I'm excited for baseball season, but I haven't been examining the Orioles down in spring training except for what Roch Kubatko or Peter Schmuck write on their respective blogs. I haven't had a chance to watch any spring training games on TV, and I haven't been listening to the O's on the radio. I actually didn't even know the O's spring training games were being broadcasted until reading this interesting story today:
[T]he Orioles' radio announcing team of Joe Angel and Fred Manfra weren't around for the final eight innings of Sunday's 5-1 exhibition win over the Mets in Fort Lauderdale.
The duo had announced the game's first inning when rain hit the park and started rendering the field unplayable. Angel and Manfra talked their way through 40 minutes of the delay before letting the boys back home resume their regular radio and then heading home.
But about an hour later, the groundskeepers got the field under control and play resumed without anyone in Baltimore's booth. According to the Baltimore Sun, Angel, Manfra and the engineer were told to call it an early day by their superiors at 105.7 The Fan. Angel has even written a letter to Orioles fans explaining that they would have stayed to broadcast the game but simply didn't have an engineer or any equipment around to do so.
That letter from Angel, by the way, can be found here. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that Angel even took the time to write that e-mail, but it does show that he's a professional. I'm not sure why any Orioles fans are/were really that upset. First, it's a spring training game, and second, the guys were told to leave. Get over it.
- Anyway, on to something more positive: The Orioles continue to receive plenty of props on their young talent. ESPN's Jayson Stark is the latest to jump on the bandwagon. Stark lists Nick Markakis and Adam Jones on his "All-Bull-Market Team," which gives the advice to "Buy stock in this group now before the world catches on."
And on his "All-Futures Market Team," Stark recognizes the talent that prospects Matt Wieters ("Superstardom just a call-up away") and Chris Tillman ("Scouts' pulse rates doubled this spring every time [he] pitched") possess.
It's a strange feeling to know that the Orioles have a lot of talent both on the club and waiting in the farm system. Hopefully Wieters and the young, talented pitchers pan out in the near future.
- Alfredo Simon may have earned himself a spot in the rotation to start the season after his performance tonight against the Mets. According to Kubatko, Simon "allowed one run and four hits, walked one and struck out three - including the last two batters he faced. He threw 63 pitches, 41 for strikes." Not bad.
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