The Birds are coming off their best season since '97, and the new season is only a couple of months away. So let's get this new year started.

NEWS: 
Orioles extend Showalter, Duquette through 2018
baltimore.orioles.mlb.c...al&c_id=bal
Matt Wieters Say's He'd Be Interested in Staying with Orioles Long-Term
www.baltimoresun.com/sp...0,1176068.story

I'm a big time Oriole fan!! Glad to see a thread started here. Thanks!

Nolan Reimold really needs to stay healthy. We need at least one more rbi producer and a durable starter to give us some innings.

I believe the O's, are pretty happy with what they have. Another big bat would have been nice, but I really like their pitching depth. Can't wait to see what Bundy can do. A very good chance he could be a#1 starter. I'm sure they will be very careful with him though.

Requiem in pace to the Earl of Baltimore.  

http://www.nydailynews.com/spo...ticle-1.1243096

Wolfpack4Life wrote: Requiem in pace to the Earl of Baltimore.  

http://www.nydailynews.com/spo...ticle-1.1243096

Goodbye Earl. Thanks for the many great memories.

Earl Weaver was one of the best ever. We'll miss you. One of the things I remember well about Weaver, was he once had a relief pitcher (Dan Stanhouse) I'm pretty sure, and Stanhouse had a knack of driving Earl crazy. He was actually prettty effective as a closer, or even in the later innings. Stanhouse would normally get the O's out of the inning, but not before walking a couple guys, or pushing it to the brink, before finally retiring the side. Meanwhile Weaver could be seen ducking down in the dugout puffing away on cigarettes. and using some choice words I'm sure. I believe he ended up naming his relief pitcher. "full pack Stanhouse".

Sad news.  I remember spending an entire summer playing Earl Weaver baseball on the computer..  95% statistical game, almost zero graphics and no interaction game play. You were the manager/GM of the team. Great game and my cousin and I created a 16 team league in which we each managed 8 teams and completed an entire 162 games season playoffs and world-series. The game allowed you to use any player from the creation of the game through that years players 1988 at the time. I remember having a pitching staff of Koufax, Carlton, Gooden. Man that game was great.

Here is a link to some video of the game....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKp_fP06f0Q

Article here sums it up very well.

www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/dan...uck-finding-one

Every franchise needs an Earl Weaver.

Few will ever find one.

When the Orioles returned to relevance last summer, we liked to talk about how Baltimore was "back" as a baseball town. What we really meant is that it felt a little bit like those years when Earl was in the dugout.

You'll hear plenty of talk about how he was ahead of his time in his understanding and use of statistics. And he was, keeping track of numbers long before a computer made it easy or others made it fashionable.

You'll see tapes of Weaver arguing with umpires. And oh, yes, he argued.

He argued with players and reporters, too, although his ex-players (and the reporters who covered them) spend a whole lot more time praising Weaver than they ever spent complaining about him.

He was a character, and I mean that in the very best of ways, because the very best of baseball managers tend to be characters. If it's not a job requirement, it's at least a major plus.

They win, but they also entertain. They don't distract from the players (except when it's needed), but they shape the franchise more than any one player can.





And here's a spoof done by Earl and Tom Marr of their radio show "Manager's Corner". Earl answers questions from the fans in a colorful way. Very strong language, but very funny. Could a manager, head coach do that today even as a joke? I doubt it.

m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=QWQbN0...v%3DQWQbN0jFo_k

Though he coached way before my time, I will miss Coach. RIP to the Earl of Baltimore.

RIP Mr. Weaver. Baseball has lost a legendary colorful character.

Who's able to name the catcher in the picture above? It's not "the Dipper"

wrcwolf wrote: Who's able to name the catcher in the picture above? It's not "the Dipper"

looks like dave skaggs

wolfgar wrote:

wrcwolf wrote: Who's able to name the catcher in the picture above? It's not "the Dipper"

looks like dave skaggs

Who is the pitcher?

Well done, wolfgar.

Can't figure out the pitcher. That's a Flanagan mannerism (putting glove against body and rubbing under the bill of the hat) when Weaver came out to the mound, but the glove looks to be a right-handers. Could be wrong.

wrcwolf wrote: Well done, wolfgar.

Can't figure out the pitcher. That's a Flanagan mannerism (putting glove against body and rubbing under the bill of the hat) when Weaver came out to the mound, but the glove looks to be a right-handers. Could be wrong.

IIRC, Dave played minor league in Asheville when the O's had a club here. Cal Ripken senior was the manager.

i'm going with Dennis Martinez as the pitcher, the little bit of face visible reminds me of him, though the lack of a 'stache may mean i'm wrong.

Scotty McGregor??

^^ That's another good call. Can't see the chaw in his cheeks, however. Time looks to be 9:40, so if it's a starter, they likely pitched deep in the game. El Pesidente did work out of the pen a fair amount early on in his career, especially in 1977. In '79, he led the league in CG and innings pitched. Looking at the umps uniforms, I'm thinking that picture was taken between '77 and '79. That fits Skaggs playing career with the O's, too.

Wow wcrwolf,  You're good!!  Glad to see some big O's fans here. I was born near Baltimore, and lived my first 8 years there, My dad took me to a few games to see the beloved Birds, and I've been with them since, including the mid sixties, to the early seventies. Suffered through some bad times as well. (too many) Last year was great!!

---------------------------------------------
--- Fayettewuf wrote:

wolfgar wrote:

wrcwolf wrote: Who's able to name the catcher in the picture above? It's not "the Dipper"

looks like dave skaggs

Who is the pitcher?

---------------------------------------------

Tippy Matinez maybe?

Go State

Got a Birds program from 1975 when they played Detroit with all the signatures from both teams. Was on the field with a buddy b/c my dad could get press passes to most anything in the DC metro area when I was growing up. I think only Earl signed on the page with his picture, everyone else was somewhat random as we hung out around the batting cage. Loved the Orioles....but only after Mr. Short moved my Senators to Texas. Daughters gave me a great BD present couple years ago when Birds played the Nats in Camden and the WS team was there! Had clubhouse/field tour and chatted with Earl a little bit.  He even "argued w/ the umpire" when he was introduced....Good times!

The more I look at the glove, I believe it is a left-handed glove, which would eliminate Flanagan, McGregor, and Tippy. Palmer was also there, but it doesn't look like him, or Stoddard, or Stewart, or the above mentioned Stanhouse. I'm kind of thinking Dennis Martinez might be right. They also had a Kerrigan, Briles, and a couple more. Speaking of Palmer, he and Weaver had a few doozies themselves, but I think it ended up with a lot of mutual admiration.

goturbackpack66 wrote: The more I look at the glove, I believe it is a left-handed glove, which would eliminate Flanagan, McGregor, and Tippy. Palmer was also there, but it doesn't look like him, or Stoddard, or Stewart, or the above mentioned Stanhouse. I'm kind of thinking Dennis Martinez might be right. They also had a Kerrigan, Briles, and a couple more. Speaking of Palmer, he and Weaver had a few doozies themselves, but I think it ended up with a lot of mutual admiration.

if there's a public service, i hope palmer is there and gets to speak

Kind of guessing he will be.

Orioles outfielder Pat Kelly decided, while he was playing, that he was going to be a minister. So, he felt he should tell his manager about his plans. So, Kelly waited for the right time, a quiet time, to approach Weaver. "Earl," he said, "I'm going to walk with the Lord."

"I rather you walked with the bases loaded!" Weaver said.



http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8859609/legendar y-orioles-manager-earl-weaver-was-always-ahead-gam e

Boswell with a gem, as usual.

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/...fecd_story.html

That strain, of being a true authority figure, is perhaps the main reason his career was so short. He retired at 53, was begged and bribed back, but retired for good at 56. Two other reporters and I sat in the dugout one evening in ’86 before a game when Weaver began ruminating on how he returned but couldn’t fix the team and knew it and should quit. Then he said he had to go see the general manager and he left.

“Did Earl just decide to retire?” we asked each other. And he had.

For Weaver, the strain of the game was his certainty that he was often one of the few adults in the room. “You must remember that anyone under 30 — especially a ballplayer — is an adolescent,” he once told me. “I never got close to being an adult until I was 32. Even though I was married and had a son at 20, I was a kid at 32, living at home with my parents. Sure, I was a manger then. That doesn’t mean you’re grown up.

“Until you’re the person that other people fall back on, until you’re the one that’s leaned on, not the person doing the leaning, you’re not an adult. You reach an age when suddenly you realize you have to be that person. Divorce did it to me. It could be elderly parents, children . . . anything. But one day you realize, ‘It’s me. I’ve got to be the rock.’ ”

Finally, he got sick of being that rock, never showing his players how much he cared about them, always being the adult bringing bad news. No manager ever yearned for retirement more than Weaver.

“I know exactly what I need to live on, have since ’57. I’m always going to do the same things. I grow all my own vegetables. I stuff my own sausages. Pork shoulders will be coming on sale next month. I look for chuck roast on sale to use in stew or grind up for hamburgers,” Weaver said. “Doing that takes time and I enjoy it. I’ll have plenty [of money] to play golf every day, run out to Hialeah or the dogs, take [wife] Marianna out to dinner in Fort Lauderdale, and take a walk on the beach. . . .

“I don’t want to spend my whole life watching the sun go down behind the left field bleachers.”

wrcwolf wrote: Boswell with a gem, as usual.

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/...fecd_story.html

That strain, of being a true authority figure, is perhaps the main reason his career was so short. He retired at 53, was begged and bribed back, but retired for good at 56. Two other reporters and I sat in the dugout one evening in ’86 before a game when Weaver began ruminating on how he returned but couldn’t fix the team and knew it and should quit. Then he said he had to go see the general manager and he left.

“Did Earl just decide to retire?” we asked each other. And he had.

For Weaver, the strain of the game was his certainty that he was often one of the few adults in the room. “You must remember that anyone under 30 — especially a ballplayer — is an adolescent,” he once told me. “I never got close to being an adult until I was 32. Even though I was married and had a son at 20, I was a kid at 32, living at home with my parents. Sure, I was a manger then. That doesn’t mean you’re grown up.

“Until you’re the person that other people fall back on, until you’re the one that’s leaned on, not the person doing the leaning, you’re not an adult. You reach an age when suddenly you realize you have to be that person. Divorce did it to me. It could be elderly parents, children . . . anything. But one day you realize, ‘It’s me. I’ve got to be the rock.’ ”

Finally, he got sick of being that rock, never showing his players how much he cared about them, always being the adult bringing bad news. No manager ever yearned for retirement more than Weaver.

“I know exactly what I need to live on, have since ’57. I’m always going to do the same things. I grow all my own vegetables. I stuff my own sausages. Pork shoulders will be coming on sale next month. I look for chuck roast on sale to use in stew or grind up for hamburgers,” Weaver said. “Doing that takes time and I enjoy it. I’ll have plenty [of money] to play golf every day, run out to Hialeah or the dogs, take [wife] Marianna out to dinner in Fort Lauderdale, and take a walk on the beach. . . .

“I don’t want to spend my whole life watching the sun go down behind the left field bleachers.”

thanks for posting that

Thanks Earl, for all the memories!! I still love that picture above of Earl in action. He could put on quite a show! Love to look at the expressions of the faces around him. Yeah, that's Earl being Earl, just let him go, he'll eventually go back to the dugout, but not before he let you know exactly how he felt. Billy Martin had nothing on that man. Old school perhaps, but fans loved him, well at least Baltimore fans did.

Wow, Stan the Man, just passed away at 92. What a legend he was.

goturbackpack66 wrote: Wow, Stan the Man, just passed away at 92. What a legend he was.

Was just about to post this. I know Stan wasn't an Oriole, but he is one of the greatest of all time.

Today is truly a sad day in the baseball world.

I hope Earl enjoyed watching his O's this past year.  RIP

Gotta say, there are worse ways to go out than a quick heart attack at 2 AM on a Carribean cruise.

Not an O's fan but always liked and respected Earl Weaver. RIP.

Scott McGregor talks about Earl:

"Basically, for the most part, he had a cough and flu thing and he was coughing quite a bit, but he was typical Earl," said McGregor, who pitched for the Orioles from 1976-1988. "He kept rallying and was attending all the events. He was his normal self. We were playing a game of Jeopardy and he was arguing the score, and it was hilarious. I threw him out of the room at that point. I said, 'You're outta here, Earl!' And he laughed. He was typical Earl.

http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2013/01/m cgregor-talks-about-weaver.html

Could we change this to the Spring Training thread? Didn't see any reason to start a whole new thread.

Good article on the starting pitching.

To no surprise, O's rotation far from settled

Good article Jaeger,  I believe the problem the Orioles have, is a darn good one. A lot of these guys are still young. Bundy could be a superstar pitcher. A lot of competition on this team. They do lack an established #1 or 2 starter, but we will see.

Write-up from a fan site, but it makes good points to those who are predicting a huge fall for the O's this year. 

True Belief in the 2013 Orioles

Wilson Betemit out 6-8 weeks

"SARASOTA, Fla. -- Baltimore Orioles infielder Wilson Betemit estimates he'll be out for six-to-eight weeks because of a tear in his right knee."


http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9101943/wilson-b etemit-baltimore-orioles-6-8-weeks-knee-injury

My son turns 8 in a few weeks, and he told me that all he wants for his birthday is to go see an Orioles game.  So we're going up for opening weekend to catch the Saturday game.  They have a birthday deal where you get a ticket for your child free, but you have to purchase them the day of the game.  I'm afraid the game might be sold out by then so I'm debating just getting some tickets off Stub Hub anyway.