Growing up, Gavin Sheets was a better golfer than a baseball player. So much better that his dad suggested he push aside baseball to concentrate on golf. That’s never an easy conversation, especially since the kid’s father, Larry Sheets, knows a bit about baseball. The elder Sheets spent eight seasons in the...
Kevin Kopec grew up in Madrid – Spain’s capital city that has a population of more than three million. It’s a city that has one baseball field. The sport couldn’t be more of an afterthought for those who live there. Kopec, though, didn’t really want to play soccer like everyone else. He...
The fourth edition of the World Baseball Classic gets underway Monday, and the Orioles will be well represented, sending six players to the tournament. Among them are two pitchers: righty Mychal Givens (USA roster) and lefty Vidal Nuno (Mexico). Some WBC critics have decried the tournament as a danger to pitchers. The...
Let’s do some prognosticating this weekend – spring training style. As Paul Folkemer wrote in his piece Friday, the Orioles seemingly always have a player that puts together a huge spring and raises eyebrows within the organization. Some even push their way onto the 25-man roster with monster Grapefruit League performances –...
The Grapefruit League season begins this afternoon for the Orioles as they travel to Lakeland, Fla., to face the Detroit Tigers. And with that annual rite of spring comes the annual burning question: Who will be this year’s winner of the Jake Fox Award? Fox, as you may recall, was the journeyman...
Kevin Smith wasn’t heavily recruited coming out of high school. He didn’t have countless letters and emails pouring in from college coaches. He spent weeks — not months or years — talking to schools before making his decision. And, in his first two years playing at the collegiate level, Smith’s offensive numbers...
I hope you are in a sharing mood today. Because your barkeep is about to get all touchy-share-y here. OK, not really. But I’m gonna throw some observations your way, lots of them, and then I want you to return the favor. On Tuesday, former Orioles’ catcher Matt Wieters agreed to a...
Let’s get the obvious statement out of the way first: There’s never a good time to lose your No. 1 starter. That said, the Orioles’ April schedule could work to their advantage when it comes to filling the shoes of sidelined ace Chris Tillman. The opening month is littered with off days,...
I’m guessing many of you have never attended a local college baseball game before. The stands are usually dotted with friends, family and the occasional scout, but not many casual observers. I’ve been working in college baseball in Baltimore for more than three years now. I’m the voice of the Johns Hopkins...
Sometimes, silly is good. Sometimes, sticking with a pattern is good. And sometimes you get toward the end of an offseason and you just don’t feel like writing the same thing again – or striking up the same old conversation at the bar. This, inadvertently, was “greatest week” at BaltimoreBaseball.com. In the...