Leading Off

The Orioles are legitimately one of the best teams in baseball. That is a real statement that we wrote out loud. Wherever you are, we hope you are enjoying some of the best Orioles Baseball we’ve seen in these parts for a while.

Drink of the Week

Join us for the Drink of the Week, and let us know how you’re consoling yourself as you watch the O’s. Find us on Untappd

• magn8606
• jakee4025

This Week on the Twitters

Ryan Mountcastle now has 38 RBI and an OPS upward of .980 in 46 career games against the Blue Jays

— Joe Papparotto (@JoePappa) July 31, 2023

My mom just sent me this. It’s open and mostly full. pic.twitter.com/4Ye4bk7lTe

— Heather Linington-Noble (@AlainnFocail) July 29, 2023

Whit Merrifield reacting to Austin Hays’ Game-Saving Catch

Inject this into my veins #Birdland pic.twitter.com/KA9TvQhO5Q

— Booben(O’s)🇵🇷 (@BoobenOG) August 1, 2023

17-9 in a month entirely against teams above .500 is pretty damn good pic.twitter.com/i1ZtHBdmUg

— Orioles Haiku (@Os_poems) August 1, 2023

Around the Bases

First Base: Trade Deadline

The Orioles made a trade for Jack Flaherty. How… how do we feel about this? What would we have preferred?

Second Base: Adley in the leadoff spot

We’re getting Markakis in the leadoff spot vibes. And the Orioles are getting results. We’re not sure you’ve delved into the stats on this (SMALL SAMPLE SIZE, SMALL SAMPLE SAMPLE SIZE), but the early returns say that this is fun. And our Jim Hunter tinted glasses agree that this is fun.

Third Base: Meaningful games in July

We talked endlessly about the Orioles’ schedule in May. But July was over before we truly reflected upon the fact that the Orioles were a (tied for) MLB best 17-9 in July, and that every opponent was .500+

We don’t want to alarm you, but the Orioles have met challenges in July – opponents, health, etc. – and they have met them. Here’s to a fun August!

Home Plate: Participation Trophies

This was apparently a real thing that the Mets’ Steve Cohen sad:

Reading my @TheAthletic premium plus bonus-tier unlocked article today on the Mets future, and I mean this is absoluteley unreal. @NjTank99 was right pic.twitter.com/fnCB9PM1CI

— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) August 2, 2023

Which got us to thinking: what Participation Trophies should we hand out for the 2023 Orioles? Yes, we realize that we recently handed out some faux hardware in the 11th Annual BEVy awards, but come on – when it comes to participation trophies, we as Millennials are uniquely qualified to hand them out.

Fantasy Boss

Scott returns to his winning ways. Anthony Santander out-homered Ryan O’Hearn (2-0). That brings the score to 8-2, and folks: Jake is in trouble.

This week’s category is an over/under for innings pitched in Jack Flaherty’s Orioles debut. Jake set the line at 6.0 IP. Scott took the over, Jake took the push.

But as mentioned previously, Jake is a desperate man. He has therefore invoked the Wild Card Clause in the Fantasy Boss rules and presented the following Wild Cards:

Next Oriole (not named Felix Bautista or Yennier Cano) to record a save.

• Scott selected Cionel Perez
• Jake took Joey Krehbiel

Next Oriole (not named Ryan McKenna) to serve as a position-player-pitcher

• Scott selected Ramon Urias
• Jake went with James McCann

Who will own it?

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

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.

Your Turn

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