Latest / Birdland Territory / Is too much criticism being directed at O's skipper Craig Albernaz?

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Is too much criticism being directed at O's skipper Craig Albernaz? · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: It is the latest edition of Birdland Territory with Steve, Tim,
0:11
Speaker 1: and Brad. And it continues to never be a dull
0:14
Speaker 1: moment in Birdland. And so among many topics we want
0:20
Speaker 1: to get into today is, and I'll give my opinion
0:24
Speaker 1: and you guys give yours, Craig Albernaz is getting a
0:27
Speaker 1: lot of heat right now for a variety of reasons.
0:32
Speaker 1: The tech's not returned, heard around the Birdland world right
0:35
Speaker 1: now and all this stuff. I mean, it's just a
0:38
Speaker 1: story on speed. But anyway, for me, I see two
0:43
Speaker 1: issues here. One is a manager who's getting some criticism
0:46
Speaker 1: for a bad year with an organization that's getting criticism.
0:50
Speaker 1: This isn't about you did this. You get rid of
0:52
Speaker 1: you and we fix everything. This is a bunch of
0:55
Speaker 1: things that went wrong, including a rookie manager who probably
0:58
Speaker 1: made some mistakes who would have under almost any circumstances.
1:02
Speaker 1: And now they're probably going with this other issue. Yeah.
1:06
Speaker 1: He's like, his name's in the news every day. The
1:10
Speaker 1: empathy and the human of me feels bad for the
1:13
Speaker 1: guy because, you know, we're a couple weeks past the
1:16
Speaker 1: season now, and he probably can't get any peace. His
1:20
Speaker 1: phone's probably blowing up. Anyway, that doesn't absolve mistakes managers make.
1:24
Speaker 1: They're responsible for that. But right now, it's just out
1:29
Speaker 1: of hand, I would say.
1:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right. I think it's just kind
1:33
Speaker 2: of gotten a life of its own. It's kind of
1:35
Speaker 2: a non-story turned into this bigger thing than it ever
1:39
Speaker 2: would have been if it wasn't brought up by Jim Palmer.
1:43
Speaker 2: I think that's where it kind of got the match
1:47
Speaker 2: thrown on the fire and it kind of exploded just
1:49
Speaker 2: because I don't think Jim had any harm by it.
1:51
Speaker 2: I think he was just on a podcast just kind
1:53
Speaker 2: of talking about something. And it just kind of has
1:56
Speaker 2: been blown out of proportion a little bit. And I
1:58
Speaker 2: think I really agree with, Britt Jerole wrote a piece
2:01
Speaker 2: kind of about all this. And I think what she
2:03
Speaker 2: said was really accurate, just how the fans are frustrated.
2:06
Speaker 2: And I think that's where it's all coming from. They're
2:08
Speaker 2: frustrated at the organization as a whole. And I think
2:10
Speaker 2: it's unfortunately falling on Craig Albernaz. And I don't think
2:14
Speaker 2: it's any maliciousness towards him. It's just more of where
2:18
Speaker 2: else do we put our anger? Oh, there's a story
2:19
Speaker 2: that came out. We're going to put it all on
2:21
Speaker 2: his head. And I think it's just more of, the
2:23
Speaker 2: frustration of Burland just kind of being frustrated on where
2:27
Speaker 2: this team is at and how the season went. And
2:29
Speaker 2: then this story comes out and I think it's just
2:30
Speaker 2: kind of, we're going to put all of our attention
2:32
Speaker 2: towards that, but it's really kind of at the organization
2:34
Speaker 2: as a whole.
2:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, Brett, I have an excerpt from Britt's piece in
2:40
Speaker 3: front of me. And I was doing a lot of
2:42
Speaker 3: thinking yesterday prior to my show on the fan guys
2:45
Speaker 3: where I'm like, Man, it's every other day there's one
2:48
Speaker 3: of these weird stories coming out. We just did our
2:52
Speaker 3: last episode on Andy Koska's piece, and Britt had this excerpt.
2:57
Speaker 3: The Palmer-Albernaz story isn't about Palmer or even Albernaz. It's
3:02
Speaker 3: about the fans' anger at Elias, who hired Albernaz and
3:05
Speaker 3: will forever be linked to him. It's about the notion
3:07
Speaker 3: that this organization doesn't want different voices or value anyone
3:11
Speaker 3: who disagrees with their models. It's about the popular theory
3:14
Speaker 3: that the Orioles are too analytics heavy and Elias and
3:17
Speaker 3: his front office are overly obsessed with their computers. If
3:22
Speaker 3: the Orioles made the playoffs, I'm not saying that this
3:24
Speaker 3: would be a non-story, but guys, this podcast came out
3:28
Speaker 3: a week ago and we're still talking about this. I
3:32
Speaker 3: think it's been blown out of proportion, but I understand
3:37
Speaker 3: it from an optics point of view. Um, You can
3:41
Speaker 3: go back 20 days now. Here's the timeline that I
3:45
Speaker 3: used yesterday on the fan. September 18th, that was when
3:48
Speaker 3: Mike Elias met with the media prior to the Brewers game.
3:52
Speaker 3: And Mike, that was when he talked about Matt Blood
3:55
Speaker 3: not being back, Sid Meidel.
3:57
Speaker 4: He's no longer in charge of analytics.
3:59
Speaker 3: Now he's in charge of the research of emerging technologies
4:02
Speaker 3: and innovative practices across baseball operations.
4:06
Speaker 4: Whatever the hell that means.
4:09
Speaker 3: The O's went on to lose that game to the
4:11
Speaker 3: Brewers one to nothing. That was when Reese Hines did
4:15
Speaker 3: not wear sunglasses and he missed the ball and Craig
4:19
Speaker 3: Albernaz called him out. Craig Albernaz the day prior called
4:23
Speaker 3: out Jeremiah Jackson after swinging at the first pitch after
4:26
Speaker 3: nine straight balls. So uncharacteristic of Albernaz calling out players
4:31
Speaker 3: back to back games. The Orioles go on that week
4:34
Speaker 3: and they finish with a losing record. Their final game
4:37
Speaker 3: of the season was kind of on brand in terms
4:39
Speaker 3: of their shortcomings throughout the year. They struck out 17 times.
4:43
Speaker 3: They were one for 13 with runners in scoring position.
4:47
Speaker 3: Then you have the end of season press conference where
4:50
Speaker 3: Mike Elias says he still hasn't explicitly been told from
4:54
Speaker 3: ownership that he's coming back. He's going to operate until
4:57
Speaker 3: he's told to stop. He took a lot of accountability,
5:01
Speaker 3: but he couched it with injuries and other teams trying
5:06
Speaker 3: and He talked about the baseball ops being too small.
5:09
Speaker 3: Then the Andy Koska piece comes out with Chris Bassett
5:13
Speaker 3: talking about them checking boxes and questioning the effort. Then
5:17
Speaker 3: the Jim Palmer thing comes out and Palmer apologizes on Twitter,
5:22
Speaker 3: stated that he didn't like how people were going at
5:25
Speaker 3: Craig Alvarez. And we don't need to get into it,
5:28
Speaker 3: but you can just do a quick Google search. Then
5:31
Speaker 3: you have one of Craig Alvarez's friends going at Jim
5:34
Speaker 3: Palmer and And then this layoff news happened yesterday, and
5:38
Speaker 3: everyone's just taking shots. Oh, the Orioles got rid of Mr.
5:42
Speaker 3: Splash and the Bird. And it's all optics, guys. Everything
5:47
Speaker 3: that I just laid out has happened within the past
5:50
Speaker 3: three weeks. You know, the fan base is very upset,
5:54
Speaker 3: and there's a lot of vitriol going the organization's way.
5:58
Speaker 3: And I think you combine all of that together, and
6:01
Speaker 3: that's why you've got so much backlash from this story
6:05
Speaker 3: that has just caught wildfire.
6:07
Speaker 1: Yeah. Here's the four words that sums it up. Social
6:15
Speaker 1: media run amok. That's where we're at right now. I
6:18
Speaker 1: wrote an article on my sub stack today where I said,
6:21
Speaker 1: is this the worst we've ever heard criticism of the Orioles?
6:25
Speaker 1: And my conclusion was, nope. Been around a long time,
6:30
Speaker 1: you guys. I was on the mic when Mike Messina said,
6:34
Speaker 1: signed with the Yankees. Ace of the staff, one of
6:38
Speaker 1: the best pitchers in baseball, is going to wear pinstripes.
6:43
Speaker 1: I can tell you the anger was worse then. We
6:48
Speaker 1: didn't have Twitter and social media in 2000 fall. What
6:55
Speaker 1: we're going through today would look like child's play. So
6:58
Speaker 1: I've lived through this. I've taken more phone calls and
7:01
Speaker 1: postgame shows during 14 straight losing seasons, maybe than anyone
7:05
Speaker 1: in the history of the club. So I've heard it all.
7:08
Speaker 1: I get it daily. I would love to see some
7:11
Speaker 1: people see my Twitter and what people write about all
7:15
Speaker 1: players and the team. And so social media is run amok.
7:19
Speaker 1: Everybody has a voice now. It used to be the
7:22
Speaker 1: top columnist, the talk show host. They're going to spirit
7:26
Speaker 1: the conversation. Now you start your own conversation. That's good.
7:31
Speaker 1: And sometimes it's not good. And so now you've thrown
7:35
Speaker 1: anything the Orioles do right now gets criticized. They could
7:38
Speaker 1: figure out a way to give each fan a thousand
7:40
Speaker 1: dollars and we'd find some reason to complain about it.
7:43
Speaker 1: That's where it is. Now fans are going to scream
7:46
Speaker 1: at Steve. Oh, because I guarantee you I've been through
7:49
Speaker 1: this a million times, guys. Oh, we can't criticize the Orioles. No,
7:53
Speaker 1: Steve never said that. In fact, on my own outlets,
7:57
Speaker 1: you criticize the Orioles and I don't stop you. My
8:00
Speaker 1: point is some of it's over the top. And at
8:03
Speaker 1: some point when you say the same thing 10 times
8:06
Speaker 1: a day times 30 days, don't you get tired of
8:08
Speaker 1: hearing yourself come up for air? That's my only point. Yeah.
8:13
Speaker 1: And you know what, Steve?
8:15
Speaker 2: I completely agree with that, too. And then I know
8:17
Speaker 2: just watching some of the playoff baseball for me as
8:20
Speaker 2: an Oriole fan watching this team. How many Orioles are
8:22
Speaker 2: just scattered all over these teams playing in the playoffs?
8:25
Speaker 2: And I feel like that kind of adds to it too,
8:27
Speaker 2: because the players are good enough to be in the playoffs,
8:29
Speaker 2: but the team has been underachieving the last couple of years.
8:33
Speaker 1: You watch the Brewers.
8:35
Speaker 2: You look at Manny with the Padres. You watch Adley
8:37
Speaker 2: playing for the Red Sox. You look at the guys
8:39
Speaker 2: with the Rays right now. Baker's the best closer in
8:41
Speaker 2: the American League, and he was on the Orioles team.
8:44
Speaker 2: And yet the team that has gotten rid of these guys,
8:47
Speaker 2: whether it was through trade or through waivers or other things,
8:51
Speaker 2: they're now playing in the playoffs and being these big
8:53
Speaker 2: parts of these teams that have a shot to go
8:54
Speaker 2: to the World Series. And I think that just kind
8:56
Speaker 2: of adds to it too because there's nothing else besides
8:58
Speaker 2: these stories coming out and watching other teams play in
9:01
Speaker 2: the playoffs. And then you see these ex-Orioles playing for
9:03
Speaker 2: these other teams and it's like, gosh, man, this team
9:06
Speaker 2: just has so much talent. These other teams even recognize
9:08
Speaker 2: it and they're playing for them, helping them to go
9:10
Speaker 2: deeper in the playoffs.
9:13
Speaker 3: Guys, it's so easy, but ultimately so hard. Winning cures all.
9:19
Speaker 3: If they're winning, you know, the fan base, the vitriol,
9:22
Speaker 3: like all of this is not anywhere. I was thinking earlier, 2023,
9:28
Speaker 3: perfect example. The Orioles are the talk of baseball. They're
9:33
Speaker 3: the young up and coming team. They went over 100
9:35
Speaker 3: games and they still had some weird moments. Heck, I
9:39
Speaker 3: can remember John Angelos giving a couple interviews to what
9:42
Speaker 3: the New York Times talking about. Financial elasticity and weird terminology,
9:47
Speaker 3: but you're able to overlook that because they're winning and
9:51
Speaker 3: it's such a fun time to watch that team day
9:54
Speaker 3: in and day out when they're coming from behind on
9:57
Speaker 3: a nightly basis where guys. they're under the microscope and
10:02
Speaker 3: i'm not breaking any news right now they and i
10:05
Speaker 3: know we're months and months away from from the next
10:08
Speaker 3: season beginning world series hasn't even started yet but this
10:12
Speaker 3: team has to get off to a fast start Or
10:15
Speaker 3: else everyone's going to be out with the pitchforks.
10:18
Speaker 4: They are under the microscope right now.
10:23
Speaker 1: Social media run amok. It's not going to stop. It's
10:25
Speaker 1: not going backwards. It's not going away. So this is here.
10:30
Speaker 1: I almost feel for players of today. I mean, if
10:34
Speaker 1: a pitcher gives up a home run before that batter
10:37
Speaker 1: touches home plate, he will have people screaming at him
10:40
Speaker 1: on his Twitter account if he has one. This is
10:43
Speaker 1: how instant it is. And I've had players show me
10:45
Speaker 1: some of the comments they get. And now we've got
10:48
Speaker 1: betting in this thing. People scream at players because I
10:50
Speaker 1: didn't win my bet because of you, which is insane
10:53
Speaker 1: to me. So social media takes no qualifications and you
10:59
Speaker 1: don't have to pass a test. You can take 10
11:02
Speaker 1: seconds and say whatever you want. And I immediately mute
11:05
Speaker 1: language I get on Twitter. I'm just not doing it.
11:07
Speaker 1: If you're going to F-bomb me, You're out. I don't
11:10
Speaker 1: want to see that. If you want to give me
11:12
Speaker 1: legitimate criticism, I'll read it all day. I'll comment back
11:15
Speaker 1: to you. We'll talk about the team's problems. But if
11:18
Speaker 1: you want to start using language or anything else into it,
11:22
Speaker 1: we're out. I don't like it. I know it's almost
11:26
Speaker 1: accepted in today's media, right? We hear it on national television,
11:30
Speaker 1: some of the language we hear. What happened to family
11:32
Speaker 1: shows and all that? I don't know. Can you guys
11:35
Speaker 1: get Steve off this tangent for a second?
11:39
Speaker 2: No, I'd say, I think it's just, it goes to
11:41
Speaker 2: show that like these not kind of non-stories a few
11:44
Speaker 2: years ago have now turned into this whole viral thing
11:47
Speaker 2: that happens. And like you said, Steve, a lot of
11:49
Speaker 2: it has to do with social media and just giving
11:52
Speaker 2: everybody a voice and an opinion. And then, like we said, I,
11:54
Speaker 2: it's just kind of crazy that there's articles being written
11:57
Speaker 2: about this one comment that Palmer had. And you feel
12:00
Speaker 2: like everybody's kind of commenting on what was said and
12:03
Speaker 2: why he's to blame for everything and how he's this, uh,
12:07
Speaker 2: Albernett's is disgracing an oral legend. It just got this
12:11
Speaker 2: life of its own and now it's just taken off.
12:13
Speaker 2: It's unavoidable, especially in the job that we have and
12:17
Speaker 2: that a lot of people in the media have. You
12:19
Speaker 2: don't have a choice but to give your opinion or
12:21
Speaker 2: write an article or do a podcast about it because
12:24
Speaker 2: it just got a life out of basically nothing.
12:28
Speaker 4: I'll say it again, guys.
12:29
Speaker 3: I really believe this is only getting the life that
12:32
Speaker 3: it has because they're coming off back-to-back losing seasons. And
12:36
Speaker 3: people are looking to be mad at something people are.
12:40
Speaker 4: See, this is why Albert has isn't listening to advice
12:43
Speaker 4: from Jim Palmer.
12:44
Speaker 3: This is why the Orioles underachieved and finished with the
12:47
Speaker 3: losing record.
12:48
Speaker 4: And, and the, the sharks are out.
12:51
Speaker 3: Like it's gotten picked up by national outlets and, and
12:55
Speaker 3: national out. I saw people's magazine and New York post,
12:58
Speaker 3: you know, with the layoffs about the Oriole bird and Mr.
13:00
Speaker 3: It's like, People are just looking to take shots at
13:04
Speaker 3: the team now because they're vulnerable coming off back-to-back underachieving seasons.
13:10
Speaker 3: And how you fix that is winning ballgames. I firmly
13:14
Speaker 3: believe that. If they win ballgames, you're not going to
13:18
Speaker 3: have a lot of this mess.
13:21
Speaker 1: And if you're in the media now, unfortunately, in this
13:25
Speaker 1: day and age with so much media, The pressures are
13:28
Speaker 1: to do things that get attention to your product, even
13:32
Speaker 1: if that product is called Birdland Territory. We're sitting over
13:37
Speaker 1: here on a high horse knocking everybody else. It's the
13:41
Speaker 1: topic that's been talked about, so we're talking about it
13:44
Speaker 1: because that's what fans would expect from our show, I think,
13:47
Speaker 1: a lot of them. So, I mean, it's a blurred line, right?
13:51
Speaker 1: Everybody needs clicks. Everybody needs ratings. Everybody needs attention. It
13:55
Speaker 1: helps your product. So now you add that layer to it.
13:59
Speaker 1: And that's why, like you said, Tim, every national guy
14:01
Speaker 1: is going to pick up on this. Oh, look at
14:02
Speaker 1: this juicy story in Baltimore. I'm going to write about it.
14:05
Speaker 1: I don't have a clue what's going on there, but
14:06
Speaker 1: I'm going to write about it. And now my article
14:08
Speaker 1: will get attention that then it just keeps going. Yeah.
14:12
Speaker 2: And I think the one thing that really bothers me
14:14
Speaker 2: about kind of all this is just how the unappreciation
14:17
Speaker 2: of the legends of our game, it's kind of just
14:21
Speaker 2: gone by the wayside. I feel like, I'm not, not
14:24
Speaker 2: every single player, but there's a lot of guys that
14:26
Speaker 2: just don't understand the history of the game. They don't
14:28
Speaker 2: understand the players that came before them. And I don't
14:30
Speaker 2: think they understand the game is today.
14:32
Speaker 3: Why?
14:33
Speaker 2: Because of the guys that came before us. And it's just,
14:35
Speaker 2: to me, that just kind of bothers me as a
14:37
Speaker 2: former player, just because growing up, I loved watching baseball.
14:40
Speaker 2: I loved watching, you know, my favorite players. I love
14:42
Speaker 2: hearing about the guys from the past. When I got
14:45
Speaker 2: to meet Jim Palmer, when I was with the Orioles,
14:47
Speaker 2: you know, everybody was they're always like, I'll just be careful.
14:50
Speaker 2: Cause at times, you know, Jim can get, but I'm like,
14:52
Speaker 2: if you listen to what he's saying, he has so
14:54
Speaker 2: much advice. He's one of the best pitchers in the
14:56
Speaker 2: history of baseball to not give him the time of
14:59
Speaker 2: day and to go talk to him and get some
15:00
Speaker 2: pitching advice to me is just, is not using all
15:04
Speaker 2: your resources. Now you don't need to take every piece
15:06
Speaker 2: of advice he gives you, but at some point there's
15:09
Speaker 2: going to be some kind of nugget in there that
15:10
Speaker 2: is going to help you. And it goes a long way.
15:12
Speaker 2: I just remember him talking to me one day about,
15:15
Speaker 2: you know, I couldn't do what you do. And I'm like,
15:17
Speaker 2: I'm a middle reliever. I I'm pitching the seventh and
15:19
Speaker 2: eighth inning of these. Like you pitched thousands of innings
15:22
Speaker 2: and you had the, you know, the greatest seasons of
15:24
Speaker 2: all time. Like, what are you talking about? But he just,
15:27
Speaker 2: I think he recognizes the game is way different today,
15:29
Speaker 2: but there's still a lot from the past. I can
15:31
Speaker 2: help you today. And to me, I, that's kind of
15:33
Speaker 2: like my take from a lot of this is I'm
15:35
Speaker 2: not saying Abernathy didn't take any advice and I'm not
15:37
Speaker 2: saying these coaches don't, but I just don't think there's
15:39
Speaker 2: that same appreciation that there used to be of guys
15:42
Speaker 2: who came before the players of today.
15:45
Speaker 3: Well, and I think Brad, honestly, it's almost kind of
15:48
Speaker 3: a full circle moment in a way where this sport
15:52
Speaker 3: is about to come up on another labor negotiation. And
15:57
Speaker 3: Jim Palmer wasn't making millions of dollars back in the 60s, 70s,
16:00
Speaker 3: early 80s, where, you know, it's those guys that kind
16:03
Speaker 3: of paved the way for this generation and the explosion
16:09
Speaker 3: that baseball had in popularity and these TV contracts and
16:13
Speaker 3: all of that, like, Jim Palmer is one of those pillars.
16:16
Speaker 1: Yeah.
16:17
Speaker 2: And I kind of mentioned when we talked about the
16:19
Speaker 2: labor agreements coming up, this generation wasn't even alive when
16:22
Speaker 2: we had this, the last strike. So I don't even
16:24
Speaker 2: know what that was like when there was no baseball
16:26
Speaker 2: for a year, year and a half. So to me,
16:29
Speaker 2: that's the biggest worries. The game is only as good
16:32
Speaker 2: as the players that are in it. And if they
16:35
Speaker 2: understand the past, it helps you moving forward. And it's
16:37
Speaker 2: just that, that's my worry with these labor agreements coming
16:40
Speaker 2: up now is that they're not taking lessons from the
16:42
Speaker 2: guys in the past and that they, they only care
16:44
Speaker 2: about what happens today, but we've seen what happens. I mean,
16:47
Speaker 2: it took a while.
16:48
Speaker 1: For baseball to get back to where it is today.
16:50
Speaker 2: And if, if it wasn't for Mark McGuire and Sammy
16:52
Speaker 2: Sosa having the years they have and, whatever year that was, 96, 97,
16:56
Speaker 2: around that time, baseball might never still be at the
16:59
Speaker 2: stage that it is now. I think that's just kind of,
17:01
Speaker 2: I guess, just kind of my worry when I think
17:05
Speaker 2: about this situation as kind of a whole moving forward.
17:07
Speaker 2: I know it's a little off topic, but it's just
17:09
Speaker 2: kind of a worry for me.
17:11
Speaker 4: It's interesting.
17:11
Speaker 2: The worries for baseball fans in general, honestly.
17:16
Speaker 1: If I had this cloud, I would do it. I don't.
17:19
Speaker 1: Somebody needs to know there's someone out there who can
17:22
Speaker 1: bring Jim Palmer and Craig Abernathy to a meeting, a
17:24
Speaker 1: phone call, something to smooth this out, because I'm sure
17:28
Speaker 1: of this. They both want the best for the Orioles.
17:31
Speaker 1: They both love the Orioles. Jim Palmer has a 60
17:34
Speaker 1: year love affair. Craig Abernathy has a one year love affair.
17:37
Speaker 1: So it's very different levels of their love affair here.
17:40
Speaker 1: They both love the Orioles and want to see the
17:42
Speaker 1: Orioles playing where the Brewers and the Rays are playing now.
17:46
Speaker 1: That's what they want. So there's a way. to smooth
17:48
Speaker 1: this out. And so maybe time heals these things as
17:52
Speaker 1: they say. And maybe again, like we're saying, it's more
17:56
Speaker 1: making more of this than it is. And this too
17:59
Speaker 1: shall pass. I kind of hope. Yeah.
18:02
Speaker 2: And from what I, from every indication I've seen is
18:05
Speaker 2: that they, they talked throughout the season. It wasn't like
18:07
Speaker 2: he sent a text and they didn't talk again until August.
18:10
Speaker 2: I think it got brought up again in August for
18:12
Speaker 2: the first time since April, but it wasn't like they
18:14
Speaker 2: were not communicating with each other or seeing each other
18:17
Speaker 2: and talking with each other throughout that time. So it
18:19
Speaker 2: is kind of crazy how it's just been kind of
18:21
Speaker 2: blown up here. Like we said, just kind of out
18:24
Speaker 2: of thin air and out of nothing.
18:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I don't think there's any lingering animosity or
18:31
Speaker 3: anything between Jim and Craig Albertans. And Jim's been on
18:35
Speaker 3: the record with Brichiroli and other articles out there where
18:40
Speaker 3: it's exactly like you were saying, Steve. Jim just wants
18:42
Speaker 3: the best for this ball club. He's frustrated like the
18:45
Speaker 3: fans are frustrated that they finished with a losing record.
18:49
Speaker 3: And I think it boiled over a little bit, but
18:53
Speaker 3: I can promise you Jim Palmer... was not looking for
18:58
Speaker 3: this type of reaction when he used that line on,
19:02
Speaker 3: on the podcast last week.
19:05
Speaker 1: Yep. Social media run amok. And we, and we never
19:09
Speaker 1: know what it's going to be right. An innocuous thing. Uh,
19:13
Speaker 1: and I, and I saw, uh, Mike Bordick subsequently say, gosh,
19:17
Speaker 1: I had no idea that, you know, what we were
19:19
Speaker 1: talking about seemed innocuous at the time was going to
19:22
Speaker 1: turn into that, but it did. Um, So when we
19:26
Speaker 1: were discussing the Baltimore Banner article, there was a quote
19:30
Speaker 1: in there from Bassett talking, I think, to Alonzo saying
19:34
Speaker 1: something like, it takes longer than a year to change
19:37
Speaker 1: the culture. I think the same applies to the new
19:42
Speaker 1: manager and the coaching staff. It takes a year to
19:44
Speaker 1: get in and see everything. And I'm not giving him
19:47
Speaker 1: a pass, those fans. I'm not. Relax. but I'm just
19:50
Speaker 1: saying the same could apply to Craig Albert as, because
19:54
Speaker 1: when we go back a year ago, he wasn't even
19:56
Speaker 1: the manager yet this time last year, that would happen
19:59
Speaker 1: in late October. And then November 4th was his press conference.
20:02
Speaker 1: And I mean, Steven Vogt was their manager of the year.
20:06
Speaker 1: He's in the playoffs again. And, I mean, at the time,
20:10
Speaker 1: this is what he said. He's going to absolutely crush it.
20:13
Speaker 1: If you're going to leave him here, you're going to
20:16
Speaker 1: love him here. He's the hardest worker I've ever been around.
20:18
Speaker 1: The hours he puts in, he's prepared for everything. This
20:21
Speaker 1: guy was getting rave reviews. He had coached the previous
20:24
Speaker 1: six years before he got the Oriole managing job in
20:27
Speaker 1: San Francisco and Cleveland. And, by the way, the year
20:30
Speaker 1: the Giants won 107 games and took out the Dodgers,
20:35
Speaker 1: he was on that staff. Cleveland went back-to-back division titles.
20:39
Speaker 1: He was on that staff three times in the playoffs,
20:41
Speaker 1: three division champs in six years. So, again, the resume
20:45
Speaker 1: is there. And Chad Tracy, by the way, I've had
20:47
Speaker 1: fans say first-year manager can't win. Chad Tracy was interim,
20:51
Speaker 1: never managed before, just took the Red Sox to the playoffs.
20:54
Speaker 1: Incredible turnaround. So we have to see how it goes
20:58
Speaker 1: from here. But it has to be better for the
21:01
Speaker 1: entire organization to get off the hot seat. Yeah, definitely.
21:05
Speaker 2: And I think– when you look at anybody who's a
21:08
Speaker 2: first year manager, yes, it's the first time being the
21:10
Speaker 2: head guy for staff, but they've been on multiple staffs.
21:13
Speaker 2: They know how it works. They know what makes a
21:15
Speaker 2: good staff, what makes a bad staff, what makes a
21:17
Speaker 2: good team, what makes a bad team. So it's not
21:19
Speaker 2: like he's just kind of coming into this, you know,
21:22
Speaker 2: office couch and now he's taking over a team and
21:24
Speaker 2: doing it. So, but I agree with what Bassett said.
21:26
Speaker 2: It definitely takes more than a year. And I think
21:28
Speaker 2: for a manager, it might even take more than a
21:29
Speaker 2: year to definitely more than a year to kind of
21:33
Speaker 2: set the culture and the expectations and, Really, it's kind of–
21:37
Speaker 2: I mean, you could do everything you want in spring training,
21:38
Speaker 2: but you're still just trying to get physically ready to
21:40
Speaker 2: play a 162-game season. Once you get in, it's kind of.
21:44
Speaker 1: Full go from there.
21:45
Speaker 2: So you're implementing certain things throughout the year. So you
21:48
Speaker 2: just got to– I think this spring training and how
21:50
Speaker 2: they get off the team, like you said, they got
21:52
Speaker 2: to get off to a good start because otherwise it's
21:54
Speaker 2: just going to be who knows what's going to happen.
21:56
Speaker 2: But it takes longer.
21:58
Speaker 1: Than a year.
21:58
Speaker 2: And, I mean, when you look at the Giants, they've
22:00
Speaker 2: had a phenomenal organization for years. I mean, multiple World
22:04
Speaker 2: Series there in the 2010s. And you look at Cleveland
22:06
Speaker 2: every single year, low payroll, but they're on the same things.
22:09
Speaker 2: Pitching and defense get them to where they need to
22:11
Speaker 2: go every single year. So Craig Albert and I saw
22:13
Speaker 2: that there. And the Orioles are just kind of, you
22:16
Speaker 2: feel like they're in flux. They're more analytic and they're
22:20
Speaker 2: less analytic. And then they went through this big rebuild.
22:23
Speaker 2: So I just think there's a lot of factors at
22:25
Speaker 2: play and you got to give them more than a
22:27
Speaker 2: year's leash to kind of see what he could do.
22:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had Buck Showalter on my show yesterday, and
22:33
Speaker 3: I think Femi asked him the question, like, when did
22:36
Speaker 3: you feel really confident in yourself as a manager? And
22:40
Speaker 3: Buck said not until he was in Arizona with the Diamondbacks. So,
22:44
Speaker 3: you know, he was with the Yankees for multiple years.
22:46
Speaker 3: So it takes time. And especially when you consider the
22:51
Speaker 3: fact that With a first-year guy, everything that he's experiencing
22:56
Speaker 3: that season is for the first time, that first losing streak,
22:59
Speaker 3: that first winning streak, dealing with injuries, dealing with slumping players,
23:03
Speaker 3: dealing with hot streaks, dealing with, you know, all these
23:05
Speaker 3: analytics and all of these numbers and trying to set expectations. But,
23:11
Speaker 3: you know, I asked Buck, too, you know, just about
23:14
Speaker 3: building a culture, building a winning culture, and he brought
23:18
Speaker 3: up a good point in terms of, like, What can
23:21
Speaker 3: we do better than the Yankees and Red Sox? What
23:26
Speaker 3: can we lean into and excel? And I remember Pete
23:31
Speaker 3: Alonzo was bringing up, probably around spring training, the.
23:34
Speaker 4: New Oriole way. I still.
23:38
Speaker 3: Look, their bullpen was really good and was probably the
23:40
Speaker 3: best part of the team when you just look at statistics.
23:43
Speaker 4: But even the pen....
23:46
Speaker 3: What can they do elite? That's what I want to
23:49
Speaker 3: see next year. What can they lean into, whether it's defense, bullpen, pitching?
23:55
Speaker 3: We thought this lineup was going to be a superpower
23:57
Speaker 3: for them, being a top five group in all of baseball.
24:01
Speaker 4: What can their calling card be?
24:05
Speaker 3: I think they need to identify that before they head
24:08
Speaker 3: to spring training, after all of the offseason commences, in
24:13
Speaker 3: terms of additions, subtractions, all of that. All right, this
24:17
Speaker 3: is going to be our 26-man roster. What can we
24:21
Speaker 3: be great at? And I think they need to identify
24:24
Speaker 3: that heading into spring.
24:27
Speaker 1: Never dull in Birdland. We've said that before, and the
24:31
Speaker 1: last week has proven that to be very, very true.
24:36
Speaker 1: Interesting happenings in the Bronx. We should note that, and
24:41
Speaker 1: we will in a minute. So the Rays, Orioles South,
25:02
Speaker 1: four Orioles on their roster, and even Cole Sulcer make
25:05
Speaker 1: a fifth who played in Birdland. Brandon Hyde, a whole
25:09
Speaker 1: pile of people connected to the Orioles. Towson's Richie Palacios,
25:13
Speaker 1: Towson's Andy Freed's in the booth. Kevin Ibach's in the
25:16
Speaker 1: race front office. He worked for the Orioles. It's a
25:18
Speaker 1: long list. And they took out the Yankees last night
25:21
Speaker 1: with a controversial homer that the Yankees didn't get. This time,
25:27
Speaker 1: the Mayer thing didn't work for them. And here's what
25:30
Speaker 1: Joel Sherman wrote in the New York Post. Almost 30
25:32
Speaker 1: years to the day, October 9th, 1996, the Yankees had
25:36
Speaker 1: a championship run blessed when a fan named Jeffrey Mayer
25:39
Speaker 1: pulled a Derek Jeter fly ball into the right field
25:41
Speaker 1: stands for what was called a tying home run. There
25:45
Speaker 1: was no replay to help the Orioles in game one
25:47
Speaker 1: of that ALCS, which the Yankees went on to win.
25:50
Speaker 1: These Yankees do not have such October magic. This is
25:53
Speaker 1: the 17th straight year without a championship. So Birdland is
25:57
Speaker 1: not the only place getting criticism today. Yeah.
26:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.
26:02
Speaker 2: That's it's funny that it was almost 30 years to
26:04
Speaker 2: the date. Honestly, I, I didn't see the clip until
26:06
Speaker 2: this morning. My dad texted me and was like, Oh,
26:08
Speaker 2: did you see that interference call last night?
26:10
Speaker 1: And it's kind of funny.
26:11
Speaker 2: I know it wasn't right field, but it sure was
26:13
Speaker 2: very reminding of that. Jeffrey Mayer pulled in home runs.
26:17
Speaker 2: I'm sure Orioles fans are probably up in arms again. Like, man,
26:20
Speaker 2: we could have used that 30 years ago, but yeah,
26:23
Speaker 2: it's definitely, you know, that the raise it's, it's, it's amazing.
26:26
Speaker 2: They just continue to do what they do and it's,
26:28
Speaker 2: they're going to out pitch you and they're just going
26:30
Speaker 2: to outplay you. And it's, even up against the mighty Yankees,
26:32
Speaker 2: they went in and swept them. And it's just, it's hard.
26:35
Speaker 2: It's really hard to believe because such a low payroll, such,
26:38
Speaker 2: you know, it feels like none of the resources and
26:41
Speaker 2: yet there they are best American league record. And now
26:44
Speaker 2: they're going to play for an AL championship. And it's,
26:46
Speaker 2: it's been really impressive to the thing. That's amazing to
26:48
Speaker 2: me is that was one of the teams that Orioles
26:50
Speaker 2: did well against. I felt like they just had their number. They,
26:53
Speaker 2: it was one team that they just seemed to do
26:55
Speaker 2: well against all year. And now here they are going
26:57
Speaker 2: to play for a pennant next series.
27:00
Speaker 4: Yeah, Steve, you're bringing up social media.
27:02
Speaker 3: I can't imagine social media if it existed in 1996
27:05
Speaker 3: with the Jeffrey Merritt way.
27:09
Speaker 4: That would have been crazy.
27:11
Speaker 3: But that's got to be a bitter pill for the Yankees.
27:15
Speaker 3: Back-to-back years in which your division rivals knocked you off.
27:18
Speaker 3: The Blue Jays last year and the Rays in October.
27:22
Speaker 3: And we know the New York fan base and media,
27:26
Speaker 3: they're not exactly very tolerating of this situation. World Series
27:30
Speaker 3: droughts continuing, and Aaron Boone gets brought up every year,
27:35
Speaker 3: Cashman gets brought up every year. We'll see if there's
27:39
Speaker 3: any changes there, but this Rays team, man, I mean,
27:43
Speaker 3: what more can you say about that organization? They just
27:46
Speaker 3: continue to find a way, and I don't know how
27:49
Speaker 3: many people had the Rays in their ALCS projections heading
27:55
Speaker 3: back into March before opening day, but here they are,
27:58
Speaker 3: and I can guarantee you they're going to be the
28:02
Speaker 3: favorite over whoever they face in the ALCS, whether it's
28:05
Speaker 3: the Guardians or White Sox. So the fact that the
28:08
Speaker 3: Rays have a very, very realistic shot at making the
28:11
Speaker 3: World Series hats off to them.
28:13
Speaker 4: And I'm sure the.
28:15
Speaker 3: Players entering, you know, what, four of the five teams remaining,
28:19
Speaker 3: they're all bottom 10 payrolls. Which one of these does
28:22
Speaker 3: not like the other?
28:23
Speaker 4: The Dodgers, of course.
28:27
Speaker 1: Exactly. Right. The Rays. The White Sox, the Guardians, and
28:32
Speaker 1: the Brewers are all probably 18, 19 through 30 in payroll.
28:36
Speaker 1: They're in the second half. And it goes to show you, again,
28:40
Speaker 1: if you have good management, you can win. It's interesting
28:42
Speaker 1: in the AL East, I'm just calling it like it is,
28:46
Speaker 1: but the Rays are lovable, coolest guys I've ever talked to.
28:50
Speaker 1: I would go to Brian Baker and say, what the
28:53
Speaker 1: heck is this sweeper everybody in baseball loves? And Brian
28:56
Speaker 1: Baker would take five minutes and I'd know everything I
28:58
Speaker 1: needed to know. that's the kind of guy the orioles
29:00
Speaker 1: one yeah.
29:01
Speaker 3: And and steve it's it's kind of funny i'd love
29:03
Speaker 3: to hear beef with the blue jays to to some
29:06
Speaker 3: degree i don't.
29:08
Speaker 2: Believe that the uh blue jays at the time was
29:10
Speaker 2: might have been the most rowdy of the teams when
29:11
Speaker 2: i was there either but it was it was just
29:13
Speaker 2: you know the rays were just a good baseball team
29:15
Speaker 2: they did every series that you kind of you kind
29:18
Speaker 2: of look forward to because it was just back to
29:20
Speaker 2: playing baseball there was no like uh you know animosity
29:23
Speaker 2: or any