Bird's Eye View

By Bird's Eye ViewSports Baseball

Bird's Eye View episodes

July 11, 2017 Episode 209: All Scar Break
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Leading Off

The All Star Break is upon us, and the Orioles (and their fans) a much needed break. We’re not saying this season is over, by any stretch of the imagination, but a playoff berth is looking less and less likely. At this point, we want to have confidence that the Orioles can salvage a .500 season.
It’s the magic of Orioles Baseball.

The Medical Wing

This Week on the Twitters

Invading another stadium #oriolesinall30ballparks @BirdsEyeViewBal pic.twitter.com/YrrBRMWLCW
— DavidPiscorik (@davidpiscorik) July 6, 2017

#Orioles "struggling" Manny Machado has 88 batted balls of at least 100 mph this season. Only Aaron Judge has more (90).
— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) July 8, 2017

Win or lose, thanks to @BirdsEyeViewBal I will always enjoy the @Jim22Palmer wow when the #orioles hit a monster HR
— Matthew Castelhano (@mattypabst) July 8, 2017

Uh oh. Don't let some O's fans see this. Good luck Mike! https://t.co/ecbhq5IXcS
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) July 8, 2017

"I don't want to alarm anyone, but Ubaldo had the same type of lead on the Twins before and they won 14-6." I love Jim Palmer.
— Eroc RDT (@BarstoolRDT) July 9, 2017

Around the Bases: All Star Edition

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Jonathan Schoop is having a great season. But isn’t it weird that he’s the only Orioles All Star representative? I’d have a hard time identifying another player to send to the ASG (stop coughing so loudly, Trey Mancini). It does seem a little cruel that the game is in Miami and Manny Machado is having an off-year. It would have been fun to see one of the game’s brightest stars shine in his home town.
It would be even nicer to see him shining in Baltimore on a nightly basis, but we digress.
For this All Star Edition of Around the Bases:
First Base: All Star Selection
Second Base: Can the Orioles win back into Buy Mode?
Shortstop: Jonathan Schoop at shortstop.
Third Base: Avoiding the BIG INNING
Home Plate: O’s (and others) are scouting Jose Quintana.

Fantasy Boss

Well this week was absurd. Scott’s pick, Dylan Bundy didn’t give up any home runs. Jake’s pick, Alec Asher, was optioned to AAA. We’re going to call this a tie and give Jake a very stern talking to about picking… well, anything.
With the score at 2-0-1, Scott selected the most significant stat (since the pitcher win): RBI.
Jake selected Jonathan Schoop (though he tried to select a player who had been optioned,
42 min
July 06, 2017 Episode 208: How to Root for a Bad Team
Sometimes the BEV guys talk each other off the ledge. In Episode 208, they quietly encourage the other closer to the brink. It's been a fun week. Buy, sell, and wave the white flag.
The post Episode 208: How to Root for a Bad Team appeared first on Bird's Eye View.
1 hr 6 min
July 06, 2017 Episode 208: How to Root for a Bad Team
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Leading Off
This baseball thing, it’s… whoo boy, it’s something, isn’t it? The Orioles lost a lot of games, in new and inventive ways. That’s not true, they lost them just like they did in May and June. But it feels better to say it the first way, doesn’t it?

The Medical Wing

This Week on the Twitters

Good lord. Orioles twitter account is out for blood tonight. I love it. https://t.co/4cnyoqpd80
— Eroc RDT (@BarstoolRDT) July 2, 2017

Here's my plan for the Orioles' future: take that $400 million you're thinking of giving Manny, instead buy Tampa's entire scouting/dev Dept
— Eutaw St. Report (@EutawStReport) June 30, 2017

Getting drummed like Ringo……
— Joe Angel (@WaveItByeBye) July 2, 2017

Can someone younger than me make a gif of Ubaldo's head onto John Cusack holding the boom box in Say Anything. #InYourEyes
— Chris Maurer (@MaurerFTW) June 30, 2017

Tae-Hyon Chong, Suk-Min Yoon, Seong-Min Kim and Hyun-Soo Kim. The TV graphic reads "The Wrong Match: Baltimore and Korean players." pic.twitter.com/xdrXPcaepd
— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) July 2, 2017

Fans coming out the woodwork to complain about things known about O's org for years. Makes it more random/special that O's went on any run.
— Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer) July 5, 2017

How to Root for a Bad Team

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In Episode 164 of this podcast, we explored how Orioles fans, who had suffered 14 years of futility, had no idea how to root for a good team. They didn’t have the context to take the ups with the downs. Here in 2017, we have the opposite problem.
The Orioles are a bad team.
So how do we root for them? What do we take away from the experience of watching Orioles Baseball, and how do we go back to the way things were before? Before Adam Jones hit the home run to answer the Yankees in the 8th inning of the Cal Statue Game. Before we Cued the Pretender. Before the Curse of the Andino. Before Crush Davis. Before all of that, there was just… bad baseball.
Are you ready? Buckle up.

Buy or Sell? (Don’t Buy)

OK, so if they’re bad, at which point do you throw in the towel? Jake and Scott often spend time on this show pulling each other off the ledge. In this particular episode, they seem to be handing each other shots and whispering “jump.”
How quickly do you rip off the band aid? Full tank mode, or staged “retooling?” Who is your “franchise player,” and do you even need one?
There’s also a lot of Jake laughing hysterically, off mic. It’s that kind of show.

Fantasy Boss

Scott extends his lead to 2-0,
1 hr 6 min
June 27, 2017 Episode 207: Visual Temptations
Some BEV episodes are tightly written and delivered. Sometimes the Orioles give us lemons, and we try to avoid puckering for an hour behind the mics. We review some items you might have missed, which focused on "The Other Streak," and read our Orioles Horrorscopes.
The post Episode 207: Visual Temptations appeared first on Bird's Eye View.
1 hr 16 min
June 27, 2017 Episode 207: Visual Temptations
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Leading Off
This was another rough one, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Orioles are still within striking distance of both the AL East and the AL Wild Card race.
Are we trying to cheer you up? No. Are we trying to keep a little perspective? Maybe. Are we just terrified of a return to the Dark Ages? You betcha.

The Medical Wing

This Week on the Twitters

Folks, I'm not sure who to pray for when Ubaldo is on the hill. I'm out on this one.
— Orioles Jesus (@OriolesJesus) June 23, 2017

The O's rotation is just unreal right now. This is every bit of overperformance the last 5 years exploding at once. https://t.co/B6Phz8lW52
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) June 24, 2017

The last time the Orioles rotation was this bad was 1991 when 45yo Jim Palmer tried to come out of retirement and save them.
— Camden Depot (@CamdenDepot) June 26, 2017

#Orioles starting pitchers have completed 117 innings this month, allowing opposing runners to score 112 times
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) June 26, 2017

great quote here by Manny https://t.co/IPvoDcK3nd pic.twitter.com/07McscCTJe
— Connor Guercio (@connor_guercio) June 23, 2017

The new Rasmussen Poll, one of the most accurate in the 2016 Election, just out with a Trump 50% Approval Rating.That's higher than O's #'s!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2017

ICYMI: History Watch Edition

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Yes, the Orioles gave up five runs or more in a lot of games in a row. We get it. It was all very interesting, but Scott Magness is not having any of it. Jake tries to slap lipstick on a pig.
But outside the five-run elephant in the room, there were some interesting baseball developments in Birdland this week:

* Manny Machado threatened to be back.
* Kevin Gausman wasn’t weapons-grade terrible that one time.
* Scott snuck into the suites, almost created an international incident.
* June is busting out all over.

Orioles Horrorscopes

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Baseball is, as if life, rife with superstition. Even the most logical, intelligent fans succumb to superstition. We acknowledge curses, we say players are “due.” We love the narratives that are the least grounded in reality. Why do we do this? At a human level, we all want to know what the future holds for us.
We, here at Bird’s Eye View, have divined the meaning and purpose of the heavens,
1 hr 16 min
June 18, 2017 Episode 206: Carnac the Magnificent
Things are going poorly, so we work on assigning blame. We also consult mystics of the east to answer our burning questions. An old friend returns.
The post Episode 206: Carnac the Magnificent appeared first on Bird's Eye View.
1 hr 9 min
June 18, 2017 Episode 206: Carnac the Magnificent
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Leading Off

Haha. You thought May was a depressing month in which to watch Orioles Baseball. NO ONE EXPECTS JUNE 2017!
If you have managed to watch or listen to every inning of Orioles Baseball during this stretch of terrible games, you deserve a medal. Or a psychiatric evaluation. The O’s have found new and interesting ways to hurt us day after day. We wish that we could
The Medical Wing

This Week on the Twitters

If you ever said to yourself, "man, I wonder what it would have been like if Twitter was around in 2002," now you know.
— Eutaw St. Report (@EutawStReport) June 14, 2017

When you're at the end of the roll you find out how much toilet paper you really need
— David Washington (@DtotheWash) September 3, 2015

Sometimes this club feels like the 1998 Orioles and Machado is the new Mussina.
— Camden Depot (@CamdenDepot) June 13, 2017

Starting rotation xWOBA leaders:
1) LAD
2) ARI (!)
3) HOU
——–
28) PHI
29) BAL
30) CHW
List: https://t.co/1w3ez54vHw
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) June 12, 2017

Past in the past: Dexter Fowler being welcomed to #Baltimore by Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter. #Orioles #Cardinals pic.twitter.com/KqMmEU4aMt
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) June 16, 2017

The Blame Game

Things are going poorly. The Orioles look like a Dark Ages version of themselves. How should we, as fans react?
Clearly, we should point fingers, and play The Blame Game.

Scott and Jake take turns weighing in on who is to blame for the Orioles’ lack of success. Scapegoats are aplenty, but who is really at fault?

Carnac the Magnificent

In such uncertain times, we’ve tried bringing on amateurs. We’ve tried bringing on professionals. Maybe bringing someone on that is in touch with the divine will help get get us some answers as to what in the Sam Hill is going on with the Orioles?!?!
Carnac the Magnificent joins the show to link answers from the inside of hermetically sealed envelopes to burning questions from the current baseball season.

Deep Cuts

What happens when Jake sucks so bad at a game that the result is completely unlistenable? You scrap the idea. Seriously, he couldn’t even identify an 80s McCartney tune. How do you fix failure on that scale? You bring back Fantasy Boss, that’s what you do.
Scott asks which starter will go the longest over the next week.
Jake took Wade Miley.
Scott went with Dylan Bundy.
Scott selected the tie-breaker of FIP.
Jake selected Dylan Bundy
Scott threw caution to the wind with Ubaldo Jimenez.

Who will own it?

Blowing the Save

Most podcasts try to end on a high note – the perfect coda to a quality program. That’s just not our style. Each week, we’ll end on a weak note,
1 hr 9 min
June 13, 2017 Episode 205: Taking a Quantum Leap
We determine how we should feel, and what "success" in 2017 looks like. We also build the best worst team in baseball. It's a major case of the #ohnOs.
The post Episode 205: Taking a Quantum Leap appeared first on Bird's Eye View.
1 hr 5 min
June 13, 2017 Episode 205: Taking a Quantum Leap
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Leading Off

OK, to be fair, the Pirates mini-series was fun. Orioles Magic, defeating an old foe, taking down a football city rival. Good times were had by all. Unfortunately, there was the rest of the week. Losing the Nationals, working to increasingly embarrass themselves as the Yankees series progressed… this is not the look of a team that is rebounding after a rough May.
Please don’t be who we think you are.

The Medical Wing

This Week on the Twitters

Chris Tillman before and after shoulder trouble… External rotation change alludes to one [of multiple] mechanical concerns. pic.twitter.com/C8wxh43OsK
— Avi Miller (@AviMiIIer) June 10, 2017

DOOOONG!
Daughter: dad nobody calls it that. Wife: we don't want text messages about dongs! @BirdsEyeViewBal
— Tom Jones (@steelbaru) June 10, 2017

So maybe Alec Asher, a non-prospect the Orioles acquired in exchange for cash, is not the answer to our rotation problems.
— Orioles Fan Problems (@OriolesFanProbz) June 8, 2017

An AARP-sponsored "Getting to know you" segment just focused on J.J. Hardy, which seems a little mean, honestly.
— Camden Chat (@CamdenChat) June 7, 2017

So, my future father-in-law is a huge Pittsburgh fan. Thought I'd earn some brownie points by getting him tickets to the game tonight… pic.twitter.com/hRInBUK1Zm
— Ryan Wagner (@rwags614) June 8, 2017

Tell Me How I Feel

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Two weeks ago, Jake and Charlie shared some bleach over the team’s “successes.” Last week, Scott brought some calm to a combustible situation. This week, after the Orioles got told to “stop whining” by the Nationals, and outscored 38-8 in the Bronx… we’re really not sure how to feel. Are things as bad as they feel? Do we feel as bad as we should?
We discuss how Orioles fans define “success” when it comes to the 2017 season, and whether the Orioles can succeed against that definition.

Darkest Lineup Cards

IT’S A FIRE!!!
…sale.
The guys take a turn into the dark future, and imagine a world in which the Orioles pack it in and start a rebuild. What would the lineup look like? Scott takes a look at a mid-season sell-off, and Jake looks ahead to the start of a listless 2018 season.
Put together your best worst team (your worst best team?) and let us know what it looks like, using #ohnOs.

Deep Cuts

Scott has replaced our old Fantasy Boss segment with something he can hope to win. After having had his doors blown off in successive seasons, he unveiled Deep Cuts, a segment that pits Jake’s love of old, obscure music against Scott’s desire to talk stats.
The concept is simple.
1 hr 5 min
June 06, 2017 Episode 204: Bye Bye, Big Boy
Scott is back! Episode 204 takes a decidedly more hopeful turn, and Birdland bids a fond farewell to our Big Boy, Fred Manfra.
The post Episode 204: Bye Bye, Big Boy appeared first on Bird's Eye View.
1 hr 5 min