The Baltimore Banner noticed that the current left field wall has been stripped and construction on the new one is beginning.
Hello, friends.
There are now two months and 22 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. The start of spring training sits at about a month and ten days away, though the pitchers and catchers report date has still not been officially announced as of yet.
Recent Bird Droppings have seen me advocating for some degree of patience with the developments of the Orioles offseason. I’ll say that’s changed with Friday’s surprise announcement of the signing of veteran righty Charlie Morton. It feels like probably this is going to be the team, or at least this is going to be the starting rotation, and if you’re concerned about whether either of these two things will be good enough to take the O’s farther than last season, I think that’s totally valid.
The possibility is still out there that some other move could be made. Even beat writer Roch Kubatko referenced the idea that the Orioles could have a trade for a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher on their radar, as he noted that some contending teams are on the market who might be looking for trades that involve major league talent going in both directions.
What we’ve seen from Mike Elias in his time as GM, and particularly since the Orioles have been good, has not involved complicated Rube Goldberg machine-like paths to improvement. He does not make signings or trades to set up other signings or trades. Pretty much every time, if not every time, some move happens and people respond with, “Well, maybe this is setting up X,” whatever X is does not come to pass. So, I’m not expecting anything. But it is interesting at least that a beat writer mentioned it rather than a random schmo.
As spotted by The Baltimore Banner, Walltimore 2.0 construction, or at least deconstruction of Walltimore 1.0, has begun:
The left field wall project at Camden Yards looks to be underway. This photo, taken by Banner editor @brandon_weigel, shows the wall denuded of advertising and there’s boarding down on the warning track pic.twitter.com/tMgF21dYWh
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) January 4, 2025
We’ve all spent a lot of mental and emotional energy on the starting rotation situation over the course of this offseason because that’s the thing that it felt like had the easiest solution: Spend David Rubenstein’s money and get one really good starting pitcher and one other useful one.
One other important thing to think about is how the fence dimensions will change the picture. Will righty Orioles power hitters have more of a chance of hitting dingers at home? Will O’s pitchers be able to hold other teams righties in the park with the trend back towards more hitter-friendly dimensions? It seemed like O’s hitters were suffering more than opponents overall and perhaps that will go similarly for O’s pitchers with Walltimore 2.0.
The first home game is March 31. We’ll start to see how the new wall and fence dimensions play then.
Around the blogO’sphere
Checking in on Orioles home homer totals before and after moving the wall (Steve Melewski)
It’s estimated that the Orioles lost 72 home runs over the three seasons that Walltimore 1.0 existed. At this point, gaining back more than they give up to opponents is all that really matters.
What does 2025 hold for the Orioles? (Orioles.com)
Beat writer Jake Rill suggests that Tanner Scott remains as a realistic free agent target. With Mike Elias not spending any big or at least multi-year money on starting pitching, it is tough to imagine committing to Scott or any high-end reliever over multiple years.
Orioles owner David Rubenstein among 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (Associated Press)
Owning the Orioles probably didn’t have anything to do with Rubenstein receiving the highest civilian honor available in the United States. Other recipients yesterday included Bill Nye the Science Guy, Magic Johnson, Denzel Washington, and Bono.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2020 infielder Jose Iglesias, 1998-2000 infielder and later minor league manager Ryan Minor, 1990 first baseman Ron Kittle, and 1955-56 infielder Fred Marsh. On account of a personal grudge dating to 1989, I very specifically do not wish Ron Kittle a good birthday.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Maryland-born naval legend Stephen Decatur (1779), author Umberto Eco (1932), animator Hayao Miyazaki (1941), musician Marilyn Manson (1969), and actress January Jones (1978).
On this day in history…
In 1477, the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was killed in the Battle of Nancy, which he was attempting to recapture from Lorraine. Upon the death of Charles, Burgundy, which had been independent, was absorbed into France. In addition to modern-day France, this territory included parts of what we now know as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
In 1914, Ford announced it would limit workdays to eight hours, with a minimum daily wage of $5.
In 1933. construction began on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. It opened to the public a bit more than four years later.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on January 5. Have a safe Sunday.