The Thursday July 23 off-day is very welcome for Oriole players, non-uniformed personnel, and fans. The narrative as the All-Star Game approached was the under-achieving Birds had not won more than 3 games in a row all season. Then, thanks to some very sloppy play by Kansas City, the young Maryland men in Orange and Black swept KC at home and went into the All-Star Game break with a 4-game winning streak. They came out of the break by sweeping a just-as-sloppy Astros in Houston. Then, in a meeting of streaking teams in Boston, the Orioles competed decently but lost the first two games to the red-hot Red Sox that extended the Bosox streak to 15 games, tying the team record set by the 1946 Bosox world champions.
Last night (W July 22) Kyle Bradish pitched like an ace to break that streak in a tidy 5-1 win. He only went 6 innings but he was in command all game, proving at least for now that he has ace-like potential and is worthy of the 5-year extension he signed that reportedly is worth $90 million. (Two of his arbitration years and two of his free agent years have been bought out.)
The NL East-leading Atlanta Braves come into Camden Yards this weekend and they will certainly pose another formidable test although they have been battered by mound injuries. The Birds know all about injuries, too - both catchers Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo are on the IL. And the broken hand of Orioles breakout star Blaze Alexander - the result of an errant pitch by Royals closer Lucas Erceg just before the ASG break - has been a blow to the Birds sporadic offense, but it has provided a chance for Christian Encarnacion-Strand, once a top prospect for Cincinnati Reds who is only 26. He hails from Walnut Creek, CA and played at Oklahoma State where the brother of teammate second baseman Jackson Holliday, Josh Holliday, is the head coach and where Jackson's father Matt Holliday was a star after being the Gatorade High School Player of Year twice in both football and baseball. (Maybe living up to that family athletic royalty has been an obstacle in Jackson's uncertain progress but he is only 22.)
Christian blasted a couple of home runs at Fenway and did OK at third base where he might compete for playing time with the younger Coby Mayo, one of the many highly-touted young Orioles who have not yet proven themselves as consistent major leaguers. There is always room for humor in baseball, such a difficult sport to master and stay in rhythm with. So I wonder when C E-S makes his home debut tomorrow, will his hyphenated last name appear on the back of his uni? It didn't on the road. He carries the longest name in baseball history, supplanting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia who retired in 2018 after a 12-year MLB career.
The trading deadline is M Aug 3 and IMHO the Orioles need to get to .500 to become buyers. The schedule after Atlanta has a visit to the Tigers, another team on the bubble in a weak AL Central, and then a weekend tussle with the Phillies who under interim manager Don Mattingly have emerged as a possible challenger to the Braves in NL East. The Marlins have faded after reaching a 10-over .500 peak. Sure hope they hold on to their ace Sandy Alcantara who seems fully recovered from TJ surgery. Miami owner Bruce Sherman claims he wants Sandy as a core piece of his future team but he is also a hawk about the salary cap and is on commissioner Rob Manfred's Executive Council.
My TCM tips salute the SEVEN Joe E Brown films that will appear on TU JULY 28 from 10AM through a little before 8P
10A "On With The Show" (1929) his first film and the first in technicolor - it's about the misadventures of a traveling theater troupe (Joe had been an acrobat, a vaudeville performer, and starting in early 1920s a big Broadway star)
1145A "Sally" (1930) with Marilyn Miller - Joe sings a plaintive beautiful version of Jerome Kern's "Look for the Silver Lining"
130P "Going Wild" (1930) Joe pretends to be a pilot. With a young Walter Pidgeon long before he is Mr. Miniver or the producer yearning for a kiss at the
end of a film with plenty of black on the bottom line in "The Bad and the Beautiful"
245P "Sit Tight" (1931) featuring a hilarious scene at a health spa with Winnie Lightner as his formidable adversary
415P "You Said A Mouthful" (1932) Joe as a swimmer. With Ginger Rogers in one of her first starring roles. She paid homage in her memoirs to what a helpful mentor he was.
545P "Elmer the Great" (1933) Joe's favorite of his baseball trilogy. Opening scene is priceless. Joe initially spurns an offer from the Cubs to disbelief of his younger brother Sterling Holloway. Mike Frankovich, UCLA football star and later virtually an adoptive Joe son and soon to become big producer, has cameo
645P "Alibi Ike" (1935) the last and probably best put-together of his baseball films. With William "Future Fred Mertz" Frawley as his manager, Olivia DeHavilland in her first year of stardom as love interest, underappreciated Ruth Donnelly as her sister.
That's all for now. My next post could well be from Chautauqua where I'm co-teaching the last week in July a class "Baseball Couples: Odd and Other".
Always remember: Stay Positive, Test Negative, and Take It Easy But Take It!