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Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Tonight or tomorrow, the 2021 MLB season will reach its conclusion. The Braves and Astros resume the World Series tonight in Houston for Game 6. The Braves will be taking their second shot at clinching a championship after failing to do so in their Game 5 loss on Sunday. The Astros, meanwhile, will have to win another two in a row to steal the series out from under Atlanta.
I can’t say that I’m super invested in who ends up winning the series, but I am glad the Braves didn’t clinch on their home field at Truist Park. If the Braves are going to win it all, let them do so where I don’t have to see their obnoxiously tomahawk-chopping fans. And if the Astros win, so be it. I’ll be happy for Dusty Baker and Zack Greinke, and for the folks in the current Orioles front office — most notably, Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal — who helped put together that championship Houston roster before taking the reins in Baltimore.
Mostly, I’m looking forward to the 2021 season officially being over so we can start to look ahead to 2022. It’s probably not going to be a particularly busy offseason for the Orioles, but hey, maybe they have some surprises in store...assuming there actually is an offseason and not just an extended lockout after the current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. But that’s a problem for next month.
Links
Can Nevin power his way into Orioles’ plans? - School of Roch
Norfolk hitting coach Tim Gibbons has some great things to say about Tyler Nevin’s defensive versatility. Unfortunately that versatility isn’t so valuable when it comes with a sub-.700 OPS in Triple-A.
An interview with O’s third-highest ranked pitching prospect - Steve Melewski
In previous years, the O’s third-highest ranked pitching prospect would have been someone like, I dunno, Joe Gunkel. (I’m exaggerating, but not by much.) These days it’s a legitimate prospect, Kyle Bradish, who makes for a good interview.
2022 MLB Draft Prospect Brooks Lee On Why It’d Be Special To Be Selected By Orioles - PressBoxOnline.com
It’s never too early to start discussing potential 2022 draftees, and you only need to look at this one’s name to understand his connection to the Orioles.
Hays’ healthy finish gives Orioles hope his best is yet to come; Arizona Fall League update - BaltimoreBaseball.com
At first glance of the photo for this article, it looked like Hays had a walkie talkie in his back pocket while batting, which seems blatantly illegal. But on closer inspection it’s probably one of those long baserunning gloves players sometimes wear for sliding. Scandal averted.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Four ex-Orioles were born on this day: infielder Wilson Betemit (40), right-hander Sidney Ponson (45), designated hitter Sam Horn (58), and right-hander Paul Hartzell (68).
On this day in 1971, during the Orioles’ 18-game exhibition tour of Japan, Pat Dobson threw a no-hitter against the Yomiuri Giants. Dobson threw 115 pitches in his seven-strikeout, three-walk no-no, with Boog Powell hitting a two-run homer in the 2-0 O’s win. That tour sounds like fun, though nowadays you probably wouldn’t get an entire team to agree to go on a month-long trip halfway across the world, right after the end of a long regular season, to play some exhibition games.