Domenic Vadala: Orioles in position to help Baltimore heal

Domenic Vadala: Orioles in position to help Baltimore heal
Let me preface this by saying that in no way am I comparing what's happened in Baltimore the past few days to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, or any other situation. I'm just not qualified to say which situation is worse or anything along those lines. What I can say is that both were community issues at their grass roots. In the wake of the tragedy at the Boston Marathon two years ago, we saw the city of Boston become galvanized and unified, perhaps more so than at any other time since...
    

Domenic Vadala: Ol' blue needs more common sense, better grasp of unwritten rules

Domenic Vadala: Ol' blue needs more common sense, better grasp of unwritten rules
We all saw what occurred with Ubaldo Jimenez on Friday night in Boston. I'll be very honest - my initial thought was that I didn't recall the last time (if ever) I had seen a pitcher thrown out of a game totally cold. No warning, no history of trouble, nothing. When the reports of the hard slide at second base started circulating, my personal opinion was that was a copout. In saying that, I mean that any hit batsman by an Orioles pitcher might have culminated in an ejection. Having said that,...
    

Domenic Vadala: What's more important, spending or spending wisely?

Domenic Vadala: What's more important, spending or spending wisely?
We can't lend too much analysis to the first week-plus of games in the major leagues, given the fact that it's the first week. The fact that the 2014 Orioles started 1-4 should remind us of that. Furthermore, keep in mind that the 2014 O's hovered around a few games of .500 for the first two months or so of last season. And we all know how that ended. That said, on Monday night Orioles fans were forced to see one of their biggest weapons from 2014 turned on them in Andrew Miller. Yankees...
    

Domenic Vadala: Fondly recalling my earliest baseball memories

Domenic Vadala: Fondly recalling my earliest baseball memories
Greetings, O's fans, and welcome back to another season of Orioles baseball! On behalf Birds Watcher, I'd like to thank you, the readers, as well as the powers that be at MASNsports.com, for having me back as a guest blogger this year. Baseball is unlike any other sport in that opening day is a massive celebration, and that party welcoming the sport back to the front pages of our minds seems to last for the better part of April. And for me, that raises an interesting point. The return of...
    

MASNsports.com sets guest blogger rotation for first half of 2015

MASNsports.com sets guest blogger rotation for first half of 2015
Here at MASNsports.com, we don't live in a bubble. We realize we're one of many places you turn for your Orioles news and views, though we certainly hope our blogs are among your first stops (and a place you visit multiple times each day). That's one of the reasons why, in 2011, we started featuring guest bloggers on our site. We realized the blogosphere - or is that blog-O's-phere? - was full of die-hard fans of the orange and black who were cranking out reports and opinions on the Birds...
    

Domenic Vadala: Last hurrah for Roberts?

Domenic Vadala: Last hurrah for Roberts?
While the Orioles are still mathematically in contention, I think it's fair to say that their postseason chances have taken a serious hit this past weekend against Tampa Bay. On a side note - and this is something on which I'll spend some time this off season on Birds Watcher - I don't feel that the 2013 Orioles were any worse off than the 2012 team. But I think that a lot of the competition around the Orioles - such as Boston, Cleveland, and Tampa Bay - simply got better. If, in fact, this...
    

Domenic Vadala: Defining success and failure

Domenic Vadala: Defining success and failure
I live tweet every Orioles game for Birds Watcher, and I monitor Twitter for all things Orioles on a daily basis. (If you're not into Twitter, I highly recommend it.) One thing I gather from seeing the opinions of some Orioles fans is that this season is a complete and utter failure if the team doesn't qualify for the postseason. In a way, I can understand those sentiments on the part of fans, as Baltimore got a reminder of what meaningful late-season and postseason games were like last...
    

Domenic Vadala: Do the Orioles embrace winning?

Domenic Vadala: Do the Orioles embrace winning?
I read an article in USA Today last week about the Pittsburgh Pirates and how they clinched their first non-losing season in 20 years. For beginners, hats off to them. That's a feeling with which Orioles fans can certainly identify after last year, although the Orioles' streak was halted before it reached 20 - or 15 for that matter. For the most part, I feel that the players and coaches have taken this somewhat in stride. However there was one quote in the article that stood out to...
    

Domenic Vadala: O's not standing pat in pursuit of postseason

Domenic Vadala: O's not standing pat in pursuit of postseason
I appeared on a New York podcast late last week to talk Orioles-Yankees going into the weekend. Out of the 45 minutes of questions they asked, two stood out: Will the Orioles make a move before the waiver trade deadline, and which player(s) are you watching the closest as the pennant race heats up and the season winds down. My answer to question one was that indeed I did believe the Birds would make a deal. My response to the second question was that whoever the Orioles did pick up in a trade...
    

Domenic Vadala: Making adjustments at the right time

Domenic Vadala: Making adjustments at the right time
If the Orioles end up going to the postseason, Wednesday's victory over Tampa Bay might be looked back upon as one of the bigger wins of the year. First off, it goes without saying that the entire series was tough on the Orioles and on the fans. Dropping two of three to a team that you're chasing in the standings is never a favorable result. The mere fact that the Orioles salvaged one game was a moral victory. However, that game should be looked upon as one where the Orioles finally stepped...
    

Domenic Vadala: Hoping for a repeat performance

Domenic Vadala: Hoping for a repeat performance
I think it'll be a long time before people forget last August and September at the yard. I would submit that those games were about as much fun for Orioles fans as we've ever seen. Granted, that was only the third playoff season for the Birds since they moved into Camden Yards in 1992, but in both 1996 and 1997, there wasn't the potential for the Orioles' fate to be decided in the last days of the season, as happened last year - and also potentially this year. They were far ahead of the...
    

Domenic Vadala: Will Orioles make another move?

Domenic Vadala: Will Orioles make another move?
To say the least, a few waves were made around Birdland the other day when former Oriole Mark Reynolds was designated for assignment by Cleveland. A lot of fans felt that the Orioles should have looked to re-sign Reynolds, and the thought crossed my mind, as well. However, I'm not sure that Reynolds is precisely what the Orioles need right at this moment. We all know who Reynolds is on the field, so there's no use in going into it here. Last offseason, I said on Birds Watcher that I felt the...
    

Domenic Vadala: Alomar worthy of joining O's Hall of Fame, but who's next?

Domenic Vadala: Alomar worthy of joining O's Hall of Fame, but who's next?
This past weekend, we saw something that we see every year (generally in August), as the Orioles had their annual Hall of Fame induction. Every team has a Hall of Fame in some manner, and while getting elected to your team's hall might not be as prestigious as Cooperstown, it's quite an honor. Some people seemed to question the election of second baseman Roberto Alomar this year. For sure, he barely slid in under the main qualification (three years of service to the team). However, my...
    

Domenic Vadala: Welcome to Tillman Island

Domenic Vadala: Welcome to Tillman Island
In looking back through franchise history, I have no doubt that the Erik Bedard-for-Adam Jones trade will be looked at as the turning point in this era. However, I think we often forget that there were other players involved in that trade, namely Chris Tillman. Of course, at the time of the trade, Tillman was only a prospect, and he was immediately inserted into the Orioles' minor league system. I attended his major league debut in July 2009, and I can't say that I wasn't impressed. If you...
    

Domenic Vadala: Trade options for the Orioles

Domenic Vadala: Trade options for the Orioles
First off, it's really good to be back in the states! I always have a great time when I return to visit my relatives and my grandparents' house in Italy, but there's no place like home. Other countries have many things that they can offer to us, as well as us to them - not the least among them is the great sport of baseball! Now that the All-Star break is behind us, the next big hurdle in the season is the non-waiver trade deadline next Wednesday. I'm sure that many writers will feverishly...
    

Domenic Vadala: From Italy, thoughts on the O's and the All-Star Game

Domenic Vadala: From Italy, thoughts on the O's and the All-Star Game
First things first: Greetings to all MASN viewers and MASNsports.com readers from sunny Italy! Like most people from the mid-Atlantic region, Orioles baseball goes hand-in-hand for me with vacation. Two weeks ago, I was out at the Delaware shore for the weekend and I could very easily pick up the Ocean City station that carries the O's, so I sat on the beach and listened to the games all weekend. However, coming back to my parents' house in the Italian region of Sicily (where my roots are)...
    

Domenic Vadala: What prime time meant to Orioles, Baltimore

Domenic Vadala: What prime time meant to Orioles, Baltimore
If you attended either last night's game against the Yankees, or Saturday night's game, you probably didn't see any noticeable difference between that game and any other run-of-the-mill Orioles game. However, to anyone that watched either or both of those games on television, the difference was more than palpable. On Saturday night, the Orioles were televised nationally by FOX, and last night they were televised nationally on "ESPN Sunday Night Baseball." We're obsessed with the concept...
    

Domenic Vadala: Instead of suspicion, Davis deserves benefit of doubt

Domenic Vadala: Instead of suspicion, Davis deserves benefit of doubt
There were a few things that were said last week that kind of bugged me. Chris Davis hit home runs last Sunday against Boston, and then again Monday and Wednesday (twice) at Detroit, and in Toronto on Friday. He currently leads the majors with 27 homers. But many fans, and even some people who follow the Orioles, don't want to let a certain matter rest. Whenever a big league slugger breaks out, the PED argument always seems to come up. On June 16, someone tweeted, "I would love to see Chris...
    

Domenic Vadala: Are Orioles the best team in AL East?

Domenic Vadala: Are Orioles the best team in AL East?
I spoke last night with a friend of mine who's one of these people who takes and analyzes everything literally. I might also throw in that this guy is not in any way, shape or form, a baseball person. His opinion of baseball is that the pitcher throws, and the batter hits and runs. According to him it's that simple. Luckily we all know better. In fairness, when this person mentioned that he watched yesterday's series finale with Boston, he said that he was impressed with the Orioles. I...
    

Domenic Vadala: The relative unfairness of the AL East

Domenic Vadala: The relative unfairness of the AL East
I've said numerous times on Birds Watcher that the birth of the current Orioles came on Sept. 28, 2011, when the O's beat Boston on the final day of the season. We all know the story: Robert Andino's RBI double, combined with Evan Longoria's walk-off homer, knocked Boston out of the playoffs that year. The Orioles followed that up with an impromptu playoff birth in 2012, and withstanding this past weekend's series in Tampa, the Orioles are in the hunt again this year. In fact, going into...