Leading Off

This baseball thing, it’s… whoo boy, it’s something, isn’t it? The Orioles lost a lot of games, in new and inventive ways. That’s not true, they lost them just like they did in May and June. But it feels better to say it the first way, doesn’t it?

The Medical Wing

This Week on the Twitters

https://twitter.com/BarstoolRDT/status/881310645785964544

Here's my plan for the Orioles' future: take that $400 million you're thinking of giving Manny, instead buy Tampa's entire scouting/dev Dept

— Eutaw Street Report (@EutawStReport) June 30, 2017

Getting drummed like Ringo……

— Joe Angel (@WaveItByeBye) July 2, 2017

Can someone younger than me make a gif of Ubaldo's head onto John Cusack holding the boom box in Say Anything. #InYourEyes

— Chris Maurer (@MaurerFTW) June 30, 2017

https://twitter.com/sung_minkim/status/881443959771250689

Fans coming out the woodwork to complain about things known about O's org for years. Makes it more random/special that O's went on any run.

— Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer) July 5, 2017

How to Root for a Bad Team

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In Episode 164 of this podcast, we explored how Orioles fans, who had suffered 14 years of futility, had no idea how to root for a good team. They didn’t have the context to take the ups with the downs. Here in 2017, we have the opposite problem.

The Orioles are a bad team.

So how do we root for them? What do we take away from the experience of watching Orioles Baseball, and how do we go back to the way things were before? Before Adam Jones hit the home run to answer the Yankees in the 8th inning of the Cal Statue Game. Before we Cued the Pretender. Before the Curse of the Andino. Before Crush Davis. Before all of that, there was just… bad baseball.

Are you ready? Buckle up.

Buy or Sell? (Don’t Buy)

OK, so if they’re bad, at which point do you throw in the towel? Jake and Scott often spend time on this show pulling each other off the ledge. In this particular episode, they seem to be handing each other shots and whispering “jump.”

How quickly do you rip off the band aid? Full tank mode, or staged “retooling?” Who is your “franchise player,” and do you even need one?

There’s also a lot of Jake laughing hysterically, off mic. It’s that kind of show.

Fantasy Boss

Scott extends his lead to 2-0, with his pick (Manny Machado) homering once against Jake’s pick (Trey Mancini) who failed to do so.

This week, the category is a count of home runs allowed.

Scott selected Dylan Bundy.

Jake went with Alec Asher.

The tie breaker is runs allowed on those home runs. If that does not break the tie, then a tie it is.

Who will own it?

Blowing the Save

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Most podcasts try to end on a high note – the perfect coda to a quality program. That’s just not our style. Each week, we’ll end on a weak note, blowing the save with an item that didn’t quite fit into the episode, or something they simply need to get off their chests. It’s our version of taking the ball and pulling a Kevin Gregg.