Matthew Taylor: Comparing this year's Orioles with franchise greats

Matthew Taylor: Comparing this year's Orioles with franchise greats
The 2015 season has been a disappointing one for the Orioles. However, multiple players have posted impressive totals that rank with some of the greatest individual efforts in franchise history. Here's a look at those efforts and the O's greats they bring to mind. Young and mighty: Manny Machado and Boog Powell Manny Machado has had a stellar season at the plate. On Thursday, he became the Orioles' first 20-20 player since Brady Anderson in 1999 and the O's fifth 20-20 player overall. Paul...

Matthew Taylor: A surprising outcome from O's sweep of Nationals

Matthew Taylor: A surprising outcome from O's sweep of Nationals
What could be more surprising from this week's series with the Washington Nationals than the Orioles getting the sweep in D.C.? For me, it's the fact that I came away with a greater appreciation and respect for Bryce Harper. The heated three-game set left me thinking less about rivalry and more about respect, starting first and foremost with the Nationals' young superstar. Go figure. If you're not a Nationals fan, it's easy to dislike Harper. He's a classic case of the guy you would love...

Matthew Taylor: Comparing the Orioles and Nationals seasons

Matthew Taylor: Comparing the Orioles and Nationals seasons
Who has had it worse this season, Baltimore Orioles fans or Washington Nationals fans? The two teams will square off next week in a series that fans of each franchise had expected to be a tune-up for postseason play. Instead, it will be a match-up of drowning teams gasping desperately for a breath of playoff air. Neither of the teams playing near the Navy Yard next week is fully submerged just yet, but the O's and Nats have both been sinking ships for some time now. The teams have both sounded...

Matthew Taylor: Another birthday to be celebrated at Camden Yards

Matthew Taylor: Another birthday to be celebrated at Camden Yards
Have you ever celebrated a birthday at the ballpark? I'll be part of a celebration for my niece's birthday this evening at Camden Yards. She's turning 12 and decided that she wants to go to the baseball game with her family to mark the occasion. Smart girl. Happy birthday, Emily! My father surprised me with a birthday trip to the ballpark on the day I turned 17. Camden Yards was about to open its gates for the first time and the team held a dress rehearsal in the form of an exhibition game...

Matthew Taylor: Tallying reasons to watch O's despite recent struggles

Matthew Taylor: Tallying reasons to watch O's despite recent struggles
Let's face it, being an Orioles fan has been a depressing proposition of late. Not quite 14 consecutive losing seasons depressing, mind you, but depressing all the same. If the 2014 season was exhilarating - and it was - the 2015 season has been exhausting. Judging from the recent Orioles commentary on Twitter, fan reactions to the team's struggles have included equal parts hostility and humor. OK, there's actually nothing equal about it. Ours is a hostile fan base right now. Given the...

Matthew Taylor: The Orioles' growth mindset concept

Matthew Taylor: The Orioles' growth mindset concept
The growth mindset concept is popular in education circles these days. Given its focus on the need to embrace failure as part of the learning process, growth mindset is a natural corollary for baseball, where repeated failure is ingrained in the game. I would argue that no game requires a growth mindset so much as baseball. The Baltimore Orioles are an example of that. If you're willing to embrace frustration as a fan, it can be a joy to watch over both the short-term and the...

Matthew Taylor: Orioles are what their record says they are

Matthew Taylor: Orioles are what their record says they are
It's dangerous to apply football wisdom to baseball. Nevertheless, with the Baltimore Ravens having played their first preseason game on Thursday night in this, ahem, football town, now is as good a time as any to do so. Finish ordering that Bryn Renner jersey at NFL.com, and let's talk some baseball. NFL Hall of Fame Coach Bill Parcells famously said, "You are what your record says you are." That quote came to mind repeatedly this week as I watched the Orioles struggle through a 4-5 West...

Matthew Taylor: Digging deeper into Darren O'Day's numbers

Matthew Taylor: Digging deeper into Darren O'Day's numbers
I wanted to be able to better articulate the value of Orioles All-Star reliever Darren O'Day. In attempting to do so, I developed an appreciation for the late Stu Miller. That's the sort of thing that can happen when you dig into the numbers late at night. The difference in my understanding of both players was a lesser-mentioned statistic that speaks to the value of relief pitchers. Ask most O's fans to talk about O'Day's value and you're as likely to hear a chant as you are any kind of...

Matthew Taylor: Will Nats' Harper be taking aim at warehouse this weekend?

Matthew Taylor: Will Nats' Harper be taking aim at warehouse this weekend?
Would you be OK with a batter from a visiting team hitting the B&O Warehouse at Camden Yards? What if it were a member of the New York Yankees? The Boston Red Sox? How about the Washington Nationals? What if Bryce Harper were to do it this weekend? Two years ago, then-Washington Examiner columnist Thom Loverro predicted that Harper would hit the warehouse, boasting, "They might as well order the plaque now. Sooner or later, he is going to hit that warehouse." Loverro argued it could well...

Matthew Taylor: Remembering 1974, when the O's went on an historic streak

Matthew Taylor: Remembering 1974, when the O's went on an historic streak
Last Friday, the Nationals' scoreless innings streak by starters ended at 48 innings when the Phillies' Cody Asche laced an RBI double against Max Scherzer. It was the longest scoreless inning streak in franchise history and the second-longest streak in baseball history to the 1974 Orioles. Two days later, the Orioles shut out the Cleveland Indians in both games of a doubleheader. The last time the O's swept a doubleheader with two shutouts was ... 1974. Not only did both of the...

Matthew Taylor: On opposite directions and changing fortunes

Matthew Taylor: On opposite directions and changing fortunes
June has provided me with renewed appreciation for the Orioles' success since 2012. It's not simply that the team seems to have turned things around after a slow start to this season, although the early struggles certainly served as a reminder not to take things for granted. Rather, my appreciation stems from the O's wins - seven of them in nine tries - against the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies. Beating two teams that have a combined 58-90 record isn't typically cause for...

Matthew Taylor: Baseball as a family bond

Matthew Taylor: Baseball as a family bond
I had the pleasure of visiting Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn., this week. With Father's Day approaching, the wonderful independent bookstore had a display of books for dad that, as you might expect, included titles celebrating the father-son bond as expressed through baseball. I'm fortunate to share that bond with my father and to be developing that bond with my son. However, the bookstore display had me thinking about my daughter. My kids are too young to really know what they like...

Matthew Taylor: Orioles history flush with Yankees ties

Matthew Taylor: Orioles history flush with Yankees ties
It may seem a strange choice for an Orioles blogger to write about a former Yankees manager and a former Yankees outfielder on the weekend that the Bronx Bombers visit Camden Yards for a three-game set. However, there's good reason for that decision. With his next win, former Yankees manager Buck Showalter will tie former Yankees outfielder Hank Bauer on the Orioles' all-time managerial wins list at 407. Should the Orioles win the weekend series, Showalter will pass Bauer while New York is in...

Matthew Taylor: Mining major league talent from Maryland

Matthew Taylor: Mining major league talent from Maryland
Residents of the great state of Maryland can claim seven Hall of Famers as their own: Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, Home Run Baker, Al Kaline, Vic Willis, and, of course, Cal Ripken Jr. and Babe Ruth. As the Babe Ruth statue outside Camden Yards demonstrates, Marylanders are proud of their native sons, even when they play for the Yankees. Last weekend's Brooks Robinson High School All-Star Game got me thinking about the connection between "Maryland, My Maryland" and the Major Leagues. The...

Matthew Taylor: Measuring historical dominance by Orioles pitchers

Matthew Taylor: Measuring historical dominance by Orioles pitchers
Which Orioles pitchers have had the most dominant individual outings by modern statistical measures? That's one of the questions that came to mind for me as I read Joe Sheehan's article "The Case for ... The Pedro" in the May 25 edition of Sports Illustrated. Sheehan discusses Corey Kluber's May 13 outing for the Cleveland Indians, during which he struck out 18 batters and walked none, and makes the case that, "To strike out a lot of hitter, while walking few or none ... is the pinnacle...

Matthew Taylor: When wooden foul lines factored into a wager between pitchers

Matthew Taylor: When wooden foul lines factored into a wager between pitchers
Orioles pitchers Hoyt Wilhelm and Billy O'Dell each entered the 1959 season with one career home run. Wilhelm's homer came during his rookie campaign with the New York Giants in 1952; O'Dell's blast was in 1958 for the Orioles. The players made a bet about who would hit the most home runs in 1959. The anniversary of O'Dell winning that bet, thanks to a quirky assist from Memorial Stadium's wooden foul lines, passed earlier this week. O'Dell became one of the approximately 10 major league...

Matthew Taylor: Taking aim at Eutaw Street

Matthew Taylor: Taking aim at Eutaw Street
I have long home runs on the mind. First, there was the anniversary last Friday of Frank Robinson becoming the only batter to hit a ball out of Memorial Stadium. Then the Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton put a ball out of Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. Let's talk longball in this week's guest blog. The longest Orioles home run so far this season belongs to ... Jonathan Schoop. Schoop's 432-foot home run on April 10 against the Blue Jays tops Chris Davis' 423-foot shot to center field on April...

Matthew Taylor: Going deep to find members of exclusive Orioles club

Matthew Taylor: Going deep to find members of exclusive Orioles club
Minnesota Twins rookie Eddie Rosario homered on the first big league pitch he ever saw on Wednesday. Rosario became the 29th player to knock the first pitch of his first at-bat out of the park. No Orioles player has ever homered on the first pitch they ever saw; however, two O's players homered in their first at-bat. Meanwhile, one former Orioles pitcher homered on the first pitch of his first career at-bat after he departed Baltimore. Let's talk about Buster Narum, Lou Montanez, and Esteban...

Matthew Taylor: Digging deeper for hope and inspiration

Matthew Taylor: Digging deeper for hope and inspiration
I started blogging about the Orioles in 2006. I chronicled six of the final 14 losing seasons in Baltimore; to date, I have written about a heck of a lot more losing than winning. Various motivations have helped me to keep at it for as long as I have, some of which make sense and others that are simply foolish. At the core of it all has been the simple truth that I love this team, which was something of a birthright in my family. In the not-so-distant past, when having a winning baseball team...

Matthew Taylor: Revisiting a date ripe with significance

Matthew Taylor: Revisiting a date ripe with significance
Thursday night's Orioles game, a 7-6 loss to Toronto that extended the team's losing streak to four games, isn't much worth remembering. April 23 didn't turn out so well for the O's in 2015, so let's look back to a more memorable game that fell on the same date. Today's guest post revisits the Orioles' 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on April 23, 1969. One reason that 1969 game is significant is that it featured the two pitchers who would tie for the Cy Young Award at the end of the...