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Leading Off

The Orioles are back over .500! In mid-July! Isn’t this really exciting news in 2011? Here in the present, O’s fans have been inching closer to the ledge. After having taken the series from the Detroit Tigers, the Birds go into New York for a three game set, sitting three games back from the New Yorkers.

It is, as they say, a critical series.

This Week on the Twitters (TWotT)

Something is on fire near Comerica Park. pic.twitter.com/m8Az4bH24T

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) July 19, 2015

Yankees scouting Reds ace Johnny Cueto on Sunday http://t.co/i8GrQQ1oQL

— HardballTalk (@HardballTalk) July 19, 2015

MayorSRB on riots “lasting only a few hrs”: “There’s a lot of cities that would love to have that record” pic.twitter.com/zP4LCYGd8c

— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) July 19, 2015

If you’re not watching MLB Network right now, you’re spending your Wednesday night the wrong way.

— Orioles Fan Problems (@OriolesFanProbz) July 15, 2015

@CamdenChat @BirdsEyeViewBal Quote of the year! “You want a statue in Bmore? Win a championship.” GET ‘ER DONE O’s! #stayhungry @SimplyAJ10

— Tony LesCallett (@TLesCallett) July 16, 2015

@BirdsEyeViewBal I’m sure you remember my bitch about him being that he comes across pompous…this special humanized him

— Steve (@BaseballSteve23) July 16, 2015

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. #RISP

— Pete Gilbert (@WBALPete) July 19, 2015

Manny Machado hit his 20th HR of the season last night. The last @Orioles player with 20 HR in his age-22 season was Cal Ripken Jr. (1983)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 19, 2015

The Foundations

Fans are already starting to think about 2016 and beyond? Is it the fact that the team has faltered a bit in July, or the fact that the Dark Period was so traumatizing that four years of competitive baseball is not enough to erase that fear from our collective consciousness?

Whatever the case, the undeniable fact is that the Orioles have a ton of free agents hitting the market after 2015. What will be left is tough to judge, from a talent perspective. We take a look at the foundation of the next great Oriole teams, and try to convince ourselves that everything will be OK.

Changes Coming?

Are there big changes in store for Major League Baseball? The next collective bargaining agreement in 2016 will be a test for labor peace (the sport has not had a work stoppage since 1994), but also an opportunity to see real change brought to the game. New commissioner Rob Manfred has made it clear that he is open to discussing a range of issues.

Two issues sure to move the needle will be the length of schedule, and possible expansion. The guys take a look at these two items, and provide a few wild guesses as to what an expanded MLB might look like.

Fantasy Boss

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Fantasy Boss is our head-to-head fantasy segment where we pick a statistic each week, and each host picks a player for the remainder of that week. Scott is the reigning Fantasy Boss champion.

This week:

Uh oh, Scott is on a roll. We took on hits (H), with a tie-breaker of extra base hits (XBH) in the short week after the All-Star break. Both guys got back off the schneid, as both players had a good week. Scott went with Adam Jones (7) and Jake selected Jonathan Schoop (6).

Next week’s category is WHIP.

Jake’s Pick: Miguel Gonzalez

Scott’s Pick: Chris Tillman

The gauntlet has been thrown. Who will own it?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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Who had a great week? Who had a tough week? Who made us ashamed to be Orioles fans? Find out in this week’s GB&U. The guys run through their Good, Bad, and Ugly for the week.

Tweet us your selections @birdseyeviewbal with #OsGood, #OsBad, and #OsUgly.

Blowing the Save

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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, blowing the save with an item that didn’t quite fit into the episode, or something they simply need to get off their chests. It’s our version of taking the ball and pulling a Kevin Gregg.