Matthew Taylor: A look (way) back at the O's first deal at the deadline

Matthew Taylor: A look (way) back at the O's first deal at the deadline
The trade deadline is approaching. You know the names floating around the rumor mill in 2012, but do you know which players were involved in the first trade-deadline deal in Orioles history? The O's dealt Vic Wertz, a right fielder and first baseman, to the Cleveland Indians on June 1, 1954, for Bob Chakales. The deal came two weeks before the June 15 trade deadline that was in place until 1986, when it moved to July 31. Neither player spent a full season in Baltimore, but Wertz became part...

Matthew Taylor: Deal with Tribe returned Murray to O's nest

Matthew Taylor: Deal with Tribe returned Murray to O's nest
It's off to Cleveland for the Orioles after a series split this week with the Twins. Whatever excitement this four-game series may bring, it will be tough to match what happened between the teams on July 21, 1996. Sixteen years ago, the O's reacquired legendary first baseman Eddie Murray in a deal that sent pitcher Kent Mercker to Cleveland. For a nostalgic fan like myself, who grew up delighting in the chants of "Ed-die" at Memorial Stadium, it didn't get much better than welcoming back...

Matthew Taylor: As hitters, O's pitchers weren't too shabby

Matthew Taylor: As hitters, O's pitchers weren't too shabby
Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, Dave McNally and Jim Palmer. They, of course, are the Orioles starters who each won 20 games in 1971, matching the 1920 Chicago White Sox as the only teams with four 20-game winners. But how good were those pitchers when it came to hitting home runs? That's the question that occurred to me this week as I researched a Roar from 34 post about Palmer's All-Star outings. The designated hitter wasn't created until 1973, so each of the Orioles' 20-game winners in 1971...

Tweaking the guest blogging rotation for season's second half

Tweaking the guest blogging rotation for season's second half
The second half of the 2012 season is right around the corner - Friday the 13th baseball at Camden Yards, anyone? - and that's a good time to talk about some changes to our rotation of guest bloggers. Since MASNsports.com introduced the guest blogger initiative at the start of the 2011 campaign, it's been wildly successful. We've been able to highlight the thoughts and opinions of some of the best local and regional Orioles-centric bloggers out there, and our Web traffic and comments...

Matthew Taylor: In '57, Indians-O's was a critical four-game series

Matthew Taylor: In '57, Indians-O's was a critical four-game series
The Orioles' loss to Cleveland Thursday night continued a recent slide that has fueled pessimism for some fans. At this exact time of year in 1957, as the O's faced the same team on the diamond, the opposite scenario played out during Baltimore's first non-losing season since moving from St. Louis in 1954. Back then, there was plenty of reason for optimism in June, thanks to some remarkable work by the O's pitching staff. The '57 Birds took three of four from the Indians during a series...

Matthew Taylor: Is warehouse in Chris Davis' sights?

Matthew Taylor: Is warehouse in Chris Davis' sights?
Can the Orioles' Chris Davis become the first player to hit the B&O Warehouse with a home run during game action? That's the question I've been asking myself since Davis hit a broken-bat homer June 13 against the Pirates. The display of strength by a power-hitting lefty has had me pondering the possibilities ever since. My prediction, equal parts bold and foolish, is that Davis will become the first batter to hit the Warehouse. Oriole Park at Camden Yards has been open for 20 years. There...

Matthew Taylor: Lynn's two-homer game memorable for fan reaction

Matthew Taylor: Lynn's two-homer game memorable for fan reaction
My baseball memory begins somewhere in the 1980s on 33rd Street. I can remember the first batting practice baseball I caught (Dante Bichette, Milwaukee Brewers), the nachos I helped spill during a rare visit to Memorial Stadium's blue box seats, and the lesson I learned about appropriate ballpark decorum by violating it with an obscene heckle. At its best, the ballpark can teach a kid a lot about the game. I got to thinking recently about the game I attended when Fred Lynn stroked two home...

Matthew Taylor: In 1960, winning record was a welcome turn for O's. Baltimore

Matthew Taylor: In 1960, winning record was a welcome turn for O's. Baltimore
Most Orioles fans can name the last time that the team had a winning season: 1997. Fewer can name the first time that the team had a winning season: 1960. Baseball came to Baltimore in 1954; it wasn't until six years later that winning baseball arrived in town. While the 1957 Orioles finished an even 76-76, the Birds totaled more wins, 89, than losses, 65 for the first time in 1960. The 1960 team featured American League Manager of the Year Paul Richards, Rookie of the Year Ron Hansen and...

Matthew Taylor: There's something in the air on Eutaw Street

Matthew Taylor: There's something in the air on Eutaw Street
Of course you know that the Orioles are playing well above average so far during the 2012 season. But did you notice that it's been an above-average season for Eutaw Street home runs, as well? Batters have hit an average of three Eutaw Street home runs per season since Camden Yards opened in 1992; four such homers have already been hit this year. Eric Thames of the Blue Jays got things started on April 24. He was followed just four days later by the Orioles' Chris Davis on April 28. Thanks...

Matthew Taylor: Examining a homer-happy week at Camden Yards

Matthew Taylor: Examining a homer-happy week at Camden Yards
What a week for home runs in Baltimore. Josh Hamilton became only the 16th player to hit four home runs in a game Tuesday. Two days later, the Orioles established an American League record by homering in the team's first three at-bats of a doubleheader against the Rangers. Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis did the early yard work for the Birds. Overall, the O's hit five home runs in a game for the first time since June 30, 2010, against Oakland. That's two short of the club record...

Matthew Taylor: A closer look at some historical tidbits

Matthew Taylor: A closer look at some historical tidbits
I love the historical tidbits that regularly work their way into baseball game stories. Two such tidbits came out of the Orioles' series win this week against the Yankees in the Bronx, and both had to do with strong pitching performances. First, on Wednesday, Jake Arrieta became the most recent Orioles pitcher to toss eight or more shutout innings against the Yankees since September 2004, when Sidney Ponson recorded a complete-game shutout. Specifically, Ponson shut out the Yankees on Sept....

Matthew Taylor: Bullish on the bullpen

Matthew Taylor: Bullish on the bullpen
The Orioles currently have one of the game's best relief corps. The bullpen's 1.96 ERA and 10 saves are tops in baseball. Take a moment to let that sink in. The team that for the past decade or more has been synonymous with late-inning meltdowns (think Mother's Day Massacre) and historic failings (think 30-3) has one of the game's finest late-inning outfits. Earlier in the week, fellow guest blogger Heath Bintliff of Dempsey's Army proclaimed, "For the first time in years, I am loving...

Matthew Taylor: A few words on fairness

Matthew Taylor: A few words on fairness
The Orioles are currently in first place. But by the end of a 162-game season they won't be, and it's largely due to the fact that baseball is a fair sport. First, let's define fairness in this context. Fairness doesn't relate to payroll. The balance of baseball bucks decidedly favors roughly a quarter of major league teams. Instead, I use fairness in relation to the concept of "May the best team win." Stated simply, a 162-game regular season doesn't allow for flukes. Love it or hate...

Matthew Taylor: Examining the legend of Dylan Bundy

Matthew Taylor: Examining the legend of Dylan Bundy
It's fitting that the surnames Bundy and Bunyan are so similar. In two brief minor league outings, 19-year-old pitcher Dylan Bundy is burnishing a legend among Orioles fans that's roughly equivalent to Paul Bunyan's place in American folklore. However, there's a distance between the developing Bundy legend and the actual Bundy reality I witnessed firsthand this week in Kannapolis, N.C. (You can see photos and video of Bundy's start on Roar From 34.) Let me be clear from the outset that...

Matthew Taylor: It wasn't love at first sight for me and Camden Yards

Matthew Taylor: It wasn't love at first sight for me and Camden Yards
I was among the first paying customers to step inside Camden Yards, and I initially wasn't sold on the place. That's not the sort of thing you expect to read on opening day, particularly at the outset of the 20th anniversary season for "The Ballpark That Forever Changed Baseball," but to state otherwise would be dishonest. A little background is in order. The first game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards took place April 3, 1992, an exhibition contest versus the New York Mets, and the team...

Matthew Taylor: Recalling Steve Stone's curve and 25-win season in 1980

Matthew Taylor: Recalling Steve Stone's curve and 25-win season in 1980
With their 6-5 victory in Detroit on Saturday, the Orioles denied Justin Verlander the opportunity to become baseball's first 25-game winner since Bob Welch went 27-6 for Oakland in 1990. Thanks to Bill Pemstein, I spent time this season reading about the Orioles' only 25-game winner, Steve Stone. Pemstein, a former Orioles employee turned Midwest sportswriter, chronicles Stone's magical 1980 season in his self-published effort, "A Stone's Throw." The book provides abundant game details...

Matthew Taylor: Revisiting O's distribution of power

Matthew Taylor: Revisiting O's distribution of power
Orioles fans anticipated a power surge in the lineup in 2011. The offseason acquisitions of Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee and Mark Reynolds gave the Birds three players who had hit 30 or more home runs a combined 14 times. Here's how things have played out this season with 11 games still remaining. Reynolds became the Orioles' first 30-home run hitter since Aubrey Huff stroked 32 in 2008. Overall, only 15 O's players have recorded 30-homer seasons, led by Eddie Murray who did it five times....

Matthew Taylor: Some historical perspective on triple-digit losses

Matthew Taylor: Some historical perspective on triple-digit losses
The Orioles are in the home stretch of their 14th consecutive losing season. That's a lot of bad baseball. However, one thing the Birds have never done during that run is lose 100 games. In fact, the O's have lost 100 games in a season only twice since the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore, going 54-100 in 1954 and 54-107 in 1988. Here are some facts and figures about 100-loss seasons in Baltimore and beyond: * The Orioles have more than twice as many 100-win seasons as they do 100-loss...

Matthew Taylor: Crafty lefty could also whiff opposing hitters

Matthew Taylor: Crafty lefty could also whiff opposing hitters
David Price established a Tampa Bay franchise record on Sunday with 14 strikeouts in seven innings of work at Toronto. Price set the mark in his fourth big league season and exceeded by two his previous career high of 12 strikeouts. By his fourth season, former Orioles lefty Mike Flanagan had established what would be his own career-high strikeout total by having twice fanned 13 batters in nine innings of work. During this sad time for the Orioles franchise, it's nice to remember Flanny at...

Matthew Taylor: Once intertwined O's careers take divergent paths

Matthew Taylor: Once intertwined O's careers take divergent paths
Brian Roberts and Jerry Hairston Jr. were once part of the same sentence in Baltimore, two much-talked-about second basemen living less than a mile apart during the offseason and competing for the same roster spot when it came time to play ball. They were the Pepsi Challenge of Orioles baseball - Roberts or Hairston? You decide. Considering the similarities between the players, a fan's choice at second base largely became a matter of taste. Here's how a Washington Post writer described the...