Orioles finding ways to cope and assist during pandemic

Orioles finding ways to cope and assist during pandemic
The Orioles aren't able to start their season due to the coronavirus and they have no idea whether it's going to unfold. In the meantime, players are working to stay in shape, just in case, and finding ways to assist people in need and to ease the strain on their lives. First baseman Chris Davis and his wife, Jill, donated breakfast to the staff at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital on the morning of March 26, which would have been opening day. The couple made a $3 million...
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Can Phillips avoid the injured list?

Can Phillips avoid the injured list?
The medical update from Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and a brief interview with the injured reliever at his spring training locker made for an easy jump to a roster conclusion. It felt like more of a hop. Evan Phillips wasn't able to pitch because of a sore elbow and headed to Los Angeles for a second opinion. A month or more could pass before he'd be allowed to pick up a ball. My headline on a March 6 article stated: "Phillips to start season on injured list" The third paragraph read:...
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Phillips keeping his spring roommates and new routine

Phillips keeping his spring roommates and new routine
Baseball players are creatures of habit, a trait that seems to be part of their DNA. Or maybe it develops over time, creating a chicken or the egg parallel. What comes first? No matter the order, being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic has brought a major disruption in their routines - though also kept in its proper perspective given the loss of lives throughout the world. Being unable to complete spring training or start a season is much more of an inconvenience than a...
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More questions coming while baseball remains on hold

More questions coming while baseball remains on hold
I haven't seen a ground ball hit in three weeks, but I've been fielding a bunch of questions from home. When will the season start? Will there actually be a season? How many games will be played? Are you still wearing that same T-shirt? (Sorry, that last one is from my fiancée.) There are legitimate curiosities and concerns about the impact of a prolonged interruption. What's missing are solid answers. Can Chris Davis pick up where he left off in spring training? Can anyone? Davis...
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Chris Davis: "This is very abnormal, very unusual"

Chris Davis: "This is very abnormal, very unusual"
Chris Davis is safe at home, feeling blessed that the coronavirus hasn't touched his family. His wife and three young daughters, including 2-year-old twins, are fine. His friends are healthy. He's making many of the same adjustments as everyone else in his everyday life while unsure when he's going to be able to go back to work. Or if he'll be working in 2020. As the player representative with the Orioles, Davis has been gathering information on every conference call and sharing it with his...
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Another spring training memory from the Orioles beat

Another spring training memory from the Orioles beat
The regular season for the Orioles should be four games old. A home series against the Yankees completed and the middle game pending in a home series against the Red Sox. The first trip to St. Louis since 2003 was supposed to happen over the weekend, followed by a four-game series in the Bronx. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic has left us wondering if there will be a 2020 season and whether the Orioles will return to Sarasota for a second version of spring training. The Ed Smith Stadium...
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Wondering who's impacted by expansion to 29-man roster

Wondering who's impacted by expansion to 29-man roster
The competitions for roster spots with the Orioles remain on hold during the coronavirus pandemic. Players are working out at home, a few of them posting clever videos on social media. Small children and pets are coming in handy as alternatives to gym weights. Ever done squats with a German Shepherd draped over your shoulders? These are the dog days of spring. One of the likely adjustments to baseball's season, if it happens in 2020, is inflating the active roster from 26 to 29 players for the...
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Updates on season status and another childhood heartbreak

Updates on season status and another childhood heartbreak
The constant speculation over Major League Baseball's return and in what form is doing little besides confusing fans and spreading rumors. Separating truth from fiction is requiring a lot more muscle these days. Implement it into your workouts while gyms are closed. We don't know if or when baseball will be played. We don't know how long spring training 2.0 will last and whether teams would head back to Florida and Arizona. We don't know if the schedule will be packed with doubleheaders. We...
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Memories of some media missteps

Memories of some media missteps
Anyone who's stepped inside a major league clubhouse and posed a question during a pregame or postgame media scrum has probably committed an embarrassing gaffe. The odds increase the longer you've worked the beat. Colleagues can sympathize, but it doesn't prevent us from teasing the guilty party. Boxers don't land as many jabs as we do. The shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic is intended to keep people safe. It's also protecting the media from doing something stupid. Many of the...
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Remembering my biggest Orioles heartbreaks as a fan

Remembering my biggest Orioles heartbreaks as a fan
The sports shutdown has led fans and media to come up with all sorts of lists to provide entertainment and kill a few hours. Twitter is filled with them. You can't swing a dead opening day article without hitting one. I'm more of a lurker than a participant, but I did name the Colts leaving Baltimore as my most heartbreaking sports moment. No team can replace them in my heart. No offense to the Ravens, but the 1970s Colts will always be my sports love. The improbable run to the playoffs in...
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Remembering past opening days while 2020 stays in shutdown mode

Remembering past opening days while 2020 stays in shutdown mode
The Orioles have made executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde available on separate conference calls during the shutdown. What they can't do is invent answers. Major League Baseball is pushing back the start of the season. No date has been set for opening day. No assurances have been given that it's going to happen. No one in the organization can offer a prediction. They aren't keeping it a secret. They just don't know. Fans should have been filing into...
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Reflecting on past spring trainings with the Orioles

Reflecting on past spring trainings with the Orioles
My scheduled return home yesterday from Sarasota would have been the ideal time to reflect on six weeks of spring training. Something that I've been doing in its abbreviated form since my actual return on March 14. There hasn't been one like it during my tenure on the Orioles beat, which officially began in 1997 after I assisted in coverage of 2,130 and 2,131 in 1995 - no other explanation needed - and the 1996 playoffs. Including Jeffrey Maier's interference of a Derek Jeter fly ball at...
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Orioles should be playing last exhibition game today

Orioles should be playing last exhibition game today
I should have been flying home this morning from spring training. Should have been waking up at the Marriott inside the Tampa International Airport - a veteran move to drop off the rental car and switch hotels the night prior to departure - and stumbling to my gate after six weeks in Sarasota with only a single day off. The Orioles would be playing the Mets later today at the Naval Academy in one last exhibition game - a substitute for the usual workout day. Major League Baseball requires teams...
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Reviewing the Orioles' 40-man roster and upcoming decisions

Reviewing the Orioles' 40-man roster and upcoming decisions
While checking eBay to see whether anyone is selling liquid hand soap ... I accepted the challenge on Twitter yesterday of naming five jobs that I held before becoming a sportswriter, and discovered that I couldn't complete the list. I've literally only had five jobs: * "Unskilled labor" for a construction company the summer before college, which I'm certain was suggested by my parents to ensure that I'd go to college. * A clerk at Glen Burnie Bingo on Richie Highway, where I'd often...
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Taking an Orioles quiz during the shutdown

Taking an Orioles quiz during the shutdown
With no baseball to be played or watched on a Sunday, what better substitute than a pop quiz on the Orioles? Oh, please, no need to thank me. This is the coronavirus edition. Extra credit awarded for expanding on "none of the above" by making a prediction. The Orioles' fifth starter will be: A. Tommy Milone B. Kohl Stewart C. A player who wasn't in camp D. None of the above The backup catcher will be: A. Chance Sisco B. Austin Wynns C. Bryan Holaday D. None of the above The right fielder on...
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Hyde on Stewart and impact of shutdown on development

Hyde on Stewart and impact of shutdown on development
The Orioles were supposed to be playing split-squad games tonight against the Twins and Red Sox. The latter would have provided the final division opponent before opening day and the last road trip in the Grapefruit League. I never made it to Fort Myers this spring and that's got to be a first for me. And I've been covering spring training since 1997 in Fort Lauderdale. I missed the Feb. 25 trip to the Red Sox complex because the Orioles also had a home game against the Rays. I was walking to...
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"We're in a holding pattern that we've never been in before"

"We're in a holding pattern that we've never been in before"
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said he keeps waking up with the mindset that he has "47 things to do" as part of his day. Then reality sets in, a new normal that he can't escape. There is no baseball for a man who's never home on this date. He's supposed to be deciding on the final roster cuts before opening day. Setting his rotation, bullpen and bench. But the coronavirus pandemic is changing lives. Hyde's days are spent in Sarasota, but with his wife and children and away from the...
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Notes on LeBlanc opt-out date, minor league compensation and more

Notes on LeBlanc opt-out date, minor league compensation and more
The Orioles trimmed their camp roster to 50 players yesterday afternoon and reached an important date involving left-hander Wade LeBlanc. Well, it seemed to carry a lot more significance prior to the opening of camp and baseball's complete shutdown. LeBlanc's minor league deal, agreed upon in late January, included a March 19 opt-out clause. He could request his release and the Orioles would have 48 hours to add him to their 40-man roster or allow the veteran to reenter free agency. There...
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Elias on roster moves, draft, Mancini and more

Elias on roster moves, draft, Mancini and more
The Orioles haven't emptied their spring training complex in Sarasota, but the number of players are dwindling. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias indicated this afternoon in a conference call that most of the Orioles returned home due to the coronavirus pandemic. They also were given the choice of going to Baltimore for informal workouts. "The general state of affairs in the Orioles organization is we have a small group of players that is still in Sarasota," he said. "Many...
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Orioles option four players

Orioles option four players
The Orioles whittled their camp roster to 50 players this afternoon while making their first moves since baseball's shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pitcher David Hess, infielder/outfielder Ryan Mountcastle, outfielder Cedric Mullins and infielder Ramón Urías have been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. No cuts had been announced since left-hander Keegan Akin was optioned to the Tides back on March 10. A few competitions gained some clarity today. Mullins was a candidate to make the...
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