication, they're better than ever.

The second best band to ever hail from England played their first concert in 16 years on Saturday in Wales.

It was spine tingling.

Oasis is back.

Editor's note: Led Zeppelin is #1. But you knew that already.

After a 16-year hiatus, the Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, put their differences aside and delivered a mammoth show in front of 74,500 crazies who paid as much as $800 a ticket just to sit in the nosebleeds and say "I was there".

I don't know that I'd pay $800 to see anyone, frankly. I once had a chance to score a $750 face value ticket to see Springsteen on Broadway and I passed on that opportunity.

I love Bruce. But not at that price.

$800 is a lot of money.

But........

If I had $800 laying around that I didn't really need and the chance to see Oasis rolled around and that's what it cost to get in, I'd probably do it.

Their best 20 songs are as good as anything anyone has done in the last 30 years. But the two brothers simply couldn't make millions and get along.

In the end, Liam was simply too much of an a-hole for his brother, Noel, or anyone else in the band, to get along with. But there was no Oasis without Liam Gallagher. To Noel's credit, he never tried to throw someone else in there to sing the songs and tour the world and make millions.

Without Liam, Oasis was dormant.

But that all changed on Saturday night in Wales. They returned with a blazing rendition of "Hello", then followed that with one of my favorites, "Acquiesce", and then roared into "Morning Glory", much to the delight of the sold out stadium.

They played all the hits, of course.

And they sounded like they hadn't missed a day, let alone 16 years.

The cream always rises to the top, as the saying goes.

Even when they announced the summer of '25 tour last fall, I assumed it wouldn't happen. There was just too much animosity. Too many nasty words exchanged on the internet. Too many "I'll never work with him again" promises.

I hoped it would happen, but I assumed something would go wrong.

Saturday night in Wales, nothing went wrong.

Rock-n-roll got a shot in the arm when those two walked out on stage arm and arm and raised their fists to the sky.

Oasis was back.

Finally.

It really did happen after all.

---

Speaking of being "back" and all, while maybe not officially quite yet, the Birds are now within 10 games of the .500 mark after last night's 9-6 extra innings win over the Braves in Atlanta.

Pitching was the name of game on Friday night.

Offense was the name of the game on Saturday.

And yet, the Birds only managed one more hit on Saturday (8) than they did on Friday (7) when they scored just 3 runs.

Baseball is weird.

It was Doctor Long Ball who made the difference on Saturday, as Tyler O'Neill (remember him?), Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser all homered early for the O's as they built a 5-3 lead. But Atlanta stormed back to take a 6-5 lead before the Birds tied it at 6-6 in the 7th on a Jackson Holliday RBI single.

In the 10th, it was the team's Unsung Hero (and potential MVP) Ramon Laureano who came through with the big hit, a run-producing double, followed by some dude named Jacob Stallings who lashed a double into left field to score Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn.

Gary Sanchez left the game with an injury which forced the use of Stallings, who, I think, might be the 7th or 8th catcher the O's have used this season.

Seriously.

Rutschman, Sanchez, Handley, Tromp, Stallings......and..........

OK, so it's only FIVE.

It sure feels like they've gone through 7 or 8, doesn't it?

Oddly enough, the Birds scored 9 runs yesterday and no one on the team had multiple hits.

Baseball is really weird.

Dean Kremer got the start and labored into the 5th inning, giving up 8 hits and 5 earned runs. It wasn't the worst start of his life, but it was also the "other Dean Kremer" that we've seen from time-to-time who can't get the big out when he most needs it.

The bullpen, though, was virtually impeccable. Soto (two thirds of an inning), Kittredge, Baker, Bautista and Cano each went one inning and didn't allow a hit. Only Scott Blewett (1 hit, 1 run) was dinged in his inning of action.

OK, so now they're at 39-49.

It's still not great.

But.........

It's way better than 36-52. Or 33-55.

A win today and they're at 40-49 heading home for three against the Mets and Marlins.

I'll go ahead and say it just to be goofy. A win today and then 5 of 6 against the Mets and Marlins and suddenly the Birds are 45-50 at the All-Star break and people are starting to say, "Watch out for Baltimore".

And if they get to 45-50, they'll be just like Oasis: Officially back.

---

There are some wild storylines in play today at the final round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.

Fourteen players are within four shots of the lead, which is held in solo-form by Davis Thompson at 15-under par. Thompson birdied his final two holes to break open what might have been a five way tied for the lead through 54 holes.

Thompson is starting to quietly develop into a top young American player. A win today would vault him well inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings and would have to at least push him into the captain's pick conversation for the Ryder Cup in September.

At 14, you have David Lipsky, Emiliano Grillo, Brian Campbell, and a guy everyone is pulling for, Max Homa. Well, everyone's pulling for him except for the guys trying to win the golf tournament today.

Homa has, in simple terms, become one of us.

About a year ago, he lost his golf game. Now, understand, he didn't "lose" his golf game, but he went from the 5th ranked player in the world in 2023 to 99th in the world today. He went from winning and challenging to win on a regular basis to fighting just to make the 36-hole cut.

And so, with that, he made changes, like we usually do when we stink it up.

He switched golf club manufacturers.

He changed the apparel company he used.

He fired his swing coach.

He fired his trainer.

He fired his caddie.

Now, I get it, we, as "normal" golfers don't have unlimited clubs and clothes and we don't have people to fire. But you know what I'm saying.

Homa played poorly and couldn't deal with it so he blamed everything and everyone else.

He played well in this year's Masters, finishing T12 at 4-under par.

Other than that, though, it's been pretty bleak. He entered this week ranked 122 in the FedEx Cup standings. If you don't finish inside the top 70, you effectively lose your full-time status and have to play your way back into having a TOUR card next season.

Homa is one of the more well liked guys on TOUR.

He wears his heart on his sleeve. He talks openly about his poor play. Sometimes, perhaps, being that open even hurts him. But he does it anyway.

There are other storylines of great interest as well; Kurt Kitayama sits at 12 under par and he'd LOVE to figure out a way to catch Keegan Bradley's attention with a win or two before the picks are made in mid-August.

So, too, would ageless Matt Kuchar, who is at 11 under par. With the 2025 U.S. team likely missing some old stalwarts like Fowler and Spieth, a win by Kuchar and some excellent play over the next 6 weeks might be enough to coax Captain Keegan into giving the old man one more Ryder Cup spin.

Me? I wouldn't take Kuchar.

But experience matters. And if Bradley's team is thin on experience, I could see someone like Kuchar -- providing he wins twice between now and mid-August -- being a consideration for the captain.

That said, Kuchar's likely not winning today unless he does something ultra-special like shoot 63 or something. There are just too many guys to pass to pull off that kind of stunner.

The same goes for local favorite Denny McCarthy. He's now at 9 under after a pedestrian round of 1-under par on Saturday. McCarthy would need a massive day to pull off his first victory.

That said, what McCarthy is most interested in these days is making sure he finishes inside the top 50 after the first FedEx event so he can play at Caves Valley in the BMW. As long as he continues to play well, that's going to be a reality for him. Denny currently sits in 37th place in the standings.

A tepid field in Illinois hasn't hurt the excitement level, that's for sure. A dozen players are in the mix heading into today's final round and some Ryder Cup implications lurk as well.

For those interested, I'll be talking about it today on 105.7 The Fan from 4-6 pm on Fairways and Greens. Tune in for Baltimore's only all-golf talk show. You'll be glad you did.

Saturday July 5, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3967

a champion once again

As they were introducing the hot dog eating contestants just after 12 noon yesterday on ESPN, a friend said to me, "Why are you watching this?"

"It's a sport," I said with a smile. "I cover sports."

"Oh come on, bro, it's not a sport," he replied.

"It's on ESPN," I countered. "It will be on ESPN's website. It will appear in sports pages in the newspaper tomorrow."

"If it's in the sports section, what's that make it?" I asked. Before he answered, I did: "A sport!"

Alas, I didn't really care about the sports vs. non sports argument. Potato, potatoe. Who cares?

That said, if it has rules and a final score and more than one person is competing, I call it a sport, personally.

Competitive eating actually started in the movie "Cool Hand Luke" when Paul Newman (Luke) confidently said, "I can eat 50 eggs."

"What?", a prison friend, played by George Kennedy, says.

"I can eat 50 eggs in one hour," Luke stated.

"No one can eat 50 eggs," the character played by Kennedy, Dragline, challenges.

And so it began. Competitive eating got its start right then and there on the big screen.

In case you were busy eating your own burgers and hot dogs and missed the thrilling action from Coney Island, Joey Chestnut did it again on Friday. He's the master of the annual hot dog eating contest, in case you didn't know.

Yesterday, he ate 70.5 hot dogs in the 10-minute contest. In case you care, the betting total for the event for Chestnut was 71.5 hot dogs. I hope you took the under.

Chestnut ate 70.5 hot dogs and buns to beat the 2nd place finisher by -- get this -- 25 hot dogs. In 10 minutes, he ate 25 more hot dogs than the next best dude.

I know what you're thinking: "I couldn't even eat 25 hot dogs in 10 minutes." Right??

I'm not really a hot dog guy, so it's hard for me to even throw out a comparison, but I think I could eat four, maybe?, in ten minutes.

And I doubt very seriously I'd enjoy eating four hot dogs in ten minutes. I don't think I'd feel very good afterwards, if you know what I mean.

Chestnut actually enjoys competitive eating. He likes eating 70.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

He's a competitor, for sure.

Some of the guys who competed against him yesterday had some interesting eating "victories" in various contests all over the world.

9 pounds of asparagus

284 buffalo chicken wings

57 donuts

18 pounds of steamed shrimp

All of those were done in various times from 10 minutes to 20 minutes.

I like asparagus. I can usually eat about, oh, 6 to 8 pieces with dinner and then I'm done.

I'm "so so" on buffalo wings. I can probably handle one plate of 12 of them in the 20 or 25 minutes it takes me to eat them at the bar at Eagle's Nest. Most times, I'll leave one or two uneaten.

Donuts are not my thing so I have little to offer on that one. But even if you pressed me to eat some for money, there's about 0.0% chance I could eat more than 5 or 6 of them in 10 minutes.

18 pounds of steamed shrimp is about 17 pounds more than I can eat.

These people and their competitive eating -- they're crazy.

But I admire them nonetheless.

Oh, and what was the first place check yesterday?

$50,000?

$100,000?

$1 million

Nope.

Chestnut picked up a cool $15,000 for his victory.

15 grand for stuffing yourself full of hot dogs.

It's great work if you can get it.

Now, if I can only find a chocolate milk drinking contest this summer. I'm in on that one.

The battlin' Birds picked up a nice win last night in Atlanta, as Jordan Westburg and Cedric Mullins homered and Charlie Morton continued his chase for the Cy Young award resurgence with another strong outing in the O's 3-2 win over the Braves.

The Baltimore offense wasn't much to write home about; the O's collected just 7 hits, with Westburg (3 hits) and Henderson (2) providing the bulk of the hitting production on Friday evening.

Atlanta wasn't any better. They had just 6 hits on the night.

But Morton returned to his old stomping grounds and gave his ex-teammates fits to improve to 5-7 on the year. Someone posted this question last night and the answer is obvious: If the Orioles somehow had to play a "win or go home" game next Friday, who would you name as the team's starting pitcher?

It's Charlie Morton, of course.

Baseball's a weird game, man.

Heck, life's a weird game.

In early May, Morton was done. Finished. Cooked and bagged and packed away in the freezer.

In early July, he's the pitcher we'd use if there was a "win or go home" game next Friday.

Anyway, back to reality. Last night's game brought together two of baseball's most disapointing teams in 2025. The O's were expected to challenge for the division title once again, but are mired in last place in the A.L. East at 38-49.

Atlanta was finally going to get their full team back, healthy, and were thought to be a serious threat in the N.L. East. After last night's loss, they're one game better than the Orioles at 39-48.

The O's are in a critical stage of their season right now. With the July trade deadline looming, the question percolates on the internet every single day: buyers? Or sellers?

Morton's recent form over the six weeks or so has created a scenario where he could draw interest from a playoff contending team. The Cubs, Rays and Phillies are all rumored to be looking for additional pitching at the deadline. Could Morton fetch something decent in return? That all depends on your definition of "decent", I guess.

Then again, if the O's were to buy at the deadline, they'd need to add two more quality starting arms to go along with what they already have. Sugano looks like his low fuel light is on. Eflin is injured (again). Kremer is on-again-off-again. Rogers has been better than he was last year, but there was no way he could be worse.

The O's would need starting pitching -- and plenty of it -- if they decided to buy at the deadline. And if they do buy, who are they shipping out in return?

It seems almost impractical to think Mike Elias would actually buy at the deadline.

But the internet would sure have a field day with that decision, which, of course, is good for business in these parts.

Morton's stock went up again last night.

And that's a good thing if Elias decides to sell.

These next eight contests will tell a lot.

Two more games in Atlanta, three at home vs. the Mets and three at home vs. the Marlins.

If the Birds can win 6 of those 8 to get to 44-51 at the All-Star break, Elias has a tough call to make.

Friday July 4, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3966

we're in great shape moving forward

Happy Independence Day to all who are part of our #DMD world. No matter where you are today reading this, keep in mind you're living in the greatest "free" country in the world.

We might have a difference of opinion on certain things within our country and occasionally -- and quite sadly -- those opinions turn someone against another person. But even then, still, you're both living in the greatest country the world has ever seen.

We celebrate our independence today and over the long weekend.

Enjoy your time with friends and family members and be safe, above all.

There is always consternation in our country about what we all call "the future".

It's a worry your great grandparents had.

It's a worry your grandparents had.

It's a worry your parents had.

And it's probably a worry you have, right now, in 2025.

I come today bearing great news.

For the last four days, I was around 1100 teenage boys and girls at the FCA national camp at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

And that's where the great news comes from today.

Those 1100 young adults are going to be part of a bright, bright future for our country.

Our generation might have tried to screw it up.

Maybe the generation before us did, too.

But this next generation? They're not going to let it happen.

Why am I convinced of that?

Because I was just surrounded by 1100 of the best young men and women you're going to find, anywhere.

They were polite.

They were great listeners.

They were supportive of one another.

They were friendly to one another no matter your race, where you were from, what team you liked, what music you liked or what sport you played.

They were, in a nutshell, model citizens for those four days at Liberty Univesity.

Four days worth of Jesus and diving into the teachings of the Bible go a long way in helping our young men and women in this country understand their eventual path in life.

Guided by Heiden Ratner, a remarkable, incredibly impressive pastor from Las Vegas, the 1100 camp participants dove into the Bible every night at chapel and learned how to live their life the right way.

I saw many examples of "the little things" over my four days coaching the golfers who signed up for the camp.

And when I saw those examples, it made me realize they were listening every night. And not only were they listening, they were putting the words they heard into play.

"Let me get that door for you, Ma'am," one of my campers said to an elderly woman as she carried boxes into the clubhouse at Ivy Hill Golf Course, where he held our camp every day this week.

"We should clean out this cart before we turn it in," another one said, even though a cart attendant roughly his same age was right there to remove the trash and clean it out. "We can't leave it like this."

"Coach, can I lead the prayer after golf today?" one of them asked me during our morning short game session.

"Of course you can," I replied.

"I can't wait," he said. "I have a great prayer for us."

Those are just three quick examples of things I witnessed within my golf program.

Back at Liberty University, I saw something on Tuesday night that was really special. Because of late afternoon storms, the staggered dining schedule was "off" because the camp had been in a "shelter in place" order from roughly 4 pm until 5:30 pm.

The lines in the dining hall were long. It was taking 15 minutes or so to go through the burger line, the pizza line and the sub and salad line.

I was standing there, in no line, just figuring out where to go, when I heard a commotion to my right and saw a crowd of people split up. On the floor was a plate of food. French fries were scattered everywere. The burger and bun were on the floor. Ketchup was splattered on the floor.

The young lady who dropped the food was mortified. Not only was it embarrassing for her, she had just stood in line for roughly 20 minutes to get the food.

Suddenly, a young man stepped out of line and grabbed her arm. "Come up here with me," he said to her.

He walked past those in line, squeezed his way to the front, and said to the woman serving the food, "Someone bumped into her back there and knocked her food out of her hand on the floor. Can you give her another plate of food, please?"

The girl walked out of the line and smiled with her new plate of food in her hands.

The young man then returned to his original place in line.

I walked up to him and offered a fist bump. "That was a rock star move," I said to him. "Very well done there, young man."

He smiled. "Nothing to it," he said.

All week, I saw examples of young men and women doing something selfless for a friend or fellow camper.

But the best news of all came at the conclusion of the nightly chapel program when Heiden would invite anyone who wanted to turn their life over to Jesus and lead a life dedicated to Christianity to join him near the stage. Over three nights, more than 400 young men and women made their way to that stage. 400!

These young men and women were just your average, run-of-the-mill teenagers. From different states. Different economic backgrounds. Different ethnicities. Different interests.

But Jesus was in their heart, and, throughout the week, they demonstrated something to me that I felt compelled to pass along to you today: If those 1100 can impact another 1100 and those 1100 can connect with another 1100 and that "new" 1100 can then go out and impact another 1100, before you know it, our country is going to be back on the right track.

Maybe the generation before us got it wrong. Maybe our generation is getting it wrong.

Perhaps we, as adults in today's world, are getting it wrong.

But if those 1100 campers are any indication of the next generation, or our "future" as we call it, we have nothing at all to worry about.

We're in great shape moving forward.

Don't look now, but there's a new team in first place in the American League East.

Fresh off of a 4-game sweep of the Yankees, it's the Toronto Blue Jays perched at the top of the division at 49-38.

The Yankees and Rays are next at 48-39.

Boston is in 4th place at 43-45.

And then...yes...it's our battlin' Birds at a woeful 37-49.

At some point in the next 20 days or thereabouts, Mike Elias has a decision to make.

Play or fold?

In other words, does he keep the fire burning on the 2025 season, maybe try to add a quality piece or two at the trade deadline, or does he fold on the hand that is 2025 and ship off of a veteran or three and turn his attention to the 2026 campaign?

I've been saying all along the club needed to be 48-52 after 100 games in order for Elias to even "think" he might have a shot at seeing the O's in the post-season this October.

It's looking more and more like that's not going to happen.

Who goes if Elias does decide to fold his hand?

The most logical three, to me, are Ryan O'Hearn, Cedric Mullins and Keegan Akin.

O'Hearn and Akin would fetch something of moderate value, I think.

Mullins' stock has probably dropped a bit over the last six weeks but you might get a small piece for him.

As I've mentioned here before, if Elias really wanted to make a deadline splash he'd trade Felix Bautista. I'm not saying that's the right move. I'm saying that's the move that would likely net a nice return for the Birds.

Dean Kremer would also get something nice in return but why give up on a starting pitcher who has two years of service remaining on his contract?

And Kremer is one of the rare few on the team who hasn't been injured thus far in 2025. It seems like backwards thinking to give him away, no matter if you're playing well or playing lousy in 2025.

The O's are in Atlanta for a weekend series with the struggling Braves.

A sweep down there would push the Birds to 40-49 and at least create a small glimmer of hope moving into the early part of July.

Elias could also elect to do nothing, basically, and let the season play out with the pieces he has in Baltimore.

Thus far, though, that line of thinking hasn't worked.

At least not this season.

faith in sports

After nearly 3 decades at Kutztown University, the FCA national camp had to find a bigger home in 2025. But Kutztown will always be near and dear to everyone's hearts who ever attended, volunteered or coached at the small Pennsyivania college.

We'll get you the 2025 camp video in the next few weeks when it's published by FCA.

But for now, here's the 2024 video from Kutztown that shows our amazing last week there and gives you an inside look into what happens at FCA camp every summer.

Thanks to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their support here and with the camp as well. They've been supporters of the state FCA program which, in turn, helps make the natinoal camp a success. We appreciate their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment here every Friday.

Thursday July 3, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3965

we remember charley

I first met Charley Eckman when I was either 11 or 12 years old. I was playing Little League baseball at Sawmill Park on Dorsey Road.

I don't know if it's even called Sawmill Park these days, but I know it's still there because anytime I drive north on 97 heading in the direction of the Tunnel, I always make it a point to be in the right lane so I can look over there when we pass the exit for the baseball fields.

I first met Eckman as a young Little League baseball player. Later I'd travel around the country with him during my days with the Blast soccer team. All in all, I'd say I knew Charley for roughly 20 years.

People sometimes say "one of a kind" to describe another person. "They broke the mold" is also another common phrase we hear.

If it's possible, you can combine those two descriptions and they aptly fit Charles Markwood Eckman. "God sure did break the mold when he created that one of a kind man."

No one has ever been Charley Eckman except for Charley Eckman.

When I first met him, his nephew was on the same Little League with me. I don't remember the opponent or anything that distinct, I just remember Charley rumbling down to the bench late in the game and saying to the manager, "Hey, Chief, you just missed another chance to hit and run right there. Get in the game here and start paying attention, Leader."

We had no idea what was going on back then, of course. We were just happy to be wearing a uniform and impersonating our favorite players at the plate. Charley was managing from the stands -- or trying to, at least -- and it bugged him to no end that we were getting shortchanged by a manager who didn't "know" baseball.

I could do Charley Eckman Month here at #DMD and give you a different, hilarious, Eckman story every day. And that's not hyperbole. Anytime you were with Charley Eckman, something memorable took place.

There was that time he told the wife of the owner of the Cleveland Force during the pre-game media meal that it would be nice if they had scotch in the dining area.

"Not everybody drinks beer," he barked to Iris Wolstein. "Get a good scotch in here for the sophisticated guys like me!"

Charley laughed at that one. The words "sophisticated" weren't often used to describe Charley Eckman.

Some of the media members thought it was funny. Others did not.

"You guys that aren't laughing are the first ones who would be up here filling up your glass and taking it out to press row!" Charley said.

I could tell you about the time Charley walked into what he thought was his hotel room in Pittsburgh and found it was already occupied by.....two people.....and......yes, you know what they were doing.

Charley walked back down to the lobby. We were all still getting organized at check-in and I was handing out room keys.

"You gave me the wrong room," Eckman said to the young woman at the front desk.

"Wait. What? I gave you the wrong room? How? How do you know?" she asked.

"Because I just went in there and it only had one bed. The couple I'm sharing the room with were using that bed. I ain't sleeping on the floor and I don't think they want me all snuggled up with them in that one bed!"

Everyone was howling as Eckman told the story of how he walked in while they were "in action" and Charley said that he remarked, "I must be in the wrong room. Keep up the good work there, buddy."

Back then, they were actual "keys" that we used for hotel rooms. Eckman was somehow given the wrong key.

For a while, one of the boiler-plate lines around the Blast team was "Keep up the good work there, buddy." If someone did something well, they'd be met with "Keep up the good work there, buddy."

I could also tell you about the time Charley was coaching the Fort Wayne Pistons and he took a cab to Madison Square Garden for a game against the Knicks and the cab driver -- not knowing who Charley was -- asked Eckman if he followed basketball.

"A little bit here and there, why?" Eckman asked.

"I have a friend who knows a thing or two and he also knows someone that plays for the Knicks," the cabbie said. "If you're looking for a little action on the game tonight, I have it on good authority the Knicks are going to cover the 3.5 point spread against Fort Wayne.",/p>

"Is that so?" Charley replied. "Knicks are giving up 3.5 and they're gonna win by at least 4?"

"You can count on it," the cabbie confirmed.

Eckman's Fort Wayne team lead by a dozen points at the half and by 16 or so in the 3rd quarter.

Charley told the story gleefully thinking about the cab driver and his boasting of "inside knowledge" and the point spread.

"We're up by 16 in the 3rd quarter and all I can think about is that dumb a** cabbie losing his shirt!"

Little by little, the lead diminished. Late in the game, the Pistons missed a foul shot or two, the Knicks hit some timely buckets, and New York covered the 3.5 point spread just like it was advertised to Charley in the cab.

Eckman went in the locker room and said, "I was apparently the only guy in town who didn't know you guys were going to lose by more than 3.5 tonight! The Knicks knew. You guys knew. The cab driver even knew! I coach the team and I didn't know!"

That was always one of Charley's favorite stories, along with the time Pistons owner Fred Zollner called Charley into his office after the team got off to a rugged early-season start and we were well under .500.

"I think it's best if we make a change in your department," the owner told Charley.

"Fred, I think that's a good idea!" Charley replied. He leaned in and asked, "Who do you think we should change?"

Zollner said, "You're the only one in your department, Charley."

Eckman always got a belly laugh out of that one.

I could go on and on and on.

When Charley was around you, laughter, hilarity and great stories always followed.

I remember once when he was sick, circa 1993 or so, I stopped over to see him and there was snow on the ground.

There was a time, when I was 13 or 14, when I'd shovel Charley's walk and front stoop when it snowed. I'd routinely get $10 for what amounted to 60 minutes of work.

On this particular day, the sidewalk had the look of being freshly shoveled as I strolled up to Charley's front door.

I entered his home in Glen Burnie and Charley's awesome, wife, Wilma, was there to take my coat. Charley wasn't doing well that day. He was in his usual chair, dozing on and off as I sat there.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. It was the young man who had shoveled the walk.

"What do we owe you?" Wilma said.

"It's $10 ma'am," he replied.

"Give him $20" Charley said.

Wilma handed him a 20 dollar bill.

"Why did you give him twenty instead of ten?" she asked.

"Just to make Drewski mad," he said, cackling with laughter as I sat there shaking my head.

Charles Markwood Eckman passed away on July 3, 1995 in Glen Burnie.

He owns the distinction, still, of being the only man to ever coach in the NBA All-Star Game and referee in the game as well.

Eckman is also the only person to have ever officiated the NIT Final, NCAA Final and NBA Finals.

There were lots of "only" moments with Charley. And, of course, there was only one Charley Eckman.

The Orioles lost in Texas last night, 6-0. I'm still at FCA camp and didn't see any of the game live, but I followed it long enough on my phone to know two things: Sugano was no good and the Orioles offense was lousy.

That's 37-49 if you're counting at home.

The road to that mythical 48-52 mark I said the O's needed to reach to avoid being "sellers" at the deadline looks almost unattainable now.

The Birds would have to go 11-3 in their next 14 games to get to 48-52.

I don't see that happening. Heck, I'd say there's a better chance they go 3-11 then 11-3. But I also don't think they're going to 3-11, either.

They'll go 7-7 most likely. I could see them maybe doing one game better and finishing 8-6 in the next 14 but that's about it.

They have 3 games in Atlanta this weekend. Then they're home for three with the Mets. Then they have three at home vs. Miami before the All Star break rolls around.

Will Mike Elias sell or buy at the deadline? I assume it will be "sell", but only a light one. They're not trading away any key pieces in July.

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

Last week here at the Hot Corner we took a look around the American League at the current division leaders, teams within reach of their divisions, and Wild Card teams as we just passed the halfway mark of the season.

We will continue our analysis this week and dive into the National League. Before we get into it, I hope everyone has a great 4th of July and enjoy watching the Orioles this weekend beat up the Atlanta Braves with a cold beer and some steamed crabs.

The current National League Division Leaders are the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, and last but not least, the LA Dodgers in the NL West.

The Phillies have a slim lead in the NL East and are the beneficiaries of the New York Mets recent slump, as the Mets have lost 13 of their last 16 games. To the Phillies credit, they’re playing well and just recently activated Bryce Harper from the injured list which will help the offense immensely.

I really like this rotation for the Phillies and feel that this is the backbone of the club. The bullpen is the achillies heel for the team, especially after their closer Jose Alvarado was suspended for PEDs, which will need to be addressed at the trade deadline.

I picked the Phillies to win the World Series this year, which was hard to do given I’m not the biggest fan of Philly sports. What made me come to this decision is this is a veteran club that’s been together for quite some time and has a lot of experience in the Postseason, and teams tend to struggle when they travel and play in front of the die-hard Philly faithful, especially in the playoffs during “Red October.”

They also have the rotation to keep them in every game and give the team a chance to win as well as an offense that can do serious damage when firing on all cylinders.

I didn’t have much faith in the New York Mets going into this season, specifically with their starting rotation. The starting rotation is performing better than anyone’s most optimistic prediction.

We’re beginning to see some regression as injuries are beginning to hit the pitching staff, but for the first half of the season, the Mets had the best rotation ERA in baseball.

The Mets offense is strong with newly acquired outfielder Juan Soto, as well as Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Pete Alonso. The bottom of their lineup has struggled, and I expect the Mets to add another bat at the trade deadline. If the Mets are going all in, I’d like to see them trade for Arizona Diamondbacks 3rd baseman Eugenio Suarez. He would be a big addition to the offense, and Suarez is expected to be traded this season on his expiring contract.

The bullpen has a few nice pieces but could use some upgrades. I like the 1-2 punch they have in the back end with Reed Garrett setting up Edwin Diaz, but like every other team in contention, it never hurts to add another high leverage arm to the bullpen.

It's safe to say the NL East is a 2-horse race with the Mets and the Phillies. The Marlins are 11 games behind the Phillies followed by the Braves and Nationals. All 3 of these teams won’t be a threat this year. I thought the Braves could make a run for a Wild Card spot this season with players coming back from injuries, but they have dug themselves a hole too deep to climb out of.

In the NL Central, the race is tight with the Chicago Cubs leading the division and the Milwaukee Brewers 2.5 games behind. The Cubs have a high-octane offense led by Kyle Tucker and Pete-Crow Armstrong, but the lineup is getting production across the board.

Pete-Crow Armstrong has been unbelievable this season and has turned a lot of heads with his improved play. He currently is the 2nd favorite to win the NL MVP award at +1100 odds, behind Shohei Ohtani who is now -1400.

This is a resilient team who has battled adversity all year with players going on and off the injured list. They have weathered the storm and have gotten key players back, including their ace Shota Imanaga who is pitching to the tune of a 2.54 ERA this year.

The Cubs don’t need much at the deadline to improve their club. The offense is one of the best in baseball and I wouldn’t do anything to mess with the lineup. They could look to add another starter to the rotation, such as Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and add a closer to the bullpen.

If they put all the chips on the table this year, they could add a 3rd baseman too, but again this is a potent offense. In other words, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

The Brewers had a rough start to the season but have really turned things around. Their rotation is also very strong, which is a common theme for most of the NL Central. The offense could use some work, with total home runs, batting average, and slugging all ranked in the bottom half of the league. The Brewers might be one of those teams we see that buy and sell at the deadline.

Their ace, Freddie Peralta, is playing on a club option this year and has one more club option next season as well, but he has voiced that he wants a new long-term contract. As we’ve seen in the past with the Brewers, they aren’t afraid to trade pitchers when they’re approaching the open market such as trading their ace Corbin Burnes to the Orioles and their closer Josh Hader to the Padres.

Do the Brewers put Peralta on the trade block this year and get a return that will help make a playoff push? Or do they hold on to him and look to deal him this offseason or at next year’s deadline?

The deal that Peralta is looking for will likely be in the 9-figure range, which outprices Milwaukee, and holding onto Peralta puts you at risk if he were to get injured and lose most of his trade value.

The LA Dodgers are on a roll and have created a lot of separation from the rest of their division with an 8-game lead over the 2nd place San Diego Padres. This isn’t a surprise to anyone that the Dodgers would be leading not only the division but also all of the National League.

They were the favorites going into the season to win the World Series, especially with the acquisitions they had in the offseason. It’s hard to believe that the Dodgers have the best record in baseball while also being hit with the injury bug like no other team.

The Dodgers have 7 pitchers on their injured list, with one of them being a former 2-time Cy Young winner, Blake Snell, and another pitcher was the favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year in Roki Sasaki.

The other pitchers, Michael Kopech, Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Glasnow, Evan Phillips, and Blake Treinen were all expected to be key contributors to the pitching staff and bullpen.

These are all very good players that won’t be available in the foreseeable future outside of flame throwing righty Michael Kopech who is expected to return this year.

As you can tell, the Dodgers need pitching help. The offense is ranked at the top in nearly every statistical category, so that box is checked and doesn’t need to be touched. I’m curious to see how they approach the deadline and address their pitching needs. The Dodgers don’t have the luxury now to resort to their checkbooks and sign any player they wish to have; they’ll have to deal some prospects to bring in help.

The Dodgers have the 4th ranked farm system in baseball, with most of their top prospects being international players that are still teenagers and years away from being MLB ready. Do the Dodgers call Mike Elias and ask about Sugano or Eflin?

Elias has said multiple times that he wants to build a farm system that constantly produces top prospects. Adding high ranked young international prospects would follow that mindset.

The Mets are the top Wild Card team followed by the Brewers and Cardinals. There are 4 teams in the hunt that are 3 games of less back from the Cardinals being the Dbacks, Reds, Giants, and Padres.

I think you can stick a fork in the Diamondbacks. The injuries they sustained are too much to overcome. Everyone knows I’m pulling for the Reds, and they are certainly capable of making a playoff push this year. The Giants and Padres are two powerhouses that will be tough to keep out of the playoffs.

I can see the Mets and Cardinals sliding out of the Wild Card by the end of the year and replaced with the Padres and Reds, with the Brewers staying in and earning the top Wild Card spot, and the Reds earning the last Wild Card spot.

Players of the Week --

Position Player: Otto Lopez of the Miami Marlins had a huge week hitting .375 with 2 homers, 12 RBI, and also had 1 stolen base. Lopez and the Marlins have been playing very good baseball recently as they have won 9 of their last 10 games. Lopez is coming off a hot month of June where he had an .812 OPS which was the highest among all Marlins batters. Although the Marlins will not be contenders this year and are in the middle of a rebuild, this is definitely a bright spot for the roster and a sign of hope for Marlins fans that they’re starting to see some players on the big-league roster who will be legit contributors once the team starts competing.

Pitcher: Bryan Abreu is the premier setup man for the Houston Astros and had a great week, pitching 4.1 innings earning 1 win and 2 holds and punching out 11 hitters. Abreu is having a career year so far and the hard throwing righty has 53 strikeouts and a 1.72 ERA through 36.2 innings of work. We highlighted the Astros last week as we did an overview of the American League and discussed how scary the back end of this bullpen is. Abreu is one piece of the puzzle. You do not want to face the back end of this bullpen while trailing the Astros, they will slam the door shut on you (Unless your name is Nick Kurtz).

Rookie: Nick Kurtz of the Sacramento Athletics was called up earlier this year and we’re starting to see him settle in. Kurtz batted .292 this past week with 2 homers and 7 RBI. In his last 17 games, Kurtz has hit 9 home runs and has over a 1.100 OPS. Kurtz had a stretch of 5 games where in 3 of those games, he hit a walk off home run in the 9th inning or later, including a walk off homer against the feared Astros closer Josh Hader. The Athletics have some great rookies that are leading the club right now and like the Marlins, the players that will be here for the long haul are starting to show. Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson might be the best rookie duo in the MLB. These players on offense are polar opposites as Kurtz is a power hitter and Wilson is more of a bat for average type player but nonetheless, a great combo for the Athletics. I know that Wilson and Kurtz are only in their first year in the big leagues, but I can’t help but think this duo reminds me a little of Ricky Henderson and Mark McGwire from the 1989 Athletics.

Games of the Week --

Friday, July 4th: New York Yankees vs New York Mets (Marcus Strowman vs Paul Blackburn)

The subway series continues over the holiday weekend as the Yankees will now head down to Queens and take on their crosstown rivals. This isn’t the prettiest pitching matchup, and I expect this game to be high scoring and filled with offense. The Mets need to break out of their slump and the Yankees need to keep winning as the Blue Jays and the Rays are not far behind them in the race for the AL East.

Saturday, July 5th: Houston Astros vs LA Dodgers (Framber Valdez vs Shohei Ohtani)

This is going to be a fun series to watch over the weekend as two of the best teams in baseball square off in LA. Ohtani is slowly ramping up during this strange rehab he’s going through at the big-league level and the velocity is back with the sinker sitting at 100 MPH. Framber Valdez is a solid starter for the Astros and will look to shut down this high caliber Dodgers offense in a hostile environment.

Sunday, July 6th: Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies (Chase Burns vs Zack Wheeler)

This series will be a good test for the Reds to see how they compete against one of the top teams in the National League. Chase Burns had a great debut that we discussed last week against the Yankees, but in his next start he got lit up by the Red Sox. He’ll look to rebound on the road against the Phillies as they will have their ace, Zack Wheeler, on the bump looking to earn a win and increase their lead in the NL East.

Wednesday July 2, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3964

#dmd's orioles minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm, but ultimately the selection belongs to infielder Jeremiah Jackson.

It would not be right to just tend to those players down in the minors that are “household” names to O’s fans. We want to highlight the player of the week and he has certainly earned it.

Jackson, 25, had another terrific week for the AAA Norfolk Tides, hitting .360 (9-25) with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI and five runs scored over six games played. In addition, he also stole two bases and posted a .385 OBP and 1.065 OPS for the week.

This week made it a second consecutive week where Jackson was showcasing his bat. Dating back to June 11, he has posted a robust .406 batting average with eight doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI and 12 runs scored.

His slash line over those 15 games look like video game numbers: .406/.433/1.198 (BA/OBP/OPS).

Signed as a minor league free agent last fall, Jackson is making the most of the opportunities in the Orioles’ system.

The former 2018 second-round draft choice by the Los Angeles Angels began 2025 with the AA Chesapeake Baysox and received a promotion to AAA at the beginning of June.

Since then, he’s arguably been the Tides’ best hitter, if not, most certainly their most consistent hitter. He has 33 hits in 23 games with Norfolk and has posted a 1.104 OPS over that time.

It’s certainly tough to call a guy a prospect that has been playing professional baseball since 2018, but he is still just 25-years old (turned 25 in March).

It’s always nice to have some depth at the AAA level and with Jackson being able to play third base, short-stop and second base, he certainly provides the versatility you would want.

If Jackson keeps hitting the way he has and the Orioles’ choose to sell at the trade deadline, there’s certainly a scenario where you could end up seeing him in Baltimore for the team's final 60 or so games this season.

This Happy Hour contribution was provided by Josh Michael.

---

did penn get it right?

The University of Pennsylvania did something yesterday almost everyone assumed they wouldn't do.

They caved in.

On Tuesday, Penn modified a trio of school records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and said it would apologize to female athletes "disadvantaged" by Thomas's participation on the women's swimming team. The decision was part of a resolution of a federal civil rights case that has been ongoing for more than two years.

The U.S. Education Department and Penn announced the voluntary agreement of the high-profile case that focused on Thomas, who last competed for the Ivy League school in 2022, when Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title.

The department investigated Penn as part of the Trump administration's broader attempt to remove transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports, concluding the university in Philadelphia had violated the rights of female athletes.

Under the agreement, Penn agreed to restore all individual Division I records and titles to female athletes who lost to Thomas and send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers, the Education Department said.

So now the question is: Did Penn get it right?

For several years, a lot of people thought they were getting it wrong by allowing Thomas, who once competed as a male swimmer at the school, to compete as a female.

The uproar grew louder when Thomas, once a middle-of-the-pack male college swimmer, became a champion female college swimmer.

Yesterday's decision was a landmark one, no two ways about it.

But was it the right thing to do?

When this story was hot and heavy three years ago, I commented at that time that I thought it was wrong to allow Thomas to compete as a female when the student-athlete had previously competed at the same school, in the same sport, as a male.

I realize the dispute is one about "transgender athletes", but I'd contend it's almost more about "fairness in sport" and the use of common sense to chisel out a fair and equitable decision.

You swam as a male at Penn. You can't just suddenly start swimming as a female, even if you believe you are a female. That's how I saw it back then.

That's how I still see it today.

I'm of the belief that God assigned your gender at birth and that's what you are and that's what you'll always be, no matter what you might believe you are.

There are schools (in our own state, even) now modifying space in their facilties to create small rooms for young boys and girls who believe they're animals rather than humans. They use these rooms to relax in an environment more suitable for, say, a cat, than a human being.

In that situation, no one is getting impacted in any way. If you think you're a cat and you want to go into a room and relax and do your school work, knock yourself out.

But you can't get better campus parking than someone else because you think you're a cat.

Editor's note: That's actually a real life situation a friend of mine's daughter faced at her college last year. A student who identified as a cat (wearing a cat "costume" at school and all) filed for a "privileged" parking pass because -- you know where this is going -- they were afraid of crossing traffic while on campus.

If you were born a male and you think you're a female now, that's your decision. But you can't swim against other females.

If you were born a human being and think you're a cat now, that's also your call. But you can't park right next to the buildings because you're afraid of getting hit by a car.

I realize all of these stories are touchy subjects in our world. The current government administration is not afraid to tackle them. There are more decisions coming down the road like we saw yesterday at Penn.

The question will linger on: Are they getting it right?

Well, we're "back to the lab again", as I wrote here last week, after the Birds got roasted in Texas last night, 10-2.

The Birds used five different pitchers and a shortstop (Luis Vazquez) in the loss. Vazquez recorded the final out in the bottom of the 8th after the Rangers took a 7-2 game and made it 10-2. He threw one pitch and recorded one out.

Maybe Gregory Soto should take a quick pitching lesson from Vazquez.

It was one of those "meh" nights where nothing really went right for the O's at the plate. They churned out 7 hits in total with no one on the squad recording more than one hit.

Gary Sanchez supplied the only scoring with a two-point homer in the 4th off of Jacob deGrom, who once again silenced Baltimore bats with six innings of solid work.

Good one night, not good the next.

That's our O's in a nutshell.

Let's hope tonight gets us back to the "good" side of things.

Tuesday July 1, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3963

"a win is a win"

There was a time, circa 2004, when the Kyle Boller-led Ravens would pull out a 13-9 win and the city would be in an uproar over the "way" Brian Billick's team won the game.

I know this first-hand because I'd be on the radio every morning fielding calls from people who were angry with how the win unfolded.

Boller would have had a less than productive day, going something like 13 for 27 for 188 yards, with an interception and a fumble.

The Baltimore offense would generate just over 300 yards in total, with Jamal Lewis running for 102 yards on his own.

That scenario -- Boller stinking it up, the offense barely breathing, and Lewis doing most of the team's damage on offense -- would play out on what seemed to be an almost weekly basis back in the "Boller days".

The Ravens won games back in the Billick/Boller days with their defense.

And I found myself going on the air and saying pretty much the same thing week after week.

"A win is a win."

It's true, you know.

There are no style points. In any sport.

You don't win a game and see a column for "W" and "SP" in the standings.

A win is a win.

Repeat it with me now as we think back to last night's Orioles-win-that-almost-felt-like-a-loss.

A....win....is....a....win.

Yes, they coughed up a 3-0 lead.

Yes, they sorta-kinda wasted another nice start from Lefty Grove Trevor Rogers.

Yes, the gave away a 6-3 lead in the 10th inning.

But when the dust settled last night in Texas, the Birds had themselves a 10-6 win.

It's like the Flyers fan with his high school prom date. "Not pretty, but still a good memory nonetheless."

You can remember the bad if you want from last night's win. Colton Cowser (1-6) and Cedric Mullins (1-5) going a combind 2-for-11 at the plate. Gary Sanchez not being able to throw a base runner out. Or Keegan Akin giving up a 3-run homer in the 10th to give the Rangers ongoing life in the game.

Go ahead and remember that stuff.

I'll remember that Cowser's one hit was a 10th inning homer that gave the Birds a seemingly insurmountable 6-3 lead.

I'll remember Sanchez's bases clearing double earlier in the game that put the O's up 3-0. Yes, I know he's terribly defensively. I'm opting to focus on the good stuff after a win.

I'll remember that Akin settled back in after giving up the 1-out, 3-run blast to Adolis Garcia and retired the next two batters to get the game to the 11th inning.

I'll point out that Gunnar Henderson had two huge hits at the end of the night, one in the 10th inning (a 2-run homer) to make the score 5-3 and one in the 11th inning (a 2-run double) to finalize the scoring at 10-6.

And I'll reflect on Ty Cobb Ramon Laureano going 4-for-6 to raise his average to .287 while driving in two runs in that 11th inning to blow the game open and help the Birds win a game that would have been a "tragic loss" had it unfolded the other way.

Yes, a win is a win.

It wasn't the best way to do it.

It certainly wasn't good for the meek of heart.

We had it won, then lost it, then won it again, then lost it yet again.

It was more and up down than the solo career of Paul McCartney David Lee Roth.

But a win is......yes......a win.

Let's count it as such and move on.

Our battlin' Birds are now 37-47. That quest to get to 48-52 is still attainable.

The fun continues tonight.

Monday June 30, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3962

Day one is in the books at Liberty and our 12 golfers avoided some electricity in the air and had a great afternoon despite the 93 degree temperatures.

Our host for the week is an awesome 18 hole facility called Ivy Hill.

Everything we need is at our fingertips. The practice range is plentiful, the short game area and sand traps are adjacent to the range and there's a massive putting green with enough room for 18 holes of putting practice.

We retire inside into the cool temperatures of the restaurant for lunch and our mid-day "Huddle", where we have several college-age students running our gospel discussions with the campers.

In the afternoon, we played a 6-hole scramble to work on some things we reviewed during the morning session.

We are one of only a few sports that have to leave the Liberty campus to work on our craft this week. We are beyond blessed to have connected with the fine folks at Ivy Hill.

God is great indeed.

We have chapel service tonight from 7:30 pm to 9:30 and then I'll try to find a cool, safe spot to enjoy a coffee and watch the O's beat the Rangers, 8-4.

Our coach's ministry Huddle is from 10 pm to 11 pm. Hopefully there are some O's fans in there who don't mind an occasional update or two on the game.

I did see today where the Steelers traded for Jalen Ramsey.

Eh, I don't get that one.

My guess is tight end Jonnu Smith is the piece they really wanted and Fitzpatrick had to be the guy they disposed of to get him.

Fitzpatrick had a nice first season with Pittsburgh a few years back but he hasn't been all that great since.

Ramsey is a career malcontent.

I don't know the reasoning behind the whole thing. I know money matters, cap wise. But Jonnu Smith is the central part of the deal, I'm guessing.

Anything that makes the Steelers worse delights me though.

---

well, it's better than losing 2 of 3

I'm asking right now for a bit of leniency this week if you'd provide some to me. I'll be following sports, but not like I'm usually able to under normal circumstances.

My week is jam packed with some exciting and fulfilling fun. I'm a golf instructor at the FCA national camp at Liberty University for the next four days. Over 1,100 young men and women are on site participating in 11 different sports and activities. Our golf program has 12 boys, which is a perfect number for instruction and group teaching.

Watching the Orioles sweep the Rangers in Texas will take a back seat to my golf coaching responsibilities until Thursday afternoon.

The good news...we will have some Happy Hour contributions this week. The bad news...you'll have to wait until around 5:30 pm to check them out.

Hey, you know the saying: It's 5:30 pm somewhere.

This is our first year at Liberty University. The FCA national camp was held at Kutztown University for three decades. Simply put, the camp required "more" everything: More space, more rooms, more fields, more dining capacity and a bigger auditorium for the nightly two hour worship service all players and coaches attend.

I haven't seen anything like Liberty University in my life. It's an amazing campus. In reality, it's built almost like a small town. Everything is perfectly in place. Kutztown was a fantastic host site for the camp. Liberty just has more of what the camp needs to continue to grow.

Once again this year our main chapel pastor is Heiden Ratner, a dynamic, powerful leader of his own church (WALK) in Las Vegas. Ratner is one of the more gifted people I've ever been around. I didn't say gifted "pastors" or "speakers". He's one of the more gifted "people" I've encountered. His spirit and enthusiasm are contagious, no matter if he's talking about faith, college basketball (he played at James Madison once upon a time) or the Las Vegas Raiders, where he currently serves as the team chaplain.

If you're a believer in prayer, I'd be blessed to have you pray for our golf program this week. Ask God to keep us all safe and healthy throughout the week and to bless our campers with the ability to lock in and focus not only on the golf instruction they receive, but the spiritual messages they'll be hearing over the next four days.

I've been around long enough to know that the devil is always hard at work behind the scenes trying to be disruptive and creating turmoil on occasions when God's glory is flying high.

"I'm not going to just allow 1100 impressionable young men and women to show up in Lynchburg, Virginia and learn about the Lord without putting up a fight of my own," the devil will say. So there will be illness this week, injuries, home sickness, anxiety and other moments of misfortune. I call it "spiritual warfare" in simple terms. But the good work we all do at the camp will overcome whatever the devil throws our way.

"Watch and see what happens," I told Brett, a camp huddle leader from the Philadelphia area last night, as we chatted outside of the Vines Center. "We'll win out in the end. Make book on it. This will be the best week of camp we've ever had and it will drive the devil crazy!"

For those who believe in prayer, I appreciate you asking for our golf camp to be blessed abundantly this week. Thank you.

---

So, is Dean Kremer the O's most valuable trade commodity as June turns to July and the deadline starts appearing in the future?

I'm not here to say the O's should trade Kremer.

I'm simply asking if he's the team's most valuable trade piece, that's all.

Kremer had another exceptional start on Sunday in the 5-1 win over Tampa Bay, going 7 innings and allowing just 3 hits and 1 run. He's now sporting a 4.27 ERA on the year. He's not Bob Gibson or anything, but he's been very good-to-excellent for most of the last six weeks.

If Kremer isn't the team's most viable pitching candidate to be dealt, then Keegan Akin fits that bill. Akin was solid again on Sunday, lowering his ERA to 2.92 in one inning of work. Sure, it was 5-1 at the time and the Rays were halfway to the airport in the 8th inning, but he has been the club's most reliable bullpen arm all season.

There's no telling what Mike Elias is going to do in July. Conventional wisdom says Elias isn't going to ship off a bunch of key pieces just because the team is 46-60 and going nowhere fast. Mullins might go. O'Hearn might go. They're both disposable.

But when your starting rotation isn't good to start with, why would you jettison two of the (only) guys you can (mostly) trust every time they take the mound; Kremer and Akin?

If Zach Eflin wasn't hurt and was pitching well, he would have fetched something moderately valuable at the deadline, even though he's a free agent this winter. Alas, Eflin isn't getting the Orioles anything except maybe 4 round trip Southwest Airlines tickets and a big bucket of Cracked Pepper sunflower seeds.

And, frankly, they might not even get the seeds. Eflin's struggling and hurt. You don't get a whole lot in return for those guys.

#DMD reader/contributor Chris P. e-mailed me yesterday and asked if Ramon Laureano might have some trade value next month. I just don't see how that's possible. I mean, could you get "something" for him? Eh, maybe. But it's not going to be anything earth shattering. And that's even if someone would take him.

Now it's off to Texas to take on the Rangers for three games in a series that begins this evening. The O's starting rotation for those three is interesting; Rogers, Morton and Sugano. They also face Jacob deGrom on Wednesday evening. I'm sure he's licking his chops at the thought of facing Baltimore's wildly inconsistent offense for the second time in a week.

If the Birds can win 2 of 3 with that trio of starters going for them and having to face deGrom again, maybe there's life in Tony Mansolino's crew after all.

Following the series with the Rangers, the O's head to Atlanta to face a vastly underperforming Braves team. Could we see a 5-1 week from our orange and black feathered friends? That would be awesome. But I'll sign off on 4-2 right now and not bat an eye.

Beating the Rays two of three was a nice way to bring a 3-3 week to a close.

How about something better this week, though, boys?

	"Randy On The O's"
Randy Morgan takes #DMD readers through the recent week in Orioles baseball as the Birds try to earn a third straight A.L. playoff appearance.

orioles week in review

Week Record: 3-3

Season Record: 36-47

AL East Standing: 5th (12 GB of NYY 7 GB of WC)

Player of the Week: Ramon Laureano - .444 AVG HR 4 RBI 3 DB 4 BB

The Orioles ended the week on a positive note securing a series win over the Rays, but only managed to tread water on the whole. Despite a historic 22-run explosion on Friday, the O’s split the two home series this week and failed to gain any ground in the Wild Card race.

The Orioles opened the week with a shutout victory, driven by a brilliant pitching performance from Trevor Rogers, who delivered eight scoreless innings of three-hit ball for his first Orioles victory. Jackson Holliday powered the offense, going 3-for-5 with a homer and 4 RBIs. Andrew Kittredge finished the combined three-hit shutout for a 6-0 win.

On Tuesday Baltimore fell short in a frustrating extra-innings affair. Despite a five-run seventh inning comeback with homers from Gary Sanchez, Ramon Urias and Ryan O’Hearn, the O’s bats were silenced otherwise. Defensive miscues proved costly as the Rangers scored the winning run in the tenth inning, handing the Orioles a tough 6-5 loss.

The bats were almost completely silent on Wednesday when Jacob deGrom nearly no-hit the Orioles, holding them hitless until Colton Cowser’s leadoff single in the eighth inning. Texas cruised behind homers by Josh Jung and Jonah Heim, taking the series with a 7-0 win.

The opener with Tampa on Friday brought some wild swings. The O’s overcame a 6-0 deficit to score 22 runs. Gary Sánchez led the onslaught, finishing 4-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Colton Cowser notched a career-high three doubles, and every Orioles starter contributed either an RBI or scored a run in the 22-8 win. The second-highest scoring game in Orioles history.

The Orioles’ bats cooled significantly on Saturday, managing just seven hits. Zach Eflin’s struggles continued as he surrendered four runs in the first inning to his former team before leaving with lower back soreness, pushing his season ERA close to 6.00. Ramón Laureano hit a late two-run homer but it was to little avail in an 11-3 loss.

Dean Kremer was brilliant again in the rubber match, pitching seven shutout innings with six strikeouts. Ramón Laureano and Colton Cowser combined for an early run, while timely RBI hits from Gary Sánchez, Cedric Mullins, and Coby Mayo secured a comfortable lead. Félix Bautista sealed the 5-1 win and the series despite yielding a ninth-inning solo home run.

There were a few candidates for Player of the Week. The offensive explosion meant several bats had hot weeks. On the mound, Dean Kremer and Trevor Rogers both delivered outstanding starts to help secure wins.

Gary Sanchez had his best week as an Oriole, hitting .364 with two homers and eight RBI.

However, it was Ramon Laureano’s week to snag the honor. The outfielder hit .444 and reached base more than half the time, with a homer, four RBI, three doubles and four walks.

Down on the Farm:

AAA Norfolk went 3-3 against the Gwinnett Stripers this week. Jorge Mateo paced the offense during his rehab stint as he prepares to rejoin the Orioles.

Top prospect Samuel Basallo managed just two hits on the week, but one was a monster 444 ft homer on Sunday and he also managed to walk eight times and finish the week with a .500 OBP.

Down at Chesapeake, Tyler O’Neill hit a homer as he works his way back from injury.

Catching prospect Silas Ardoin batted .455 on the week with two doubles and a triple.

On the mound, pitching prospects Blake Money (23), Levi Wells (23), and Nestor German (23) all had impressive outings.

Question of the Week –

What is wrong with Zach Eflin?

After a solid start to the 2025 season, Zach Eflin has suddenly fallen off a cliff. Over his last three starts (June 16 at Tampa Bay, June 21 at New York Yankees, June 28 vs. Tampa Bay), Eflin's performance dramatically declined, marked by alarming shifts in underlying metrics and pitch effectiveness.

He did leave the game with lower back soreness and looks headed for the injured list, so perhaps the decline will be solved with some time off.

Examining the underlying stats shows that while Eflin hasn’t lost his overall control, when he has missed he has missed in the heart of the plate, leading to an elevation of long balls allowed. Over this disastrous stretch where Eflin has allowed 17 earned runs in just 9 innings, he has both been hit more often and been hit harder.

Previously manageable contact turned nightmarish for Eflin, whose hard-hit rate jumped from 40% to nearly 55% in this span, while average exit velocity surged from around 89.7 mph to 93-94 mph. This has translated directly to an unsustainable spike in home runs, jumping from 1.68 HR/9 to an alarming 6.0 HR/9.

Interestingly, Eflin maintains good overall command (Location+ around 108). However, recent misses have gravitated dangerously to the middle of the plate. During these three starts, pitches classified as "heart-zone" increased significantly, doubling his season baseline and allowing hitters to demolish such mistakes.

Another worrying season-long trend has been the decline of Eflin’s curveball.

Once an effective weapon, the curveball has been crushed this season. Opponents are slugging .919 against his curveball with a hard-hit rate of 46.7% compared to just 20.7% last season.

The spin rate and movement numbers are pretty similar to past seasons, which suggests that Eflin may just be failing to locate the curveball as consistently this year.

Eflin’s strength has always been his pinpoint control and miniscule walk rate. While he has maintained the ability to limit walks, this season he has made far too many mistakes over the middle of the plate as opposed to around the edges and that has cost him dearly.

With an ERA approaching 6.00, Eflin has put the Orioles in a tough position. Just a month ago Eflin looked like he could be one of the top trade chips at the deadline.

With the season looking lost there was at least hope the O’s could reload for next year by fleecing a team in desperate need for an effective starter. These past three weeks have thrown a huge kink in that plan.

The front office will need to hope the rest and recuperation can help Eflin right the ship and figure out how to prevent these bad misses that are leading to loud contact.

Hopefully he can return in time to re-establish his value and net the team some pieces that can contribute in 2026.

Sunday June 29, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3961

back to the lab again

There was good news and bad news regarding local baseball on Saturday.

Conventional wisdom offers that you always start with the bad news first. I guess that's because you get that out of the way and then get the good news and it's all "up" from there.

So, the bad news first.

One night after demolishing the Rays in Baltimore, 22-8, the O's themselves got blistered on Saturday, falling 11-3. It's precisely the kind of follow-up to a promising night that drives us all batty about this particular edition of Orioles baseball.

Good tonight.

Terrible tomorrow and the next day.

Good again sometime this coming week, followed by "awful" again.

It's as certain as the sun setting in the West with the Birds of 2025.

Something else that's becoming quite certain is Zach Eflin stinking it up on the mound. Yesterday he didn't even make it to the 2nd inning, allowing 4 earned runs and throwing 28 pitchces before getting yanked after Tampa Bay's first inning of work.

In fairness, Eflin would have stuck around for more fun, but he was experiencing lower back tightness. I guess I believe that.

His last three starts have been bad. In fact, "awful" called and said, "Man, you look terrible."

He allowed 12 hits and 7 earned runs in Tampa Bay on June 16.

The Yankees roasted him for 10 hits and 6 earned runs in just 3 innings of work in the Bronx on June 21.

And then yesterday he got dinged for 5 hits and 4 earned runs in about 18 minutes of work.

As the great Eminem says in the song Lose Yourself, "...it's back to the lab again, yo, this old rhapsody".

Something's wrong.

Both with Eflin and the Orioles.

I'm going to guess Eflin makes an injury list visit here sometime soon to get himself reset. There's no way he's "this bad" without having some sort of physical ailment. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I think we'll see him in the blue medical tent soon.

As for the Orioles, we know there's something "off" with them.

They're just not able to put together any kind of good stretch of positive play. Yesterday's loss in front of 30,000 plus at Camden Yards was just another in a long line of blow out losses this season. The O's now stand at 35-47 on the season.

Six weeks ago or thereabouts, I mapped out a route for the Birds to work themselves back into consideration for an A.L. Wild Card spot.

I surmised that at the 70-game mark they somehow had to be 30-40 which, as it turned out, is exactly what they were after a promising weekend home sweep of the Angels.

I then added on to that by suggesting that in order to be relevant in the second half of the season, the O's had to then be 48-52 after 100 games. Doing that would pretty much bring them back to .500 and then, from there, they could easily join the post-season chase by playing just 5 games above .500 in July and August.

Alas, that 48-52 mark seems almost entirely out of reach at this point.

They're 35-47. They would need to go 13-5 over the next 18 games to get to 48-52. That seems almost impossible for this team to accomplish given what we've seen of them recently.

Baseball is so much fun when your team is good.

It's the perfect companion for the summer months. The Land of Pleasant Living is even more pleasant when the Orioles are in the midst of a favorable season.

Baseball isn't much fun when the team stinks.

And, yeah, that's the bad news. The Birds are in danger of being an afterthought by the All-Star break unless they get their poop together.

If they're still wallowing in last place by the time mid-July rolls around, we'll be forced to do what we've been accustomed to doing here in Charm City for a majority of the last 25 years. That is, sinking ourselves into Ravens training camp.

Me? I'd rather be watching the Orioles night after night.

No disrespect to the Ravens, of course. We love them too. But pre-season football is like a dental visit. It's only nececessary because it's necessary.

If we're not watching meaningful baseball in July and August, dare I say it, the summer dries out pretty quickly around here. At least that's my mileage.

Oh, right, I owe you some good "local baseball news".

I know what you're thinking: "What on earth could be good?"

Gavin Sheets hit a game-winning 3-run homer for the Padres yesterday in their 6-4 win over Cincinnati.

The Baltimore native and ex-Gilman grad now has 13 homers and 49 runs batted in on the season.

Hopefully he can have a similar season in Baltimore in 2026.

That's where we're at, unfortunately. Talking about "next season" already and it's not even July.

Saturday June 28, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3960

we you did it!

Just after 4 pm yesterday, John K. sent in a $96 contribution to DMD2.0 with a note that said, "I hope this gets you close to the 99% figure you are looking for."

It turned out John's $96 contribution was "the one" that did, indeed, put us at 99%. I was on the road when the e-mail and his contribution hit the books, so it took me a few minutes to get it all put together and confirm it. But at 4:14 pm, it was official.

Just after 6 pm last night, true to his word, my friend Ed sent in the promised 1% contribution he offered last week if we reached 99% of our desired goal. And, as he vowed to do on Thursday, he also contributed an extra 1% to the cause because we were able to hit 99% yesterday.

So, instead of 100% of our goal, we reached 101% of it.

Anyone want to help us reach 105%?

I'm kidding.

So, you all did it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This has been an incredible one month in the life of Drew's Morning Dish.

I owe a huge thanks to the man who helped me put this together and guided me through the whole process of the "request for support". It was Matt, in fact, who coined that very phrase a couple of months ago when I, a tad unconvinced at the time, agreed to the campaign and the concept of asking all of you to contribute to the website in lieu of creating a paywall.

"It's very simple," Matt said. "It's a request for support. It's not a demand. It's not a threat. It's not anything except a request for people to support what you do."

I was concerned about it. But I trusted that he was right. And in the end, he was.

I'm proud to say I was right, too. I never wanted to do a paywall here. I always wanted this to be a place you can visit whenever you want and stay as long as you want and it costs you nothing.

I knew we'd reach our goal. I also knew not everyone would contribute and I had to come to terms with that, too.

In a perfect world, every person visiting here today would have contributed $48 and helped support this website. That said, nothing's perfect. And it only took me a day or two -- along with some sound philosophical advice from Matt -- to come to grips with the idea that a lot of people would help and some people wouldn't help.

"Think of it like you think about golf," Matt said. "If you brooded over every bad golf shot you hit you'd never get a good night's rest," he stated. "Just think about the great shots you hit. If you focus on the great ones and forget about the bad ones, you'll benefit a lot more from that mindset than focusing on the bad shots and bad scores."

So I'll just keep saying "thank you" to all of you who contributed to the cause, whether you were the funny guy who sent in $1.00 or someone who followed the protocol and sent in $48 or someone who contributed more than $48 (there are a lot of you who did that) or Ed who put up a significant amount of money to help us go from 99% to 101%.

In a weird twist, I know virtually every name of those who contributed because Venmo and PayPal both show your name. I don't "know" all of you, personally, but I certainly feel indebted to each and every one of you who contributed to the project.

This was a remarkable month for me and the website. When I started this back in August of 2014, I had no real idea what I was doing and had no idea I'd still be here doing this on June 28, 2025.

God is great, indeed.

Jeremiah, 29:11 -- "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I didn't know what was going to happen on August 25, 2014, but God sure knew.

I can't thank you all enough.

We've been blessed here with great marketing partners over the last 11 years.

We've also been blessed with awesome writers and contributors as well.

And I'm forever grateful for Tony Young, George McDowell and Mike Herb for their expertise, support and willingness to answer the phone at midnight or 7 am or any other time of the day/night.

Over the last month, those of you who have been regular, semi-regular or just occasional readers of #DMD have also come through in the biggest way possible.

You're getting your day in the sun today.

I appreciate all of you who contributed to the cause more than you can possibly know.

We'll keep giving our best effort here.

When we launched the "request for support" campaign, Matt told me, "You're going to be energized more than ever when this is all done and you see the fruits of your labor pan out in your favor."

He's right.

Thank you for the energy.

Thank you for believing in Drew's Morning Dish.

I'm beyond grateful.

---

I do think it's important for me to address something that appeared in the Comments section yesterday since it (now) indirectly impacts what we've done here at Drew's Morning Dish.

Someone here made a reference to Royal Farms and their withdrawal as a marketing partner at #DMD.

I addressed it a few months ago but I'll remind everyone here today that we have nothing but positive commentary to offer about our 13-year run with Royal Farms.

It's true, obviously, that in late January they reduced their marketing expenses in this area and Drew's Morning Dish was collateral damage of that decision.

But Royal Farms was always great to us here at Drew's Morning Dish. They were always great to me, personally. I have nothing but fond thoughts about Royal Farms.

They made a business decision. It happens. But I want to be very clear that we parted company with them on amicable terms and there's zero bad blood between this website and Royal Farms.

I'm indebted to them for 13 years of support.

I hope that clears up any potential misconceptions or "stories" out there about the way Royal Farms left the scene here at #DMD.

It's all good.

Here's where I will also remind you that Longshore Coffee is very good and their website is www.longshorecoffee.com if you're interested in ordering their great coffee!

---

The Birds reached the halfway mark of their '25 season last night with a 22-8 win over Tampa Bay in their 81st game of the season.

You could say, that is if you weren't soft and had a sense of humor, that the O's -- ahem -- "made their point" last night with that emphatic 22-8 victory.

Oh, and Flyers fans, don't rush for your calculators to see if my math is right. There are 162 games in a baseball season. The Orioles have played 81 games thus far. 81 plus 81 = 162.

Last night's thumping of Tampa Bay puts the O's at 35-46. They are, quite obviously, in last place in the American League East.

It goes without saying the first half of the campaign has been abysmal for the most part.

There have been a few bright spots and bright moments along the way, but it's mostly been lousy to watch night after night.

It's all about expectations. And we expected more from this particular group of varsity lettermen.

The first half of the season included a managerial change, a handful of injuries to key players, a number of guys largely underperforming, and an inconsistent starting rotation.

Other than that, everything went pretty well.

Bright spots? Jackson Holliday for sure. Prior to this season, there were major concerns about his viability as an everyday player. Those concerns, I think, have been dismissed. Holliday is doing everything we figured he would do. He's not Ryne Sandberg or Roberto Alomar just yet, but he's starting to resemble the expected quality of a 1st round draft pick.

Keegan Akin has been solid. Honestly, he might be the team's most valuable trade piece at the deadline. A lefty in the bullpen who can get people out in tight spots? Someone will take him for sure.

Ryan O'Hearn has enjoyed a nice campaign also. A playoff contender might take him at the deadline but there won't be a line at the door for him.

Gunnar Henderson has been good. With the bat, that is. He hasn't been great, mind you. But he's been good. His glove needs a refresher course, though. His defense is not really a strong point. Like, at all. There are stories bubbling "out there" that Brandon Hyde and Henderson bumped heads because the manager mentioned his shoddy defense on more than one occasion. Well, if the shoe glove fits...right?

Without question, Ramon Laureano has been the surprise of the season thus far. It was Tomoyuki Sugano who owned that distinction for a few weeks at the start of the season, but now he's getting roasted like a marshmallow at the campfire every time he takes the mound.

Ramon Urias has also been a decent contributor when called upon. He plays a lot because Jordan Westburg only stays healthy for three weeks, days hours before he gets hurt again. When Urias gets in the game, good things usually follow along.

The O's made a managerial change a month ago because Brandon Hyde got tired of seeing guys jake it and decided to call them out in the clubhouse after games. The new guy, Tony Mansolino, has guided the team to improved play in his short tenure, but there was virtually no way the Birds could continue to go through the motions with him the way they did with Hyde in his final days.

At some point, the players had to start playing. Once they successfully got the manager fired, the spotlight then fully turned to them.

They've been better under Mansolino. They're not scaring the Dodgers or anything like that, but their play has (slightly) improved since Hyde got the boot.

And even though they're still 11 games under .500 as of this morning, there's still a breath of hope that maybe, somehow, just maybe, the second half of the campaign will see a change in fortune for the battlin' Birds.

Baseball is a marathon. The O's didn't run the first half of it very well, but they're still running nonetheless.

It's time to make up some ground. A lot of it.

Friday June 27, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3959

ten weeks for that?

There were two trains of thought on Thursday when the NFL announced a 10-week suspension for former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

"They gave him 10 weeks...for that?"

And then others said, "They gave him 10 weeks...for that?"

Some folks couldn't believe Tucker got 10 weeks for something that was never prosecuted by law enforcement.

Some folks couldn't belive Tucker got 10 weeks for something as inappropriate as the behavior he was accused of by more than a dozen local massage therapists.

One of the women involved in the story told the Baltimore Banner yesterday, "He got ten weeks and I have to live with [that] for the rest of my life."

OK, that might be a little overly dramatic. After all, with that kind of statement, anything less than life in prison wouldn't have been sufficient.

"He got a 3 year suspension and I have to live with [that] for the rest of my life."

You know what I'm trying to say. I can see where someone might think 10 weeks wasn't enough of a punishment, but let's also keep in mind there are people in our country involving themselves in far more hateful, personal and damaging crimes than what Tucker supposedly did in Baltimore.

I get that the women involved were victimized, if the Banner story and the details of Tucker's involvement are indeed true. I keep saying that because I think it's the only way to categorize an incident that has so many questions left unanswered.

And I believe -- as probably most people do -- that Tucker had to receive some sort of punishment from the NFL. There was just no way they could look the other way, nor should they have. I know he's "our guy" and all, but the story and the women who were impacted deserved scrutiny and a punishment for the offender.

But I also believe it's fair to remember we're not talking about murder or armed robbery. Balance. Balance is what we're looking for, I guess.

The league obviously conducted their own research, most of which was probably first brought to light by the Baltimore Banner back in late January. And that research gave the NFL enough ammunition to sit Tucker for the first ten weeks of the 2025 season.

Now, it's sorta-kinda important to point out that it's not really a 10-week suspension because Tucker is currently without a team. But the suspension begins with Game 1 of the 2025 regular season. So if he doesn't sign with someone this summer and is still a free agent in week 1, he's effectively serving a suspension even though he's not really working in the NFL.

I'm not a suspension expert or a human resources professional but that seems like just about the best kind of suspension you can get if you're going to get suspended.

That said, Tucker's reputation has been tarnished for a period far extending 10 weeks. He'll wear that scarlet letter like Hester Prynne.

There's really only one question left in the whole Tucker-massage saga. To some, it's the second most important subject after the health and well being of the massage therapists who were allegedly victimized in the case.

How much did the Ravens know before the story broke last January?

The tentacles to that question (and the answer) are also dangling.

If they didn't know, how could they be that naive? There were social media posts floating around for five years or more hinting at some nefarious behavior by Tucker and specifically referencing massage therapy locations.

If they did know, how long before last January did they know?

Did they know in 2018? 2020? Or did they not learn of it until, say, 2023?

And if the Ravens did know before this January, did they discuss it with Tucker upon learning of the allegations?

All of this is an indirect way of asking: Did the Ravens continue to employ Tucker even though they knew about all of this stuff?

Tucker's on the hook for his own behavior. Yesterday he got the punishment the league believe was justified for those actions. Your mileage might vary on whether 10 weeks was too much or not enough for something that was never once reported to the police and was certainly never investigated as a criminal matter.

But the Ravens are on the hook for potential crimes of a different sort. They're not on the hook for "real crimes", but they are on the hook, potentially, for attempting to hide or sweep away a very serious story that impacted the very community that has tirelessly supported them for nearly 30 years now.

What Tucker did -- if true -- was bad. And wrong. No two ways about it.

But what the Ravens might have done is just as wrong on the level of community trust. Had Tucker been a back-up safety out of Southern Missouri University, would the organization have protected him the way they -- allegedly/apparently -- protected their future Hall of Fame kicker?

I'm not sure we'll ever know the answers. Quietly, the Ravens tell inquiring folks they didn't know about the Tucker story. If you believe them, you believe them. If you don't, you don't. But they insist they didn't know anything about the allegations until late January like everyone else in town.

I just don't know if I fully believe that. But anyway...

There's also one other lingering question that was making the rounds on social media last night. Would the Ravens have cut Tucker back in May if the NFL would have told them, "We're not going to suspend him. We've found nothing substantive enough to suspend him."?

I contended all along they simply couldn't continue to employ Tucker, no matter what the NFL decided.

I didn't think his spotty performance in 2024 was even a consideration. I just didn't see how the club could let him trot back out there to kick for them given the story the Banner wrote and given Tucker's denial of the allegations. While that story was "unsolved", for lack of a better term, Tucker was no longer employable by the Ravens.

Cutting him might have been the right thing to do, but it was also the absolute only thing they could do at that point.

Had Tucker fallen on the sword right away in late January and apologized and done the perp walk everyone in town wanted him to do, then maybe, just maybe, there would have been a way for the Ravens and Tucker to creatively carve a path for him to return in 2025.

But once Tucker essentially called those 15 women liars, there was no turning back.

And now the only question left is the one that was ignited yesterday.

10 weeks........for that?

---

We are closing in on the completion date of DMD2.0, with three days remaining until I close the curtain on the project we kicked off back on June 1.

Time flies when you're having fun.

For those who are curious, we're at 97.2% of our desired contribution goal. If we get to 99% by June 30, we're getting a 1% contribution from #DMD reader Ed to take us over the top and get us to full goal.

Ed's the man, though. He sent me this yesterday.

"DF, if you get to 99% by 5 pm tomorrow (today, Friday), I'll do a 2% contribution and you'll finish at 101%. If you don't get to 99% until Saturday or Sunday, you'll still get my 1% but only my 1%. Rally the troops! Good luck my friend."

OK, so I'm rallying.

Come on troops!

First, thank you Ed for that kind gesture. Your 1% contribution is more than enough. But 2% would be great.

If you're reading this right now and you haven't participated in our "request for support", would you please contribute your two-year, one-time contribution of $48 to help keep #DMD rolling along like the well oiled machine that it is?

Will sent in his $48 yesterday along with an additional $20 and said, "I don't know why it took me so long to do this. I feel bad about it. I read the Dish every day and love it. I just didn't get off my a** and send you the money. So there's an extra $20 for you. Go Hall!"

The extra $20 was nice, but certainly not necessary. I'm not trying to coax anyone into giving more or sending along a gratuity of any kind.

A lot of people have given more than $48 and I appreciate all of them doing so, for sure.

But more than anything, what I'm really trying to do is get everyone who visits here regularly to participate in the DMD2.0 project and send in their $48 contribution for a two year period.

So if you reading this right now and you haven't yet contributed and you'll send it in today before 5 pm, you'll be helping out in an even bigger way. Your $48 will matter. And if we get enough $48 contributions by 5 pm, you'll be helping add another 1% to the kitty thanks to my friend Ed.

I'll be on the road at 5 pm tonight but I'll post something in the Comments section and give you all an update. I'll even give a 12 noon update today, how's that for attention to detail?

Thanks to all of you who have contributed thus far. And thank you, in advance, to anyone waiting until the end to make the game-winning basket for us.

You can contribute your $48 in one of two ways:

Venmo: Drew-Forrester-1

PayPal: 18inarow@gmail.com

faith in sports

This entry, today, isn't necessarily sports-connected, directly, but it's one of my favorite videos from the "I Am Second" series and one that I use quite often.

In fact, I'll show it next Monday to all of the campers who are attending the FCA National Golf Camp that I'm helping to run June 29 through July 3 at Liberty University.

Eric Metaxas is a conservative radio host and author who offers incredible insight into faith and religion. This video below is, I think, his 10 minutes "greatest hits" compilation.

I don't want to spoil what's in there. I want you to watch it for yourself. But the points he makes about faith and religion are more spot on than Jacob deGrom's control on Wednesday night in Baltimore.

Please take 10 minutes today to watch the video below.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our Friday "Faith in Sports" segment.

Thursday June 26, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3958

almost perfectly inept

During my abbreviated, weekly appearance on Glenn Clark Radio yesterday, I joked with the talented show host about the O's and their prospects for eventually getting no-hit this season after some dude we've never heard of held them hitless for 5 innings on Tuesday night in Baltimore.

"You know we're getting no-hit at some point this season," I said to Clark emphatically.

"One hundred percent," he confirmed in agreement. "It's definitely happening at some point."

Clark then mentioned the O's were facing Jacob deGrom on Wednesday evening at Camden Yards.

"Eh, he's right handed," I said. "It won't be him."

"I don't know," Clark replied. "He's having a really good season."

"Nah," I said again. "Not him. Not tonight."

It turned out I was right.

But only barely.

I was really far more wrong than I was right. Yes, deGrom failed to no-hit the Birds. But he might as well have, in all reality. He took a perfect game into the 7th inning, then finally gave up a hit to Colton Cowser to lead off the 8th inning and that was that. deGrom left the game with 7 strikeouts and 1 hit allowed in 7 full innings of work.

Predictably, the O's went down without issue in the 8th and 9th to lose, 7-0.

I'll say it again and you can agree or disagree. I'm sure Clark agrees with me. At some point this season, the Orioles are going to get no-hit.

It's just a matter of time.

I don't know why it's such a sure thing, other than that's three times in the last week that they were sorta-kinda in danger of getting a no-no throw on them.

Last Saturday in New York.

Tuesday in Baltimore.

Wednesday in Baltimore.

It feels like there were one or two other occasions earlier this year where some pitcher tossed four or five no-hit innings at the Birds, but maybe I'm just dreaming that one up.

Well, there was that one game last week where they had 7 hits in two innings and were leading 8-0 in Tampa and then didn't get a hit for the rest of the game but we've struck that game from our 2025 Orioles scrap book. It doesn't exist. It didn't happen.

So, that's three times in less than a week where I stopped what I was doing (although last night I was actually watching intently for whatever reason) and focused on the game because I thought there was a chance they were going to get no-hit.

I don't know what's going on, other than there's a bunch of guys on the team who don't hit very well, consistently, and are prone to nights, weeks and, well, months where they look inept.

In his last 38 games, Cedric Mullins is hitting .175 with 8 walks and 45 strikeouts. 38 games is basically a quarter of the season. When a starting -- and important -- player on your team is hitting a buck seventy five for 25% of the games (roughly), that's a problem.

And I'm not picking on Mullins to pick on Mullins. But he's a guy who has really dropped off over the last 6 weeks. His trade value is probably next to nothing now.

For all of the bluster about Jordan Westburg and his impact on the club -- and I'm one of those guys who think Westburg's a key piece -- the oft-injured 3rd baseman is hitting just .222 on the year and his on-base-percentage is really bad (.281). When Westburg contributes, he's usually the difference in a win or a loss. The problem is, obviously, he doesn't contribute enough. And he gets hurt a lot.

Sugano and Eflin started out the season as mound warriors and now we hold our breath whenever they make a start. Charlie Morton was a league laughingstock for a month and now he might be our most effective starter, although Dean Kremer would dispute that I'm sure.

Trevor Rogers looks like Clayton Kershaw these days. Last August he was a joke.

It's weird. This guy was great in April, now it's June and he's terrible.

That guy was terrible in April and now he's a rock star. But he's pretty much the only one.

The Birds are sporting a record of 34-46 after last night's fiasco, for those keeping score at home. To reach that magical mark of 48-52 at the 100-game mark, they will have to go 14-6 over the next 20 games.

A record of 14-6 is really good baseball for any team, first place, third place or otherwise. And I just don't know if 14-6 is feasible with this team, at this point.

Who am I kidding? Of course it's not feasible.

But onward they go. They're off today, thankfully, and then the Rays come to town on Friday for a big weekend series. I mean, I might as well just say it. They really need to sweep Tampa Bay.

A sweep of the Rays would get them to 37-46. They're in Texas next week for 3 more games with the Rangers. Then they're in Atlanta for three.

Somehow, just somehow, if they could go 7-2 in those nine games, that would get them to 43-48 and they'd have a puncher's chance of posting that aforementioned 48-52 record I've been going on about for a month or so.

I know what you're thinking and you're right.

"You're living in fantasy land, Drew. They're not going 7-2."

I know, I know.

I'm trying to keep the faith, but it's starting to wane. Quickly.

---

I received several e-mails and saw a lot of Twitter back-and-forth on Wednesday about the Orioles Pride Night event last night at the ballpark.

I don't really think there's anything I need to say, want to say, or should say about it. The Orioles and a number of teams in Major League Baseball feel it's important to support their local LGBQT community and I think that's a good thing. I honestly don't follow it enough to know all the bells and whistles behind what they do, how it works, etc.

Is it controversial? Maybe. Does a segment of their fan base take exception to it? Yes, they do, if you believe what you read on the internet, at least. But give the O's some credit for saying, "We don't care, we're doing it because think it's the right thing to do."

If there's a part of our community that feels empowered and supported because the baseball team put together some sort of promotional game for them, I think that's a good thing.

I'd love to see "Jesus is Great Night" at the ballpark, too, where the team promotes the great work of Jesus during his time on Earth and supports Him and the love he had for all people. That one probably won't happen, I know.

But in the same way they actively promote and take pride (no pun intended) in supporting the LGBQT community, I'd love to see the Orioles take that same stance, if you will, while supporting and promoting Jesus.

I mean, it seems only fair. I know the team has a "Christian Faith Night", and that's awesome. But it would certainly be powerful to see the franchise come right out and say, "We know a lot of you think Jesus was great and we're here to say, 'Come on out to the ballpark tonight and enjoy an evening where we celebrate Him with you.'"

To borrow, sort of, a famous line from Michael Jordan: "People who love Jesus buy baseball tickets, too."

All that said, I know why "Pride Night" is distinctly important to the Orioles organization in particular and I'm mainly just glad the franchise is doing something of value in the community, period. The on-field product is lousy this year. But that shouldn't stop the Birds from trying to be a champion off the field.

---

OK, so it's time to start putting our foot to the pedal with the DMD2.0 and knock this last 4.6% out and reach our goal.

Can a bunch of you help me today?

We're at 94.4% after a sllllooooowwwww Wednesday, but we're closing in on reaching 99%, which will automatically get us to 100% because friendly #DMD reader Ed has pledged to pick up the final 1% himself.

So we're gunning for 99%. Can we get it done today, please?

I'm going to go ahead and ask the question. The obvious question. The one a great number of you don't have to answer, thankfully.

"If you haven't yet contributed, why haven't you?"

I don't need to know the specifics. I guess I'm just asking for the sake of making you have that conversation with yourself.

If I heeded the advice of many over the last 5 years or so, there would be a monthly paywall up at #DMD and you'd either pay $3.99 (or more) a month for #DMD or you wouldn't gain access to it.

It would be like the scene from "Caddyshack" when Danny Noonan yanks back his dollar bill after saying, "Well I ain't paying 50 cents for no Coke" and Mike DiNunzio says, "Well then, you ain't gettin' no Coke."

You might have objected to a paywall here. Heck, I own the place and I objected to it. But that said, if I implemented one and you elected not to pay it, you wouldn't be reading these words right now.

Instead of charging you $3.99 a month or whatever it was, I'm simply asking you to forego going out to Chipotle with your family of four ONCE over the next two years and just contribute that $48 to #DMD instead.

I'm eternally grateful for how many of you have done that so far. And a significant number of you have gone above that $48 with donations of $100, $200, $201, $250, $500 and Ed has pledged to donate 1% himself once we reach 99%.

Thanks to all of you for helping.

I have said all along this way -- the "honor system" I keep calling it -- is the best way to do this. You all have showed me this was the right way to do it. I won't go as far as saying you've restored my faith in humanity or anything quite that dramatic, but I knew if I asked you that you would follow through and help out.

But if you're one of those who hasn't yet contributed, I'm asking today.......why not?

I don't need to know why you haven't. That's between you and you.

But if your reason is "I just haven't gotten around to it", today, hopefully, is the day you get around to it.

I'd love to get to 99% today.

The goal is to reach 100% by June 30.

We're as close to our goal as Jacob deGrom was to a no-hitter last night.

Can we finish it off?

You can contribute your $48 in one of two ways:

Venmo: Drew-Forrester-1

PayPal: 18inarow@gmail.com

	"Jack Herb's Hot Corner" #DMD's weekly look at Major League Baseball
Jack Herb chimes in weekly here at #DMD with his insight on what's going on in baseball outside of Baltimore, with predictions, analysis and "Game of the Week" previews.

We’re just about at the halfway mark of the MLB season, so let’s take a look around the league at the current division leaders and teams in a Wildcard spot. This week we’ll review the American League and next week we’ll dive into the National League.

In the American League, the Yankees, Tigers, and Astros currently lead their respective divisions. The Tigers are running away with the AL Central with a 9.5 game lead over the 2nd place Guardians, and currently have the best record in the American League.

They are a well-oiled machine and are playing very good baseball, with offensive production coming from their entire lineup and a very strong starting rotation led by Tarik Skubal, the favorite to win this year’s AL Cy Young Award.

In the AL East, the Yankees have a slim lead over the Rays with the Blue Jays not far behind. The Yankees are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are having trouble producing runs outside of Aaron Judge.

The rotation in New York has been solid even without Gerrit Cole this year, and they have a good lineup on paper, but their offense has been stagnant for most of June.

The Rays are looking dangerous and are a team you do not want to play come October. Tampa Bay always seems to have a young competitive team. I’m not sure how they do it, but they draft and develop prospects unlike any other. They sit 1 game behind the Yankees.

The Blue Jays are playing well and are getting consistent contributions from Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Bo Bichette, and utility man Ernie Clement. The rotation has been good even with Max Scherzer landing on the injured list after pitching 1 game and Kevin Gausman struggling most of the season.

Former Oriole Anthony Santander has been a huge letdown for Toronto with a .179 batting average and 6 home runs and is currently on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation. The Blue Jays are 2.5 games behind the Yankees.

We’ve seen some strange things in the AL West this season, with the division early on looking to be a 2-team race with the Mariners and Rangers to now having the Astros leading the West with a 4.5 game lead over Seattle.

The Astros have a great rotation, and a scary back end of the bullpen led by Maryland native Josh Hader, who has a 1.78 ERA and 20 saves. The offense has been good but not great. Free agent acquisition Christian Walker needs to get going and Yordan Alvarez, the power hitting DH, needs to wake up.

Jose Altuve has been his usual self and Jeremy Pena is having a career season with a .326 batting average.

For the Mariners, it’s the same old story with them. Their pitching rotation is fantastic, but the offense can’t put runs on the scoreboard.

Maybe the story is slightly different this year. They can’t score runs outside of Cal Raleigh, who has hit the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, and we’re still 2 and a half weeks away from the break.

The front office in Seattle has done a lot to try to fix the offense, such as trading and later signing Jorge Polanco before the 2024 season, and trading for Randy Arozarena at the trade deadline last summer.

To the Mariners credit, they have been good recently winning 7 of their last 10 games, but they fluctuate so much where they might go 3-7 in their next 10 games, then 7-3 again in the 10 after that. With a little more consistency and production on offense, I think the Mariners can take the AL West from the Astros.

The Rays are in the top Wildcard spot followed by the Blue Jays and Mariners. In that race, there are 5 teams that are 3.5 games or less behind the Mariners for the last Wildcard spot.

This race is going to come down to the wire and make for an interesting trade deadline period. With the addition of a 3rd Wildcard team, less teams will be sellers creating more demand for good players on bad teams.

I expect the Tigers to be aggressive at the deadline. They’ll most likely add another strong arm to solidify their bullpen. Depending on what the Blue Jays do from now until the trade deadline, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bo Bichette get dealt to the Tigers on his expiring contract.

The Tigers have the #1 ranked farm system in baseball and have the ammo to bring in players to help the club and their dreams of a World Series in the Motor City.

Players of the Week –

Position Player: Switch hitting 2nd baseman Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks went off last week with a .517 average, 3 homers and 9 RBI. Marte currently owns a 1.032 OPS which is the 3rd highest OPS in baseball behind Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.

Ketel Marte is underrated in my opinion and is one of the best 2nd basemen in the league. He reminds me of Jose Ramirez, the switch-hitting 3rd baseman with the Cleveland Guardians, who is also deemed by many to be underrated.

Marte has spent almost all his career in Arizona and has always been consistent at the plate as well as being excellent on defense.

There was an ugly incident in the Dbacks game on Tuesday night at Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, where a fan yelled a derogatory comment to Ketel about his mother, who passed away 2 years ago in a car accident.

During a pitching change later in the inning, manager Torey Lovullo checked on Ketel and put his arm around him as Ketel wiped tears from his face. I don’t know what the fan said or if he had knowledge of Marte’s mother passing.

It doesn’t matter either way.

Simply put, don’t bother attending a game if you plan on acting like a jerk and yelling obscenities to players. They are humans too, not zoo animals. MLB announced yesterday that the fan has been banned from all ballparks indefinitely.

Pitcher: Garrett Crochet had a phenomenal week on the bump for the Red Sox as he made 2 appearances, throwing 13 total innings with 18 strikeouts and 3 walks while allowing only 1 run.

He did only record 1 win out of those 2 appearances. In the no decision he had, Crochet didn’t allow a run and went 7 innings, which I’m sure is frustrating for any starting pitcher to go that far and receive no run support.

I’m interested to see Crochet’s 2nd half of this season. For those who don’t remember, Crochet started his career with the White Sox as a reliever and then converted to a starter last season and threw 146 innings.

This year, he’s already at 109.1 innings. So that’s something to keep an eye on in Boston.

To compare innings, let’s use Corbin Burnes, our former ace, and his innings pitched last year. Burnes pitched 194.1 innings for us. His career high is 202 innings, and he won his Cy Young with 167.

How far do the Red Sox let Crochet go this year? I don’t think Crochet goes over 190. That’s a big jump, but does he go say 3 or 4 more starts than last year and get to 170 innings?

I think 170 is a good progression for him, but the Red Sox position in the standings will be a big factor in their ultimate decision.

Rookie: Jacob Misiorowski, MLB’s 65th ranked prospect, was called up by the Milwaukee Brewers on June 12th and has been unreal thus far. In Misiorowski’s first career start he had a no hitter going into the 6th inning and was pulled as a precaution after awkwardly slipping on the front part of the mound.

The 6-foot 7 righty’s repertoire is highlighted by his high velocity fastball which is consistently over 100 MPH. In his debut, his maximum velocity reached was 102.2 MPH.

Yesterday, Misiorowski outdueled Paul Skenes and the Pirates going 5 innings while allowing 2 hits, 2 walks, no runs and striking out 8 Pittsburgh hitters.

The Brew Crew get another solid arm in their rotation that is already very good as they look to chase down the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, who sit 2.5 games up on them.

Debut: The Cincinnati Reds called up their #1 ranked prospect Chase Burns, who was drafted 2nd overall in the draft last year out of Wake Forest and made his debut Tuesday night against the Yankees at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Burns started his highly anticipated debut by striking out the first 3 batters in the 1st inning, which included Aaron Judge, then recorded the first 2 outs in the 2nd inning by striking out Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt.

So, in his first ever MLB game, Burns struck out 5 consecutive batters, 3 of them being former MVPs. That's the first time that's happened in the last 50 years./p>

Burns ultimately did allow 3 runs but had a no decision. Very impressive stuff from the youngster, and like the Brewers, the Reds add a talented arm to an already solid rotation.

Games of the Week --

Friday, June 27th: San Diego Padres vs Cincinnati Reds (Dylan Cease vs Nick Martinez)

Both of these teams are in the hunt in their divisions and also less than 2 games out of the last Wildcard spot in the National League. After losing a 4-game series to the Dodgers, the Padres have turned it around and have won 3 of their last 5 games in series against the Royals and Nationals. Cincinnati just won a series against the Yankees and are playing all around great baseball. Dylan Cease has struggled this season with a 3-6 record and will look to get back to his usual self and earn a win Friday night.

Saturday, June 28th: Seattle Mariners vs Texas Rangers (Bryan Woo vs Kumar Rocker)

The Mariners travel to the Lone Star State and look to keep their stretch of good baseball going and win a series against their division rivals. Bryan Woo has been a solid starter for the Mariners with a 7-4 record and 3.12 ERA and will face a Rangers team that has struggled this year on offense. Kumar Rocker had a lot of hype around him when he was drafted 3rd overall back in 2022 out of Vanderbilt, but he hasn’t pitched well this season with an ERA close to 7. Depending on what version of the Mariners offense he sees, he could have a good outing for the Rangers.

Sunday, June 29th: Philadelphia Phillies vs Atlanta Braves (Ranger Suarez vs Spencer Strider)

The Phillies currently lead the NL East by a slim margin and will look to increase their lead this weekend as they take on the Atlanta Braves and Spencer Strider. Strider is still trying to get back on track as he’s not been as dominant as usual since returning from Tommy John surgery. Ranger Suarez on the other hand has been great with a 2.08 ERA and a 6-2 record. The Braves don’t look the same this year and even with getting Acuna and Strider back, they haven’t played well this season and are nearly 10 games back in the NL East.

Wednesday June 25, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3957

o's minor league player of the week

It’s time to highlight the O’s farm system a little bit and announce our DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week.

This week, there were several worthy candidates down on the farm, but the ultimate selection belongs to the Orioles’ top-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, C Samuel Basallo.

Basallo, 20, had another terrific week for the AAA Norfolk Tides, hitting .333 (6-18) with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and four runs scored over five games played. In addition, he also walked three times and posted a .429 OBP and 1.040 OPS for the week.

The week was simply a continuation of a wonderful season that Basallo is putting together for the Tides. Over 48 games this season, Basallo is putting up terrific numbers. He is hitting .271 with 15 home runs, 34 RBI and 33 runs scored. He has also drawn 28 free passes against 46 strikeouts. Overall, he is sporting a very nice .378 OBP and a robust .968 OPS.

Signed as an international free agent in 2021 out of the Dominican Republic, Basallo is the unanimous top prospect in the Orioles’ system, but the biggest question surrounding him isn’t his bat, it’s whether or not he can handle the catching workload of the big leagues.

Thus far this season, he has played 16 games behind the plate, 12 games at first base and has served as the designated hitter for 18 games. Needing to work on his defense behind the dish, more specifically blocking, the more time he can get behind the plate the better and seeing him catch in three of the five games he played in this week is promising.

Obviously, it was only a matter of time before Basallo received our nod as DMD Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Week, but this week’s selection also coincides with a troubled catching situation in Baltimore.

As all O’s fans know, Adley Rutschman is currently on the IL and is not expected back until after the All-Star break. In addition, Maverick Handley is also currently out on the 7-day concussion list leaving Chadwick Tromp serving as Gary Sanchez’s back-up behind the dish.

We know the fans are pushing for a Basallo promotion to the show, and I do believe that call will likely come at some point this season, but not quite yet. Should Rutschman end up missing even more time after the break and the O’s battle their way into a playoff push, that call may come before rosters expand later this summer for Basallo.

This contribution for today's edition of "Happy Hour" was provided by Josh Michael.

Answers to the 5 baseball events from today's edition of #DMD.

1. On June 25, 1976, Toby Harrah played all 18 innings of a doubleheader for the Texas Rangers and did not have one fielding chance in either game at shortstop. That was never done before June 25, 1976, and it has never been done since, either.

2. Rafael Palmeiro was a great hitter, of course, but he didn't drive in 10 runs in a game, ever.

3. Mark Teixeira had three consecutive doubles twice in his career, but never had four consecutive doubles in one game.

4. Alex Bregman has been involved in three triple plays in his career but never participated in two in the same game.

5. On June 25, 2021, in New York, Aaron Nola of the Phillies tied the MLB record held by Tom Seaver by striking out 10 consecutive batters.

---

weird stuff has happened on june 25

Don't ask me how I discovered this stuff.

I mean, you can ask me. It's just that it's not top secret or anything. The internet, you know, can tell you just about everything you need to know.

Now, if you want to play along with this today, you have to vow not to go to Google for the answers.

Please.

Don't Google these answers. Play along and see if you can figure out which two of the five moments below didn't happen on June 25.

Editor's note: You wanna have some fun this morning or you want me to lament and break down how the O's threw away a game they had in the palm of their hand last night?

Fun wins out.

OK, so here goes.

I'm going to give you these five baseball moments, all of which occurred on June 25. Two of them are true. Three of them are not. You just figure out which three are not true.

June 25, 1976-- Toby Harrah of the Texas Rangers plays both ends of a doubleheader against Boston and in those 18 innings he does not field one ground ball or fly ball. It's the only time in Major League history a shortstop played both games (full) of a doubleheader without a fielding chance.

June 25, 1988 -- Rafael Palmeiro of the Cubs accomplishes something that was never done before that date and hasn't been done since that date. In four consecutive at-bats, he knocked in one run with a single, two runs with a double, three runs with a triple and four runs with a grand slam in Chicago's 20-3 win over Pittsburgh. The 10 RBI are 2 short of the all-time single-game record.

June 25, 2010 -- Mark Teixeira of the Yankees hits four consecutive doubles in New York's 11-9 win over Cleveland. No player before or after has hit four consecutive doubles in the same game.

June 25, 2018 -- Alex Bregman of the Astros starts a triple play in the field in the 4th inning, then lines into a triple play at the plate in the 7th inning, becoming the only player in MLB history to be involved in two triple plays in the same game.

June 25, 2021 -- Aaron Nola of the Phillies ties Tom Seaver's 51-year old record by striking out 10 consecutive New York Mets in a 2-1 loss in New York.

No Google.

As they say at Ravens games, "Don't be a jerk" and use Google to spoil the fun for yourself.

Throw your answers into the Comments section. I'll post the two that are true and three that aren't in "Happy Hour" later on today, along with Josh Michaels' "O's Minor Leaguer of the Week" as well.

---

OK, we won't ignore what happened last night. We want to act like it didn't happen, but we can't.

It was bizarro-night at the ballpark.

The O's were getting no-hit by some dude you've never heard of for six innings. All you need to know about Jacob Latz is that he throws left-handed. Now you know why the Birds couldn't get a hit for six innings.

Anyway, Ramon Laureano finally scratched out a hit in the 7th. No-no is gone-gone.

Twelve minutes later, the O's had erased a 4-0 deficit with three straight home runs from Sanchez, Urias and O'Hearn to take a 5-4 lead.

Ballgame, right?

Wrong.

In the 8th, Gregory Soto couldn't hold a base runner to save his life and Gary Sanchez couldn't throw one out for a million bucks and the Rangers turned a walk and two stolen bases into a sac fly and a 5-5 tie.

Seranthony Dominguez then gave up the game-winning run in the 10th with the aid of two wild pitches.

The Birds had the tying run at 3rd with one out in the 10th but Carlson (strike out) and Holliday (fly out) couldn't produce the big hit at the right time.

It's worth mentioning, I guess, that the Rangers stink. They're 39-41 and pretty much treading water in the A.L. West. And, yes, I know the O's record is worse than 39-41. But Texas is a lousy team.

Anyway...

That's three games in less than a week the O's have given away after having it all but wrapped up. Last Wednesday they led the Rays, 8-0, but squandered that advantage on the way to a stunning 12-8 loss.

Sunday in New York, they led the Yankees, 2-1, in the bottom of the 8th, but couldn't hold on from there while losing, 4-2.

And then last night they were 87% favorites to win after taking the lead, 5-4, but couldn't get the job done.

Last night's loss dropped the Birds to 34-45.

Reverse those three games, just for fun, and the Birds are 37-42 and five games under .500 instead of 34-45 and 11 games under .500.

You'll recall I've been pressing the Birds to be 48-52 at the 100-game mark if they hope to be buyers at the trade deadline. They've now played 79 games. In order to get to 48-52, they need to go 14-7 over the next 21 games. It's not looking good, is it?

---

I enjoyed Mark Suchy's trip down "caddie memory lane" yesterday in our "Happy Hour" feature. I also caddied at Caves Valley for two summers about 20 years ago when I was battling some elbow issues and wanted to stay around the game while I rehabbed my injury.

In those days at Caves, caddies couldn't wear shorts (they can now) or sunglasses (they can now) and couldn't accept post-round tips (they can now).

Now, I'll be the first to say the no-tipping rule was mostly followed. I'll leave it at that.

I remember looping in a foursome of a group of guys who were in town from upstate New York. I got their bag(s) for two straight days and had the same two guys (I specifically remember one of them was "Marco", but I don't recall the other name) for 36 holes, which was kind of fun.

When you get the same bag two straight days, you get to know their personalities and their games. It's a much easier second round when you get someone you had the day before.

In those days, the nines were reversed from the way they are routed in 2025. On day one, standing by the clubhouse waiting to walk down to the first tee, Marco handed me a couple of his clubs from the practice facility and I started to clean them off.

"There's going to be some big money on the line over the next two days," he said to me. "If we win these two matches, you will benefit from it."

Nothing else needed to be said. This was going to be serious golf and "my guys" needed help to win. And if I helped, I'd get a little something extra.

On day one, Marco and his friend who teamed up together won the match 3-up after 18. As we walked to the clubhouse, one of the guys who lost said, "Double it tomorrow?"

Marco quickly agreed.

On the 3rd hole (what is now #12) the next day, one of the guys in the foursome who was playing against Marco and my other player took what I thought was a suspicious drop after hitting his 2nd shot into the water.

"What happened there?" Marco said to me as I came over to help him with his shot.

"Hosel rocket," I said. "He's in the water. But I don't think his drop is in the right place."

Editor's note: "Hosel rocket" is another way of describing a shank without saying the word "shank". No one says "shank" out loud.

I looked over to see his opponent standing near the water's edge about 100 yards from the green instead of 160 yards or so out, where I thought his ball entered the (then called) hazard.

"That cheating f**k," Marco said.

He hit a bad shot short of the green and barked over to his opponent.

"Hey! Your drop is back here!" Marco yelled as he pointed back to a spot about 50 yards or so from where he was standing.

His opponent was unfazed. He played a wedge from where he originally (incorrectly) dropped the ball, and, as fate would have it, rolled in an improbable 15 foot par putt a few minutes later. Marco failed to get his ball up and down from the front of the green and he lost the hole to a par.

On the 4th tee, a heated discussion ensued. Marco accused the other guy of cheating. The other guy brought up some story from months earlier when they played together at Winged Foot.

And then the other guy said, "It's not about the money. What do I care about a hundred dollars a hole?"

"Then make it two hundred," Marco said.

"Make it five hundred," the other guy snapped back.

"Done deal," Marco said.

It was very tense for the rest of the day.

Marco made a lengthy putt on the 17th green (now #8) to go 1-up and plus $500 in the match.

"Double it on this hole?" his friend in the other twosome said as we walked from 17 green to 18 tee.

"Of course," Marco said without breaking stride.

At 18, Marco hit his tee ball into the left fairway bunker. We walked up to his ball together and it was nestled down in the sand a bit. It certainly wasn't a fried egg or anything like that, but it was far from a great lie. And it was also fairly close to the front lip of the trap. In my somewhat expert opinion, I quickly surmised there was no way Marco could get the ball on the green from that position in the bunker.

I took the other bag over to the right side of the fairway to help Marco's playing partner, who had not been much of a factor all afternoon.

By pure accident, and for reasons I don't know, I turned around casually to see if Marco had hit his shot yet and when I wheeled around, he was at the top of his backswing.

Except he wasn't anywhere near the front of the trap. He was in the middle of it.

I assumed he had hit a shot already that deflected off the lip and went backwards in the bunker. There was no other explanation for Marco's position in the trap. Well, there was one other explanation. He had moved his ball. But I knew that didn't happen.

Marco made great contact with his shot from the fairway bunker and came up just short of the green.

I helped his teammate with his shot, then walked over to Marco to collect his club and clean it off.

"Nice shot," I said. "You there in two or three?"

Marco shot me a look.

"I'm there in two," he said.

I didn't say a word. We just kept walking.

I was about 95% sure he wasn't there in two shots. Or, perhaps he had only hit two shots, but he didn't hit his second one from the original location of the ball in the bunker. I wasn't 95% sure of that. I was 100% sure of it.

"I hit my 6 iron from the bunker to here," Marco said as I cleaned off his sand wedge.

I didn't respond.

"Are you hitting four?" his playing opponent said.

"No! I'm hitting three," Marco said. "What is it with you guys? He (pointing to me) asked me the same thing back there a minute ago."

"Take it easy," the other guy said. "I just asked you what shot you were hitting. Relax, Marco."

"Don't tell me to relax," Marco said. He shot me a uneasy look that said, "I think you guys know something was weird with that second shot."

I knew at that point Marco had moved his ball.

But I couldn't prove it.

And I was starting to feel like Marco knew that I knew.

Marco's opponent rolled a 50 foot putt about 10 feet past the hole. Marco chipped on nicely to four feet or thereabouts.

The other opponent was out of the hole. Marco's playing partner had about 20 feet for par and he missed.

It was now down to Marco and his playing opponent who questioned him about the number of shots he had taken.

The opponent made his par putt. He slapped his caddie a loud "high five" and produced a huge smile, saying, "Finally made a putt that matters!"

I can still remember to this day that I wanted Marco to miss his putt. If he makes the par putt he winds up winning $500 on the day. Missing it would make the match a tie but would cost Marco $500 overall because he was up $500 after 17 holes and they were playing this hole for $1,000.

I didn't want Marco to win, even though I knew, or assumed, at least, that Marco winning $500 would benefit me in some way.

He rolled it in like Ben Crenshaw.

"Yessssss!" he said rather loudly. I wouldn't classify it as a scream, but it was loud enough to let everyone know it was an important putt in a meaningless (supposedly) game of friendly golf.

As we trudged up the hill from the green, Marco discreetly and smartly walked up behind me and jammed his hand in my right pocket, leaving folded up bills in there at the same time.

"I appreciate what you did for me today," he said, quietly.

He didn't say, "I appreciate you."

Or, "Thanks for the good work out there."

He didn't say, "I enjoyed the last couple of days with you. Next time we're here I'd love to have you caddie for me again."

He said, very specifically, "Thanks for what you did for me..."

I took that as "Thanks for not questioning me in front of those guys about that shot out of the bunker at 18."

Later on, I pulled two $20 bills and a $100 bill out of my pocket. Back then, a $50 tip was a lot. $140 was pretty much what I usually got for carrying two bags over 18 holes from the club.

That was the final straw in my mind. A $140 tip was definitely hush money.

And the remarkable part was the four guys were once again best of friends by the time we reached the bag drop and I headed off to the parking lot and they retreated to the bar for a post-round beverage.

"That was a great putt there on 18," one of the defeated two said with a slap on Marco's back.

"I needed that!" Marco replied. "I'm still hurting from what you guys did to me at the member-guest. I had to take my kid out of college!"

They all laughed and wandered off.

I've always wondered what really happened that day. I think I know. I'm pretty sure I know.

Marco wanted to win so bad he moved his ball 10 or 15 feet back in the bunker to give himself a better shot. He did it so quickly and creatively that no one but me noticed it at all.

I've always wondered, too, about that comment he made to me as we walked back to the clubhouse.

I think he knew that I knew.

---

We're at 93.5% in our DMD2.0 campaign. We had a slow Monday. I'm blaming it on the heat.

I'm going to take a respite from the project today and tackle it with more energy tomorrow.

By now, you know what's going on. We're asking you to consider a one-time contribution of $48 to #DMD.

Your $48 contribution is our answer to a paywall, like the one you see at ESPN+ or the Baltimore Sun, for example. Rather than ding your credit card every month for $4.99, I'm asking you to just give me $2.00 a month up front for the 24 months.

So, if you haven't yet done it, will you contribute today, please?

You can donate in one of two ways:

Venmo: Drew-Forrester-1

PayPal: 18inarow@gmail.com

Tuesday June 24, 2025

#DMD

Issue #3956

Jump in the Wayback Machine with me, and let’s journey to the Spring of 1991.

I was what some people might call a rather itinerant worker (aka irresponsible, unreliable, lazy, etc.). The causes and conditions that made me that way are another story for another venue, but that’s just how I was.

I was hanging out at one of my usual watering holes when a guy walked in wearing khakis and a red t-shirt that had a small white inscription on it. It read Caves Valley Caddie. My interest was piqued, as I was recently unemployed again.

We struck up a casual and friendly conversation, and I inquired about his shirt. Did he work there? He said he did, and he said the club had recently opened and that they were looking for more caddies.

This is where I have to admit that I’m a rather poor golfer. I really had no exposure to the game until after high school. I spent one summer on the grounds crew at Towson Golf and Country Club, and we were allowed to play the course on Monday evenings. That was where I played my first full 18 holes.

My lack of ability didn’t diminish my appreciation of the game. And like many rank amateurs, I would hit the occasional good shot that would make me understand why people could fall in love with the game.

I asked my new friend if there were any requirements about playing ability for caddies, and he assured me there weren’t. He told me that as long as I had an understanding of the basic rules and an ability to carry two bags for 18 holes, I would probably get the job.

The next day I was in the caddymaster’s office. It turned out that we had actually played some high school basketball against each other. We made some small talk and the next day I was standing on the first tee, following a group and training under one of the more experienced caddies.

Thus began the first job I ever truly loved. For the next two years, I took as many loops as I could get. There were many days when I carried two bags for 36 holes. The money was good and I was in great shape. Plus, I was outside, enjoying one of the finest golf courses imaginable.

As time went along, I came to know that course intimately. I might be a bad golfer, but I was a solid caddie. I knew the contours and breaks of the greens. I knew what the best line of approach was off the tee. I could look at where a tee shot landed and know almost the exact yardage for the second shot.

There were plenty of good players, most of them members. There were lots of hackers, out on a corporate outing, nervous about playing in front of some stranger carrying their bag. Those were the people I could relate to. I’d assure them that I was a bad golfer too, and to just relax and enjoy the beauty of the course. I wouldn’t judge them at all.

It’s funny how there are still moments I can remember all these years later.

There was the low-handicapper who had a bit of an arrogant attitude and was basically ignoring whatever little advice I gave him. He didn’t ask frequently, and I didn’t offer. By the 6th hole, he was already visibly upset with his play. He must’ve been 5 or 6 over at that point, which was well below what he claimed his standards to be.

He had a 15-footer for birdie on the 6th green. He walked around, studying every possible angle. I had seen this putt plenty of times before. While your eyes told you it was left-to-right, the opposite was actually true. When he finally asked for my input, I told him that.

This led to a lengthy debate with him telling me that I didn’t know anything about golf or this course. So, he struck his putt on his line, and when it broke right-to-left and he missed by 3 feet, he finally acknowledged that he should probably listen to my advice moving forward. I just smiled as I picked up his bag.

There was the first Member’s Championship in October of 1991. I was particularly pleased to be requested by (name withheld) to caddie for him. I’d looped for this gentleman on several evenings, when he’d come out by himself and tee off around 5 p.m. or so and we’d speed around the course before darkness settled in.

The format was match play, and in the opening round, (name withheld) pulled off something I’ve never seen duplicated in any round of golf, before or after.

On the sixth tee, he striped a beautiful drive down the center-right side of the fairway. His opponent hit a nice shot, and was slightly behind us in the fairway. He proceeded to hit a pretty second shot to the center of the green.

(Name withheld) had about 145 yards or so to the flag, as memory serves. He pulled an 8 iron and hit it perfectly, so perfectly that it took one bounce on the green, turned right, and disappeared into the hole for eagle.

I was stunned and amazed and thrilled. This was the first time I’d ever seen anyone hole out a shot from so far away. After some high-fiving and laughs, we retrieved his ball and went to the seventh tee.

My player proceeded to birdie the par 5 seventh hole and the par 3 eighth hole to take a commanding advantage. We were brimming with confidence as we made the turn.

On the tenth hole, (name redacted) hit a perfect drive down the center, leaving a pitching wedge into the green from about 110 yards away.

He hit a high-arcing wedge right to the middle of the green. The ball bit and spun left, catching the break perfectly. We had an ideal vantage point to watch it roll, almost like a perfectly struck putt, 20 feet or so, dead into the center of the cup.

Yep, that’s right. Two eagles from the fairway in five holes.

My player closed out that match soon thereafter. Unfortunately, we lost in the next round. It would’ve been cool to caddie for the very first club champion, but alas. Golf is funny like that, I suppose.

I spent some time this morning taking the aerial tour of the golf course on the Caves Valley website. I haven’t set foot on the property since 1994, and a lot has changed over those thirty-plus years. The nines have been flipped, for one thing, so that instantly confuses my memory of the place.

But the spectacular beauty of Caves Valley remains unchanged. The woods, the hills, the elevation changes, the attention to detail, all of that is still at its core. What the founders envisioned has become the reality.

I still play an occasional round of golf. I’m not any good, but that doesn’t bother me in the least. I live close to Greystone Golf Course, and sometimes, on a random Monday evening, my oldest son and I will go walk on around 6 p.m. and play 9 holes and get a bite afterwards.

Greystone is a difficult course for hacks like us. But there are some views on the back nine as sunset approaches that make me remember how I came to appreciate being on a golf course on a beautiful summer evening. That appreciation began at Caves Valley.

As I root around in the pockets of my golf bag, searching for tees and markers, I always look for my Caves Valley ball repair tool. I remember grabbing one for a keepsake all those years ago. It’s silver, with their distinctive logo etched on the face.

I’ll put that tool in my front left pocket and remember the millions of steps I took around that course in 1991 and 1992. I learned an awful lot about golf and golf etiquette and the rules of the game at Caves Valley.

Best of all, I learned something about myself and about integrity and the simple value in just showing up every day. Golf is funny that way. It teaches you things and you don’t realize it while it’s happening.

I’m still waiting to see another eagle from the fairway, though.

This "Happy Hour" contribution was provided by Mark Suchy.

---

crazier things have happened

OK, so this little exercise requires the help of someone in the same room as you.

Trust me, it will be fun. And it will take a grand total of about 10 seconds.

Just nudge them and say, "Hey, can you read something to me? It will take 10 seconds of your time."

They'll think you're crazy. Just repeat it again. "Seriously, I want you to read something to me. It will take 10 seconds."

And then let them read the snippet below while you lay back in your favorite chair and close your eyes. You'll have to do a little imagining of the setting that you're in. Maybe throw on a lightweight jacket or a hoodie, even.

If you really want to set the stage the right way, make yourself a hot chocolate and sip on that as well.

Now, imagine that on this night you're dreaming of, you're up in New York. Not, not in the Bronx. You're in Queens. The Mets are hosting Game 1 of the World Series.

Say what you will about New York and all. And it has its warts for sure. But it's also a place where sporting events take on new life when teams from the Big Apple are involved.

The World Series is special. Always.

But the World Series in New York? Incredibly special.

OK, are you comfortable in your chair? Hoodie on? Hot chocolate in your hand?

Let's put your friend to work.

Lay back in the chair, get comfortable, and imagine you're out on your deck or patio with a few friends and you're watching Game 1 together this October.

And, now, have your friend read this to you in their best Joe Buck voice:

"Welcome to Game 1 of the World Series here on FOX. We think we have a doozy of a series on tap for you and we most certainly have an unforgettable storyline for tonight's series opener.

Trevor Rogers was an afterthought in Baltimore heading into the 2025 campaign. After being acquired last July by the Orioles, he was quickly banished to the minors after a series of unsettling starts and didn't even make it north to Baltimore to start the 2025 regular season.

But by mid-June, Rogers was back up with the big league club after a rash of pitching injuries and once he was in Baltimore, he never looked back. Rogers compiled a 10-3 record for the O's in 18 starts over the last half of the season and produced a sparkling 2.74 ERA in 107 innings pitched.

He became the catalyst for the Baltimore resurgence after the All-Star break and was brilliant in two starts in the ALCS, shutting out the Yankees in Game 2 in New York and then tossing a 4-hit masterpiece in the Game 6 win over New York last Thursday night that sent the Orioles to their first World Series since 1983.

Settle in, folks, and get ready for a great night of baseball here in Queens. The first pitch is just minutes away."

I know you're probably laughing.

Your friend definitely thinks you're nuts.

Both of you most certainly think I've lost my mind.

Dream a little. It won't hurt you.

---

I've played golf in a lot of hot weather in my life. We all have our idea of what "hot" is, I suppose. To me, anything in the upper 90's is hot.

It's akin to a baseball being thrown. 92 is fast. 95 is really fast. And 100 is, like, WOW!, fast.

92 degrees outside is hot, but it's not uncomfortable.

95 is really hot and can wear you down pretty quick.

100...now that's really hot.

I don't mind hot weather. For golf purposes, at least, I'd always rather play when it's 97 as opposed to, say, 37, which is the general temperature in March when my high school team gets out on the course and starts practicing.

"It's an outdoor sport," I say to them all the time when there's a mild complaint about playing in the cold.

I probably repeated that line 20 times yesterday at the BMW Championship Media Day at Caves Valley.

"I can't believe we're going out to play in this," a friend said as we gulped down waters and iced teas before venturing out to the course.

"Eh, it's an outdoor sport. Just drink lots of water. Like 4 or 5 times more than you think you should. And you'll be fine," I said.

Now that's not to say that everyone enjoys playing in those kind of temperatures. Yesterday's weather was similar to the weather in Omaha the week of the U.S. Senior Open I played back in 2021. It was 100 degrees nearly every day out there, all week, and several established Champions Tour players showed up on Monday or Tuesday for their practice round, walked 9 holes, and immediately withdrew from the tournament.

Yesterday was not an afternoon for the meek of heart.

Patrick Cantlay, who won the '21 BMW at Caves, joined us via ZOOM for a 15-minute Q&A with NBC's Jimmy Roberts, who served as the day's media host.

Denny McCarthy was brought in for a live Q&A about the BMW Championship. The Maryland native fielded questions about the course and returning to the Baltimore area to compete for one of golf's most prestigious non-major titles.

Local political officials were on hand to discuss the economic impact the tournament generates for the greater Baltimore area.

And officials from the Western Golf Association were on hand to enlighten everyone about their outstanding Evans Scholars program that sends high school age caddies to the college of their choice. In 2025, the Evans Scholars program -- which receives a large portion of the net proceeds from the BMW Championship in August -- will send 1185 kids to college who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it.

The golf tournament is a huge "win" for our area and the state of Maryland as a whole.

As for the course, they are probably 25% of the way finished in setting up the sky boxes and concession stands. It was interesting to see the property in its "developmental" stage yesterday. Workers, trucks, equipment. It was totally cool to see it all unfolding right in front of you.

The golf course itself? Remarkable. Beyond outstanding. But then again, I've probably played Caves Valley 40 times and I don't think I've ever seen a blade of grass out of place.

They have changed a number of green complexes and re-structured the 5th hole entirely (old #14). Holes #2 and #12 are normally par 5 holes that will play as par 4's for the 50 PGA Tour players who make the field at the BMW. That change was made in an effort to get the scoring down from the crazy 27 under par total that Cantlay and DeChambeau shot back in 2021.

The rough was "up" yesterday, in the 4" range, I'd say. It wasn't quite Oakmont CC rough, but it was still a problem.

This year's scoring will all be about one thing: the weather.

If it's hot and sticky all week and the course dries out and plays first and fast, you might see something in the 16 under par range win the event. If there's some rain throughout the week and the course plays soft and generous, you're going to see 20 under par at the very least, if not a shot or two higher.

You can try anything you want to make these modern golf courses tough. Narrow the fairways, grow the rough, mow the greens down to the wick. Try what you want, but the players are just too good.

We played a very forward set of tees yesterday, so my score was no judge whatsoever. I was 3 over par for the first 12 holes (we started on hole #7) and then I caved in to just goofing around on the greens and trying to stay in the shade more than actually playing golf.

By the time we reached the front nine, my phone said the temperature was 100 on the nose. Had Caves officials come out at that point and said, "You guys wanna call it a day or keep playing?", we would have made it to the clubhouse so fast it would have made Joey Logano proud.

All in all, though, it was a great day. This area deserves a significant PGA Tour event and now we have one. There were some nit-picky but important things that went wrong back in 2021 that are hopefully rectified this time around. Caves Valley is the perfect venue for a championship of the BMW's magnitude.

And, yes, tickets are still available.

---

We managed to make it over the 90% mark yesterday in our DMD2.0 campaign. We had one contributor chip in $201, in fact, which helped us get to a total of 91.2% of our goal with less than a week remaining.

We're trying to get to 99% by next Monday, at which point #DMD reader Ed has vowed he'll kick in the remaining 1% all by himself.

My business consultant, Matt, was "frustrated" (his words) that I didn't "ask the question" yesterday, but I told him I was confident we might be able to get this done without me forced to do that.

So, even today, I'm not asking "the question" that Matt wants me to ask all of you.

I think we should just keep chugging along. We still need 7.8% more contributions to hit that 99% mark. I'm feeling better about it than I did, say on Friday of last week. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the deal:

I assume by now every single person reading this knows what DMD2.0 is and knows what we're doing. However, on the outside chance that you don't, here's the very quick "skinny" on it all.

In lieu of a paywall here, we're asking you to make a one time contribution of $48, which covers two years of #DMD. It breaks down to 5 cents a day, basically.

For 46 cents a week, you get #DMD "delivered" to you every day.

We've added an afternoon "update feature" called "Happy Hour" which you will see here around 5 pm or so several times a week.

We're adding a regular podcast feature as well, "Live from Parkville", that will air as soon as I get a necessary piece of equipment delivered to my door that was supposed to arrive on Thursday, June 19 but is apparently in Piscataway, New Jersey still. At least that's what the internet tells me. As soon as we get that piece of equipment in (I might drive to Piscataway soon, it would be quicker than getting it delivered, apparently) we'll be starting "Live from Parkville".

And we're working on additional writers to our website, including a return by Dale Williams to cover Maryland basketball this coming season.

Your $48 contribution is our answer to a paywall, like the one you see at ESPN+ or the Baltimore Sun, for example. Rather than ding your credit card every month for $4.99, I'm asking you to just give me $2.00 a month up front for the 24 months.

So, if you haven't yet done it, will you contribute today, please?

You can donate in one of two ways:

Venmo: Drew-Forrester-1

PayPal: 18inarow@gmail.com

O's SCOREBOARD
Sunday, July 13
Orioles 1	Marlins 11
WP: E. Perez (3-2) LP: B. Young (0-4) HR: Laureano (11), Stowers 3 (17, 18, 19), Lopez (11) RECORD / PLACE: 43-52, 5th

#DMD Corporate Partners

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