Lee Lowenfish

Since we last met, dear readers, there have been a lot of exciting MLB baseball games. There are too many strikeouts and good team defense is an endangered species so maybe it is not a surprise that nearly 20 teams are close enough to .500 to keep playoff dreams alive.  I'm not even counting the six division leaders in that number: The surprising Blue Jays up by two over the Yankees and 3 over the Red Sox in the AL East; the runaway Tigers who still have a 11-game lead in the AL Central despite being swept by Seattle just before the ASG break; and the always-contending Astros 5 games up over Seattle in the AL West.

 

In the NL East, the Phillies have only a half-game lead on the Mets; the Cubs are only 1 up on the Brewers in the NL Central with that fierce Midwest rivalry likely to go down to the wire like Mets-Phillies; and in the NL West, the perennially top dog high-spending Dodgers are still in command with the Padres 5 behind and the Giants 6 out.

 

Sadly, I cannot harbor any hopes for my Orioles. I thought there was a glimmer of hope when the Birds swept the Mets in a doubleheader last Thursday July 10 in Baltimore. But when the Marlins followed the New Yorkers into Baltimore and won the weekend series convincingly, it felt like a crushing blow. 

Both teams entered the series with identical 42-50 records, but the surprising youngsters from Miami demonstrated superior pitching and far more fundamental baseball.  Nothing like having no expectations as compared to the burden of contention that the Birds have carried since their emergence as a 101-team two seasons ago.

 

To add to the embarrssment of the Sunday Jul 13 11-1 shellacking was a 3-HR 5-hit 6-RBI performance by former Oriole outfielder Kyle Stowers, a second-round pick in 2019 from Stanford.  The Birds brass evidently decided that U of Arkansas's Heston Kjerstad, a top pick in 2020, was a better prospect, but now he is back in the minors and scuffling there too. The only saving grace is that southpaw Trevor Rogers, who they got in the Stowers trade and is only 27, has seemingly emerged as a top-flight lefthanded starter.  I hope he sustains his excellence. 

 

It looks like newbie Orioles owner David Rubenstein, the honcho from the private equity fund the Carlyle Group who is also an author and moderator discussing books on the Bloomberg TV channel and other places, still has confidence in GM Mike Elias who tore down the 100-loss Orioles teams six years ago and might be doing a lot of trading before the July 31 deadline.  I hope I'm wrong, but it could be that the road back to contention will be a long one for my team. 

 

I do try to avoid the negativity surrounding my favorite sport.  Bobby Winkles, the great Arizona State baseball coach and less successful pro manager of Angels/A's, once even said, "Half the fun of baseball is laying blame."  So I'm gonna take a different tack now and close with some bouquets.

 

**To the AL All-Stars who rallied from a 6-0 deficit to tie the Tu July 15 ASG game in the top of the 9th on two doubles and an infield hit despite two great defensive plays by the NL.  The 10th inning Home Run Derby that ended the game with an NL victory got all the attention, but I say there is nothing like an old-fashioned rally with this time situational hitting trumping great defense to warm the heart of an old-fashioned lover of old-fashioned baseball.  

 

**To Joe Girardi whose commentary on YES cable TV Yankee broadcasts has been insightful and humorous. Recently, after a player hit a weak infield popup to third, Girardi recalled that when he was a rookie with the Cubs and he endured a similar poor excuse for an at-bat, puckish teammate Rick Sutcliffe quipped, "I guess the wind is blowing in from third at Wrigley today, Joe." 

 

**To roaming Mets broadcaster Steve Gelbs for finding 12-year-old Antonio from Long Island in the crowd at one of last week's Oriole-Met games and telling him that he had won the award to substitute for Gary Cohen for an inning on an upcoming Mets cable TV broadcast. With most of his face smeared with eye black (a player's trend these days),  Antonio's jubilation virtually poured out of my TV set. He also gladly responded to Gelbs' request to give a rendition of his contest-winning call of a Francisco Lindor home run. The big event will happen during the Tu July 22 Mets game on SNY-TV.

 

**Last but not least, here's a shoutout to the Bonnefont Restaurant at the entrance to Fort Tryon Park at the footsteps of the renowned Cloisters museum in Upper Manhattan. I had a wonderful 4th of July dinner there celebrating my special friend Maria Patterson's birthday.  The ambience and food were excellent and when I complimented a waiter for his colorful shirt, they even had an extra to give me. 

 

The Bonnefont cafe and main restaurant are open Wed through Sunday for lunch and dinner. The M4 NYC bus takes you virtually to the doorstep of the Cloisters. More info at thebonnefont.com and 212/740-2939

 

That's all for now - always remember to Take It Easy But Take It! and Stay Positive, Test Negative! 

I never expected it to happen in 2022 and was skeptical about future years.  And yet

with 32 games left, 20 at home, as Labor Day weekend starts, the Orioles are 1 1/2 games behind the Blue Jays for the third and final wild card spot.  Seattle and Tampa Bay hold

down the first two spots with the Birds three lost games behind them. 

 

My long-held views that Every Baseball Season Is Different and There Is At Least One

Surprise Team Each Year have come true in the most pleasant and heart-warming manner. 

 

The Birds have 10 games left with Toronto, seven of them at home including an old-fashioned Labor Day doubleheader.  The Blue Jays were one of the pre-season favorites in AL East but they have not played very consistent baseball.  

 

Nor have the Yankees who just endured an August that was its worst since Stump Merrill's 1991 team. The Red Sox are in the AL East basement, following their recent pattern of boom-bust-boom-bust. 

 

I saw the Orioles twice last month during SABR's 50th convention held this year in downtown Baltimore a short walk to Camden Yards.  The Birds lost the makeup day

game with the Cubs, 3-2, but unheralded castoff RHP Spenser Watkins pitched well.

 

Before an enthusiastic crowd of over 30,000 on Friday night, including many of the SABR attendees sitting in the right field bleachers, the Orioles blasted the Red Sox, 15-10,

belting five homers.  It was a rare offensive outburst by a team whose rise to contention has been fueled by vastly improved pitching and often sensational defense. 

 

I had never sat in the outer reaches of Camden Yards and it brought back memories of Fenway Park's fabled section.  In both places, you feel a bond with the third base and left field fans, creating the kind of shared community that is ballpark viewing at its best.

 

The remarkable resurgence of the Orioles got an added boost in late August by the play of 21-year-old Gunnar Henderson, a second round draft choice who was signed after his graduation three years ago from high school in Alabama.  

 

All he did in his first game was hit a long home run in his second AB after being victimized in his first AB by Guardians' left fielder Steven Kwan's great catch. In his second game, Gunnar made two outstanding defensive plays at shortstop and stole his first base.

 

I've seen him play in the lower minors and twice earlier this season at Triple-A Norfolk.  He has that "it" quality, the art of making a difficult game look easy. And you can see his

love of the game is not an act.  

 

Ditto for catcher Adley Rutschman who was drafted a round ahead of Henderson.  Adley is scuffling at the plate now, but his catching and leadershp skills are not suffering.  

 

The Orioles suddenly look like they have a bright future. The 2023 option on the contract of   manager Brandon Hyde was quietly picked up earlier this year.  So was the same 2023 option on injured southpaw John Means' contract.  Nothing like stablility in an organization once there is light at the end of the tunnel

 

It will be a challenge for Hyde, Joe Maddon's bench coach when the Cubs broke their 108-year World Series-championship drought in 2016, to get playing time for all the players

arriving.  Jorge Mateo remains the incumbent shortstop, the former Yankee prospect who

has been a revelation in 2022 once given regular playing time. It is a nice problem to

have, too many good players, but I think Hyde will find a way. 

 

As for the SABR convention, a highlight for me was Boog Powell in conversation with local sportswriter Dan Connolly of the Athletic.  He shared warm reminiscences of playing for 

the Orioles and how after his retirement he hustled to get the Lite Beer commercial that featured him and umpire Jim Honochick. The lines for Boog's BBQ at the ballpark are deservedly long.

 

Before I close this return to blogging, here's a tip of the cap to the Mets Old-Timers Day that owner Steve Cohen organized last Saturday August 27.  Cohen is a genuine Mets

fan and many original Mets returned for the first Old Timers Day in almost 30 years.  One of them was Jay Hook who won the team's first game.

 

In a TV interview with SNY broadcaster Steve Gelbs, Jesse Orosco shared the moving story of what happened to the glove that he threw towards the Astrodome roof when the Mets

won the epic 16-inning game over Houston that propelled them into the 1986 World

Series.  He said he gifted it to Steven McDonald, the NYPD officer who was paralyzed in

the line of duty. 

 

The National Anthem played on Old Timers Day was a recording by Jane Jarvis, the team's only organist from its first days at Shea Stadium in 1964.  I was fortunate to get to know Jane during her career as a jazz pianist when she left the team after the 1979 season.

 

Jane had been a child prodigy on both piano and organ in Indiana, proficient in classical music but loving jazz and all kinds of music. She later lived in Milwaukee where, among her other gigs, she became the Braves' ballpark organist.  

 

That's all for now.  But here's one TCM tip - Thursdays in September will be devoted to the

many films of Humphrey Bogart, some of them real classics.  

 

Always remember - take it easy but take it!