On the passing of a great reporter and an even better person

On the passing of a great reporter and an even better person
Those of us who work in baseball in this area and region today are feeling such a loss. Our friend here at MASN and MASNsports.com, our treasured colleague, Mel Antonen, passed away last night. Mel was 64 and battled a rare autoimmune disease and other health issues that made his battle against this disease one that was beyond challenging. That word just doesn't do it justice here. Baltimore-area media and friends of Mel would get updates over about the last year this was all going on. Mel...

Remembering Mel Antonen

Remembering Mel Antonen
"I'm gonna beat this." Every conversation with Mel Antonen over the past year, every email, every Zoom, every FaceTime, every single interaction included these words. Dealt a horrible hand with multiple health issues - something called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare autoimmune disease that attacked his liver, followed by bouts with COVID-19 and then lymphoma - Mel battled to the very end. Unfortunately, that came late Saturday night, when he passed in his sleep. Mel was 64. I...

Questions abound as report dates near

Questions abound as report dates near
We've entered a new month that draws us closer to the Feb. 16 report date for Orioles pitchers and catchers. The equipment truck left Camden Yards on Wednesday to begin the 1,000 mile journey to the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla. And yet, we still aren't certain that Major League Baseball is offering a full spring training and 162-game regular season. There are assumptions, hope and the ever-present possibility that ownership and the union will be unable to agree on crucial...

After Dodgers eclipse Rays in World Series, what's next for baseball?

After Dodgers eclipse Rays in World Series, what's next for baseball?
The Los Angeles Dodgers and pitcher Clayton Kershaw are finally celebrating a World Series victory, the franchise's first since 1988, the year the Dodgers beat the Oakland Athletics. Dodgers infielder Justin Turner tested positive for COVID-19 and is under investigation by Major League Baseball for joining teammates in the on-field celebration. How fitting is that for the coronavirus season? So what's next? There's always second-guessing, trade and free agent talk, and discussion about how...

Would Astros reaching World Series punch Baker's ticket to Cooperstown?

Would Astros reaching World Series punch Baker's ticket to Cooperstown?
The Astros beat the Athletics 11-6 on Thursday in Game 4 of the American League Division Series, punching their ticket to a fourth consecutive AL Championship Series. And it brings Dusty Baker a step closer to a championship he has been eyeing for more than two decades as a manager. Baker has 1,862 career victories, 15th on the all-time list. He has been named Manager of the Year three times and won seven division titles. But the 70-year-old is searching for his first World Series title, the...

Powerful Dodgers will be big roadblock to Padres' magical season in NLDS

Powerful Dodgers will be big roadblock to Padres' magical season in NLDS
Let's start with an obvious point: Of all four Division Series, the most compelling matchup is the National League battle between the Dodgers and Padres. Storylines overflow: Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Wil Myers versus Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw and Cody Bellinger. And the series has drama for the Dodgers, who have won eight consecutive NL West titles without a World Series win. The Dodgers haven't won the World Series since 1988 and have lost two of the last three, one to the...

Can rookie Marlins hurlers tame tough Braves lineup in NLDS?

Can rookie Marlins hurlers tame tough Braves lineup in NLDS?
Baseball teams are measured with an endless numbers, from traditional statistics to a new-age analytics such as Wins Above Replacement. The Miami Marlins have another set of numbers unique to the season of the pandemic: As the season started, they had 18 players test positive for the coronavirus and were quarantined for a week in Philadelphia. They used 61 players for 60 games, including pitchers manager Don Mattingly met for the first time as he brought them into a game. Olympic speed skater...

Will longstanding tensions surface in ALDS battle between Astros and A's?

Will longstanding tensions surface in ALDS battle between Astros and A's?
The Houston Astros, with a 29-31 record under former Nationals manager Dusty Baker, could be the first team in baseball history to make the World Series with a losing record thanks to a pandemic-shortened 60-game season. But this is more important to the Astros: The team is trying to erase the cheating image they have after banging on garbage cans to steal signs and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2017 World Series. The Astros' general manager, Jeff Luhnow, and manager, A.J. Hinch,...

Bullpens could decide Yankees-Rays clash in ALDS

Bullpens could decide Yankees-Rays clash in ALDS
The Tampa Bay Rays, who last won the American League East in 2010, beat the New York Yankees in eight of 10 games during the regular season. Can they do it again and get a chance to win their first AL pennant since losing to the Phillies in the 2008 World Series? The best-of-five Yankees-Rays AL Division Series will be played with no days off starting today in San Diego's Petco Park, one of the bubbles established by Major League Baseball for the postseason. The Rays and Yankees have tension,...

Astros rally to eliminate Twins in wild card series, extending playoff losing streak

Astros rally to eliminate Twins in wild card series, extending playoff losing streak
The Twins won the American League Central by not losing two consecutive games at home during the season. Then everything changed when the postseason started. The Astros came to Target Field and added more history-making agony to the Twins' postseason record. After losing 4-1 and 3-1 to the Astros in the first two wild card games, the Twins extended their postseason losing streak to 18 consecutive games, more than any other National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, National...

Checking out the postseason storylines

Checking out the postseason storylines
The Marlins finished in last place in the National League East in 2018 with 95 losses and 2019 with 105 losses. In the first week of this season, they were quarantined in a Philadelphia hotel for a week after 20 positive coronavirus tests that disrupted their schedule, as well as schedules for other teams, and they needed 17 new players to compete, including former Orioles reliever Richard Bleier helping their bullpen. The Marlins, who tore down World Series title teams after championships in...

Pandemic playoffs present new challenges

Pandemic playoffs present new challenges
The baseball postseason starts Sept. 29, and after a bizarre season defined by the coronavirus, there will be nothing normal about October baseball. First of all, there will be 16 teams instead of 10, more than half of Major League Baseball's 30 teams. The wild-card round, usually a dramatic one-game playoff, has moved to a three-game format with all three games played in the ballparks of the top-seeded three division winners in each league. After that, all games will be at a neutral...

Padres aggressively take aim at postseason

Padres aggressively take aim at postseason
Everything has changed with the San Diego Padres. The question: Have they added enough to their roster to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006, or even the World Series for the first time since 1998, the year they were swept by the Yankees? As Monday's trade deadline approached, the Padres were by far the most active team in the market. They fixed all their weaknesses: designated hitter, catching, the bullpen and the rotation. They added DH Mitch Moreland from Boston, closer Trevor...

Former Oriole and National Hairston recalls grandfather's Negro League career

Former Oriole and National Hairston recalls grandfather's Negro League career
The Orioles drafted Jerry Hairston Jr., in 1997, and when he made his big-league debut at Camden Yards against the Angels on Sept. 11, 1998, the Hairstons became the first African-American family to have three generations play in the major leagues. Hairston hit 26 home runs with the Orioles from 1998 through 2004 and then played with eight other teams, including the 2011 Nationals. His grandfather, Sam, played for the Birmingham Barons and won the Negro American League Triple Crown for the 1950...

Havana-born Sierra among former Negro Leagues players being celebrated Sunday by MLB

Havana-born Sierra among former Negro Leagues players being celebrated Sunday by MLB
As a boy growing up in Havana, Cuba, Pedro Sierra heard stories about the high levels of racism in United States baseball, but that didn't deter him from dreaming of becoming a professional. At 16, after making an impression on Cuban Negro League scouts on a field 13 blocks from his home, Sierra signed for $100 and played with the Indianapolis Clowns in 1954. The scout assured Sierra's dad, Pedro Sr., that his son would be safe because there would be older Cubans on the team to guide him. So...

Rotation's renaissance leads Rockies' rebound in suddenly competitive NL West

Rotation's renaissance leads Rockies' rebound in suddenly competitive NL West
As the 2020 season began, the Rockies weren't considered a legitimate playoff contender, not even in a 60-game season. After all, they finished last in 2019 with a rotation that had the highest ERA (5.87) in the National League. And the Rockies didn't bother to fix their starting staff. That brought second-guessing from critics. Colorado stuck with Jon Gray, Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela, four pitchers that helped them get to the playoffs in 2017 and 2018 who...

In lieu of fans, creative cutouts dot ballparks during pandemic baseball

In lieu of fans, creative cutouts dot ballparks during pandemic baseball
When the Orioles play in Philadelphia this week, they need to check out a humorous piece of baseball history in section 302V, Row 21, Seat 1. Tip: Use binoculars because the seat is high above right field, likely the worst seat at Citizens Bank Park. The seat is where the Phillies have a cutout of Bob Uecker, the Brewers' Hall of Fame radio broadcaster who was a catcher for the 1966 Phillies and made a famous commercial for Miller Lite during the 1980s. In the commercial, Uecker gets ready to...

MLB tightens protocols following outbreaks

MLB tightens protocols following outbreaks
After a coronavirus outbreak slammed the rosters of the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, Major League Baseball added new provisions to its safety protocols, threatening suspensions for repeated or flagrant violations, according to USA TODAY Sports. The newspaper's website reported that MLB now requires players and staff to wear masks in the dugout, clubhouse and at all public places on the road as well as in the hotel. MLB's six-page memo, released Wednesday to the 30 teams, said the...

Marlins finally get back to playing ball tonight - maybe

Marlins finally get back to playing ball tonight - maybe
After a nine-day layoff because of a COVID-19 outbreak, the Miami Marlins are ready to resume their season Tuesday night against the Orioles at Camden Yards. But heavy rain and high winds, brought on by Tropical Storm Isaias skirting the East Coast, might make the Marlins wait another day. Winds of 35 mph and 3-5 inches of rain are expected in Baltimore, according to weather reports. It's been that kind of season for the Marlins. They played two exhibition games in Atlanta and started their...

More changes afoot as MLB copes with tattered schedules

More changes afoot as MLB copes with tattered schedules
This is a fair warning for baseball traditionalists: If you've grumbled about new rules in baseball this season, prepare to grumble more this weekend. The players' association is surveying members and Major League Baseball is seeing what owners think about a rule change that would allow for doubleheaders with two seven-inning games to make up lost games caused by the coronavirus outbreak on the Marlins' roster. Another possibility: Doubleheaders with a nine- and seven-inning game. The two...